“A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3
“Asuntah, Men Zip Up!” If you see this on the book shelf one day go ahead and do yourself a favor and buy a copy. This is the motto of our contact this month, Asuntah in Naru Moru, Kenya and she is one of my favorite contacts of this entire trip. She is a firecracker for Jesus, taking cases no one wants to take and joining people into groups to help one another that would have died struggling alone. But it is her testimony that makes Asuntah so unique and inspirational to us.
Asuntah was born into a well-to-do family, but for this area well-to-do means you have food everyday and get to go to school. But she was the youngest in a family of 12 and as her siblings began to marry young her mother decided there was no need to waste money on educating anymore of the kids. So knowing her family could provide for her and chose not to, Asuntah fought for her own education and paid her way through school and university. While finishing high school she had a serious kidney problem and had to go on dialysis for a time and stayed in the hospital an entire year, with no word from her family. This didn’t stop her and she finished her schooling. While in college she was a victim of rape on her campus. At that time in Kenya, 67% of the population had HIV/AIDS (currently the percentage is more like 43%). So she was shunned by her family and community, with them assuming she had been infected. It was only when she could prove she was not positive that she could be accepted by the people that were supposed to love her. And her oldest child, Lynette, was a product of that incident. But all that still didn’t stop her. She began working for the government, and brought electricity to the schools and churches in her home community. She also brought piped water to the farms. Years later after she was married she once again suffered rape by a man that had wanted to marry her himself but was too late. Her husband was beaten and tied and even worse, so were her sister and daughter and all witnessed this second attack. But this still didn’t break her spirit or stop her work. It only motivated her to do more and that’s when the strong words, “men zip up” could be heard on the tv and all over east Africa as she began sharing her story and how God got her through it all.
Through the experience of fighting for her own education, she determined she would also help impoverished children get an education as well. Today she runs an orphanage where 104 children have a home, food, and education and in addition she helps many other kids obtain support for school fees. After being shunned for rape, she vowed to help those living with HIV/AIDS and started a project to obtain support for medical care and food for those living with the illness. And after her rape cases, she has been sharing her story and doing motivational talks for other women and going into neighboring nations where women have even fewer rights and fights for justice. It was also through the rapes that she gave her heart and life fully to God and learned to lean on Him for strength and love. She has united all those with physical disabilities in her community to help one another. She has started a group for the women so they can work together and make a better income. She has a feeding program for the elderly who are unable to work anymore. There is not a person truly in need in her entire area that she has not touched. I have never seen anyone involved in so many different things and determined to make her community a better place. And if you offer her any praise or encouragement, her response never fails to be “All glory back to God”. Every experience the enemy meant for bad in her life, the Lord has turned into something glorious. This month with Asuntah has reminded me what ministry is all about and why I signed up for this trip in the first place.
Me and some of my team mates visiting Asuntah’s friend Susan, who is infected with both AIDS and cervical cancer. We visited her initially just to encourage her and pray with her. We came this second time to bring her dinner and have real fellowship with her and also give her a bible of her very own for the first time. Asuntah is in the blue suit and Susan is holding her new bible.
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.” Matthew 12:18
