One last trip to the house

Back to the house

So the chance came for me to visit the Soysambu house again for one last time before I returned home and I couldn’t miss it....

We decided an unannounced trip would be a good idea to really see what real progress had been made.

Just like every time before my stomach turned over as we drove down the narrow path that leads towards the house.. what would we find there…?

Well praise God. .it wasn’t just good news it felt like we were witnessing an actual miracle. To witness such transformation in a family in such a small amount of time brings tears of thanks to my eyes even just thinking about it.

We found the father Edwards smartly dressed, clean, shaved and washing the families clothes.. The feeble shadow of a man that we had once met was no longer and a different man stood tall before us.. It was so encouraging to see that in the day to day there he was working and providing for his family and taking on his fatherly duties once again.. You could see that along with this new responsibility he had adopted a sense of self worth.

Of course it is a long journey for him and getting over any addiction especially when you are surrounded in poverty is no small task but here he was, wearing a clean and bright yellow shirt, trying his very best.

We were delighted that Laurence (who works at IcFEM for the fathers ministry)  had agreed to come along for the trip. We felt it really important that Edward, being the farther, was the one who could really make or break this family and yet was the one member of the family that we had spent time with the least. Laurence , Elliud and Simon just chatted to him and listened to his worries, they spent hours together  talking listening and praying. I think Edward was genuinely stunned that this day was all about him and in those few hours you could see him coming out of his shell. 

Well it wasn’t long before the children came home for lunch..They walked in to their new house,which was now home, with their new little shoes, red socks and no jiggers or limping or sticks in sight. They beamed when they saw us and came to sit on our knees. We sat there drawing together communicating through the pics . Its strange how we have built up this close bond with these children with barely no words, but  we have worked hard together, cried together  and we have witnessed and experienced something life changing together. I guess that speaks louder than words. 

                                   

Saying goodbye to the children was something I was dreading. These children have firmly established a place in my heart and in all honesty I was scared about a big and uncontrollable outburst would embarrassingly take me over..

But it didn’t, instead I just felt a real sense that they will be alright now..that our work here was done and that there was nothing really more that we could do for this family. They seemed now so different to the way they were before, a few months ago we greeted the unpopular, dirty, jigger ridden, mixed up and very needy group of people. and we said goodbye to a hopeful, beautiful, clean, inelegant family unit. So as we said goodbye we were aware we were handing them over into Gods large and very capable hands knowing that there they would be safe.  

Heres the beautiful Abel showing the world that he can now jump as his Jiggers are gone. 

                                                      

On leaving Edward walked right up to the land rover , looked us all in the eye , shook our hands and said thank you so much…he hadn’t ever approached us before let alone had any eye contact, that itself was powerful evidence of transformation

                                         

Driving off, that was confirmed for us as, the whole family stood together as a family and waved us off together

                                    

I know and believe that God promises to do more that you can ever ask or imagine, but to actually see him at work with my very own eyes was just incredible and something I must never forget.