Unexpected Love

I may or may not love Kenya. Okay, I do. I came on this this trip thinking I would like it but not love this place. At first, I was not sure about it. I didn’t even really like it. The first couple weeks we stayed at the Highway Motel while we finished fixing up the school we are staying in now. When I thought of motel, I thought of showers, toilets, wifi, etc. When we got there it was not what I expected. The food was not the best. The showers were cold. The toilets were different. We had one outlet to a room. I thought it was rough.

Then we moved to the school. We now have bucket showers, squattie potties, and no power. We have been here for ten days now and I can honestly say I love it. Bucket showers are pretty great. You just fill up a bucket with water and dunk your head in. Maybe you use shampoo if you feel like it that day, and then just grab a washcloth for your body. Squattie potties are literally a 15-20 foot hole in the ground. I think you can get the rest without me explaining it. And no power is actually great if you think about it. If for some reason Maai Mahiu lost power, we wouldn’t even notice. We use kerosene lamps when it gets dark around 6 pm. Last night one of the lamps almost exploded but luckily our night guard, Samuel (one of the sweetest Kenyans we have met), saved us. We get to spend more time together as a team which is so much nicer than having one roommate. We are all getting closer and we are having so much fun. We laugh all the time, especially when we play nerts (the most intense card game ever).

I haven’t even mentioned the ministry yet! We are split into two groups since we have a lot of girls. Every Tuesday and Thursday my group evangelizes until noon, and then after lunch we hang out with the youth. I didn’t think I would like evangelism because I’m a little shy. But people here are so kind; they invite us in and make us chai and sometimes even food. I have met some incredible people, and would love to tell you all about them but that would make this blog way too long. The afternoons with the youth are good too. We play games, worship, and do a bible study. The teens here want to know Jesus and it melts my heart.

The Children’s Home on Friday is always fun. We help with cooking and cleaning and of course play with the kids. So far I have ironed, folded clothes, organized dressers, swept the floors, scrubbed paint of the floor, washed windows, washed a giant rug, and some others things. The kids are so incredible. They have 23 in total but most of them are at school when we are there so we get to play with the youngsters. They are adorable and they are just so happy all the time. I love it.

On Wednesday’s my group goes to the hospital. The first day of that was so hard. We went to the children’s ward and prayed with them. As we were heading to the women’s ward, Mercy (an incredible lady who works at the hospital) stopped us because a family was told their daughter might not make it. We went to ICU and prayed with her parents. Her mother started crying and then we all lost it. Half of the group went in office with the doctor while the rest of us went to see the girl and pray over her. Her name was Joy, she was eight years old and she had a brain tumor. She had surgery done to remove it and they said it went well but she didn’t wake up like she was supposed to. When I saw her I started crying. She had IV’s and tubes hooked up to her. I just started praying and asking Jesus for a miracle. After a while the parents came out and started praying in Swahili. Mercy told us that we were telling God that it is okay if He takes her to Heaven. That broke my heart. That was the first time I really struggled here. After that we went to pray for the rest of the wards. It was good just talking to people and praying with them. The next week Mercy told us that Joy had passed away but that meant she went home to Heaven. The rest of the day went really well. The matatu (a van to take us home) was 2 hours late to pick us up but we made the best out of it. We had a little dance party.

Well, this blog was supposed to be short but I had too much to say. Sorry 🙂 I just love Kenya and I can’t believe we have already been here for a month. These next 2 months are going to fly by and it will be so hard to leave here. I have an unexpected love for Maai Mahiu, Kenya but I think that’s the greatest kind.