Thank you Lord for your hand in our lives. We thank you for being Jehovah Jireh - our Provider!!
Saturday
Lacey's End of Day 6 Journal - 2011
February
19, 2011 TMSC,
Kenya - Day 6 – Saturday
I woke up
this morning and needed to pee so badly! Luckily, Amanda did, too. By the
position of the moon we figured it to be about 6am. We were really mad bc we
wanted to sleep in! there were 3 reasons that we wanted that sleep…1- it was
Saturday, 2- sleep is the only thing that makes the hunger ‘go away,’ and 3-
the later we slept in, the shorter our hunger filled day would be! We laid back
down and woke back up at about 10am. We thought that by sleeping in that the
day would go by faster…boy were we wrong! The day dragged on and on! We had our
breakfast tea and then I pressed on with the reading program. It was only a few
hours until lunch – our only solid meal. I felt every minute until it was
lunchtime. The feeling of hunger is now mixed with nausea. I’m so hungry that I
feel sick – all the time. The ugali, yet again, was just something temporary to
stop the pangs. I almost feel worse after eating bc my body just wants more.
It’s really frustrating. During ‘lunch’ we decided that we needed another bath.
Every time we lift our arms we almost pass out :/ it’s pretty bad. We set some
water outside to let it warm in the sun. we ran out of kerosene again so we
decided to go get it before we bathed. We went to the shack up the road, first
– no one was there. Then we went to another place and they were closed. We
ended up having to go all the way to the corner to get our kerosene. For
whatever reason, I decided to bring all of our money for the week…I’m glad I
did! We ended up buying 2 mangos while we were there!
As we
were buying the mangos, a well dressed man approached us. He asked us where our
shoes were! Our reply was, ‘You see those kids over there without shoes? If
they don’t have them, why should we?’ He looked STUNNED and then offered to buy
US shoes! We told him that if he really wanted to do that for us, that he
should just buy them for the children instead. It was a pretty powerful moment.
Later
down the road we met another man. He approached us and inquired about our
lamps. He said he had never seen one before. He was also a very well dressed man.
He asked us what they were for and how they worked. It was a big moment for us
bc we really got to be the ‘poor’ people. It was exciting, even if just for a
moment, to get to share our new world with someone else. At that moment, we
truly were ‘the least of these’ to this man!
The walk
home was a lot harder than the walk there. The sun was SO hot and today it made
the ground extra hot! My feet felt like they were walking over hot coals. Now,
they feel extremely sunburned on the bottoms :/ It’s not a good feeling when
you have ¾ of a mile left to walk! When we arrived back at Tumaini we were told
that we were going to get water. That’s not exactly what I wanted to do, but we
had to. We carried as well as motivated the kids today. They weren’t really feeling
it either…but they are so strong and so beautiful!
When we
got back it was way past bath time and we were GROSS! The water wasn’t quite
warm enough, but it felt so good after being so hot. As soon as we were clean
it was back to work on the books until dinner time. I love the tea here….even
after a week of nothing but tea and ugali…I still love it. It’s soothing to my
hungry belly and it tastes really good, too. But, the love affair doesn’t last
long :/ About an hour after drinking it I’m hungry again. I’m getting pretty
tired of going to be hungry….but who am I to complain? It’s only been 6 days.
Devo time
with the girls tonight was great. We talked about how God can turn our trials
into good things that will glorify Him. This Challenge is a prime example of
that. Our trials this week will be turned into awareness that WILL glorify Him!
I know that our pains of this week will be used. I thank God for our trials and
for what He will use them for! He is so much bigger than anything we can
imagine and I know that He is in control! Praise God! Bwana Asifiwe!
Day 6 Complete
Amanda's End of Day 6 Journal - 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge
I woke up at dawn this morning, as the full moon was still low near the horizon. I had to pee. I debated getting an early start on laundry but the thought of sleeping a bit longer to make the hunger go away was way too appealing. I slept till 10 am. Unfortunately my growling stomach would not let me forget about its need for some nutrients… nutrients that I couldn’t afford to give it. Morning tea would have to do. It was all we had. The good news was it was late and it would only be a few hours until lunch. The bad news was that the small portion of ugali would neither satisfy the palette or the belly. It was a lose- lose situation for me. My only hope was that it would at least provide enough calories for enough energy to complete today’s tasks. After tea and before lunch I continued sewing school uniforms and tried to focus on the task at hand. It was so difficult and I noticed how my hands were far less coordinated than the days before. I think they must have been hungry too. When lunchtime came around I wanted to be excited but I wasn’t. It’s hard to get excited about food. This food is not for pleasure, it’s for survival. I could barely finish my portion and only did so because I knew I needed every calorie I could get to make the 1 ½ mile round trip venture to the corner for some kerosene. I was right. As we set out on our journey in the hot afternoon sun, I prayed asking God to help me make the journey without complaining. It was tough. My feet didn’t hurt as much from the pebbles today, but the dirt road was hot from the searing sun. I had to walk quickly to keep them from burning. Step by step it got hotter and hotter and when we reached the tarmac road I realized the only way to reach the mangos was to cross the black tar surface in our bare feet. OUCH!!! And it would be hours until dinner when we would discover if our trek across the tarmac would pay off. There was always the chance the fruit was bad. As we were buying the mangos a nicely dressed man wearing Nike’s approached us and inquired as to why we were not wearing shoes. We replied that we didn’t want to wear shoes while children in the community were without shoes. He kinda laughed and then offered to buy us a pair of shoes. As good as it sounded at the time, we suggested he buy a pair of shoes for one of the kids standing in the distance instead. He again laughed and shook his head no, but it’s my prayer that our example at least made him think through his proposal. After purchasing the mangos we walked back across the road to buy the kerosene for our lamps. It always cracks me up when they want to sell us more than we have money to buy. They actually laugh when we tell them we have 10 shillings for kerosene. After putting the kerosene in our lamps we realized we had 4 extra shillings between us. We decided to add it to our tithe for tomorrow. As we spent the last of our 140 shillings spending allotment for the week (which is a little less than $2) I was overwhelmed with the thought of how far that money go us… at least on the survival scale. Throughout the week we had purchased enough kerosene to keep our lamps burning, enough fruit to satisfy our craving for a bit of flavor, and ½ kg of sugar to give us energy. I would say it was money well spent. A seventh of our income, all we had to spend, did not go to guilty pleasures, although if you had seen us devouring our mangos and bananas you might consider it such. Instead it went toward items we needed to survive. You better believe the next time I reach into my pocket for a dollar I will definitely consider the value of what I chose to purchase with it. It was a long walk back to Tumaini with our ½ full kerosene lamps. No, they weren’t heavy, but the sun was hot and our feet were on fire. When we arrived back at Tumaini, the kids and Hesbon had just prepared Toto the donkey for fetching water. We were hot and tired but we knew we had to go. We quickly put away our lamps and mangos, grabbed our water cans and headed for the stream. As I was walking I noticed a few Tumaini school kids walking along the road so I walked with them a while and asked them where they were headed. One girl, Ruth, had a scrawny chicken tucked under her arm. She was headed to the corner to drop off the chicken for an elderly neighbor lady. As we walked along I looked down and noticed one of the little girls without shoes. I asked her, “Where are your shoes? “ And she replied, “at home”. Then she turned and asked, “Teacha, where are yours?” I looked at her an smiled and said, “mine are at home too.” In that moment, we continued to walk side by side as equals. You see, she had 1 pair of shoes at home, probably for school and she didn’t want to take a chance on wearing them out on a Saturday. That pair of shoes may have to last her years before her parents could afford another pair. And even when she out grows them, she will be cramming those little feet into the status symbol of the little black Mary Jane’s. We arrived at the stream and the girls continued to the corner with the chicken. We found the Tumani kids hard at work carrying water that weighed as much as they did, up the hill to the cart. I found Sophie struggling and whining about having to carry a 20 liter can (which I don’t entirely blame her). Those things are heavy, even for a grown woman. Anyway, Lacey told her that she would share the load and help her carry it up the steep hill. After a bit of encouragement from us, she finally made it, but she didn’t like it. On the walk back I talked with her about not always liking something, but still making an effort to give our best. It was a sweet moment. When we arrived back at Tumaini I worked on a few more uniforms until bath time. The water was a bit chilly but it was so nice to be clean. Really nice! For dinner we had tea and our mangos. Well really we had to share 1 ½ mangos because one had a very big bad spot. I told Lacey that she had to take the seed, because I had taken one earlier in the week. At dinner we prayed for all those less fortunate than us and then talked for a while about our day. We had managed to survive another one. We went to bed singing praise and worship songs in the dark. In that moment we could not see our own poverty… we might as well have been the richest women in the world.
End of Day 6 Videos
Here are our thoughts about day 6 in poverty...We appreciate all of your love and support!!
Friday
Banana Thief!!
Here's Amanda talking about our banana thief! If you have no idea what that means, check out the video and our journals from yesterday! Thanks for keep up with us...we LOVE you all!!
Amanda's End of Day 5 Journal - 2011
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!!!!
Lacey's End of Day 5 Journal - 2011
February
18, 2011 TMSC,
Kenya - Day 5 – Friday
Last
night was really cold. We fell asleep and not long after, a nice rain on our
tin roof awakened us. I love that sound…but it didn’t last for long. It was
followed by one of the hardest rainstorms that I’ve ever heard. It was so loud
that when I yelled Amanda’s name, she couldn’t hear me! She was only 5 feet
away! I am not a huge fan of thunderstorms, so I wasn’t particularly fond of
the loud, crashing on our tin roof. It was a good time of prayer for me,
though. I thought about all of the people out there with little to no shelter
from this storm. Those whose roofs leak and water gets in. Those who live on
hillsides - where water may be rushing into their homes. It broke my heart. We
are so fortunate to have what we do – even just on our $1 per day. As I sit
now, I can’t help but think of 2 of our sweet kids here at Tumaini. Their
parents were all killed in a mudslide a few years ago. That mudslide happened
because of too much rain on a unstable hill. The line is so fine with rain. It
can sometimes do harm, but without it, there is no life.
I had to
go to the bathroom SO bad right smack in the middle of the storm. Normally, I
would just walk down the hall and use the one that’s inside the house…not this
week. Like most people in poverty, we don’t have indoor plumbing. Our ‘toilets’
are about 50 yards away from our house. There was NO WAY that I was going out
in that weather! I decided that since it was raining so hard, that I would just
go right outside the door J
My thought was that it would be washed away by the flood…so what’s the harm?!
After that, I made a bed in our room for our sweet puppy, Roxy. She was SO
excited to be welcomed in. She was soaking wet and shaking from the cold. So
she laid right down and fell asleep….sweet girl!
When
morning came, Amanda set her bath water out to let it warm up in the sun. I, on
the other hand, had to use my basin to wash the shirt that I let Roxy borrow as
her blanket! We had run out of sugar the night before, so we decided that we
wanted more. It has really helped by making us feel like we were getting
‘something’ other than milk and water. We took a short walk up to the shack
where they sell the sugar in small amounts. We had to wait for a while bc the
lady had stepped out. After some video interviews, she came and sold us our
beloved sugar. After arriving back
at our house, we drank our breakfast of 2 cups of tea. My stomach has shrunk a
lot, so the tea is pretty filling for about an hour. After that, the hunger sets back in. It’s getting harder bc
the hunger is a constant feeling now. It doesn’t go away and only gets worse
over time. I can’t imagine a life like this. It’s miserable.
We took a
much-needed bath today. It’s amazing the odor that your body can produce :/
Even bathing over the toilet, as gross as it was, made me feel like a new
person! My bath was SPER cold though bc I didn’t set my water out in the sun. I
learned that lesson quick! This
afternoon I continued on with the books for the reading program. This program
is so important bc it gets kids reading…kids who have never had books before.
As soon as we walk in the door the kid’s faces light up. It is such a blessing
to see their minds and imaginations grow with each turn of the page. Natasha,
our sweet friend from the UK, is coming up with comprehension questions for
each book. My job is to read the book and answer the questions. This way we can
make sure that the questions are appropriate and also that the teachers can
have an answer key for all of the books. Once we’re finished, our hope is that
these kids will be able to read the books, but also understand what they’re
reading. It’s going to be great!
Before
lunch I helped fit some kids for their uniforms. A lady here, Dorothy, has been
making uniforms for weeks! Today, we tried them on the kids to make sure that
they fit. If they did, they could take them home. If not, they left them for
minor alterations and can pick them up tomorrow. Their faces were filled with
such joyful smiles! Some have never had a uniform before…and those that do are
tattered and torn. It was an awesome sight. Then I went back inside for some
more reading program work. It’s beginning to get tiring bc my mind is slowing
down. The lack of energy from our lack of nutrition is taking it’s toll on me.
My head is a big jumbled mess. It’s so hard to concentrate…so reading is quite
a challenge of it’s own. Even if it takes me forever, I WILL press on!
Lunch
today was awful. I am so suck of
ugali and if I never saw it again it would be too soon! Its almost worse to eat
it bc it makes me even more hungry. Once I eat it my body gets excited for
more…but there is no more. There is never more. Natasha told me today that our
4 cups of tea and handful of ugali is less than 600 calories. That’s 600
calories in 1 whole day. That explains why I feel so useless all the time. My
body is beginning to feel sick bc of the lack of nutrition that we’re
getting…it hurts. I can’t imagine how it feels to go more than a week like
this…a month, a year, ten years, a lifetime for some…I don’t know why they even
want to keep living…
As I
continued reading the books and answering questions my sweet Doro walked by the
door. Natasha brought her over bc she wanted to see me! I LOVE this little
girl. She’s still not feeling well so I just held her for a little while. It
was exactly what we both needed! Another AWESOME thing happened today…I
received my package from my parents!! It’s my birthday box that I’ve been
expecting! As soon as I got it I felt a tear run down my face. It’s been such a
hard week and to even just see my mom’s handwriting made my heart smile. I miss
my family and I am so thankful for their continued love and support. I’m not
going to open the package until I can call them…only a few more days! This
really gave me a boost to finish out this week ‘strong.’
Soon it
was time for dinner and we were really excited bc we had bananas left over from
yesterday! So we got our tea and headed to our house. When we got to our room,
we found that someone had STOLEN OUR BANANA!! We were in shock that someone had
come in our room and stolen our precious food. We have recently learned that in
Kenya, they usually kill thieves…now we won’t go that far, but we would like to
know who did it! This happens a lot to the poor, so we’ve learned. It breaks my
heart bc these people have SO little, and it’s its taken from them, they have
nothing. The good thing is that we still had 1 mango left from the other day. So
we had our candlelight dinner and split the mango and our 1 remaining banana. It
was really nice!
Our devo
with the girls tonight was a really good one – we talked about how God has a
perfect plan for each of us. We talked about how no matter what we’re going
through now, God has a plan for us and HE will work everything out for good. It
was exactly when I needed to hear tonight. Thank you, Lord, for your Word and
for your action in my life!!
As I ger
ready for bed I’m hungry – it just keeps getting worse. Lord, please help me to
sleep tonight and be rested for another day. This hunger is not fun and it
affects EVERY part of me. My emotions are high – frustrations are high – but my
energy level is low. Hunger is real. Poverty is real.
Day 5 Complete
Thursday
Lacey's End of Day 4 Journal - 2011
February
17, 2011 TMSC,
Kenya
We woke
up this morning to the sound of a light rain on our tin roof. That is one of my
favorite sounds! I didn’t want to get out of bed, so Amanda kindly went to get
my tea for me…she served me breakfast in bed! What a friend J I slept pretty well…considering the commotion
from earlier in the night *I’ll get back to that…* Since Amanda was so kind to
bring me my first cup, I went to get our 2nd cups of tea. The sugar
is definitely helping with our energy levels – and it tastes good for a change!
We haven’t done too much of anything today. I have been helping Natasha write
and answer comprehension questions for each book in our reading program
‘library’ while Amanda has been sewing buttonholes. Lunch today was ugali –
surprise, surprise! It was good because it was really hot but it had even less
flavor than usual. Yet again, we just ate it to stop our tummies from growling.
After lunch we decided to walk back to the corner to get some fruit with our
extra 10ksh. When we stepped out onto the rocky road we barely felt any pain!!
PRAISE THE LORD!! We were SO excited because our feet are finally getting used
to the wear and tear (literally) of life in poverty. We walked about as fast as
we would if we were wearing shoes…. Again, PRAISE THE LORD!! It has been extra
hot today so the dirt was pretty hot on our feet…but we made it! We had to go
across the hot asphalt road again but we found some fruit. Today they had
bananas!! It made me think of my dad J so the bananas were 4 for 10ksh and then we bought 2 mangos for
10ksh. Thank you Lord for your provision! The walk back was a little more
painful but a lot better than the previous days. The first thing that we did
when we got back was peel that sweet banana! It was so sweet and absolutely
what I needed. It was like a piece of heaven sent straight from God! Today I
learned the true value of this small, simple fruit. It’s amazing how much more
something means to you when you don’t have access to them normally. I sat in
the sun just soaking it in for a while and then went inside to help Natasha
with the books, again. Amanda stayed to sew more buttonholes. We did this for a
while until it started to get dark….we couldn’t see since we don’t have
electricity! We drank our first cup of tea outside while we watched the sun
set. It was absolutely beautiful. It’s amazing to me how the sun sets every day
but it’s always different/ God gives us a gift every day that we really need to
appreciate. It’s also really cool to think that he gives us ALL this gift…he
doesn’t just give it to the rich or to the poor…it’s an equal gift to all of
his creation. Pretty neat stuff.
We
brought our second cup of tea into our room bc the mosquitoes come out at dusk.
As we began to cut open our mangos for dinner, Natasha, Sophie, baby SaraBeth,
and Moses came in to visit. Since they were our guests, we were obligated to
share with them. (We were also soaking our feet in water, which felt amazing!!)
When they left we rested for a few until it was time for our nightly devo with
the girls at the orphanage. It was another good one! After hugging everyone
goodnight, we went outside and had a great laugh with all of the caretakers.
They are such wonderful people and such a blessing to be around! Thank you God
for this wonderful place of love and tumaini (hope)!!
Day 4 Complete
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