Busy, busy, busy

Wow, a lot has happened since last week! Our team (or members thereof) conducted a workshop at a church, visited an animal orphanage and giraffe preserve, went on safari, attended an international conference, and walked through mud to make evangelistic visits in the slums nearby. The photo is Cat with a little girl in a Christian day care center in the slums. Some of the kids were abandoned and living on the street when the center started caring for them. They get two meals a day, education, games, and love in a one-room facility (there are separate buildings for kitchen, storage, etc.)

Here is an example of a visit that Cat and I made in the slums with our fellow Christian and interpreter Peninah. We simply opened the gate to the yard and walked up to the closest house. A grandmother was washing some clothes, but she immediately stopped and invited us in. We sat on a wee bench and a stool. This woman loved Jesus and would start singing about how faithful God has been to her. We talked about children and about physical ailments (her eyes are burning and she has not been able to go to a doctor). We prayed together. She insisted on giving us a gift, so we took the two sweet potatoes she offered. When I said I would like to take her picture, she disappeared for a minute and came back wearing her black and white hat. Here is Cat, Mama Jane, and Peninah. Peninah told us that we were doing good with our visits because we were showing concern for people without being condescending. We listened to their stories and told them ours. When we could give them something we would (Cat gave her Bible to at 19-year-old named Lillian, I gave a packet of Kleenex to Mama Jane). The people have been warm and welcoming and mystified by white people. (Peninah could not believe that in the US, if you knocked of the door of a stranger, they would likely send you away without even asking your name, much less inviting you in.) It is humbling to get to know another culture.