Beautiful People

Things have been amazing here in Isibania Kenya. Isibania is located about a 20 minute walk from the border of Tanzania and 2 hours drive from Lake Victoria (the second largest fresh water lake in the world – in case you didn’t know). Our team walked into the “no mans land”, between the two countries, and we where hoping to have the opportunity to cross over into Tanzania with a local pastor but things never worked out. The weather here is beautiful and the temperature is perfect. Probably around 60 degrees in the morning and 75-80 degrees during the day on average, but I really don't have any way of really knowing. Its so funny, however, to walk around because so many people are dressed up like its winter. No kidding, you will see young children wrapped in winter cloths and hats. One day I even saw a child in full blown snow paints. Not everyone feels this way but as a whole things are too cold for what they are used to.

We are staying in a three bedroom concrete home. The home has a breath taking view of the Kenya landscape.

                        (what it looks like where we stay)
I was really expecting a mud hut so things are really good. I have my own bed and in so many ways I am stacked in comfort. So what about the bathrooms you may ask?? Yes, we have the traditional squaty potty, and the shower….well its more like a bucket. My first experience was, by all means, new but to tell you the truth its not that bad, and in many ways the shower, I mean the bucket, is really quite nice (going green baby!!!…only used about 2 gallons of water for the whole shower). I have really come to enjoy the simple life and I think its something that I could really get used to.

Our team has the honor of serving under Pastor Abraham of Deliverance Church. I have come to greatly respect him in so many ways. His is a true man of God that has endured many difficulties as a Christian but has only allowed those difficulties to strengthen his faith in Christ. An interesting subject I have come to learn a lot about is different tribes throughout Kenya. There are 42 tribes in Kenya and each one is very different. Many of these differences can cause major problems, especially around election times, as politicians will purposefully stir one tribe against another. In the town of Migori, a town only about fifteen minutes from where we are staying, in 2007 many people were killed and homes were burned as people who were once friends turned against each other as they were not part of the same tribe. Thankfully the town of Isibania, where we are staying, decided not to be part of it and many people came there for refuge. Something that is interesting about the tribe in the Isibania area, however, is that they believe is female circumcision. I have heard of such things but I never thought I would be staying in a town where it was practiced. The church faces many difficulties during the time of year it is practiced as many people will return to traditional beliefs during this time. Although Kenya has its fair share of problems I have been absolutely amazed by the people here.

I had heard of the generosity of the African people but experiencing it has really touched my heart. Seeing people who have so little, but continually give the best they have, is such a struggle. I came here to be a blessing to them but every place I go I have found that they are always doing so much to bless us. They are extremely welcoming and kind in all they do. They have opened my eyes to true generosity and thankfulness and I think I have grown to love the Kenyan way of life. While cramming 14 people into a taxi (safe…NO…fun…yes!!!) may not sound that exciting it creates people who are flexible and thankful. They have so little but I would say they have twice as much as most Americans. While they don't have much, this creates a culture in which what they do have they enjoy. I have seen so many happy families, joy filled respectful children, and people who know how to enjoy the basics of life. Yes, their lives are full of MANY difficulties but yet they have joy. So many people back home could never say this. I think “stuff” has a tendency to cloud the true joys of life and steal our focus on what is truly important.

I had the opportunity to hike about an hour into “the bush” and it was exhilarating as we took path after path to navigate our way to the home of a family in the church. The family we visited was really struggling just to keep the basic staples needed to prepare their food, yet, at the end of the day, we were the ones leaving with full stomachs and a rooster!! (a rooster, by the way, that became dinner that next night)

People here believe that they will receive a blessing for their sacrifice and thus are always wanting to bless others. The great thing that day was their blessing was given as they received much needed rain and their goat gave birth. To them these are great blessings and I was so happy to experience it while I was there. I have really begun to wonder if the beautiful people of Kenya might have things figured out a little more than we do.

 

Until next time….God bless and thanks again for your support.

(The meal the family prepaired for us)

(Can anyone say dinner???)

 

 

(Just a normal day in the life of this boy….please consider supporting me as we are going to bring hope and help to these peope)