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.
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