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We started our day attending the service at Lirembe Friends Church, where they preached on Psalm 100. The pastor did a meaningful sermon on the importance of thanksgiving and praise. It was so beautiful to sing familiar hymns together in church today! They sang in Swahili, and we joined in singing in English. Different languages, but united in praising the same Lord! What a precious experience!
After the service, we invited all of the women to stay. We split them into two groups with the younger women receiving hygiene kits and learning about their bodies and the older women getting their blood pressure taken and learning about healthy living. When the teachings were finished, all of the ladies had big smiles on their face as they left with their kits in hand. You could see they were all so thankful not only for the kit but the information, too.
After church, we stopped back at the compound for a quick lunch before we headed out to all of our visits for the day. Our first visit was to Brenda's boys. Only three were home out of the four, but we were able to visit with Peter, William, and the youngest Abel. All of the boys are doing better and better each year that we visit. They had more life in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They had their laundry drying outside after being freshly washed, and when they invited us into the house, it was clean and tidy. Peter, the oldest, is doing an amazing job stepping up for himself and his brothers. When we ask for prayer requests, all three of them mentioned just to have continual peace and harmony in the house and just how thankful they are to Voice of Hope for the support.
From there, we went to a new widow's house named Truphosa. Truphosa has a shining smile from ear to ear. She is just beaming with joy. It's hard to believe that she lost one of her daughters only just a year ago, and her husband only 4 years ago. She is a strong, faithful woman who understands that God is with her each day and loves her very much.
On our way to our next visit, heavy rain came down, and we made it just in time to Leah’s without getting soaking wet. Inside Leah's, the rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to hear. So we started off singing Kenyan songs. When the rain calmed down, we were able to continue with the visit. We heard that Leah is dealing with some land issues with her extended family. You can see on her face that it's taking a toll on her. We all pray that she will overcome this and know that God will get her through it.
Our last visit of the day was to Lustina, a wonderful older widow with strong faith. We met at her house and sat outside because the rain had finished. There was a cool breeze, and Lustina was happy to have us all together. She mentioned that she loves to hear us sing, and as we were singing, you could see her humming along. Lustina then said that when we all come and visit her, it feels like she's in Canada rather than us being in Kenya. That had us all laughing together. It's those moments that you really feel like you're all just sisters talking, and you forget that it's been a year between each visit.
Before heading back for the night, we were invited to a spiritual group at Antonina's house. When we arrived, there were a few ladies already there, but as we sat down more and more, ladies continually kept arriving. In the end, we had a full packed house. Pastor Fellisters led the spiritual group with a powerful message on proper Christlike living and keeping God first in your life. She also mentioned that because the group has gotten so big, they may even split into 2 groups. It's all glory to God to see how the spiritual groups that started off with just three or four women have now grown up to up to thirty-one women. They hold these spiritual groups every Sunday and you can see how much the ladies enjoy being together with their own community and the relationships that they're all building together to be able to encourage one another on a daily basis. We finished with a wonderful prayer and a group photo.
After we arrived back to the compound for the night, we all reminisced on the highs and lows of the day, all agreeing that each day becomes more and more special while we're here in Kenya.
