When i first met Christine during one of our outreaches to the prison, i was so moved by her testimony. How the Lord had fished her from freedom to prison to get her into His will. That was one of the most powerful testimonies i had ever heard. But there was a sad side to it too - loneliness, neglect and anxiety. Being a Ugandan single mother in a Kenyan prison meant she had no one to visit with her, her children had no guardian and all that comes with such situations.
I felt the Lord leading me to minister to her. And i have done that for the last two years. Whenever i am able i will buy personal effects, sometimes just walk in to find out how she is doing.
One of my most trying moments with her was when she received the news of the passing on of her firstborn daughter. First, i wondered how i was going to break the news to her, and how she would receive it. Then there was the question of whether the prison authority would allow me to give her such news! As i grappled with the question, i received a call from the prison that i was required urgently. The caller did not divulge any further information. Of course as any normal person questions started filling my mind. I wondered what she had done since she was the only person that connected me to that prison. Accompanied by two of my friends, i took myself to my supposed slaughter. When we got there, i was quickly informed that Christine had a problem, and given that i was the only contact they could find in their records, that was why they had called me.
Now hell seemed closer than i had imagined. All the same, the chaplain was called to receive us in her office as Christine was called in. When i saw her, i knew there was something terribly wrong. She was looking haggard, unkempt and so withdrawn. She tried to smile but nothing worked. Her usual beautiful smile had disappeared in this new look i had never known before. I hugged her,which we rarely did because lots of times we would just see each other through the wire-mesh place, or occasionally shook hands as i handed stuff over to her at the tight watch of the officers. She held so tightly onto me, while i tried to search her silent hug to get the answers to my very many questions.
As we took our seats with my eyes tightly fixed on her and occasionally shifting to the chaplain, she broke out in tears. At this point, the chaplain was explaining why i had been called. Apparently, Christine had gotten to know of her daughter's passing on and was bitter with God for the lose of her second child while in custody. She said amidst weeping that "if God has decided to kill all of my children i want him to take me too." For two weeks, Christine had not eaten, taken a bath, changed her clothes, combed her hair, done her manual duties or even spoken to anyone. She had been crying and giving trouble to anyone who tried to help.
Since i was the only one who had been visiting her, it seemed i would be the only one to help her get out of her sorrow.
What would i do or say that would take away her pain?! I wondered to myself.
Though at this time i was so relieved that it wasn't anything bad as i had feared earlier, her response to the news of her lose however was quite out of hand from what anyone would have expected. In silence i just sat there and cried with her. Once in a while she would keep quiet and try to calm down, and that would be the opportunity for me to throw in a word of encouragement or affirmation from God. Then came the worst moment when i was forced to tell her that even though she had repented and been received by God, she still had to suffer the consequences of her sin. I didn't mean that the death of her children were God's punishment to her, but the fact that they both died from inadequate medical attention and care could be a consequence of her misconduct that led to her being imprisoned. I am glad she took it calmly and did not blow up on my face.
After crying and talking and crying some more, she calmed down and was now able to listen to us in a more composed way. She repented to God for all the unpleasant things she had said to Him, asked the chaplain to forgive her for having been so ruthless with her and promised to apologise to her fellow inmates and the officers as well. As we left, i was glad that the Lord had allowed me to minister to her. And that i can be sought after for her sake. It gave me real joy that i had touched one soul for the kingdom.
As i visited with her this last Sunday which incidentally is her last Sunday in there, i could not help but just praise God for the joy and peace i saw on her face even as she faces the uncertainty of what the outside world has in store. Her hope and enthusiasm really amazed me. And the way she thanked me...no words can explain!
Why am i telling us this, you may wonder! Its just to let us know how God can use us to touch people in our small ways. Its not by power or by might, but by His spirit says the Lord. All we need to do is avail ourselves and He will direct us in ways we may never have imagined.
That very same day, i took my new American friends through a mandazi making class!
I must say this was fun. And you can never imagine how the little things we do to others can change their lives. You should have seen the excitement in their eyes at the fact that they had made their very own first mandazis, and that they don't have to always keep waiting for people to bring them but now they can have them whenever they please. This really pleased me as much as it excited them.
One thing i have learned through these two stories is that its not always about what people can do for us, but what we can do for others. Mother Teresa said, "I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one. . . The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But, if I didn't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. "
