From Debra: Karibu to all our friends, loved ones and church family! At this moment we are all sitting out in the courtyard of our Nairobi guest house, all still tired and super hyped and reluctant to go to bed on this last night in Kenya. Laughter, cross conversation, replaying story after story from the camp — joyful noise to be sure!
Sorry to have been missing in action for a few days — we ran out of internet minutes our last night in Nyamira and there was no way to buy more and then we went on our day of R&R at the Masaii Mara and there was certainly no signal there of any sort.
Some facts and thoughts on camp — we ended up seeing about 1350 public patients this week in addition to the 178 students of Hope Educ Centre. This year’s mission was once again beyond words — a wonderful team, our partners at Hope, and this time, a terrific team from the Kenyan Ministry of Health. Everyone meshed beautifully to deliver the best and most compassionate care we could to the people who walked so far and waited so long to see us. Many improvements were made based on last year’s experience in terms of layout, processes, materials, etc. But God started camp early by seating me next to an Ethiopian doctor on the flight over who shared so much insight on the Kenyan doctors with me. He explained all about how we are perceived and how they are trained and gave us so much to think about as we prepared to meet the local medical team. It really reshaped our thinking to greet them with respect and Christian love. He also worked on them by choosing 26 special people who cared about their people and who appreciated our service. We worked so well side by side, laughed together, cried together, ate together and prayed together at the opening and closing of camp each day.
A bit about heartbreak. Lots of heartbreak. Not enough shoes, broken tooth roots, an old woman who probably suffered for a year with a broken hip, and a 12 year old rape victim who did not know she was pregnant until she came to see us for stomach pains.
A bit about God’s goodness. Pastor John’s multiple ambulance runs to Nyamira. The xray we paid for to show that the little girl’s badly broken arm had in fact healed well with her rustic cast. The gratefulness of the old woman when John paid for her hospital admission to help relieve her pain. The sounds of the children when they would see their beloved “Ahm-ba” (Amber) and Liz. There probably won’t be a good ending for Sarah’s and my 12 year old, but she did get a negative HIV test and God gave us the strength to pray over her, cry with her and put her in the hands of some very caring Kenyan providers.
Rain, hail, and mud like you have never seen before did not dampen anyone’s spirit or stop work for a minute. God is so good.
We’re all replaying every minute and will for months to come. We learned so much and can’t wait to apply it. But tonight is our last night here and we are celebrating a little.
More later on amazing safaris, singing by the bonfire and sleeping in cozy tents under the stars. Tomorrow is a visit to our friends at Joysprings Educ Centre in the Kibera Slums, a little shopping and then to the airport for our 21 hour trip home.
We love you all and God bless.
