Ogada

I want to start by saying that I have no idea what I’m going to write about the last 2 weeks. I know that I have said every home is amazing but it just gets more and more true each time. Nothing makes sense in my head right now. I can’t describe what it feels like to have left Ogada. Yesterday was horrible. I don’t think any of us are ready to move on—all I can say is thank goodness our 2 night break came between Ogada and Kaptagat rather than between Mogogosiek and Ogada. We thought leaving the other homes was hard…but for some reason, this one was worse. It’s painful. I don’t know how else to describe it. The relationships built at this home ran deeper than before. We’re not exactly sure why…maybe because there were only 38 kids, maybe because they were older and the home was just overall more mature. The kids were about 9 – 20 years old. Experiencing life with them was amazing. I really don’t have words to say right now. I’ll just start at the beginning and try to go from there.
Coming to this home, we were all prepared for the worst. The way Crystal described the 2 weeks here made all of us scared out of our minds. Not that she said anything bad about the home, she just said it will be difficult. And she was right. Erick (the manager) picked us up 2 weeks ago from Mogogosiek and we went straight to Ogada. It was hard to not have a break in between to regroup and collect ourselves after another goodbye. When we first got to the home, we didn’t want to be there. We just wanted to go back to Mogogosiek. It’s funny to think about now—Crystal told us last night she was worried about us those first few hours as we sat in the room trying to get motivated to begin again.
Day 1: The first day we were there we ate lunch with the kids. They come home from school everyday around 1 to eat and then they head back…well that first day was horrible. We were told to go to the dining hall to eat with the kids and they had already gotten our plates ready for us…which is nice except for the fact that Kenyans eat every meal like they’re never going to see food again. So they served us the biggest, heaping portions of ugali and sukumoiki we have ever seen. Plus we were given 3 avocados (and don’t think avocados as you know them…think of avocados as approximately 3 times the size you know them. They are enormous. The pit is more like a baseball than a golf ball). So here we are, sitting in the dining room, with heaping portions of food we find slightly difficult to get down, and not one kid sits next to us. Not only does no one sit next to us, but no one sits at our table or even looks at us. To make the meal even more terrifying, they all eat those sized portions in about 20 minutes or less…we sat there for 2 hours. After that first meal, we were all ready to pack up and leave. But something changed throughout those 2 weeks…changed to the point where I think we all would have been content staying there for the rest of the month (and then some). That first day we were also taken to the primary school to look around, meet the teachers, and get introduced to the classes. Terrifying experience number 2. We were told that we would be teaching at the school for the next 2 weeks…which if you are reading this, you probably know how terrified I am of public speaking and being the center of attention. Not only that, the way “teaching” was described to us was that the teachers would say…ok, we’re learning about plants in science today…teach on something within that. We were all scared out of our minds. To be put on the spot (because we really wouldn’t be given advanced notice) and to not have any materials to go off of would be insane.
When Crystal said this home would be difficult and that we would be stretched in ways that we don’t even know, she was right. I feel like that’s a common theme… “she was right”. She told us that we were going to be put in all sorts of uncomfortable situations so God has the opportunity to really work in and through us…if we never take a step out, how can he prove to us how big he really is? And God has proven how big he is. I was slightly excited at the beginning of the past 2 weeks…kind of an anticipation of what was to come. Terrified for it, but excited to see God working. And we got to see him in some huge ways. It was awesome. Since I’m on the subject, I’ll talk about the teaching experience at the school. We taught on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, usually about 2 lessons each. I taught math to class 6 every day and then I also taught science and social studies to class 8 and social studies to class 7. We also went back one afternoon—Jessica and I taught a music class. My favorite one to teach was math class 6. First because math is pretty universal and I’ve always enjoyed it and secondly because teaching something like math is a lot easier for me than teaching about the Organization of African Unity. It’s kind of hard to teach on something you know nothing about…it’s even more unfortunate when you find out that the topic you’re teaching on is already known…100%. When you ask review questions at the beginning of a class to test their knowledge and they get every single one correct, it’s a bit unnerving…what the heck do you say for the rest of the period?? Ashley was fortunate enough to teach class 7 about the system of government in Swaziland. Fantastic. Anyways, teaching wasn’t too bad. I have to say it was even enjoyable at times. God’s peace truly seeped through each of us as we taught. We were all terrified at the beginning but he carried us through it. The first day the teacher would come to class with us and help a bit but by the end we were showing up on our own to teach. Oh and an important point—we weren’t sent in unprepared. They usually gave us a textbook 30 minutes beforehand and told us what topics we were teaching. For the most part, we really enjoyed the teachers and had some crazy conversations with them. It was entertaining to say the least.
Our time was also spent going on several home visits, attending and leading some devotions at night, helping with chores around the compound, and watching the world cup—which was awesome. The kids love it so much. Crystal, Ashley, Jessica, and I watched it at our hotel last night but it wasn’t nearly as exciting without the kids. We also did a kid’s day with them and it was great…we changed the whole program to aim it at a more mature age group and it ended up being successful. I think the kids all really enjoyed the day and we did too. It was so much fun…and even more amazing—we passed out 50 markers and at the end received 49 back…I know you may not see what’s amazing about that but believe me, it is. Oh, and even better…the next day, 9 year old hellen came up to us with the missing marker..guess which one it was…Ashley’s.
It was an amazing 2 weeks. Erick, the manager, and his family are great…and he is absolutely hilarious. I wish I could explain his personality…he’s a really good manager and the kids all love him. A lot of changes have been going on at the home in the past several months and there is still a lot to be done. Please be praying for Ogada children’s home—the kids and the staff, as well as for the Primary School that the children attend. I wish I could find words to explain more but I can’t. Also, be praying for us as we head to our next home tomorrow. Right now we are all feeling spent and drained, not at all ready to head off to another home. But we know that God will help us to love with his love, not our own…which is good because I don’t think any of us feel like we have anything left to give. One more request—please pray hard that we can go back to Ogada before we leave this summer. We want it more than anything right now. Know that Ogada is an amazing place filled with amazing people. Our last night with them we talked about our first lunch there and how no one would even look at us—we laughed about how it was just 2 weeks ago.
We appreciate your prayers and I love your emails! Thank you for the encouragement. Hope you all are doing well and having a refreshing summer!