Another angel in Heaven

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord
be praised” Job 1:21

That passage from Job is often quoted at funerals.  It’s a passage
most of us don’t want to hear because it means a loved one has passed
away.  Job said these words after he heard of the death of his
children.  He had also just heard that he had lost all his oxen,
donkeys, sheep, camels and his workers.  But it was the death of his
children that caused Job to cry out to God.

Psalm 127 says that children are a reward from God.  It is hard to
understand why sometimes God chooses to take that reward back early as
he did with Job’s children or as he did recently with our little
friend, Ashli.

We met Ashli and her mom, Mourine, 6 months ago when we moved to
Matoso.  Every time we passed by them, both their faces would always
light up with a smile. We became good friends, to the point where 

Mourine referred to herself as our daughter.  We had them over to
our house for lunch, where we came to find out that Mourine had lost
her son Seth, Ashli’s twin.  Due to all the hardships Mourine had been
through, she had been out of church for a while.  After sharing
God’s love with this sweet mama, she got her life right with God and
began attending church faithfully once again.

Ashli was born with Hydrocephalus, a condition in which there is an
excess of fluid in the brain.  Doctors were able to control this
condition by putting a shunt in her brain stem to drain the excess
fluid.  Thus at the age of 18 months, she was not able to hold up her
own head, or crawl or walk yet.  Her vocabulary was limited and she
used to call everyone she met Achieng (a common surname in 

the Luo language).  

On September 8, Ashli turned two years old.  Then a couple of 

weeks ago, Ashli fell and hit her head.  She started vomiting 

so her mom sought treatment at our local clinic.  Her health

seemed to improve and we all thought she was going to be fine.  

It saddens us to say that Ashli was taken to Heaven this past Sunday
morning.  Monday found Tracy and another mama renting piki piki’s to
reach the home to attend her funeral.  It is ironic that in Kenya, death is 

such a big part of life.  Ashli was a happy and contented
child and she brought much joy to everyone she met.  She will be
greatly missed.