When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Heaven will not forsake them.
Isaiah 41:17
and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Heaven will not forsake them.
Isaiah 41:17
Yesterday we walked to Kijabe Town. It’s an hour walk from the 
mission compound, on a trail through beautiful shaded forest, mostly downhill to a plateau overlooking the Rift Valley. We saw a couple of monkeys and beautiful blue tropical birds along the way. Kijabe Town isn’t much of a destination – a few old dukas (shops) and a soccer field, with a couple of churches and scattered mud-and-stick homes and shambas (small farms). But it’s a pleasant walk, and we enjoyed the views and we met a few people along the way, including a few children.
We met a young man named Robert, whose grandmother
Kathy had visited a few days before, helping to distribute food to needy widows and orphans. Robert had been there, and remembered Kathy. He is 16, finishing grade 8 at a boarding school about 2 hours away. He will soon take a national examination, and his scores will determine which high school he can attend. He appears bright and ambitious, and we feel that he will do well. We enjoyed talking with Robert.
Kijabe Town is a very dry place, dusty and brown. There’s a drought in Kenya, with very little rain for 2 or 3 years now, and the ground is parched in most places. Meteorologists say it’s due to the lack of an el nino phenomenon in the mid-Pacific, affecting not only the weather on the west coast of America, but shifting weather flows across the Atlantic and across Africa, so that the rainclouds bypass Kenya. As a result, streambeds are dry, hydroelectric plants are underproducing, herdsmen have had to move their herds to find water, and 130,000 cattle have died. The national power grid shuts down in our area three days a week, forcing the hospital to shift to its own generator.
And people are hungry. Maize meal is the staple for most rural Kenyans, and the harvest this year will be only 2/3 of the normal harvest. Imagine one-third of a nation’s food supply d
isappearing! The maize in the fields we walked by yesterday is stunted, dry, and browning. Kathy helped this week as our local church handed out bags of maize meal and beans to needy Kenyans, as they do every other week. It isn’t much, and the supply runs out too quickly, but it helps a little for a few families.
Even elephants get involved! Earlier in the week, Kathy and I visited a rural clinic at Siyiapei, a tiny community in Maasai land west of here. There were few patients, in part because elephants who can’t find water and vegetation in their normal areas are beginning to encroach on farmlands, and people need to stay near home to keep watch.
So we pray for rain, and for God’s hand to intervene on behalf of the millions here who are hungry and needy.
- Doug
mission compound, on a trail through beautiful shaded forest, mostly downhill to a plateau overlooking the Rift Valley. We saw a couple of monkeys and beautiful blue tropical birds along the way. Kijabe Town isn’t much of a destination – a few old dukas (shops) and a soccer field, with a couple of churches and scattered mud-and-stick homes and shambas (small farms). But it’s a pleasant walk, and we enjoyed the views and we met a few people along the way, including a few children.We met a young man named Robert, whose grandmother
Kathy had visited a few days before, helping to distribute food to needy widows and orphans. Robert had been there, and remembered Kathy. He is 16, finishing grade 8 at a boarding school about 2 hours away. He will soon take a national examination, and his scores will determine which high school he can attend. He appears bright and ambitious, and we feel that he will do well. We enjoyed talking with Robert.Kijabe Town is a very dry place, dusty and brown. There’s a drought in Kenya, with very little rain for 2 or 3 years now, and the ground is parched in most places. Meteorologists say it’s due to the lack of an el nino phenomenon in the mid-Pacific, affecting not only the weather on the west coast of America, but shifting weather flows across the Atlantic and across Africa, so that the rainclouds bypass Kenya. As a result, streambeds are dry, hydroelectric plants are underproducing, herdsmen have had to move their herds to find water, and 130,000 cattle have died. The national power grid shuts down in our area three days a week, forcing the hospital to shift to its own generator.
And people are hungry. Maize meal is the staple for most rural Kenyans, and the harvest this year will be only 2/3 of the normal harvest. Imagine one-third of a nation’s food supply d
isappearing! The maize in the fields we walked by yesterday is stunted, dry, and browning. Kathy helped this week as our local church handed out bags of maize meal and beans to needy Kenyans, as they do every other week. It isn’t much, and the supply runs out too quickly, but it helps a little for a few families.Even elephants get involved! Earlier in the week, Kathy and I visited a rural clinic at Siyiapei, a tiny community in Maasai land west of here. There were few patients, in part because elephants who can’t find water and vegetation in their normal areas are beginning to encroach on farmlands, and people need to stay near home to keep watch.
So we pray for rain, and for God’s hand to intervene on behalf of the millions here who are hungry and needy.
- Doug
It is so great to be reading your stories and "feeling" a bit of your experiences. I can relate a bit. Looking forward to more.
ReplyDeleteBarb
I love the pictures and the description of what you are doing! They bring back memories of our times at Kibogora as you introduced me to medical missions! I will join you in praying for rain - that the rains will come and that God will receive the glory!
ReplyDelete