Kakamega, Kenya
August 12, 2011
I am famous in a small village outside of Kakamega, Kenya known as Mukulusu. We have visited this village in the past 2 days for ministry. Our first day was suppose to be door to door evangelism but the weather was so bad and the roads so slippery and muddy that we were not able to go out but instead stayed at the church.
There were tons of children singing to us and reciting poems. The songs were beautiful. The poems were written by the children and when I realized this I became sadden as they were about the effects of HIV/AIDS, orphan children, a drunken father.
Later in the day we went to eat lunch with Reverend Henry and his family. Along the way, the road was so slippery that I fell. I was in skirt and my legs did a split right over the muddy water! My tennis shoes were soaked in brown thick sticky mud! All I could do was laugh or I would have cried. When I arrived at Reverend Henry’s house, his wife allowed me to shower. This is where I became famous as I was the first “Muzungu” or white person to take a shower in Mukulusu. Not exactly the reputation I wanted and by the time we arrived back at the church for teaching, many people already knew about what happened.
The next day we also ministered in Mukulusu but this time we took care of people with “jiggas”. These are insects that come from fleas and burrow into the feet and legs of people. They cause so much pain that these people can’t play, work, walk, or get food because it is so painful. It was such a blessing to be able to care for them and treat them. For Reverend Henry, Apostle Charles and Logos Ministries, we were an answer to prayer for them as we were the first people to come and care for those with jiggas.
It was hard work, I’m not going to lie. It was very difficult to do. We had to wash them, then cut their nails and open up any new jiggas with a razor blade (this was really really hard for me as I was so afraid to cut them or myself and I didn’t want to hurt them). Then they had to soak their feet in medicine and after we covered them in hydrogen peroxide, biodine and Vaseline. The hardest part though for me was realizing that these insects come from dirt and most of those in Mukulusu can’t afford cement for their floors so they are just dirt floors. In addition they are so poor they can’t afford shoes and so walk around in flipflops or just bare feet. All this means, they will just get jiggas again if they can’t get shoes or cement floors! It broke my heart that we, as Americans, have so many shoes and they can’t even afford one! I wondered why God would allow this to happen to his children. It really broke my heart.
In addition, the church in Mukulusu only has 5 bibles (some in Swahili and some in English). Many can’t afford the 700-800 Shillings (which is less than $7-8) to purchase a bible. How can they be in God’s word if they can’t even get to read it?
I ask that you would continue to pray for Mukulusu. Pray for more people to come and serve this village. Pray for people to bring shoes, bibles and education. They have expressed they would love to be able to build a school there also. For our first ministry, this town had greatly touched my heart. I can’t wait to see what else God has in store.
