June 12, 2016
On Friday, Taylor gave
the devotion at the staff meeting first thing in the morning. I was so grateful
that he was willing to share. He read the three accounts of Jesus calming the
storm from his Bible and had another staff member read them in Kiswahili. I had encouraged him to talk about some kind
of application and suggested for him to use the Jesus Storybook Bible. He read
the last part in the account of this story in the Jesus Storybook Bible: “Jesus’ friends had been so afraid that they
had only seen the big waves. They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them,
then they had nothing to be afraid of. No matter how small their boat- or how
big the storm.”
As he was sharing, I
was hoping that he would remember the things we coached him on-- to try to
project his voice and to talk clearly and slowly so that the staff member
translating could keep up. I knew that
we could have worked on it more, but this was the best we could do with the
limited time we had. It made me think
about how many times in our lives that God puts us in situations where we may
be fumbling over our words and we may not be communicating the message we are
sharing in the best way. But God still
uses our unpolished and rough-around-the-edges attempts to build his
kingdom. He also uses the situations to
change us and to teach more about His Story through it all. God’s ways are certainly not our ways, and I
know He could do it so much better Himself!
But He is committed to transforming us and wants to use everything in
our lives to mold and shape us to be a little more like Him every day if we
will only pay attention and be willing to open ourselves up to His work.
We went to visit some of our students at schools Friday morning and then attended a soccer tournament midday. It was amazing seeing these students playing in the heat of the day and seeing many of them playing barefoot. And boy, were they good players! I’d rather not be put on a field trying to chase down a ball against a Kenyan! There would be no match at all.
with Collins at his school
(the boy on the first row in the green shirt who is sponsored by my aunt Gingie)
Taylor was feeling a
bit tired in the middle of the day and we came back to have lunch and to
decorate for the banquet. Through the
afternoon, he felt more and more tired and sapped. He could not keep food down and had a
fever. As I sat with him and read to him
in the evening, I was worried that this might be leading to something more
serious and I just prayed that Jesus would calm this little storm going on in
his body. Thankfully, he slept through the night and was back on his feet Saturday
morning. I had some flashbacks to when Anna was sick here before and it really
is such a helpless feeling as a parent to have a sick child. I am so thankful to have access to medicine
like Tylenol that I often take for granted.
Saturday morning, the children started to arrive for the banquet around 9 and we celebrated all day until around 5. The banquet preparations included final touches on the decorations in the conference room and food prep (including the slaughter of a goat by our amazing cook Joshua for the feast later in the day and hundreds of potatoes being peeled by Anna, Mercy, Rose, Dorcas and others in the kitchen.
Anna, Micah and Mercy
with Joshua and Agnes
When the program began, there were student testimonies shared, worship songs sung, and speeches given by Bishop Kaaleng and John Lohoi. Jason, Anna, Taylor and I also each were given a chance to share something with the students.
We had gold crowns for all the children laid out on the table in front and we crowned each of them during our celebration reminding them that they are indeed children of a King. I am so thankful for the day we had to celebrate the students and to share in fellowship together.
Anna played the flute,
and while we tried to accompany her as the “Huff Family Band,” we think that
will be our last performance as Anna is much better playing on her own. If I ever needed a sense of humor or a chance
to not take myself seriously, it was during that time when we tried to sing
along. She redeemed herself by playing a
solo later during the banquet and played beautifully.
There were many happy
reunions as I got to see students I have not seen for several years- especially
Anna and Delilah who were among my first friends here in Kenya. They were 4 years old back in 1994. Oh how
the years go by!
At the end of the day,
I got to meet with the alumni from the program who came to our banquet. Indeed, these are the kings and queens of
Kenya- they have come so far! I sat at a table among accountants, nurses,
nutritionists, teachers, journalists, and community developers. What an incredible privilege to be a small
part of their stories. I had to hold back tears as I felt like such a proud
mama today seeing how much they’ve all grown.
We are getting ready to head to church this morning and the
four guest speakers happen to be from Seattle, WA. I am looking forward to being
back in Bishop Kaaleng’s church for this Sabbath here in Lodwar. Bwana Asifiwe! ("Praise the Lord" in Kiswahili)
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