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 8^th 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 2^nd 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

End of Day 5 Videos

Check out our thoughts at the end of day 5....

Day 4 Video

Here is a daytime video for a change :) Enjoy!

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 2^nd 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

Amanda's End of Day 4 Journal - 2011

Thursday February 17, 2011

2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-ChallengeI woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the tin roof. This is probably one of my favorite sounds and I wanted to cuddle up in my blanket and sleep for hours. Then it hit me. That precious commodity falling from the sky could be my next bath water. If I catch enough of it, I may not need to walk to the stream for water today. As soon as I finished these thoughts, the rain stopped. It amazes me the shift of thinking that occurs when you have close to nothing. In my western world this falling water is the source of my enjoyment and in my third world it is the source of my survival. As my feet hit the floor this morning it was as though they had adjusted to the hard cracked earth below. Maybe it was because they too are dried and cracked and rough. The overwhelming pain and bruising has turned to tough and calloused feet ready to accept the challenges the day might bring. As my feet have now embraced this third world lifestyle, so have I. The first 3 days of this challenge I focused a lot on what I did not have… the HAVE NOTS… if you will. But last night as my body and mind were weary and tired something unexpected happened. I was reminded of the scripture, I think it’s 2 Corinthians 12:9 that says, my power is made perfect in your weakness. It reminded me that God does have a purpose for everyone… even the poor. As a woman living in the third-world I may not have shoes, food, or a Bible but I, like every other human being have the ability to focus on what I do have. Nothing can separate me from the love of God… nothing can keep me from sharing that love with others. I can always focus on the HAVES. It’s only when the HAVE NOTS are held more closely than the HAVES that you lose hope. That’s what happened to me on day 3. I had lost hope and I was broken. I had focused so much on what I did not have and I allowed those things to completely surround me. The source of hope seemed so far off in the distance that I could no longer access it. In my exhaustion and weakness, and by the grace of God through last night’s devotion with the girls, the Lord taught me that our feelings should never be as strong as our faith. My feeling of hopelessness in what I HAVE NOT could be replaced by my faith in God for what I HAVE. So today I move forward with a fresh perspective, choosing to hold closely what I Have and slowly by slowly pushing what I HAVE NOT far into the distance until I can no longer access it. This shift in thought has given me hope to press on. After breakfast this morning I went to work sewing buttons onto the new school uniforms. This work is very much like what a woman might do to earn $1 a day. My work quickly became monotonous and the attempt to keep my mind off my hunger by keeping busy failed. Soon enough though lunchtime rolled around and the ugali was super hot and moist today. I took a huge hunk and ate it more quickly than usual. My stomach filled quickly with the super starchy substance but my craving for something with taste lingered. After lunch we headed to the corner with our 10 shilling each daily allowance and prayed for something good like ripe mangos. As soon as my feet hit the road I noticed far less pain. I don’t know if it was the calluses, or if I had just become accustomed to the pain, but it did not hurt near as bad as the previous days. Maybe it was my shift in attitude from concentrating on the HAVE NOTS and focusing on the HAVES. All I know is that we walked faster to the corner. When we arrived we got some stares and questions about why we were not wearing shoes. Our answer is always that we can’t afford them and we are living on $1 a day. They usually laugh and one lady even offered us her shoes. It’s nearly impossible for them to believe a mzungu doesn’t have money or shoes. Today at the market we were overjoyed to find ripe bananas 4 for 10 shillings, and 2 mangos for 10 shillings. A banana has never tasted so good. We were discussing our 6 pieces of fruit and how excited we were to get so much for so little. But the reality is those 6 pieces of fruit cost us a ¼ of a days salary. To me it was worth every cent (shilling) but in the western world we would never consider spending ¼ of a day’s wage on a handful of fruit. It just really put things in perspective. After returning to Tumaini I worked on sewing buttons until dusk. My fingers tired from sewing and my mind tired from processing this adventure I took a brief moment to rest as the sun disappeared below the horizon. I’ve watched the sun set from this very spot many times. Whether I’m worth a million dollars or if I don’t have a cent to my name, the sun goes down just the same… putting a beautiful exclamation point on this God given day. The gift of today is priceless and the beautiful sunset was a reminder that in God’s eyes we, both rich and poor, have equal opportunity to give to him our 1st fruits. What will you do with today?

Rich in the Lord

In the beginning of this video the lady is asking me to buy something from her...Since I had no money, I told her that I was rich in the Lord but not in pesa...that means money :) She then offered for me to come and stay at her house - even though she had no bed for me. That is love.  Next you'll see a musical instrument that a little boy made from things that he found - a plastic cup, a wire, and a stick. Incredible!! The last part shows us giving back to God. We decided before the Challenge that we wanted to tithe. We set aside the 1st 10% of our 'income' and saved it until the last day of our Challenge. We held onto that money and gave it as an offering at our Sunday church service.  He blessed us beyond measure! 

HE IS FAITHFUL!!

Amanda's End of Day 3 Journal - 2011

Wednesday February 16, 2011

2011 A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge

I woke up this morning remembering the challenge I gave to the girls at the orphanage from the night before… Say a prayer before your feet hit the floor.  To be perfectly honest I could have gone 3 more days before having the slightest desire for my feet to hit the floor.  My feet were so sore I didn’t even want to wiggle my toes.  I thought to myself, “maybe we should start this assessment from the top.” As I attempted to wiggle my fingers instead, I actually thought I had become an 80-year-old woman overnight.  My joints in my fingers felt numb and tight. It didn’t get any better as I accessed the pain in my neck, shoulders, back, and legs.  This Kenyan livin was kickin my tail.  Never mind my nasty breath, slimy teeth, dirty feet, and stinky armpits.  I was a mess.  I considered walking to the corner shop to see if they sold toothbrushes, or deodorant, but even if they did, I didn’t have enough money to purchase them. My daily allowance today needed to go for 10 ksh worth of kerosene because we ran out of light last night.  If I really wanted a toothbrush, I would have to save for at least 3 weeks.  One week to save enough money to get to town, one week to buy the toothbrush, and another week to have enough to get back from town.  I’m not sure it’s worth it.  Instead, I will just use my pen lid to pick my teeth and some thread from sewing buttonholes as my floss.  I’ve definitely learned to be resourceful.  So my feet did finally hit the floor and I found the strength deep inside to ask the Lord to guide me throughout the day. (This is often a prayer of the kids living at Tumaini) The morning routine has become bathroom, then tea, and then washing clothes… so I proceeded.  After tea (with sugar… awesome and worthwhile purchase) we realized we did not have enough water for washing so we headed to the spring.  It didn’t seem quite as bad today even though my muscles were aching.  I think I was so excited to take a bath after washing clothes that it motivated me to move quickly.  The bath was nice although the place for bathing smelled like sewage, and the water was as cold as ice.  After bathing, we took a break for some journaling and then off again to the lunch reading program with the kids.  I must say the lack of nutrients is starting to take its toll.  My body feels lethargic and my mind cloudy.  It’s becoming more difficult to process the thoughts associated with poverty because it is taking every ounce of my energy just to survive it.  I’m beyond hungry… just numb and tired.  As soon as I do eat, my stomach growls for more.  The high concentration of starchy carbs leaves my stomach heavy but my palette unsatisfied.  It’s like finishing a dinner and being full yet having a craving for something more.  Now imagine tasting this and that until something hits the spot.  It may take several try’s to find the right food, you are already full but that right food is SO satisfying.  Now imagine that craving and not having a single option to satisfy it.  That’s the reality for those living on $1 a day.  There’s no such thing as options, it’s all about survival. Today we’ve had to be very careful.  We are weak and I’ve been dizzy many times today.  It’s hard to finish thoughts and some thoughts keep repeating themselves. After lunch we walked a short distance to buy our kerosene and now I find myself trying to catch you up to speed along this path I walk… I may not have the words right now but let me assure you, it’s a DIFFICULT journey.

Lacey's End of Day 3 Journal - 2011

February 16, 2011                        TMSC, Kenya – Day 3

This morning I woke up feeling so dirty. We haven’t bathed since Sunday night :/ We decided that we would set out all of the water that we had left to start warming in the sun. We did that and then had our morning tea w/ sugar! It was the best breakfast yet! We decided that we would need more water to do our smelly laundry so we walked to the spring for more. This was surprisingly easy because we talked the whole time. Surprised? JWE didn’t talk about our feet hurting or anything about the challenge itself. The walk went by really fast! I have to say I’ve been quite sore today…so carrying the water up the hill was more difficult than in days past. I prayed again for God to give me strength becase I had little to none on my own. At the top of the hill there were people waiting to watch the wazungu (white people) attempt to carry water. This has ben a big frustration of mine. People just sit around and gawk at us. I know that some are just curious and that they’ve never seen wazungu doing these things…but it gets old. I’m a little tired of being such a spectacle.  So we just stood at the top of the hil and stared back at them until they finally left J I found a plug for my water jug so that I could carry it on my back better without getting so wet. As soon as mine was on my back and Amanda’s was on her head, we started back and then it was bath time! I was starting to repulse myself :/

Bath Time: It wasn’t too sunny this morning so the water that we had left out wasn’t too warm. It didn’t matter to us though – we were GROSS. As much as I needed that ‘shower’ I soon remembered that we have to bathe in our outdoor bathroom…it’s an outhouse. There are 6 stalls that all use the same big pit – imagine. We got out water and our bar of soap and headed to the stalls. We didn’t want to risk our clean clothes getting gross so we decided to scamper across the yard in our lasso *it’s a piece of fabric that serves as our blanket, water carrier, and now towel!* Through this bathing experience I learned the real value of some of the things that I am so fortunate to have. I DROPPED THE SOAP…it didn’t fall in the hole but it may as well have :/ ughh. Before this Challenge I would have said ‘forget it!!’ but not today. That soap is valuable to me. It cost me 24ksh to buy! Not to mention it’s my only bathing soap AND my laundry soap! When you have close to nothing, you have a greater appreciation for everything. So I picked up my soap, washed it off really well, and kept on going. This was an amazing bath! Although the ammonia fumes were wofting all around me, I felt so clean! Then it was laundry time. We washed our clothes with our bar of soap and then hung them to dry. There is something so nice about clothes that are dried in the sun! We’ve found that doing laundry every day is so much easier than waiting to do it all at once (this is for after the challenge – we only have2 pairs of clothes now).

We rested and journaled a bit before it was time for the reading program at school. My lack of energy and motivation really took a toll on me today. I found myself wanting to walk out a number of times. The kids were the same as they always are but this Challenge is taking its toll on me. When I caught myself getting frustrated, I had to tell myself that it wasn’t them – it was me. I can’t imagine being this way all the time. The teachers here get paid very small amounts and I don’t know how they do it. It’s a different world.

After the reading program we came down to the orphanage to check in on sweet Irene. She looks a TON better but we also found that my little, precious, Doro is sick, we’re pretty sure that she’s coming down with the chicken pox as well. L She walked slowly over to me and all that she wanted to do was hug me. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Here was this sweet child who I could do nothing for…I could do nothing to ease her pain. I held her for a while and she started to fall asleep. I took her inside so that she could rest in her bed. My sweet girl – I love her so much.

We went over to the house and had lunch. By this time it was 3 o’clock and we were having our first and only solid meal of the day. I was hungry but didn’t look forward to just ugali. In America I would say that we live to eat. Everything revolves around our meals. I Africa, they eat to live. It’s not always good and most times isn’t satisfying…but they do it to survive. It’s a totally different world in poverty. *All of Africa isn’t poor – I’m just talking about the part of Africa that we’re experiencing* God is showing me that I need to appreciate what I do have and not dwell on the things that I don’t. I have enough to live and I need to be thankful for that. My stomach may growl once in a while, but I’m alive.

We ran out of Kerosene last night (for our lamps) so we needed to get some more for tonight. This is our only source of light when darkness sets in. we have 10ksh each day to spend…yesterday was mangos and today was kerosene. I would have loved to buy more fruit but there was a greater need above it. God is really showing me the difference between needs and wants. I WANT a mango because it would taste so good…but I NNED kerosene to see a night. There is a difference – it’s clearer to me now.

We came back to our house and took some time to rest. While Amanda journaled, I laid down to rest my body. About 30 minutes later I woke up! I didn’t mean to fall asleep but I guess my body needed it! I went to find Amanda and she was sewing some buttonholes for our kids school uniforms. Hesbon 1 had told us earlier in the day that we would be fetching water this evening. We gathered the troops (all of the older kids) and headed for the spring. This time we too the cart AND the donkey J Our feet are getting a little more used to the torture of walking the road so it was a bit easier this time. We all carried water up the hill and loaded the cart. Again, we didn’t realize that this water was for the school and that we would have to go back again for the orphanage.  On our second trip to the spring I had the pleasure of walking with Hesbon 2. We talked about the Challenge so far and how we’re feeling about what we’re experiencing. We also talked about his childhood and how he had less than we do now. He said that sometimes there would ne no food…so all he would have is 1 cup of tea in the morning and one in the evening. This is all while having to go to school every day. I can’t imagine. My brain is so blurry now and I have more than he did. It’s so humbling. I never even went to school without breakfast. If I did, it was because I CHOSE not to eat. These people amaze me.

After retrieving the water again we headed home. By this time it was close to dark and very hard to see the ground we were walking on. We had to ‘walk by faith’ as not to step on something that would harm our feet. We made it back and were greeted by our night watchman, Ezekiel. He is a straight up gift from God! He’s a wonderful man. He told us that it was time to put our shoes back on because he was worried about our feet! Not matter what, these people care about each other…he genuinely didn’t want us to get hurt. Bless him!!

We talked with Rose for a few minutes and then our sweet ‘rich neighbor’ (Rose) invited us in for tea!! In Kenya, it is an honor to be invited in to someone’s home. She let us drink HER tea and use HER sugar! It was such a blessing to have Rose and Natasha’s company. *Natasha is the sweet girl who is staying with us at Tumaini* We were also able to ‘eat’ with the lights on because they have electricity! I now know what it’s like to really appreciate electricity! Before, I never really thought about it bc it’s something that I’ve always had. I know that it is a luxury and that I shouldn’t take it for granted…but it’s hard when you’ve never had to go without it. After our short stay in the land of riches, we returned to our humble abode. Sophie (one of our kids at Tumaini) came to visit and all that we had to offer her was water. We can’t afford anything else. When she left, Amanda and I debriefed our day and then it was time for our nightly devo with the girls at the orphanage. Tonight’s lesson was perfect for me and Amanda…we talked about how our faith should be bigger than our feelings. We need to trust that God has it all figured out - instead of focusing on how we feel at the moment. It was cool because I have been focusing so much on my stomach growling when I should be praising God that I have something to eat. I need to focus on what I DO have and not on what I DON’T.

Day 3 Complete

End of Day 3 Videos

So today has been tough. We've had bouts of dizziness and are just plain worn out. The lack of energy is a direct result of the lack of nutrition that our bodies are receiving...but welcome to the lives of millions of people around the world.

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