Warfare

Today is the 4^th of July, Independence Day, but for some reason they don’t seem to celebrate America’s Independence Day in Kenya. Spending tonight jamming to some Party in the USA, God Bless America, American Woman, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fireworks, some swimming, barbeque, ice cold drinks, and some watermelon sound pretty good right now. America has been blessed. I want to thank all of you who supported me on my internship this summer, which has been a huge blessing.

In Kenya things are a little different. Food and water are scarce in many places. The food the people do have isn’t very nutritious. There is drought, famine, and low standards of living. Turkana is filled with dried up riverbeds, dead trees, and plants. Green once upon a time has now become a desert wasteland. However, despite all of that, God is living and active here.

In preparation for teaching spiritual warfare, it has been a Spiritual battle. 

We have heard numerous stories from the missionaries here. Satan is constantly and continuously trying to keep the people of Turkana oppressed and in fear. One of his oppression tactics is the poverty and malnutrition.

God has blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of countering this through teaching and working here. I have been faced some spiritual warfare of my own. I have been stung by a scorpion, gotten sick immediately on arrival in Lodwar, battled to keep good spirits in the bush when I was only getting one meal a day, and tonight sickness struck again on the verge of the first spiritual warfare lesson tomorrow. God has been with me even when Satan is attempting to discourage. The war has already been won, but here are some of the battles that are being won in Turkana…

Wells

We have dug one well 45 feet deep with 27 feet of water. Wells bring water, which bring life. The CLEAN water is usually 20 to 30 feet underground. Clean water and safe drinking water instantly improves health. Water is also used for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. Carrying relief cans full of water is a constant job for young girls and women. By digging wells closer to grouped homes it saved 2 and 3 hour walks for water and usually dirty water.

Farms

Yes farms in the middle of a Desert, which is not possible without the well. These farms allow for a more balanced diet, which many of the Turkana do not have and I have experience. The well provides constant water due to the solar powered pump. Some of the crops that are being grown are Sorghum, Cow Peas, Spinach, Amaranth, and white watermelon. One crop in particular can instantly help balance the nutritional diet of the Turkana, but it relies on water--water that comes from wells. Amaranth has 18% protein, which is higher than meat. It has more vitamins and more calcium than milk. It will replace corn in the diet, which has little to no nutritional value. Amaranth will provide more carbohydrates than corn.

Life Improvement the people who live by and work the farms. Farming is a way to provide the Turkana with jobs.They also instantly feel better once there is a better diet. You see less bloated stomachs:

Another advantage to amaranth is that it is worth more and it being sold for more money in the market because off its nutritional value. 

It starts by digging a well and providing food, but the long-term goal is to give them the Living Water and the Bread of Life, The Gospel.

John 4

 ⁷There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  ⁸(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)  ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”  ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 6

²⁷Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  ²⁸Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  ²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  ³⁰So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?  ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  ³²Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  ³⁴They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

 ³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Prayer Requests:

That the Holy Spirit will work in the lives of the Turkana in the class this week

For the Spiritual Battles that Todd and I face everyday

Rain in Turkana

"Danger"

This past week was very eventful...here are a few highlights with more to come.

This is Mora Mora or "Danger" from the drilling crew. He is 20 years old and I have been working beside him for two weeks now. This guy is so AWESOME and I don't use that word lightly. He is my "son" on the crew because I clothed him, only with one shirt, and "Mimi ni baba Danger," which translates I am Danger's daddy. That phrase goes along way when trash talking in soccer and slap boxing. Danger is the flat out fastest guy on the field and has mad skills. I have seen him chase down fish in the river  100 feet away and catch them with his bare hands. He got his nickname because he night fishes, which is very dangerous.

Something that I have learned about Danger is that he has an amazing will or willpower. When he was 11 years old he had a nephew, Abe, our missionary's adopted son, whose mother had died shortly after his birth along with his 2 year old brother. Abe was 18 months old at the time and sickly small. There was a long drought in Turkana and food was scarce. Abe at 18 months old was very sick and just short of dying; he was starving to death. Abe's father wasn't willing to leave the few goats the family had to take Abe to get medicine in Lodwar where Gene and Melba, our missionaries, were at the time. The value of life is very low in Turkana. However, Danger at 11 years old, skinny as a rail, starving himself started on a journey from Nakor with Abe on his back to Lodwar. Nakor is a 3 hour drive in a 4-wheel drive Land Cruiser from Lodwar. Danger, 70 lbs. soaking wet, walked for TWO DAYS to Lodwar stopping only for willing nursing mothers along the way to breast feed Abe. When I put this story to a face, the only thought that I could think of was...wow! This boy was willing to risk his life for a nephew, not even a brother, when his own father wouldn't. Danger is AWESOME!

Children from the area that came when we finished the well. Made Todd and I think of the movie Blood Diamond because of all the children and girls with machete or knives. The garden with the solar pump is in the back left.

This is a picture from the 3 o'clock bible study that takes place every day. Most of the guys on the crew speak some English. Danger is on the left. Akai is sitting on the water jugs. Sammy, our translator, is in the purple behind Todd, the only white guy in the picture. Paulo the oldest guy on the crew is in the back right. First Peter, yes that is his name and its biblical...think about it, is in the white shirt. And Michael "Second to Last Born" is in the black shirt. Except for Paulo all these guys are between the ages of 20 and 25. Our wonderful tree refrigerator is in the back left corner. These guys know the bible well, but we are challenging them daily to make it personal and not so theological, which is trying to break through a major cultural barrier.

This is Little Michael. He is always singing and happy. He never shys away from the camera, so when we got our spears of course he wanted to show off. He is about 5 feet tall and works like a champ. he is out little leprechaun.

A picture from one of our nightly soccer games in Safari.com Stadium.

A picture from one of my celebrations after scoring a goal. The more animated you get when you score the more fun the Turkana have. 

This is the River Kerio that we cross when going to dig wells. Two and a half hours before we crossed for the last time the water was at our ankles. It rose to Little Michael's neck. The picture is of the women carrying some of the crew's material on their head through this river. The water is filled with diseases because when it begins to rise it is filled with waste and urine. Many people who don't have access to wells will drink this water. These women are very skilled.

Just for Show

The house that I stayed at in the BUSH of Kakumat. Parents bedroom on the left and kids on the right.

Todd and I in the garden/farm with some of the workers at Kakumat.

Some more of the workers at Kakumat.

This is our nightly meal with the drilling crew. It is cornmeal (right) and Ugali (left). The cornmeal is tough to eat because it has no taste and little nutritional value. Ugali had cabbage, potatoes, beans, and some flavoring sauce.

This is our daily lunch meal. Akai calls it Beans and Corns. The beans are tolerable, but the maize is solid and reminds me of cattle feed.

FDA approved food storage under our tree in Nakor with the drilling crew.

Three boys who sat beside me at church in Nakor.

The church service in Nakor. It is under the biggest shade tree we could find. The order of the service is listed on the blackboard. Church contains about 10 items, 3 of which are 30 minute sermons. One is done on the first reading. The second is done on Communion and Tithing. The third is a separate message done on a 2nd reading.

Me getting water from the garden...

...for my 5 star bath with complementary thorns and peeping goats.

I know you are thinking...why a picture of his dirty feet? Well something hit me in my bible reading. In a hot desert area of Turkana with all the walking and treking in sandals, one thought popped into my head...

...the washing of feet.

Can you imagine walking all day and then reclining for a meal with your dirty feet by the very food you were about to eat? That is something we do every meal and also something the disciples experienced. In John 13, the scene is set and it has been redefined for me...

12When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, i“Do you understand what I have done to you?  13jYou call me kTeacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, lyou also ought to wash one another's feet.  15For I have given you an example, mthat you also should do just as I have done to you.  16Truly, truly, I say to you, na servant1 is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  17If you know these things, oblessed are you if you do them.  18pI am not speaking of all of you; I know qwhom I have chosen. But rthe Scripture will be fulfilled,1 s‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’  19tI am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.  20Truly, truly, I say to you, uwhoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” I can't imagine the disciples feelings...my dirty, muddy, toe jammy, grimy, sweaty, dusty feet ...my Savior, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Lamb of God just washed those feet. Wow... ...what experience it would have been and what a challenge is poses for me and you

Digging the Well! Digging the Well! Digging the Well, hey, hey, hey, hey!

So for the past 7 days I have been in the BUSH of Nakor digging two wells.  God has blessed me with this experience and it has been great to spend time with God in a primitive environment. Here are some pictures that highlight some of the past week. It’s only a small sample, but I hope you enjoy! Oh yeah, the Cat Daddy made it to Africa!!

This is Todd and I by the river that flows through Nakor. To get to the area where we dig wells you must cross this river. Because it had rained recently, on Saturday it was up to our mid thighs and by 7 days later it was down below out ankles. The water in this river is muddy. People drink this dirty water, which is why there is need for wells to provide clean drinking water.

This is the basic layout of the well. The tripod supports the metal poles that go down through the casing to dig the underneath clay, sand, and soil. The casing must go down and have 20 feet of water surrounded by it, so that the well can be continuously pumped and sustained. The garden that provided food for the area is in the back left. The well provides water so the people can grow better food for a balanced diet, which improves their standard of living.

This is my first learning experience of trying to dig a well. Akai is the field boss who is helping me. We work in teams of two. Akai is very comical and he loves to sing, "Digging the well, digging the well, digging the well, hey, hey, hey, hey," while we are digging down. Oh yeah, he has a very Yoda like voice to go with his 6'3'' stature, which makes his singing very entertaining.

We were able to witness our first sheep slaughter ( I have a video of the whole thing). The guy in the yellow hat later drank the blood. This is the true Africa, unedited and uncut, raw and real. We later ate almost every part of the sheep from the fatty tail to its head. Every part was eaten and the skin was sold.

The crew gets a break from 1 to 3 everyday and the disappeared two days in a row and would come back with fish, so one day we got to experience this for ourselves. Turkana are amazing fishermen. A fish would swim down the muddy river and then everyone would take off after it; it was a team effort. Once they were close, they would shove their nets into the water and try to trap it along the bottom. Some were skilled enough to just wait in the water and as a fish swam by, they would just grab it with their hands. They looked like crocodiles lurking in the water. After the catch they just throw the fish up onto the muddy bank and then move on to the next target. Two days in a row they came back with 20 plus fish to eat! Primitive fishing actually happens!

Finally, I got to experience fishing for myself. Before we went Akai warned us abuot dangerous 3 horned catfish because they will cut you and bite. Todd and I didn't believe they existed because the other guys in the crew only caught Nile Perch. So we began our fishing adventure and trying to chase down fish. I chased and ran all over that river, down and up. I was exhausted after 40 minutes of fishing and in minute 39 I finally got one. I shoved down my net and almost freaked out because I had no idea what to do now. A small boy came over reached into the basket and then bit the fish 3 times. I had no idea why, but then...he showed me the fish. It was a 3 horned Nile Catfish!

The BUSH

The BUSH |boŏ sh |

Noun [place]

where the women are men , goats and donkeys run wild, pooping your pants will

happen, and everything you need is at LEAST a mile away

God is incredibly awesome! The past 3 days I spent in the BUSH of Turkana. Life is so different there than in America, which has its pros and cons. The typical day of the Turkana goes like this:

Male

Wake up

Drink echai

Watch goats go to pasture

Lay under tree

Eat Lunch

Sleep Under tree

Eat dinner

Make sure goats come home

Sit at gate of fence

Go to sleep

Female

Wake up before man

Breastfeed baby

Go get firewood

Go get water

Breastfeed baby

Make echai

Clean the children

Breastfeed baby

Wash dishes

Sweep out the hut and pick up mats

Lay out mat under tree for man

Breastfeed baby

Start fire for lunch

Go get water

Breastfeed baby

Move mat for man

Serve echai

Mix and make food

Cook food

Serve lunch

Breastfeed baby

Clean up after lunch

Wash dishes

Breastfeed baby

Tend to hut and children

Move mat for man

Get water and firewood for dinner

Breastfeed baby

Make and cook dinner

Serve dinner

Breastfeed baby

Clean up after dinner

Lay out mats for sleep

Entertain children

Go to sleep

So the days of the male and female Turkana have very different roles than the men and women in America. It’s sad. The men don’t help at all. We asked our translator Sammy: which do you value more the goats or their women more? His response…”that is a tough question and I don’t know the answer to, maybe.” (He always says maybe at the end of a sentence).

These people love Jesus, but have not let that love infiltrate their personal live and old traditions. It makes me wonder, are there areas of the American culture and traditions that we haven’t let the love of Jesus affect and infiltrate?

Learning and observing the culture of the Turkana in the BUSH the past few days has been a life changing experience. I have walked many many many miles, saw farming progress due to the new wells that have been dug, observed children in school, barely eaten anything, and there were two things that stuck out to me.

First, the children of Turkana want to live a healthy better life. They get so excited and love to sing and dance to songs about Jesus. Even in the hardship of their current lives, they have let the joy and hope of Jesus fill theirs.

Second, I have never been in a place so quiet that you can hear a rooster crow over a mile away, until the BUSH. It was so peaceful and quiet at night. The stars were amazing and the moon soo bright. Those quiet moments turned into hours as I looked around at the desert land and mountains

…just the BUSH, the Bible, and some of the words to a song that kept playing in my head

Everyone needs compassion

A love that's never failing

Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness

The kindness of a Savior

The hope of nations

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save

He is mighty to save

Forever

Author of Salvation

He rose & conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

My Almost African Princess

Sightseeing of England was awesome and I have lots of pictures of that experience. I was going to write this entry on that experience with the events of the past 4 days, but my mind is just exploding because since Thursday at 7 am Turkana time, my world has literally been rocked.

 Looking back on the past three days I wouldn’t change a thing and right now I’m kind of missing that hard woven mat on the ground of that mud hut. I can only imagine what experience the BUSH is going to bring, so please pray for rain and my survival in the BUSH.

So once our group arrived in Nairobi, we “hurried” strategically through immigration and customs. Todd and I thought that we would be staying in Nairobi the whole day upon our arrival at 7 am, little did we know that that mindset was about to change.

We had heard rumors about Gene Morden, some that he was the man of men or an Africa version of Crocodile Dundee. So when we first saw him, he totally exceeded all those expectations and pictures of him we had seen in our mind. He was dressed heard to toe in green and tan full on Safari African wear, minus the hat. He looked bigger, tougher, and even meaner than the pictures we had conceived in our minds’ eyes. This description does not even do him justice.

So nonchalantly we go up to him thinking that we would be spending a relaxing day in Nairobi when he begins to grab Todd’s bag and says we have a plane to catch.  SO we hurry with our bags behind him to a manly rugged looking land cruiser with the works. Huge grill in the front, luggage racks on top and heavy duty army green seat covers on the inside. We then knew we were in for the real deal.

We then learn that we had to catch a small plane to Lodwar. As we our on our way to the smaller airport we meet Mike, who will be here on a mission trip for a month, and Abraham, Gene and Melba’s adopted Turkana son. We then arrive at the airport, not sure what to expect being completely off guard. We then precede to get on this tiny bi-plane and fly to Lodwar.

My arrival in Lodwar was…lets just say picture the worst paved road for about half a mile you’ve ever driven on plopped right in the middle of a desert. That was our landing strip. Literally, I had now arrived in the middle of nowhere. We then hopped in another decked out land cruiser and headed for the house. I could not believe where I was; I was like pinch me I’m seeing things. We then arrived at the Compound. Gene wasn’t sure what the plan would be for us on our first day. We started out by going into town for lunch, where I had my first experience with boiled goat, yumJ…minus the fact that you had to eat around the tiny chunks of bone they don’t care to take out for you. After eating we went back to the Compound and then received about an hour of language training. Simple phases like, good morning, my name is…, I am from America, and “what’s up.” Immediately following that hour we were instructed to pack a back for a few days. I did so then hopped in a car and went along for a drive.

We then were being sent to live with the nationals, well it didn’t actually hit me what was happening until I was standing outside a mud hut meeting the family I would be staying with for the next three days with my poorly packed bag, a jug of clean water, and a few phrases of Turkana. ”Hi” and “what’s up” were only going to get me so far. I was about to learn what it would take to survive in Turkana, Kenya 3 and a half hours after getting off the plane that morning.

I would be staying at John and Margret Ejore’s house. They spoke little to no Englsih and only knew simple commands. I was instructed by hand jestures to sits outside the house on a woven mat in the sand. Luckily after 20 minutes or so of sitting there the guy who had done our language teaching showed up. Sammy and I then sat outside the house on a woven mat. I was now the latest attraction in town, it's not every day to see a “muzungo” on the outskirts of Lodwar. I was now the minority. Little kids were staring. The shy ones would push the littler ones toward me and they would giggle…I don’t even know if I could explain it. I was smiling soo big; it was just soo fascinating.

I have many stories that were the highlights of the next few days. I have soo much to tell, but not enough space or time to put it all on this blog. Here is one that I know many of you will appreciate.

So Sammy and I are sitting there on the mat and all these Turkana children and mothers are coming up asking me questions about where I’m from and why I’m there, keep in mind Sammy is translating much of this for me, so it’s confusing and hard to understand what he and the people are saying. At this point of sitting there I now have a Turkana name “Emoru” meaning Mountain given to me by Margret. This one lady, who I later learn was drunk, starts asking me these same questions. 

She asks where I am from and I respond that I am from America.

Then she asks why I am here. Thinking of a clever answer, I say because I love God and love people.

She then asks if I would take all the children standing around to America. I say with another clever answer if I had money that I would gladly take the children to America.

She then asks if I am single (I think this convo is getting a little bit personal). And I respond, yes that I am.

She then instructs me to a young girl about 13 I think, assuming tradition at this point, that I need to take her as my wife if I am going to have a Turkana name and then take her to America. I am now at a loss for words completely caught off guard not sure how to respectfully say no that I cannot marry her and take her as my wife. As I am about to say no, she repeats the question now in a slightly louder yell, almost demanding. I recognize some of the same words, but still having no idea of what she is actually saying. Luckily Sammy and Margret were able to come to my rescue and talk her down, then shooing everyone away. I managed to then wave bye to my almost African Princess.

The Journey Begins

PDO has come to an end. I have met great people and made some good friends. Today I begin my journey to Kenya. We will be stopping in New York and London. My flight for New York will take off at 520pm and we should be in New York at approx. 735pm. We then leave New York at 1100pm and arrive in London at 1100am their time. After planned sight seeing in London during a 9 hour layover, we will be departing London at 800pm. Our arrival in Kenya should be at 630am Kenyan time.

I am super excited that my departure day has finally come. I look back at what God has done to prepare me for this journey. He has brought me through so much. I am so thankful that I have a heavenly Father who takes care of me and continuously blesses me.

Where ever you are just take a moment to thank God. Dwell on the fact that He loves you.

In Romans, Paul says:

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  ⁸butGod shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ⁹Since, therefore, we            have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Christ died for us and this is how the Father has showed his love for you an me.

On this journey pray for me that through whatever trials and work I attempt to do that Christ's love will be shown through me to the people of Turkana, Kenya. 

The journey begins...