From Geoffrey to you; took my breath away, He is my prince of peace and I will live for Him

He’s my prince of peace and I will live my life for him

Monday June 1, 2009

Took my breath away

Have you ever heard someone express their passion and dreams in such a fervent way that they clung onto and melted your heart? Like a small spark, the expression of the deepest desires of our heart can spread enthusiasm and ambition throughout the hearts of others like a wildfire. I love it when people transition from simply uttering words in a monotone fashion to speaking with such intensity that it seems like the words are spilling out of your mouth. Do you know what I am talking about? Have you ever been overtaken by the never-quitting ardent tenacity in which someone grips their dreams? I know I have rambled on, but I was completely overtaken with the words of someone earlier today and am still left with this joyful buzz.

When it is hot and I’m tired I do the “ugh walk.” The one where you are somewhat slumped over and are looking at the ground, you may be passing people but you are too exhausted or cooked to look at their faces or to notice who they are, you simply want to get from point A to point B. You are generally saying, “UGH” to yourself as you stumble around. Do you know what I am talking about? Well today was a sweltering hot day and the past few nights I haven’t gotten much sleep so I was definitely doing the “ugh” walk. As I strolled around in my zombie-state I was stopped by one of my friends. She is a young woman who volunteers at Tumaini, goes to my church and is also sponsored by Tumaini. Ever since our initial introduction she continually blows me away by her servant hood and passion for helping others.

We said the typical “hello” and “how are you,” and then she told me about something that she has been wanting to do. She had visited Janet, the blind girl, not too long ago and realized that she didn’t have a radio and she wanted to do something about it. Janet spends the majority of her time within the safety of her home, sometimes she has her young daughter guide her through the market or to the home of a friend, but she spends most of her time in her home. She loves music and loves to sing, but she doesn’t have a radio. She spends a lot of time in silence. This girl desperately wants to buy Janet a radio, she told me that she is planning on going to a bunch of people and collecting money to buy one (it costs about $2.50). We talked about it and decided to go fifty-fifty on it and we are going to buy it tomorrow. So cool! This girl really doesn’t have much money, she lives with her mother and brother and they definitely aren’t raking in the dough. She was so passionate about raising the money and wanting to help, the truth is that I could have coughed up enough to buy it and almost did but it would have robbed her of the joy from giving.

This was kind of a stepping-stone into the next part of our conversation. She plays a big role in the Tumaini Alumni Alliance (the group of older kids that were sponsored buy Tumaini and are now giving back to the community) and started telling me about the plans she has. With more passion than ten pages of my writing could even come close to articulating, she started telling me her dreams and her desires for the T.A.A. and for life. She is working on finding the poorest of the poor and wants to meet whatever needs she finds. She acknowledges that she is poor, but she started telling me that she ate today and there are so many people living in Masii that haven’t, she has so much more than quite a few people even though her family struggles. Something that she is on the edge of her seating waiting for is a job, not to get nice things but she desperately wants to sponsor a child through Tumaini. With whatever salary she gets, the amount of money it would take to sponsor a child through Tumaini would be a pretty big chunk, especially with the famine and drought scourging up prices for basic necessities. This girl is completely poor by our standards and the standards of Masii, but she is more than rich in compassion for others and benevolence. I wish you could have heard her words, I almost cried as she unfolded her desires and passions for life. If I weren’t already pumped up for loving on others this, without a doubt, jump-started it.

When I asked her why she wanted to help others she simply said, “because I was helped and now it is my turn to help.” Wow. Wow. Wow. Sometimes the words someone speaks take your breath away… this was one of those moments… I’m still gasping for air.

Asante Sana,

Mwendwa

Prayer Requests:
RAIN
Stacy’s wheelchair… I was told it will be here tomorrow… I am going to head over tomorrow night and hopefully snag some pictures
Mama Carro and her families living situation… lots of obstacles
The woman Beth who I wrote about last week
Tumaini Projects and funds for them

RANDOMS:
The wine in our church for communion taste like burning… horrible burning
I met this little girl named Angel. She is just about the cutest thing that you ever laid eyes on. She looks SOOO innocent… but it is a lie. It was totally like the incredible Hulk. She transformed into a little demon, I nearly did an exorcism lol. She is the posterchild for abstinence.
I dig Jadon Lavik’s music… it’s pretty rad
When I fed those two boys yesterday I made sure they got their food and told the staff to put it on my tab (yeah how cool is it that I get to say that now… RAD). Apparently someone overheard me and after I left they ended up telling the staff to put their meal on my tab too… so I ended up buying some guy food… I’m not really mad it cost me less than a dollar… I thought it was kind of funny though. I thought that only happened in moives. What I thought was even funnier was that the staff still made me pay for it even though I didn’t give them the okay ha ha
I met Mutuko’s wife… she is rad
I have little candies in my room and Mutuko and the other worker here stop by my room all the time and say “HEEEYYYY, how are you? (do the small talk and then get right to business) do you have any sweets?” The only reason I bought them was to give to them ha ha.
This drought is pretty intense still. A lot of people have cows but there isn’t any grass to feed them and it is difficult to get them water sometimes. Most of the cows I see are like walking skeletons. They used to cost between fifty dollars to buy a small one… now you can buy one for less than ten bucks… there are a TON of people trying to sell their cows for anything they can get them for because the cows are dying off… really sad

WORD OF THE DAY
Kuna joto
Coo-nuh joe-toe
IT IS HOT!!! Like today

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