How did I get here?

How did it happen that I'm going to go to Kenya, Africa in 2 1/2 weeks?  Well, in December of 2011 I had some time off work around Christmas, so I decided to go to Martins for the day and read a blog that my coworker recommended about her sister and brother-in-law's trip to Africa.  Now, I had never been a real reader of blogs, but I spent hours pouring through their story.  God led me to want to be involved with the ministry in Kenya that they went with, First Love International, so I decided to sponsor a child.  This is his story and it came with this great photo of him where he looks halfway ornery:

Luchipereti Ebei

Luche is 4 years old and the youngest of 4 siblings.  He was born in the northwestern part of Kenya, Turkana, where the primary livelihood is raising livestock.

After giving birth to Luche, his mother passed away, and he and his siblings were left in the care of their father who took them to their grandmother's house.  Unfortunately, during the many skirmishes in that area, Luche's grandparents, his uncle, and his aunts were killed.

Life became extremely hard as Luche and his siblings had nobody to care for them, as their father had to go to work as a watchman to earn a living.  The children had reached school age but were not able to attend due to lack of fees.  This is common in Turkana – the children are left to look after the livestock.

First love was notified of the situation and chose to give Luche a chance to attend school and find a future and hope.  He moved into the First Love home in December (2011) and is adjusting well to his new surroundings and many First Love brothers and sisters. 

Also through the Haywood's blog I found The Place Called Simplicity blog which I now read consistently.  It has inspired me in many ways and hopefully that will come into play later some day.  They also run a mission organization in Africa, in Uganda, and they had a trip at the same time as this one so for awhile I struggled with which one I should go on. . .