One lady's story.

I have decided that when I write about the ladies in our group, I will refer to all of them as Esther. I will pray that name on them so that they become strong and faithful.

Today's Esther came to the meeting last Wednesday. When she arrived, her hair was a wreck, her clothes were dirty and she had her young son with her. She left her 10 year old at home looking for some kind of work.

As Esther began to talk, she told the story of abuse and abandonment from childhood. When she was twelve she was beaten severely and ran away from home. She ran to the forest. There she found some people who gave her food and a place to stay. Not an unfamiliar story here. But guess what, she was really a slave. She was twelve, could not read or write and was at the mercy of these people.

She ran away and was "helped" by a man who took her further into the forest where she was going to be raped. Another man came along and helped her get to the road.

The details of her life are still being shared. When she came on Wednesday, she was brought by a friend from her neighborhood ( we are pretty sure the friend is a prostitute. ) You see the "christians" in her neighborhood and others decided she needed to be beaten because she did not take her 10 year old to school. But this girl  ( she is 26) has been on her own most of her life. Where is she to get the $25 it will cost for fees ( both of her children will need to start in nursery school which is not free) plus uniforms for both ( another $30 each.) So let's calculate, two children times say $60  . That is TWICE what she might earn in a month.  Where is her hope? How do we help her? Can you feel the love of Christ when you see know way out?

Well... as usual, the Lord works powerfully. When she returned to her home that day, a lady had left her phone number  and asked her to call. Esther was afraid I am sure because she had basically run away from a mob.  But one lady in that neighborhood stepped up and gave $25 for getting the children started and then they would "go from there."

So, at church this morning, I was feeling lethargic. I did not quite frankly feel like struggling to get what I could from our service since it is in Swahili and sometimes Kikuyu. I just did not want to try. I wanted to be anywhere else.

And then , the time came for visitors to stand and introduce themselves. And there was Esther. She introduced herself and then sat down. I looked at my friend Esther ( the co-leader of this group) and we raised our hands to heaven to thank God for sending Esther there.

And then another odd thing happened. We often have guests in the church. Usually, they just greet the church and sit down. But Baba Jane ( the eldest elder of the church) called the ladies up  and as we sang a great Kikuyu song ( don't know the words, but the songs are ALWAYS full of life )  the entire church came and shook their hands and welcomed them. THIS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. What a welcome our new friend Esther found at our church today. And she came to give thanks for the lady who was helping with her school fees. The joy I felt in all that happened today filled my heart.

And then, I found that our dear friend Sam was preaching today. That meant he would preach in English and Swahili and I was thrilled.

Thank you Lord for surprises - even though I should not be surprised.

The least of these...seriously

Today we started a bible study for women. By we, I mean my friend Esther and another friend here in Kenya. I had asked everyone to pray for this group. I thought we would be small and I thought that it was going to take a very long time for people to open up with their stories.

You see, I knew that most who would attend would be considered "worthless" in our community. By worthless, I meant multiple types of issues. Prostitution, alcoholism, abuse and the list went on and on. While I have prayed about this for weeks and felt that now was the time to begin, and while I prepared as much as I could, I was not prepared for what happened today.

First let me say - there will be NO pictures of these women. They suffer enough from extremely poor self esteem without my adding to their anxiety. Other than Esther and myself, the names I use will NOT be the real names of these women. They have tough stories and tough lives and they deserve privacy. But I do want you to know their stories and I pray that through this blog I can share with you the transformation that the Lord will provide in the lives of these women. So let me describe them to you.

There are no "fancy hairdos." That's one of the first things I learned from Kenyan friends. Hair is an indicator of social status. So, in this group, none of the attendees had "hairdos." Some had cut their hair very short, others had very tiny braids that can be done by a friend. Some of these ladies had stopped going to church because they had been ridiculed for their "lack of smart hair.)

They all wore their best. For some of them, that mean an ill fitting t-shirt and a skirt of some sort. I could see the feet of each of them. These were feet that have walked many miles just to look for work.

Nobody looked me in the eye. As they told their stories, they did it with their head down. But there were no tears even though these stories were unimaginably difficult.

Each woman had at least one child with them. For some, the other children were in school ( praise God) but for others, their children were finding work ( one of them was 10 years old and has never been to school because the $50 per year is prohibitive.) This is the child of one of the ladies who never went past first grade.

Today was our get to know you day. I thought that if I shared a little of my story, it would help these women open up. What I was not prepared for was how incredibly open they appeared to be. We were 10 total including me and Esther ( my dear friend who is an integral part of this group.) Each and every one had a story beginning in childhood of abuse, neglect, abandonment... the list goes on.
Of the 8 attendees, more than half never made it past 2nd grade for various reasons.

I had gone to town to pick up bibles in the local language as well as in Swahili. Guess what? More than half of these ladies cannot read. I just sat still as each lady told her story.  When everyone was finished and it was just Esther and me - I just said wow. And she said to me, "there is so much more that they are not ready to tell."

I have been here for several years now. Most of my "evangelism" has been in and through the church of some sort.  Most of the evangelism I have done has been through some tool - clean water/buckets, medical camps, large groups for training.

 A group was started last year for the youth in this community. When school is out for holidays, those who are between 14 and 21 or so come to our house for praise and worship and bible study. Most of these children have been brought up in church. Most are either in school or working somewhere.

This group of women have NOTHING. They have no family support. Most of their family either abandoned them very early on, parents have died - they just have no one.

For this group of women, just being invited to this group is something they have never experienced before. As we asked each woman some of the reasons why they did not come to church, the list sounded much like what you might find in the US.  Because they have sins that are apparent to everyone, or the entire community knows about them, they are shunned.

These are "the least of these." They are the least of these because that is what this society - including christians and the local churches - define them as . This is the story the community has created for them.  We intend now , through the love and teachings of Jesus, to create a new story for each. I will pray this verse over them for them next however long we are together. I do not usually like this translation of the bible, but for these women God has sent our way  - this is what I pray for them.

 Romans 12:2
New Living Translation
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.


Please pray for these ladies daily. Their lives are more than difficult. But we pray God will allow us to bring the peace of His son in to the lives of these women and their families.

Potatoes and Female Genital Mutilation

 It has been a very long time since I posted a blog. Several things have happened in the last few months that I put in my “note to self” box but forgot.

So today, I had to write.

A couple of weeks ago, we were blessed to be a part of a two day clinic and training in Moheto, southern Kenya. The training part was facilitated by me and Len’s Mom Sarah. We talked about many things facing women in that part of Kenya. We talked about menopause, post partum depression, and the practice of female genital mutilation. For two days we delved into practices that are more than 100 years old and why they continue these practices even though they are detrimental to the health of young women. We had great discussions and we all learned a great deal . I now have a greater understanding of the whys and hows of courtship and marriage in the Kuria tribe. Life is simple and complicated for them.

When those couple of days were finished, I was exhausted.  When I am teaching non-stop for two days, I just feel worn out. I give it all I have when I am in that group setting. But that type of setting is tough for me.You see, I like to be alone. I like reading alone, studying the bible alone, praying alone – I just need time alone. So after a few days like that, my well is completely dry and I have to hibernate. My closest friends know that about me, my family knows that about me. But I struggle with how I am seen in this culture. I am not the kind to come out every day and spend time talking all day. I am however, the kind who likes a good one on one in a quiet place. So I have to learn to adjust. Please pray for me that I find the right balance. Surely God made me this way for a purpose. I am praying over a bible study that will be starting in the next week. This study will be for new Christians, for those who have never known Jesus but know His name, for women who are prostitutes or have addictions of one sort or another – basically those Jesus would have spent time with while on the earth.

Clearly I diverge…. POTATOES…. Why did I title this potatoes? Well, you see this morning our neighbor loaded his motorbike with potatoes just like he does every day. Today, as he passed our house, two large sacks fell from his bike and spilled everywhere. I grabbed my “market bag” and went outside to help pick up the pieces.

When we were finished, I said goodbye, we all smiled and he went off to market.

That’s my kind of servanthood… no words spoken ( well a few Swahili words, but basically we worked in silence)… just gettin’ the job done.  There was a need, we met the need and then everyone went on about their daily routine.

You see… I am a quiet person… I like quiet… and I could pick up potatoes in silence. And I am pretty sure my neighbors felt the love of Jesus as plainly as those to whom I spoke for two days…

Lord help me find my way….