Sunday, April 10, 2011

We’ll be writing separate blogs about today’s events because we split up in order to attend two different churches. Ellen attended Imani Sirwo at Pastor Isaac’s request in order to accompany Brian who has never been to this church. Dawn attended the AIC Kimoson where Pastor Titus Kibet is serving.

The Kimoson service was different in that it is the first church I’ve (Dawn) attended where there hasn’t been dancing as a part of the worship celebration. The service was shortened because the church has committed to going into the community for outreach prior to their Easter celebration. The youth went out as one group to reach their friends, the women went out as another group, and the men went out as a third group. I had taken several Bibles with me to hand out to some of Pastor Titus’ members who may not own a Bible but he suggested we divide the Bibles among the groups going out and take them with us into the community. What a great idea!

Pastor Titus kept me (Dawn) with the men’s group and we launched out into the area. We visited several homes where we had opportunity to share with people about the love of Jesus and left some of our Bibles. At one home after sharing the Gospel with the man of the house, he asked us to go to the house next door and pray for his elderly mother. When our time for the outreach was over, I was taken to the home of a woman who had arranged to have a meal prepared for me even though she had been called away! In Kenya they rely on neighbors to receive guests when they are away. How many of us in America even KNOW our neighbors, let alone would entrust them with our homes????? I was entertained by three ladies who were very conversational in Swahili but not English. One thing I have learned during this trip is that many Kenyans understand English even though they don’t know how to speak it. So my three new friends knew what I was saying but we had to have a translator to tell me what they were saying. My favorite part of this whole day came next. The ladies wanted me to go to the home of a woman and pray for healing because she has been having nosebleeds. Then they took me to one of their homes where I was served chai and heard the wonderful story of Lilly and Gabriel. Lilly is a 28 year old mom and Gabriel was about 18 months old when he was kidnapped and taken to Tanzania. He was missing for three weeks before Lilly got information about where Gabriel was at and was able to bring him home. We prayed for healing for a family member there who had malaria. The ladies took me from one house to another asking me to pray for people – what a thrill! Our last stop was the home of Wilson. When we arrived I saw him sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in a wool blanket on an 80+ degree day and wearing a scarf around his head. His feet and his head were the only parts of his body which were exposed. His feet and legs were grossly swollen and his mother lifted his blanket to show me that his hands were in the same condition. Wilson told me he has had this condition for five years and when I asked what the doctor’s diagnosis was he said “a sprained muscle”! He said the condition began shortly after he took a fall and hurt his neck. The reason he was wrapped in the blanket and scarf was because his hands are so swollen he cannot use them and when flies land on him he can’t even swat them away. It was obvious that if God does not intervene and heal Wilson he will suffer tremendous pain before finally losing his limbs and/or dying. When I laid my hands on his ankles to pray they were feverishly hot. After praying, I told Wilson I expect him to send me a photograph of himself STANDING UP soon!

Pastor Titus finally had his way and we stopped our visiting. I said goodbye to my friends and Titus and I headed off to his home where I was about to be introduced to “Dawn Cherob”. Cherob means rainy season and he explained that in Kenya a child’s middle name usually described something about the time when they were born. When little “Dawn Junior” was born it was apparently pouring down rain! She’s a beauty!!! Born March 24 she is just three weeks old and quite content to sleep. A little cherub, I thought as I gazed on her sleeping face! Zippy has now taken to calling me Cherob because it comes from her tribal language of Tujin. I like to think she is calling me cherub (as in “angel”)!