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.