"Christmas in Tharaka" by Senator Kyle McCarter

Our organization, Each One Feed One supports 40 orphans. Everyone of the orphans that we care for in Tharaka, 40 at present, were invited to a special Christmas lunch today. They walked from as far as 8 km away. We sent picki pickis for others. One driver with 5 kids on the back. I know it is not safe but it is also a sin to waste space on a well running motorcycle in Kenya. 100 KS (kenyan shillings/$1.25) per rider to go 15 km. I drove the Nissan pickup to collect others farther away. The plan was to start at 10:30am, arrive by 12, eat by1pm. Just a plan, only that. TIA – this is Africa. Solomon, the evangelist/community organizer who coordinates the orphans went with me to give me directions. They are far from mapquest, believe me. “It is just there, over there” he would say. How much farther? I would ask. Oh, just up here, maybe 2km. 10k later, over a river and two turns later we arrive. This is the same guy who told me once when driving into the bush to visit an orphan’s home that our destination was 5km away by car, 10km on foot. ???? really??? God bless Solomon, he means well. While those who arrived at Little City on time were waiting they were served Chai. Dorcas, our nurse, and Jane, our pharmacist, more so our friends who work for EOFO yet have servant hearts, waited to greet the children. There is no way they would be allowed in the gates otherwise. This was the first time any of them had been in a restaurant, especially one like this. We arranged the tables under the tent in a U shape like a banquet. They dressed up the best they could. Some were our new orphans and we saw their needs. Many are afraid since they come from abusive homes. The family, aunts and uncles and grandparents, are obligated to take them in once orphaned or abandoned but this does not mean that they receive good care. In some cases they are abused. Victoria made labels with their names on them and had them place them on their chest. This was a big deal. Their name was placed on them for everyone to read. A child abandoned, forgotten, told they don’t matter, told they don’t have a future, and that they are destined to be impoverished gets excited that someone knows their name. Our motto for the people is “Tharakan but not forgotten.” Then Victoria set up tables for groups of the kids to gather around and play with Tinker Toys, Bristle Blocks, foam blocks, color large bible pictures, and set up a kid’s manger scene which we brought over with us from the states. Imagine never seeing anything like this or being able to play with it. As they were playing I had the owner of the Bata shoe store come over to measure their feet for new school shoes. We then at 3pm, remember TIA, served them goat stew, chicken, chapattis, mashed potatoes, goat stomach and liver, cabbage & sakuma weki. Sakuma Weki means to push the week, make ends meet when you have very little. We also had pineapple and mango slices. You should have seen how big their eyes got when I opened the pot of stomach. They started jumping. Oh boy, I was glad they wanted it because I did not. This was a feast. Most had never eaten like this. They live on githiri – boiled maize and beans. After the first serving we had the servers go around and fill their plates up again. They ate and ate and ate. The place was quiet. Surely they could not eat any more. Then came the sodas. A soda for everyone. A 17oz sprite, stoney, fanta, or coke. I asked how they could even drink it after eating so much. The reply from Dorcas was, “it is Christmas, they can”. They may only get one soda in a year. What more could we do for them? A gift! Victoria put together tote bags and clear plastic shoe boxes with crayons, sweets, pencils, headbands, soccer jerseys, biscuits, rubber balls, plastic plates forks and spoons, cups, water bottles, deodorant, dolls, gum, notebooks, and more. I gave the older boys graduating from form 4, 12th grade, a special knife imprinted with Senator McCarter on it. We prayed for them, blessed them, loved on them, and reminded them that God had a great plan for their lives and that they were not forgotten. We told them to never let anyone tell them that they could not become someone great. They left Little City full, a little less afraid, and with more hope that God has a future for them. We loaded up the Nissan with 5 in the back seat & 8 in the truck bed, stacked the boxes and kids on the pickis, and headed to their homes. What a Christmas Day!

Luke 14:12 "Then He also said to him who invited him, "When you give a dinner, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the lame, the maimed, the blind. And you will be blessed , because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”