It Is Enough!

 

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News,
you will save it.

  Mark 8:35

 

I love my excursions to the "big city" of Kisumu.  The drive is lovely, and the anticipation of what treasures I might find at the market makes me giddy with anticipation.  On one trip, I actually found Ragu spaghetti sauce and tinned pears.  Wow!!  We've also been fortunate enough to discover a dry cleaners, a beautician that has experience cutting "mzungu" hair, and a restaurant that serves cheeseburgers.  My cup runneth over! 

 

But our journeys to Kisumu have not been quite the same since I recently noticed a large white "X" painted on many of the buildings and gates along the way.  Our driver explained that the government is widening the road, and the marked structures are those that will be demolished (with no compensation, I might add).  So my heart sinks a little whenever I see an "X", knowing that it represents someone who will lose his home or his business.  In fact, until he checked on the proposed route with the local authorities, Ken was concerned that the Army might even lose the front gate at Territorial Headquarters.

 

X Marks the Spot

 

 

Actually, we've seen a great deal of loss in the past two weeks.  The Kaptanai Corps hall was destroyed in a storm, and wind blew the roof off the home of one of our dear retired officers.  She had nowhere else to go, of course, so she is still living there.  On top of that, there has been a renewal of politically-motivated violence, and twelve Salvationist families at the Mayanja Corps have been senselessly attacked at night in their beds.  They've not only been injured, but they've also lost any sense of personal security. 

 

Most tragic, however, has been the loss of several children at our schools.  Sudden illness claims the lives of children here with depressing frequency, and we were deeply saddened when one of our brightest and most delightful students passed away.  She was a young lady with big dreams.

 

But we've also seen victories.  Last month, for example, Ken commissioned thirty-six new lieutenants.  These are men and women who have been praying for an opportunity to attend the Training College, but for one reason or another, had been told that they did not qualify.  Yet they never gave up, instead accepting leadership responsibilities at some of our poorest and most isolated corps.  Without adequate compensation, and receiving even less recognition, these dear servants have remained faithful to their calling for years, some of them for more than a decade.

One young woman in particular will always have a special place in my heart.  She suffered a stroke some years ago, but although the allowance she received was inadequate to pay for proper medical treatment and therapy, she stayed at her post.  On the day of her commissioning, she limped across the platform and did her best to raise her right hand in a Salvation Army salute.  I thought I saw Ken's eyes water as he presented her with an officer's commission, and my thoughts turned to a quote I heard some years ago:

  

 If God is all you have, you have all you need.

 

Another lesson from my Kenyan family.