It's been over 5 years since our family decided to pursue a service project in a Third-World country before the children start leaving home. Through friend-of-a-friend connections we ended up going to Kenya four years ago to help in a home for 25 orphaned street boys, "Into Africa," run by Rick and Audrey McAninch.
As you probably know, we ended up adopting the youngest of the boys, Steven. Among the many coincidences/miracles of his adoption story was the fact that we fell in love with him before we knew that he was the only one of the boys who had no known or traceable relatives. Everyone else had a grandma back in the village, or an uncle somewhere that could no longer take care of them. Steven had absolutely no one.
We've been thinking it's time we visit Kenya again, now that Steven knows he's part of our family for real and hopefully wouldn't have too many identity issues (a few are inevitable) going back to the orphanage.
We decided to invite the other two high school seniors along (Emily is the third) for their required-for-graduation mission trip. And in early December we bought our tickets for a trip in April.
And at the end of December everything blew up in Kenya after the corrupted elections.
So we have been around and around the mulberry bush, trying to decide what to do. Not only is our trip up in the air, but also a substantial outlay of nonrefundable dollars. So, do we postpone the trip, cancel it altogether, go to another country instead, and if so, where?
Yesterday the two rival candidates in Kenya signed a power-sharing agreement that offers a tenuous, tentative, fragile hope for peace. And if it all works, the long process of rebuilding lives, businesses, society, and structures begins. If not--that prospect is terrible to think about.
In the grand scheme of things, our plans and tickets are a small loss. But we hope this means we will be able to travel as planned.
Your prayers would be appreciated.
Quote of the Day:
"Some of you sent money through Into Africa specifically to
help people who have been devastated by the political clashes
in Kenya. Veronica is one young lady you have helped. At
only 22 years of age, her face told the story of what she had
seen—and no doubt continues to see—her parents and all her
brothers and sisters hacked to death, just because of their
ethnicity. She has no one left in her immediate family. Your gifts
gave her a small ray of hope as we were able to help her with
transport to her ancestral land. As I hugged and prayed for her,
I knew my heart was forever changed. We continue to contact
Veronica, though communication is very difficult because of
poor phone service in her area. Please pray for Veronica."
--Audrey McAninch, in their latest newsletter. You can read more or make donations at www.intoafricafoundation.org
Definitely praying for this situation! We spent a year in Uganda working with orphans in 2001-2002 when our daughter was 15. She went back on her own for a month after she graduated from high school. A bit nerve wracking but God gave me a real peace so I didn't obsessively worry (which would be normal for me). But Uganda has been fairly stable for some years (except in the north and she wasn't going anywhere near there).
ReplyDeleteIf it doesn't work to go to Kenya, can you keep the tickets, and just add on a flight from Nairobi to somewhere else in Africa? Say Entebbe in Uganda? :-) We can hook you up with the ministry we helped with, called New Hope Uganda. They have one established site (Kasana Children's Center) and are developing a second. It's a non-denominational ministry and we worked with people from a variety of protestant backgrounds (Baptist, Methodist, Vineyard, Bible, etc.). You can go here to check it out: http://www.newhopeuganda.org/