Nicolas – Part 2

The last time I wrote about Nicolas he was in really bad shape. After nine long, tumultuous years, his wife who had been very sick passed away last year. During her illness, all resources – financial and emotional – had been exhausted. Nicolas’s time had been divided between the hospital, a long distance away, and trying to care for his five children at home. With little money, landlords had evicted the family repeatedly. Having mud walls even if they seeped water from the rains, a slatted bed with no mattress or blanket or mosquito netting for the Dad and children to sleep on together was a step up from finding refuge under bushes or overhangs. Often the children who were taking care of the smaller children had to be left alone to survive with little or no food for two or three days. Nicolas, clothed in rags, with absolutely nothing, had factually told us his story without complaining, whining, or expectation. He had stood tall with an inner strength and peace and told us, “I am somebody. I am known by God. For us, we expect suffering in this world, but we know that with God there is peace and there is hope.”

That was two years ago. Today when Nicolas heard we were in the village, he insisted that we stop by his place. Here’s what we found:

Nicolas was grinning, a proud, happy, and grateful Dad, exuding gratitude for the very clean and respectable home we were sitting in. He couldn’t wait to tell us all the things that have changed in his life:

• Each of the children are now attending Liberty School, where they receive food every day, an education, and a community of love and support.
• The family now lives in a rented two-bedroom, waterproof concrete apartment in the village market center.
• Now Nicolas can pay for a place to sleep, food to eat, and shoes to wear.
• Nicolas who is a pastor is working. He receives a steady income from Liberty School where the Director John Wanyonyi excitedly shared with us that he is a big support to him by helping to care for and visit families. He’s also taken over the responsibility of the spiritual formation of the students.
• Life is very different from the first time we met Nicolas. He has purpose, stability, and extreme gratitude for all that has been done for him. He talked openly and honestly about the extreme hardships all of them have been through, especially emotionally, from the long sickness and death of his wife and the children losing their mom. Full of gratitude he told us, “From the last time you saw us, you can see now that the children are able to smile.”

Shyly, he added on about the time the Director had come to visit him in the evening when it was dark. John asked him, “Why are you sitting in darkness?” Nicolas was confused. It was evening and it was dark. John stepped into the room and flipped on the light switch and the single bulb hanging from the ceiling instantly lit up the 8’x 8’ room. They had been living there for some time but never knew the tiny white plaque just inside the wooden front door on the wall had any purpose at all. To have a home, one with electricity not only gives Nicolas and his family the ability to see at night, but emotionally it lifts them to a life of self-worth and dreams for the future they never imagined possible. One tiny lightbulb lights up their world at night; Jesus, the Light of the World, lights up their world and their future!

Before:

And after: