When the Church Walls Came Tumbling Down

When Ruth Syombua, from the Kabete village, decided to visit the small Kalii Seventh-day Adventist Church in eastern Kenya with her two small children, Brian and Naomi, on a Saturday (Sabbath) in November 2012, she couldn’t have imagined how that day would change her life forever.

Around 11:00 that morning, when the church service had already started for the 20-member congregation, a strong whirlwind suddenly lifted off the roof of the makeshift church and the walls of the structure collapsed. Ruth saw in horror one of the church walls come crashing down on her leg, in such a way that her ankle was completely dislocated and she suffered multiple broken bones. She and her three-month-old baby Naomi were trapped under the rubble until church members managed to rescue them.

Desperate Search for Help

Church members rushed Ruth to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, but when they arrived, they found out doctors were on strike and were not around to provide urgently needed medical care. Ruth ended up staying in hospital for five months, but when she left, she had not fully recovered. She was admitted eventually to another hospital, where she stayed for two and a half months. Again, she was discharged before her injuries had healed.

“I then stayed at home, unable to do the household chores or even take care of myself,” Ruth recalls. “I had to depend on the assistance of close friends and relatives.” Neighbors, members of her local Adventist congregation, and other well-wishers would stop by and stay to help. They would also provide much needed financial support, because Ruth was not able to work. And even though the local Adventist field helped her with her medical bills, Ruth eventually had to sell her goats, cows, and chickens to pay for additional medical expenses.

A Tragic Development

But the worst was still to come. At that point, Ruth had been prescribed strong painkillers. At that time, she was breastfeeding Naomi, and nobody told her that the medication could be harmful for the baby. Unbeknownst to her, Ruth was poisoning her baby through her milk tainted by the medication she was taking. Little Naomi got very sick and died. “It broke me completely,” Ruth says.

From that day on, Ruth decided to stop taking any medication for her frequent pains. Unfortunately, she never fully recovered. Even though she can do some basic chores at home, she has a hard time moving around or walking. It is usually not only difficult but painful to do a fraction of what other women in the area do. “Any extra effort makes my leg and ankle swollen,” Ruth shares. “It still hurts. A lot.”

In Search of a Solution

Ruth depends on her husband, Patrick Kiilu, relatives, and friends for assistance. Riding a motorbike, she still manages to attend one of the churches in the Makindu District. Local pastor Joseph Kavita, who shepherds six churches and twelve Sabbath School groups in the area, periodically visits the family.

Some basic chores, however, still present major challenges. Fetching water is one of them, as the River Muooni, the family’s only source of water, is two miles (more than three kilometers) away. Patrick regularly leads some of their donkeys with jerrycans to fetch water, a challenging and time-consuming enterprise. It is also a dangerous one, as wild animals often compete against humans for the same source of water. Water-borne diseases are not uncommon in the area.

Recently, Maranatha Volunteers International, an independent supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has surveyed the area. Ministry leaders are discussing where to drill a water well and build an Adventist church.

“A water well in this dry, challenging place would be a game-changer,” Maranatha leaders said. And what about a new church building? “Time after time, Maranatha has found this to be true: every time a new church is erected, the congregation grows,” Maranatha leaders said. “We believe that Kenya’s Makindu District will be no different.”

Maranatha Volunteers International is an independent supporting ministry and is not operated by the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.