What better time to write about hope than at Easter? And what better time than this Easter, when hope seems especially elusive here in Kenya.
But that’s the real story of Easter, isn’t it? The darkest day gave way to the most hope-filled day. Don’t misunderstand, all the sorrows of the world were not forgotten, (and they are not today) but they were put in perspective when the world finally understood that darkness does not win in the end.
After the senseless violence in Garissa, we didn’t know how to respond. Many of you reached out and we felt your love and concern across an ocean. Thank you for that. But what to say? I still don’t know. However, after a day like today, I know that hope is the bravest response.
This was really just supposed to be a post about Claire’s birthday. A bunch of fun pictures for you to see the joy it is to turn five. But I can’t help but marvel that today created a context for her birthday that was much bigger than one special girl’s day…
She woke up on her birthday and called to us, “Mommy, Daddy, come see what a five year old looks like!” For about a week since, we’ve been awoken to the call of, “Come see! There’s a five year old in my bed!” When she got to class, she got to share her news with her classmates and her teachers could not help smiling as she seriously explained, “I was sleeping and when I woke up, I was taller, smarter, and stronger!” The smiles grew as each child knowingly nodded: they all knew that to be true because they had experienced the same thing. (If only we adults could feel such amazement each year on our birthdays!)
Ainsley and I (Audrey) got to spend most of the day as preschoolers, and we learned a lot.
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| Sharing Birthday cookies with classmates and Ainsley! |
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| Though it looks like nap-time, we're really playing "Sleeping Lions." |
Her party this year was themed “Fun and Games.” We have two amazing teenage neighbors who organized and ran all the activities. We were so thankful for them, since we ended up with 14 kids full of energy! (RSVP-ing is not really a thing here; we tried, but, you never know who will show up or how many extended members of their family will also be coming). True to her tradition the last few years, we gave Claire a choice of places to donate to with her party and this year she chose
Immanuel Afrika, the home and school for street boys where her teacher will be working full time next year. So, we extended the theme of Fun and Games to include the boys, and encouraged her guests to bring gifts for them instead of for Claire.
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| Playing Duck Duck Goose |
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| Red light, Green light |
Each year we have been impressed by her sincerity and excitement at “giving away” her birthday. This year, I would argue, she was given the best gift of all. Today, as we reflected on our experience of bringing the toys to I.A., she told me, “Mommy, today was so special, I wish you could have such a great party as this.”
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| The shyness didn't last long... |
We started off after breakfast, driving through the Kenyan countryside and on the new western bypass, following Miss Ross to one of the most amazing places we’ve ever been. We met with the director, a truly inspirational man with his own incredible story of hope. We spent the better part of the day just playing with and talking to the boys as they couldn’t take their eyes off our two mzungu (white) daughters. They took turns holding their hands, leading them around, carrying them on their shoulders.
It is a beautiful thing to watch kids be kids together. It doesn’t matter what color their skin, what their background, whether it is kids playing at a party with 50 cupcakes, or playing endlessly with baby bunnies and smiling in wonder at their soft fur.
Many of these boys have stories you wouldn’t believe. But those are for another time. The thing that struck us over and over was the hope and life we saw in eyes that we knew had never dreamed of such a life. When the director gave us the background of the organization and how the purpose of the program was to give hope…I guess it could be easy to be cynical because that is what many groups claim. Immanuel Afrika really delivers. The name means “God with us, in Africa,” which seemed a bit unbelievable at the moment if you’ve read any of the headlines of the last several days. But today we saw proof.
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| Claire and some of the boys at Immanuel Afrika. |
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| Ainsley helped Claire pass out presents! |
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| Pretty much sums up Claire. |
It was amazing to see the looks on Miss Ross’s and the director’s faces as they witnessed smiles of on some of the boys who never show much emotion. Who saw boys who barely utter a word on most days talk to our girls. To see the look of wonder on their faces as it was explained to them that this wild little girl with the pigtail braids wanted to give them her birthday presents. To hear the dreams of these young boys to grow up to be pilots or neurosurgeons. Hope is a powerful thing to give them such goals when only a year or two ago, they had no idea where their next meals were coming from.
At one point, I (Kirk) was outside with Ainsley, who was “playing” with Memory cards with about 5 boys. One of the boys, about 12 years old, came over to me and in a small, shy voice, said, “Thank you for coming to visit us this weekend,” and smiled as he offered his hand to shake. I shook his hand, but he hung on and kept looking at me with big eyes that seemed to say that our simple visit meant so much more to him than I could understand. He eventually let go and continued playing, only to repeat the whole process two minutes later. Such a simple thing, hope, and yet how important, how life-changing, how fragile.
This is a story of hope. What can happen when kids dream bigger than adults ever dare to. When kids are more generous than we ever think to be. How smiles of children can show us brightness after dark days.
So, as Easter dawns tomorrow morning, remember, even in the midst of sorrow and pain, the transformative power of hope.
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| "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." Psalm 30:5 |
It is a beautiful thing to watch kids be kids together. It doesn’t matter what color their skin, what their background, whether it is kids playing at a party with 50 cupcakes, or playing endlessly with baby bunnies and smiling in wonder at their soft fur.
Many of these boys have stories you wouldn’t believe. But those are for another time. The thing that struck us over and over was the hope and life we saw in eyes that we knew had never dreamed of such a life. When the director gave us the background of the organization and how the purpose of the program was to give hope…I guess it could be easy to be cynical because that is what many groups claim. Immanuel Afrika really delivers. The name means “God with us, in Africa,” which seemed a bit unbelievable at the moment if you’ve read any of the headlines of the last several days. But today we saw proof.
