Friday, February 18, 2011
2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge
I retired early last night because I just couldn’t find the strength to continue writing. For the first time since this challenge began, I can whole-heartedly say I went to bed hungry. The hunger was up in my throat this time. The hunger pain hasn’t really gotten any worse in intensity; it’s just more frequent. Now I am to the point of feeling hungry even while I’m eating or taking tea. The only thing that makes the hunger go away is to go to sleep. I couldn’t. I was too hungry. The rain began to fall on the tin roof and I was thankful until it got so loud that it was actually painful to my ears. Lacey even shouted my name as the rain was coming down and I couldn’t even hear her. Finally, the rain eased off and I fell fast asleep. I woke up early this morning, freezing cold from the rain. Anyone who thinks Africa is always hot is crazy. I was cold and wet from the moisture in the air. I didn’t want to move and I smelled horrible. A bath was definitely on the agenda for the day. I finally forced myself out of bed and Lacey and I walked to a small shop nearby for some sugar. That sugar sure has been a lifesaver for us. It gives us an energy boost, added taste to our diet, and quiet frankly a psychological boost. Again it was worth every shilling. After returning from the shop we had tea and then a bath. By this point my armpits were so nasty and I smelled like a matatu. I was wise this morning and put my basin of water out in the hot African sun to warm. It was nice to have at least lukewarm water. After my bath I went to sewing. It did help the time pass but at this point nothing cut through the hunger. At lunch today I ate the ugali but I didn’t even want it. It seemed like it took more energy to chew it than provided energy. And there was no satisfaction in the taste. I could no longer even pretend it was something else. All it was… a few hundred calories keeping me alive… that’s it. After lunch I returned to sewing and felt a sense of accomplishment for the day. Lacey and I went to the room for our evening tea and found that someone had stolen our banana. Now I’ve never been on to get upset over a missing piece of fruit, but this was serious business. Someone had stolen from the poor… it was all we had. Now I have been the victim of theft before, once when I was in the 8th grade and someone broke into our house, and another time a few years back when someone broke into our rental van in Dallas, but both times the thieves stole my excess. This was different. First of all we worked hard to buy that banana worth about 1 cent and 2nd of all, it was all we had. We were so disappointed. Then there’s the thought of stealing from the poor. It was awful. So we did all we could do… split our last mango. It actually lead to an awesome meal together where we were able to pray and thank God for his provision. After dinner we read our devotion to the girls and then headed to bed. It was the second night where the thought of hunger kept me awake for hours. This time to ease the pain we sang of God’s faithfulness. As I repeated the words of Rest in You, by Hillsong, over and over in my head, I thought this must be how they do it. Those in poverty have to cling to the only hope they have… that tomorrow holds the possibility that life can be better than today. They do always seem to find rest in Him. They greet you along the road with a smile and an extended hand, welcoming you into their home to treat you to the best they have to offer, even if it means they go hungry that night. It seems as if they know that if they honor God in that way, then He will continue to provide for them. I know He does and that’s why they find Rest in Him too!!!!
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