Pure Hope
Hopeless. Desperate. There are probably no better words to accurately describe the life of young Purity. Her father, an octogenarian, is unable to support himself and the seven children living in their one-room mud hut in a very rural village outside Bungoma, Kenya. Her mother abandoned the family several years ago. Purity’s circumstances are not unlike many around her; however, Purity was born with Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the lower legs which causes them to bow. Unlike bowlegs, Purity’s disorder only worsens over time if left untreated, and the pain becomes unbearable.
Purity’s family could not afford to send her to school. In early 2018, she learned of a place that offered hope. So Purity left home and boldly approached the director of CRF’s Lwanda Hope and Light Academy to ask if she could attend there. Our Bungoma Program Director Wesley Namunyu understood her desperate situation and welcomed Purity to his school.
Kenya Child Placement Director Emily Bell and I visited the academy last July. We noticed Purity right away. She didn’t have a uniform. That raised a flag for Emily. A student with no uniform is a student without a sponsor. Purity’s short stature and bowed legs also drew our attention. Matching children with sponsors is what our directors do. Shortly after our return to Amarillo, Purity had a sponsor.
However, Purity’s physical condition and pain continued to weigh heavy. Emily comes from a medical family, and Purity’s sponsor, who lives in Amarillo, has medical contacts, as well. Soon, doctors, surgeons and medical facilities were volunteering their services on behalf of Purity. But she had never been outside of her village, so she didn’t have a passport or even a birth certificate. The outlook for getting Purity to the U.S. to receive these services looked pretty grim.
Kotieno Thomas, one of the directors of CRF’s program in Kisumu, Kenya, has traveled to the U.S. several times and already had plans to come again in May 2019. He contacted Wesley in Bungoma and offered to help obtain the documentation Purity needed to come to the U.S.
We began praying for obstacles to be removed. A dedicated CRF volunteer and Purity’s sponsor helped make others aware, and soon funds came in to cover Purity’s travel and the administrative costs involved. Funds raised also covered expenses for Peris Sikuku to accompany Purity. Peris, a CRF field worker and dorm matron at our Eruli high school, will serve as Purity’s medical guardian, translator and tutor while in the U.S.
Purity, Peris and Thomas arrived in Amarillo on May 9th, and corrective surgery is scheduled soon. The surgeons are very optimistic that it will be successful. After several weeks of recovery and rehab, Purity will return home with less desperation – and much more hope!
Our God continues to hear the cries of the needy. –Psalm 22:24
And He’s using CRF and our sponsors to respond. Will you sponsor a child like Purity?
