Day 7: House of Hope and Trusses

Today we spent the morning at House of Hope. We taught the kids the Zacchaeus song and they all knew it, so it was nice to build more common ground with the kids. We had spent a lot of time at House of Hope compared to the other places we visited. This seems to be the Hovingh's baby; between that and Back to Africa with the ladies in Gil Gil. Joel and Susan, the couple who started House of Hope, have such a strong vision and calling for the orphanage. There are 27 kids in the orphanage, but they do not think of themselves at orphans because they have 1 mom, 2 aunties, a grandmother and a father. They have a home. The village kids who had families were often found hanging around by the fence with wanting eyes. We could tell they wanted to come in; they could sense the love in that place. Not only was there love, but the spirit of Christ was evident.

The day we were there, a group of girls from Rift Valley Academy (RVA) had come from Kijabe to spend time with everyone. They are a missionary kids' school. There are a lot of Americans and other nationalities who attend. The Hovingh's children attend and they seem to enjoy it. The group brought jump ropes and bubbles with them and the kids went nuts. They loved it. I had two little boys just fighting over who could catch the most bubbles and then who could blow the most. I had to keep a tight control on the wand so we didn't lose it in the dirt.

 

Something, not shocking, not surprising, but refreshing was revealed to me; the kids were pushing around toy cars and trucks, much like we have in the states, but they had 1 or no wheels on them. They were still pushing them around with all their might in the dirt! They were playing with broken toys and it made me want to purchase some new ones, but inside I also thought, that refreshing revelation, they can make use of anything in any circumstance. Like the the women in Gil Gil and the congregation in Gatamaiyu, they wore the biggest smiles and had the greatest gratitude. Yes, things can be improved and fixed when broken, but the joy in the circumstance was staring me in the face.

Later that afternoon, we had tables with coloring books set up. Some of our team painted the little girl's toes. One of the girls was wearing blue jeans and after her toes were painted bright red, she went into her room and changed into what was probably a Sunday skirt and some sandals that showed off her freshly painted pedicure. She stole my heart. She had the smile of an angel. 

 

After our time was up at House of Hope, we went back to have lunch. Then we got into our working clothes to finished the trusses from the previous day's work. Now, John, Matt and Jason had been working on a template system to make the cutting and assembly smoother. It seemed that we were remeasuring and cutting custom pieces for each truss. That was taking about 45 minutes. I think I mentioned this in my previous post, but I realize now that I got the days confused. They all just blend into one after a while so, forgive my repetition. Saturday, day 7 was the day of the 15 min 27 second truss building.

At dinner that night, we had received a booked call Live Dead Journal which is a 30 day devotional challenge. It talks about tithing your time to God. So, that is roughly 2 ½ hours a day. The authors give a guideline of how that time is broken down and what to fill it with. I will tell you one thing, it is a true challenge. Honestly, I haven't gotten up to 2 ½ hours. I think split up, I've gotten 1 hour and 45 minutes 1 or 2 nights a week. This book is filled with daily readings and prayer for an unreached people group with a story about or from a missionary. One of the stories was about David Livingstone whose body had been worn down after 23 bouts of Malaria and one of his arms was useless due to a lion attack years ago. He spoke at a conference not long before he died, and he spoke about extravagant time with the Lord. That is the purpose of the Live Dead challenge, to spend extravagant time with the Lord; ultimately, growing in intimacy with Him.

In Livingstone's speech, he talked about Matthew 28 and the word of a Gentleman. He referred to the Lord as a gentleman who promised to be with us always. A short time later when he passed away, he was found kneeling next to his bed with Matthew 28 open and in the margin was written “The Word of a Gentleman.”

Matthew 28:

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”