From Geoffrey to you; Right under my nose

Sunday June 7, 2009

Right under my nose

I have written about Janet and her loss of eyesight a few times. For those of you who don’t already know, Janet is twenty-three and became blind less than a year ago. We took her to the optometrist a few weeks ago and she was told that she would never be able to see again. Never again would she be able to see her daughter’s smile, never again would she stand in awe of the sheer captivating beauty of a sunset or gaze at the stars and dream. When the sickness originally began to grow from bad to worse Janet was abandoned by her friends and was left to battle this illness with only few on her side. With an overwhelming amount of darkness, depression and despair surrounding her, she lost hope. After speaking with someone who has stood by her side throughout this ordeal, I found out that Janet used to spend every day crying and was in such a depressed state that she slept all day. I can tell you that no amount of words can express the pain and desolation that overtook her as the doctors told her she would never see again, she burst into tears, I couldn’t bare to be in the room as the doctors told her the news. Since the appointment with the optometrist, the vibrant colors of clothing and the shimmer of the sun dance before her eyes; this girl who isn’t supposed to be able to see is now seeing. She is only able to see a small amount, but she is still able to see. It reminds me of how an entire room can be illuminated by the smallest of flames. This overwhelming and sometimes smothering amount of darkness is no match for even the smallest amount of light. I see this situation and am forced to stand back in awe of God.

A few years ago, when I was in better shape and much dumber, a friend and I tried to run twenty miles a day for twenty days to raise money and awareness for Tumaini (Kenya is about 400 miles across the middle). After forty miles, blisters the size of Chicago, and losing a few pounds, my buddy getting internal bleeding we decided to throw in the towel. Even though we weren’t able to make the four hundred miles at that time, everything just seemed right. As we ran, jogged and walked our way from Seal Beach to Santa Monica and back no words were spoke the only audible thing was our panting, the soothing rhythm of our steps and the occasional wheeze for air. No words need to be spoken, our hearts were in the right place and it seemed like we were playing a part in something bigger than us. These moments were holy.

I remember hearing a woman share her testimony. She was into the party scene when she was younger and had numerous abortions. She settled down with the love of her life and they wanted to start a family but found that she wasn’t able to. The abortions had destroyed her insides and she had miscarriage after miscarriage. She considered herself the murderer of ten people, she had ten miscarriages and abortions. She wailed as she told us the hurts and pains that overwhelmed her soul. The silence was deafening after she shared. The suffering and pain she endured was horrible, but the healing that she spoke of that came after burying these old pains left us standing in awe and adoration of God. We were all in amazement of God.

I remember a homeless man named Randy. He had been a heroine addict for over thirty years. He lost his children and family to this addiction. He spent his time breaking into cars and houses trying to get money to feed this addiction; he would do anything to get loaded. I remember going to his camp, I used to go with a buddy about once or twice a week, but this day was different. As we started talking with Randy and he broke down. He told us how much he hated this addiction and how it had robbed him of his entire life. Tears were pouring down his face and he recollected everything this addiction stole from him. As tears flooded down his face he rushed into his tent, rummaged through his belongings and came out with a small plastic bag of heroine. I told us he didn’t want this addiction anymore and that he was giving it to God. Her torn open this drug and poured it all over the ground. Over fifty dollars of heroine was lost in the dirt that day, but the this burden was lifted off his chest, that was priceless. My buddy and I just stood there in amazement, in awe, adoration and flabbergasted at what God had done.

I love the children here, they always scream out my name and come running to me as I walk the streets of Masii. Every Sunday at church kids come rushing through the gates and they always seem to make a beeline for the mzungu; me. They are running at full speed and normally all pounce on me. I have kids on my back, some clinging to my legs, others managed to leap into my arms. Often they shake my hand and they don’t let go, they cling on like vice-grips. I look at these children and at how much love and joy they have and am in awe, adoration, amazement and flabbergasted at what God can do.

I have heard time and time again that God doesn’t perform miracles anymore. Most people are waiting to see someone walk on water, the crippled walk or the sick be healed magically. I recognize and realize that these are all incredible miracles and I do believe that they still happen this day and age (Janet for instance), but I think we have grown so numb that we fail to recognize the obvious. God is still working miracles. Lives are still being impacted. The impossible are still becoming possible, but just not in ways that we see. God’s power and might is displayed throughout our lives, it seems like we are simply too busy looking for bigger and better to see them.

I used to think that miracles only happen in other parts of the world, never in America though… I was wrong… Miracles happen everywhere, we just need to open our eyes to see and stop looking past what God has so majestically placed before us.

Asante Sana,

Mwendwa

Prayer Requests:
Jason Nate’s travels
Janet is going to the eye clinic on Tuesday, funds for that and for a better outcome than last time
Tumaini medical Center

Randoms:
I killed two mosquitos today… I have always been too slow to catch them
I ate 5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches yesterday… I LOVE PB and J… one of my favorite foods… I decided to go nuts for them
I don’t think that any group of people can make you feel loved as much as Kenyans do
I got two boxes of books, stickers, hackey sacks and temporary tattoos today… I am STOKED!!! I have like fifteen books to read!
We had a movie night for the youth today… they all wanted to watch an American movie… after like five minutes they all decided they didn’t like it and wanted a Nigerian one
We used a generator today for electricity… one of the guys was pulling the cord to start it and tore it ha ha

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