A Goodbye to the Gathered Orphans

I got some Kenyan tea Saturday morning. As I received the tea on behalf of our team, I gazed at the group of around 100 orphans. I expected Africa to be more like one of those commercials that we see every year around Christmas time where the face is unfamiliar except for the unmistakable look of suffering. This moment did not feel like that at all. I knew some of them and that made all the difference.

I know Janice – the seamstress whose shop is in the same marketplace as Naftali the barber. We visited her shop twice. The first time, we went to talk to her and Naftali as they showed off their businesses. The second time, we went to have Jim Albright’s hair cut. He went from shoulder length hair to a number four buzz cut in a matter of thirty minutes. The nearby school was getting out as we drove to the barbershop and so we had forty kids in a tight knot sitting in front of Janice’s shop. I remember Janice and the auntie of the group laughing as we tried to entertain the kids through song and dance.

I know Moses, who I have talked about in previous blogs.

I know Abraham whose picture is highlighted on the front of our webpage – www.zoeministry.org. When he saw his picture online, he said “Oh, my nursery is so much bigger than that now.”

I know Eunice, another seamstress who cries when remembering the horrific trauma in her life and yet is able to smile when she talks about Giving Hope.

I know Purity the farmer, who has built her older and mentally handicapped brother a house because he comes of age this December and will no longer be able to live in the same house as her.

I know these kids and that changes the whole dynamic. They aren’t strangers, but friends – fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. They were a group of orphans, but these people had names and a story. And they all promised to work hard so that when I come back in January, I can see the progress that they have made.

It was such an honor to see friends instead of hopeless orphans. After a day at the game park and a 30 hour trip home, I am excited about bath and a bed. But I am also excited about going back. Leaving is better when you have promised to return. When I go back, I will return to friends.