Get in the Boat
I went to Kenya with great trepidation. I thought that we would all be better served if we simply sent money to the people of Kwambekenya. No personal involvement for this boy. HOW WRONG I WAS!
It didn’t take me long to realize that what we are trying to do in Kwambykenya is for the long term - partnering with them to help them improve their lives with better education and medical care. The people there are wonderful. They have the Holy Sprit the likes of which I have never seen. They have very, very few material positions, and that is being generous. Life is a battle everyday and nothing is taken for granted. What they have, money can’t buy.
I saw sites in Nairobi and in the Kenyan countryside that one could only imagine: the slums, the trash, and the smell. All are seared in my memory. When I arrived, I kept asking myself, what in the world am I doing here? I am half way around the word and away from my family in a place that is totally unlike any I have ever been.
I met the people with the biggest smiles you could imagine. The children had runny noses, yellow eyes, and bare feet, but they had big, big smiles. Almost immediately, we formed a bond with these wonderful Christian people. We could not walk anywhere in the village without the children running up to us and grabbing both of our hands.
Steve Franks and I had the opportunity to worship at a very small church. Mary was our host. The service lasted for over two hours. The congregation sat on hard wooden benches; the floor was dirt. Steve and I sat in the chancel area with the minister. Needless to say the service was different than what Steve and I were accustomed to. During the service we were asked to speak. What an experience that was. Before I knew it, I was shouting Amen after every sentence! Their exuberance was catching.
We helped (and the optimum word here is help) lay a stone road to the site where the medical center will soon be built, thanks to the people here at Mt. Bethel. I have never had so much fun lifting heavy rocks! We worked side by side with the people from Kwambekenya. We formed what Randy called a watermelon line. We took our place in the long line and passed the rocks one to the other. The work went surprisingly fast. We laughed and groaned together. We all agreed that we would never move rocks like this at home, but we did it joyfully. By the time we left, the road work was complete and ready for the trucks that will come when construction starts on the one and only medical center for the village.
On Sunday after church, Mary, walked Steve and me back to the center of the village to hook up with rest of our group. When we got back on the main street, we stopped at a very small store. Mary insisted that she wanted to buy Steve and me a Coke. Knowing the circumstances of how very little they have, we told Mary that it was not necessary. She insisted. Mary told us that if she did not do this, she would have a hole in her heart for the rest of her life. We had the Coke and biscuits. Seems like a very small thing to us for her to do, but to Mary it was very necessary and also sacrificial. What a gift!
On our last day, we were again with my Mary. We went on a walking tour of the village. We visited a homeless shelter for the displaced persons that came to the village during the recent violence in Kenya. The villagers have very little, but they share out of Christian love with their neighbors.
We visited a home in which great grandparents were taking care of their great grandchildren. Seems the parents and the grandparents were dead. They were preparing a meal of maize and beans - the only one of the day! Their very small farms would only allow for one meal a day at this time of year. Out of love and gratitude, they shared that meal with Gaylyn Kelly, Annie Coppage and me. I Have Never Received SO MUCH FROM PEOPLE THAT HAD SO LITTLE. It left me wondering if I would do the same out of the plenty that I have.
One of our team members had a very costly pair of boots. We talked one day, and I asked him if he was taking them back home. His reply was,”Of course, they were very expensive.” We had met a man named Big John earlier in the week. As we prepared to leave Kwambekenya, my friend was standing outside the bus. In one hand, he was holding a bag full of clothes that he was leaving there and in the other hand he held his boots. He looked at the bag, and then he looked at the boots and said, “These are for Big John.” He placed the boots in the bag. Their sacrifice and loving nature was not lost on us. How could we do less?
I love the people of Kwambekenya. I was told before I left on the trip that I would receive far more than I gave. I thought that was a bunch of bunk. Wrong again! I received more than I could imagine. They shared with me, this boy of the south, this guy that has been very fortunate in life. This guy that that has been loved all his life. What did they give me? They gave everything. They showed me the face of Jesus!
I know mission trips are not for everyone. I know Kenya is not for everyone. But there are needs all over the planet. We send teams to Central and South America, to Eastern Europe, to the Gulf Coast and right here at home. There are needs right here within ear shot of Mt. Bethel. I have heard Randy say, “It is not either or;” we must do both. If you can’t go on a mission trip, send someone. The important thing is to get involved. GET IN THE BOAT! We can do no less!
Ben Hornsby
