Never did I ever dream that I’d be filling my resume with so many new titles, roles and skills, nor would some of you who know me well believe that these stories are not fabricated in any way. I’m still the same Kelsey, just wearing a new pair of big-girl pants. A frequent thought runs through my head, “Wait. Where’s the adult that’s going to take care of this?……Oh, that’s right. That would be me.”

Role: Exterminator

As I was eating dinner with an orphan family in their home, I watched a rat boldly run right through the front door and scurry into the boys’ bedroom. I looked around the room and I knew that everyone in the house also saw it, but not a word was said. (Take note that the entire rest of the conversation over the next hour or so happens with lots of expression, enthusiasm, and emotion from me, and simple statement of facts from the children, with a giggle or two sprinkled in.) Taken aback, I asked, “Did I just dream that or did y’all see what I saw?” Lots of giggling, but still, no one moved, and one girl said, “Auntie, it’s just a rat.” I jumped up and ran into the boys’ room, “JUST a RAT?! How are you going to sleep tonight knowing there’s a rat in your house?! Who’s going to kill it?!” More giggling, but not a single person got up to come to the rescue. (Granted, the kids are not allowed in the bedrooms of the opposite gender, so the girls were being obedient. Don’t ask me why they choose the classroom to be disobedient, when I give them perfectly good opportunities and even encourage them to break the rules, in times such as this.) I listened for the squeaks and rustling to locate the rat. One boy sat and watched me, without a trace of emotion. The other boys went on as if they didn’t even know I was there. Finally, I picked up a soccer cleat as my weapon, and when I pulled away the last paper the rat was hiding under, I began screaming and dancing around. I’m not sure who was most scared, me or the rat, but the rat just laid on the ground, playing dead. Screaming continued until I was sure I had hit him enough times that the “dead” wasn’t pretend anymore. I don’t know why I even asked who was going to dispose of the rat for me, but I did. No response. I swept the rat out into the living room, where I made the girls take picture proof of me and my kill. After sweeping the rat outside, I had the genius, and maybe a little devious, idea to leave my prize in one of the boys’ shoes. I was eager for the next morning to come. I specifically changed my route to school, just so I might cross paths with him. He saw me and giggled, telling me that I have bad manners. Harmless pranks are always worth it 🙂

Role: Dental Assistant

Another morning, I went to the dental clinic just to talk to the medical officers about some plans for upcoming medical teams. While I was waiting, there was an 8 year old boy whose his tooth was so infected that the infection had reached his gums and cheek. He was miserable, so I sat with him and comforted him. Next thing I knew, I was wearing a Disney face mask and rubber gloves with a sharp tool in my hands. The dentist offered to let me give the numbing shots, but I declined to instead hold the boy’s hand. We waited patiently for the medicine to kick in, then the dentist pointed out the tooth that needed to be extracted, to me to hold on tightly and wiggle the tool back and forth until the tooth broke free. Sounded simple enough, I thought. The dentist left me there alone and went about his business. As I began the child started making awful groaning noises and the tears poured down his face. I cringed and proceeded to work the tooth, until I began to cry along with the boy because of his pain. I couldn’t handle it; the dentist came to my rescue and finished the job. After cleaning up, I apologized to the dentist for not being able to finish the job and for causing the boy pain. He replied, “Wasn’t he already paining? We aren’t serving the little boy, if we aren’t changing his situation for the better.” Wow. That really struck a chord with me. We were all designed with specific purposes in mind to serve God’s children effectively. When we have unity in Christ, we can rely on each other to work toward the common goal. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10. At first I felt bad for letting the dentist and the little boy down, but I realized my purpose in that situation was for comforting the child. Both the dentist and I were necessary parts to the whole; neither was more important than the other. I keep being reminded that I was created for many different roles, but that doesn’t mean I was created for ALL roles. I am grateful the Lord gave us each different skills, but more importantly, gave us each other to be stewards of God’s grace together.

Recently, we’ve been having quite a lot of trouble at RG with the water/plumbing system. I’m also still working on mastering the art of solar power. I’ve gone through a lot of trial and error, while trying to achieve the perfect power usage to daily sun ratio. There have been several consecutive days that I have been without both water and power in my house. The sayings, “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” and “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone” could not be more true. I realized that I have always had more than I needed. By the grace of God, I have never had to experience a life where I went to bed hungry or couldn’t get clean drinking water when I was thirsty. I only remember a handful of times that I couldn’t access power, but it only ever lasted a few hours. I have never had to walk a long distance or physically pump water to quench my thirst. Even in these days of no power or running water near my home, I’ve only seen a glimpse. I thank God that He has shown me insight without having to have the full experience. Philippians 4:19 says that “God will provide every need of yours, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God promises that He will provide everything that we NEED. He does not promise to provide everything that we want, and He doesn’t even promise that we will get our needs in the way we want them. I have found that often times (okay, all the time…) God always has a better way of providing than I imagine, expect or want.

Here’s the story: I was worrying about how I was going to get up into my attic to reset the master power switch, when it had already gotten dark outside. I had basically come to the conclusion that I was going to run inside and go to bed right away, so I would just wake up and daylight would be there for me to solve my problems. As I was quickly walking to my home, I passed several of the older boys. They stopped me and we started to chat a little bit. In the back of my mind, I was still worrying, rather than truly investing in the conversation we were having. One of the boys said to me, “Auntie, are you fearing to walk home alone?” My initial thought was “Yeah, I hate walking around here at night, especially when I know I’m not going to be able to turn a light on when I get home.” Not wanting these boys to lose any respect for me, what I really said was, “No no. I’m just fine, thanks.” But for some reason, they turned around and started to follow me home. I was torn between telling them to go home, and continuing to walk and talk with them, since they had shown interest in initiating a conversation (a huge leap for many of these boys). As we walked, it dawned on me: ask the boys to help you turn on your power. With the pain of humiliation, I quietly asked for their help. One of the boys responded. “Of course we will help, but really, we were wondering how you were going to get your water to bathe tonight.” I had already succumbed to the fact that I wasn’t going to get any water tonight, and I was going to have to go to bed thirsty and with grimy teeth. Lord, why are you so good to me? I was busy worrying, while the Lord was busy providing his daughter with both power and water: more than she needed and better than He promised. The boys, some of whom are half my age, took care of me better than I deserved, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for their love.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

+ I am being served and treated much better than I deserve. I can feel the Lord’s love and protection all around me.

– My tolerance toward Americans, of all people, seems to be getting lower. Pray that my attitude will be changed to help your missionaries keep unity and support for each other.

All my love,

Labolo