POKOT-A Journey of Fully Relying on God

On Friday, September 25th I headed to Pokot, backpack and helmet at the ready.  

When I first was told I’d be going to Pokot I was excited.  I would get my village experience I wanted the entire race last year and never got.  I was set to travel with two girls and would go house to house of some of the sponsored girls in Pokot.

The morning of departure, a friend messaged me to see how I was feeling about going.  And panic filled me.  Tears welled up in my eyes and for a brief moment, I questioned what I was doing.  That morning in my quiet time God had drawn me to the story where Jesus calmed the seas.  I think He knew I needed this reminder for my soul.  With just a few spoken words, peace and calmness overcame the water that had been tossing the ship to and fro.  And it’s Jesus who can do that in our lives as well.  Be just need to trust in him. 

Hours later, we finally reached our first destination: Irene’s Home.  We were greeted by lots of children, chickens, and eventually her mom.  Usually they sleep outside at night but tonight it rained so we all ended up sleeping inside their hut, 5 of us plus chickens and chicks. 

The next day we toured their farmland and saw another farm where lots of tomatoes were grown and they purchase tomatoes.  I had brought masks along to give away, so we gave to the farmers.  They ended up giving the basket of tomatoes to Irene’s mom for free because of the masks.  We also saw the goats that others had purchased for Irene and her family.  Later in the afternoon we went and saw the irrigation systems that they are putting in and went to where they fetch water.  We were able to encourage some boys at the water pump.  They were surprised to see a muzungu and that Irene could talk to me.  I ended up shaking hands with them and Irene told them that one day they could be talking English and have an education if they went to school. 

It again rained that night so we all slept inside once again.  I was able to share some Bible stories with Irene’s sister who was HUNGRY to hear anything she could from the Bible.  The family slaughtered a chicken for dinner.  This family who had very little gave me the best they could, and I was so blessed by them.

Sunday–our adventure to church started.  It took a while for the motos to arrive.  Then we had like a 30 minute ride and came to a dead end—a raging river.  Joram had told me about this river and I had seen pictures on facebook of people carrying him across.  But when we arrived and I looked at it…I was again filled with fear.  I was afraid to cross.  The water was coming up past the people’s waists when they came across.  But Eunice came and was confident that we would cross.  I watched as some boys carried my luggage across—and then one of the boys asked if he could carry me across.  I climbed down to water’s edge, he hoisted me over his shoulder, and off we went.  As we crossed, another boy held up my legs.  Honestly, it was super painful the way they carried me–but we made it across and not a single part of my body touched the water even when it was chest deep on the main boy who carried me.  I was so thankful as my feet touched dry land.  I stood there and watched as Irene and Faith walked across (the two girls I was traveling with).  Then all the sudden Faith is screaming a bit and a boy grabs her as she is pretty much all the way covered in the water (she had slipped).  But, we all made it across.  I thanked the boy who had carried me—he even had a huge cut on his foot where he slipped the one time…but like I said, he never let me touch the water. 

The girls changed and then we headed to church where we were a bit late, but I ended up preaching for the second service.  I shared a word about TRUST, something God’s been teaching me heavily about (even more so today with crossing the river!).  I shared about the Israelites journey and how God was continually with them the entire time.  After church we shared in some tea, chapati, and fellowship.  Then after a few hours went to Eunice’s house. That evening they slaughtered a goat and we shared in a feast of goat and ugali.      They drank some of the raw blood and then cooked the blood as well for us to eat–I declined to try this.  That evening, I sat around with some of the kids and took pictures with them.  The kids in Pokot love having their picture taken and looking at them on your phone/camera.  We again slept in a hut–they thought it was going to rain and didn’t want us caught outside in the rain.  

Monday–We went to the market.  We had lunch at Eunice’s mom’s stand–bean/corn stew with Chapati cut up in it (so yummy!)  Then headed out around 2pm.  We arrived at Sharlene’s place, and were welcomed with tea.  The grandmother there was sick with a cough and sore throat.  Faith who had been traveling with us was also dealing with a sore throat.  That evening we had rice for dinner and chatted with Sharlene.  She asked me questions about America and the 4 girls slept in the hut.  

Tuesday–we waited until around 11am for our moto drivers to come and then went to Edina’s house.  We had lunch there, left Faith so she could go to the doctor and picked up Irene’s sister Cheru.  We then continued on for another hour or so until we reached the bottom of the mountain.  Today we were hiking up to Esther’s place.  I was very excited because I had met Esther last year at the YWAM base and now would get to meet her again and her family!  I hiked with my backpack–tent, sleeping pad, clothes, etc….for 3 hours.  I was glad when we finally made it!  When we arrived, Esther’s father was eager to sit down with us and talk.

These people live so far away from society that they only go to town on Saturdays for food (because of the hike down the mountain and then a few hours to town).  Most of our meals consisted of Ugali and milk, and chai.  I had to advocate a bit for myself with the milk—they wanted to give me fresh milk and so I asked them to boil it.  They also tried to serve me sour milk but I declined. 

Wednesday–We went to the river to bathe (about 30 minutes away).  They filled a jerry can and we took turns bathing down the river a bit in “privacy”.  When I was down bathing I was sitting there waiting for the others and some cattle came and walked right into where we had got the water for our baths.  They drank the water, peed in it, walked in it…. I was a little mortified that I had just bathed using this water…but I guess that’s just the norm here. Then we traveled for an hour and half to a FGM (Female Gentile Mutilation) ceremony.  They didn’t actually perform any incisions on the girls here, but was more of an introduction of the girls.  The guys would jump and show their strength and the girls would join in dancing.  That night we had a lot of chats with the wives (Pokot people still practice polygamy…this family had 3 wives and they all lived in different huts but in the same area.  They raise each others kids… they do life together).  I shared some of Psalm 139 with them (they had been talking about a wife at the ceremony who was beaten by her husband severely…and I wanted them to know their worth).  In Pokot society, women are looked down upon.  The women are there to just have children and grow the families.  The men hope to have girls because the girls do all the work—they fetch the water, cook, sweep, mop, gather the firewood, take care of the children…they do EVERYTHING. 

Thursday–A bit of a rest day besides bathing.  I took a lot of pictures with the kids.  They braided my hair.  We figured out travel arrangements for Friday.  We shared in more time together with just sharing the word and encouragement and gratitude.  By this point, I was personally thankful for a rest day.  I think Faith had passed on her sickness to me. I’d been fighting the sore throat and I was tired.  I hadn’t been sleeping well at night…I believe I had a fever the past two night and chills and was sleeping in my tent.  So, I was thankful we’d be heading down the mountain tomorrow. 

Friday–woke up and packed up my tent.  We took LOTS of pictures with all the family.  They loved the polaroid pictures.  It took us about two hours to get down the mountain (Esther came with us because she was coming back to Joram’s so she can go to school when it opens) and then waited for our moto drivers.  Then we went back to Edina’s house and spent the night there.  Originally, we were going to go back to Joram’s today but our stay was extended.  We went to the market for lunch and had some kind of meat and ugali. 

Saturday- We did laundry where they fetch water.  They have to pump the water up from underground so I got to test my hand at the pump.  It’s a bit of work when you have a lot of jerrycans to fill.  Then we went to Cynthia’s house for lunch and the afternoon (another girl in the program).  We spent time with the one wife–and she was very honest with us about her feelings on the culture.  She was angry that she was forced into marriage and that she was unable to go to school.  She had a two week old baby that I was able to hold for a bit.  And we just sat around and talked and spent time with each other for the afternoon. 

Sunday–The neighbor Ezekiel came by in the morning and we had a good chat.  He is on fire for God and God has instilled him with a lot of wisdom.  We then ventured to church, which took us an hour and half to walk to.  I shared a word there about what it means to really be a follower of Christ–a life surrendered to him.  The elder of the church then took Irene and I home on a motobike.

Monday–I had to say goodbye to my dear Irene who had traveled this journey with me.  Esther, Cheru, and I traveled home to Kitale. 

This week was tiring.  I was tested mentally, physically, and spiritually.  I drank more chai than I have my entire life.  I ate ugali for more meals than I can count, and sometimes without greens.  I had a chicken and goat slaughtered for me…as a special guest even when some of these families were struggling to survive.  I slept in huts…I slept in my tent.  I walked half an hour to bath sometimes…. I walked hours to get to church….I was carried across a river.  I spent more time on moto bikes this past week then my entire life. I was bitten by bugs.  I was burnt by the scorching sun.   I learned about the Pokot people… I shared Jesus and His love… I fellowshipped and I just sat with people… I took pictures and more pictures and more pictures… Some children loved me, others were terrified of me.  I lived in abandonment and dependence… Life was hard. But life was also good.  I had to depend on my Father for strength and grace and love each and every day.  Was it worth it and would I do it again? Yes!! 

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