in her shoes...

First of all I want to thank you who left comments that you were praying for this situation.  You all will NEVER know what that means to us.  

I arose early the other morning to spend some much needed time on the steps of my soul before meeting with the children and mother.  I asked our Lord to prepare me as much as possible as He had already ordained that meeting time with her.  I asked that the enemy not get any foothold on my attitude so that i ONLY had the love of Christ oozing from me.  Not bitterness.  As I learned more horrific acts of mothers killing their baby girls in India last year, I came to realize that poverty does terrible, terrible things to people.  Something you and I can NEVER relate to and NEVER truly understand.   

I want to attempt to paint a picture of this mother and her life to you.  Though I may not be totally accurate on all the details- hopefully I can paint you a picture to help you grasp the depravity of her story and what she may have gone through.  Let us not judge her sheerly from the looks of her children.  

Imagine you are the mother of 3 with number 4 on the way.  Your country is being ripped apart from the inside out.  1.7 million people are being forced from their homes; you are among them.  Your children are hungry.  What do you do?  You've heard great things about Kenya.  It's stable, right?  Especially it's capital.  Maybe if your husband put a nice suit on- he could get a job there.  So you take your "savings", buy a bus ride for your family as far as it will take you.  Then you walk 8 months pregnant the rest of the way.  In his suit, your husband sets off to find a job- never to return.  You've never had schooling of any sort.  You don't even know how to spell your name, much less write it.  Who will hire you?  An uneducated pregnant Ugandan woman?  

You end up moving into the center of Kibera slums.  The cheapest rent.  A small stick structure with mud walls and a rusty tin roof.  Praise the Lord it's shelter during this rainy season!  Your children are still hungry but labor pains soon set in.  After a long hard labor with the smell of human waste in the air, you give birth to a healthy baby boy.  Now, time to get a job.  After searching long and hard you find a job washing clothes from 7am to 7pm.  You travel about 7 miles by foot daily with your newborn in tow.  Guess how much you make to pay rent, food, school fees and clothes?  $46. 15 per month.  That's 30¢/per person/per day.  You decide to attempt to break poverty chain in your family's history- so you attempt to send your eldest to school.  A little late... but at least he's in school.

Does this give you a better picture of what life might be like for this mother?  Oh Lord- forgive me for being so quick to judge!

Things are looking up for these children.  We got to meet that 4th child which we had no clue about- Charles.  He is the oldest and just as cute as the others.  Normally he is in school, but August is "holiday" for all the schools.  They are such beautiful children.  Charles is very smart.  We learned their true ages: Paul is 3; Brian 5; Sylvia 8; Charles 9.  Instead of going to the "school" where I met them, they will now be attending a registered form 1 school at Berith.  So now they will ALL be getting an education, 3 hot meals, and love from a precious family we partner with.  Tomorrow I will drop Chris off to do evangelism and I will pick the kids up to take them to the hospital.  A dear friend recently gave a generous donation to pay for their food and medical care.  (Her meekness and humility do not permit me to tell you her name.)  I can't tell you how excited I am about getting them well!  Soon their bellies will be rid of worms and the nutrients from consistent meals will have them growing in no time!  I feel God's excitement as well.  

Isn't God amazing?  We all need to be careful at making up our minds on situations we barely are aware of.  The next few days and weeks are going to be quite exciting as we have already had a preview.  You will be updated, don't worry.