There is Always Hope

There is always hope

As I was reading back through my journal entry of Wednesday’s visit to Salgaa this past week, I was struck by this statement I had written down.  It was preceded by this:

How blessed I truly am to not have to fight and struggle in the way they (these women of Salgaa) do.  Not that it makes me better.  But I cannot imagine the life they have for myself.  I struggle to be able to put myself in their shoes.  And what can I give to those struggling with a life so different from my own?  I don’t deserve for them to long for my kind of “normal” life.  More than anything, I just want these women to encounter Jesus and to know the grace that abounds in Him.  I am not the answer to their struggles, and my personal attempts will fail.  It is Jesus Christ alone who is capable of transforming their lives.  So I am resigned to show and tell them of His love, His power, & His life.  It is only through Jesus Christ that a modern day Sodom & Gomorrah such as Salgaa can be changed.  I am not content to leave Salgaa alone, to give up when it gets hard and frustrating, to believe there is no hope – THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.  Otherwise, why would God lay such places on our hearts if they were beyond hope?  I will trust and I will beg for God’s Spirit in Salgaa.

Each week as I meet with the women, I visit a new home and I hear a new story.  The things I hear over and over are broken dreams, a long for normalcy, and desperation for something more.  Each story breaks my heart, yet after each one I’m reminded “There is always hope.”  There is always a chance for change.  There is life transforming power that has remained untapped but is still there for the taking.

After this past Wednesday, I found myself completely broken.  YET, what I have seen happen in lives SINCE this past Wednesday has put back together the pieces of my heart that broke.  God is moving among the women of Salgaa.  God is moving among the women of Ngata.  God is moving among the women of Kenya!  I have seen Him begin to tear down walls that seemed impossible to break down.  I have seen Him wreck lives that seemed impossible to wreck in any other way.  I have seen Him reach down and begin to touch these women who have been desperate for something, anything more.

So yes, there is always hope.  Yes, the journey toward hope is a difficult one.  It’s not guaranteed to be without hurts, frustrations, fears…yet hope is always there.

Coming back from Salgaa last Wednesday there was a familiar song that got “stuck” in my head.  “Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.”  I’m confident I’ve sung this song countless times, in fact, most of us have.  This has become my anthem for Salgaa.  I believe there is still hope for places such as these.  I believe that God Himself is not content to leave them alone and give up on those who reside there.  I believe that GREATER THINGS HAVE YET TO COME AND GREATER THINGS ARE STILL TO BE DONE IN THIS CITY – SALGAA!