Mary

We walked out of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum late this afternoon after serving all day at the Comido school. I saw that Rebecca Ogimachi had an entourage of 3 girls holding her hands. They had apparently decided to accompany the "Visitor" out of the slum.

These three did not attend the school, but staed around the edges of our activities - sometimes watching from outside the barbed wire, sometimes wandering into the school to see what we were doing. They were fascinated with all of our cameras - and loved to pose and then see what they looked like on the small screen.

I noticed Mary early in the day - quiet and reserved. She was one of the non-school children who came into the school and made a craft with us: a salvation bracelet - six colored beads that describe different aspects of God's love and salvation.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see her, at the end of our day, walking out with Rebecca. Someone who spoke Swahili asked her her name - and she spoke so softly that you almost couldn't hear her.

Maybe today was the first time she heard about Jesus. Maybe today she'll go home to her family and show them the bracelet she got from the mzungu (foreigner) visitors. Maybe she'll remember holding Rebecca's hand on the way out - and Rebecca's smiles and hugs. Maybe tonight the Lord will let her know that, at least for today, she had people around her who loved her and prayed for her.