Don’t let me forget

We got back from our 2 week long missions trip in Kenya, Africa late last night , before our team bordered our last flight home we circled up and prayed one last time together ….my prayer was Lord please don’t let me forget….The people , the smells, the sights the emotions.

The pain ,the hope ,the faith ,the Question why ?

Don’t let me forget…

 The first Mother we met in the slum as her baby peeked around the door standing in an upside down end table.

Don’t let me forget…..

Seeing the children of the slums playing ,washing and using the restroom in the  same stream of filthy water that ran through each of the slums we visited. The same stream used by all the animals for bathing and drinking.

Don’t let me forget …

The tiny hands that grabbed ours as we walked through their schools and slums.

Don’t let me forget…

The children so eager to greet us, give hugs , and run their fingers through our hair and have their picture taken. So many of them their eyes yellowed and milky from malnutrition. My heart broke gazing into those sweet faces knowing some of them were not going to make it.  Many of them the same age as my own children.

Please Lord don’t let me forget…

The Jacardanda women the ones who despite their circumstances have started their own business of making beautiful things to sell  to support their families . Many of them living in the slums ,having survived  abuse by a spouse or neglect by parents. Most have been abandoned by their husbands. These beautiful women have  found Jesus and are trading ashes for beauty.

Don’t let me forget…

The nameless baby I prayed over at the orphanage .The one who had just arrived that very week , the baby that is suffering from aids.

Don’t let me forget…

Sad goodbyes with new friends.

Don’t let me forget….

The orphans at Albert’s school. The ones who went from “Singing Jesus loves me”. To reciting a poem about how Aids had claimed the lives or their parents and left them orphans. Leaving each of us on the team speechless and  in tears or fighting them back.

Don’t let me forget….

The piles of trash and waste …when you have no restroom facilities the thing to do is go in a baggy then throw it on the heap. The piles were everywhere deep and wide , overwhelming and unimaginable in every way . This is a picture of a wall leading into Kibera slum. A man was sleeping on top of this  filth , with a fire of burning trash near him. The other side of that wall is a nice neighborhood on the top of that wall is barbed wire. It makes no sense.

Don’t let me forget…..

My new friend Gladys we visited her home in the Kibera slum. She shares the small  10×20 home fashioned out of wood ,tarps ,mud and tin with her 4 children. She shared her story about nearly being killed by her husband. He left her behind to raise the children on her own. She now sews for Jacaranda . She said to us ” Since finding Jesus I no longer see my HIV, now I only see Jesus.”

Lord Please don’t let me forget. Lord please Lord don’t let me sit idol.

All of this is fresh and new to me ,but my life has been forever changed. If you would like to help any of these people you can through Garry and Brenda Kean they hosted us during the trip they are amazing folks, with a true heart for God and the people of Africa. They have a church “Nairobi Hope Now” that many if the slum people go to they are making a difference.

Romans 10:12-13

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people in need.”