Seasons of Life.

King Solomon, in his wisdom, once wrote: “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). For our Home-Based Care team in Kipkaren, this is a season for us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Over the past weeks, we have lost several of our dear friends to death. It feels as if we finish the burial of one only to lose another. Our hearts are heavy. Our questions remain unanswered. But in this broken place, we are not without hope. We are being reminded that this world is not our home. We are experiencing the grace that is sufficient to carry us through. We are learning, even more, to depend upon God and one another to continue in the work to which we have been called.
On Valentine’s Day, I received the call that Edwin, the young boy with heart disease, had become acutely sick. He had recently been discharged from the hospital after several unsuccessful attempts to treat his condition. He had wanted to go home. So, he spent his last days with his family in the familiarity of his home and village.
By the time I reached his home, he had already passed away. His family’s small grass-thatched hut was full of neighbors and family members grieving the loss of their child. There was a single candle to light the blackness of the night. At times, the only sound was of a mother crying over the loss of her son. Edwin’s brother laid beside him unaware of all that was taking place. And my heart felt the loss of one that I loved.
Over the past month, these lyrics have been my cry:
When I don’t know what to do,
I’ll lift my hands.
When I don’t know what to say,
I’ll speak your praise.
When I don’t know where to go,
I’ll run to your throne.
When I don’t know what to think,
I’ll stand on your truth.
-Tommy Walker

I thank you for your continued prayers for us as we experience life and death in this place. Your prayers are a source of strength in the midst of our weakness. One thing that has become so evident to me as we journey through this valley is that death is only a shadow. There is life beyond this broken world and the separation we are experiencing is temporary

In memory of a friend.

Timon Kutto
1/28/63-1/25/07
Last Thursday morning, I received a phone call saying that Timon, a beloved patient and friend, had passed away in the night. Over the past two and a half years, I have had the amazing privilege of knowing and loving this man and his family. HIV/AIDS had stolen his physical body but was never able to infect the beauty of his spirit. It is impossible to explain, but God used Timon’s life to reveal Himself to me in a profound and personal way. As Jesus had promised in Matthew
25, I encountered Him as I visited my sick friend.
For the past few years, Timon spent most of his days under the shade of a tree; and by the time I met him, his speech was very limited. It was his gentle yet piercing eyes that told his unspoken stories and led me to write these lyrics: “The words you long to say, the stories you’ve hidden away– they’re in your eyes, your tear-stained eyes. Dreams lost, brokenness found. Loneliness is all that’s around. It’s in your eyes, your tear-stained eyes. Lost dreamer, dream again– you are going home.” I can only imagine the way Jesus welcomed His child with outstretched arms. He wiped away Timon’s tears. And Timon was freed from the struggles of this world to dance and praise the One who never left his side. Up until the end, without fail, Timon would lift his hand towards heaven and say “Mungu tu”. “It’s only God”.
Timon’s joy was found in his nine year old son named Kipchumba. Just one week prior to Timon’s death, I felt so strongly that if we wanted to love Timon we needed to care for his son. In Timon’s last days, Kipchumba began attending ELI’s Brook of Faith Academy in Kipkaren and is receiving quality education and loving care allowing his father to rest. I thank God that He is the Father of the fatherless. Please pray for Kipchumba.
I will miss the moments with Timon but will forever be grateful for the gift God gave to me through his life. He proved to me that, although it be costly, love never fails.
“LET THE HAND OF THE LORD TAKE CARE OF ME UNTIL I GO HOME.” -
TRANSLATED FROM KALENJIIN, THE LYRICS TO TIMON’S FAVORITE SONG