Love on Africa

For those who may not already know, I am a mission’s major and a junior at Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas. This last fall I was chosen by the Juniors Global committee to be on a mission’s team going to Kenya, Africa lead by my mission’s advisor, Kevin Mortimer. The team consists of five of my classmates, all of whom are very missions minded and have an amazing love for the Lord. The journey leading to my decision to apply for Juniors Global was a very sudden and exciting one. Last summer I spent two months living in South Bend, Indiana, where I attended a church with two pastors who had a heart for Africa I had scarcely ever seen before. One particular Sunday they invited a missionary from Africa to talk about the work she was doing there, and I felt that all to familiar tug on my heart to be attentive. I knew that God wanted me to go, but I had no idea when I would get the opportunity. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later did I recall that my very own school was taking a group of students to Africa to work with my very favorite mission field; the widows and orphans. It was very scary at first realizing He wanted me to go so soon! However it was extremely exciting. Our plan, as of now, is to leave on May 11th and return on June the 1st. While in Kenya we are expecting to build no less than eight mud houses for widows and orphans who are in dire need. The need for homes for widows is never-ending in Kenya, due to most widows being forced to leave the homes of their relatives after the death of their husbands. Some of these widows have as many as seven or eight children they must care for, though most have no way of providing for them. This very desperate situation is what my team and I will be going into. Unfortunately in the grand scheme this will hardly make a dent in the number of women and children who are forced to live on the streets, but for those eight women, their children, and their villages, the impact is immeasurable.