Sugar Bugs by Jen Gash

Tonight Jen and I were having dinner at Cheesecake. We get more stuff done outside of the house, even though I had told myself yesterday I wouldn't eat out anymore prior to our trip to Uganda. But that's beside the point...we got on the subject of a meeting she had today with a man named Peter who works in the Kibera slums in Kenya. Kibera is the second largest slum in Africa. Our trip is currently planned for Uganda only, however, our plans are a bit "fluid", so don't be surprised if you read an entry and we've gone off the path to Kenya.


I'm always amazed how God puts people into my lives and those of others at the right time. Today it was clear that Peter and Jen were supposed to be introduced. He shared the following story (as told by Jen below and on her blog www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com)

"So, today I heard a story unlike anything I've ever heard before. It came from a Kenyan man I was meeting with who has a ministry working with youth in the Kibera slum. Kibera is the second largest slum in Africa. The UN poputlation is 1.2 million; 400,000 are under the age of 18.




Earlier this year I was in the Kibera slum meeting with an orphanage director and visiting a tin house for street children. Even now I can remember looking at the bed that was in that tin structure and feeling my heart so heavy.



He gave me their newsletter and said there was one story in particular that I would want to read. I share it with you now.

Sugar in a Mattress

"Recently I was in Kibera on my normal visits to projects...Something that I had not seen in Kibera even after my many visits caught my attention. It would have been easy to walk by him as SYN team was assessing the needs in this place to find out how we could help a few people in this community. But the sight of Simon...sprinkling his dirty, overused mattress with sugar made me stop in my tracks. "Why are you sprinkling sugar on your mattress?" I asked him. "Because sugar causes all the bugs to come to the surface, then I can kill them and get a quiet night's sleep."

It's okay...you can sit quietly for a minute. I am...

The man opened our Sweet Sleep folder and pointed to a picture we have on a flyer. The photograph was taken as I stood inside an orphanage we provided beds to this summer. "That." He said. "His mattress looked like that."



That day, this man made a difference in the life of that child. He shared God's love with him and provided him with a new mattress.

One man. One child. One life.

What will you do for one?"

-Jen


Last night I woke up at 2:30, I was getting myself re-situated with my one pillow under my head, the other pillow in between my legs and finally my third pillow that I hug, when I stopped myself in the middle of the night, realizing how lucky I was to be awake at 2:30 in the morning readjusting not one pillow, not two pillows, but three pillows to get comfortable. Tonight that realization is even deeper, the sugar is in the pantry waiting to be put in my oatmeal, or cookies, or tea, not to be poured on top of my bed, to draw the bugs out of the mattress, so I can get a good night's sleep.