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Archive - Article 10
John’s Story
5/14/01
A frail naked boy carefully steps around the poisonous thorns of
the acacia shrubs that litter the ground in the East African bush
region of Turkana. The boy surveys the desert-like terrain, but
finds little shelter from the high midday sun. Only a few thriving
acacia shrubs dot the horizon. Grass is scarce and trees are even
scarcer. A sudden spiraling wind, called a dust devil, stirs up
the powder fine brown dust, and it showers over the boy's hair and
body turning his dark brown skin several shades lighter. He squeezes
his eyes shut until the dust settles, enjoying the brief respite
the breeze has provided in the otherwise still heavy air.
The child's parents are dead. A few months earlier they were slaughtered
during the night by a neighboring tribe from across the border that
wanted to steal their goats and sheep. At eight years of age, he
is on his own. While other children across the world are dreaming
of their next toy, John dreams of his next meal. He has survived
so far on a diet of snakes and insects. His thirst is high, and
he continues the long walk to the riverbank. A three-year drought
has dried up the river, but by digging a hole with his hands, he
is able to siphon off some water that oozes out of the brown mud.
Tonight he will sleep on the dirt floor in one of the crudely constructed
thatch huts that was not destroyed during the raid. His heart is
heavy when he remembers his parents, but his memory of them is the
only thing that remains. The surviving members of his tribe are
barely able to feed their own children, much less take in an orphan.
He lives to exist, and by existing, he survives another day.
A stranger from Turkana changes John's fate. The man is dressed
in the apparel of a Westerner. John watches him from afar, his curiosity
awakened as he discovers the man is asking about children without
parents. When John is summoned, he shyly comes forward. The man
explains that he is Pastor Emmanuel Ekiru of the New Testament Church
of God in Kakuma. He too was an orphan, and someone took him in.
Now he wants to give John a home.
When the Village Chief, John Ekonropus heard of Pastor Ekiru's
rescue attempts, he offered to donate ten acres of land to the Church
of God to build an orphanage in Kakuma. The site is located one
mile from the Sudan border where 75,000 refugees from Sudan and
Ethiopia make their home.
Recently, representatives of the Children of the World Foundation
visited Kakuma, Turkana, and approved the site as a Church of God
Project for 2000-2001. The foundation has announced plans to immediately
begin construction on the 10-acre site, incorporating the same master
plan used to build similar facilities in India.
John's story is similar to many other orphans that now live with
Pastor Ekiru and may more that need to be rescued. Each child rescued
and brought to the Church of God orphanage is both a life and a
soul that will be saved.
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