Greeting the orphans

I met with a few orphans today. First was Benjamin and Emmanuel and then three girls: Jane, Lillian, and Vivian. They are related. They live with their elderly grandmother. There were 9 children there today, but the girls said they do not live with all of them.

All the girls said they wanted to live somewhere that they could go to school. they could not go to school in their current situation. School is about $250 a year. They were in ragged dresses and I know it was not staged because when they came to get their photos taken as orphans, they were dressed nicely.

One girl said on command, “We love you and we want to live with you.” God bless her. I was sad for her. Can you imagine having to say such a thing to someone you do not know?

The grandmother gave me 2 eggs, a pineapple, and a chicken. I was very blessed. I had to give the chicken to Titus. Sarah insisted that I avoid killing and eating it. Pastor Steve told me that I could get our hotel restaurant to cook it for me....but Sarah would have none of it.

We started our day heading out to the bank. it was closed. Independence day. We went to Jako market where we spotted a white female dressed up and walking alone. She had sunglasses and high heels and we were amazed. We stared at her as she walked away.

When we got to the church, someone had already taken Medine and Anita to Ibuti church. It is Pastor Wycliffe’s new church. I came late with the other Wycliffe and Doug. Sarah and Steve stayed to do TGD work with Walter, Frank, and Henry.

Anita was preaching on marriage and it was great. I felt like it was good preaching for Doug to hear and I would have liked Sarah to hear it, too. It was good for ME to hear! She talked about how to love one another as men or as women.

When the time came for me to preach, I explained that I had lost my voice and so I was going to do something different. It was hard to speak but I could be heard with some effort. I had Doug read John 14 and John 15 one verse at a time, then Pastor Stanley would read it in my new Luhya Bible, and then Pastor Wycliffe would read it in Swahili. Then we had the congregation repeat it back to us. That way we all had the Word of God in our hearts and minds. Abide in Him and you will bear much fruit. If you love Him, you will obey His commands, His command is love one another. We love one another by caring for others as we care for our own needs.

Afterwards, we ate. I had a terrible time! I gagged when I was eating the ugali! It is because of the association with eating when I was here before and was so sick. We eat this same thing every day so I am praying God will get me through this.