In times when I feel like my house is too full or I have too much on my plate, God always finds a way to bring my focus back to him. He humbles me by showing me why I came here in the first place and brings children into my life that are living in situations harder than I could ever imagine. This week, I’ve been going around town with friends, focussing on doing day to day activities the way we did when I first came, going back to our roots. We’ve been going into areas where people rarely go to help and meeting new faces at every corner. Not knowing who we will find that day that will break our hearts and leave us not knowing what our next step will be. We take comfort in the fact that God put them in our paths for a reason and will show us the way forward.
One new face we met this week was Japheth. We got a call from his neighbor a couple weeks back and had so many other things going on that we never made it out there. Today we went to meet him. When we walked into the house we saw a cute, healthy 6 month old baby named Joy sitting with her father. Then we heard another child screaming behind a curtain in the living room. They brought him over to see us and we began to talk to the family. Japheth’s father recently married and had a new baby with his wife. He had previously been with another woman, who had Japheth and he left the baby with her. Japheth had been staying with the grandmother, who brought him to their house and left him when she heard that his father was now starting a new family and neglecting his old one.
Here in Kenya life is difficult when you are a child living with your stepmother. The child from another mother is never treated the same as the other kids and always feels a little left out. When the child has a disability the situation is so much worse. We were asking the parents questions about things that any one should know about a child that they are living with and they couldn’t give us any answers. Japheth’s stepmother even threatened to leave her husband because they both have no idea how to handle him. The family is well off. They live in a nice house, with electricity and a television. Joy is well taken care of and Japheth is totally neglected and ignored. Japheth is malnourished and it is clear that he is not receiving the care he needs. He is three years old and does not walk or talk and is not receiving physical therapy. He stays on the bed, behind the curtain, hidden from the world all day and night. He is a sweet little boy who just wants to be loved like every child does. Please keep this sweet little boy in your prayers and pray that God shows us what our next step for him should be.
Today we also met Samuel. His family lives in a slum area called Crossroads where we pass frequently. Today we felt a little tug on our hearts to slow down and say hi to them on our way home. His father sits at the corner everyday repairing people’s shoes to earn a few shillings to try to feed his family.
He has three sons Kemboi, Patrick and Samuel. The older two boys are fairly healthy and were playing and running around with their friends.
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| Patrick |
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| Kemboi |
Then we saw Samuel, sitting on a little piece of plastic next to his father. He is two and a half years old and doesn’t walk or talk. It doesn’t seem like he has any disability, but he is just so malnourished that he doesn’t have the strength or energy to place with the other kids. His legs are red and swollen so even if he could walk it would be painful. He doesn’t smile or show any emotion, but just sits and stares.
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| Samuel |
Once again I will say that God put this family in our path for a reason and He will show us the way forward. When we view things from our human perspective things seems impossible, but God’s perspective shows us all the possibilities and options that we have in and through Him. I know that God will continue His work that he started in our hearts and I pray that we will cling to him as we wait for his answers on how to help these two children who the world may overlook, but God holds them close.
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