We are headed to Kenya in a a little more than a week. THis is a trip we have been planning for quite some time, and now we are about to go. Originally, we were intending to make this trip in February, 2008. However, in the fall of 2007, a disputed presidential election was the excuse for one group of Kenyans to kill another ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22440430/). The sub Saharan part of the African continent is an incredibly volatile place, it was not a real stretch of the imagination to believe that the killing could spill over into more provinces and Kenya could end up being the next Rwanda. We decided to delay the trip and plan it for the future.
The reason for our trip is to visit the friends we sponsor through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (www.cfcausa.org). Originally we sponsored John, an elderly man who made money by making mats. We recieved wonderful letters from him where he told us about where he lived, his family, and how he always prayed for us. To be prayed for is a humbling experience. To think that someone cared enough about you to ask God, the creator of the universe, to bless and provide for you is an extraodinarily high honor.
Once we sent a t-shirt to John, emblazoned with “Wyoming” across the chest, with our state’s bucking horse and cowboy symbol just below. A few months later we received a letter from John with a phot inside. There he was, standing proudly in front of his home, wearing that Wyoming t-shirt. His letters conveyed his spirit, which was infectiously beautiful. He prayed for the day we would meet, and we were determined to make that happen.
John became ill last year, and he suffered from tuberculosis. It was quite difficult for him as he had to travel some distance to receive treatment, and travel in that part of the world is always an ordeal. In addition, with little money he was not able to get all the medication he needed, so he would take what he could, when he could. Knowing the difficulties he was having, we sent a little extra money so he could get a more reliable supply of medication to make his life easier. Then in April this year, we received correspondence from the social worker in John’s project, a handwitten letter an ominous green sticker on the top that said “final letter.”
Our heart sank as we read the news that John had died. Letters from John were written by his social worker, as John was unable to read or write. She said: “Well it is very sad that I am disclosing to you the sudden death of John in January but just take heart and pray that God gives you courage to endure the loss. Just as I had been telling you about his illness, it went with him till the day he passed. We tried the necessary we could to treat John but all in vain. Hardly had the money you sent John for treatment reached then he died. The office will organise on how the money will be spent on the family to assist in anything or the other.”
We decided to continue sponsoring John’s wife Mary. We will get to meet her and spend time with her and her family. We will mourn John together, smile at our memories of him, and pray that Mary and her family will have good health for a long time.
That’s why we’re going to Kenya.
