A couple days, I had my first boda ride... one of my new favorite things! ![]()
The internet cafe that we typically go to has a large porch. The other day, I got to have a good conversation with a man named Jude. He was talking about how anyone who believes in a God can go to heaven, and then he asked me what I believed, and I was able to share. These are the opportunities we pray for! We also got to hang out with some sweet kids. From what we heard, the kids were all watched by one man who was sort of a father figure for them. It's so sad. The other day, we were walking down the street, and a little boy just walked up and held my hand. They're looking for any sort of love. Here's us singing a song... such a sweet sound!
The last couple days, we have been at Smile Africa Ministries. It has been both wonderful and heart wrenching. There is so much joy, yet pain. Sadness, yet hope. Violence, yet love. These are some simple things I have learned:
1. The kids are FASCINATED by watches.
2. Start a circle with 3 kids, and you will soon have 40 kids who are forever entertained by ring-around-the rosie and duck-duck-goose.
3. The kids are also fascinated by the fact that I have white hair on my arm.
4. Any time you want to be surrounded by a crowd of kids... bring the children's Bible! We have had so many opportunities to read the Bible to the kids. Most of the younger ones (10 yrs. and under) speak mostly Swahili, but they still like listening. We have been asked to read a Bible story in the classroom 4 times so far, and then we have a translator, which helps :)
5. Singing songs is a wonderful thing!
6. One of the greatest gifts to give one of the children is an empty water bottle. They use it for games, to make clay (in which they build these extensive houses). It's really amazing.
There has been so many other things that I've seen that have either made me smile or broke my heart. Some of the kids have no clothes and just run around naked, whereas others have clothes with dirt and holes all over. Today, they handed us their clothes at shower time to wash them. They were so excited, even though we only had dirty water to wash them in. I told someone that I wasn't going to remember the names of the kids when they changed clothes... however, I didn't realize that they don't change clothes ever.
Well, internet time is just about up. I will update more later! As of now, please pray for energy, as we are exhausted after the day is done. Also pray for the Lord to supernaturally love through us and that every child will know the love of Christ.
Thanks. Love and miss you all!
So many things you've just said are totally what I experienced! 'My' orphans always rubbed my arms because they loved that I had light colored hair on them. Also, I remember telling a teammate after my first visit to my orphanage, "I learned all their names, but tomorrow they'll be in different clothes and I won't know who they are!" I went back the next day, and 80% of them were wearing the same clothes. Needless to say - it was super easy to learn their names!
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