One of the first things we are taught as children is the
Golden Rule…Do Unto Others… At some
point we graduate from that easy principle to one that tells us to love our
neighbors as ourselves. At that point, the debate arises about WHO that
neighbor is. The literal one, the next-door neighbor, the school friend...certainly
not the ones who don’t look or talk or eat like we do; or the ones who might be
dirty or ill.
Jess:
The first time I met Nancy was about a year and a half ago
when she was working as a house help for a friend of mine. I didn’t really
notice her, except that she had a one- year-old son who was really cute. I
didn’t speak to her enough to even know if she could speak English very well.
That friend got pregnant and let Nancy go, because Nancy was HIV positive and
she didn’t want someone who was HIV positive around her baby.
In October of last year Grace, with whom I work here and who
also knows Nancy, called me to let me know that Nancy was not doing well. She did not have any work and was not
able to buy enough food to stay on her ARVs. I went to meet with Nancy to maybe do something small to
help her and was immediately struck by the depth of her need. Over the next few
months after we went to MSF (Medicines Sans Frontiers) to get her back into
their HIV program, we got to know one another better. I called her every week
once she was back on ARVs to make sure she was adhering to the drug protocol, I
found friends to donate their used clothes for her to sell to earn money to
feed her family, and when she had emergencies, no gas to cook with, not enough
money for food, or extensive dental work…I did what I thought Jesus would do
and I gave from my own funds to make sure she had food to cook, gas to cook it
with and teeth that didn’t pain her when she chewed.
I asked for support through a blog and one friend in the US
gave $100. Blessings to you my friend, you know who you are! But to everyone else
Nancy was simply a sad far away story.
Robin:
Last week one day Jessica and I got off the mutate on Ngong
Road and as usual, I followed a few feet behind her [always feeling safe in her
presence]; this time into one of Kenya’s slums, past rows of squalid shacks
with laundry hung out or little children playing in the dirt or people sitting
and talking or selling whatever they had to sell. Once again the smells and
sights tested my fortitude.
Suddenly a young woman, named Nancy, ran up and enfolded Jess in her
skinny arms. She led us to her home, a room with two chairs and a table and
curtains hung to hide the bed space. She had no money with which to pay the
rent [$15/month] or buy food and certainly was unable to send Cecilia, her
14-year-old daughter to school. We had brought a friend who was on her way to a
park for a picnic. She pulled out her sandwich [having to explain how to eat a
sandwich], juice, chips, and chocolate and gave them to the family of 3. The
three-year-old boy took a few chips at a time and went out the door to share
them with his cousins who were delighted with the treat. I was moved that even
in his hunger, this child shared with others.
Jess:
I sat in Nancy's house and talked to Cecilia about going to
school. At first I told them I would pay 5,000/= shillings of the 17,500/=
shillings she needed for school fees to go to high school and pay for the items
she would need for boarding school. By the time I got home, I had decided God
needed more time to work and I would pay the balance of her first term fees so
that we would have an entire semester to find a sponsor for her. I know you
expect me to use the money you donate for myself and my living expenses. But it
is impossible to sit back and watch a 14-year-old have to wait to go to high
school because of lack of fees. God will put it on the heart of someone who
reads this blog to see the potential of this family and support God’s plan for
their lives. Nancy, Cecilia and Kimani are my neighbors…is God calling you to
be their neighbor too?
Robin:
When I voice concern about support for this work, I am
reassured by Jessica that God always provides. When I see the need, I am overwhelmed. But when I see on the
Nomadic Chameleon Donor site that once again this month, a man has given $20 as
he has for the last several years, and that a woman has sent $500 for a child’s
education I am reminded of the power of God and the faith of His people...and I
am humbled and grateful. Thank you, each and every one.
Robin and Jess:
Whether being a good neighbor is costly or time-consuming,
whether it is indeed our neighbor or a stranger, someone who is struggling
through a divorce or one who is living with HIV, we know we need to be walking
alongside them in whatever capacity is needed. A recent quote in an Upper
Room devotion: Christ comes to us in
every needy person. How can we possibly want to miss a single opportunity
to meet our Savior in this way – through that
particular person on that day with that need? Lord help us to be aware and
available always.
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