Liberty in Turkana

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isaiah 61:1

We have seen this verse come to life, and this was definitely the case today with my group of five while visiting the Turkana tribe. Holli, Logan, Liz, our translator, Simon, and I have been together the past few weeks on Tuesdays when we visit the Turkana people. We visit houses and just talk with people there. We have been trying to visit a few people we have developed relationships with, like Monica, who I mentioned in the last blog 🙂

Today was a crazy day. God moved in a powerful way to free captives, give sight to the blind, and bind up the brokenhearted. After we had talked to a bunch of people at their homes, in the street, at the little markets, we went a bit futher down the road and visited four women: Sarah, Scolastica, Rosemary, and Lucy. Each invited us into their homes, and our group spent time talking and praying with them.

God showed his glory and moved powerfully with two of the ladies in particular: Rosemary and Scolastica.Both are Christians but situations have caused them to lose some of their hope in Christ. God gave us divine appointments today with these ladies to help restore this lost hope in Christ. Rosemary was from the Luyo tribe and had four sons. Her eldest who is 18 has been disobedient, unwilling to attend school, and at times even abusive to her. We realized from the moment we entered her house that she was in great pain and emotional distress- we could see it in her eyes and in her manner. We all heard from the Lord–reminded her of Ephesians 6 about God’s armor and standing up in God’s power against the evil one and from Psalm 62, about the Lord being her Rock and strength. As we shared with her and encouraged her, she began crying. We prayed for her and helped her release this burden and reminded her that God is in control and is pursuing her son. What a drastic difference entering her house and experiencing heaviness of heart and in our spirits and then leaving, experiencing her regained joy and a spirit of freedom replacing the former in her household!

The next house wasn’t any less heavy for us. We could tell immediately that Scolastica didn’t have much hope in her eyes either. We felt a heavy spirit upon entering this house as well. Scolastica told us that she had pondered suicide two years ago. She had lost hope because of a negative relationship with her husband and pains in her neck caused by a tumor. Her husband wasn’t supporting her and the tumor in her neck caused her to be in great pain. Logan shared his story with her, which God used powerfully because he had a similar struggle. We reminded her of God’s love and encouraged her. God opened up this woman’s blind eyes to his truth today and freed this captive of hopelessness and insecurity. Amen 🙂

God broke me for these women today-emotionally and spiritually. He allowed me to physically experience some of their heaviness of heart and spirit. He revealed His glory in such powerful ways today. Our group is not worthy to be used by Him or to experience and see His love manifested every day in and through people’s lives. I am so thankful.

Pray for our team as we head to the Turkana tribe on Monday, that He would give us His vision and empower us for the week. Thank you for your continuous prayers.

In Christ,

Kelli 🙂