I Love Lucy

I have visited Lucy everyday since we brought her to Sister Freda's and her feet are beginning to look better and better. She is a strong and courageous little girl who has the best giggle ever. We brought her a teddy bear who she quickly named Dolly, a new pink blanket, and crayons and a coloring book to keep her occupied. God is constantly breaking my heart more and more for this little girl. It kills me that I have to leave in three days and I cant have more time with her. Be praying that I will be doing the best I can with her in the time I have left in Kitale.

The Face of Poverty

After being in Kitale for over two months now I began to feel like everything I saw was becoming numb to me. I am not saying that the people and the poverty stopped breaking my heart but it got to a point where I thought that nothing I saw would surprise me anymore. Just as I gained this mindset of thinking the Lord slapped me in the face and changed my thoughts right away. What I saw today far surpassed just being surprised. It came as a shock. I was speechless and soon enough I realized that tears were rolling down my face and I could not stop them. The Lord broke my heart.

I met three children today who were one, two and seven. There was Peter, Erica and Lucy. Lucy is the oldest of the three and was being the mother to the other two children. The two younger kids were so frightened of me they wouldn't even shake my hand.


Soon enough I saw that Lucy and Erica (the two year old) both had jigger infestations in their feet and Lucy even had them in her hands. Jiggers are caused from sleeping in the dirt. They are small fleas that burro under your nails and in your feet and they lay their eggs there. They are constantly reproducing and bringing about open wounds. Lucy had them way worse than Erica and they were causing Lucy to walk on just the heels of her feet. Every step she takes she takes with precision and caution. This is a picture of the bottom of Lucys feet completely infested with jiggers.


There was no way that I could see this kind of poverty induced pain in a young girl and not do anything about it. I was convicted and faced with a decision to make and the decision seemed so clear to me but many obstacles stood in the way. I needed to know if she wanted to go through the pain of getting them out of her feet in order to get better. Lucy was positive she wanted to get better but little Erica did not want to go through such pain. The way they take out the jiggers is by going into their feet and toenails with razor-blades and scraping them out. No wonder a two year old wouldn't want to go through such intense pain. But Lucy made it so clear that she wanted to do what it takes to be able to walk like normal again. This is a picture of sweet Lucy with a smiling face and samll Erica passed out on my lap.



So we took Lucy to the hospital and now she is in the care of wonderful Sister Freda. This is not going a pleasant couple of days for her but I believe she is brave and willing enough to endure. There is no happy ending to this story just yet but I hope and pray that soon enough Lucy will be able to stand without cringing. Keep this beautiful young girl in your persistent prayers.



Thank you for caring.
Torie Fields

More, You Want More?!

Pastor Steve is having us all post blogs more frequently on a blog all together. So all of us created our own blogs last night. And we are going to do more tonight. So if you are at all interested in checking out that blog it is http://kitaleleadershipinstitute.blogspot.com/

Here is one picture from the week! Our favorite driver, Victor, offered to give us a tour of all of Kitale. I'll post more about our adventures on that later.

This is Victor, Del and I visiting a swamp... so cool!

People Let Me Tell You Bout My Best Friend

I am so thankful to be able to get to serve alongside of my best friend. This three month journey has been exponentially better because I get to share it with someone I love so much. We are both missing friends and family at home but I am so glad we are sharing this experience together.

Just A Handful

As my time in Kenya comes to an end in three weeks I cant help but think of the people that I am going to have to say goodbye to. I was not expecting it to be all that hard but now it is something that I am completely dreading. The people here have become apart of my daily life for the past two months and I cant imagine being so far away from them. When I return home I will be with people I love and that I have truly missed but pieces of my heart will be here in Kenya. I am so thankful for the relationships that have come of this trip and that each person has made an impact on my heart in a different way than the other. Here are some faces of people that I am excited to spend three more weeks with but going to miss dearly.


This is Attau. He lives on the streets and daily attends the school for street kids here called Oasis of Hope. He is one of the oldest boys there and is also around 6'4 and pretty intimidating at first. But he is just a kind and gentle boy who is trying to make the best of what he has.


These boys live together in the house of 43 kids that I posted about earlier. They are two of my favorite boys in the entirety of Kenya, Elias and Lamic.


Solomon and Augo are boys that attend a school called Purpose Driven Academy. Solomon is a refugee from Sudan and when he is not boarding at school he is living in a refugee camp. He is a sophmore in high school and he has such a drive to succeed. He is different than a lot of kids I have met here in a way that I cant quite explain. The other boy is Augustine who has stolen a HUGE piece of my heart. Two of the sweetest boys ever.


Of course Andrew. I have known him for a few years and he stole my heart long ago.


Oh gosh I am going to be such a wreck.

While You Were Sleeping

I am so thankful for the girls that I am living with on the compound here. We have all bonded so well and have been able to share our experiences together. God clearly knew what He was doing when He planned for all of us girls to be here together for the summer. We have grown to love each other despite all of our differences and all the struggles of being together ALL the time. Two of the girls are leaving in a couple of days and that is going to be such a sad moment for me and everyone else here.


Every Saturday I get to take around 5 kids swimming and it is one of the highlights of my week! Majority of the kids have never been swimming before in their lives and they are so scared. Its great. The pool is always freezing and the kids are still so happy to be in it. We get them coke afterwards and they love it. This is Ian, we were freezing so we laid on the floor to get warm.


Where do I even begin with this boy. His name is Lamic and he lives in a 'home' with 43 other kids. I visit this house every Saturday and take 5 kids swimming each week. This week I got to take Lamic with me, he is one of the most gentle and kindhearted kids I have met here. I had a great talk with him about God and it was so encouraging and reaffirming to me of why I am here. Relationships. Not teaching and not working in a hospital but sitting down and talking with kids about the Lord. Its a hard thing to do here but when I was talking with Lamic he made it easy. He was such a blessing to me and I cant wait to get to talk with him even more. Love me some Lamic.


This is Augustine. This week I have fallen so in love with this little boy. He comes from a different circumstance than most kids here in Kenya. He was born in the womens ward of the Kitale Prison. His mom is currently still there but he has been fortunate enough to get placed in a great school in town. Despite the fact that we speak completely different languages and he has grown up in a world so opposite of mine, we share one thing in common, we love each other. Everyday when I walk through the gates of his school he comes running up to me with his arms spread so wide ready for me to pick him up and spin him around.


On our way to church on Sunday Delia's boda boda driver hit a cow and her foot got caught in the wheel of the bike. It took off a whole layer of her skin, I get so grossed out just typing this. As her best friend I had to be their to aid her, but I did not do such a good job. I felt like I was in more pain than her because it was so sickening to look at. Thank God there is someone living here who is gifted in medical crap because I can hardly take it. Delia is recovering and her foot is looking a lot better, so I hear.


About two weeks ago I found out that we are not able to go into the prison anymore. At first it was a total bummer but I have realized that even though I cant go and do ministry there I can still be in prayer for the work that God is going to be doing in the lives of those women. Keep them in your prayers.
This week I have started meeting up with a woman named Leila. She is a 23 year old Muslim who is searching God. She has been asking very challenging questions and is clearly searching for something to live for. I am meeting up with her around three times a week keep her and I in your prayers. Pray that God would be able to speak through me and show her the truth. I am simply an instrument for what He has in store for his life.

Thank you for reading this and caring about my journey and Kenya.

Reunited

Around four years ago was my first trip to Kitale, Kenya and the one kid that stole my heart was a 10 year old boy named Andrew. He is the boy pictured above and I have loved being able to spend more time with this summer. His story is one like none other. His mother lives in a ditch in the middle of town where trucks stop throughout the night and take advantage of her. She is known as 'crazy mama' here in Kitale but to us Americans we call her 'ditch lady'. She has had a countless number of kids and Andrew only knows of one sister he has, Jambi. She used to be living in one of the slums and sleeping from hut to hut with whatever man would give her money, food, or just a place to stay. Yet, Andrew still loved her so much and it brought him so much joy when he got to see her. Four years later they are both doing well but it had been a year since they had seen each other.
This Friday I picked up Andrew from school and took him to go visit Jambi. He was so giddy and excited the whole car ride over there but then when it was time to get out of the car, he froze. It was darling. They were so excited to see each other but slightly uncomfortable in the beginning. I loved getting to see them together and see the love that they still have for each other.

I will blog again soon and keep you posted more often. Can't wait to share more pictures with you.

Wonderful Week

Joseph is one of my favorite children here in Kenya. I love spending time with him and seeing him smile. He is an amazing and smart boy who loves God. He lives in a house with a couple other boys and he has told me that he knows that God has chosen him to be apart of that house.


Meet Hannah, Janet and Juliet. They are all around the age of 20 and they are from Rwanda. They have lived on the compound with us ever since I arrived here. Their stories touched my heart and I loved getting to know them for the time being. They were all Islamic until one year ago when they met Pastor Steve. He changed their lives forever. They dove into reading the Bible and comparing it to the Qu'ran. Hannah made the decision to follow Christ and set aside her old ways. The two other girls saw the change in Hannah's life and decided to do the same. They hardly speak English but every night we would sit down with them and teach them how to read and write in English. Just the other day Hannah found out that her sister in Rwanda is very sick. The decision was not hard for Hannah to make, she needed to go home and be with her sister for her time being. So the three Rwandan girls packed their bags and left the compound. So many tears were shed that day, me included. They are great girls with wonderful hearts for the Lord and people. It was so hard saying goodbye to them because no one knows when we will see them again.


Sister Freda has us all over to her house the other night for dinner and it was such a blast! When Del had malaria on our last trip here about two years ago this is the room that we stayed in together.


On Friday night we went over to some boys house and hung out and had dinner with them. They blasted Celine Dion and Michael Jackson (R.I.P) and we just danced the night away. It was such a fun night filled with laughs.


As our 4th of July party we had a ton of kids over for games, movies and dinner! It was such a long and tiring day but everyone gained up their energy knowing that the kids would remember this for years to come. We had a huge girls sleep-over that included painting nails! They could not have been more happy. As we were painting nails I asked some of the girls to tell their stories, little did I know what I had just opened up. The girls were so transparent and open about the hurts that they have gone through. What amazed me the most was that they have all experienced the power of God and they are not ashamed of where they have been because of what God is currently doing in their lives. We closed the night of conversations and nail painting in prayer and it became a night I will never forget.


I am teaching my first class tomorrow, 6th grade English and freshman English! Then Wednesday is my first day being with the prisoners and I am counting down the days until then. I'll keep you posted on all that goes on! Thank you for all of your prayers. Love you all.

Recently

This past Saturday we took six boys swimming and it has been one of favorite days here so far. The boys were so nervous because none of them knew how to swim, but one boy thought he knew how to swim so he went ahead and jumped off the diving board into the deep end. We then saw his arms flapping and his head not coming out of the water, so Chris dove in and got him out. We were all laughing so hard at the fact that he thought he knew how to swim, so he just went for it. The day consisted of fun times in the pool, freezing water, and great conversations with these teenage boys.


I have been spending about one to two days a week at a Sister Fredas Cottage Hospital. Sister Freda is a remarkable woman with the kindest heart I have ever known. She runs a hospital but also takes in children that have lost their parents or their parents are to weak to take care of them. She has children living at her home and also on her hospital compound. There are three children living at the hospital now and I have loved spending time and playing with them. These children have become siblings to each other share a love for one another like no other kids I have seen before.

This is Morgan. He is four years old and loves cows.


This is Elia. I am quite confident in saying that he is the cutest kid ever. He has such a wonderful personality and loves to laugh.


Tomorrow is my first day visiting the prison and I have been looking forward to it all week. Continue to keep me in your prayers and thank you so much for taking an interest in my journey.

Speechless*

This week has been a great week in investing in ministry sites and establishing more relationships. Although it was a great week, I hit a low. I am 100% confident in the fact that I am exactly where God wants me to be but Wednesday was a rough day. After being here for a month I began to miss the comforts and acceptance that home offers. I also felt as if nothing I do here really matters, but I know that is exactly what satan wants me to feel. The second I woke up on Thursday everything had changed and I am so thankful for that. I love being here and I love that God loves me being here too.
So here are some pictures from my week:

Darling Faith! I had not seen her since I last blogged about her but I got to see her on Thursday. She was quite happy to see me and I was thrilled to see her! She is such a shy little love but I finally got her to giggle and dance a bit with me. I love her dearly.



Del and I mastered a new trick.



This smiley boy is Kevin. He lives on the streets and sleeps outside of a grocery store in town. Oasis of Hope is a school for street children who have the desire to gain an education and they come on their own free will. Kevin is there daily with a huge smile on his face and gets so excited to see me whenever I show up. I have loved creating a friendship with him and showing him that he is loved.


These kids are from a school called Discover to Recover and I go and share a Bible story with them every Wednesday. There are four grades jammed into one classroom when I go to talk about the Bible with them. They get pretty crazy but they are just so happy to get attention and be loved on.



I heard the news of Michael Jackson's death this morning and I was shocked! When I went into town today every shop I walked in had his music playing and a tear welled in my eye. What great music he brought to this world.

Time Change

This is a shot from when Del, Sammy and I got stuck in Nairobi for 2 days. One of our drivers took us to this animal park and we were able to pet a cheetah! It kept making eye contact with me and then... it bit me on the leg. It was awesome. It didn't hurt much but it scared the crap out of me and now I can forever say that I have been bit by a cheetah. Worth it? Yes.


This is Del and I today on a motorcycle with our favorite driver Victor. Besides walking and taking Boda Bodas we hop onto a motorcycle without a helmet and feel so cool.


Some of Delia and I's favorite boys. Steward, Evans and Joseph (my personal favorite). We met all of them about three years ago and they were all way shorter than us and since Del and I have not grown an inch, they are so much bigger than us now! Being with them makes me so happy, they are such amazing boys.


I want everyone to see that despite being together all day everyday, we still love each other. We have had some wonderful laughs that have lead to tears and we have also shared in conversations that lead to tears. This is an amazing experience to get to share with my best friend and I know how incredibly blessed I am.


At some point next week I am going to be going into the women's prison once a week and sharing with them Bible stories and just being there to hang out with them. I am so excited about what God is going to do through this, I cant wait to get to know and spend time with these ladies. Please be praying for me as I take on this experience but most importantly be praying for the work that God has already started there and for the work that He will continue to do once I have planted the seed in their lives. Thanks for caring.

Pictures!

Here are some pictures to show you what Del and I have been up to! Tomorrow makes it a whole three weeks of us being here. It has been such a great experience and I cant wait to be able to update you more often now that we get internet! The people I live with all created a blog where everyone blogs together, so if you want to check that out its http://kitaleleadershipinstitute.blogspot.com/

This is Faith who I blogged about earlier, she is darling.

Such a fun little boy named Benja!

This is Patricia, a young girl who lives in a house full of 43 kids!

One of the two ways we get from place to place in Kitale.

Del and I holding some kittens!

Delia 'teaching' her class.


A bunch of school children and I.


These are kids we get to go and visit every Wednesday and Sunday!



Love you all.

Mrs. Teacher

Today was my best friend Delia's first day to teach in a high school here in Kitale. I joined her in the classroom and it was so fun to see the kids welcome her and accept her as their new teacher for 2 months. Delia let me read roll (which I have always wanted to do) for her class and my bit turned into me butchering everyone of their names... without apologizing. I insisted that the way I said their name was the correct way, they were laughing so hard! It was very fun to watch Delia teach a class knowing how passionate she is about helping these children learn.

As of now I am living at a compound (a very safe compound grandma) with 7 girls and 2 boys and that has created a lot of awesome moments and great topics of conversation. Pastor Steve Rutenbar has joined us on the compound and being with him has also created a ton of laughs. It has been such a blessing to spend my day serving with all these people and then being able to come back to the house and enjoy each others company. We have all created a gymnastics goal for the summer, besides Steve, and just yesterday I accomplished mine! I did a one handed kartwheel and the best part is that Delia can't do it.

A great memory from this week was my visit to Sister Freda's hospital. I was walking through the hospital and I saw a woman sitting in her bed all alone so I decided to go and join her for a bit. I sat at the end of her bed and held her hands, she began to talk to me in Swahili and I just smiled and nodded along as if I knew what she was saying. She sang songs to me and then asked me to sing to her so I started singing 'Jesus Loves Me' and she caught on and began to sing it in Swahili. It was such and awesome moment that I got to share with this old malaria stricken woman.

Now I am on my way to go into Kipsango, which is the main slum of Kitale, and help Sister Freda with a medical clinic there. There is going to be some gnarly medical stuff that will probably gross the crap out of me. So pray for strength for me today as I go into dong something so ou tof my comfort zone.
We were told we would get internet in the house soon! Double crossies.
Love you all.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

I'm safe! I know my blogging abilities might have made you think otherwise, but I am here in Kenya after a long journey. On our way to Kitale we ended up getting stuck in Nairobi for two days. It was painful and we just wanted to get to Kitale, but doing missions is all about being flexible. I have had a busy week full meeting new people and getting to see some of the people that I love here.
The boy pictured above is Andrew Kakali and his story made a huge imact on my life when I was a junior in high school. I have been able to see him on my other trips to Kitale, but this time he had no idea that I was comming. I showed up at the place that he stays and surprised him, it has been one of my favorite moments so far. He could not stop smiling, hugging me, and telling me how much he has missed me. He also noticed that my hair has grown 'much much longer' he would say. I am so excited to be here for an extended amount of time so I can make other long lasting relationships like the one that I have made with him.
Yesterday I met a girl named Faith and she could not have been over the age of 10. She was very shy but all the wanted to do was sit in my lap and hold my hand. Then she came inside to the church service with me and kept glancing up to me and smiling. Soon she began to fall asleep as the church service got longer and longer. Tears streamed down my face as I thought about this young girl. I don't know her past or what she will amount to in the future but in that moment I was there to love on her the best way that I know how. I began to think that she might not ever fall asleep in someones lap again, or has she ever before this moment? God is working in my heart already and I know that he will continue to.
I hope to post some pictures soon, and I am so excited to share with you more stories as they come.
Love you all.

Blog World!

Those of you who are taking the time to check out my blog probably know that I am going to be traveling to Kitale, Kenya for the duration of my summer. I cannot thank you enough for your time and prayers that are going behind my trip. I created this blog in order to share with you my experiences while I spend time in Kenya. I hope my stories will bring a smile to your face or tear to your eye. Thanks for caring about my journey.