Well, we've made it to Month 8 here in Uganda! That's right, Kenya has come to an end, which has proven to be very difficult for both Jeremy and me. It was so hard for both of us to leave, as God showed us His children there and His heart for them.
Jeremy got to go out a couple of times and hang out with the street kids. These kids range in age from 2 to 18 and almost all of these kids are addicted to glue. They always have a bottle on them and they huff it. It starts out for most kids as a choice. It's a way to keep the hunger pains away, as food on the streets is hard to come by. For others, it started when they were little and had no choice, as their moms or other street kids would give them glue to passify them. Jeremy watched as a 2 year old was given glue from one of the older street boys just to get him to stop crying. Jeremy also befriended an 8 year old boy named Owen. He made a deal with him the day he met him – Owen had to give Jeremy his glue bottle and Jeremy would buy him a loaf of bread. Owen agreed and they then bought him a new shirt, shoes, and took him to see a movie at the local movie theater. Jeremy was really impacted by Owen and all of the rest of the street kids that don't have families and have no place to call home. And in order to drown the physical hunger pains as well as the hunger pains of wanting more out of life, they turn to glue. They know that there is more out there, but they have no way of obtaining it.
I was impacted in another way that was so unexpected for me and I feel like I'm forever changed by it. There is a huge problem in Kenya right now with women abandoning their newborn babies. These babies are often a product of rape and incest, and because of this, the women, often young girls, are told they have to either abandon the baby or never return to their family should they choose to keep it. So in the children's home we worked at there were two babies that had been abadoned and put in a bush on the side of the road, in hopes that someone would find them before they died. Because God has a plan for each of them, Joseph and Moses were both found and rescued. Joseph was found shortly after his birth and has been doing well. Moses, however, was found much later after his birth, as there were ants already eating away at his skin. He had to spend some time in the hospital to allow his wounds to heal and was then placed in the children's home. They are both handsome little boys (Joseph is now 4 weeks old and Moses is 5 weeks old). They are getting healthier by the day and I was blessed to just be able to love on them by holding, bathing, and feeding them. Isn't that what all little babies deserve?
That's what I think and because of that, when our contacts received a phone call about another baby that they found in a bush, my heart broke. All I could think about was finding that baby a place to call home. We were able to help out and make a way for our contacts to be able to take the baby. I really wanted to be able to see this baby before we left Kenya, so on our last day we set up a time to meet the little guy. Well, after a day that went nothing as planned, we arrived at the courthouse to meet him. We didn't know we'd be meeting his mother as well. You see, Susan was found shorlty after the baby was, and she was put in prison, awaiting trial. Well, that last day we were in Kenya was the day of Susan's court date. So when we arrived at 6:00 that evening in front of the courthouse, there stood 16 year old Susan holding that sweet, little baby boy. He is the most beautiful little baby, very healthy and strong. He was sleeping in his ragged clothes and blanket and smelled like he hadn't been bathed, but he was stunning and perfect. And yet as much as my heart went out to this baby, my heart went out even more to Susan. She was so young and scared and hopeless. So I just looked her in the eye and told her that God has a plan for her life and that, no matter what had already happened, all God cares about is her future. He just wants her. After all, God is our Redeemer, and can therefore take her messed up life, and make it new and beautiful. We prayed for her and for that beautiful baby boy whose name I'll never forget – Ivan. He's only one baby, but that's just it….he's one baby that will have a life that will be filled with the love of Christ because God's wasn't done with him yet. God's plans for us are good and filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). All we have to do is to seek Him with all of our heart and He says we'll find Him (:13). Well, I was seeking God when we decided to come on this trip, and I know that I found Him, when I looked into the face of that young mother and that sweet baby and realized that God has plans for them as well as for me….and that on that day, our plans were intertwined.
All of that to say…we're heartbroken for the people of Kenya and we are hope-filled as we will continue to pray for God to make Himself known there. In the meantime, we're here in Kampala, Uganda. We have no idea what this month holds yet, but we trust that, just like God did in Kenya and really every country we've been in so far, He'll bring glory to His name.
