With each child there is a story of the death of their parents
through malaria, HIV/AIDS, being hit by a vehicle on the road, or some other
tragedy. Some of the children have simply been abandoned. They do not know
where their parents are.
When I was at the church in Kenya last year, I was so busy with the
Bible conference on every single day that I did not really have a good
opportunity to get to know the children personally. So, I have asked Pastor
Joel to send me some of the personal histories of the children and some photos.
He has sent me several of them. It is a difficult process
for them to send photos since they do not have computers, but through a cyber-café
in Kisii town they can do it, although they tell me that it is costly to do so.
I am going to include some background information about a
couple of the children below. Their stories are by no means extraordinarily
different than the other orphans, but it will give you a sense of the level of
poverty and abandonment that these children come from. I will write about
others in the days to come.
This girl is named Faith. She is now 6 years old, but was
found thrown in a rubbish pit when she was only 4 and brought to the orphanage.
She is in grade 1. She likes singing and reciting Bible verses and says that she
wants to become a teacher.
Fabian is 5 years old. His parents are unknown, for he was
found wandering in the street and brought to the orphanage. He is in preschool
and likes singing and is learning to read. Like Faith, he also wants to become
a teacher (maybe he heard Faith say that so he wants to be a teacher too).
This is Josephine. She is 8 years old and like most of the children,
she has been in our orphanage since 2016. Josephine`s parents died of diseases
and she was left alone. She is in grade 2. She likes singing and caring for
other children and wants to become a nurse.
In the words of Pastor Joel, “Kindly
pray for these children, that the Lord will provide for the meeting of their needs,
like clothing, medication and shelter. Other children are suffering many
sicknesses, such as chiggers, skin diseases, kwashiorkor, and marasmus.” (I had
to google these words to see what they were)
Most of the children also have worm
illness because they live in dirty places and they do not get enough food.
There is so much more that I could
share. I have said nothing of the work of the church in reaching their neighbors
with the message of Christ. Nor have I written about how the church is involved in bringing about new
lifestyles in the community, so that many of these family situations like the orphans have come
from will not be so common.
It is still puzzling to me
how and why God has called me to be so closely involved with such a work so far
away after I have spent most of my life ministering in Latin America, and after I was happy to have my overseas work completed so I could just stay home on my farm (or so I thought).
I do not
know but I do not complain. These children are precious in the eyes of the
Lord, and they now have become my children as well.
If you would like to become involved, write to me and tell me what you have in mind. donaldrhody@gmail.com
If you would like to become involved, write to me and tell me what you have in mind. donaldrhody@gmail.com
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