He walked up to the site that we are building a church at, here in Eldoret, Kenya. It had been a long morning of nailing wood, searching for rocks that we could use for the structure, and digging out a big hill that was in the way of the building. He asked if he could help, but we didn’t have enough tools, so he walked over to Caitlyn and I, as we were standing by the hill waiting for a turn to shovel dirt.
His name was Kudrop. With the language barrier, it proved as a challenge to converse with him. The stories he was telling weren’t adding up and it was hard to understand what he was trying to share with us. The difficulty in conversation made it hard to pay attention at times, but I felt the Lord say,
“I sent him here for a reason. Listen.”
He started to tell us about how his father passed away and he was left alone with his 6 older sisters and his mother, who he said was a pastor, but later he told us, she was a lawyer. I could tell he was under the influence of something and later smelled the stench of alcohol on his breath as he spoke. He started to ask how he could get himself to stop drinking and I took it as my prompt to share a part of my story of how the Lord rescued me out of so much in the past and that he, too, could rely on Him to pull him out of the struggles he is facing. He started to ask about the church and he began to ask questions about Jesus, but would change the topic quite frequently. It was tough for him to focus. Noah walked over to monitor him as he talked to us.
He started to ask him if he knew Jesus and what Jesus had done for him. He would never fully answer the questions. As the conversation progressed, Kidrop began to talk about his addiction to drugs and alcohol. He began to lift up his sleeves and ask if he could show us the scars on his arms and back. It was hard to understand what the scars were from; some looked as if they were from injecting drugs and others seemed to be marks left from physical fighting he had been a part of. He would explain that he would get into physical fights with other people under the influence of drugs, but later he mentioned that the marks were also caused from the abuse he experienced by his mother. It was hard to understand what he really wanted to share, but regardless, it was evident that Kudrop was in deep pain and in need of help, searching for something bigger than himself. His next statement made my heart drop and I had to look down at the floor to force myself to hold back tears.
“I was going to kill myself at 3 PM today.”
It was already 2 PM. I knew this was the reason the Lord had sent him our way. Kudrop began to explain that he was in so much pain, that he was tired of living and didn’t desire to be here anymore. He wanted to end the suffering he was facing; the suffering that had made him turn to drugs and alcohol. He was trying to escape the reality of a family that didn’t care for him and a mother that he lived with, yet hadn’t talked to in three years. He had every move carefully planned out and began to share it with Caitlyn, Noah and I. He explained that he bought a rope for 15 schillings and poison they usually use for cattle for 60 shillings. He talked about how he was planning to tie the rope up in a high place, drink the poison, and then hang himself, taking his life to no longer suffer in misery. My heart sunk in even more and it was hard to look him in the eyes.
When he was finished explaining his plan to us, he then said something along the lines of, “I was going to kill myself today, but then I met you guys. I will be here at church on Sunday early in the morning waiting for you guys.”
He wanted to give his life to Jesus!
It brought so much joy to my soul and reminded me of the sovereignty of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Not only did he ask us to pray for him, but he wanted us to pray for his mother, as well, and requested that we continue to pray for her salvation and desire to treat Kudrop with love and respect.
This just happened today, but my prayer is that Kudrop will show up to church on Sunday and will have the opportunity to learn that life is about so much more than drugs, alcohol and choosing to end his life. Moments like these remind me of the power of prayer. As 3 PM passed, I prayed that Kudrop was remembering the conversation we had with him and the promise he made to the Lord to give his life to Him.
Please keep Kudrop and the many others trapped in substance and alcohol abuse here in Kenya in your prayers. It’s extremely evident that this country is in dire need of rescuing and healing.
Psalm 71:14
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
