Oduori

Written by On Thursday, 24 October 2013 16:48

He moved to the city from the sticks and came to live with us. I was just a child then and my memories of him are sketchy...he was really skinny and really tall with really long fingers. He was funny too and he made our home lively and warm but one day he just disappeared.

When I grew up i finally learned what had happened. Oduori had been infected with AIDS and had to move back to the sticks, he died soon afterwards and his wife and little girl followed him soon after. Mama said that Oduori got mixed up with the wrong ‘women’ in the city and it turned his life around. His last days were difficult; he got weak and worn out and desperate. He wasn’t funny anymore and didn’t have the energy to lift me up like he used to. What Oduori needed to hear then was that it wasn’t over. That he still had a chance with Jesus and he could be restored... but he never got to hear it.

In primary school Oduori was one of those boys I used to admire because he was so clever and i never even once performed better than him. As expected with such smart types, he was admitted to one the country’s top national schools for his secondary education and eventually was admitted to University to pursue some science course. I met Oduori in the city once, he looked a bit haggard. Not the same person i remembered. He told me he needed bus fare because he had just been in a hijacking and had lost everything. I gave him what i had and we parted ways. A couple of weeks later my sister met him and he gave her the same story. Coincidence? Not likely. Turns out that in University, Oduori started doping which led to him being kicked out of school because his grades were falling. Now, he roamed the streets for any way he could get cash to feed his addiction. What Oduori needed to hear, was that his life was much much more valuable than that. If he could see himself through the eyes of Jesus his life would not be the same again. I never got a chance to tell him that.

Oduori and I were interviewed on the same day, hired on the same day and ended up working in the same department. Everything was cool. He worked hard, i worked hard... we had plans for our future in that company, but with time something changed. His priorities kind of changed. Oduori started going for evening rounds at a nearby pub with some other guys in the office. Oduori started slacking in his work, missing meetings or showing up with hangovers. He wasn’t a believer but I had started talking to him about that and I thought we were making progress. But now, whenever I brought it up he would say.

So I backed off, in fact i disassociated ... i didn’t want to deal with his bad rep. On Monday last week i walked to the office to the worst news I could have ever imagined. Some colleagues had been involved in a car accident, some were injured and hospitalized two had died on the spot. Oduori was one of them.

Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.

On Saturday at The Saturday PM Pastor Mulandi took us through Mathew 9; one of the things he talked about was the scum of the earth that Jesus saw. Asked us whether we saw scum in our day to day lives. What did we do with them? Jesus saw them, approached them, befriended them and dined with them. I started writing this post in that direction...but somehow ended up with this (I choose to blame my fingers and the keyboard-they have a mind of their own)- honestly!
Jesus saw the scum of the earth, but he also saw people whom He knew desperately needed his saving grace and he showed it to them. Today, these are everyday people we talk to; at home, in the office, in school. I pray that God will give me the eyes to see these people the way He sees them. I pray that He gives you the same eyes. If you have not met this Jesus yet, please know that He is always calling out to you...looking out for you. Today if you feel Him tugging at you do not harden your heart.

Pictures courtesy of Bistrips: I'm sorry i just had to.

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