DISCLAIMER: I fully understand that this blog will make me sound like a crazy. I know that before this trip I would’ve read a story like this, made a million excuses to not believe it and go on with my day thinking whoever wrote that is off their rocker. But, this is a true story, and I have to tell what happened. So even though it is long and a lot of words on a page, please read to the end because this day changed my entire view of God and this world.
Well, to explain, the ministry this month in Kitale, Kenya, we’ve been living on a farm called The Challenge Farm where approximately 120-orphaned street kids live. An American missionary, Cheri, began work with these children many years ago and thanks to financial supporters in the United States, she is now able to provide housing, food, education, counseling, and love to 120 seemingly forgotten children. She is an amazing woman and a huge inspiration.
So for ministry this month, each person chose a few classes to teach the children each day. We offered dance, arts and crafts, games, Bible study, counseling, and manual labor. In the mornings, I taught to Bible classes and after lunch I went to the counseling center to love on these precious children with my friend, Helena.
So after three weeks of praying with these kids and hearing their heart-wrenching stories, I had learned to respond with encouragement and love. I knew how to give hugs when needed, when to be quiet and listen, and when to encourage. But, everything was different when beautiful 10-year old Purity walked into counseling two days ago.
It was raining, as it always does around 2pm in Kitale, Kenya, when Purity was called to the counseling office for prayer, hugs, and love. She walked in sat down and stared at the floor for a while. We asked her simple questions and told her about ourselves so that she would open up and tell us her story. After a few minutes, she began telling us her short story through our translator, Madam Emma, the counselor on staff at Challenge Farm. [She couldn’t speak English, only Swahili]
Purity told us that her mother had suffered a miscarriage and, due to the grief, she blamed Purity for being alive when the baby didn’t have chance. Eventually after a lot of abuse, her mother abandoned her and left Purity in the streets. Purity had been on her own for an unknown amount of time before Mama Cheri found her and brought her to the Challenge Farm.
In our session with Purity, she told us that she has nightmares most nights where her mother appears at her window and tells her to run and get out of this place. She also has dreams where her unborn sibling visits her accusing her of the death. And most terrifyingly, she has daydreams of older men coming to choke her on the playground.
After saying what little encouragement we had, we asked if we could pray with her since Jesus is the true Comforter and Healer. We all pulled our plastic chairs into a tight circle, grabbed hold of her precious, little hands and began to pray. [Now, this is where it gets freaky so stay with me!!]
A few words into the prayer, when I said the name of Jesus, Purity flew back in her chair, the plastic scraping so hard against the concrete I was convinced the legs would break. She settled a few feet from us and glared at the floor. I initially thought, “Maybe she is late for lunch??” or “Maybe she doesn’t feel like praying with us??” but Helena had a different assumption in mind and leaped toward Purity praying even louder and stronger. Purity flailed in her chair for a few minutes before falling onto the ground in the fetal position. When we got her to sit up, I looked at her and asked, “Purity, are you ok??” and the thing that happened next will forever change me. Without looking at me, she said, “I am not Purity and you are wasting your time. I’m not leaving.” [This all coming from a little ten year-old girl’s mouth who does not speak English.]
For the next few minutes we prayed and prayed and prayed. While we continued asking Jesus to intervene, Purity stared intently at a spot on the ground. When I noticed what she was doing, I tried to distract her attention from whatever she was seeing. She didn’t budge. Instead she pointed at it with her little finger, with terrified eyes, and followed it around the room. You can imagine how much anxiety was building in that moment. It wasn’t until she turned around and pointed slowly across the wall that I watched a large shadow walk across the room. Helena and I watched the shadow move across the wall, looked at each other, shook our heads almost in disbelief, and began yelling to Jesus.
We continued to pray. Hard. In a moment like this, prayer is your best friend. Especially when a little girl is laying in your arms smiling while saying, “keep praying, it won’t do anything. I’m not going anywhere.” It continued to taunt us and smile. [I’m going to call the voice coming from this precious little girl “it”, because that’s all I can describe it as]
At one point, while praying, Purity sat up and began violently coughing. We held her and watched as the Purity we had seen 45 minutes before surfaced for a minute only to disappear again. Then, it continued talking and taunting again. After two hours had passed, the administrator of the farm, Cheri, came to help. She settled down on the floor with Purity and loved that little girl. She didn’t acknowledge any voices, but spoke truth and love into that little girl. She said, “You are loved, you are innocent, you are special. Jesus loves you. He has a special plan and purpose for you. He bought you for a price. You are innocent. Your mother loved you, but she was very sick. You are valuable.” I watched as this little girl clasped her hands so tightly around her ears forcefully shaking her head back and forth. We began to sing Jesus Loves Me and she cringed like poison was filling the room.
It was truly at this moment, even after the shadow, the voice, and the flailing for over two hours, that I realized that this was real and it was really happening.
After about three hours had passed, and Cheri continued to speak truth over this little girl, she began to cry. The beautiful Purity I had talked with hours before began to surface. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she asked [in Swahili], “Where am I?” She hadn’t remembered the past few hours and was exhausted. We explained to her that Jesus loves her very much and continued to speak love and encouragement to her. By the end, Purity was praying with us, singing praises to Jesus and smiling.
The most beautiful moment on the race was last night. We put Lion King on the projector for the girl’s dorm and asked Purity if she would come into the other room with us and pray. It had been a full 24 hours later and we wanted to ensure her freedom and security. She told us that she slept all the way through the night with no nightmares! She prayed for all of us and sang songs to Jesus with us. The freedom in this little girl’s life was dramatic and a true testimony to God’s goodness.
I was raised in the church, so I’ve been told that this exists. But, now I KNOW this exists. The spiritual “realm” is very real. Demons are very real. Satan is very real. But also, God is VERY real and powerful and loving and compassionate. I’ve never in my life seen such a strong example of God’s presence in this world.
If anyone has ANY further questions, PLEASE contact me. I would love to share this story with anyone who wants to hear.
