Valentine's weekend we took a trip to visit an orphanage and school in Ogembo, located in western Kenya. We traveled with Mike and Dee Dameron, IMB missionaries who manage Brackenhurst Conference center near Nairobi and with Neal and Gail Alford, our supervisors here at the Baptist Mission of Kenya.
We left early Friday morning and our first stop was to deliver a new bicycle to a national pastor. His church is a five hour bicycle ride from his home. The rough roads had worn his old bicycle out. Pastor John was delighted with the new bicycle which had been bought with funds donated, for that purpose, from two ladies in the states.
We arrived in Ogembo late Friday afternoon and checked into the Rhockland Hotel (the only hotel in town).
Our room was modest....two twin beds and a bathroom.
As can see the shower had a "widow maker" that was precariously wired. Well the next morning, Jeff was taking a shower when there was a loud explosion and sparks started flying! Needless to say there was some shouting that went on before Jan was able to get the widow maker turned off for him. But it made for a great way to start the day by praising the Lord that he was still alive!
After breakfast, Pastor Robert met us and we traveled up the mountain on a rough dirt road to get to the orphanage and school. We had been told that there were around 20 children in the orphanage, so we had brought around 60 snacks and crafts for the children. Well, we quickly found out that there was a school next door to the orphanage and there were 192 children at the school. So as we traveled we worked on plan B.
The country was beautiful and was covered with sugarcane, bananas, coffee, tea and sweet potatoes growing plentifully on the steep hillsides.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the orphans singing to us.
Then we walked around back of the school to be greeted by the rest of the children attending the school. Many of them were still drinking their morning porridge provided by the school.
We quickly divided into teams with interpreters and headed out to visit with those living in the area. This was a very mountainous area and we did a lot of hiking up and down through fields and the thick brush around them.
As we went from home to home sharing Creation to Christ, we met many interesting people. Some were already believers and some prayed to receive Christ and became our new brothers and sisters in Christ. We talked with this family while they were planting sweet potatoes in their field.
We also shared with this group of women caring from their small children and each of them prayed to receive Christ that morning.
We were fascinated to watch these men boiling up sugar cane and water to make into brown sugar.
This grandmother had many grandchildren she was caring for. She was already a believer in Christ and felt we had been sent to her that day to pray for her family. She had a son in the mission hospital and a grandson whose ear had been cut off in another hospital. She told us she was blessed by our visit. We were blessed by the joy on her face.
When the morning was over and we returned to the school, each team gave a report and it was discovered that over 150 people had prayed to receive Christ during our visits. Our translators were invaluable during this time. Most of them were young pastors or church leaders in the surrounding churches. They wrote down the names of everyone who prayed and will be doing follow up discipleship with them in the following weeks. Please pray for these young men as they serve the Lord in an area where travel is so difficult.Our translators were Simon and Paul, two fine young men.
Simon and his wife have twin nine month old babies, a boy and a girl.
After we were served lunch by the ladies of the church, we gathered all the children into the church to tell them the story of Esther. As Gail told the story and Jan showed them pictures, the children hung on every word. Then Jeff set up his computer and a projector powered by a generator and we showed them the Veggie Tales movie of Queen Esther. They loved it.
We had brought 60 copies of an Esther coloring book and plenty of crayons. So after the movie, we started tearing off pages of the coloring books and giving one page and a couple of crayons to each child. Even though we were disappointed at the smallness of the gift, the children were delighted.
Next it was time for the adults to watch the "Jesus Film".
As the movie was being shown the crowd continued to grow and grow until there were actually people hanging in every window trying to watch from the outside.
It appears that God has truly annointed this film and when it was over, there were around 30 people who came forward to pray to receive Christ.
While the adults were watching the film, we took a look at the rooms where the children stay at the orphanage. It was simply two rooms. Boys on the left and girls on the right.
This was the boys room. It had two twin beds and a set of shelves. It slept 14 boys laying crosswise on the beds.
The church quickly became over-crowded and we had to move everyone outside.
It was awesome to have the children continue to perform outside while we observed God's beautiful creation in the background.
Even though it was very hot, Mike did a wonderful job of presenting God's Word with Pastor Robert translating for him.
Mike ended the service by having all those who wanted special prayer to come forward and he prayed for them.
It was a long hard weekend, but very rewarding to see God work in so many wonderful ways! Please continue to pray for the people of Ogembo, especially the new believers.
This is the girls room. It had only one twin bed and slept 10 girls, some on the floor. Please pray for these 24 children living in these tight quarters in Ogembo. If you met them, you would be surprised to see their beautiful smiling faces. God has been good to them to provide for them a home with a place to sleep and food to eat.
Even though we did not speak the same language, the game of Hokey Pokey still translated!
Sunday we traveled back up the mountain for church. As we traveled, we saw many sights to reveal what life is like for these people. The women and children were washing their clothes in the river.
Small children were caring for babies.
Sunday we traveled back up the mountain for church. As we traveled, we saw many sights to reveal what life is like for these people. The women and children were washing their clothes in the river.
Small children were caring for babies.
The children start carrying water from the river at a very young age. Please remember to thank the Lord today for your many blessings and modern conviences.
When we arrived at the church, it was already packed and the children were excited to see us. Every age group performed a special musical and dance piece for us.
The church quickly became over-crowded and we had to move everyone outside. It was awesome to have the children continue to perform outside while we observed God's beautiful creation in the background.Even though it was very hot, Mike did a wonderful job of presenting God's Word with Pastor Robert translating for him.
Mike ended the service by having all those who wanted special prayer to come forward and he prayed for them.
It was a long hard weekend, but very rewarding to see God work in so many wonderful ways! Please continue to pray for the people of Ogembo, especially the new believers.
