A Reason to Smile

Last week as Kylee, Bre, and I walked down that busy, busy streets of Kenya further into town and that is where we found her. A little old woman on the side of the road sitting in the dirt singing her heart out as she held up her little cup for coins. She was blind, deaf, and crippled. She was skinny as can be and she sat in the filth with her little tambourine playing her heart out for anything she could get. We went to her and knelt down to pray as a man came over, he must have been a relative, and he told us that she was deaf and spoke no English at all. We asked him if we could pray for her and he said yes, and continued to interpret to her what was going on. We laid our hands on her and just loved on her as we prayed fervently for healing and blessing. She sat still holding our hands until her body jolted back just a bit, and I saw God touch her body. I recognized what had happened and when we were finished she said in perfect English, “Thank you,” as if that was all she needed and continued to sing as if she was perfectly content. We still planned on feeding her though and as we stood I finally realized the massive crowd that had drawn around us. Probably thirty people stood around just watching us as we loved on this old beggar who was probably despised by her community. I smiled as we made our way through and went quickly to the closest stand and bought her some fruit. We gave it to her and then went on our way, but the joy that grew inside of me that day was so real and alive, I will never forget it. This Friday we will again be walking down that street to see if that woman is still there and if so we will be giving her some food and praying for her again. She is so worth all the love and affection we can give her!

A couple days ago a little girl ran to me and told me who she was, a girl Kylee and I had bought cookies for at the grocery store the week before. She is nine and her name is Winnie. She looked at me with these big, brown, wondering eyes and said, “You told me to come tell you who I was and that you would give me a huge hug when I did.” I smiled and said come here then and opened my arms wide. She grabbed tightly holding my waist and I thought she honestly would never let go. She stayed with me for a long time and we walked together down the dirt road.  She kept her arms around my waist and when we stopped so that I could talk to the other girls around us she just held me and I keep her in my arms. We continued to walk for about twenty minutes and in this time all she could say was, “Nakupenda Sana,” over and over which means, “I love you very much.” She would repeat it in Swahili and in English so that I knew. When time came for us to depart she struggled to let go saying, “I love you, I love you, please tell me where you live so that if you don’t come back I can find you.” She broke me today and as she held me and looked up, I looked down into her beautiful eyes and promised to her that I would be back again tomorrow to teach another grade at her school. She struggled to believe me and I had to repeat it a few times. When she let go and we began to walk away she stood there with about five of the other school girls staring towards us. We got a ways up before I turned around to find her chasing after me. Again I gathered her into my arms and she whispered in my ear, “Please tomorrow will you come back and come see my mama and where I live?” “Yes,” I replied I can do that. She smiled from ear to ear and was able to let me go. I am so moved. To receive all that love when all I did was buy her and her sister some cookies at that store? It really is the little things at matter!

The following day Kylee and I went to her home along with her other siblings! This was so much fun! We were there for two hours and in this time we danced and sang about in their little home. Seeing Winnie and her friends dance was so amazing, these girls can dance like I have never seen children dance before! They honored us so much, filling our bellies and hearts to the brim! I love them and I can’t wait to go back!