We started this morning by going to the infamous landfill. I say infamous because I’ve been told about it by Joe and Molly as well as Douglas (senior pastor of my church) and Chris (worship leader of my church) when they went to Kenya earlier this year, and I’ve seen some pictures. There is an entire community of people who live on the local landfill. I don’t mean near it or next to it, but literally on top of it.
The Not-So-Beautiful
Walking up the hill of garbage on our way to the landfill community was just surreal. It was not far from what I expected but it was still difficult to believe it was real even though I was seeing it with my own eyes.
There were people standing on a newly dumped load of garbage picking through it for food and other items of “value.” Along side the people were cows, pigs, and sheep also sifting through the same garbage for food.
Midway up the hill we were met by Tony and Joseph who are amazing Christian men and served as our guides. Joseph lives on the landfill and is the grandson of Dorcus who we saw at the hospital yesterday and whose son, Samuel, has AIDS and received Christ as his savior during our visit. Tony grew up on the landfill and now helps and ministers to people there on a regular basis.
As we walked along Tony described the living conditions for the people there. We began seeing some children, talked with them, and gave them lollipops or “sweeties” as they call them.
Dorcus
Tony took us to Dorcus’s house. She invited us in. She started blessing Joe and Molly, praising them for the way God was using them to help others. I mean here is a woman who lives on a landfill and her son is in the hospital dying of AIDS, and she is encouraging and showing love to us??? Wow! It just put me in awe of the mighty power and love of our God that he could surpass even these circumstances.
Some of the ladies in the landfill including Dorcus’s daughter, Grace, earn a living by making and selling handbags. They weave them using strips of plastic from bags they find in the landfill. They are quite beautiful, and Jennifer and I bought some to bring home with us. By the way, if you would like one, let me know. We are bringing home a few extras, which you can purchase, and we’ll give the money to Joe and Molly’s ministry.
Two Families
As we continued walking, Tony told us about a woman at the landfill who recently gave birth to a new baby and “went mad.” She was running around camp naked and because the people in the community feared she would hurt herself or someone else they locked her in one of the shacks. We met her brother who is now caring for her 4 kids plus 2 of his own. They are all living in a little shack that might have been 7 or 8 feet on a side. We talked with him, prayed with him and then gave him a supply of dehydrated food.
After that we met a young couple, Sammy and Eunice, who have a 2 year old and 9 month old child. Eunice is such a beautiful young woman and their kids are just precious. They’re little home doesn’t even have a metal roof. It looked to be mostly cardboard. Sammy told us that when it rained last night they had water coming in through the roof. We helped them with some food and then Joe made arrangements for them to get sheets of steel needed to cover the roof.
We ended up spending a couple of hours there talking with people and distributing dehydrated food. We gave kids more “sweeties” as well as many of the flip-flops and childrens books that were given to us back home.
It was another opportunity to experience first hand a clash between extreme desperation and extreme hope. On the one hand you have conditions that are absolutely deplorable. There were little children walking around barefoot in garbage where livestock were roaming. Imagine for a just moment your own children living in such conditions. Uh, it just breaks my heart! On the other hand, you have people with huge hearts and unshakable faith helping people with their physical and spiritual needs.
Dorcus, Tony and Joseph (Dorcus’s grandson) are such an inspiration to me that no matter know matter how little I have or how difficult my circumstances, God will not just get me through it, but enable me to continue giving and loving others.
The Beautiful
After reading the events of the first two and half days in Nakuru, some of you are probably freaking out and saying, “I could never do that.” (And you’re right, you couldn’t … and neither can Jennifer or I. It is all God making this possible.) But our trip hasn’t been all serving in extremely difficult situations.
Today after the landfill we went to downtown Nakuru and did some souvenir shopping in an open-air market area. I usually hate haggling and so does Jennifer, but we had our secret weapon with us, Daniel, who knows what a fair price is and how to get it. I actually had fun with the negotiating, because the vendors had some really cool stuff and we all knew that if we didn’t like their price there were 3 or 4 other vendors on the same block with virtually the same stuff.
While we were there a bunch of the street boys saw us. Molly got some bread and fruit for them. Jen and I waited in the car, talked with them, gave them some candy, and took their pictures. They got a kick out of seeing themselves.
From there we went to a nice resort called Sunbird Lodge for lunch. The resort is on a bluff overlooking Lake Elementaita, which dotted with flamingo (though you can’t see them in the photo here). The food was good, the conversation was great, and the view was spectacular. After that we went up to the Menengai Crater, which is just a short drive north of Joe and Molly’s house. The crater is a huge inactive volcano, and the view from the top is amazing as well. I just love being outside in God’s creation. It’s one of the things that really fills my emotional and spiritual tanks.
My words can’t do justice to these beautiful places, so I’ll just close with a few pictures (not that they really do it justice either, but it’s the best I can do.
Daniel, Joe, Molly, and Paul on a rocky cliff overlooking Lake Elementaita
Paul and Jennifer at Menengai Crater
Day 4: Intense <– Kenya 2009 –> Day 6: Amazing Community
Paul and Jennifer,
I have really enjoyed reading about your travels and experiences with the natives of the land. I cannot imagine living in those circumstances. My brother and his wife had a brief missionary ministry in Laos back in the late 60’s before the Biaffrin war (SP?. They were forced to leave at that time.
May God continue to bless your trip and ministry. Your Mom has been sending me the updates.
Vicki Aden
Paul,
Thank you! Thank you! for sharing your stories with us daily. What an inspiration and a chance to pray very specifically for people on the other side of the world. Keep showing them love.
Deana