Tuesday February 15, 2011
2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge
Waking up this morning was tough. I did not want my bare feet to touch the dirt floor below. About midway through the night I awoke and thought it surely was time to get up, but it was still pitch black dark. A few hours later I awoke again to the sounds of people passing by along the street just beside our house. It was still pitch black dark. I thought to myself, where in the world are these people going. It was then that I remembered, I was sleeping in a hut in rural Africa where people often begin their commute to work as early as 4 am, walking miles in the dark just to earn a dollar. I recall hearing the shuffling of children's feet pass by on their way to school. This was my first hint as to the time… it must be 7 am. I got up and walked on tender feet to the bathroom and then it was time for tea. I was excited to have something to warm my belly, but the thought of another tasteless meal left my stomach unsatisfied… hunger remained. We had discussed our water situation and determined we wouldn’t need to fetch water today, which was a relief to my tender feet. But as we were washing our clothes, Hesbon approached us to assist him with fetching water from the stream using the cart and donkey. I’m learning a lot about community here and how the needs of others always seem to take priority over your own needs… Even when it hurts. We told Hesbon we would be happy to help and we walked the long ¼ mile walk to the stream. When we arrived we found Hesbon and the cart but no donkey. Before we even made it down to the stream my mind was already churning as to how in the world we were going to get all this water back to Tumaini. After filling all 15, 20 liter cans and carrying them up a steep embankment we had to lift them up to Hesbon who then strategically placed them on the cart. Hesbon said he would be the donkey and pull the cart, so that left us to push the cart from behind and also serve as the brakes. We began our ¼ mile hike back to Tumaini and I tried to prepare my mind for the pain. Mind over matter usually works well for me but as we started the downhill trek back to Tumaini I could feel every single pebble grinding into my feet as Lacey and I attempted to slow the cart. The cart seemed to go faster and faster the further we went and the pebbles now seemed like boulders. I’ve never in my life had so much conflict between my will to hang on and my physical pain telling me to let go. I could see the school in the distance and even though it felt like a few more steps might cause my feet to start bleeding, the will to do it prevailed. I remember the thankfulness in my heart that it was over and then Hesbon hit me with the atomic bomb. We had to go back again and get water for the orphanage. My body exhausted and my mind fading fast I proceeded to help Hesbon unload the cart. Not thinking of the physics involved I unloaded a bottle from the front of the cart causing the cart to tip backward. I wanted to cry as I saw liters of water spilling onto the ground. All that work, sweat, and pain to see this precious commodity spilling out onto the grassless earth. I quickly recovered and used all my remaining strength to pick up the tongue of the cart and salvage what was left of the water. As I reflected on this common sense mistake I realized the toll poverty takes on the mind. I was tired and hungry. What would normally be common sense was now hard to process. My mind was clouded with hunger pains, and the thought that this process that nearly broke me moments earlier was about to be repeated. So back to the stream we went. This time I stood in the cool water allowing it to sooth my tender feet. No wonder the watering hole is the place to be. Water is life and that’s the only place it seems to be in abundance. I see so clearly now why Jesus chose to minister to so many at wells and long rivers and seas. It’s not only the place where people gather but also a place where they are most social and open to conversation. Anyway, we finished filling our cans again and headed back to Tumaini. Oh my how I was dreading that walk with every ounce of my being. I prayed, asking God for the strength to carry on. I asked him to provide relief to my feet. Only moments later I looked up to see several Tumaini boys running to our aid. Praise the Lord for those precious kids in the form of an answered prayer. Just as we got to the downhill slope the boys took our place as the breaks. What a relief. We walked down to the orphanage and found Irene (a girl at the orphanage) with a severe case of the chicken pox. We were forced to take a time-out from our dollar-a-day challenge to take her to Kakamega for treatment. Lacey and I decided to stay in the game other than the necessities of driving the car and paying for Irene’s treatment. It introduced a whole new element to us that we did not expect. When you are in the rural areas, you don’t have access to very much. Sometimes you don’t even know what you are missing. But in town there are so many more amenities and luxuries that quiet literally slap the poor in the face. We were also faced with the choice of providing for our sick child or buying food to satisfy our hunger. All the smells and images of our favorite snacks wafted around and it was hard to turn and walk away. I was surprisingly glad to be back on the compound. Maybe life in the rural area is better… it certainly is simpler. The remainder of the day we spent taking care of Irene and eating a late lunch. After lunch we decided to make the 1-½ mile trip for fruit and sugar. It was a long haul but it was worth every step to know that we would be re-introducing taste to our diet in the evening. Just to pass time until dinner we helped sew buttons on the school uniforms. The evening tea was fabulous with 2 scoops of sugar, and for dinner we sucked every last drop of juice out of our mangos. After dinner I walked by the light of my lamp over to the orphanage for our nightly devotion and prayer. I love doing this, especially this week, because it’s the only access I have to a Bible. When I was deciding what I could and could not have for this challenge I thought bringing my Bible along was a no brainer. Then I considered how we could best emulate those around us and realized many of them cannot afford a copy of God’s Holy Word. I had to leave it behind. I’ve never been so thankful for the times in my past where I decided to hide God’s Word in my heart. I’ve been amazed so far at the times that God has come to my rescue by whispering His words into my spirit. Too many to count really. I do look forward to regaining my most prized procession once this challenge is over but I am overjoyed that no matter where I am or what I’m doing that His Word is alive and active in me. As I laid my head down on the pillow at the end of a long day I fell asleep praising Him for His faithfulness and asking Him for enough strength to do it again tomorrow.
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