When I Have a Birthday

So we are one month in to our transition to Malindi and we have been blessed beyond belief. We have met so many incredible people and we can already see that God has huge plans for the work here.

Even though we have lived in Kenya for 4 ½ years, the coast is significantly different from the other parts of Kenya. The coast of Kenya is predominately Muslim. While you do have some churches around town, Christianity if very recognizably the minority. Being that Muslims are the majority of the people, I have been very eager to get to know ‘my neighbors.’

Every Friday, Iddy and I have been going to an old pier that goes far into the ocean. I am not sure of the original intent of the pier, but it’s large and has never been completed. Each afternoon, a number of kids fish off the end of the pier to bring fish home for supper in the evening. They have no polls. They all have old sandals that have been cut in half which act as a reel. Many of the kids don’t even have complete fishing lines. They have made due by finding multiple used lines and tying them together. The fish are all about the size of my pinky so they try to catch as many fish as possible in order to have enough to eat for their whole family. Because none of them have fishing polls, I don’t bring one either. I have some string I bought in town that I wrap around my hand, an old piece of led that the boys found for me on the ground that I use as a weight and a small hook. Almost all of the kids are of Yemenis decent and half of them are named Muhammad, making it easier to remember their names.

One of the boys is about 16 years old and is named Shabir. Shabir, though shy, was very friendly to Iddy and I as we struggled to catch the tiny fish. Most of the kids stare and laugh at us, but Shabir wants to make us feel comfortable. One afternoon he leaned over and said, “When I was a young boy I struggled to catch the fish, too. Now I am good fisherman. One day you will be good too.” I wasn’t sure whether to be touched by his encouraging words or a little offended.

Last week I decided to invite Shabir and his family to supper. I wasn’t sure if they would come or not, but they did! Last Friday they all came for supper, and they seemed incredibly excited. The father, Aziz, was very friendly and excited to let us know just how much he knew about America. There were seven people in total, Aziz and Fatma (husband and wife) and their 5 children: Shabir, Suheil, Azmaira, Alia, and Akbar. The night was amazing, and I was incredibly touched and humbled by this sweet Muslim family.

When they were ready to go home, Aziz asked if I would take them home. When we got to their house they asked if I would come in for a minute. Of course I was happy to do so. They lived down a dark alleyway that was full of mud. As we entered their house, it was incredibly humbling to say the least. Because they are so proud of their home, I want to be very careful in my words to describe it. I will say, even though we have lived in Kenya for a while now, there are things you see and conditions people live in that no matter how many times you see those conditions, you can never really get used to it.

When I was getting ready to leave, one of the little girls, Alia wanted to show me something. Because of the incredible heat in the house, she had already stripped down to the bare minimum. She brought over an old paper birthday plate that had balloons printed on it. The plate was really worn out, but Alia had done a good job keeping the plate clean. Even though getting Alia to smile was difficult I could tell she was really proud of her plate. She started to speak in arabic, and I didn’t know what she was saying. I just smiled and told her how much I loved the plate. When I left, I asked Shabir was she was saying. He said a few months ago Alia was invited to a birthday party of another girl at school and each of the kids were given a plate with a cookie on it. She brought the plate home and asked if she could have a birthday since she had never had one. Shabir said they had never had money to celebrate a birthday for anyone in their house, and he wasn’t even sure which day he was born but he thought it might be sometime in December 2000. Shabir said that Alia told me, “I keep this plate under the bed so I can use it one day when I have a birthday.” On my way home that night, three thoughts ran through my head. God, please forgive me for all the things in my life that I take for granted. God, thank you for all the blessings in my life and help me to share those blessings with people that don’t have. Lastly, this year I want to make sure Alia has a birthday!