Beauty for Ashes

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because the Lord has annointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead or mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:1,3a

Pokot was a breathtakingly beautiful tribe filled with red dirt, thorny trees, mountains, rivers, adorable camels, exotic bugs, and beautiful people.  Our ministry centered on teaching at Amaya Primary School where I taught class 6 CRE (Christian Religious Education) and the occasional dance and American song class 🙂 We also did door to door ministry.

Door to door evangelism at this tribe was incredible.  First of all, the Pokot live in an incredibly remote part of Kenya, deep in the bush that took us almost 12 hours to get to from Kijabe.  When we went out to evangelize, I was able to share the gospel with people who had never heard of Jesus before.  At the end of our time in Pokot, over 50 people had given their lives to Christ, the church was strengthened, and I left changed forever.  One ladies story stood out to me:

A few teammates and I stopped by a small hut in the bush and our translator called out an old lady.  She was beautiful, tiny with sparkling blue eyes that couldn't see.  She was blind.  As I greeted her with the Pokot hello, "karam", she lit up with a smile.  She had heard of Jesus before but had never quite understood of accepted His love for her.  That day, she prayed to receive Christ.  Her eyes sparkeled even more with her newfound realization of Christ's boundless love for her and thankfulness for her salvation.

She went on to tell us that she was ashamed to go to church because she was dirty and didn't have soap or a nice dress to wear to church.  We went on to tell her all about how God accepted her just as she was and that she didn't have to impress Him, just to come as she was.  But, the Lord broke my heart for her and I knew I had to do something for her.  So, the next day, my teammates Dorothy, Coloton and I went to the market and bought her a dress.  We went back to her hut and gave her the dress along with my soap. 

The next sunday at church, the old blind lady arrived at church, sparkling clean, dressed in her new teal dress praising her Lord and Savior. It was such a beautiful thing to see and brought tears to my eyes.  The Lord had given her a garment of praise-He had taken her out of the ashes and had made her even more beautiful…not because she was clean and had a new dress, but because her life was changed forever by the Love and hope she had in her heavenly Father and she was made new in Him.

After the service, my teammate Dorothy and I went up to her and told her she was beautiful.  She completely lit up, beaming and threw her hands up and cupped her wrinkled face, holding her cheecks with an expression reminiscent of a a timid little girl dressed up like a princess.  She embodied the verse, "Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:4.  Although she was dressed in new clothes and was clean, the most beautiful part of her was her new heart; her gentleness and humbleness were inspiring.

It was so incredible to be used by God to share with her the freedom in Christ and the life transformation that comes with it and to "be Jesus" to her.  Our time in Pokot was amazing and I will miss it <3