Our Final day in Kitui

Today was our final full day here in Kitui. We drove with many people from St. Paul's Chapel, where we have been working, to a large hill where they erected a cross in 1994 to commemorate the 150 years since Christianity came to the area. Apparently the witch doctors in the area have taken it down a couple times because they think its presence weakens their powers. The church decided to take the opportunity of our visit to put the cross back up and hold a crusade at the bottom of the hill in the market of the village there. Afterward we walked up the hill and consecrated the cross which had been put back up in cement earlier in the day. It was a pretty intense climb but we all made it up and then safely back down. It was exciting to hear the preaching and think about the little village that is sitting under the cross, what power that cross can have for them.

We walked down the hill to the little church which looked like a shed in the backyard and we sat in the yard in front of it where they fed us lunch. We were able to provide for the entire church body and the members of st. Paul's which came with us. After a week in Kitui, today was the first day that I really wished for american food. I just wasn't that excited for another day of rice, beans, steamed cabbage, goat or chicken. While it has been better than I think any of us expected I was missing my usual today.

While we all donned our tennis shoes and hiking boots for the days climb the people of africa just climbed in their usual flip flop sandles, many women in nice dresses, some with shoes with a little heel and carrying their purses. I think one thing I was struck by today is that while this feels like camping to me, this is regular life to them. Their feet are always dusty, they always have somewhere to walk or hike and the women just grab their purse for the activity of the day like I do to go to the mall.

Yesterday was a crusade at St. Paul's Chapel. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to break into smaller groups and go visit some of the poorer families in the area bringing them some food and inviting them to the crusade. Rachel and I went together with Isabelle. One of the homes we visited was a very elderly couple. The man was over 100 years old and the woman in her 90's, it was the only time we were invited into the home as they stayed in their chairs. I don't know if I could properly describe it but I will always remember seeing this elderly couple sitting in their very old and worn chairs in this tiny, tiny room (most people in the US have larger bathrooms), with baby chicks running around between the man's feet. There were two other small rooms although I am not sure what they functioned as, maybe a bedroom and a kitchen area. Although some in the area have electricity and running water, they did not.

I am finding it hard while being here to really comprehend and put to words what we are experiencing. I can tell you these stories but it is so hard to really communicate what it feels like, what we are really seeing. It is easy to tell lots of stories of poverty such as this old couple has and feel like it is a sad and difficult life that everyone has. The thing is that while we see that life is hard, we experience so much joy and contentment among the people. They are so appreciative of what we are doing and how we are helping the community and it makes you want to stay and help more, send more money, return to make sure these children we are meeting are able to go to school and succeed, help transform the lives of the men and women and change a community. It is hard to come and see what is happening and be part of helping bring hope to a community and then leave it knowing that possibly we will never know what happens to some of the children that we have gotten to know and that realistically we may never return. In the end I guess the answer is that we need to remember we are leaving this village and these people in God's hands. He is working here, it is so evident, and he will use the seeds we have planted and the people of Kitui that live here to change lives and change Kenya. Praise the Lord. Please pray for the people of Kitui and the amazing work God is doing here.

Tomorrow we return to nairobi. what are we doing there? I don't know. Mwende will tell us when we get there. ha ha. I believe we are visiting an orphanage, I know Sunday we are slated to visit several different churches and I think we were going to try to return to the slum and do our little creation puppet show for the children there. So much to do, so little time. We are trusting God to keep us healthy (so far so good) and energetic so that we can do His work during this short time we are here.