First Day of Clinic

ON Thursday night the medical team arrived.  Cherie Creech is leading this team and I am driving and taking pictures.  The team arrived on two flights, most on Emirates which came in at 7pm and s couple on British Airways which doesn't arrive until 9:20.  Mbuvi took most of them in the MITS bus and I was left to drive the remaining couple, Ben and Leslie Doke back to Kamulu with Stephen.  It was my first time to drive from the airport alone at night - another milestone.

 

The team consists of Cherie, Doctor Ben and Leslie Doke, Dentist Brad Sears, Trina and Krista Knight, Lisa Haynes, Joy Gawrychowski, Garen and Barret Brown, and Lindsey Hudgins.  Mauryn and Stephen and I round it out.

 

Yesterday morning, we loaded up our two LandCruisers heavy, and made the 3 hour drive to Kikitemo Feeding Station, the former IDP camp.  Here KWO is caring for 43 orphans and 44 widows who were left displaced after the 2008 post-election violence.  To read more about their story, search the archives of my blog for Kikitemo or IDP. 

 

As we were setting up the clinic, we realized that we had left behind the needles needed for anesthetic for or dentist.  Not sure how that happened, but it did.  We decided to press on and see what could be done with what we had.  Digging through the supply crates, we found four needles that could be used, and as it turned out, there were only three extractions among the children.  God comes through again with just what was needed. Jesus the Provider!

 

As each team member set up to do their job, they quickly realized that these kids are in really good shape.  They found no major problems, and few minor ones.  They look well nourished and strong and healthy.  This is quite a turn around from where these kids were just a few years ago, living under plastic sheeting and twig roofs and searching for scraps of food.  Now there is a healthy church here, a loving community of believers who share everything with each other just like we read about in Acts.  Jesus the Redeemer!

 

When each child came into the clinic, they were given a hand made bag from the US that Pam Hicks brought.  As they progressed through the stations, they each got a little prize or candy for their bags.  It really helped keep them moving and they loved the little gifts.  Brad won the prize for the best give-away I thing, with little hand powered helicopter blades.  The kids loved them!  Check the KWO Facebook page for pics from today, including some great ones of Brad and his toys.

 

As the sky began to turn orange with the sun setting over lake Elementitia, we pulled away from Kikitemo have seen 114 people, including all of our kids and widows and a number of church members.  We drove into Nakuru where we had Java for dinner and hit the Nakumatt for supplies.  By the time we got to our hotel, it was past 9 and we were all very tired.

 

Personally, I am exhausted.  The last week in Kenya is always the hardest, but all the driving and my homesickness for Susie and the kids has worn me out.  My injured foot is getting a beating and I'm not sleeping well.  However, I have had no stomach trouble at all, and everyone else has been healthy so far, so I don't have too much to complain about.  Jesus the Healer!

 

Seeing the children of Kikitemo, who I first met when they were close to starvation, gives me energy and purpose.  God is taking care of me in every way that really matters.  Soon enough I will be home and with my wife and all of these troubles will just be words in this blog.  It's much like our lives on earth, making memories and doing the good works that God has called us to, and longing for home.  Jesus the Savior!