6:30am // My alarm
goes off and I groggily feel around the dimness until I find my watch and turn
it off.
6:33am // I sit up
and pull on my clothes, lift the fly net, and scramble quietly down from the
top bunk.
6:42am // Time to
begin my morning workout routine – jumping rope then alternating push-ups, abs,
and other calisthenics.
7:05am // Wake-up
call for the rest of Ma Binti. Since I’m the first riser, it is now my duty to
wake the others. Hmm… I should experiment with how quickly I can get results
using various methods. A bucket of cold water or blaring The Circle Of Life in
everyone’s ears sound like fun options. So does running in screaming, “The
British are coming! The British are coming!�
7:07am // Time to
read my Bible and talk to God; my favorite part of the day! The calm and
peaceful time before the storms and chaos and noise and dirtiness of the day….
7:35am // Mama has
made Oogi for Reverend Gideon, herself, and me. I add several spoonfuls of
sugar to the traditional citrusy-sour porridge and relax while discussing
everything from my aspirations to God’s love and discipleship to how we will
prepare Mr. Tumnus the goat for our feast.
8:02am // The rest
of Ma Binti has finished waking up and doing their yoga while I work on
breakfast for them. Apparently, we’re rotating even though I’ve made almost all
the breakfasts; good thing I enjoy cooking!
8:30am // Tummies
full, the others nurse coffee as we begin Lady Love Time, our morning ritual of
feedback
9:13am // There’s a
flurry of activity as we make final preparations to leave for our door-to-door
ministry
9:33am // HA!
Unusually on time, we pile into Reverend Gideon’s station wagon and head to the
area where we do our ministry.
10:17am // I’m
paired of with Ashley for the moment and we go with two Kenyan youths (usually
Fidel and Florence) to visit Kenyan homes, which consist of a single 10×12
concrete room (2 or 4 homes per building). There, we begin by asking if the
inhabitant(s) are saved. If not, we talk to them about what it means to be
saved and ask if they’d like to be. If they are, we offer words of
encouragement. To conclude, we ask if they have any prayer requests and pray
for them.
11:38am // Our
group ambles down the muddy, trash-filled streets to the meeting place,
discussing differences between Kenyan and American culture. Once there, we walk
or get a ride back to Reverend Gideon’s home to enjoy our meal.
1:15pm // Lunch
time! I’m starving by now… I still can’t get used to this three meals a day
thing. Learning to absolutely LOVE peanut butter and jelly/honey/bananas since
I’m not a fan of avocado, onion, and tomato sandwiches.
2:03pm // Time for
some rest… everyone heads to different areas to read, nap, enjoy alone time,
etc.
3:45pm // We pile
into Reverend Gideon’s station wagon again for the short ride to the hospital
4:12pm // Pastor
Steve leads us to one of the wards where we again pair off with our Kenyan
partners and visit different beds to pray for people. There are wall dividers
between the sections and each section holds perhaps eight of the metal fames
with vinyl-encased sponge mattresses. I shudder inwardly and hope I never need
to be treated here; if this is the best hospital for kilometers around, it’s a
tragic thing. By American standards, it’s awful. We spend 10-15 minutes praying
with each patient, requesting healing and restoration.
6:11pm // We make a
mad dash and squash into Reverend Gideon’s vehicle once more (the other night,
we fit nine into the five-seater!) during a torrential downpour that reduces
visibility to almost nil, turns the front yard into a small pond, and drops
hail.
7:35pm // Ah,
dinner… the time when we enjoy real food! If I’m preparing it, then I’ve
experimented with various Kenyan dishes – rice with Sukomo Wiki and shredded
cabbage with carrots or perhaps some chapatti and stewed vegetables or even
samosas, depending on how hungry everyone is.
8:43pm // Dinner is
done and clean-up commences. Once again, we have a schedule and maybe it’s just
me but… I feel like I’ve helped cook and clean at two thirds of the meals. Oh,
well. Patience, right? I did say I wanted to learn that, didn’t I, God 😛 Guess
I better be more careful what I ask for! The other girls are hard workers and
most have offered to help. We’re starting to adhere to the schedule better now, which helps.
9:30pm // Reverend Gideon and Mama have done
a short reading and prayer time with us. Some of the girls stay up later to
blog or watch movies or hang out but I head to bed. Time for some much-needed
rest. Tuanani!
