In Nakuru Kenya off the beaten path of a dirt road I walked into a children home where 40 girls and 40 boys live. These orphans have been taken from the slums where they did not have a safe place to sleep, they did not have anything to eat and they were not able to attend school. At this home these kids are given all of these things and I had the opportunity to spend some time with these little ones. We got a tour of the place and I saw where they sleep, where they eat and where they attend school.
In one of the dormitories there were four toddlers fast asleep in a bottom bunk. We were told that these babies were brought to this home two weeks ago and were found in paper bags on the streets without anyone to take care of them. One of the girls grabbed my hand from the bottom bunk and would not let go. Her name is Sony.
I spent my time with this four-year-old cutie and my heart was taken. I could not have a conversation with her but I was able to show her Gods love by holding her hand and by dancing with her and 80 other charming Kenyan children that day. As I said goodbye to Sony I knew I had to visit her again.
A few days later I visited Sure 24 children home again. We went to the school at their lunch break and as I was surrounded by a bunch of kids who were fascinated by the color of my white skin and by the texture of my hair I felt a tug at the bottom of my pants. It was Sony. I got to her level and as I was about to pick her up she smiled at me as if to say, “I remember you!” From that point on Sony would not leave my side. Every time I placed her back on her feet from my arms she would reach to the sky in hopes that I would pick her up again, which I did, happily!
On the Race it is all about the one. Jesus left the 99 to find the one and Sony that day at Sure 24 children home was the one for me. I was able to just love on her and show her how loved she is by Jesus by simply giving her the attention she needed. Sony represents many children within Kenya who do not have parents to speak into their life and say wholeheartedly that this one belongs, matters, is thought of and is loved. I find myself constantly sent by God to the fatherless and even though I am unable to show affection to every fatherless child in the Nakuru area I can one child at a time.
I thank God for this home that rescues so many children from the streets and provides them with a home. This place reveals God’s character in Deuteronomy 10:18, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.” This home is growing and continues to take children in from the streets.
As I left the home a voice from the director of Sure 24 followed me, “You stay here with us, yes?” I laughed and said I might return one day. A part of me really wanted to stay and care for Sony and many other children at this home but I knew that I had to move on to another place. God only knows where this journey will take me next or where I will be after the Race but one thing I do know is that if I fail to return to Sure 24 God remains there. He is a faithful father who provides abundantly for his children.
Throughout my travels in Kenya I have walked into children homes, schools and IPD camps (Internally Displaced People) and they all have one thing in common. God is in the midst of them. God provides for the fatherless, he is the defender of the widow and dwells with the homeless. I have just been a witness of what God is doing in the nations and I cannot believe that I get to encourage and love on kids all the time throughout the beautiful red dirt roads of Africa.
I am in love with Africa!
