It’s hard to believe that I only have less than one week left here in Kenya. Things are beginning to wind down, but the past two weeks have been filled with craziness! It’s hard to even recall everything that has happened, but I will do my best to recap!
Two weeks ago our team divided into two groups to accompany students from East Africa School of Theology on a mission to the Rendille tribe. The entire mission was spread over 6 different locations, and our Convoy team participated in helping with two of the sites: Marsibit and Merille. I ended up with the team heading to Merille, an extremely hot and dry place near the border of Ethiopia. The entire mission’s purpose was to evangelize the Rendille and Samburu tribes living in Northern Kenya. These tribes have been considered “unreached.” These are extremely tribal people groups who have combined supposed Jewish heritage and practices with Animistic rituals, a very odd mix. Although many of these villages are considered Muslim, many of the people do not actually practice Islam because they refused to pray with their faces to the ground due to their belief in God. They actually stopped Islam from spreading southward through Africa. However, they are in desperate need of Christ. Many of them had never even heard of Jesus.
So, 6 of us left two Fridays ago to head to Merille with some of the Kenyan East students on their bus. On the way, we stopped to eat dinner at a very sketchy town. It was muddy, dark, raining, and hard to see. After dinner, a few other girls and I got a little behind because when we came out of the bathroom the others had already left. On our way back to the bus, I was suddenly grabbed from behind near a dark alleyway, and a man ripped my camera off of my shoulders and took off with it. I was extremely frightened and my arm hurt where he had grabbed me. This did not make for a good start on the mission, to say the least! I was very shaken up at the fact that someone was able to grab me out of nowhere so quickly, but I thank God that all he took was my camera. Unfortunately, he wasn’t caught and my camera was long gone. Thankfully, I had backed up my pictures on my computer the night before. I was pretty discouraged after this and actually wanted to go back to Nairobi, but God had me press on toward the mission.
We spent the night at a place called Isiolo on the floor of a classroom. The next day, we drove the rest of the way to Merille. In all, the trip was about 8-9 hours or so. In Merille, we stayed in one of the villagers’ compound, but due to room restrictions, we decided it was best to stay in one of our tents outside. So, for the next 10 days, 5 of us girls slept in a tent outside in 100+ temperature! The conditions for the 10 days were by far the toughest I believe I’ve ever dealt with. Not to mention I wasn’t feeling well throughout the week, so I had a very tough time. It is only by God’s grace I made it through the mission. The days were long and hard, and honestly, I felt very emotionally and physically exhausted. But, the Lord’s purpose was accomplished regardless of our weaknesses! The mission was truly amazing, and I'm so thankful I was given the opportunity to play a small part in it.
We spent each day doing door-to-door (or really hut-to-hut!) evangelism, afternoon crusades in the town square, and revival services out in the bush at night. Every day, numbers and numbers of these villagers and bush people received Christ as their Savior! At the end of the 10 days, 480 people in Merille had made a decision to follow Christ. It’s hard to even recollect all of the incredible testimonies and stories that occurred throughout the 10 days. God moved in such a powerful way in an area in desperate need of His grace, mercy, and provision. These people were so receptive to the Gospel that we were amazed. God had obviously prepared the way ahead for us.
The Rendille culture is full of problems and hindrances. The rural and ancient practices of the tribe have bred oppressive traditions that are considered normal for them. Many of the people dressed in tribal garb (some of the women wore no tops but necklaces) and the teenage boys (called Moran) live in the bush for a number of years until time for marriage. We saw 9 year olds married off to older men and children with diseases all over. Women are very oppressed in the area and are often raped and unwillingly circumcised. Also, the town square was full of orphaned street children with no one to take care of them. It was an area of such poverty that I felt ashamed of everything I own. We are praying for a medical team, feeding program, etc. to do more work in this area.
However, in the midst of all of the incredible problems, the people were filled with such warmth, joy, and friendliness. The kids were wonderful, and they always wanted to join in singing and dancing for Jesus. Also, many of the adults were so kind and generous, even when some of them had never seen white people before. The language barrier was often a problem, but thankfully, the East students’ Swahili was a lot closer to the Rendille language than English! Also, we were often able to use interpreters. I was blessed to receive a few different gifts throughout the week from people in the village who are so in need. It was incredibly humbling.
One night, I was asked to preach the revival service. I talked about Daniel and the Lions Den and how he wasn’t afraid to trust in God and obey Him, even when his culture and those around him said otherwise. It was kind of a cool experience using an interpreter! In this culture, it is extremely rare for a man to ever respond to a woman; however, as soon as I finished the message, one of the oldest men in the village came down and stood at the front, along with another gentleman (one of our interpreters). When I asked if he knew Jesus, he said to the interpreter that he wanted to. Praise the Lord! The interpreter also recommitted his life to Christ, along with another elderly lady in the village. Also, many of the children asked for prayer for boldness to stand up for God and follow Christ even when their culture is full of things that would as them to do otherwise. God is moving in that village in ways that are beyond us!! It would take me pages and pages to tell all of the many incredible things that happened in the 10 days we were there. We witnessed so many salvations, healings, miracles, etc. These people were truly hungry for the Lord. I was able to tell many, many people about Christ and lead them in the salvation prayer in the 10 days-children and adults alike who had never even heard the name of Jesus. It was truly a humbling experience-I had never been around anything like it. Similar to Gibatu, it was incredible to sit under the stars and African sky at night singing songs to Jesus with children in the middle of the bush….wow, I can’t even begin to try to explain everything we witnessed in such an incredible native and tribal area. At the end of the mission with all 6 teams combined, over 3,000 people came to Christ in these tribes. Can you believe that? Now, these people have officially moved from being an “unreached” people group to “reached.” Praise the Lord!!!
Last Sunday night, we left Merille to drive half the way stopping back in Isiolo to spend the night. Even though I was exhausted and ready to relax, it was extremely difficult to leave the people of Merille (especially the children) as well as the Kenyan ministers and students we had partnered with throughout the 10 days. Later that night in Isiolo, I began vomiting over and over again. All of a sudden, I developed an extremely high fever with aches and chills all over. I seriously felt deathly ill! By the next day, it was decided I needed to go to the clinic in Isiolo. A blood test was given and the results showed that I had Malaria!! I was amazed since I have taken every precaution possible to prevent developing Malaria; however, there is never 100% chance of not getting it. Apparently, I was bit a couple of weeks ago (which would explain why I was feeling so weak throughout my time in Merille), but the main effects didn’t hit me until later on! So, I was given extremely good medication (which only cost $5!!) and within a few hours, I felt a million times better. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever felt that sick in my life. But, thanks to God and the incredible medicine, I felt so much better by the next day that I couldn’t believe it! I rode the rest of the way back to Nairobi with the chancellor of East, missionary Jeff Nelson, and a few others. Thankfully, the rest of this week has consisted of vacation, so I’ve been able to recover well from the Malaria.
We went on a 3 day safari to the Masai Mara (one of the Seven Wonders of the World!!), and saw pretty much every animal native to Africa! It was absolutely breathtaking. We stayed at a resort camp in tents with beds and bathrooms, and drove out 4 different times on safaris all over the Mara. I couldn’t believe how close we were able to get to all of the animals in the wild. Thankfully, Bryan (the missionary overseeing us here) allowed me to borrow his extremely nice camera on the safari. The pictures were amazing! We walked with elephants, parked in the middle of a lion pride, and even saw a cheetah kill a gazelle at dusk! We probably saw at least 30 different animals up close totally in the wild. It was amazing!! Plus, we even got to cross into Tanzania for a minute!
Last night, we left on an overnight sleeper train to Mombasa on the coast, which is where we currently are. Unfortunately, on the 12-hour train ride, several of our teams’ cabins were robbed and many valuable items were stolen right out of their beds. We couldn’t believe it. The enemy is seriously fighting hard to keep us discouraged here, but God is victorious! Even with being robbed and developing Malaria, I have seen God’s hand so incredibly strong at work these past few weeks that I feel overwhelmed with gratefulness. He has blessed me in so many ways and also provided opportunities here I never dreamed possible. No matter what challenges come my way, I’m standing on the Lord’s promises and constantly seeing His hand.
We will be here in Mombasa for a few more days, then we will head back to Nairobi to prepare for the conclusion to our mission here. We will spend Wednesday partnering with Dusty Feet (which began in Springfield and is now based out of Kenya), an organization developed to fight human trafficking here in Africa. We will follow them through Mathare Valley, one of the poorest slums in the world and their home base. I don’t know if I’m prepared for what we will see there. We saw many street kids on the way to Merille, orphans who huff glue in order to keep themselves from focusing on their hunger. It was probably the most painful thing I’ve ever seen. I’m praying for God to emotionally prepare me for what we are going to see in Mathare. Apparently, it’s 10x that difficult. It’s full of street kids high on substances and fighting for survival, even as young as 3 and 4 years old. Dusty Feet will show us what they do in Mathare as we follow their footsteps. We will also visit one of the slum’s Feeding Program later in the day.
On Thursday, we pack and prepare to fly out on Friday night. Wow, less than a week away. I can’t believe everything God has done here in Kenya and in our lives….man. God is amazing!
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