I feel like I’ve been slightly masked from the realities of
Kenya until a few days ago. I came here on cloud nine, ecstatic to be back in a
place that makes my heart beat faster and my eyes open wide in amazement
everywhere I look. Yes, I have seen some challenging things… but it hasn’t been
until recently that we’ve begun learning about the many issues affecting the
community here in Isibania. Why we just started learning about these things and
having our hearts break a week before we leave… I don’t know. But my prayer has
been that God would begin breaking my heart for the things that break His, and
it looks like He’s answering.
There are some things here that are simply unacceptable.
1.
FGM (female genital mutilation),
otherwise known as female circumcision. It’s a common practice here due to the
majority of people who belong to the Kuria tribe; traditionally girls between
the ages of ten to sixteen years old are forced to undergo this procedure in
order to be deemed “real women.� No pain medication is used, no suturing is
done after the procedure, and the girls are forced to walk home immediately
following the process. They cannot cry while it is being done either, or else
they are deemed cowards and will be looked down upon for the rest of their
lives. Many girls pass out or die in the process because of the pain and
bleeding, and if death occurs the body is simply left in the street for dogs to
come and tear apart. The girl’s death is considered a sacrifice to the gods and
celebration then ensues.
We found out that the same old woman does
every procedure during November and December (when the girls are out of school)
in a nearby hut; she uses the same tool over and over again without washing it –
greatly contributing to the spread of life-threatening diseases such as HIV/
AIDS. Countless health and medical problems occur after the makeshift surgery
for obvious reasons; the lack of proper medical procedures and sanitation often
causes deadly infections. Some of the girls suffer from mental problems as well
from being forced to endure that kind of pain without letting out even a whimper
at such a young age; this extreme pain causes lifelong scars.
It is only after girls in this tribe (and a
handful of others throughout Kenya) undergo this procedure that they can be
married off to any man with enough cattle to pay for her bride price/ dowry. Often
girls as young as ten years old are married off by their parents to men three
to four times their age; many of the men are married to multiple wives and
simply use them to produce more children. They are not given the chance to
become educated and instead are forced to make babies – hopefully sons too
because if you have daughters here it’s like you don’t have any children. The
boys are the only ones with the right to inherit any of their father’s possessions.
It just seems like a huge business. FGM is needed in order for girls to become
suitable for marriage; marriage means selling them to a man for a bride price;
the man uses his new child wife to produce more children for the same reasons.
It’s a vicious cycle that continues to occur in the absence of proper
education, the significance of tradition, and the importance of business.
We learned about all of this the other day
from members of the church who are passionate about seeing an end to it; they
have come up with a project and have started trying to fight against this
tradition since it so drastically affects the youth of this community. They are
trying to create safe houses for the girls to run to during the months of
November and December so they are not forced to undergo the procedure, along
with offering education on the risks and devastating effects of it. (They have
a whole project proposal written up and are in need of funding, so if this is
something you’d like to support please let me know and I can give you more
information.) Many of the girls in the church community feel guilty after
undergoing FGM and stop coming to church because they feel they have sinned and
cannot be forgiven, even though it was forced on them. It’s just a horrific
situation all around. JESUS needs to
redeem this land.
2.
HIV/ AIDS – this affects
more people than we even realize. There is a huge stigma here about it so
instead of getting tested, people simply ignore the problem and therefore the
disease continues to be spread. There’s an injection that pregnant mothers can
get during pregnancy that greatly reduces the risk of giving the disease to
their unborn baby, but the mothers opt out of even getting tested or having the
injection because of the risk of being abandoned and ostracized because of their
status. There are many myths and legends associated with the disease as well,
such as how it’s contracted and how it can be cured. People often think any
physical contact can spread it and sleeping with a virgin can take it away. JESUS needs to redeem this land.
3.
Poverty/ lack of education – everyone here seems to be struggling with school fees. There is a need for
education but it seems so few people can afford to get it. The government made
a new law a few years back that primary school (grades one to eight) would be
free but secondary school (grades nine to twelve) cost a good amount. Even
though primary education is free in public schools, there is a drastic
difference between the quality of education in public and private schools, so
many parents deeply desire to have their kids in private school. University is
a whole different story; it is so expensive for the people here. It’s just
challenging to see all the talent and potential in all the kids we come in
contact with at the schools we’ve been ministering at and then see how slim of
a chance they have to continue in their schooling. Women are rarely given the
chance to continue in their education as well; most often after they undergo
FGM (at an extremely young age) they are married off and never have a chance to
continue learning. JESUS needs to redeem
this land.
So many of the problems here are intertwined; it’s hard to
think about tackling one without addressing another. These are just three of
the ones I mentioned here, but there are many others we’ve come in contact with
and still more that I’m sure we’re still unaware of. I know we’re not called to
do everything, but I want to do something – I just don’t know what that looks
like. I get easily overwhelmed with the magnitude of these situations and how
challenging it’s going to be to overcome them. I need to continue putting my HOPE and TRUST in the LORD and allowing
HIS power to come through in these areas; but I’m also very aware that
sometimes we have to step up and be the answers to our own prayers – if that is
what God is calling us to. God is preparing an army of His disciples to conquer
the evil in this world. There are many forms of evil in numerous communities
throughout the nations; I am just trying to discern where God is going to place
me.
Above all, we need
the active HOPE of God; that is the only thing that is going to sustain us
as we encounter problem after problem around the world. It is surely going to
wear on our hearts if we don’t have the hope
of CHRIST written on our hearts and in our minds. We need to fight for it. Otherwise,
we could just start seeing brokenness and getting overwhelmed and depressed
about it, or simply emotionally checking out and not allowing ourselves to feel
anything at all to avoid the pain and questions. I think Jesus wants us to be broken; He wants us to see the world
through His eyes and be moved into action. Ultimately, it’s not us fighting the
fight – it’s HIM. Exodus 14:14 says, “The
LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.� We need to adopt the
mindset that when God calls us to something too big for us to handle, that’s
the sweetest place we can be. It is at those points that we become fully
dependent on the Lord and we realize our ultimate need for HIM in our lives.
GOD needs to be our strength – we cannot do this on our own. So thank the Lord
that HE is made strong in our weakness. He commissions us to be His hands and
feet in this world but ultimately, HE IS THE ONE DOING THE WORK THROUGH US.
Praise God for that… I just need to remember it.
“‘I have told you
these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD’� (JESUS in John 16:33).
