Amy's day

Today was another great day. I've had many questions asked about the RVA, so I will try to answer some of those. They have capacity for 500 students. They currently have about 325 students from all over Kenya that board there. They have another 100 or so that live in the surrounding area and commute to school. They have a little over 100 staff. The cost for African Inland Mission (AIM) sponsered missionary's is around $1000.oo/term. A term is 3 months. If the family is not part of AIM, the cost is double. I worked there again this afternoon for a couple hours and met a few more of the staff. Everyone is very nice there.

The early part of my day was amazing. I went down to the Bethany Children's hospital this morning. I met with the Chaplain, Mercy and she showed me around so that I can start to work there on my own. I don't know exactly how to sum up the emotions that I felt while I walked through the various wards. A mix of sadness, compassion, joy. There are too many stories to write in one blog, so I will tell you a few for now. I met 4 young children ages 13 and younger-Mary, Mercy, Anthony and Jedidah. They were all in the burn ward. Their church was burnt by a rival tribe while they were worshipping. Over 200 people were injured by the fire. These 4 children have been at Kijabe getting skin graft/surgery for the past 5 months. Mary told me that they will be there another 3 months. I will be taking pictures of these beautiful children and hope to add them to the blog once we have high speed. I talked with Mary the most (her English is very good) She is a beautiful strong young woman, who will have scars the rest of her life, not only physical scars, but emotional as well. She continues to smile and has a joy that can only come from the Lord. I will be going back every day and "teaching" the 4 since they are not in school. I'm sure I will have much more to tell you about these 4 amazing young people.

The second story I will share is when we went to the ward where the babies/children with hydrocephalus stay with their mothers. In Africa these children are considered a curse, so the mission is to share that we are all God's children and these kids are blessings. I met a young mother whose 3 year old had just passed away a few hours before. My heart still hurts for her. I don't remember her name, but God does, so if you could pray for her. She was sitting and mourning with other mothers and their special babies. While I was there a white women came up with an adorable little hydrocephalic African baby in a stroller. Marcus is two and was a twin. The mother took the "healthy" sister and left Marcus in the Hospital. Nora, or "Mama Marcus" became his foster mother and is now in the process of adopting him. He may have a deformity, but once he smiles---all you see is a beautiful mouth and pair of eyes! He is also very smart and understood much of what was being said and done around him. Mama Marcus had come to the hospital to share with the other mothers what their children will be capable of. She showed them how Marcus can sit and is starting to crawl. It was awesome to watch the hope in these mother eyes as they realized that their child is special!!

After my visit, I came "home" and loaded up a pillow case with the gifts that I had brought from the states. As I went through the wards, I felt like Santa Claus!! I gave recorders (flutes), harmonicas, bells, coloring books and crayons and many beaded bracelets that my daughters, Ashley and Casey and nieces, Jaqueline and Kelsey had made--they were a hit!! (Girls---remember the small ones that you made, The mothers wanted those for their babies! They were perfect!!)

I could go on and on about today, I will never forget it, I will try to give you a little more each day and appreciate your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Amy