Kenya Reflections…Day 2: When I was a student at Tennessee State University, Dr. Hefner (our President at the time) would always say this quote every time he gave a speech
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
Well, this morning I woke up in Africa and I woke up running… Jessica and I ran around town picking up tissue, soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, and several other items so that we could blessed the girls. I’ve done a lot of running in my life from running meetings, running my mouth, running errands, and even running races but the run today was like no other and I thank God for waking me up in Africa to run on today!
I met some very special girls today. They were beautiful, humble, saved, and strong. Naomi is 11 & was brutally raped by a 50 year old man. Last night she wrote a letter to God and told him that she needed some soap and some more shoes…she had no idea that we were coming today. She has been recovering for 5 months now and while her spirit is good, it is still painful for her to even put on a regular pair of shoes so today we purchased flip flops to replaced the worn out ones she had and regular shoes for the other girls in need. I also met Faith. Faith is so strong and full of wisdom. She is also 11 & was rescued from being married off at such an early age. Today when I got weak and could not control my tears, Faith put her arms around me and said “don’t you worry, you be strong, we promise to make you proud”. And then there’s the Kambua who is 13 and has been at AIC since she was 5. She does not have any family members. Before we departed today these were her words, “Thank you for all that you have done for us. We know that you and all your family and friends in the states love us and that means a lot but we also know that God loves us more and he sent you all to help us. We promise to work hard and make you proud. We will be praying for you and you continue to pray for us. God Bless You!”
There are no words to describe my experience today. I’ve never in my life met a group of people so strong, humble, and grateful. When we left to go purchase their shoes and get them something to eat…all they asked for was milk and bread. Wow! But of course I begged their principal to add a treat so we gave them cookies and candy as well. In addition to the food and shoes, we were also able to purchase some uniforms for the girls today. I’ll go back later this week to bless them with some other items they need. In the meantime, I’ll just say Thank you Jesus for allowing me to wake up running for the girls at AIC today! They blessed me today more than I could ever blessed them. (The pictures are just a few highlights and really does not do the experience justice)
28th & Jefferson 