Article January 1, 2002 Issue

Love makes Matthew strong

By Simon Murima,—Kenya

Every day Matthew and Rose walked through the forest to go to school. On Sundays they walked the same way to church. Their school and the church they went to were in a village five kilometers away, through the Kamiti forest in Kenya.

Matthew was 10, and he made the journey so much fun that his young sister never noticed how long it was. He taught Rose how to catch butterflies. They would look for newly blossomed flowers or guess the age of an old tree. Sometimes they sang songs they had learned in Sunday School. Other times, Matthew would tell Rose Bible stories and act them out. Rose adored her brother and could hardly wait to walk through the woods with him.

One Sunday morning Rose and Matthew woke up at 5 o'clock, as usual. Quickly they bathed and put on their favorite clothes. Their parents walked with them through the forest to church.

Send a comment to the editors