Divine Appointments

As the boys press into the kitchen and ask me what I am making my heart is conflicted, "Do they have enough food to eat?" I wonder, "Or do they just want our food because it is from the Americans and it is something different than their typical ugali and beans?" I can't stand the thought of them leaving my house hungry if they don't have food to eat at home, but with limited communication I can't ask such a complicated question. If I start to feed them will our home turn into a feeding program for kids who may or may not even need it?

There have been many times we have shared what we have with the children who are around but there have been many more times that we send them away so we can eat our dinner without onlookers.

I talked to Peter to see if Busi has families that are struggling to feed their children; he assured me that this is a valid concern. He explained how the type of house the child comes from is a good indication of how they are eating.

Since learning of this, I have had an even greater desire to meet the families of the kids that come around on a regular basis. Today I wondered if I should learn how to say, "I would like to meet your family." I wrestled over whether it was too soon to try and assess the situation seeing as even if I do meet them I can't speak to them and can't really know if there is a way we can help them. Then it came to me that I could pray for opportunities to meet the families.

Later that afternoon I suggested to Mat that we just go out for a walk with no agenda. This would allow us time to just meet people and spend time with them without feeling like we needed to be somewhere or wanting to get home. One of the first groups of people we greeted, welcomed us warmly and had a good time talking to us with the few Kilangi words we knew. After a few minutes one of the women informed us that she was Mama Kedima and also of Salimu. We were so excited as Kedima came to our house daily before school started so we were very familiar with him! Then when they saw our excitement they pointed to another woman and said, "Mama Kejaji!" Kejaji is another of the core kids that comes around. It then occurred to me that just earlier that day I had thought I should pray for these opportunities. I don't even know that I actually stopped to pray for it when I got the idea. God is good and He will accomplish His will!

(Below from back to front, Kedima, Idi, and Kejaji. These are "our boys" a few others come regularly but these have been the main three coming just about daily to play at our house.)