Katie Nalem: Loved With Dirt

The days go by quickly here. Somehow a few weeks have escaped me since my last post, and they have been filled to the brim!

We've spent a lot of time at the Center the past few weeks. Ambassador Institute (a ministry of the AFLC) uses oral Bible stories to teach and train men and women here, so we've been following their method of teaching with our women. We only see each group of women once a week (which makes it difficult to develop a relationship with each one), but I'm astonished with how well they remember the stories! Two weeks ago I told the story of Adam and Eve to one class, and last week I asked those girls to tell the story to me, and they told it almost word for word! I was anticipating a general overview of what happened, so I was astonished when they all spoke at once in detail. It's so encouraging to hear these women reciting the Bible stories back to me, but is that it? Are they just stories that they can retell?

Only God knows that answer.

I love these women so much. I've been reading through their files and it hurts to see so many of them without people to support them, without husbands, without hope. Two girls were just thrown out of their houses this week, they're both 17. One is pregnant (Sanda) and one has a baby (Mary and baby Rion). They now rent a dirt closet; it hurt to go visit them, but they welcomed me in with such love even though they're both hurting from being "chased" out of their homes. It's hard when I can't say much to them (Oliotya -- how are you? Balunge -- good. Tugendakufumba chapati enkya -- we're going to cook chapati tomorrow. Akwagala -- He loves you! And a handful of other things!) But I've been learning this week that love doesn't need words sometimes.

That sounds crazy, right? But in times when I feel so discouraged that I'm not getting through to these women, I'm reminded of the fact that Christ didn't use words when He showed His ultimate act of love for me. I recount how He came, He served, He got dirty, and He died. For me.

Dirt is a problem here. Mainly because everything is dirt, especially on the island. Somehow, being mzungu, dirt is poisonous -- at least that's what my friends seem to think! My friends on the island are covered with dirt, and it makes me sad that they bathe the kids for me. Last week Alapha was on my right (already bathed) and Sumani was on my left (very dirty) and I hugged Sumani and the mom cried out, "Ah ah! No, you love that one! (Pointing to Alapha) Sumani is too filthy for you to love." They tell the kids to stay off my lap and to get down when I carry them on my back because they'll get me dirty.

This week, I rubbed the dirt on myself.

You should have seen their faces. :)

I told them how I am dirty inside. I can try to be clean and look good on the outside -- with my physical appearance and how others think of me -- but my insides are always dirty, because I sin. The glorious thing is that Christ loves us even when we're dirty. I don't have to bathe to be loved by Him. In fact, He came to me in that dirt so that He could meet me there. He does the cleansing for me.

My friends are Muslim, so they're now observing Ramadan. To them, Jesus is a nice guy that loves them because that's what the children's song tell them. They have a Bible and think it's similar to the Koran, because really, all roads lead to heaven. Would you pray for my friends, please? I want them to know Jesus.

Tomorrow starts a new week of Bible stories with the women at the Center, trying so hard to pour into their lives and to show them that we love them. A new week is always exciting for me! I look forward to every single day here. Satan's lie is that we're not doing much of anything while we're here, and it's easy to fall into that and be discouraged. But with the strength of God and the Holy Spirit within us, we love these women, these children, and we're excited to see what God will do.

Would you pray that God would soften the hearts of these women? We want to reach them, we want to know them, we want them to know Jesus.

So sorry for not reporting this, but a few of us were in a car accident last week. Nobody was hurt and the car is being fixed, so we praised God for His protection! In the words of little Jay (3 years old), God was in between our car and their car. :) Such simple faith. One of the stories this week was when God called Abram, later in the story He said, "Do not be afraid Abram, for I am your shield, your very great reward." God is our shield. We see that here. His protection is evident, it's startling! It's good. Thank you for your prayers of protection over our safety!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." -- Psalm 91:1

To GOD be the glory!