Greetings from sunny East Africa! We thank God daily for your faithful prayers and support as we minister in this land of such deep need. Jesus is doing great and wonderful things in Ilula, and we are indeed grateful for the call, challenge, and opportunity to serve Him here. It is humbling, to say the least.
This morning a precious brother on staff with ELI, Jotham, shared his story and the journey that has brought him to this place. I’d like to share some notes from that meeting. His special training was in social work, and he shared from the beginning of Psalms 1. It is the work (Christian social work) to rebuild a world that has been broken. Build the walls. The enormous challenge at the children’s home here is: how are you going to identify the children? Who are the real orphans? I could have never imagined the magnitude of the need until I caught a glimpse of it for myself. However, the lives that were broken are being mended day by day. When one 3 year old boy came to the home he would wake up early every morning looking for a container. When asked what he was doing, he said that he had to go and fetch water for the brew. His parents brewed alcohol in their home to make a little money. The children would have to wake up early every morning to go and fetch water to make the brew. Their parents would invite guests (customers) to come to the house and drink and pay for the alcohol. He and his siblings thought that everyone brewed alcohol for a living and that all adults were drunkards. It wasn’t until after three months here that he got over waking up so early. Clearly the greatest trauma he and his three siblings have suffered was watching their mother be killed when lightening struck her. Even today they cringe in fear when they see lightening. May our Lord continue to heal the deep emotional traumas of each and every child here.
On a lighter note, today Ashlea and Bryan continued their work “keying” the gazebo at the children’s home and are becoming quite the experts. They send their love and seem to be enjoying the new experiences they are having. Right now they are playing with the children and helping them with some of their chores. They will also be helping in the kitchen since the job of cooking for ninety one children can be quite large.
We pray for Dave and Kim as their marriage seminar is now in full swing. May the Lord open up the hearts of the couples attending in order for their marriages to be transformed and become more fruitful than they could have ever dreamed.
As far as myself, I can tell you that I have been assisting Adele and two Kenyan ladies in removing jiggers from the hands and feet of four very unfortunate local children from the neighborhood. Please read Adele's blog for heart-wrenching information about this tragic situation. It is so painful for the children and the task is so big, that we can only work on each one for less than an hour/day and go back each day to do a little more. It may take many more days yet, but we praise God that the 18-month-old is as of today jigger-free!
Continue to pray—your faith-filled prayers are more powerful than you can know. We pray for you and love you with all of our hearts.
Warmly, Joyce
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1 comment:
Wow, Joyce! What a great, thorough update!
What a heartwrenching story about the youngsters who have endured so much in their short lifetime - and even more humbling to know that behind each and every one of those 91 children lies a unique, yet undoubtedly tragic, story.
We continue to pray for the children, and for the marriages, and of course, for those who have devoted themselves to showing these people Jesus.
If anyone can work alongside Adele in ridding those little ones of their jiggers, we know it's YOU, Joyce! Your tenacity and determination will serve their purpose in this task. : )
Our love to everyone - and don't forget to take your Malaria meds! (tell Ash it's Wednesday!!)
Blessings,
Denise
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