Monday was the first day of the youth conference. This was the first year I taught at the conference and I absolutely loved it! Daphne and I taught on abortion. It was not an easy topic at all. But abortion is a lot more common in Kenya than I ever knew it was, so it was a very necessary class.
We had 12 girls in our class, ranging from 11-22 years old.
Girls become sexually active in Kenya as early as 9 years old so unfortunately, this age group was exactly who we needed to reach. In the beginning of our class, we taught the girls about each stage of development of the baby while it is inside of the mother's womb. They have absolutely no idea about any of these things because they don't have access to the research and they don't get to have ultra sounds to see and hear their sweet babies. They were blown away at what they learned in this part, as I only imagined they would be because it is so incredibly fascinating to me too. We also taught them some of the abortion methods in America and some of the most common reasons why women have abortions. Then they taught us that the majority of abortions in Kenya are performed by boiling leaves from a nim tree and eating them. The leaves are toxic and they kill the baby when eaten. What the mother's don't know though, is that they are at great danger of killing themselves too and in more than half of the cases, they also die. The things these girls knew and told us were gut wrenching and heart breaking.
Monday evening Jimmy Safari brought the dresses to my mom and I that he had made for us. You'll be real surprised to know I cried my eyes out when I opened the dress. I will treasure this as long as I live!
We told him we'd wear the dresses on our last day in Kenya. I know you're holding your breath for those pictures ;)
We spent all of Tuesday teaching on what God says about abortion by reading and teaching on a ton of different Scripture. We had given each girl a Bible and they were always so excited to look up and highlight the Scripture. They are SO eager to learn and are genuinely grateful to be being taught.
Tuesday after the youth conference Francis took us to his house to meet his wife and children. One of my favorite things to do in our "off time" in Kenya is getting to visit the homes of the pastors. These people have become so close to me and it is so special to see where they live and meet their families. He has a very nice home and he even got electricity about a year ago. It is very rare to have electricity in Kenya. Francis is a very hard worker but he also has a good American friend who helps him and his family financially. That man's name is Jess and Francis named his first two children after him. His oldest child is Jessica and the second born is Jess. I think it is so sweet :) His youngest son is Joshua and his wife's name is Constance. They were all so precious.
His wife had made us a cake. Cakes in Kenya are not sweet at all but this one was very good.
After visiting with Francis' family, he and Samuel took Daphne and I to I LOVE PIZZA restaurant. Daph and Meredith went last year but this was the first time I'd been. It was delicious!! The food at the hotel is not great and it's almost the same thing every single night, so this pizza seemed like the best thing I'd ever eaten! I'd never been out past dark in Kenya because unless you are with a National, it can be unsafe. It was so much fun being out "late" and hanging out with two of my most favorite Kenyans on one of our last nights.
Wednesday was our last day teaching at the conference. We never asked any of the girls flat out if they'd had an abortion. We didn't think that was appropriate at all. But chances are at least one of them had. We weren't there to make them feel guilty or ashamed. So we spent the entire last day teaching on God's grace, mercy, redemption and restoration. Words could never describe how sweet our time was with those girls. We took pictures of them holding a card with their name on it so we could remember and pray for each one of them. One of the girls was not there the on the last day so another girl is holding her card. And you will see Rachel, our translator on the far right in the second picture. I have those pictures in my Bible along with the one of Thomas. I doubt I could ever go a day without thinking of them, but it sure is special to me to see their faces every day too.
Wednesday night was our kwaheri (goodbye) celebration at the hotel. All of the pastors come and it is just a sweet time of reflecting on our two weeks in Kenya and visiting with them one more time before leaving the next morning.
Mom and I in our dresses with Jimmy
I had asked Harrison if he could come and bring Thomas. As hard as I knew it would be so tell them bye, I just had to see them one more time. They came about 5:30 so we got to visit with them for a while before the kwaheri meeting started.
I gave Thomas a lion necklace that is exactly like my elephant necklace. I told him that lions were a sign of courage and that I knew he'd be brave for his upcoming surgery.
Earlier in our trip, we learned of all of the many people starving to death just 100 miles from where we were staying in Malindi. Some places haven't had rain in 2-5 YEARS! In Kenya people only eat what they can grow, so if there isn't any rain, there isn't food. The cows and goats were dying because there was no grass, and the corn and the rest of the crops have been dead for a long time. Babies are dying left and right and are being left on the side of the road. We heard stories about people walking miles (like they normally do) to get water but dying before they could get back to their family with the water because they didn't have enough strength. The stories go on and on and just get even more unbearable to hear. We were all broken over this and had been eager to help. Many of us donated money to the Red Cross for them to buy food and pay to distribute it to these people. Mom, Daphne and I gave what was left of the money we raised from the yard sale. During our kwaheri meeting, three men from the Kenya Red Cross came to the hotel to give us more information and thank us for how we'd been able to help financially. It was so cool to hear them speak and tell us more about how they would be reaching all of these starving people. Many of the pastors we'd been working with were planning on helping distribute the food over the next several weeks.
Everybody stayed for the celebration but had to leave before we ate dinner. When I had to say goodbye to Jimmy, Harrison and Thomas, it was the first time that I completely lost it while saying bye in Kenya. I did not want them to see me upset so I'd been preparing myself all day for this so I would keep it together. But I couldn't. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Not knowing for sure if I will ever go back is something that is too hard for me to even accept. These people are my family now. I love them. Thomas is my little brother and Jimmy is just one of the most precious people to me in this whole world. Big surprise that I'm crying my eyes out right now as I type this. The rest of Wednesday evening was bitter sweet for me. I was so excited thinking about being home and seeing Paul and the rest of my family, but other than that no part of me was ready to leave Kenya.
The hotel always has a nice way of saying goodbye. They make everything a big deal for us and it makes us all feel so special. They made a big cake and got all of their staff to come out with drums and sang songs for us.
This is James. He is the wait staff manager and has been working there since I went the first time in 2008 and long before that.
This is Joan, one of the receptionist. I think she is so beautiful!!
And this is our entire group, minus some people that were there a week before us and left a week before us. Hate we didn't get a whole group picture.
This time in Kenya touched me and changed me even more than the two times before. I hope and pray that God gives me another opportunity to go, but even if He doesn't, I will be forever grateful and changed because of my time in Kenya. I wish everybody could go and experience it. America would certainly be a different place. I have had the opportunity to talk to Samuel, Harrison and Francis since we've been back. One of them has called every Saturday so far. Right now it is very cheap for them to call and all of their phones are international. Talking to them and hearing their sweet voices makes it somewhat easier to not be there.
We've gotten many e-mails since being back updating us on the food distribution from the Red Cross. One trip was made to distribute food since we left but long story short, the government has a hold on the situation and it has slowed things way down. Politics can get in the way even in Kenya. Things seem to be looking up as of right now and hopefully more people will begin receiving food this week. If you are able and would like to donate to the Kenya Red Cross, I can tell you how to get the money there-just let me know.
