Community Health Project

So we have to wear skirts in the villages and even spouces are discouraged from publically showing affection, yet premarital sex and teenage pregnancy seems to be just as common here in Kapsowar as back in Tulsa. This along with several other issues are what motivated Kyle Jones and the Kenyan social workers, Ruth and Zef to start the community health programs. At the primary school Kyle and Zef first talked to the entire school of about 400 on the hillside. They talked about health, hygiene and safety until they were cut off by the rain. They then crammed 120 6th, 7th, and 8th graders into one room and talked to them about alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, teenage pregnancy, STDS, and the gospel. Kyle talked for a while in English. Then Zef, who is a native Kenyan and is familiar with the local culture, began talking to them very animatedly. He switched back and forth between English and Swahili and had all the students laughing. He was quoting all the lame pickup lines and exposing the selfish intentions of the guys. I watched the girls’ eyes as Zef spoke, and they reflected the pure yearnings of their female hearts--- to be loved, cared for, and called beautiful--- as they soaked in all of Zef’s words. We talked to Zef and Ruth afterwards about the frequency of sexual activity in this age group. They said maybe some was common in 6-8th and a lot more in the 9-12th grade age. We then went to the all girls secondary boarding school in the afternoon. Kyle was planning to talk, and he also asked Zef, a nursing student who had come with us, and myself to give a little testimony about the topics he planned to cover. He talked to the girls about alcohol, teenage pregnancy, premarital sex and STD’s. He related it all to the Christian faith and God’s will for our lives. Kyle then turned and asked me to share next. We were inside a class room but the building had a tin roof and the rain on the roof had been periodically drowning Kyle’s voice out. From learning Spanish I know that the best chance of understanding a foreign tongue is loud and clear, where as your native tongue you can understand even when muttered under someone’s breath. Many of the Kenyans speak English but their accent is difficult for me to understand and mine is difficult for them to understand. So I knew that the students would definitely not be able to understand me if it was raining. Right when Kyle asked me to talk it began to rain. I deferred to Zef, who went dancing around the room, enchanting the girls and causing them to laugh--- especially when he counseled them on not selling themselves to their boyfriends for French fries, which he made sound like a common occurrence. While he spoke the rain began pouring and pounding on the roof until even we couldn’t hear. But he ran to the middle of the room and the girls continued to listen enraptured. I sent up a prayer to the Lord that the rain would stop for me so that I could profess His truth to the girls and they could understand. Then came my turn. The rain had completely stopped when I started and didn’t start again until the next speaker. I shared the testimony of various patients I’ve cared for over the years, and the truth they’d realized too late. I’d asked Ruth why sexual activity was so common in these communities, and she said due to peer pressure (both from friends and boyfriends). I asked the girls and they agreed with Ruth’s answer, but then I told them that wasn’t the real reason because they could just say no. The true reason is their innate desire to be loved, valued and desired. I shared the testimonies of my patients who had tried unsuccessfully to fill that desire with boyfriends and popularity, and then spoke true fulfillment in a relationship with Christ and in living to love and care for others for Christ. I gave examples why God’s ways is better in the current moment than the worlds, and focused on less on long term rewards and blessings. At the beginning of the day I’d thought that all this was kind of boring, especially during the group session at the primary school. But the smaller group settings where we could see into the students eyes and heart was such a precious precious reward. Kyle asked Zef whether he thought these talks would have long term effects. Zef responded that already he would visit the villages near the schools they’d already visited and asked them if they remembered what they’d told them. And the children would reply “yes,” and proceeded to reiterate a lot of what had been spoken to them. The greatest strength and value of these talks was it allowed the team a chance to speak the gospel to the students, offer them the opportunity to accept Christ, and encourage them in a more mature faith and relationship with Christ.