In the beautiful country of Kenya, the land of boga bogas, piki pikis and matatus, there is a small town on the border of Uganda called Bungoma. It may seem inconsequential to the eye, but underneath the dusty, busy exterior there is a mighty battle raging. A battle that could well affect the entirety of the nation.
I ad
mit, I knew almost nothing about the nation of Kenya before being re-routed there. I had often seen it listed as a place to take a mission trip, somewhere mostly Christian, highly welcoming of missionaries, and known for seeing God's miracles. I rather thought of it the same way I thought of all of Africa: poor, destitute, without modern conveniences, and desperately in need of hope. I wasn't necessarily wrong, that is mostly the state of Bungoma, but there were many things I came to realize the longer I was in the country. For one thing, lacking in hope is not the issue. How can that be? If they are poor and destitute, then of course they need hope, right? Let's look deeper than that…
"Wow, this place looks well established," I said, after arriving at the orphanage we were to visit every Thursday. There were cows grazing in the yard, but 
that is the case everywhere in Kenya. The kids looked happy, albeit skinny, and when we were given a tour the beds all had mosquito nets and the place even had a farm in the back where they grow corn, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. There was even a school that had been built because of how the orphans were treated in the local school, and a guard on duty 24/7 to protect them. We were told a heart-wrenching story the first day about how men used to sneak into the place and rape the girls before they built the fence and hired the guard. Everything seemed completely on point, more so than other orphanages I have seen in Africa. Still, when we got back into Pastor Jackson's car, this is what he said to me, "It is sad, but that is the case with most orphanages, and even churches in Kenya." "What is?" I replied
, and he told me that the bishop who runs the orphanage is a bad stewart of their money. He takes trips to the US to get sponsors every few months, then pours the money right back into these trips, and the kids barely eat two meals a day and do not get decent clothes (which we did notice). He also said that this is actually one of the best run orphanages, and that most men who get money and go to the States for sponsors don't even have an orphanage, but take pictures of street children, then pay them to live with them for a while if a sponsor wants to visit.
That broke my heart, but don't you see, hopelessness is not 
the issue, an orphan and poverty spirit is. The spirit that says, "I have to get a Mzungu to sponsor me to get anything in this life." Hopelessness can result if this seems an unattainable dream, but it is the other two that debilitate this country.
Why do I share this? It seems rather grim, doesn't it? I am sharing it because you need to understand the hold of the enemy before you can understand the full extent of both his reach, and God's power. Our God is mighty, and He WILL win this battle AND the war. Let me show you how He's beginning…
(part 2 coming soon!)
(pics – Top: Mt. Elton, just outside of Bungoma. Top left: Me and Dura with two boys from the orphanage. Middle right: the kids from the orphanage jumping with us. Middle left: Woman selling fish in Bungoma. Bottom right: Hanging out with two kids from the orphanage.)
