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Amanda + Lacey + Austin

Beautiful Feet

I Saw What I Saw...

Amanda's End of Day 7 Journal - 2011

Sunday, February 20, 2011

2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge

Oh, this morning was a wild one.  I woke up to Lacey whispering in the dark, “Is that you?”  As I heard the Nakumatt bag crinkling on the floor beside my bed.  “Nope”, I responded as the reality that she wasn’t making the noise either made me alert and a bit scared.  We listened for another minute or so just to make sure we were not hearing things, especially our constantly growling stomachs.  It was for real.  By this time I had curled up on the far end of my bed and was convinced that whatever had made that noise was now in my bed.  I couldn’t decide what was worse, the fear of not knowing what it was or the fear of knowing what it was and it being in the bed with me.  Then to make matters worse there was now a noise coming from the other side of the room. It sounded like a scary cat purring, but then we decided it was the rooster snoring in the mud kitchen next door.  That was somewhat comfort.  After a super heroic move from me to reach outside the net to find the matches, we eventually lit the lamp and I followed Lacey to the bathroom.  We came back to the room, checked the floor for creatures and then went back to sleep until it was time for church.  Sunday school with the kids was really refreshing and it was so nice to get my hands on a Bible.  I never thought that owning a Bible would be something I took for granted but it totally was.  The kids were singing so loud this morning and it reminded me of my 1^st Sunday ever at Tumaini.  Hesbon preached on God as our Shepherd and how God is our protector.  Amen to that.  After the message it was time for the offering.  I can’t even find words to express the feeling inside me as I walked forward with my 62 shillings in hand.  In my western mind it still seemed so little, but my third-world mind knew the significance of this offering.  It was the first-fruit of my labor, set aside at the beginning of the week.  It was not to be spent no matter the hardship… and there was plenty.  This money belonged to God.  And I knew with all my heart that He would take it and multiply it for His glory.  My God is just that BIG.  As I walked back to my seat I again flashed back to my 1^st worship service at Tumaini where I watched a small child place 2 coins on the altar that morning.  It was all he had but he trusted God with it. It was the widows offering playing out in front of my very eyes.  Well today, I was the widow, trusting God with my first 56 shillings and my last 6.  I left that service without a cent to face tomorrow, but in faith I chose to trust God for the provision of the next day.  I’ve never felt so rich!!! After the service we returned to our room to debrief a bit about the week until it was time for lunch.  The ugali still tasteless in my mouth would have to do for another day.  It’s like manna from Heaven really, it just wouldn’t be right to complain.  After lunch it was time to rest on this beautiful sunny Sabbath.  To God Be the Glory!!!!

As the sun became far less brutal this afternoon we received wonderful news from our neighbors next door. They had invited us to dinner for tonight.  What a blessing.  Tonight instead of tea and fruit, we would be eating a feast fit for a king.  I’ve never been so thankful for hospitality in my life.  Our wonderful neighbors could never fully understand my gratitude.  At around dark we went over to their house (the Guest House) and helped them cook dinner.  I rolled out chapatti while Lacey peeled potatoes and other vegetables.  We laughed and talked about our week.  It was nice to be sharing in community with others.  We even talked about how many hands make light work and how women are never really considered guests… they just pitch right in and go to work.  After an hour or so in the kitchen, it was time to set the table.  It was so nice to smell all the flavors wafting together and know that tonight we would get a taste.  Rose prayed for us and as the honored guest we got the first choice of chicken, potatoes, and chapatti.  My stomach was rumbling and more than ready for a bite but I couldn’t help from pausing to give God thanks once more for providing this food for us.  When His word says you will never hunger or thirst again, it means never.  The food was great but I know now more than ever before… HE IS ALL I NEED!!!!

Lacey's End of Day 7 Journal - 2011

February 20, 2011                        TMSC, Kenya - Day 7 – Sunday

I can’t believe that the last day of our ‘A Dollar A Day Challenge’ is already here. In some ways it feels like this week has flown by but in others is feels like it has been the longest week of my life.

I woke up pretty early this morning (before the sun) to a crinkling sound on the floor. It sounded like someone was crinkling a Nakumatt bag. Thinking Amanda was stirring around, I said, ‘Amanda is that you?’…When she sleepily responded, ‘No…it’s not you?’ we knew we had a problem! There was something in our room and we had NO WAY of knowing what it was! Our lanterns were on the floor and we had NO idea where the matches were! Luckily, we were in our mosquito nets. Then we heard what sounded like purring from the other side of the room. We came to the conclusion that the purring was our snoring rooster on the other side of the mud wall. But still we have no idea who our mystery visitor in the Nakumatt bag was :/ I’m not sure that I really want to find out!

Rewind- It was hard for us to fall asleep last night so we decided to sing! We’ve been without music all week and we both miss it a lot. We started out just goofing around and then it turned into us sitting up in our beds praising God. We had a full on worship service under our mosquito nets! Bwana Asifiwe! I have such a sweet friend in Amanda and I will forever be thankful for her!

Fast Forward- Natasha woke us up at about 9 o’clock this morning. We did our video blog just in time to have some tea and head to Sunday school. The kids sang loud and so beautifully this morning that it made my heart smile. They are such a blessing to me and I love each of them dearly. This morning’s message was about how God is our Shepherd and our Protector. Praise God for that! Amanda and I had a special offering this morning. Our tithe for this week was 56ksh. That’s 10% of our daily income. We also gave an extra 6ks each as our love offering. Our regular tithe belongs to God…we kept it all week but knew that it wasn’t ours to spend. That extra 6ksh was a love offering to God. It could have bought us another mango, but we chose to give it back to Him. It was amazing to give every last cent that we had. Thank you Father for being our Provider!

Since today is the Sabbath, we chose to rest today. We wanted to rest and enjoy all of God’s creation today. We journaled some and just enjoyed each other’s company. We were invited to a surprise dinner at Rose’s house (the guest house)! In Kenyan culture it’s considered rude to turn down an offer like this, so we graciously accepted! We weren’t going to have our first meal until tomorrow (Monday) morning, but that has changed! This afternoon we helped prepare the meal. As I peeled vegetables and Amanda rolled out chapati, my hunger overwhelmed me. I was so hungry at this point that I would eat anything that was put in front of me! About an hour later the meal was served. Rose prayed for us and it melted my heart. As she prayed, she thanked God for us and for what we are doing – she gets it. I’m so thankful that what we’re doing is translating – even here. God you are SO GOOD! As we feasted on our meal of chapati, chicken, and potatoes, the fellowship was awesome. It was so good to be surrounded by these people again. We laughed and smiled for a long time – then it was back to poverty…one more night. I can’t believe that this Challenge is over…but I guess it’s not really over. I am taking so much back with me into my ‘real life’ that I could have never imagined. This week has challenged me. Poverty has changed me. I am forever changed. Praise be to God!!

Day 7 Complete

Prayers By Candlelight

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for the blessings of this day.  I praise you for all that you provide for us and I praise you when you allow us to go without.  What a blessings it’s been to rely fully on you this week Lord.  I’ve never been more challenged and I’ve never been more thankful than now.  There were times during this past week where I wanted to give up but I’m thankful for the will to persevere.  Lord I am amazed at how rich I am compared to most of the world and I confess that most of my life I’ve taken that for granted.  Forgive me for not being a good steward in the past and teach me to be more mindful in the future.  Lord, I’ll never be entirely sure why there’s such a huge difference between the way the rich and the poor view life, other than the fact that you’ve always taught the greatest lessons using the ‘least of these’ as the greatest in the kingdom.  I’ll never fully understand the necessity of the pain and suffering that accompanies poverty other than the idea that in their weakness is where they find your strength.  I know nothing about this is fair, but I know you are just.  It breaks my heart that tomorrow I will be allowed at the table with plenty to eat while others in this community continue to go without.  Lord teach me to be a blessings to them, since you have chosen to bless me abundantly.  Lord I lift up to you all those who did not get invited to dinner tonight, all those who will go to bed hungry.  Lord sustain their hearts, souls, minds, and bellies.  Help them to set their minds on things above instead of earthly things and provide for their every need.  I lift up this prayer to you Lord and I thank you for the new meaning it has in my heart. 

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy

will be done in earth, 
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
But deliver us from evil. 
For Yours is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

Lord Jesus, I am forever changed, and to you I give ALL the glory.

In the precious wonderful name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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Precious Father, 

As I sit her on the last evening of this Challenge, I praise you for your faithfulness. Lord, thank  you for carrying me through this week - I know that I couldn't have done it alone. I have never felt you closer and I thank you for hearing my cries. Thank you for teaching me this week that I don't need 'things; to be rich...I only need you. You are all that I need and all that I want. Rich or poor, you are God. Rich or poor, you're mercy endures. Rich or poor, you love me the same. You are ALL that I need. Father, I think you for giving me this glimpse into poverty. I thank you for my greater understanding of life in another's place. You are the God of all and no matter my situation I WILL praise you! I pray that you will use this week to bring Glory to your name! 

Thank you for your mercy and grace. 

It's in the precious name of Jesus that I pray, 

Amen.

God's Provision

Thank you Lord for your hand in our lives. We thank you for being Jehovah Jireh - our Provider!!

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

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