Day 20

Day 20.…a rather uneventful day. Slept in until 7:00 am, which is pm for you. Saturday here there is no school and so all the older kids have chores to do. I have been having fun with this blog, but not tonite….I think. Humor is a way that I have always dealt with stress in my life, whether it be as a kid entering a new school, or an old guy in Africa. The longer that we are here, the more I need to be funny in order to cope with the overwhelming world here. Sandy has shared a couple of stories, and surely they tugged at your heart. There are 82 kids here that for one reason or another, nobody wanted. Nobody wanted….nobody. Every kid has a sad story of abandonment, abuse or neglect. Most have been rescued at a young age and are receiving love and acceptance here, and won’t remember their history before InStep, Some of the older ones, like Kelvin and Bafo and Gracie and Churchill and more will carry the scars, both physical and mental for the rest of their lives. All will grow up with the knowledge that someone rejected them. There is nothing funny about that. So, I use the laughs to cover the pain, but I don’t want you to go on in your life not knowing that there are kids like these that desperately need someone to care. Jesus said take care of the orphans. He didn’t ask, He told!
The question is to me: do I care enough to give of myself in some way to touch someone that needs to be loved and has been thrown away by others? That is something that I am grappling with as I sit here tonite…which is this morning for you. I wish I could somehow convey to you how much this place can touch you. When you see the kids and know some of their backgrounds and yet have a smile on their face and hope in their smile, you can only be amazed at what Jeff and Carla are doing here in not even their little corner of the world.
This is a country that has a dark history, and I easily see how it has affected the people here. It can’t be changed quickly, but there is hope in the next generation. There are 82 young people that will see things differently from their ancestors and will have the skills to begin the much needed changes in the heart of Kenya.
J & C are not “westernizing” these kids. They are teaching them how to live in the society that they will move in to, but with a new heart and new vision for positive change. The combination of sharing Jesus in a tangible way and providing positive role models provides hope to me that Kenya will be a better place for the next generation.
It is all so overwhelming when you look at the big picture here, and I have learned a lot from J & C about loving one person at a time….and then another and then soon there might be 82 or as there hope is 400+. I’m glad that I came back to Africa even if I don’t come back because it has radically changed my perspectives. I still don’t do babies, but am getting closer.
Thanks for letting me change up tonight….which is this morning for you. I won’t be able to stand the stress for long, so will probably use humor to help me cope shortly.