Remember Kenya

       There is really no easy way to start this. I could choose the easy way out and start with an inspiring story, tell how it affected me, and then end with “Kenya was wonderful.” I could even just drone on about countless tales of humor and fun, which were quite abundant on this trip.
       I choose, instead, to tell just what I learned from it, or, at least, the number one thing I learned. It is the same thing I shared Wednesday night: Kenya is in pain. The drought is slowly taking its toll on them. Some are forced to dig for water. Others spend precious shillings on it to survive. How is it that they can still thank God for all of the almost nothing that they have?
       This country is far too fortunate. FAR TOO fortunate. We really should not have what we have. Do we deserve it? No. Do we conserve it? No. We are the perfect opposite of how we should really be. We have a lot, waste even more, and thank our Creator little to none. Personally, I don’t know why God would do that for us. America, you are BLESSED, but you are far too ignorant, dumb, stupid (I’m just throwin out adjectives) to realize it!
       Another problem is, of course, the food. We’ve all heard how the children over in those slums get only a small portion to eat each day. Some get less than that. The last words I heard out of the mouth of a Kenyan child while I was over there were “I’m hungry”. That short sentence just might haunt me for a long time if not the rest of my life, but that is what’s happening in Africa: children are dying because they didn’t get enough to eat while we throw away a nearly full meal because “I don’t really like mustard all that much” or “I wasn’t all that hungry” or, my personal favorite, “They messed up my order… I ordered the spicy, not the mild.” How we can do that when those adorable little children are starving is beyond me. Note: these are the same adorable children that everyone “Awwww!”’s about in the Station when they show the pictures. THOSE little children don’t get to eat much. THOSE little children don’t get the food they so desperately need. But you know what? THOSE little children love the God that created them, and they are not afraid to show it. Shouldn’t we who have much more praise more? I’ll leave you to ponder that.
       What I wouldn’t give to have been able to do so much more for those children. I wish I could’ve given every one of them a plane ticket to America. We cannot do that for them though. However, there is one thing we can do to heal a starving nation. There is one thing we can do to save a child’s life. This method never fails though it sometimes works differently than we expect. This little thing is called prayer. Prayer is never taken seriously here. We pray at nights, sometimes before meals, and that’s it. When we get a headache, we go straight for the aspirin. When our leg breaks, we limp straight to the doctor. But who on this Earth can fix us up better than our CREATOR can? Only the Creator can fix our troubles. Only the God of the Universe knows exactly how to mend brokenness. Only our Father can heal a broken Kenya, and that’s exactly what He’ll do. Prayer is what He gave us to lift the brokenness up to Him. Prayer is a powerful tool, and it is exactly what Kenya needs, and it is exactly what we can give them. Don’t stop praying for them. Every time you see red, white, and green, remember Kenya; every time you here a foreign language that even sounds like Kiswahili, remember Kenya; every time you get to eat a meal, no matter the size, remember Kenya; and every time you wake up in a nice, warm bed, with a shelter over your head, knowing that that day will be a normal, care-free day, REMEMBER KENYA.
       God has shown me just where He wants me, and that’s in missions. He has way more to show me, but I will never forget this trip. This trip showed me that I am far more blessed than I thought I was. Before this trip, everyone told me I would come to this realization, even those who still haven’t realized it themselves. If asked to go back to Africa, I would hop a plane that second (well, I would WANT to). This is an experience that will never be forgotten. I will always REMEMBER KENYA.

-Zach Danforth