the end of week one in africa

Jambo! (That means “hello” in Swahili). I’ve been meaning to blog more often, so sorry for the wait. Days here are long and tiring, but worth spending every ounce of energy I have.

Every day last week, I was in a classroom attempting to teach. They had me teaching Kenyan Social Studies and Science (plus English and Math because that’s what I told them I would teach). So far, I’ve taught 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th grade. Teaching these kids isn’t difficult because like I said, they are eager to learn. When I was teaching 5^th grade, we had a U.S. History lesson instead of Kenyan History, and I answered about 150 questions about life in the U.S. The funniest question they asked was if the first president was Abraham Lincoln. I told them they were only 15 presidents from being right!

One day after school last week, one little boy named Joseph came up to me and asked me to read a story for him. After one page, there were about 20 other kids gathered around. I planned on reading until their supper was served (that would’ve been about 30 minutes), but I ended up reading the whole 86-page book to those precious little ones. Supper for them was running an hour late, so obviously God wanted me to read the whole book to them. And I am perfectly fine with that, too.

So, I am in a prank war with one of the African boys. It all started when he threw a little water on me while I was talking to some kids. Then, the war began! I got him back by asking Duncan Sr. to help me. I ended up throwing a tubberware box full of ice water on him. And he got me back by throwing a whole PITCHER of water on me and Duncan Sr. But, we have some plans up our sleeve. Even in Africa, there are pranks. That makes me so so SO happy!

“Love is something when you give it away, it comes right back to you. It’s like a magic schilling, you put it in your pocket and you don’t have any. But, if you spend it or you give it away, it comes right back to you.”

This was the first song we sang on Sabbath. Ever since my first Sabbath, the word has a totally different meaning. To most Americans, Sabbath is just a Sunday where you go to church and then come home and go about your day. But, here at Fiwagoh, that’s completely NOT the story. On the Sabbath, it is a day of rest. Literal rest. No work, no nothing. Here’s how the day went: Saturday morning worship started at 6:45 a.m. Pastor Benson shared and then we had our first and only break for breakfast. When we got back into worship, we were there for another 7 hours. Talk about a service, and a long one at that. But, it was still a great experience that everyone should experience at least one time in their life. One of the funniest parts is when all the little kids start nodding off because they are tired. I had one kid on my left leg, one on my right, and one in between my two legs on the ground nodding off. I tried to hold their little heads so they wouldn’t bob the head too much, but when someone’s asleep, their head weighs about 500 more pounds than usual. After the service completely over, we went on a nature walk after lunch at 2 p.m. We walked to the lake and had such a fun time of just being with each other. Then, the Visiting Orphans team got here.

The Visiting Orphans team got here after the Sabbath (technically) ended. It’s nice to see more mzungus here because now the kids have more people loving on them. When the visitors first arrived, a couple of my kids said they didn’t want to meet any new people, so they just stayed with me the whole time. Meredith, Caitlin, and I just pretended to be new and we all had new names. Some kids thought it was hilarious, and others actually thought our names were Queen Latifa, Victoria, and Helga. We ended up having to monitor who we told our new names to. When Pastor Benson first introduced the new comers, we were told to go the side with all the kids because we were family and not visitors anymore. I love that Pastor Benson calls us family. We are treated like family and this place really is home.

I could write so much more and could definitely be more organized in my writing and such, but like I said, the days are long and the nights are short. But, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m so thankful I have the opportunity to love on these kids. And not only that, but also to love on them with my dad, cousin, and (a basically adopted-into-the-family) cousin.

Dear God, thank you for giving us the opportunity to love on Your children. I thank you that You put a burden for orphans in my heart. I also thank you that You are the one who holds not only our future, but everyone’s. I pray that each and every one of these kids will always live to serve You and they would lean on You at all times. Also, I pray that for the kids who are hurting or sick, that you would just put Your healing hand on them. You are amazing and I thank you for dying on the cross to take what we deserve, so we can have what You deserve. Amen.