After being in Kitale for over two months now I began to feel like everything I saw was becoming numb to me. I am not saying that the people and the poverty stopped breaking my heart but it got to a point where I thought that nothing I saw would surprise me anymore. Just as I gained this mindset of thinking the Lord slapped me in the face and changed my thoughts right away. What I saw today far surpassed just being surprised. It came as a shock. I was speechless and soon enough I realized that tears were rolling down my face and I could not stop them. The Lord broke my heart. 

I met three children today who were one, two and seven. There was Peter, Erica and Lucy. Lucy is the oldest of the three and was being the mother to the other two children. The two younger kids were so frightened of me they wouldn't even shake my hand.  

Soon enough I saw that Lucy and Erica (the two year old) both had jigger infestations in their feet and Lucy even had them in her hands. Jiggers are caused from sleeping in the dirt. They are small fleas that burro under your nails and in your feet and they lay their eggs there. They are constantly reproducing and bringing about open wounds. Lucy had them way worse than Erica and they were causing Lucy to walk on just the heels of her feet. Every step she takes she takes with precision and caution. This is a picture of the bottom of Lucys feet completely infested with jiggers. 

There was no way that I could see this kind of poverty induced pain in a young girl and not do anything about it. I was convicted and faced with a decision to make and the decision seemed so clear to me but many obstacles stood in the way. I needed to know if she wanted to go through the pain of getting them out of her feet in order to get better. Lucy was positive she wanted to get better but little Erica did not want to go through such pain. The way they take out the jiggers is by going into their feet and toenails with razor-blades and scraping them out. No wonder a two year old wouldn't want to go through such intense pain. But Lucy made it so clear that she wanted to do what it takes to be able to walk like normal again. This is a picture of sweet Lucy with a smiling face and samll Erica passed out on my lap. 

So we took Lucy to the hospital and now she is in the care of wonderful Sister Freda. This is not going a pleasant couple of days for her but I believe she is brave and willing enough to endure. There is no happy ending to this story just yet but I hope and pray that soon enough Lucy will be able to stand without cringing. Keep this beautiful young girl in your persistent prayers. 

Thank you for caring. 

Torie Fields

The Great Blanket Drop...

Geoffry can explain this a little better then I can...

So like Geoff said, the idea is simple, Steve, Matt, Dan, Pat and myself, along with Geoff and some guests drive around the streets with two trunks full of blankets looking for sleeping street kids to throw a blanket over. Which basically looks like this...

These are kids that the whole team have spent time with, whether it is at Oasis of Hope, or just sitting on the street corner, each one of us has had our heart broken by these kids. It is amazing driving down the streets, because the kids aren't exactly sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk. these kids are huddled together under verandas and any other structure that will provide some protection from rain. You have to know exactly where to look, and what to look for. Some of these kids are inside of a potato sack, trying to gather some warmth, while others just pull their arms and heads into their shirts. Every night is a constant struggle to stay out of the path of guards hired to watch the shop fronts.

I think that greatest part about this whole thing is the struggle to stay un-noticed. It isn't about letting these kids know who is giving them blankets, or even that they are getting blankets at all, it is, as Geoff said, a simple way to say "God loves you, and so do we." That being said it isn't exactly easy to stay hidden when you are laying something over someone while they sleep. Because of this you often get noticed...

If you listen carefully you can hear a little boy say "CRIS?" and then say "Pastor Steve?" near the end of the video. This will without a doubt go down as one of the greatest moments of my life, even though I simply tell him no it isn't me.

This morning we all walked down the streets to all of the street kids coming to tell us that someone brought them blankets, while others came to inform us that they wanted another.

Somethings that happen here take a whole bunch of time to process, but what God teaches us through things like this can never be measured.