If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children. 

-Mohandas Gandhi

Our number one priority for the medical camp was that the children of the Wachara orphanage and school would receive the medical attention that they so needed

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That required that we rise at the crack of dawn to leave time for our Kenyan breakfast which mostly consisted of hard boiled eggs, dry wheat biscuits moistened with packaged and heated milk, bread with peanut butter, freshly made square donuts, and of course Kenyan tea.

Next, we put the "finishing touches" on the physical set up of the clinic. We had to create a "pharmacy," exams rooms for each of the practitioners, a place for people to wait outside the church, a registration/triage area in the church, space for our patients to wait to be seen after registering, and a "staging area" at the front of the church for supplies and where many of us spent hours counting pills  into small unit doses to save our trusty "pharmacists" some much needed time. It was a particular blessing to watch the very children we were preparing to see help us in setting the clinic up!

Finally the medical camp began! In spite of the heat, the children waited patiently to first be registered and then to be seen. In about 4 hours time we saw and treated about 150 children. We treated malaria, pneumonia, malnutrition, and worms along with many of the more "normal" childhood illnesses like ear infections, upper respiratory infections, and various bumps and bruises. While we were there we even had an outbreak of mumps.

But the young man we all will remember the most from that first day and continue to pray for had a simple infection on his thigh that had been untreated for so long that the infection worked its way into his bone. His little thigh had ballooned to about 3 times its normal size and he was quite ill. He was sent to the hospital and it is our prayer that by this time he has had surgery on the leg without need for amputation. Please join us in praying for this brave little guy.

After lunch the VBS was all set up and it was time to have some serious fun with the children! The children's ministry team members planned and executed a VBS that was outrageous! On average the children's activities filled the better part of 10 hours each day! Amazingly the team members who worked with the childrenm wanted more when our time in Wachara was done! Their energy and obvious love for the children was a blessing and a wonder. And of course, they children loved them right back!

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."    

Matthew 19: 14