Sunday

Sunday

June 14, 2009, 6:40 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

This morning we went to Life Celebration Centre, better known as the green tent church.  So, you guessed it…church is held under a big green and orange striped tent.  It was big like a circus tent and even had a tile floor.  Every one was really friendly and went out of their way to greet us.  They have an English service which was very full.  The first hour was worship and the praise band was excellent.  They had a keyboard, guitar, and saxophone in the band as well as several amazing singers.  The sermon was given by a guest pastor who really shared God’s word.  He focused on defeating Satan in our lives every day.  Please be in prayer for the church as they are looking to buy land and build a center.

Then, we came back to the compound and enjoyed a relaxing lunch with Pringles.  Pringles are quite a splurge as four cans cost $13 which is the equivalent here of feeding 10 people two meals.  After lunch most of us went to the Masaai Market with Denise, CHI staff member from the States, and did some bargaining for souvenirs for family and friends.

Laura did not go straight to the market.  She was able to do a hospital visit this afternoon with Doreen, a local Kenyan volunteer.  Laura was very affected by what she saw today.  Part of what she had to do was write down a dying woman’s childrens names, ages, and what they liked in order to make a memory book for the kids.  Please be in prayer for her as she processes all she saw and pray that God brings her comfort.  Ashley came home from the market and left on another hospital visit with Desmond, CHI staff member from Ireland.  Be praying for her as well because like Laura, she has a lot of emotions to process.  She visited with a man whose breathing was very ragged.  According to Desmond, this man only has a few hours to live.  There was no family with him and Ashley is really struggling with the idea that he will die alone.  John also went to the same hospital this morning at 6AM.  John was also pretty affected by what he saw.  He feels that he is much further along in his spiritual journey than he was 3 years ago when he visited Kisumu.  Now, he can see the good in things but it doesn’t make it any easier.  Please pray for the patients in this hospital.  It is run like a jail. Patients may not leave until they pay their bill.  There are cockroaches on the floor and in the hospital food.  Because family are the main caregivers in the hospitals, they often need to stay the night.  If a wife stays and sleeps on the floor by her husband in order to take care of him at night, 200 shillings is added to the bill each night (basically half a months wages).  So, bills escalate very quickly.  When you think about sleeping on the floors, you need to remember that human waste is often kept under the beds.  Urine often soaks through the bed and onto the floor when patients have no family members to change their bedding.  Family members often have to go arrange and pay for testing and lab work before it will be performend.  When patients are terminal, they are placed in an isolation ward where family cannot visit and they are left alone to die.  Tape is placed on the foreheads of patients who have died in the general population.

Other Prayer Requests:  John’s knee is doing better and he’s not limping as much as yesterday.  Keep praying for healing.  Again, please be in prayer for the people of Kenya.  The poverty and sickness here is overwhelming and at times it eclipses their need for Christ.  But, that’s why we are here and what they need most.  We are trying to remember on a daily basis that no matter what we feel, God has a perfect plan and he loves the people here even more than we do.   We need to leave it all at the cross.  Please pray that God will soften hearts and bring people to Him.  Also, be praying for the orphans that they will find homes.  Please pray for patients with AIDS.  They are often in denial or diagnosed with TB and placed on TB meds.

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