Red Ochre

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 06/28/10

My daughter had made friends with a young Maasai lady who was blind. We were invited to her village for a meal. It was a fun day, but also very humbling as they gave us one of their precious goats. They had a thank- you gathering for us, because we sponsor Margaret, the blind girl, in school. They usually put the red ochre on for special occasions like weddings, but this day everyone had it one for US! Sooo humbling!

photographer: Vera Steury, Kenya. "My husband and I have been in Kenya now for 24 years. We work with the Maasai tribe in a remote area of Kenya. We do community-based health care (immunizations, HIV/AIDS counseling, clean water projects). I teach Sunday School, homeschool my own kids, and run a small guest house. My husband was born in Kenya as a missionary kid. All three of our children were also."

Hidden Flower

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 6/20/10

I was out walking one morning enjoying the cool air after a brief rain storm. I came around the corner and ran into a group of young girls just returning from washing their clothes in the nearby marsh water. Many of them were excited to see me and jump around and they all wanted their picture taken.

But this young girl shied back. She smiled timidly and when I began to talk with her, her eyes shone with joy. She was the hidden flower amongst all the other children who were anxious for attention. Eventually they went their way and I went mine, but her face is still in my mind, and thankfully my camera!

photographer: Chantelle McIver, Niamey, Niger

On the Prowl

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 6/14/10

We were in Maasai Mara Game Park which is near where we live. This lioness was very close, as she was stalking a herd of buffalo just on the other side of our vehicle. So she was about 15 to 20 feet from our vehicle when I took the shot. We watched her come through the tall grass. The next shot on my camera is of her passing just behind our vehicle. It was taken by a Canon Powershot S5 IS. (focal length 72mm). I remembered it striking me as just menacing. Thankfully, I was not out of the vehicle.

On this trip, my daughter's almost-fiance was with us. He had traveled to Kenya from the U.S. to ask us if he could marry our daughter. He was on top of the Landrover...it has an open hatch and when the lioness came so close, my daughter was telling him that she strongly suggested him getting back inside! (He did ask her to marry him on that trip.)

Photographer: Vera Steury. "My husband and I have been in Kenya now for 24 years. We work with the Maasai tribe in a remote area of Kenya. We do community-based health care (immunizations, HIV/AIDS counseling, clean water projects). I teach Sunday school, and my own kids and run a small guest house. My husband was born in Kenya as a missionary kid; all three of our children were also. "

For the Hungry: Body, Mind & Soul

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 6/7/10

We run a Grain Aid program in Niger, the poorest country in the world where there is also currently a famine. A woman came to pick up her husband's ration of oil, milk and millet and she was taking a little bit out of the grain to see its quality. I was struck by the beauty of her painted hands with the grain in the middle!

photographer: Chantelle McIver, Niamey, Niger, www.chroniclesofourjourney.blogspot.com.

What's NEW this week @ WOTH:

*Circle of Encouragement: Encouraging You to Encourage Others

We are celebrating 5 Years of the onlineMagazine with a HIGH FIVE: We have 5 gifts waiting for you!

And if you'd like, we have an opportunity for you to keep the ministry strong with this annual campaign of paying it forward...

*Weekly Word: Just started a new study on June 2 : James/Jude.

*Book Club Blog: Just started a new book this week: Gilead.

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 6/01/10

This is a small part of how God is healing the sick and how the gospel is being told in a RAC.

As a nurse, I go up to small mountain villages giving disabled children and adults physical therapy. I teach them and their families to do what they can rather than what they can’t do, to help with their daily activities. Together, we find tools and equipment in their local area. My daily thoughts go something like this:

How can I best help this mother and her child who has Cerebral Palsy? I could give him a wheelchair, but there is no room to put it on the side of a mountain. If we make a ramp for it, where would we get the cement? Can the house be remodeled for wheelchair access? Maybe not, I am told that if we take out the large beam in the doorway, the whole house would fall down. The child is getting heavier as he gets older, the mother is cheerfully willing to carry him on her back, but agrees that he needs something.

I pray for new ideas, and try to involve the family in any decision-making. At times, we have brought in used baby car seats from Canada, and have made some specialized seats from local bamboo. I show the parents and the caregiver who I am training, how to give the new exercises, draw pictures for them to follow, and have them show me back that they understand them. This is often done in three languages with two interpreters. They are so happy to have the help. We sit on low stools and have a prayer of thanks to the Lord. They know He loves them and are so grateful.

They usually want to prepare a meal for us before we go back down the mountain. But we don’t want to take their chicken, and say we have to go. Instead, they fill our pockets to overflowing with dried sunflower seeds and we keep saying “enough”! I think of that song “A Pocketful of Miracles,” knowing we have touched many lives today with the Love of God. We get back down the windy mountain trail, tired, our knees wobbling, so thankful to Him for this wonderful opportunity!

photographer: Lynn, RAC