Busy times...

It has been an insane week; hence the reason there hasn’t been any recent emails/blogs.

First of all, I had an amazing week with my amazing friends, Rhonda and Catherine. They arrived in Kenya on the 22nd of November and left on November 30th. It was a packed week of showing them around, showing them our different projects and just spending time together. Although I felt like we didn’t get to spend as much time together as I had liked, the time we were together was really awesome.

It was a week full of fun and wonderful surprises/acknowledgements. It makes me wonder where things will be in one year’s time. I am totally excited about it; all of it.

Friends of ours, Eva Joy and Caleb (whom I have talked about many times), got married today in our backyard. It was decided on Wednesday that they were going to get married, here in Kenya, on Friday. So the past couple of days have been a whirlwind around our house, from 15 people living in it, to planning a wedding in less than 48 hours.

Thanks to the Lord, the wedding was a complete success. Eva Joy looked absolutely beautiful and my sweet little brother (who’s a foot taller than me), Caleb looked totally handsome. Their vows to each other were beautiful; and their first kiss was when Wycliffe, the one marrying them, said, “You may now kiss your bride.” It was beautiful, totally beautiful.

Tomorrow is the beginning of our holidays. Jared, Amanda, Kate, Daniel, Faith and I are heading to Nakuru for two nights. The four of them (minus Daniel and I) are going to do a safari and we’re then going to tour around the towns, etc. Then we are heading to Nairobi to visit the Soweto (sew-wet-o) slums. We are starting a project there soon; it’s a desperate slum area, as bad as the well known Kibera (Key-bear-a) slums of Nairobi.

Jared, Daniel, Faith and I will head back to the Kitale area while Amanda and Kate head to Mombasa for a week. Then we, the four of us or the three of us, may take off to Kisumu for a couple of days. I just know that I don’t want to stay on the compound the whole time during my holidays. There is something about staying in a hotel, watching TV in bed or reading for hours that just sounds so relaxing. :-)

Other than that, things are going really well here. We’ve been building a good relationship with the street girls, especially Anne, our social worker. It’s hard because our project won’t be ready until hopefully May of 2008 and we know that these girls need help and soon. But what is the quick fix? What can we do in the meantime to help them? Ideas have flown around but we haven’t got any real peace or direction from God yet. So, we just ask for prayer for that. What can we do to help these girls now? Help them from possibly getting pregnant, getting HIV during this time of building?

Thanks to everyone for all that you have done. I have the best group of family and friends. I hope that you are all getting ready for the holidays. It’s amazing how time is flying by; I can’t believe that Christmas is less than a month away. I can only imagine how INSANE the shopping malls are right now. Frankly, I don’t miss the chaos. I just miss the time with the family, friends and hot chocolate (with a little bit of Bailey’s) by the fire on a cold winter night.

I will add pictures soon of the past week (Catherine and Rhonda, The wedding and my vacation).

I love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxo

Tons of pics...of kids....

Rose, Me, Nafula & Kate.



Josephine, Lillian & Rose



Street Moms




My sweet Rose & me

My sweet sweet Sammy - blowing me a kiss.

Nafula & her son Tony.

Just hanging with the street boys...

Lillian & Me...she's a sweetheart.

The funny face guy - wants to marry me.

Ezekiel, Daniel & Alex

Molongo & Me

The kids and me.

Irine & Me

The boys of Oasis & me.

Some boys of Oasis and me.

Hanging out with the street boys.

Samson loves the camera.

Daniel, Me & Collins (Daniel took the picture)

My favorite picture....


More photos soon....I got tons. :-)

Pictures..

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans (for tomorrow). We, here in Kenya, had our thanksgiving dinner tonight. Thursday's are such a big day for us with the street kids that some of us weren't willing to sacrifice our time with the kids for a dinner. So that's why it's today.

Anyway, I've attached tons of pictures for you all. It's been long over due. My apologies. Enjoy!

Food Distribution

This is our garage with all the food piled and ready to go.

Maili Saba - the first distribution place.

Maili Saba - the children patiently waiting.

Maili Saba - excited about her new blanket.

This is my sweet, sweet Patience. Beautiful, isn't she?

Patience & Me. I wanted to take her home with me.

The second distribution place: Shimo

Shimo - ladies carrying their food home.

Shimo - holding on to each other.

Shimo - aren't they gorgeous?!?!?

The Food Distribution Gang....and the food for Shimo.


Interns & Friends

Amanda & I at the National Show at Kitale Showground.

University of Texas Longhorns t-shirts; thanks to Kate's friend.

Crazy girls...Jessica, Eva, Kate & Amanda

Kate, Amanda & I

This is Todd, the birthday boy - nothing more said about him.

Note: no drinking or drugs were involved.

Pictures of kids coming soon....they're my favorite part. :-)

Daniel...

On Friday, I was in town and I ran in to one of the sweetest street boys, Daniel. Daniel is a regular at a street kid drop-in centre called Oasis of Hope. Daniel is one of the kids that I have a HUGE soft spot for in my heart. He is such a sweet boy with a sweet smile and is so smart. Whenever I go to Oasis of Hope to visit, he’s always helping the younger kids and is so attentive in the classes. Every time I see him, I make a point of hugging on him and telling him that I love him.

When I saw him in town on Friday, he was by himself so I thought that this was a perfect time for him and me to talk. So we went to a restaurant outside and had sodas. I asked Daniel to tell me a bit more about himself; I wanted to hear a bit of his story.

Daniel is fourteen years old. He is from Lodwar (in the Turkana district). His father was a drunkard and when Daniel was four years old, his father in a night of drunkenness rage, killed his mother. His father was charged with murder and sent to the Kitale prison. Without a mother, Daniel and his six-year old brother were brought to Kitale and put in to a group home.

From the sounds of it, they were in and out of homes. Daniel’s older brother is currently in jail in Eldoret for stealing. Daniel doesn’t know if his father is out of jail or still there and Daniel doesn’t even remember what his father looks like. He could pass him on the street every day in Kitale and not even know it’s his father.

There was a deep sadness in his eyes. At one point, I saw tears well up but Daniel was quick to wipe them away with the sleeve of his dirty shirt, never wanting to show the emotional side of him. He broke my heart.

I asked him if he knew that he could always trust me and know that I would be always be a friend to him. He looked at me sheepishly, smiled and said, “I know, Mary.” I asked him if he knew that I loved him, he said, “I know you love me. Thank you. I love you too…sana (very much).”

Some street kids will tell false stories of their past to get the sympathy of the white people. And perhaps this could be the truth of Daniel but for now, I will believe and listen to what he says. Because no matter what, I don’t think you can pretend the pain that was in his eyes. And sometimes, the stories just might be true. I just want to be someone, not of foolishness who believes all that they hear, but someone that the kids will know they can confide in and that they will be truly listened to. I just will trust in God to give me discernment.

Here’s a picture of Daniel.

Slipper Mania...

When the Foster Group was here a few weeks ago, I took them to Oasis of Hope to check out the street kid program that they are running here in Kitale. Geoffrey, the Kenyan manager of Oasis of Hope was welcoming of them. He explained the vision and mission of Oasis and the different steps/plans of the centre as well.

The Foster Group was so impressed with the set-up that they donated money to Oasis to buy slippers (we know them as sandals/flip-flops in North America) for all of the children in both the drop-in centre and the four group homes that Oasis has. On Wednesday, Geoffrey went and bought the slippers (about 100 of them) and on Thursday, Daniel and I went to Oasis of Hope’s drop-in centre and presented the children at the center with new slippers. The kids were thrilled to get new slippers; slippers are inexpensive here but break very easy, especially when worn all the time.

On Thursday evening, Eva Joy and I went with Geoffrey to deliver the remaining slippers to the four group homes. Oh my gosh, we had such a blast. Although we spent minimal time with the kids, the time spent was awesome. The first house, properly called “House #1” was awesome. The boys there are total gems. As soon as Eva and I arrived, I noticed Evans right away, sweet Evans from the Glue Boys video. He looked the same, the same sweet face, just taller and wiser. 

One of the boys, Elvis, is preparing to start his KCPE (Kenya Certification of Primary Education) exam on Monday for grade eight. This is an extremely important exam as it will determine, based on his marks, what type of high school he will accepted by. So before we left, Eva and I sat with Elvis, laid hands on him and prayed for him. He was so happy to have us do that for him. We ended up praying for all the boys.

And with each house we went to, before leaving, we gathered together in a circle, held hands and Eva and I prayed for them.

It was probably one of the most fun evenings I have had in a long time. Again, although the time at each home was short, it was such a blessing to me to be able to meet these amazing kids who went from street kids (glue sniffers) to children with the chance to accomplish their goals and dreams.

Thank you Lydia and Geoffrey for allowing us to visit your homes. I will be visiting a lot more often…those kids are such a huge blessing. As soon as I get the camera cable, I will post pictures up here for you to see.

Love you all,
Meredith
xoxoxo

Devotional...

Last night, our group spent time in worship and prayer. It was something that was suggested in the morning and we all felt that it was needed. It was a time of just coming together, worshipping God for what He is doing in our lives and also praying to Him for healing, comforting, uniting us all individually and as a group.

It was a relaxing time and this morning, we all felt refreshed and renewed. The three that are sick are feeling much better today. The one’s that are struggling with hurts or confusion, are feeling comforted and God’s peace again. It was a much needed night last night; it was amazing to be a part of it.

This morning, I was reading from my daily devotional (November 10th) and in our morning devotional, we read it and reflected on it. It really hit home to a lot of us, most of us. Here it is:

Fellowship in the Gospel

After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Ghost; He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself – God has called me for this and that – you are putting a barrier to God’s use of you. As long as you have a personal interest in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through into identification with God’s interests. You can only get there by losing forever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.

I have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him, and never say – Lord, this gives me such heartache. To talk in that way makes me a clog. When I stop telling God what I want, He can catch me up for what He wants without let or hindrance. He can crumple me up or exalt me; He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil; if I go off on that line I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. I have “a world within the world” in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten.

Taken from “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.

Loving on the kids...

We are friends with a missionary couple here in Kitale, named Jeff & Carla. In the beginning, they were here to do spring water systems for the Kenyans; however, they saw an even greater need to love and care for the orphans that they found themselves surrounded with.

They have opened up their home and now have a number of children living with them. A lot of these children come from abusive pasts.

For example, they have two siblings, Jessica (2.5 years old) and James (1.5 years old) that they are now caring for. Jessica and James’ mother had passed away and the care of these two children was dependent upon an elderly man who had no idea how to care for the children. So at the age of one and a half, Jessica was tied to a bed while her infant brother, James, was left on the bed – both in the same position, same room, day after day. Jessica was fed like a bird, her head tilted up, mouth open and food dropped in to her mouth. This was only when food was provided. This went on for months and months.

Jeff and Carla heard of their story through people who lived in the community and had found out about these children. So Jeff and Carla rescued these two children. Jessica still has a bit of an eating disorder but they have been able to break her of accepting food like a bird does. James has a learning disability due to malnutrition and lack of love and comfort as a baby. Actually, they have already lost him once. He had a seizure and died. It was almost 7 minutes later; life was breathed back in to him.

I’ve never officially met Jessica; she was sleeping when I visited their home but I did get to spend a day with James. He was in town for a doctor’s appointment with Jeff and we met up with them. James has such a big beautiful smile and loves to cuddle up against you. He fell asleep in my arms (as most children do here) and when he woke up, he felt the need to put his fingers in my mouth, up my nose and then tried to tie a rope around my head.

James suffers from horrible seizures that are causing some brain damage and he is coming closer and closer to death as the seizures seem to be getting worse. They recently found out that the seizures occur when he has malaria. The risk of getting malaria is reduced if the proper precautions are taken and Jeff and Carla are doing everything they can to protect James from getting malaria and we are hoping that now that rainy season has come to an end, that the mosquitoes will be less and therefore the risk of getting malaria will decrease as well. They are starting to think that the only way this little boy will be able to live a full life is if he is adopted into North America or something; some place where malaria isn’t there.

James also has a disability with his legs. I can’t think of the exact name of it but his knees bend the other way so he walks almost bold legged; he can’t walk properly. He requires leg braces which will hopefully correct things. Surgery will be likely needed in the future. However, he adapts well to his disability and every time he falls on his bum, he looks around to see who’s watching him, gets a big smile on his face, with his tongue sticking out and claps at himself a few times. He is beyond precious; he is absolutely amazing. Another child on my ever growing list that I would adopt in a heartbeat.

The same day that Jeff and James were at the doctor’s appointment, Jeff was told of a little boy, about four years old, named Kelvin that was brought in after being brought in by a neighbor. Kelvin had been severely beaten by his aunt, whom he lives with. Jeff met him and was so touched by his story that he immediately went to find out how he could save this little boy.

Well, this week, Jeff brought Kelvin home with him. It turns out that Kelvin is more like seven or eight years old, not four, although he looks like a four-year old. This means he is extremely malnourished. This little boy has scars all over his body; burn marks, whip marks, etc. In examining Kelvin, they found burn scars on his genital area; his aunt had burned him there with a hot iron.

I am so thankful for Jeff & Carla; for the love they have for these beaten and abused children, for opening up their home to care for them, to rehabilitate them, to love them. They are just another group of friends who are doing amazing work for the Lord here.

A friend of mine told me that he was talking to a friend of his about Africa. The person had said that it was best that they didn’t know what was going on in Africa, that way they didn’t have to feel that they needed to do something. I just don’t think we can play ignorance to what is going on in the world. This doesn’t just happen in Africa; it happens everywhere. And we as God’s people are called to protect and find justice for the beaten, the poor, and the broken-hearted. We can’t turn a blind eye to it and pretend that it’s not going on. It is. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. We can’t ignore it.

How a person can beat a child; I don’t understand, I can’t comprehend. But it happens and all I want to do when I hear those stories, those tragedies, is to run and cover the child, protect the child, love the child and let them know that there is someone out there that loves them and someone that can and will heal those wounds. It’s not me; I can offer the little pieces of comfort but I know that God’s heart is even more broken than mine; He’s shedding even more tears than me or that child. He is opening up His arms and saying, “Let me heal you. Let me love you.” If we can help one child at a time hear those words, than it’s all worth it. Every tear that I shed, every frustrated moment I have, every prayer that I pray, every hug that I give…it’s all worth it. These children are more than worth it.

God's Peace...

God’s been showing me a lot lately. I hit a very low point last week; lower than I have felt in a very long time. I needed to find closure on some issues and I found out the only way I could get those closures was by seeking and being closer to God. It wasn’t something that a person(s) could do; it was something that God told me truly could only be done from Him. I needed to find peace through Him.

I was on my way home the other day from a meeting and I was sitting in the matatu. I was looking out the window at the beautiful scenery pass me by and I just started praying. I asked God to just fill me with peace and joy, something that I felt had slipped away over the past week or so. I just laid it all out to Him, surrendering my need for control over all that I had been dealing with.

And then I looked a little to the right. There are these beautiful rolling hills and sometimes when the clouds are low, they cover the peak of the higher hills. This was one of these days. Attached to one of these clouds was this beautiful faint rainbow. It looked as if the rainbow was hugging the hills.

I was suddenly overcome with peace; peace with what I was feeling, what I was dealing with. There was just peace. God was letting me know that I would be okay.

It doesn’t mean that all is fixed in one moment but it does mean that I have God’s promise: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper.” Hebrews 13:5-6

I choose to focus on Him. I choose to allow Him to heal me. I choose to be the woman He has called me to be.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those of you who prayed for me. They were heard.

Love you all,
Meredith
xoxoxo

Fun at the showground...

On Friday, in the late afternoon, Caleb, Tim, Amanda, Kate, Daniel and I went to the showground. None of us had ever been there before so we thought we would check it out. Caleb and Tim met the rest of us in front of the showground and as we walked to the entry gate, we knew we were being talked about and definitely stared at. The white people, they’re going in to the showground. WHAT?!?!?

We got in and walked around, checking things out. It was pretty neat. There was a lot of agricultural stuff and a lot of vendors selling cool things. Then, Rhonda….there was a camel. I had told Amanda and Kate of mine and Rhonda’s FUN adventure on the camel once and so they had to do it. How many North Americans get to say that they’ve ridden a camel before so they had to try it? The guy originally wanted to charge them double but I told him that it was too much so he knocked it down.

Here were two white girls on top of a camel being taken around in section of all Kenyans. You could hear the people yelling “mzungu” (white person) and there was Kate and Amanda on top of the camel, waving to the people like Queen Elizabeth does in her parades.

After the camel ride, Amanda and I wanted to get our faces painted like the little kids did. So we found a guy who had face paint in his hand but he was too drunk and we thought he would destroy our faces so we passed on him. We found a guy who, again, wanted to charge us double then what the Kenyans paid (thanks to some of our street kids who found us and told us what the face painting rate was). So we went to walk away but the guy finally brought the price down. We still paid five shillings more than the kids did but oh well, it was all good.

Amanda and I drew a crowd of people. “Oh my gosh, these white people are getting their faces painted.” Yeah, they say “mzungu” A LOT. And it’s like they have this image of us white people being boring and bossy and rude. Yeah, I don’t fit that image and I think we proved it that day.

After the face painting, Amanda and I bought balloon hats and walked around with the balloon hats on our heads and our faces painted. We were the talk of the showground. Everywhere we went, we got the stares. I was even told that I looked “smart” with my balloon hat and face painted (smart here means looking good, pretty).

There was booth to go and see the shortest man in the world. It was ten shillings to go in this booth and see so we decided what the heck, let’s do it. Hahaha. It turns out it was a “mermaid” that was in this booth (shortest man was in another booth). The mermaid was a woman sitting in a cut-out bath basin with a box around her. So all you could see was from her collar bone up and she had one dots painted on her and her face painted. Yep, that’s it. Not even a fish tail to make it a little more mermaid life-like. As Jared would say, “Good times!”

Then music, fun dance music, came on. I so wanted to dance. If I saw little kids dancing, I would go over and dance with them, imitating what they were doing. Then we found this little “dance floor” of dirt that a few people were on and I just had to dance. So Caleb, Kate and I decided to go and dance (Amanda and Daniel decided they would take pictures and video of it). It didn’t last long. Within seconds, I had Kenyan men wanting to dance with me and really close to me. They didn’t even acknowledge that Caleb, a six foot two guy, was dancing right beside me, watching over me. Kate and I were surrounded so I pulled the plug on that, grabbed Kate and said it was time to move on. It’s amazing how quickly the word gets around that there are white girls dancing. What started with just a few people, ended up with too many people.

It started to get dark out so we decided to head home. It was a great day; a much needed day of fun, silliness and laughter. The show is over now, no more blaring disco music until 4:00 in the morning. Maybe I’ll go more often to the show next year. It was fun.

On another note, check out the Transformed International (TI) website (www.transformedinternational.org). We have some exciting news about the street girls program that TI is starting. God is totally awesome in providing for this program. This program is definitely something that is close to my heart; I love these street kids and especially the forgotten street girls. They need the love and attention.

When the Glue Boys documentary was being filmed, it was decided that it would be just on the boys because it was believed that North America, the world, wasn’t ready to hear what the street girls go through, the things they endure.

It’s going to be trying, this program; it’s going to be emotional and heartbreaking. I know it is. But to help even one street girl rehabilitate herself and to start fresh, it’s worth it. Every tear, every heart break is worth it. These girls deserve a shot; they deserve love; they deserve people who will believe in them and help them follow their dreams.

It’s exciting; so excited. So check out the website, keep updated on God’s work and what He’s doing.

Love you all,
Meredith
xoxoxo

The World We Live In...

On Monday, about an hour before I got to the area of the market, two deaths had happened there. It seems that these two men that were killed who were known murderers and they were finally caught. So the public took it upon themselves to punish these to men.

They found them, caught them and in broad daylight, in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of town, they put tires over their bodies to around their hips with the hands trapped inside the tires against their bodies, dumped kerosene on them and lit a match.

Then they burned the two men to death.

In the middle of the street, people: men, women AND children, cheered for the burning alive death of these two men. This is the world I live in…

On Tuesday, one of our grocery stores was robbed at gun point in broad daylight, 30 minutes after my dear friend Eva and her mom LEFT the grocery store. Praise the Lord they were not in there at the time.

On Wednesday, a store next to our other grocery store was rubbed at gun point as well.

This is the world we live in…

The presidential elections are being held December 27th. This is a fairly high dangerous/rioting time in the country, the election year. This election year, unfortunately has brought a lot of the “tribalism” back in to Kenya.

The worst time will be the few weeks leading up to the elections and the day after the election when the president is named. We have already discussed the possibility of having lock-down in our compound at that time.

There are promises to free the country of corruption; promises to better the lives of Kenyans; promises to remove poverty from the country. Broken promises, broken hearts.

This is the world we live in.