After the storm

This afternoon, we had one of our typical afternoon storms. Rain. Lots of it. Thunder. Lightning. Hail. More rain. I love the sound of it on my metal roof. But I always wonder which of my neighbors might have gotten caught in the storm as they're walking from one place to another...

After the storm, I put on my gumboots and a rain coat, and headed over the children's home for devotions. I love watching the kids sing and dance.

Rooney, dancing in his onesies! Got to love it!

Collins

Reading Bible

Improvising - using water barrels for drums

They get so excited about sharing their testimonies and memory verses! Kit, an intern, led the devotion, and then the kids were asked if they had payer requests. Hands went up and many kids all wanted to say they have to remember to pray for Jeptum!

Kit, leading devotions. The girl in front of him is Flovia. Read her story here. She came to us in May, too, severely malnourished. The staff nurtured her back to life. She's now the newest member of our children's home.

Jeptum (in the photo below) moved to our community in May. She's 17, and has diabetes that is out of control to the point that Jeptum is blind. Since she has moved here, staff and members of the home-based-care team have been taking care of her, trying to get her sugar levels under control so she can receive surgery.


Her condition has improved greatly, but not to the point yet that she can receive the eye surgery. The kids, however, have been fervently praying for her healing. I am joining them in believing God for Jeptum's healing!

I love being part of this community, where people care deeply about their neighbors. I am learning much from my Kenyan neighbors...

Heading back home, I chatted with some of the little neighbors, kids who go to our school and live in the dorm. They love having me take their pictures!

Then I stopped by the kitchen to visit with the staff who were cooking for a group of trainees. Here's Ruth (not one of the kitchen staff - she's our social worker).


I headed home, not sure what I'd cook tonight. I have lots of veggies in the house, and with it still being pretty cold after the storm, I made a pot of vegetable soup.


I took some to my neighbors, too, and am now ready to finish another book from my reading list. Right now, I'm reading a book on the traditional cultural practices in the Kalenjin culture. Though most of them are no longer practiced, there are still some remnants of these practices left today. In fact, even as I was working on a project with my colleague Mwei this morning, he was telling me about some of the traditions which are contrary to our Christian beliefs.

I'm learning much from my neighbors. All it takes is a curious mind, a listening ear, and a relationship built on trust.

Some of these components come easier than others.