Milka & Sabina

Our social worker, Anne, came to the staff meeting this morning, telling us of a woman that we needed to meet. This woman’s mother belongs to a friend of ours widow project in a little village called Maili Saba (Mile-ee Sa-ba). Anne was doing assessments on the widows in that area for a food distribution that we’ll be doing next week and this is where Anne met this particular woman.

The woman, the daughter, Milka, showed up to our meeting. She was dressed up for it and I could tell she was nervous about speaking to us.

Anne asked Milka to share the story of her mother, the grandmother to the children. The grandmother’s name is Sabina.

Milka said that her mother, who is seventy years old, is taking care of her grandchildren because her three sons and one daughter died of AIDs. Milka is the only remaining child for Sabina.

Sabina is thankfully living on two points of an acre of her own land and has a house that she and her grandchildren live in. Milka said that her brothers had been very hardworking men when they were alive and that they had built another home on the property as well. The children that Sabina is raising range from age seventeen years old to six months old, totalling about 18 grandchildren. This one seventy year old grandmother is raising her 18 grandchildren because all but one of her children has died of AIDs.

There is a nine year old and the six month old grandchildren that have been confirmed to be HIV+. When their father found out that he was HIV+, he went and got his children tested for it as well. The remaining grandchildren have not been tested but Milka and Sabina feel that about six to eight of the other ones are HIV+ as well.

Milka said that what they needed was 1) to be able to have all the children tested for HIV and 2) to help feed this family. She is a nurse and whenever she can find a contract job, she takes it, just so she can assist her mother and her nieces and nephews. Milka has a family of her own and yet she doesn’t want to see her extended family suffer.

As Milka spoke of her siblings who had passed away; as she spoke about her grandmother and nieces and nephews, tears would well up in her eyes. There came a point when I couldn’t look at her anymore; the tears were welling up in my eyes too. I turned away in time to have them fall down my cheeks.

And when I heard of one of the children being six months old and HIV+, I immediately looked at Sean. Could we take the baby for a little while and get him/her the proper care, nutrition, medicine that he/she needed to survive these fragile next few months? Could we take him/her PLEASE?!?!?!? We have the extra room! We’re ready for this! All these questions, hopes, possibilities kept running through my head. I want so badly, from the moment I heard about this little one, to do it.

My heart ached for Milka. I saw a strong woman, doing what she could for her mother but I also saw defeat and sadness in her eyes.

We’ll be going out there in a few weeks to assess the home and the children to see what can be done. I’ll keep you posted.

In Him,

Meredith

So sick and sad...

The MP's of Kenya want to give themselves a pay raise....a ridiculous one.

Where will it come from?

The tax payers who are their own people who can barely make ends meet on their $1/day income?

Or from the foreign aid that is supposed to help these people?

Who knows.

Read the link.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Not%20with%20Kenyans%20tax%20money/-/1056/950638/-/15irrod/-/index.html

A Whole Lota New....

I (Meredith) was hoping that I would be able to blog every day on this thing but the past few months have been busy with moving, TI stuff and not having internet at our new home. Thankfully, we do now!

Veronica Home

The first big exciting news is that we opened up our Veronica Home on April 30^th of this year. The Veronica Home was named after our sweet little Veronica Bahati that passed away on July 14^th, 2009 from HIV/AIDS. The Veronica Home is mainly for children that are HIV+. We currently have eight children in the home; some are not HIV+ but have been moved there from another home. We do have three children that are positive; they are: our sweet little Martin, whom you all (or at least those who have read past blogs) know about, our newest girl, Lillian and Lina.

The children have wonderful house parents that TI has been working alongside with for almost two years; we have a new aunt who the kids have immediately loved and new watchmen that are taking good care of watching over our kids.

It’s a wonderful place; the area is beautiful and it has a gorgeous view of Mount Elgon.

Stewart Home

Sean and I moved in to our new house on May 2^nd. We decided that we needed to have our home, being newly married (almost a year and a half now!). It is such the perfect place for us. It’s a four bedroom, three bathroom home that sits on a cute little compound with flowers and banana trees everywhere. We have this huge cabana made of a grass roof and straw and bamboo sides. We have a cool carport....that is empty. We hope to at least put a motorcycle in it in the future.

There is a bedroom and bathroom off to one side of the house that has its own entrance. That is where James sleeps. James used to live at Kaibeiyo Children’s Home (through Symbios), the home that Daniel and I used to work at in Eldoret a few years ago. We’ve hired him on to be our daytime watchman/gardener; it’s a job that will help him to save money for his schooling of agriculture in the next year or so.

The other side of the house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. One room we’ve made into an office; the second room is a guest room for our friends like Nicole Jeffs (who’s coming in July) and the Stawskis...who I know will be back again soon. The third bedroom is Sean’s and mine. It has an ensuite bathroom with a nice bathtub. Yes, I love it!

It’s a new chapter in our life, having a home of our own now. It’s expensive but it’s quiet, clean and ours to come to every night.

Busy Summer

We have a crazy busy summer this year. There are four teams of people from New York State who will be housing and eating at TI. They are building a children’s home for a friend of ours over the next eight weeks. Danel, Daniel’s mom, is here to help the TI Staff with the teams.

The first team of 13 arrives this coming Saturday (26^th), then as they leave on the 10^th of July, the next group of 10 will be arriving. Then two weeks after that, team two will be leaving and team three of 17 people will be arriving. And then as team three leaves, team four of 9 people will be arriving. This team rotation all ends on August 21^st. Also during the second week of July, we have a team of 9 coming, who are with TI, for 10 days. It’s going to be a crazy few weeks during that time.

Internship Program for 2010

After the teams leave on August 21^st, we have about two weeks to relax and prepare for our 2010 Fall Interns. We have seven interns, all female, who will be a part of the three-month internship program. We have three from Ontario, Canada and the other four are from various parts of the US. We’re really excited to have these young ladies here in the fall, especially Danel and I as we get to spend time with them, grow with them, learn with them, etc. I’m really excited about it.

Ladies Bible Study

I, Meredith, am part of a weekly bible study with other missionary ladies in the Kitale area. It’s been such a wonderful time for all of us ladies. We get together each week and it’s become one of my favourite days of the week, to be around other women, sharing in our passions, our struggles, and our praises. We’ve already done two bible studies, both by Beth Moore (whom we all thoroughly enjoy) and will be starting our third Beth Moore study soon.

Man’s Nights

Sean and a group of other men in our community, get together every few weeks and a have a night together. They usually cook up some meat (and that’s all!) on the BBQ, sit back and enjoy each other’s company. It’s really been a great time for him too; it’s so important to have those times together.

Rachael

On Friday, June 18^th, I (Meredith) went to the hospital to check up on a seven year old girl, Rachael that TI has been assisting for the past few months. Rachael was visiting the section of the hospital for HIV+ people. Rachael got HIV from her parents, whom have both since died and she was being raised by her grandmother.

Rachael was a sickly girl; the “typical” girl that you would see as the poster child for starving African children on the infomercials. I’ve never seen her smile; until Friday. I was getting ready to leave and I walked over to her and told her in Swahili that she was such a beautiful girl and she did good work today here at the hospital and that I was very happy. And as she was strapped to her grandmother’s back, I leaned over and gave her a big kiss and told her that I loved her. It was then that a little smile appeared, on the corner of her mouth. I couldn’t help but beam back; Rachael had smiled.

We had made arrangements for Rachael to move in to the Veronica Home this past week. I was so excited to get her there, for her to have a swarm of brothers and sisters around her who would share things with her, make her laugh. For her to have a mother and father who would take care of her and love her instantly. For her to have a full happy belly and a warm bed to sleep in.

This is what I wanted for Rachael. But it wasn’t what God wanted....

Rachael went to be with Jesus on June 22^nd, in the afternoon.

So she now has a swarm of people, like Veronica, who are making her laugh; she has a Father who loves her more than any mother or father on earth could love her. And she is healthy, whole and loving every minute of it.

I guess this is what I wanted for Rachael....it just came in a different form.

We are saddened by her death but live in the comfort that she is not in pain anymore and that she is with our Father. Death has been such a close to home thing lately, for us, for some of you back home....but I trust in God’s peace; His love and His absolute comfort. His ways are far beyond our understanding at times but I choose to seek more of Him, to desire Him and to have faith in Him.

And so it continues....

I am hoping to become more disciplined on writing updates. Life is never boring, especially after the runaway tuk-tuk story.....which I’ll save for another blog.

Until next time,

Meredith

Songs That Touch...

Have you ever heard a song or two that just touches you in such a deep way; that just opens the flood gates of tears; that you feel were written and sung just for you?

Here's mine as of lately....

Times - Tenth Avenue North

I know I need You
I need to love You
I love to see You, but it's been so long
I long to feel You
I feel this need for You
And I need to hear You, is that so wrong?

Now You pull me near You
When we're close, I fear You
Still I'm afraid to tell You, all that I've done
Are You done forgiving?
Oh can You look past my pretending?
Lord, I'm so tired of defending, what I've become
What have I become?

I hear You say,
"My love is over. It's underneath.
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real? '
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.

It never ends."

and....

By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

------------

I break; He mends me

I fall; He picks me up

I cry; He wipes the tears away

I laugh; He laughs along with me

I draw closer; He holds on tighter

I love Him; He loves me

Our Video

Attached is the video that Sean and I did for speaking engagements. This is a little look at our 2009 year in Kenya. The song is called Change by Carrie Underwood (on her new cd "Play On".)

Enjoy!