20.6.10

Saturday Celebration

Two months ago, Charles lay in the ICU, paralyzed and comatose. Jason and another surgeon operated on his brain, and everyone prayed. On Saturday we traveled to Charles’s home to participate in a celebration of his amazing recovery. (This is Charles below.)

Charles, his parents, and several of his siblings gathered together with approximately 100 people from their rural community. Charles and some of his brothers welcomed us where the road ended and led us down the path to the family home.

Rural western Kenya is absolutely beautiful. Here is the view from Charles’s backyard.

The celebration began with lunch. A big delicious lunch of rice, beans, potatoes, meat, chapatis, and a local porridge drink called mursik. Mursik is made by fermenting milk in a gourd with charcoal to produce a yogurt-like charcoal-tasting delicacy. Anna bravely tasted the mursik and politely commented, “It’s a little bit good.”

Following lunch, we toured the farm. Anna was very interested in the animals.

The cows were not so interested in Anna.

The celebration speeches began mid-afternoon as dozens of Charles’s family and friends took turns at the generator-powered microphone. The family asked Jason to give a speech as well. He mentioned that Charles’s recovery reminds us that even when situations seem hopeless, healing is easy for God.

The highlight of the day, in my opinion, was Charles’s speech. He said that for years he has been trying to live apart from God. But now he is thankful to be “healed double.” He has been healed both physically and spiritually, as he is now living closer to Jesus. It is a blessing to be part of stories and celebrations such as this, and it reminds us why we are here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is good stuff. :) Thanks!
j

Eli said...

J- super proud to be your brother (double)
E

Anonymous said...

J-super proud to be your Aunt and Uncle! Pete and Gayle

Anonymous said...

God is good....

what was wrong with his brain =)?

Mrs. Wong said...

Wow. Thanks for sharing this great news.

Philip said...

This makes my heart glad.

Kathryn Wong said...

My absolute favorite has to be the picture of Anna gleefully clutching the chicken! I love it!

Carrie said...

What a lovely post! The Lord is using His power & your gifts to bring healing to the bodies and souls of those in your area.
I am DOUBLE proud of Anna for trying Mursik. In Maasai it's called Kule Naoto and I can barely say 'it's a little good'. Remarkable girl!
Praying for your family regularly.

Sandy said...

Such a joyful story!

Anna and Abi are as cute as ever! "That was a little bit good." LOL