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This little girl was a patient of Mike's last week. A three year old little girl from Samburu who had a cleft lip that Mike and our team just repaired. At the age of three. Mama, about 18-ish the nurse guessed because she didn't know how old she was, became a christian about a month ago. A local Kenyan missionary and pastor who used to work at Tenwek visited her and showed interest in her child who was said and believed to be cursed.  The pastor said she wasn't cursed, and that there was a doc at Tenwek who could fix and fund this operation, just bring the girl. So she did. And she was beautiful! (Unfortunately, she took a face plant on the ward the day before and so had a bit of blood there for the pic.)  How a newborn could survive without adequate nutrition in a very remote area is purely God's grace. We are so encouraged ourselves when we get to play a small role in showing Jesus' love and tender care to others. It reminds us of His love for and care for us. When we have stories like these to tell of God's faithfulness, these are good days. "Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13 Thank you to all who support us being here to help such children and families as this. It was our team's finances that paid for her care. Asante sana! *As always, photos taken and used with mom's signed permission. While it would show the transformation better to share a picture before surgery, we feel it best to leave that out. Perhaps we'll get the chance in the future to update her photo without the bloody lip from falling while playing! WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!!!!!
Will you pray with us? We heard from the pastor and his family that this mama and her child returned back to their village. People are so excited and are now open to him and his family. They have invited us to come to a celebration in the community there next week. We are praying that word of crazy white people (that's us) coming will draw a crowd, so that this pastor who has been working so hard will be able to share about Jesus' love. Will you pray with us that hearts will be made ready? It will be an adventure!! The surgical resident that did the surgery with Mike is also coming with us which we are very excited about. It will take about two days to get there. We are bringing tents and sleeping bags. And we hear that once the tarmac ends there's still another 'bumpy' 70 miles to go. Three of the four of us get carsick on a regular basis. Would you pray with us for safety and that we miraculously wouldn't get carsick.
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 I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this since the first time I went out in the village. I couldn’t, and still can’t, quite figure out how to put into words this exchange that happens every time we go out. It's beautiful and convicting all at the same time. Here near Tenwek, when you go out to visit someone in their home, where it seems hospitality is not practiced, but perfected, there is always something that you are offered. Chai. Bread. Maybe mandazis or beans and rice. Always given generously and joyfully. It’s often a sacrificial gift. But even more than that is the hand washing.  This handwashing. This act of gracious service. It gets me every time. Water is collected in a pitcher, often warmed up over a fire so it's not shockingly cold. And then as we sit in a woman’s home, comfortably on her couch or chairs, she goes around to each visitor and pours this prepared water over our hands so that we will be ready to receive whatever has been prepared for us to eat. “So God created human beings in his own image.” Genesis 1:27 One of the advantages of living in another culture is being able to see and appreciate the differences. And more than that, to see the different aspects of Christ that He implants in each.   |
AuthorsMike (pediatric surgeon) and Julie (nurse/mother to two) living in Kenya, East Africa Archives
February 2021
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