Laura's Update: Glimpses of the past 2 weeks

Habari friends and family! (How are you?)

It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last update and there are so many amazing experiences, adventures and tangible moments of God’s presence that I can’t possibly describe or reflect on them all. Instead, I thought I would try and describe a few images and memories to help capture these last two weeks.

• Riding on the back of a bicycle taxi (boda boda) up and down the hills of the Rift Valley through endless farms and villages (although usually we biked only down the hills because I weigh more than the men who were pedaling!)...with kids yelling “mzungu!” (white person!).
• Coming back from Kitale on the other side of the Rift Valley with untouched government land (no maize). As I looked out the window of the matatu (public van), I saw miles of green plains with acacia trees and sunshine peering through the ominous afternoon clouds.
• Walking miles everyday with Situma (head of the Kipkaren agricultural center) and Emmanuel (Kenyan intern) with rich conversations about God, community development, politics and culture.
• Hearing Situma try to speak with a Southern accent after my introductory lesson of “Hey ya’ll” and “I’m fixin’ to go eat some chicken.”
• Fitting 22 people in a 14 passenger public van! Fitting 8 people in a taxi barely the size of a Corolla, including 2 in the driver seat. “Like a spare tire, I am the spare driver,” said the passenger next to the driver.
• Singing and dancing to African praise music with 300 youth in Kipkaren in a small church. Personal space is a foreign concept here! I felt such a strong sense of corporate joy like I’ve never known.
• Watching dozens of people get baptized in the Kipkaren river before church while the African praises and roar of the river ushered these individuals into an everlasting declaration of Jesus’ love for them. What a joy it was to see, Cosmas, the night guard, get baptized after leaving alcoholism two years ago!
• Reading bedtime stories to the orphans in the children’s home by kerosene lantern. In exchange they taught me the routine drill when raising the Kenyan flag and their “pledge of allegiance.”
• With Situma and Emmanuel, I had the privilege of interviewing over 25 students who have graduated from ELI’s agricultural 6-month training program. I had the privilege of sitting in their homes and celebrating their victories, hearing about their challenges and failures and brainstorming together how to harness their resources in a way that is sustainable and life giving to their family and community.
• Sitting around with Situma’s wife and about 10 other women who are participating in a group “table banking” system. It has been great to see the things I’ve been reading about in school come to life!
• Meeting with Dorothy, ELI’s admin assistant, who has on her own started a micro loan business, using her own savings from her ELI salary. In the last 3-4 months God has used her to help improve the lives of 50 women! Not only are these women in a more secure financial place, but as I met some of them, I learned about the hope they now have because they realize God has created them for a unique purpose with unique gifts!
• Sitting around the warm coals of the portable cooking stove with Situma and Emmanuel in the evening chill. Sipping chai and sharing our testimonies. Situma was raised in a polygamous home (dad had 3 wives) and because there was no money to send him to secondary school, he borrowed the notes from his friends and taught himself for 4 years under a tree in the middle of their maize filed where no one could find him (the sons from the other wives wanted to curse any sibling who showed signs of being smart, since they were not successful in school. One brother had already been cursed and went from being good in school to mentally ill). As Situma watched the airplanes fly over him as he studied, he was inspired to press on and became #2 in school after he took the final exam!
• Although we were not able to visit Mt. Elgon for 3 days (see first blog for info on Mt. Elgon), we did go just for a day to encourage Nellie who is taking care of 5 children from her siblings who died of AIDS. Read Adele Booysen’s blog entry for to learn more about Nellie's unbelievable story. She is a true example of living by faith and forgiveness. After Adele and I prayed for her, I continued to hold Nellie as she started to cry in my arms. She shared that all her tears are flowing “inside” day in day out. I thank God that we were able to travel back to be a source of encouragement, as she does not have many other believers around her. Pray for her and that she would be a catalyst for change in this depressed community. We had a chance to also pray and share scripture with Nellie’s family and friends (who most are alcoholics) and one even exclaimed “I am in chains!” We believe that God has the power to release her and show her and others a new hope and way of life.

I hope this gives you an idea of what God is doing here in Kenya. Asante sana (thank you very much) again and again for being a part of it and for sending me through your prayers, finances, and encouragement. Know you are God’s vessel just as much as people like Nelly, Dorothy and Situma.

Bwana asifiwe!

Laura