[I'm back after a blogging funk that I seemed to fall into in Africa (Month 10 in Tanzania was great, by the way) with some amazing stories of what God is doing in India. Enjoy this one...and lots more to come!]
India is unlike any country I've been to. Being in month 11, I thought I have kind of seen it all. Wrong. I don't think I can even do this amazing country justice by trying to explain it, but I'll do my best to give yall a taste of my life for a month.
My squad arrived in India after one of our last long travel days (yay!). A 36+ hour travel day is pretty normal, so naturally, it was a breeze hopping on a ferry, then a bus, then a plane, then another plane, riding in a taxi and then on an overnight sleeper train all in the same outfit in the heat of India carrying a 45 pound pack on my back. Naturally, a breeze.
My team and two other teams arrived in cute little Ongole, India with adrenaline pumping ready to embrace our last month of ministry together on the race. Cassie and I hopped in a rickshaw (a motor bike with small cab type thing) that felt a little more like an amusement park ride than a mode of transportation to get to our housing. We weaved in and out of traffic, sped past pedestrians, almost knocked over bicyclists, and of course, gave the right of way to enormous cows meandering in the middle of the streets.
It's loud here.
It smells like curry and sweat.
It is so hot.
It is full of beautifulpeople and brightcolors.
It's chaotic.
It's just India...
and I have completely fallen in love.
Before jumping into ministry, all of the teams took a night to pray about what we felt like God wanted us to do in our last month of ministry. After coming back together and talking with our contacts, the majority of people felt led to go and plant a church in a nearby village. Me and four other girls couldn't get the kids from the children's home out of our minds or our hearts. We decided to stay back in Ongole while the others went off an hour away to a village. Check out Ginger's video to see what's happening there!
The kids at Sarah's Covenant Home are not ordinary kids. They are full of life and joy. Their smiles and hugs will make you forget any problems you think you had.
They show love like no kids I have ever met before.
...And they all have special needs. Children with physical and mental disabilities are the most likely to be abandoned and least likely to be adopted in India. After hearing some of the kids stories, falling in love with them, and the family style children's home, I knew the Lord was telling me to be a part of it. And now that I am, I can't get these precious children out of my mind. God was telling me to be a voice for those who don't have one. I need to Share the Love with yall.
For all of you Williamsburgers that know them, Katie Duff Zenger and her husband, Kody served at this home for three months last year and are back again this month shooting video footage and getting pictures for their Share11 campaign. They also can't help but tell the world about what's going on in Ongole, India with some amazing children of God. The idea is to donate $11, tell 11 of your friends and help raise $1.1 million by 11.11.11 to go to Sarah's Covenant Home.
I've seen the hard work that goes into running a children's home this year. A lot of time, energy and money goes into it. This home is like other children's homes amped up. There is way more energy to have 24/7 care, the staff have dedicated their lives, and the money...well, you just need a lot more of it for children with disabilities. But these forgotten and lost in India are the ones God tells us to look after and to love.
India is overwhelmingly hot, a lot of us are sick, and we're just flat out tired from 10 months of ministry...but I have an energy that can only be from the Lord and from these kids that give me more joy than I can ever express to you in a blog. Please be praying for the children, the staff, home, and finances--and check out the websites above. I will be posting stories and exciting things going on here over the next few days that I can't wait to share. Until then, check out this awesome video Kody did when Allan and Greg took two of the boys for a stroll.
A few of my teammates in our front yard! Our view and house was unreal...we were overlooking the city and Lake Victoria. [Note for future racers: this house is NOT typical on the race...sorry :) ]
Just hanging out in our cute house with our neighbors dog, Rola It was a nightmare to get into the city, Kampala. We were there a lot to get bibles and visiting the babies home.
Divine: one of the prayer warriors at the church with her new Bible that we were able to have donated to the church members
Christ Miracle Center on our last Sunday in Namulanda. They were great!
Yes, these kids are all this cute. We had an army of them follow us everyday as we were visiting houses.
Enough said.
More village children!
Deborah, a member of the church, and her two precious boys after we gave her a Bible
[Read my last blog for this story] Annette, Joel and Samali the first day we met them
Hope yall enjoy these photos by my amazing teammate, Ginger Larson! We are currently in Tanzania right now working with a pastor and his church preaching and doing door-to-door evangelism. We will be heading to three different villages living alongside tribes for the rest of the month, so I will update when I can. Thanks for your support and love over the past 10 months!
(First off, let me just start by saying I absolutely can't stand to post blogs without pictures. But, this is Africa (T.I.A.) and I just can't seem to get these pictures to upload with the sketchy connection. So sorry for the delay and lack of fun pictures. Oh, and I'm in Tanzania now starting month 10! This blog is from last month in Uganda)
I glanced down at my watch and thanked God that it had to be our last door-to-door for that day because our time was coming to an end. We went down a road we had never been on before and saw an older couple sitting outside cooking-- probably their one and only meal for the day over hot coals.
I trudged up to the house with Pastor and a few of my teammates praying that someone else would take over because I honestly didn't feel like talking anymore (door-to-door evangelism is not my favorite). We sat down on a bench opposite the man and his wife, who was lame. Their front door was open and I saw a tiny foot poking out from underneath a sheet. I have developed a serious obsession for babies and said "Oh! I see a little foot in there! Can we hold the baby?" The older, sweet man, Joel, went inside to get the tiny baby and hand her to us. I thought it odd that an older couple had such a tiny baby, but was more concerned about getting it into my arms. Pastor was translating the story of the baby that Joel and Annette began to tell us.
I was admiring the baby and holding her too-tiny of an arm gently with my comparatively huge hand while my heart began to shatter hearing her story. She was malnourished and sick with malaria. Pastor was translating that the mother of the baby tried to kill the baby girl by putting her in the latrine--which is a 15 ft hole used for a toilet in the ground. The mother's sister found out her plans to kill the newborn, so the sister took the baby home with her. The sister's husband didn't want to keep the baby, so the sister traveled to a different village with baby in tow. The sister and 2 month baby girl ended up on Joel and Annette's doorstep explaining the story. The sister asked Annette to hold the baby and said that she would be right back. The sister never showed up again and Joel and Annette have had the baby for the past four months now.
Annette has a permanently injured leg and has a hard time getting around on her rusty, worn down crutches. Joel has been busy taking care of her and the baby. They don't have much money and the baby has been living off of cows milk. Samali has malaria but they don't have the funds to get into town to see a doctor. She is very underweight for a six month old, has limited muscle movement, and obviously was not getting any better.
We asked Annette and Joel if they wanted help in finding the baby an alternate place to live. Their faces lit up with hope. It was obvious Joel and Annette loved Samali, but they also knew they couldn't care for her. They asked people at their church to help out, but no one was willing to take the baby into their care. Joel and Annette were stuck with no options.
We began our research that day. Another Pastor mentioned Sanyu Babies Home. Within a matter of days, Ginger, Amanda and I were heading into the busy city to check out the home. We met with the administrator and took a tour of the home. It was absolutely amazing--I felt like I had a little piece of heaven that day being around 50 babies from the ages of one day old to four years old. We were told that most of the babies get adopted and that's why four is the oldest age. They take in abandoned and abused babies and we were horrified at some of the stories.
Sanyu is an amazing home with a solid staff, great accommodations and Christian values. We went back to the home of Joel and Annette to let them know we found a great place and they told us they wanted to start the process the following day. The administrator gave us instructions for the process of getting Samali into the home, which we were told would only take about six hours. But T.I.A. and six hours turned into two very long, drawn out days.
Without going into boring details, we finally got Samali safely into the care of Sanyu Babies Home last night. She will be treated for malaria and taken great care of to get her the right nutrition and care for her small body. There was also a team of people there from California, which was comforting for all of us.
Selfishly, through the long process and interaction with the less than friendly (putting it nicely) social worker, I wanted to quit the race, adopt Samali and head back to America. I was really frustrated that she had already been passed around because no one wanted her at only six months old and mad that the social worker was skeptical of our involvement with the whole situation. I looked at Samali while we were trying to work things out with the social worker and seemingly getting nowhere, and I saw Jesus in the baby's eyes. I realized I was being prideful trying to prove to the social worker that I was right, and she was not doing her job the way she's "supposed" to.
We were arguing over petty things when the real issue was caring for the baby. We all just wanted what was best for Samali. Bible verses about caring for orphans were flooding my mind. I realized I was being overcome by the situation and not letting Jesus overcome. Jesus wants the best for Samali and we all feel very at peace and confirmed that the best for her is Sanyu Babies Home.
Join me in prayer for this precious baby girl. Pray that she will get healthy and get the proper care and attention she needs. Pray that an amazing family will take her into their home and that she will grow up to be a strong woman after God's heart. I realized that God answered our prayers again (read my blog about the baby delivery from Kenya) about delivering a baby. While it wasn't the dramatic front-yard baby birth as last month in Kenya, God led us to Samali to deliver her out of her harsh living conditions and into a caring baby home and hopefully into an awesome family.
We visited Samali the day before we left Uganda after she had been in the home for a few days. She had already been dedicated at the church and was cleaned up looking amazing! We got to spend a lot of time with her and I rubbed her back in her very own crib as she fell asleep. I will post pictures of this beautiful girl as soon as I can!
As many of you have seen from my last two blogs, God really showed up and answered so many prayers! So thank you all for the enouraging emails, comments and prayers...they mean so much! Here are some pictures from the month, including Adrienne and her new blessing, baby Amira.
I'm in Nairobi now with my squad for our month 8 debrief and we will head out of Kenya and into Uganda on the 6th to begin ministry month 9! Time is flying! Miss and love yall!
Ok, let me give yall a little history before I get to the good stuff. Adrienne is a 23 year old Kenyan woman we met one of the first days we were in Kiminini. We were immediately drawn to her beautiful smile, bubbly personality, and cute pregnant belly. She is so full of joy and truly loves each one of us. I have felt that God has laid women on my heart a lot throughout this whole year, and Adrienne was somebody I was naturally drawn to.
[Beautiful Adrienne!]
I loved hanging out with her. It wasn't like other times where I maybe felt obligated to hang out with people or like it's "the right thing to do". Adrienne isn't a charity case, she truly is someone I call a great friend. Almost everyday after our social work, a few of us would go over to Adrienne's house and hang out with her. She lives with her cousin, Nelly, and takes care of Nelly's two twin babies that are almost 18 months old.
Adrienne is the strongest woman I've ever met. She has had a hard life but is one of the most joyful people. She has twin girls that are four years old. Her mother took them from Adrienne because she was young and unmarried. Adrienne has tried to renew her relationship numerous times with her mother, but she wants nothing to do with her own daughter. Through feelings of rejection and hard times, Adrienne still has so much faith in the Lord.
All month long in Kenya, we have been telling Adrienne that her baby is going to come while we're here. Her due date was June 1st and we're scheduled to leave Kiminini on May 30th. Everyday we went to her house for tea or to hang out, I would pray over her beautiful belly that the baby was healthy and that we would get to meet her or him before we leave.
[Me, Adrienne and Christy after a baby shower we had for the momma!]
Thursday morning Christy and I went to watch the twins while Nelly was at work. Amanda (a nurse) and Adrienne went to her doctor's appointment. The doctor didn't want to check if Adrienne was dialated because of the risk of infection, but everything was still looking good for a June 1st delivery. Later that day, Ginger and I decided to go for a walk to catch the beautiful sunset. As we were walking back up to our house, I saw Nelly walking down the dirt path calling for me. I could tell something was wrong and she asked me to get Amanda because Adrienne was in a lot of pain.
Me and three of my teammates went with Nelly up to the 2 room mud house they live in. Adrienne, who is full of more energy than a 10 year old boy, was walking around the yard chasing the twins around and crouching down every few minutes from her contractions. We went into the house for tea and Amanda began timing the contractions. They were pretty frequent, but Adrienne wasn't showing too much pain. She asked if Amanda could check to see if she was dialated because she felt the baby might be coming soon. I went into the room seeing Adrienne lying on the floor while I held the candle lantern (there's no power and night was starting to set in). Amanda looked up at me and said "I can feel the baby's head. It's coming tonight". Excited that we were all here for something we've been praying about all month, we came up with a game plan.
Amanda guessed Adrienne had at least two hours or more. We decided that we would ask pastor if we could set up to deliver the baby in the church. There was a lot more room in the chruch and it also had lights. I had this great night pictured in my head: we'll set up a comfy bed for Adrienne, blankets, all the medical supplies necessary, bring our laptops to listen to some music, and have an all nighter delivering this baby. Ready, break.
Amanda and Ginger walked back to pastor's house to run the game plan by him and get the church ready.
Christy and I were having tea time again (of course) with the twins, Nelly, and Adrienne lying on the floor next to us. Half way through my cup of tea, I saw a blood smear on the floor. My knowledge of pregnancy is minimal, but I did know that a bloody mucus (sorry, graphic) comes out before the water breaks, so I didn't panic and figured this was normal. We got Adrienne off the ground and we walked outside so she could get some fresh air.
It was around 7:30 pm at this point and I could tell Adrienne was in more pain. While the contractions were getting worse, I also knew that labor pains could last for hours so I thought this was just the beginning of a long, exciting night. My minimal knowledge of delivering a baby comes from TLC baby shows that would air during the day that I would aimlessly watch while I was in college. I knew my days of skipping class would come in handy some day.
Then everything happened really fast. Adrienne, Christy and I were outside and Adrienne kept telling me she had to poop (again, sorry for the grapic description, but I want yall to really know what happened). She wanted to go sit on the toilet... aka a hole in the ground that drops about 20 feet. Again, I don't know a lot about delivering a baby, but I told her she will not go sit over a hole and push.
I simply told Adrienne she can poo outside in the yard; the twins do it all the time, so can she. I was holding her hand as she was squatting on the ground and felt some liquid on my feet. I didn't think her water broke because it wasn't a lot, but I told Christy to go get the lantern. Meanwhile, Adrienne is still in a lot of pain but simply saying she needs to poo.
I grabbed the lantern from Christy to examine Adrienne. I don't really know what I was expecting to find/thinking I knew what I was doing, but I guess I just figured I'd check things out. A candlelit lantern isn't too bright, but when I brought it close to her squatting position, I saw the baby's head. A BABY'S HEAD! Oh NO, that's not what I was expecting to see. Crap.
I looked up at Christy and said something along the lines of "get rags or a blanket I CAN SEE THE HEAD!". She grabbed a burlap sack that was a few feet away in the yard and put it under Adrienne. I've never had anything happen this fast in my life while having absolutely no idea what I was doing.
We spent a week with a mid-wife in Malaysia a few months ago having many conversations with Auntie Grace about how to deliver a baby, what to do, what not to do blah blah blah. I tried to replay those conversations in my head and that didn't go over too well. I had an internal battle. My first instinct as I can see the whole head, is grab it! But then I remembered Auntie Grace saying to just guide the baby out. I reached my bare hands down towards the baby to attempt to guide and it literally just fell out. Fell out of her. So I would like to take the credit and say I delivered this baby, but it kind of delivered itself.
OH MY GOD. A baby just fell out of Adrienne onto a burlap sack in the front yard. OH MY GOD. I jumped up looking for something to wrap the baby in and spotted Christy's beautiful scarf around her neck. I lunged at her like a spazz and tried to rip it off of her. She frantically untangled it and I don't remember if I wrapped it around the baby or threw the scarf on the baby as I took off and ran to pastor's house to get Amanda.
As I was running blindly through the yard of holes and dips, I heard the baby let out a cry..."praise God, it's alive" I thought. I also heard Nelly screaming and I didn't know why, but it made me run faster. I know God carried me to pastor's house because there is no way I did that on my own in the pitch dark, bumpy, beaten path. I'm glad I've been running lately so I'm not completely out of shape. I was leaping and hopping and going as fast as I could saying a few choice words with some prayers thrown up in between. I must have been a sight.
Everyone was back in pastor's house moving at an incredibly slow pace...typical. I was out of breath from running but calmly went up to Amanda and said "the baby is here". It took a minute for that to register with her and the rest of my team. I ran into my room like a chicken with my head cut off (I have no idea why) and then ran back out the door with my entire team following behind me.
When we got back, Adrienne was in the house laying on the ground with a bunch of blankets and the baby all bundled up. I just started to tear up. I felt like it was my own baby. I was so proud of Adrienne and loved this baby so much. It's a girl, by the way! I realized when I was running, I didn't even check to see if it was a boy or a girl.
[Perfect baby and Momma]
There were some Kenyan women in the house now helping out, but even they were kind of freaking out during this whole fiasco. So it's safe to say that even in Kenya, that was not the typical way to deliver a little nugget. They thought we knew what we were doing during this whole process, when really, it's quite hilarious that Christy and I were the ones that were in charge. We are two of the most unlikely people to know what was going on, but God definitely gets all the glory for things turning out the way they did. Thankfully, Christy was reading Adrienne's baby book "Where there are no doctors" earlier that day. While I was gone, she had directed someone to get string to tie around the umbilical cord.
We stayed late with Adrienne and the baby girl, Amira, passing her around and watching Amanda do her nursing thing...she was great. Adrienne was so strong throughout the whole thing. You would barely even be able to tell she was giving birth because she was really just acting she had bad cramps. The night was one of the best nights of my life, but was also a little bittersweet. We found out that Nelly wanted Adrienne to leave the very next day because Nelly couldn't take care of her three kids, Adrienne and the new baby. Nelly called Adrienne's mom to see if she would take her but Adrienne's mom wants nothing to do with them.
[Amanda and I checking on Adrienne and Cas with baby Amira]
Christy and I were up most of the night tossing and turning and praying for God to show up big time in this situation. Seeing a life brought into this world is one of the most exciting and amazing gift that God gives, but some of the joy was overshadowed by the current circumstances.
The next morning, we woke up around 6 to go check on Adrienne and Amira. Momma and baby were perfect and healthy. As we layed with them on the floor, Adrienne started to cry because she didn't know what to do or where to go. Overwhelmed, we went back for breakfast with the rest of the team and spent the morning in prayer over the situation.
God faithfully showed up big time again. We found out that Nelly was going to let Adrienne stay one more day (we weren't ready to say goodbye yet) and that Adrienne's aunt was going to take care of her and Amira. We met her aunt later that day who seemed like a great woman. Adrienne is going to live with her until Amira gets a little older and then plans on moving back in with Nelly and getting a job. Adrienne wants to be a newscaster and I am fully confident that her dream will come true. Words really can't do Adrienne justice to explain just how amazing she is.
God is so, so good for the way things have worked out the past few days. He answered our prayer about delivering a baby. Back in Nicaragua (month two) we were praying into ministry and Amanda felt like we were going to have something to do with delivering a baby at some point on the race. Six months later, our faithful God provided. He kept the baby and momma healthy; it really would have been a disaster if anything had gone wrong because we had no phone or car. She has a great home to raise Amira. He kept them around for another day so we could have time to say goodbye to our sister that we've fallen in love with. God really showed up and provided for Adrienne and knew her needs. It really strengthened my faith, because I had to rely on God knowing that there was absolutely nothing I could do for them. It was a humbling experience.
[Me and Amira]
Saying goodbye to Adrienne today was one of the harder moments since being on the race. I know God will look after them and has a great future planned for Adrienne and Amira. I want so badly to keep them to myself, take them back to the states and take care of them, but I know God looks after His children and loves them so much more than I ever can. Please keep Adrienne and her new baby in your prayers for their health, living conditions, future job for Adrienne and an abundance of love for both of them.
I was laying in bed this morning under my mosquito net next to Christy (romantic, I know) in our closet-sized room listening to my i-pod before I had to crawl out from under my bunk bed cave to face Kiminini for the day. I must admit, I was dragging this morning. Ok, actually, I've been dragging every morning since I've been here. It's been hard for me to get out of bed every morning. I don't want to be here. I'm exhausted. The past 8 months are seriously wearing on me. I feel like I have nothing left to give. I miss the comforts of America. Not necessarily nice, luxurious things, but the simple things like peeing while actually sitting down on a toilet seat, running water, and eating something besides carbs for every meal. I'm drained from walking around with the social workers to different schools and having teachers ask me in front of precious orphans "So, what are you going to do for them?"
"Prayer and love" is always my response, but they don't want to hear that. They want tangible things, and I have nothing to give them. I know Jesus is enough, but I also haven't been in there shoes. I don't know what it's like to be an orphan and needing basic necessities like food and clothes. I don't know what it's like to go to school hungry, smelly, and wearing dirty clothes. "I'll pray for them" seems like a cop-out. They see white skin and see money, food, clothes, gifts, hope. I'm overwhelmed. I can't do it all, but I feel the weight like it's all on me.
The race isn't what I thought it'd be. Not bad, just...different. It's hard for me to write this because I want everyone to think I'm having thetime of my life. And most of the time, I am, but right now it's hard for me to remember that. I want my supporters to be proud of everything I'm "doing" that they're helping to be a part of. I want future racers to read awesome blogs like I did before the race saying "Go on this adventure! It's the best thing ever and it's going to change your life for the better"! And I do believe it will, but I can't fake it right now. It sucks.
As all these things were racing through my mind, I heard the words that were blaring(I turn the volume on full blast to block out all the noise) from my headphones by United Pursuit Band...
"There's no place I would rather be
than here in Your love"
I giggled to myself at first and thought "yea right, there's about 8,000 other places I'd rather be right now". I put the song on repeat and kept hearing those words over and over again. That's a bold and powerful statement to say there's absolutely no other place in the world I would rather be than in the arms of my Maker. I thought about those words all day long.
I realized that those words are so true, regardless of my negative attitude right now. I feel like there's always going to be "somewhere" else I'd rather be in the physical aspect. When I was in Asia, I wanted to be in Africa. Now that I'm in Kenya, I'm ready for India. I'm ready for home, Williamsburg, but I know after about a month there I'm going to be itching to get somewhere else. When I was in Tuscaloosa, it was the same thing...I was ready to just move, to be somewhere else.
What's wrong with me? Why have I never been completely content with where I am? Is that normal? I feel like I'm the only person I know that's so all over the place all the time.
Don't get me wrong, I love where I come from and all of the places I've been blessed to travel and live. I grew up in a beautiful and amazing town, got to go to an awesome out-of-state university, had a wild time studying abroad in Australia and I'm now on my 8th country out of 11 over the course of one year. I'm always on the move, and while I have an absolute blast doing it, it seems I'm never quite satisfied, like I'm always ready for what's next.
I've been really convicted lately on why I am always wanting to move on. It's not about where I am physically, and I definitely don't want my physical surroundings to determine my happiness. I needed to hear those words that morning to get to the deeper meaning of what I'm really feeling and why.
There is no place I'd rather be than in God's arms. I don't care where I am physically, because really, there is no better place. And I know that is trust because I've been on the opposite end of that spectrum quite a few times. Once I let that reality sink in, I know my fluttering spirit will settle down and take it one day at a time. I want to praise God wherever I am whether it's in Africa or America...or somewhere else. My physical circumstances will not be the determining factor of my joy. And that's a choice I have to make daily, and it's not an easy one.
While I do feel tired still, I know that I'm right where I'm supposed to be for this season in my life. I want to know what's in store for me after the race. Other people know, why don't I? I've been so focused on the negative lately, that I haven't been worshiping God for everything He's given me, which is too much to even list.
I was brushing my teeth outside the other night, and looked up and saw the most beautiful night sky I've ever seen. I've never felt so close to the stars as I do here. During the day, the sky is the brightest blue I've ever seen and everything else is vibrant green. The sunsets and sunrises seem magical. I get to hold beautiful black babies everyday.
It's easy to be joyful when our circumstances rock. I am choosing to get my comfort from trusting in God, because He knows way better than I do what I need. And right now, I trust that this is what I need. His plans are so much better for my life than mine ever will be, and that's a beautifulthing.
"Mzungu, mzunguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" I don't think I could put into words how many times a day I hear those words, which mean "white person" in Swahili. Everywhere we walk we have a cluster of ten or more Kenyan children following us and touching our skin to make sure we didn't paint ourselves. My arm gets a workout from waving all day. I've learned not to get in close proximity to kids from about 2-4 years old because they are terrified seeing a white person for the first time and will scream their heads off. I have gotten comfortable with people awkwardly staring at me for long periods of time. We are staying with a pastor and his family of 12 in their mud house. We go to the bathroom in a hole that pastor likes to call "long drop". We slaughter chickens and sheep that become our dinner a few hours later. Time is a relative term here. You never know what the day is going to hold...plans aren't official here. I eat carbs for every single meal and have tea time everytime I step foot into someones house (yea, I've taken up running). Wi-fi doesn't exist and if you can get a Skype connection on the dial-up computers, it's a great internet day. 12 passenger vans=24+ passengers. The power goes out a few times a day. Every time we head to the "big town" our taxi runs out of gas or gets a flat tire. I hold black babies everyday.
This is Kenya....
We are living in a small farming community for the month (sorry this blog is late...the month is almost over!) in a town called Kiminini. Day to day ministry can really be almost anything. Pastor is having us dabble into different things and pour into where the Spirit is leading us. Amanda and I have been working with the social workers at the church who work for an organization based out of California, Ordinary Women. They sponsor 100 orphans in the community by paying school fees, providing food and basic living necessities. We walk around with the social workers and visit the different schools where some of the orphans are and talk to them. We've done a few house visits, too, to talk to their guardians and evaluate home life.
A big thing I've realized this year is how much I took my education for granted. I thought it was a right for me to go to school because that's just how it is in America. Everyone goes to school then graduates high school and most go to college. Kids in other countries love going to school and they try so hard here because they know it's the only way to get out of the poverty most of them live in. While I've looked back on my college experience and where my priorities were (party first, education second), I've realized what a blessing it is that I even had the opportunity to receive the education I did. Many people here don't have money to send their kids to school or to college, but they are so eager to learn. The schools are overcrowded and some even have to hold classes outside because there aren't enough classrooms.
Amanda and I work with the social workers Monday-Friday from 9am until 1 or 2 pm, but my heart is building relationships with some of the people around the community. My passion is visiting homes and talking to people about life. Even though we come from completely different countries and backgrounds, we really aren't that different. We're all relational, thinking, feeling beings and it's a beautiful thing laughing and crying and spending time together.
Kenyans have shown so much hospitality to us and make us feel welcome to their country and into their homes. They have shown me what God meant for hospitality to look like. It isn't about a fancy house, elaborate food and matching dishes...though, I do love all of that! Kenyan's here have proved that you don't need money to show great hospitality. They share what that do have with whoever steps foot in their mud floor(or cow dung floor...it's cheaper than cement)house. You can share your heart and life with people, even if the meal is simple and the setting is humble. The most important gift of welcome says I care, I love you, and I have prepared a place for you. We are called to "serve one another in love" (Galations 5:13) and that is what everyone has done for us in their homes.
We've had game days with all of the kids around the village playing soccer, volleyball or watching on the sidelines holding babies. We usher at two of the three church services. Thankfully, Pastor doesn't make us attend the 6 am service, although I can hear him preaching from under my mosquito net in my bed. We have helped the family around the house wash clothes, cook or sit and have tea time. Tea time is absolutely something I will be doing when I get home. They stop anything they're doing for tea...it's great. I have also gotten to hold black babies almost every single day, which is something I specifically prayed for haha. More often than not, I'm also offered to keep the baby to bring back to the states with me. Good thing I'm not here in month 11 or I may be coming home with more than what I left with.
Kenya is absolutely beautiful, the people are welcoming and we are having a great time here. Most Kenyan's live on $1 a day and work very hard for their families. They show such deep love for each other and family is one of the most important things in their lives. Please pray for the people we are building relationships with and that we will be listening to what God wants us to walk in each day. My prayer for them is to experience a personal relationship with Christ, instead of having religion something practiced because it's in their culture.
*Also, check out the Ordinary Women website at www.ordinarywomen.org. I'm still learning more about it, but they're doing great things for some of the many orphans here in Kiminini.
Here's another link to the pictures I uploaded of our month in Cambodia. I loved it! I'm posting this from Nairobi, Kenya where my squad is getting briefed and ready for ministry starting Thursday. I am beyond words excited to be in Africa and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. Thanks for your prayers...enjoy the photos!
[This blog was written by my amazing teammate, Christy Plummer. We visited this squatter village twice and I love her explanation of our experience so much that I wanted to share it with yall]
It is unacceptable for a woman who is nine months pregnant to sit squatting in the hot sun all day, hitting rocks with a mallet in hopes to earn a few dollars a week for her family of three children. It is unacceptable for a baby's bottle to be filled with brown water from a pond. It is unacceptable for a village of people to never have been visited by anyone before. These things are unacceptable because we can do something about them. For the first time in my life, I know what the term unacceptable means, because I have seen it.
The woman who is nine months pregnant.
Meet Brett, a man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who is doing something about it. Through God's provision, He has answered our prayers for additional ministry options this month and has us plugged in with awesome ministries in Phnom Penh. We are doing various things with Water of Life ministry, who also informed us of Brett. The minute I heard of what he does, I knew I needed to see it. First, a little background information . . Brett went through DTS training through YWAM (Youth With A Mission)a few years back. Out of his class of twenty-five, he is the ONLY one who went into missions, and was offered a choice between China, the Philippines, and Cambodia. His thought process was, "Cambodia sounds good. No one goes to Cambodia." Well here he is three years later pouring his heart out to the people of Phnom Baset. Before finding these people, he worked with various other ministries in Phnom Penh, none of which matching up with his beliefs and the calling God had for his life.
Brett with a girl from Phnom Baset.
My teammate Alex and I had the opportunity to go with Brett and some others from Water of Life ministry to Phnom Baset, a rock quarry/squatter village. It is home to families who have nothing much more than things Brett and his ministry have provided them with. He partners with a nearby church, and visits the village weekly. They spend the day at the quarry teaching children Bible lessons, playing games, singing music, working alongside the women, cooking/sharing a meal, meeting their physical needs through medicine or material provision when funds allow . . . ultimately just loving the people that call the quarry home. Brett's ministry is not about just giving hand-outs, but to show the love of Christ through alleviating the many struggles they have in life. It was an honor to have the chance to come alongside these things for a day, but it was the harshest reality I have ever seen.
The children with coloring sheets from the Bible lesson on creation.
Holly, from Water of Life, singing Khmer songs with the children.
(Left) Brett and others preparing the meal. (Right) Children running up from the quarry for food.
As I took over the women's station who is nine months pregnant and began hammering rocks, my mind had so many thoughts. What do these people think about all day while they monotonously hammer away? As a Christian, the hope I have in Christ [might] get me through, but they don't have that. They literally have no hope in life, unless someone brings it to them. Even as a Christian, I have to honestly say I would most likely feel hopeless myself. Maybe thirty minutes into hammering rocks, I had blisters on my hands, and wanted to give up. You should have seen the pathetic pile of gravel I managed to produce. I don't know how they do it. All day long these women and children hammer the rocks they have gotten from the limestone mountainside in order to make gravel. They gather the rocks in baskets and bring them back to their stations, where they then squat working until the pile is finished. Then, they go back for more. They receive pay when they fill up the back of a truck with gravel, earning approximately seven dollars to split amongst themselves. The women are lucky if they have husbands who work at the mountainside chipping off the bigger rocks. The women who don't aren't so lucky, because they must purchase the rocks they collect, which causes them to barely break even when they receive their earnings. So what I am saying is, they basically work this hard, for nothing.
Myself, working alongside the woman who is nine months pregnant.
Alex working at another woman's station hammering rocks.
The reality is, these people have nothing. The water they drink causes them to continuously have worms. They have nothing more than lean-to's Brett and his ministry made for them only a week ago, which won't help at all when the rainy season comes. They have tarps and mosquito nets bought through people donating to the cause. The reality is, there are people like this all over the World, but most of us in America "aren't aware because we don't see them". The reality is, there are people in America without hope as well, who we walk past without helping. While we might not be helping because we don't know how . . it will never stop if we don't offer them the hope they need somehow. The hope they need to survive.
The rock mountainside and the quarry, which is the only current water source.
Be praying for Brett's ministry and the people of Phnom Baset. You can check out his ministry here:
Students:We awe good, dank you. And ju? How awe ju teacha?
Teacha Alex: I'm great! Thank you!
And then they sit down in their teeny tiny plastic chairs. We are all referred to as "teacha" which is often shortened to "cha". I think these kids compete for some of the cutest ones I've ever seen, and sure enough, I've fallen in love with these little nuggets. This month I have the honor of teaching English to precious four year olds and a first grade class.
Me and my preschool class!
I am definitely not cut out to be a teacher, but I do love hugging and kissing every kid and watching them get SO excited over a game of hangman. [Hangman is kind of my go-to teaching activity]. My class room gets a little rambunctious with little ones jumping out of their seats screaming "cha, cha!" and it's hilarious. I hear this countless times a day; I'm starting to call my teammates "cha".
Christy and Cassie are both teachers, so they have it under control. We all have our own teaching styles. For example, I walked into Allan's class, and this is what he forces his poor students to endure...
We also help serve lunch in the cafeteria after we teach. In theory, the kids sit at their miniature tables and raise their hands when they want more rice (of course, rice). In reality, it's total chaos and totally fun. We play with the kids inbetween classes and during their recess. We also came downstairs one day, not so enthusiastic about teaching, and there was a raging dance party going on blaring Lecrae (Christian rapper). Who said being a missionary was ever boring?!
One of my first graders, Lisa, and me sweaty after dancing
The church and school building is attached and that's also where we're staying. It's nice to roll out of bed (kind of like college again) before I go teach since its right downstairs. The school is called New Hope and the church is New Life. I like to call our living quarters "The palace". It's definitely the nicest place we've stayed so far.
The school is amazing and a great Christian environment that incorporates the love of Jesus into learning. The school is preschool through fifth grade with about 250 students. A lot of the students are poor (a lot of people are in Cambodia still suffering the aftermath of the genocide in the late 70's) and a bus load of kids come from anearby orphanage to learn. Many kids are orphans, while others are raised only by a single parent or relative. A lot of the little ones have rotten teeth, which I'm guessing is because it's too much money for toothbrush and toothpaste and the parents figure their baby teeth will fall out anyways. Cambodia is still a suffering country in education and other areas of the economy, but I believe these little ones are going to be intelligent future leaders and influential people in their country.
Two of my FAVORITE boys...I want to put them in my pack and take them home.
All of these kids have so much life and joy. They really are well behaved and so eager to learn at such a young age. I love coming down the stairs each morning being surrounded by countless hugs, smiles and laughter!
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