huyo ni kijana wangu.....this is my son.
Meet Archadius. He turned 18 this year and he is my son.We look alike right? :-)
The funny thing about Archadius is that right when I was in the middle of feeling like I had about all I could take of teenage boys at home
already, God put this young man in my path. He lives at Victorious
Children's Home in Kakamega, Kenya with my dear friend Vicki. From what he knows about his birth parents, his mother was a very young girl when she gave birth to him, maybe 13 years old. She was unable to care for him and the mother of his father would not take him in. I don't know what happened to his father, maybe it was rape, or maybe he just didn't care, I'm not sure. In Kenya, if you are a young mother, you are an outcast...from your family, from school, from everyone.
Vicki took Archadius into her home at a very young age and started teaching him things and then was able to send him off to school. He is the brightest young man and he hopes to some day come to the U.S. to go to college and be near his American family. He is great at football (soccer) and rugby and his academics too. I always joke with him because he makes better grades in English than Kiswahili. He has the kind of heart and attitude that when he his home from school (in Kenya you go away for the older grades) the whole atmosphere in the house changes and he could someday be the one who runs it...but he wants to be an engineer.
Due to certain regulations in Kenya I was unable to even try to adopt him and now, well he's technically an adult. But you ask my kids, he's their brother. They write each other and dream of going to Kenya someday to meet him in person. Recently, he sent me a letter telling me a little more about how he came to be at VCH and about going to school. He told me thank you for making him a part of our family because now when he goes to school, he is no longer an orphan and he can hold his head high. It breaks my heart that this wonderful soul should have ever had to hang his head and that such a small thing as just claiming him as son and brother and doing our best to support him in Kenya could make him hold his head high. He knows we are family.
If you have not ever had the privilege of supporting an orphan, I recommend it for everyone. Our church supports this orphanage and one in Haiti just to start or there are many organizations like Compassion International. I know, I know, charity starts at home...blah blah blah. We are all in the family of Christ and this planet is our home. These are the least, these are the widows and orphans and taking care of them in their need is religion pure and undefiled....the Bible says that. God made it clear.
Not to mention, you are just missing out if you don't. I know not everyone will get to meet the child they sponsor like I was able to do but you will still be blessing one beautiful soul. On your worst day you have not had it as bad as one of these kids. You do not have to decide that the meal you will give up today is lunch because you don't want to wake up or go to bed with your stomach growling. And when you eat your other two meals you don't just have porridge or tea and a cracker. You don't only get one egg a week for your protein. You eat daily, you have clean water coming out of faucets, daily. You most likely don't have a 12 foot wall with barbed wire running around your yard to keep out people who want to take what little you have, that you are sharing with 63 other kids. You don't battle malaria every year along with many other diseases. You have it good and if you didn't think so before, I hope you do now.
Not to mention, you are just missing out if you don't. I know not everyone will get to meet the child they sponsor like I was able to do but you will still be blessing one beautiful soul. On your worst day you have not had it as bad as one of these kids. You do not have to decide that the meal you will give up today is lunch because you don't want to wake up or go to bed with your stomach growling. And when you eat your other two meals you don't just have porridge or tea and a cracker. You don't only get one egg a week for your protein. You eat daily, you have clean water coming out of faucets, daily. You most likely don't have a 12 foot wall with barbed wire running around your yard to keep out people who want to take what little you have, that you are sharing with 63 other kids. You don't battle malaria every year along with many other diseases. You have it good and if you didn't think so before, I hope you do now.
25 days until I see my son again...and then I can say:
Nina furahi kuwa nyumbani... I am happy to be home.
