Kenya, day 5

Tues. 6/23 12:21 p.m. (GA); 7:21 p.m. (Ngaamba)

What a day. Warm shower this morning -- much better than the cold one this evening! I had to 1/2 way wash the filth off...I'll wash the rest off in the morning when the warm water is back on.

This morning we went back to the school site and moved a few more bricks. Men from the community who are skilled laborers came to work on the building. Therefore, we climbed Mt. Marwa - wow! what a hike. It was awesome to have a mountain view of God's creation. Absolutely spectacular! I am so thankful that despite their oppression God has given amazing beauty to the people of Kenya.

(Me, Nicole, Angie, & Melissa - nice sweaty gals!)

Despite enjoying the amazing beauty, we also experienced first-hand one of the hardships the people of Ngaamba face. That mountain was difficult to climb and we had each other for help and water to drink - we had nothing else to do but climb. The people of Ngaamba climb that mountain daily with cattle and goats so they can find food for them to eat. Also, a person within the smaller communities is designated from each family to get water daily. This person must walk, pump water, and carry it back --45-50 lbs. It is an 8-hour chore that must be done daily. Experiencing just a fraction of what that chore entails today really helped me (and the team) gain perspective. We understand better the difficulties Ngaamba faces, and our hearts have been changed.

Today, Nicole and I said good-bye to Damatus. As we did, she asked us to please not forget Ngaamba; don't forget to pray for her, the church, adn the school. She wants to have hope in our prayers being answered. May I not forget to pray -- and may I finally learn to pray on my knees so that my mind is not distracted by Satan. There is no time to be distracted when the needs of Ngaamba are NOW.

(Damatus and me. Such a beautiful woman. Damatus is one of the leaders w/in the community which is why she has such a nice outfit. However, her house looks the same as everyone else's.)

My take-aways from today:

1) My faith is so small, whereas the people of Ngaamba have amazing faith. They pray in complete praises of God, where we pray (mostly) with ourselves in mind. They have every reason to beg God for blessings, yet they simply praise His holy name.

2) God is showing me that all people are the same. We all love to be recognized, we all love to laugh, we all h ave insecurities, we all have wants...but mostly we all need the salvation of Jesus. In that need, we are all equal.