Jesus Loves the Little Children

                Before
outreach week, on April 2, we had one of my favorite ministries to date! There is a school not far outside of Mbita
for mentally challenged/disabled children and youth. Paul had told me about that school when we
first arrived in Kenya and we FINALLY got to go! 

                Honestly,
I had been wondering why we hadn’t seen any mentally challenged children at all
around the community and after talking to Erin and some of the teachers, I got
a bit of harsh insight. This is a
survival culture; people with special needs don’t do well in cultures like this
simply because they can’t be provided for. Beyond that, most people still believe the painful superstition that a
“different” child is either a punishment for the parent’s past sins
or is cursed/possessed. Therefore, they are usually kept hidden away, the shame
of the family, or worse, are abused and beaten by the parents, siblings, or
other children in the community. For this reason, beyond many others, normal
schooling isn’t a possibility for these children. This cruel reality came as a shock to me; how
can it be that such a warped view and mindset still exist in this world? This
way of thinking is so harmful, but the only way of changing it is by taking a
stand and educating the community as a whole, which is what this school is
attempting to do. Knowing this made me all the more excited to go visit the
school.

                When we
arrived, the greeting was very different than what we are accustomed to. We are usually rushed by a group of children
shouting, “Mzungu, Mzungu, how are you?” Here the children were reserved, timid and
shy. Not a sound from the students who
stood at a fair distance as we climbed out of the Land Rover, simply staring. I walked up to a few and said hello. Still shy and hesitant of getting too
close. I dare say that this reaction is
a combination of two things. One, they
very well may never have seen a Mzungu (white person) before, which is not
super uncommon in some of the smaller villages. Two, it is most likely a by-product of their past experiences, being
treated poorly and shunned most of their lives. 

                I knelt
down to a beautiful young girl who, after a few minutes of asking, told me her
name was Sarah, and she took my hand and walked around the yard with me,
grinning. I glanced around and saw other
children inching closer or already greeting somebody. The first break through, praise God! We went with the kids (I say kids, but a few
of them were in their late teens) into a classroom and had and
introduction. We learned a bit about the
school, which is also a boarding school for most of the students. It is a government funded establishment, but
the funding isn’t nearly enough to provide what the children need as well as
food and houses for boarding. The
teachers are wonderful and loving, and while the children aren’t being taught
at the level they would in America, they are being cared for and given an
opportunity for a future that most children under their circumstances don’t receive
in many places around the world.

                After
the introduction, we got to spend time with the students. We taught them a few songs, their favorite of
which was “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” and they sang some songs
for us in Luo. Then we headed out to the
yard to have some free time and play. I
played with one little boy names Samson who had the brightest smile and a
beautiful laugh.   We swung on the
swings, played hand games, and walked around the yard, hand in hand. I loved every second of it. As I looked around at all the children, I saw
Christ in each of them. Their bright
smiles, the light in their eyes, the innocence in their interactions with us
and each other, the joy they exuded… I felt at peace there, I could feel the
love of God surrounding that place. I
pray that we will get to visit once or twice more, but with the April holiday,
it may or may not happen.

                At the
end of the visit Paul let all the kids and teachers pile into the Land Rover
(it took two trips) and he took them for a wild ride, possibly some of their
firsts. I was able to go with the second
group and hearing their shouts of joy, their ohs and ahs, their laughter as
Paul barely missed a few slow moving goats and donkeys, which was a joyful end
to a wonderful visit. 

                Please
lift this school, its students and teachers in prayer. Pray for further funding to help the
students, pray that they can make an impactful change within the community,
pray for change within Kenya, that people with special needs will no longer be
shunned or seen as inferior, but will receive the help and love that they deserve.

Me and Samson