A STORY THAT MAKES ME STAY

by Darlene

All of our students tell their "life stories" to Renee, and I put them in the computer. Tonight I was typing George Lokitoi's story. George came to us in August; he' s from the Turkana tribe, a tribe that lives far north, toward Somalia. His people are nomads, always looking for grazing for herds of goats and cows. It's a hard life, with dangers from lions or raiders from the Pokot tribe. So he ran away and ended up on the streets of Nairobi.

He came to MITS because a fellow street boy told him there was food here. He says he liked the Bible stories (a first for him); his favorite stories were a group -- the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. When I read that, I felt my heart jump.

Eighteen years ago, Charles and I went with a small group to teach VBS in George's area. Before we went, I interviewed a Turkana man, seeking to present the Bible parables in a way that would draw them to it. With that input, I got a street kid to draw a Turkana woman who had lost a coin. She looks in the grass hut, sweeps with sticks, and finds it. We drew the neighbors who come rejoice with her. For the lost sheep, we had a Masai herder lose a cow and worry about a lion. They jump for joy when it's found. For the lost son, we have a kid who's come into the city and comes to Eastleigh (where our center is).

That said, I was touched (bumps on my arms) because this fits George so well. Just maybe I had that bright idea years ago because Jesus planned to use this to grab George and bring him to Himself and to us. George could feel the diligence with which the woman searches - and recognize it. And the lost sheep/cow -- George ran away because first he had lived through a lion attacking a herd, and when Pokot raiders came and stole two cows from him and whipped him, he couldn't bear to face his father, so he ran away -- he became "lost". And that lost boy came to Nairobi, to us. And he heard Jesus' stories of His love there. I dunno -- but I feel like God used my pictures to bring a lost boy home. This is why I'm here.