Four fathers.

1/2/13

8:45 am

    We're eating breakfast at Return (otherwise known as the Ritz Carlton) and I need to write about something I keep forgetting. At Ekubo, we had such jam packed days that it was easy to forget things. When we had served the kids on the hill for their holiday party, the Bible team did a skit. It ended in a prayer. At the end of the prayer, Conrad said, "if you know you have sinned and know you need Jesus, please raise your hand so we can pray for you." All 300 of the children raised their hands. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. There were children of all ages raising hands in the air, admitting weakness and a need for Christ. It was beautiful. "And I just realized how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for us. He loves us, oh how He loves us...if His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking." 

     I am with you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "how awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of Heaven. Genesis 28:15-17

"How I love You, oh how I love You, oh how I love You, oh, how I love..." AK

1/2/13

5:45 pm

     Today was a long one! Return is a HUGE ministry, so there were over 300 kids there all day. First, the kids sang a song for us, and then we got on stage to sing for them. We sang "Every Breath I Take," "Waves of Mercy" and "Teach me How to Pray" (to the tune of Teach me how to Dougie- hahahaha). In the middle of the last song, Conrad started to freestyle! The kids LOVED it and we had so much fun. Then they performed the skit again and we made "love goggles" out of pipe cleaners. It was so cute. Then all of the kids got on stage for an awesome dance party! We sang half-English songs like "what are we gonna do when we get to Heaven? We're gonna have some fun/ jump like this/ smile like this" and "1, 2, king of kings, 3, 4, honor God, 5, 6, ehhhh! ehhh!" Hearing tons of little African accents speaking English was hysterical. 

     After the longest dance party of my life, we fed the children all lunch. We formed an assembly line from the kitchen to the kids and passed out plates that way. It was my job to clean up plates and take them to be washed. It was HARD work. Washing 300+ dishes by hand is really taxing (and gross). The sad thing was that the dishes weren't really very dirty, because there wasn't the tiniest morsel left of food on any of them. It made me think of all the food we waste in America every day. It nauseates me. 

     After feeding the children and cleaning up, we made the uphill trek back to the guest house. We were served a great lunch, of course, and had some time to breathe. When we got back to Return, we broke up into groups and played relay race games for a while. It was fun, and group C won! Woot woot! I moved closer to watch tug of war, and held a sweet baby for a LONG time. He reminded me of Daniel, his eyes are SOO big! He fell asleep on my lap quickly and as I looked around, I saw many other children sleeping on laps. The city is loud, and their "houses" are tiny, so I'm sure they never get good sleep. They don't have water or even a squatty potty (literally a hole in the ground) so they just go to the bathroom in the street. Sara saw a little girl just take off her underwear and pee right by the stage at the ministry today. It's just what they do. I can't even imagine. But then, it's all they know. Pastor Samuel told me that these children are just a product of broken families and an "endless cycle of failure." He quoted Ephesians 3:14-21 and Psalm 68:5, telling us that when we reach out to those children, God reaches out to us. I feel that, and I love sharing His love.

      When the little one (Solomon) woke up from his nap, I cleaned up his dirty face a little. He was dirty and had dried snot all down his face. Yeah, it was gross, but if I'm the only person who cares enough about him to clean him up, I'm happy to do it. It makes me sad that he is the average. The average American child has so many more blessings than these do. They were so grateful to see us and all hugged us and said "thank you, I love you so much!" when we left. I wish they had more than us to smile about.... AK

Team C! Woot woot! Aaron, Randy, Carla, Abby, Anton, and Ernest

Love goggles!

Too cute not to share.

Baby Solomon asleep on my lap.

How do you not fall in love with this face?

This boy stole my WHOLE heart.

Update:

I have since found out that Solomon was incredibly malnutritioned as a child. The photo on the left is from July 2011, and I took the one on the right on January 2, 2013. This child is THREE and weighs about the same as a one-year-old American child. He doesn't talk and doesn't walk. I have decided to sponsor him for only $35 a month to ensure that he gets food and health care, however, he has a TWIN who needs sponsorship just as badly. Their family struggles to make ends meet, and I simply can't afford $70 a month to sponsor both of them. My heart is aching for this family and these sweet boys, so if you feel called to sponsor Solomon's twin, please let me know and I'll get you the information to do so!

1/2/13

9:10 pm

     My feet are stained red and I hope it never goes away. I keep accidentally on purpose forgetting to wash my feet, because they are so happy in this red dirt. Sara and I are bot missing Ekubo pretty badly. It just felt like home. We talked about it, and we both want to go back to Ekubo this summer if we can get enough money. Ideally, I'd go to Ekubo in June after graduation, and be placed in Kenya for YAV in August. It would be so amazing to buy a one way ticket to Africa. I have always wanted to buy a one-way ticket to a foreign country, and I can't imagine a more perfect way to do it. Praying hard.

     After dinner, Pastor Samuel talked a little bit about the kids we saw today. Out of the 300, only 40 are sponsored. That means only 40 go to private school. Most children do not go to public school, and if they do, it is just a free-for-all and a place to learn bad habits. Pastor Samuel said the public school teachers are the ones who have failed elsewhere. Ouch. He also said that 300+ kids come to church on Sundays. Only 4 fathers come. All the rest are mothers. When he said these children are the products of broken families, he wasn't lying.

     We got to buy tons of things this evening. I got tons of bracelets, a dress, and gifts. Buying gifts for everyone made me think of home for the first time. I'm sad I missed Brooklynn's 1st birthday! :( I miss my kids and have been dreaming of people from home. Katie told me Jess made a status about us and Christie told me that mom friended her and changed her prof pic to me in l'afrique... How sweet. I miss you too, my loves. Can't wait for the Haven... AK

Look at that FACE!