i'm writing tonight for my sake, not yours. 
it's selfish, really. 
i'm burdened for Kenya. so burdened. 

a year ago the land was my home and the people my people. 

now it's thousands of miles away.
i don't know how to explain the feeling. 

brian onyango was probably 15-years-old. 
no one really knows.
street kids have a way of never knowing things we take for granted like who their parents are or where they live.
today brian gone from this earth.
and somehow it hurts because i knew him.


brian had spleen problems for years. while i was in kenya he was in and out of sickness & health. rarely the latter. he died from chronic malaria after running away from Agape and taken to jail.
i hugged this kid. 
i ate with this kid. 
i taught with this kid. 
i yelled at this kid.
i loved this kid. 


my heart breaks today and it struggles to remain constant through this. 
i want to hide in a shell and cry.
to you brian was nobody. most of you never met brian omondi. 
but now you do. 
we must remember guys.
not rules, or education, or medicine, or food, or a house are necessary. Jesus is.
remember tonight that lives are at stake & every second counts.
don't waste this life we've been given. 

today someone asked me about street kids. 
my mind went crazy. how to explain. 

it's hard for me to remember Kenya and the lessons it taught me, how much harder for you, who has never been there to relate.

this is an average street child and this is what they sniff. in countries around the world, not just Kenya, street children exist and live. 

children of all ages. they run away from home for any reason and once on the street they find themselves alone and vulnerable. 

every child is different. i will not gonna give you statistics because street children are kids, not numbers. 

these boys sniff shoe glue. they buy it from "mamas" on the side of the road. shoe glue. it's cheap. it kills their mind. it numbs their cold. it curbs their hunger. and in the process it kills their brain cells.

there's a hell of a lot of street kids in this world. they need our prayers, not our sympathy. 

these kids need to be rescued by nationals in their countries and they need to be reunited with their families. they need hope and healing that only Jesus can bring. 

Richard is a 12-year-old boy who’s been running from something his whole life. He’s traveled from his village home, to the streets of Kisumu, to Agape and back again in an endless cycle for over two years. 

When I came to Agape seven months ago as a 16-year-old teenager, I befriended the comical boy and we were attached at the hip. I grew to love Richard, and the cycle of running stopped. But all good things come to an end…“Your boy ran away,” our social worker told me one morning. And the sequence started again. Back and forth he ran, from the street to Agape and back again, it continued for four painful months. 
Every time he was sorry, every time he promised not to leave again, and every time he repeated his actions despite trying so hard. 

This child of God, this confused, silly and rebellious boy just couldn’t be settled, and it broke my heart more than anything had ever broken me before.

In late June, Richard showed up at the Agape gate for what was likely the 10th time since the spring.  He wanted to come in, but because of the influence he had on so many boys, it wasn’t wise, so a hard decision was made.  “My boy” was so ashamed he wouldn’t even look at me, but I didn’t care.  I grabbed his grubby little hand and walked him to the car that would take him to the Juvenile Detention Center.  I gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him ,”Jesus would never leave him”, in all the Swahili I could muster through my shaky voice.  I watched as the car drove away, and then I just sat down in the dirt and cried.  I cried for Richard, I cried for Kenya, I cried for all poverty in this world and I felt like I would never be able to love someone again. But life hurts, and even though it does, we come to a point where God’s victory always overcomes our hopelessness. 

Richard lived in that children’s jail for over a month and I visited him every week. Kenyans say, "once a street kid always a street kid", and I saw this to be true with my boy. 

From what I hear though, today Richard is a changed boy who, Lord willing, will stay home in his village attending school and faithfully going to church. Pray with me that he will continue to be settled and that he would have a strengthened relationship with Christ that would never die. Love never fails!