Prison ministry, street children, and a new baby!

5th August, 2009 - Posted by Camille Cotton -

Hello from Kenya! Today we all went to the women’s prison, except Brandt, Hunter and Spencer. Brandt spent the morning walking the Village property with Daniel to map out where all the produce and fruit trees will be planted. We will be buying 15 banana trees and planting them tomorrow. Spencer and Hunter did some major construction labor on the orphans homes. They thought they were going to do some misc. clean-up stuff, but found themselves doing hard labor. They figured the locals working on the homes were laughing the whole time!

The rest of us, Shanon, Karleigh, Anita, Helen, Rachel, Bethany and Ann went to the prison with David, Levi, and Morris. It was a great experience to be able to lead them in worship and share some words of hope. A few of the women have little children/babies in there with them. They seemed very welcoming and pleased we were there. They laughed and sang with us! I shared a bit of my testimony as did Helen from the UK. Then David shared a brief message before we passed out containers of milk, a tooth brush and tooth paste, and female products. The warden was a bit hesitant at first, but after about 30 minutes of Levi negotiating with her, she let us in and I think she was very happy she did!

We went back to the office, had a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the lunch staple here), and then we were off to Kambi Teso, which is the slum area where OAI does a feeding program 4 days a week. These kids, all 125 of them are dirty and sick and hungry. The meal we provide is the only food they have each day and so they go three days without food until we come again the next week. They are so excited to see the bus pull up and come running. Each of them just wants to hold your hand, receive a hug and give you a smile. It is just heart breaking! But, we served them big bowls of a dish that smelled really good and some water. There are older siblings, maybe 7 to 10 years old, caring for their infant siblings. They are so loving and concerned for their younger siblings, making sure they get food and water, sharing their own food and water if necessary. There were two little girls, about 5 and 3 sharing one bowl of food. The 5 year old would give one spoonful to the 3 year old and then one to herself and then one to the 3 year old, etc.

After they all ate, we hung around and played with them for a couple hours. Shane, Spencer and Brandt got in to an energized game of soccer with about 30 of the older kids, while Rachel and Karleigh played soccer with about 30 of the younger ones. Bethany, Anita, Helen, Ann, Hunter and Shanon did their best to keep up with all the rest that just wanted to hold our hands, sit on our laps and be loved! Poor Hunter had two young boys that were completely mesmerized by the hair on his arms. They kept rubbing it up and down and giggling….Hunter was very patient with them! Just before we left, we passed out little fleece turtles carrying tiny Bibles. They children were beyond thrilled. I know I have said it a few times already, but it continues to amaze all of us, how much joy is in these kids’ hearts. They were smiling so big and saying thank you, thank you, over and over again. This food and water and time we spent with them meant the world to them and brought a short period of fun, love and care in an otherwise empty world for them. As the bus pulled away, the children wave until their hands hurt and then run down the hill to see if they can beat the bus to the bottom, just so they can smile and wave to us again! How simple it is to shine a little light in their lives, a hot bowl of stew, a cup of water and the touch of someone who cares for them. Sure makes you re-think they way each of us responds to these simple things….how we really take those things for granted. We can make a different choice and I hope we all will!

Tonight we went out to support Morris and the street kid’s ministry. These are the kids that live on the streets and spend the day and night inhaling glue. Morris use to be a street kid for 7 years and he made the choice to get out and seek help and is now committed to helping those still on the street. He is amazing and the kids love and respect him. It is tough to sit on the steps and smell the strong scent of glue, but these kids want to be loved and are so excited we are there to sing with them and provide them with milk and a roll. They want to have hope but it seems unrealistic to them. Morris is making a difference as God is using him in a mighty way!

Just before we went to the streets, we were eating dinner and Rachel Gallagher received a call that there was a one-day-old baby at a hospital who had been abandoned. The baby was taboo, which means it was conceived through incest and the mom knew that the baby would not be accepted. The tribal response to babies from incest is to kill the baby. So the mom actually saved the babies life in a way. The problem really was that the hospital does not have any formula, baby blankets, baby clothes or anything. And the staff leaves at night, leaving the babies to fend for themselves for the night if there is no mother in the hospital. So, we hurried through dinner and Rachel and Renee went to get formula and pick the baby up. We think it is a girl and we will meet the baby in the morning. Not sure what the future is for this baby….possibly a new orphan for the Village. But for now, PLEASE pray for this baby and for Rachel, Renee, Ruth, and David who will be caring for this baby for now.

Thanks to everyone who is reading this and to those who have left comments….WE APPRECIATE IT! I hope to put some more photos up tomorrow! Hope you all have a great day and thanks for the prayers. Our team is holding strong and growing in faith with each day!