Mile Two in a Marathon

Celebrating 2 years
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Today, we gathered outside the training center classroom for a celebration: Two years of Ilula Children's Home. It was a beautiful day, the sun baking down hot at times, then again hiding behind the clouds. (It literally started raining as the final "Amen" was said, more than 3 hours after we gathered.)

The children sang and danced. Various people shared. (Brian shared that running a children's home isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. And we're just at the second mile marker.) I think, though, that the one story that was never really shared spoke the loudest: the story of Thomas Lishudi.

One of our staff members noticed Thomas herding cattle. He looks different, is obviously from the Turkana tribe. She enquired and found that the young boy was an orphan. He had absolutely no relatives that anyone knew of. She arranged for him to be brought to the home.

Today, when the Ruto family got up to share some songs and verses, Lishudi stepped forward and did a dramatized version of a long passage in the Bible. "My son!..." he'd say, (though it was hard to make out the rest of the passage due to his strong accent). "My son!" again and again... Truly, Lishudi has come to know what it is to be God's son. In Christ, he has found a family, a home, a community that loves and encourages him.

But his story is not the only one of hope. There are many others. Ninety others, in fact. Among those is the story of Hillary and Sharon, the first two kids who moved into our home. Two weeks ago, their baby brother, Dennis, was finally brought to live with them. When their mom passed away and their older siblings started caring for them, little Dennis was just a year old--too young to be brought to Ilula. But two weeks ago, he was finally brought to live with them, and today, Dennis was dedicated to the Lord.

Thank you to each of you who have invested in the lives of these children.

Click on the first picture to see more photos from today.