It has been awhile since I have written and so I will try and fill you in on what I have been doing. This visit has again been different from those in the past. I find that I am spending a lot of time renewing and deepening relationships that have formed over the years. This is the beauty of returning to the same place year after year. Yesterday I returned to the orphanage that is called Mosop. As you can see there was an eager group of youngsters waiting for Bible quizzing to begin. This year they are studying parts of the book of Matthew. Kenyan children can memorize like nothing I have ever seen before! For Bible quizzing the children are divided into teams with coaches who meet with them weekly. During their time together they learn about the story for the week as well as reciting the verses they have memorized each week. The goal is to memorize 60 verses to receive a prize. Each month there is also a contest between the teams complete with buzzers to determine which team wins the final prize. If any of you did Bible sword drills when you were young this is very similar to it. Yesterday was a team competition; buzzers and all! Teams of four participated while the others patiently watched and clapped for their team. Excitement reigned!
I think I wrote about Mosop last year but let me fill you in. It is an orphanage where 157 children are currently living. Another 100 or so come to the Mosop school each day from the community. Mosop also now houses a "college" to train pre school teachers who will teach in the baby schools. I really feel like it is well run. The children call this home until they are 18 and off into the world. However, they reassured me that if they have no extended family they are always welcome to come back and call Mosop home.
While I was there I met the nurse, Diana, who runs the dispensary. She lives next door to the dispensary and is on call 24/7 for 257 kids, the college, and the surrounding community! She is even equipped to deliver babies! What a devoted soul!
It is so inspiring to hear that the children are memorizing scripture. It is a lost art which we need to rekindle. I started memorizing scripture about 30 years ago and the real blessing is sharing them with those who I sense are in need of a word from the Lord. Here is one that rarely fails to bring comfort:
ReplyDeleteI pray that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner most being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses all understanding, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
With prayer and admiration, Chris & Carole