April 1, 2009
Greetings from Kenya!
Sometimes when planning our time with a visiting team, we don’t really know how things will turn out. Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting a team of short term missionaries from the UK who came to spend some time with Planting Faith to help us get one of our projects started in an area of Kenya called Wanguru. They had an incredible beginning of their week – planting way beyond the number of plants expected. They were planting aloe vera plants and were scheduled to begin work on a drip irrigation line at the end of the week. But things definitely didn’t go as planned. I was planning to send this out much earlier, but it ended up on April fool’s day. Please don’t take it as a joke; it is a very real story.
Wednesday of that week, at about 11 in the morning, their work came to a halt as they were viciously attacked by African bees. There were 16 members of the team from the United Kingdom, two Planting Faith missionaries Michael and Rebecca Rhodes and many of the local farmers as well as some of the CCS employees out in the shamba working that morning. Everyone has an account of what happened, but suffice it to say there were feelings of utter chaos, fear and panic. From my perspective, getting a frantic call of disaster from out in the field is one of my worst fears. And that is what happened as we were sitting down to lunch.
Half of the team was stung badly, some of them hundreds of times. One of the women, Roberta, is 71 years old, and the rest of the team estimates she must have been stung 1000 times. Bob, who had previously experienced heart surgery, was stung hundreds of times as well. Bob and Roberta collapsed in the field from the stings. Clive, the team leader, laid over Bob to protect him, which resulted in being stung multiple times himself. Michael, upon realizing the horror of the situation, began running back into the field and pouring water on people to get rid of bees. Michael was also stung many times. The hired drivers of the safari vans that the team used for transport also made multiple trips back to the field to make sure people were out of the field. It was sheer terror, and it, lasted for quite a while.
Everyone was taken to the local district hospital where they were treated. Bob and Roberta were admitted there. Horace and I were in Nairobi, and Michael called us shortly after the attack. We made several calls to get the kids secured, and we left to go as soon as we could. After we arrived in Embu, and after consultation with our family doctor, we made the decision with the team to bring everyone back to Nairobi for further medical evaluation. Finally, we arrived in Nairobi with everyone around 10 pm. We visited Aga Khan Hospital, and Michael and 7 others saw Dr. Tesfaledet in the emergency room that night. All were released with follow up medicines and a list of warning signs of trouble to watch for in the following days.
To say that this team was protected by the Lord seems crazy after reading all of that, but you need to understand that there were so many instances all along the way of God’s protection. First, when they were attacked, none of the team members can recall feeling any pain. They were terrorized for sure, but they do not recall pain. Then, when they got to the hospital, in a country where we regularly experience shortages of the most basic supplies, they were given injections of steroids, antihistamines and pain killers which probably prevented much worse reactions. Then, half of the team did not seem to be affected by the bees – for whatever reason; there was a caregiver for each person that was stung. I think each person out in that field has a story to tell, and I truly hope they will share their stories with anyone who will listen. Our family doctor told us he had practiced medicine in Nyeri a few hours away from Nairobi and had seen deaths from bee stings before. He was “surprised that no one died or was not more seriously injured from the attack or the shock afterwards”. The team has returned to the UK, shaken, but able to return to their normal lives. Two women have stayed in Kenya working with a children’s home and will work with us after Easter.
It has made us think, reflect and pray a lot about mission teams – everything from “never again” to “what can we do differently”. After digesting the experience, this truly seems like spiritual warfare. This particular team represents an organization that has been part of some very productive work here in Kenya, not only with Planting Faith, but with many organizations. That particular week, they were getting more done than anyone thought possible. The enemy takes note of these things, and prepares for battle. However, the Lord protected them in the distress of being attacked. Please pray for their continued healing from the trauma and physical stress of this experience. And please pray that what the enemy has meant for evil will be used for good in the testimonies of God’s protection of all involved.
We continue on now in our work as before. Rebecca is currently in the US as her grandfather died a few days ago. Please pray for her and her family as they celebrate his life and gather together. Pray for her safe travel back to Kenya.
Michael and Horace are out in the field today meeting with farmers in Mang’u about the future direction of their group as they move toward sustainability. Our other groups are plodding along. We are most thankful for the blessing of several rains this week. Please pray that they continue as they are sorely needed all across this country. Our new groups are in a critical stage of planting and the rains are absolutely perfectly timed if they will continue.
We pray that you are all well in these tough times. Please keep in touch and let us know how we may pray for you. Email us any time. Work on the website continues to be a struggle, but I have made some small changes- check it out at www.plantingfaith.org.
Blessings,
Anne Tipton
