Every day is a million moments long. The IDP group has honed their skills, they made 2 chairs the first day, 13 chairs the second day, and 24 chairs today! They have a system going and have loved this experience. Today they got to break the girls and boys up and have the "menstruation/ sex talks". This piece of our trip has been amazing for our kids to reflect on the sanctity of life, pro creation, their roles, and the outcomes of the decisions they have made regarding this area of agency. The kids at the refugee camp are in such great need physically, emotionally, spiritually, that it has changed life perspectives for our group. Nicole gave the devotional and shared a quote about how life is nothing without labor, and labor is nothing without love, then Bowen read a segment from his cousins email about some very difficult specific service he had given in Argentina.
Our school group was under pressure to finish the classroom painting today and the outside of the kinder area, because we will be working on the artwork for the walls tomorrow. During recess we had a "great race" with prizes for the winners. This seemed like a great idea when there were 6 kids asking to race, but the race took off with 100 kids pushing past each other, then assaulting me at the finish line, each screaming that they had won and trying to rip the Angels Baseball caps out of my hands.........lesson learned. We were able to use some donation money to provide a "fruit day" at the school. We spent an hour cutting up pineapples, watermelon, oranges and bananas, then went to every classroom offering fruit to the kids. It was a big hit!! There was also a crazy, rap dance party that took place in the 8th grade classroom with our group. When it came time to say goodbye, there were tears and I literally had to tear our group out of the clutches of these clamoring children to board our "matatu" (taxi bus). Some of the African students had written love notes to our girls, our boys looked like rock stars with THRONGS of children trying to hold onto them as they tried to make their way to the taxi.
Well, I thought our amazing day was over, but after dinner, I met a 19 year old girl named Therese who was staying at the house with us. We asked her to tell us her story, so with our kids half asleep on the couches, she began with a day in 2008, just after the elections in Kenya where one tribe felt the election had been rigged by another group, her family was having dinner and she was working on her homework, her father was a pastor, it was a beautiful Sunday. Suddenly they heard screaming and saw 30 angry men driving down the hill into their village waving machetes. Her mother screamed for everyone to run, she and her best friend Hilda hid in a bush. They watched the men come through and burn every house down, killing anyone they found. After an hour, her friend had to go to the bathroom and stood up. She was grabbed by the men and raped by three of them while Therese hid in the bush and watched. Finally she tiptoed out to discover that her friend had bled to death and "passed". She made her way to the river only to find the bridge with a dead pregnant woman and a family massacred. She did not know how to swim, but had no choice but to cross the river and with Gods help made it across with a belly full of water, then had to run for 3 weeks with no food. A violent legacy of tribalism that exists here that we cannot begin to understand. Eventually she made it to a red cross camp. She lived their totally alone for 2 years, doing nothing but wander the camp, no schooling, no family, in the same clothes she had escaped in 2 years prior. I will let your kids tell you the rest of the story, but we were a tearful group, filled with awe for the safety, love, and agency we all enjoy. At the conclusion of her story, she shared that Izzo, one of the Agape founders, had heard her sing and brought her to the Agape house and helped her. We asked her to sing to us and our whole group joined her in "lean on me". Sunday night we will hear from another previous refugee staying here. Priceless moments. Feeling so much gratitude and love for your amazing kids!
Mindy
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