Tenwek

A few years ago, one of our sons used to sleep with a small backpack, full of some of his favorite treasures and things he deemed necessary, near his ladder to his bunk bed. When I asked him what the packed bag was for, he said it was “in case there was a fire and I need to get out quickly.” Fire is scary. Fire is powerful. Fire usually shows up quickly and unannounced. In those days, our son was obviously feeling anxious that there could be a fire in our house. We have witnessed one huge house fire, and seen the aftermath of another, just on the small street we live on here in the States.

Last week there was a fire at Tenwek. We heard about it within hours of it having started. We prayed. We saw a picture of the flames soaring high above a building. I got chills and felt sick about what was happening. We had walked in and out of that building many times last year. I sat in a social work office there with baby Melanie. Two of our sons attended a Sunday school class in the dining room area of the building. Multiple times Tom went there to buy a soda and a mandazi. We walked by patients from the wound ward in the bottom of the building, who were often laying on the grassy areas surrounding the building when the weather was nice. And the building is used heavily by kids doing Bible Quizzing during the spring months each year.

Amidst this scary time, though, we learned there were so many things God was doing, miracles He was working. First of all, NO life was lost! In this huge fire, with no true fire station or firefighting equipment nearby, there were no casualties. That is amazing in itself. God’s protection and provision was in the timing of the fire and every other detail. We’ve heard also (and are not surprised) that the community of missionary families & staff at Tenwek stepped up and everyone was helping. They went into “go” mode and everyone worked together beautifully. There were surgeries going on, babies being born and critically ill patients who were being cared for during the fire. God provided. And the fire did not spread! Our church there was only a few steps from the door of the burning building (as seen in the picture below), but it did not get burned at all. So many miracles.

I was sad this week to think of the mess that our friends are dealing with at Tenwek, and the big job it will be to recover and rebuild after this devastating fire. I am reminded, though, of God’s amazing faithfulness. We don’t understand his ways, but he is God. He is loving and good and kind and just. And so much more. I struggle to believe this sometimes, but it is true.

We don’t know why this fire happened in the grand scheme of his plan, just like we don’t know why any tragedy happens. But we know that who God is will never change. There are always his miracles to be found. And that gives me great hope. Praise be to Jesus who cares for us in such tangible ways. He doesn’t have to, but he does. All the time. Great is his faithfulness.