Outreach in Morchichi

We went to a village called Morchichi on Wednesday evening to stay overnight and then do outreach all day. Morchichi is way out in the bush -- very remote and very poor! It's an extremely dry area -- they have a real problem with soil erosion. It is mostly the Pokot tribe that live there -- in fact, they gave Brian and me Pokot names while we were there! Brian's is "Kiptoo", meaning "one who brings visitors". Brian has been to Morchichi several times during his stay in Kenya, and the people have been encouraged by visitors who have come in during his visits. My name is "Cherop", meaning "one who brings rain". Apparently it had not rained for months, but then it rained just a day before we went.

The people need a lot of prayer -- some of them are caught up in cults, some in Roman Catholicism, and then of course there is the usual strange mixture of tribal religion and Pentecostalism that results in just utter confusion. One of the groups that went out on Thursday actually met Seventh Day Adventists also going round the homes!

We were staying with folks in the church -- well, I was. The men all slept in the church. I had a room to myself, and once I got my mosquito net hung (which took a while with only a flashlight to see by), I was pretty comfortable for the couple of hours that were left of the night! People in Morchichi seem to like staying up late -- we arrived about 9pm, supper was served at 11:30pm, and then people began coming for a late-night meeting! One of the pastors spoke on Romans 12:1-2, and we dispersed around 2am probably. I asked our hostess, Delphin, where the nearest toilet was, and she took me on a ten-minute walk into the bush! We did eventually arrive at a toilet -- a Kenyan toilet that is (a hole in the ground inside a cubicle). So by the time I got settled it was nearly 3am, and then up again at 5:30!

We split up into teams of two or three in order to cover as many homes as possible, and we had a good reception. Four people that our group visited during the morning turned up at the meeting that afternoon, and we were also encouraged by one young lad who said he wanted to be saved. We explained the Gospel to him, and we're trusting that God will indeed do a work in his heart. After about 4 hours of outreach, we headed back to our host family's house for lunch and then on to the church for the meeting. Brian was informed on the 10minute walk to the church that he would be preaching that afternoon! There are times when I'm very glad that I'm a girl so I don't get pounced on like that!

I was speaking today at the closing assembly at BCFC Christian Academy. It's probably the largest audience I've spoken to - about 600 kids, plus teachers and staff! I had to speak through a translator, which I find really difficult at the best of times, never mind when I'm speaking to children. But pray that the Lord would use His Word. I've had III John v. 4 laid on my heart for these kids for a while now -- "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." I'm constantly aware that I'm only here in Kenya for a short time; I really want to take the opportunity to get to know them and minister to them in whatever way I can, but at the same time I know I'll be leaving soon so I almost don't want to get too involved, emotionally at least. But I can always pray for them!