Friday, May 27th was one of the most memorable days of my life, and definitely the most memorable day of the World Race so far. I got to do something that most people only dream about…meet the child I’ve been sponsoring through Compassion International in her rural village in Kenya. I couldn’t believe this day had finally come and as soon as my alarm went off that morning, Alana and I were out the door ready to get to Sirata! We met Jimmy, our driver for the trip and the man in charge of Compassion Sponsor Visits and we were off for the north (AKA: Samburu tribe country). Jimmy informed me that we would be driving for about 7 to 8 hours on rugged terrain before we reached the project Diborah was at. Alana and I had heard horror stories from past World Racers about the dreaded African roads but I don’t think we were prepared for we experienced on that day.
After a nice three-hour drive to a local town we went and bought groceries for Diborah and her family and ate lunch…that’s when everything got really crazy. We turned off into “Samburu Land” where the famous Samburu tribe lives. The Samburu tribe are a beautiful people group in Kenya and the people who live in the Samburu area live the way their families did generations and generations ago. We past tribal warriors with spears on the side of the dirt path ready to hunt and catch their dinner as well as all different kinds of animal herds that were blocking the rocky path. There were women with beautiful, bright and ornate beaded necklaces and babies on their backs and little boys herding animals without shoes on.
It was like stepping back into time, or stepping into National Geographic. After sponsoring Diborah for four years I knew she lived in a remote village in northern Kenya but I had no idea that she was from a traditional Samburu family that lived in a tiny mud hut in Samuburu district. It was one of the most amazing cultural experiences I’ve ever had. We passed herds of camels, donkeys, zebras, giraffe, antelope, cows, sheep and goats on the way to see Diborah and the majority of the people we waved to out of the car had never seen a white person before so they flipped out. One woman saw Alana and went into a craze, turning around in a circle and bending over. It was very comical and completely disorienting.
Jimmy informed me that there had never been a sponsor to come to Diborah’s project or even to the Samburu area we were visiting, so the majority of the people had never seen “muzungu’s” before. After a long, looooong 9 hour journey up mountains, through valleys, and around animals and tribal warriors, we made it to Diborah’s project. We approached the project center when fifty sponsor children flooded out of the building and down the stairs to greet us. Like I said, this was the craziest moment of their lives…to see a real life white person and a real life sponsor. A little girl opened my car door and jumped into my lap, just staring and smiling at me as I held her. I was so overwhelmed and thought, “Is this my Diborah?? I have only received a few pictures of her after all these years and she looks so different in real life!” We got out of the car and I met Sarah, the woman in charge of this particular Compassion project, and she informed me that the little girl who would not let go of me was, in fact, Diborah!!
I was so happy I was holding back tears and we had an amazing time of giggling and hugging outside with the other kids. We went inside to the project building and we were informed that the village had slaughtered a goat in our honor and had it served for us to eat for dinner. Happily, Alana and I accepted the meal and were thoroughly impressed with how amazing goat actually tasted! Sarah gave me a huge folder, which was Diborah’s sponsor file. This had everything you could imagine in it. I went through every report card Diborah had ever received, every medical report or check-up she had ever had, every report of how Diborah was doing spiritually and emotionally and saw exactly what was purchased with every Christmas or Birthday money gift I had ever given.
Along with all the records and reports I looked through copies of all the letters Diborah and I had written each other over the years and I got to see copies of all the drawings she sent me and all the pictures I had sent her. It was truly amazing. The entire four years of my sponsoring Diborah was in a giant red folder and it was so special to go through everything, with Diborah on my lap, and see what an incredible difference child sponsorship makes. I got to see with my own eyes how Diborah had excelled in every way imaginable. She had grown tremendously in school, in her faith, in her health and in her well being as a child. For Christmas one year I donated an extra 35 dollars for Diborah’s present and her family was able to buy a foam mattress for their little mud hut and no longer have to sleep on the floor. One birthday I donated 25 dollars to her and she was able to buy two sheep with that money. I was actually able to see every single gift I had ever given her later that evening, including all the goats and sheep their family had received from the gift money!
We finished the goat meat and made our way to Diborah’s house. Her little mud hut with a thatched roof was down a rocky hill and the entire village followed us down the hill to watch everything go down. Before we got to Diborah’s house we met Miriam, Diborah’s grandmother and visited her little hut. Miriam hadn’t known Jesus before and after Diborah had been sponsored, Miriam and the family has become Born Again in Jesus Christ! I was praising the Lord that her entire family had come to know Jesus as their Savior through Diborah’s sponsorship program.
Miriam took us down to Diborah’s hut and we met Peter, Diborah’s father and Susan, Diborah’s step-mother. Diborah’s birth mother died in 2009 due to a fever after giving birth to Diborah’s younger sister. We went into their little mud hut and sat on chairs and I couldn’t help but think, “Is this really happening? Did God really allow me to do this??” I was in the mud hut of the little Samburu girl I had sponsored and was finally able to see the fruits of my sponsoring with my own eyes. God is so good and He gives His children such amazing gifts and this was one of the best present’s the Lord has ever given me.
I looked at the mud walls and saw that they had scratched Bible verses all over them and began to cry. Christ was in this place. In this tiny little village of Sirata, the Holy Spirit was pouring out His love and His joy to us all. I gave Diborah all her birthday presents to open and she was very excited to receive the stuffed dog I gave her that made noises when you squeeze it as well as all the coloring books and crayons I gave her for more artistic drawings she always makes. My favorite gift was the Children’s Bible I bought her in Swahili that had all kinds of pictures in it. Diborah is learning Swahili in school (the majority of the village only speaks Samburu) so she will soon be able to read the Bible stories. Peter and Susan then gave me a present. Susan, Diborah’s step-mother gave me some beautiful traditional Samburu jewelry, including an ornate beaded headdress. I never thought I would be wearing a headdress, but with God all things are possible. 🙂
I shared a small message from the Bible and spoke Truth over the family and the villagers, we prayed and we took pictures. At the end of the visit I was crying so much it was hard for me to get a whole sentence together. I didn’t want the day to end, and I had truly cherished every single moment with Diborah from the moment she jumped into my lap to the last hug she gave me before we drove away. Sponsoring Diborah has been the best decision I’ve ever made (other than following Jesus, of course) and I have never had the honor of being apart of something so powerful for the Kingdom of God before this sponsorship experience.
Through Compassion International, I had become the answer to Diborah and her family. I had become the answer to their prayers and petitions. I had spoken up for the voiceless and protected the defenseless and I give all the glory and honor to Christ Jesus for allowing me to be used in that way. By sponsoring Diborah I had been able to change the world, one child at a time. I was able to see a complete 180 in this child’s life. She is the poorest of the poor, the lowest of the low in one of the most remote places on Earth and because of child sponsorship she has a future in this life, and an eternal life in the next.
I am not a super hero, I don’t have a masters in human rights and social justice from an Ivy League school. I’m just a 23-year-old college grad from Cow Town, Colorado….but I let God use me to do extraordinary things in His Kingdom and that has made all the difference in my life and in Diborah’s life. My prayer is that every single reader, supporter and loved one that is looking at this blog will consider child sponsorship. If you are financially able, please, please be the answer to a child in need. I promise you, speaking from first hand experience, your money is spent well and makes all the difference in the world. I pray that you choose to sponsor a child through Compassion International and start walking in extraordinary transformation in your life and in the life of a child.
