"Please, Don't Leave Me Here"

Psalm 27:10 "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in."

The team broke up and did home visits out in the bush.  We found a situation that broke our hearts and we all left being touched and horrified by one home that we visited.  There were many prayers and much discussion during the course of that night and the following morning.  The following Is a picture of the home.

Outside.

Inside, taken on our second visit.

Inside this home, live six children with a mother who is a drunkard.  It was reported to us by the chief that the mother leaves home after preparing the girls for school and goes into the nearest village where she prostitutes herself for alcohol.  She returns home late at night.  The children are left in the care of their 16 year old brother.  The 12 year old boy expressed a desire to go to school but said there was no money for school fees.  We gave the family some food.  With no further help we could give at the time, we prayed with these children before we left them.  As I prayed, I heard crying.  I believed it to be the tears of one of our team members as she is very tenderhearted.  Later I was told that it was the oldest girl, Veronica, who was crying as we prayed.  Before we had finished the last two home visits scheduled for that day, we found the 9 year old girl headed for a water point to get more water so they could cook the food left for them.  Obviously they were very hungry and time was of the essence in preparing something to eat.  They had reported that they ate one meal per day, but there was no evidence of food when we looked around.

As the August 2023 Mission Team prepared to leave, we held a meeting to get their comments and to see what projects they felt must be pursued according to their experience here in Kenya.  Obviously, this family was top on the list.  So Ken and I promised to do a follow-up visit and see what could be done.

We returned to the home with the chief, a village elder, our manager, Florah, Ken and myself.  As we arrived on a very chilly, windy day, obviously there was something very wrong.  The children were standing together, looking much as you would look at a funeral.  It had already been reported to us that, in the interim between the visits, the mother had been arrested for stealing a goat and she was in custody.  The first thing said to us as we walked up was by Veronica, the 9 year old girl.  She said, "I was watching the goats yesterday and they ran away. We are looking for them."  

Upon further questioning, it was found that there was a "visiting father" who had come and stolen the goat.  A "visiting father" is a man that comes from time to time but never stays and takes no responsibility for the mother or the children.  "Sniffer dogs" had been brought in and a scent had been tracked from the scene of the burglary to the home, where they found signs that a goat had been prepared to be eaten.  The mother, in custody with a 2 year old child, had promised one of her goats in replacement of the stolen goat.  It was the consensus of the chief and a neighboring herdsman, that the mother then had the children hide the goats so that she couldn't replace the stolen goat and hopefully she would be released.  

As we discussed all of this, an elderly gentleman came up.  He was the grandfather of the children.  He was asked if he could provide help to them, but he refused.  Seemingly, he had a "new" family and lived in a house built for him by another daughter.  He felt it would cause problems in both areas if he took the children in, so he refused. Nine year old Veronica looked at our manager during all of these discussions and said, "Please, don't leave me here."  No matter what, those words were the convicting factor that made leaving them in that situation an impossibility.

What to do?  We discussed all of the possibilities.  Taking in the girls would be no problem for a rescue center for girls, but what could we do about the boys? Drastic situations call for drastic measures.  We decided, since God had providentially brought it to be that one of our employee housing rooms was vacant, we would take the girls into the dorm and bring the boys into that empty space until placement could be found for them.  

The boys in their new home.

Permission was given by the area chief that we could rescue them and further permission was granted by the Children's Department of Kenya to take them and we were told that placement would be found after the first of the year.

We had to leave the 16 year old boy.  He is considered an adult here in Kenya.  He does not wish to return to school though he hopes to become a driver when he is 18 years old and old enough to get the proper paper work.  Also, he needs to be there for the two year old when she comes home.

What does hope, a good meal, and a bath do for someone who has no hope at all?  These pictures show it all.

The day of the rescue.

A little over 24 hours later. Veronica (9), Antony (6), Monica (7), and George (12).

Now, it was time to register these children in school.  So off we went to Bahati Primary School to meet with the principal.

There, we learned more of the story.  No child is to be at home and not in school here in Kenya.  The mother had told the principal that she was transferring the children to another school.  We found out that these children had been out of school for two years...just staying at home waiting and praying for their next meal!  We thank God that he lead us to this home.  We thank God that somehow He will provide a way for us to add this special case to the children we already serve.  And we thank God, that he is a God who answers the cries of the poor and needy and those whose fathers and mothers have forsaken.  We especially thank God for the sound of laughter in the car as we traveled back to the center to prepare for school the very next day and the children enjoying trying to teach me Swahili. And what did they teach me?  "Mungu akubariki sana!"  "May God bless you very much!"

How can you help?  Please pray daily for these children.  Pray for a good children's home to take them all so that they can stay together.  Pray for their studies.  Pray for them to come to know Jesus as their personal savior.  If you feel led to help, I am attaching the estimated cost of caring for them for the 4 1/2 months we will have them.  One of the team member's daughters has already donated $250.00 to help in any way we could before they were rescued.

Mungu akabariki sana! May God bless you very much.