Last Day of Clinic

Clinic Day 4

We finished clinic on Tuesday. We worked from around 9am until 5:45pm and we saw around 110 people. It is crazy that the four days are already over. It seems like we just arrived! Our medical team has been absolutely incredible. They worked incredibly hard all week, and they never complained or asked for a break. They had servant hearts and loved on each one of their patients. The support team worked just as hard, making everything run as smooth as possible. Each one of us had a different role, and each one of us played a huge role in the success of the Lord's work this week. Praise God for our individual gifts and talents which make up the entire body of Christ! 

For each area a feeding station or orphanage is opened, there are several more within just a few miles. Some of our feeding stations and orphanages are very close, and other organizations have opened them near ours as well. It is crazy to think that in such a small area there is a need for multiple orphanages. And this is the same for most areas in Kenya. There is such a huge need for orphan care, and we are honored and humbled to have been called by God to help. Even though we may only have a small number of orphanages, each one is still incredibly important and necessary. No, KWO will not solve the orphan problem in Kenya. No, we will not even help save most of the orphans. But we will work to redeem the lives of the orphans and widows God has shown us. Although the number we will help is just fraction, it matters to them. It matters to Maxwell at the Adingo-Kingsway feeding station. It matters to Shiela at the Muhoroni Orphanage. It matters to the widows who lost their husbands, which also meant losing their worth in society. It matters to them. And it matters to God. And it matters to us. And we hope it will matter to you.

The faith of these people is so simple. They know God, they trust God, and they live for God. They choose joy, despite their circumstances. They choose to worship God. They choose to love people. They choose to live the life God has given them. This does not mean they do not struggle, sin, or wish their circumstances were different. It just means they have recognized that these things do not define them. They realize their hope is not in the things of this world. They realize they are not fighting a battle against flesh and blood, but of the spiritual forces. So they take up the armor of God daily. (Ephesians 6)

 

Why do we overcomplicate it then? I am not saying it is easy,  I am just saying we may tend to make things more complex or more difficult than God intended. 

Look at the church in Kenya:

A gathering of people worshipping and reading the word of God together. A two-year-old singing every word to every song, and a 70+ year-old woman leading worship. Some dance, some sit and pray, some just bask in the presence of the Holy Spirit that fills the place they gather. The "service" does not always start right on time, people come and go, different people pray and share from the Word, but  it reflects true community. It is, in a way, how I picture the first church in Acts. People aren't worried about how they are perceived, what others think about their style of worship, or how they sound when they sing. They are concerned with glorifying and worshipping The Lord. They do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing (Heb. 10:25). So why aren't we doing the same? Again, I'm not saying it's easy, and I'm not saying we never reflect this, but I am saying we lack in this area. We let so many petty things bring division among the church. Why? Why do we allow this? It is unnecessary and detrimental to the Body.

God moves in powerful ways when His people are willing and readily receptive. We need to be willing and readily receptive. As Believers, we need to rid ourselves of our selfish, worldly ways and seek HIS face in everything. Not legalism in the church, not pride for our own accomplishments, not a comfortable life. We need to seek HIS will and HIS plan, no matter what that looks like. When we do this, He WILL work in our lives. His presence WILL be obvious in our lives and in our churches. So much can be learned from these people, and this is only a small glimpse into that truth. 

We drove all day yesterday from Kericho back to the KWO headquarters in Kamulu. It took all day because we hit a few bumps in the road (literally and figuratively). When we first arrived in Kenya, most of our luggage did not make it on the same flight we took. That meant they came in on a flight the next day, but since we were already up in Kericho, the bags had to be delivered to us. That took a few days. Once we finally got them, we were still missing one bag. They delivered it to Nakuru, which is a major town between Kericho and Kamulu. The plan was to stop and pick it up on our way back to Kamulu. However, one of the cars had to make another stop in Nakuru as well: the police station.

In Kenya they set up speed traps, even though most of the time they do not even have radars. So basically one group of policeman stands at one point on the road, decides who is speeding, radios ahead to the next check point and lets them know they need to pull over a car for going too fast. That's what happened to one of our cars. Each vehicle in Kenya that is used for passenger transportation has a speed governor that has to be plugged in at all times. It does not allow the car to go faster than 80KPH. When it's unplugged, if you get caught, you can get in a lot of trouble. Which is what happened to us. When they pulled our driver Annington over, they saw that his speed governor was not plugged in so they proceeded to arrest him and said it would be 10,000 Kenya shillings, which is around 120 US dollars. Well, they took the car down to the police station in Nakuru, and with a little bribing and bargaining, they ended up paying the station 5,000 shillings and promised to bring a bible next time they drove through that check point. 

So that was an adventure! We finally made it back to Nairobi around 4, shopped at a local outdoor market for a couple of hours, took Danielle to the airport, then went to dinner at the Safari Park Hotel. It is basically like a Texas De Brazil where they serve your food to you straight off the large skewer onto a sizzling cast iron plate. It is delicious to say the least. After dinner they have a show that is sort of like an African luau. 

Saying bye to Danielle and dropping her off was sad. We wish she was coming on safari with us especially since this is going to be a great time for us to recuperate and process the events of he past week. We will talk through it together and share our experiences and what God taught us. I hope and pray this will be a very special, moving time for our group. 

It's true that whenever you experience Kenya together, there is just a special bond that is created that cannot be explained. And it lasts a lifetime. I am so thankful for these people and know these relationships will bless me for years and years to come.

Days 2 & 3 of Clinic

I am sorry for not posting a blog the past couple of days, but as many of you who have been here know, time seems to slip away quite easily. By the time we return to the hotel and eat dinner, everyone is so exhausted that bedtime is around 9. 

The second clinic day went much smoother than at Muhoroni. The first day always is a bit frustrating and hectic just because it takes some time to get everything figured out, see what works best, and iron out all the kinks. So our second clinic at Adingo-Opango ran well and we around 50 people in less than three hours. We only worked three hours because we were fortunate to spend the morning worshipping with the local church. Wow. What a blessing. It began with around 25 children in the 16'X24' sheet metal building singing at the top of their lungs, just as beautiful as can be. We watched, listened, and got chills as these tiny children sang to The Lord. There was a tiny little girl, probably about two years old, who sang every word to every song, dancing and clapping on beat, not ashamed or timid at all. She is already learning at such a young age the true spirit of worship. 

The elderly church members began to trickle in over the next 30 minutes, and once everyone arrived, Lucas, a local WBS worker, and Stephen welcomed us and we continued to worship. At this point, an elderly woman stood up. Her calloused hands and her wrinkled skin were a result of the hard life she surly has faced, which made her look deceivingly older than she probably was.  With a voice that brought tears to our eyes, she began leading worship. She sang so loudly, so passionately, so joyfully, dancing with her eyes closed, and her hands either held high or clapping so hard that they must have been going numb. But as we watched her, and as we watched the congregation follow her lead, it was clear that her life  had built up a level of strength, leadership, dignity and respect among her community. Her love for The Lord was evident and in this instance I viewed her as the "Proverbs 31 woman."

"...She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands... She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong... She opens her hand to the poor and reaches her hands to the needy... Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue... Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears The Lord is to be praised..."

This woman's features were aged well beyond her years. Most of her teeth were missing. She hobbled a bit when she walked. But as we know from the insight of Soloman that charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears The Lord is to be praised. This woman feared The Lord. And the tiny two-year-old girl, she will grow up to be this woman. In 50 years, she will be the one respected among the community, leading worship songs with such passion that it will bring tears to your eyes.

The church asked if the visitors had anything to say, so my mom (Eileen) stood up and thanked them for having us and for their loving, welcoming hospitality. Then she said something that caused each one of us nodded our heads in agreement. She told them thank you for allowing us to worship alongside of them, and thank you for showing us how to worship. She said Americans, and us specifically, still have so much to learn about worship and how to worship, and they showed us. 

After worship, Mbuvi gave the sermon presented a powerful message. Too bad we didn't have the technology  to set up for a podcast! (Can you work on that, Tim?? haha) They had lunch prepared for us after church and then we got straight to work. However, we had our first injury right before lunch. A wooden bench was sitting outside on uneven ground and as I walked by, it fell over and landed right on the top of my foot. The local church members jumped up to move the bench and all asked if I was okay. I managed to smile, and even force a little laugh and tell them I was fine. Then I hobbled into the clinic, sat down on a bench inside, and the pain hit me and took my breath away. I gathered myself and was able to tell our physician, Michele, what had happened. She tried to examine it, but because of the swelling and because the pain was so bad, she couldn't examine it to determine what was wrong. Initially, I truly was worried I had broken it. However, the good news was that my whole foot did not turn black and blue right away, which was a good sign that it was not broken. Sure enough, when Michele examined it at the end of the day, it ended up being just a horrible bone bruise. But do not be deceived: IT HURT.  By the grace of God, and the help of a couple of hydrocodones, I was able to walk the next morning. 

The following morning we headed out to Ongoro, prepared for a very long day. We had to see 215 kids over the course of two days. We got started as soon as we got there and we able to see 109 kids yesterday. We left everything set up and locked up in the building, that way when we got there the next day we could get right to work and wouldn't have to waste time setting up clinic. 

It was a busy, tiring, yet successful day. We saw more than half of the total number which was great. We saw many allergies, upper respiratory problems, and ringworm. Many kids needed dental work, and we even had one girl who did not enjoy her time at the dentist. She had a hard time with all of the smells, sounds and ended up passing out. After about a minute or so of trying to get her to come to, Michele had to do a sternal rub in order to help her wake up. Once she woke up, we gave her some Krest soda to get some sugar in her system and she was fine after that. It was a bit scary for a bit, but thankfully it was nothing more than just passing out for a brief moment. 

We experienced a Kenyan monsoon around 3pm and that slowed us down a bit, but not much. We crowded as many people into the clinic as possible to keep everyone out of the storm, and even the little dog who lives at the orphanage snuck inside to escape the storm. The sound of thunder and heavy rain on the tin roof will never get old. 

Although we were shooting for closer to 130 kids, 109 was a good stopping point. We will just have to hit the floor running today and finish up as quickly as possible! We had to change plans a bit because of the number of patients we need to see. Originally we were going to finish around 3pm today, drive to Nakuru, then finish the trip back to Kamulu the following morning. However, we need to work all the way until 5pm, so we will spend one more night at the Kericho Tea Hotel and then make the long journey to Kamulu all at once tomorrow. Being flexible is key. This is Africa. Things happen,  and plans change, but God is good. 

The overlying theme that keeps coming up among our group members is humility. Every day, we each experience something or interact with a kiddo who just humbles us more than we could have ever imagined. This happens every trip, and it never stops. We need constant reminders. We need to be humbled regularly. The Lord loves our willingness to serve these people, but he also loves these people's humble hearts. They have so little, yet love so much. They have had hard lives, yet live with such passion and joy. They have hardships and trials we will never understand, yet our hearts still break. They have little opportunity for great amounts of education, yet they teach us so much. It's funny how God uses the least of these to humble us. It's funny how we come to teach, serve, and love, yet we are the ones who are blessed. When the small child shakes your hand or gives you a hug and says, "I thank you so very much. I will never forget you..." they really mean it. Their faith is so great, and they know their hope is and can only be found in The Lord. 

Kayla Maberry shared an experience she had that really touched her heart. She was watching a small, 8 or 9 year old girl sit in the chair with the dentist. She had to have three teeth extracted. She sat there quietly, without crying, without complaining, with such great courage. She did not know the dentist. She had never seen or met this man before. Yet she trusted him. She knew he would help her feel better. She knew he was able to help her so she trusted he would. She had such great pain because of these three teeth. The pain of having these three teeth pulled would be excruciating, but the single instance of having these teeth pulled would allow freedom from ongoing pain if the teeth remained in her mouth. How often is it that we go through one instance of excruciating pain, but it frees us from the constant throbbing if we allowed that thing to remain in our life? The Lord may need to remove one big thing that will be painful, but it will prevent future pain. If we would just trust God the way this little girl trusted Mark, we could be free from ongoing pain and suffering. 

Today we see the remaining 106 kids. It will be a long, but rewarding day, no doubt. This is our last day of clinic. We cannot believe its already almost over. 

We are thankful for the time we have been given to love and serve the widows and orphans here. We cannot share every individual experience we have had on this blog, but we would love to tell you all about it when we return home. We love these people, and we want you to join in the mission to redeem the lives of these people in Kenya. 

Day 1 of Clinic

Today was a long day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to our first stop: Muhoroni. 

We drove about an hour on a combination of paved, rough, and dirt roads winding through the tea country until it brought us to a road through the sugar cane fields leading us to Muhoroni Orphanage and Feeding Station. The kids were waiting under the large tent set up in the open area outside. We immediately went to work unloading the equipment and setting up clinic. After everything was set up, the generator was brought over and we ran into a bit of difficulty. The generator was not providing enough power to run both dental units. After about an hour of technical difficulties, our great dentists made the best of the situation. Mark and Caroline Albritton did all of the extractions (36), while Alan and Julie Coleman used the one working unit to provide care for fillings (13). We even had a guest dentist who did one of the extractions... our very own Eileen Guthrie! During the hour of technical difficulties, the kids patiently waited outside without complaining or getting restless. They sat, sang beautiful songs, and were so well behaved. 

There were many familiar faces here and many of the kids remembered us as well. We met KWO's man on the ground, Stephen Owino, who was incredibly helpful with translating in the clinic. We had several other translators who made the process run much smoother. One in particular was Caroline, a matron assigned to this orphanage by the government for two months. She basically oversees the orphanage to make sure the kids are bathed, fed, etc. She lives onsite and is a huge blessing to everyone at Muhoroni. 

The main issues among the children our physician saw were allergies, due to the sugar cane harvest and dirt roads in the area. 

The kids, as always, LOVED having their picture taken. Then they want to see it. Oh, the beauty of technology and digital cameras. Seriously. It is something so common to us that is so cool to them. It's funny how this is a common theme with many things... We either depreciate items, take them for granted, or just don't realize the impact something may have on someone else.

Alan Coleman took a short break from fillings to catch his breath and Caroline jokingly asked him, "What are you just standing around for?!" As he gazed out the window he said to her, "Just taking a minute to soak it all in."

This is something that randomly happens at various points throughout the week. Sometimes it's hard because we get so wrapped up in what's going on in the clinic, trying to be the most efficient and get through the day quickly; but sometimes we need to each just stop for a moment and soak it all in. If we get too wrapped up in what we are doing, what we have going on, we tend to miss what God is doing and what God wants us to see. But as Alan looked outside at the kids playing soccer, the elderly church members fellowshipping with one another under the tent, and the babies asleep on their mothers' laps, he was able to soak it in and appreciate the goodness of God and the people of Kenya. 

Everyone proved to be extremely hard workers, but also showed their heart for God's people in various ways. Layne making the kids laugh, Jason and Mbuvi playing soccer with the older boys, Kayla playing ring around the rosey with the girls, just to name a few... Even though these three are the only ones I named, have no doubt, they were not the only ones being used. Everyone used their gifts, talents, and gave their time to love and be Jesus to these people. 

Kenya: Day 1

Day 1:

Jambo! We made it to Kenya, had a good night at the KWO World Headquarters in Kamulu, spent most of the day driving to Kericho (with a couple of stops at Java, of course!) and now we are at the beautiful Kericho Tea Hotel! And "beautiful" is an understatement. We were welcomed into the town of Kericho by a breathtaking blue sky painted with deep oranges and yellows... a beautiful sunset to end a long day was a gift from God, reassuring us that He is sovereign and rules over ALL the earth, not just our little section called America. 

Well, sadly but surely many of our bags did not make it to Kenya. Seven bags were missing and will (supposedly) arrive on tonight's flight in from London, and they will be delivered to us in Kericho by Sunday. Let's hope that happens. If last year taught us anything, it was that you cannot always count on what the luggage support center people on the other end of the phone tell you. Just ask Prissy Chambers who was guaranteed her bag every day until it finally arrived on day 6 of the trip last year.

However, despite the slight stress and frustration these kinds of things cause, we were again reminded of and humbled by the fact that God is sovereign and He is in control. 

I guess because of the stress and craziness that comes with making the 24+ hour trip to another continent, I missed the day we left (May 22) of the devotional book, "Jesus Calling." It would have been a great pre-trip reminder, but reading this after the fact was probably even more impactful:

"When things don't go as you would like, accept the situation immediately. If you indulge in feelings of regret, they can easily spill over the line into resentment. Remember that I am sovereign over your circumstances, and humble yourself under my mighty hand. Rejoice in what I am doing in your life..."

Sometimes the impact of life's circumstances, however big or small, often shift our focus away from Him. We need to be able to view all circumstances from His perspective. So we were reminded that when regret (such as, 'I should have packed XXX in my carryon instead of my checked bag) begins tempting your mind and resentment toward the place God has lead you sneaks in (such as Kenya, with no luggage), humble yourself and realize HE IS IN CONTROL. And who knows, maybe there is some big, underlying reason our bags didn't make it here on time. Or maybe, just maybe, this happened so we could be reminded that no matter how hard we try, we are not in control; this is not our trip, but HIS! 

So that's that. 

Next:

Like  I mentioned earlier, we made it through the busy towns, crazy Kenya traffic, the rolling hills of tea fields, and even all that dust from the unpaved roads that made us feel as though we were back home in West Texas, and we are now at the Kericho Tea Hotel. We had a buffet style dinner here at the hotel and even met the Governor and Deputy Governor of Kericho. It's not every day you meet a Kenyan governor who says He will do whatever he can to help your efforts... although Layne did ask and he isn't able to get our luggage. Bummer.

So that's all for tonight. We covet and appreciate your prayers for continued safety, open and willing hearts among our team and those we will meet, the ability to see from God's perspective, and for The Lord to do big things! 

Love from us all -

May Medical Team