Miracle in the Valley of Pelekech
Feb 22, 2023 5:07 am
We went to Kakuma.
It’s far, far north in Kenya
just an hour or so from South Sudan.
It’s really hot.
It’s really, really dry.
And the wind blows the dust around a lot.
This time we didn’t drive.
The road we normally travel had threats and reports of banditry in some places.
We flew from Eldoret to Lodwar.
It was a short drive the rest of the way to Kakuma.
The Swahili word for “Kakuma” is “nowhere”.
I’ll tell you more about that another time.
“The Lord took hold of me,
and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor.
They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out.
Then he asked me,
“Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,”
I replied,
“you alone know the answer to that.”
Ezekiel 37:1-3
Far off the the main road is a place called Pelekech.
Three years ago when missionaries first visited the valley
they found it dry and barren.
The people were weary from no rains.
Their children were
not educated.
The closest school was a three hour
walking distance away.
There was no church.
Everyone was just trying to survive.
They didn't even know they needed a church and school.
“Then he said to me,
“Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say,
‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!
I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin.
I will put breath into you, and you will come to life.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 37:4-6
Two sisters had a vision that Pelekech could rise with new
life.
They started to raise funds.
It was just small amounts.
At first there was only enough to hire a teacher to go to the village every few weeks.
She would sit under a tree.
She would teach those who came their
letters and numbers.
Soon a man with a love for
the people of Pelekech came from the USA.
He sat with the elders of the village.
He asked,
"How can we help you?"
“We don't need food,
we don't need clothes,”
was their response
“We need a school for our children."
That dream grew in the heart of the visitor from America.
It continued growing in the hearts of the sisters.
We went to Pelekech to
celebrate with them.
That dream from God had come to life.
I saw more happening than just the beginning of a school.
I told someone who had visited this place before,
“Something is different in their faces.”
We've
visited other villages in Turkana.
I've always been
haunted afterwards when I remembered their faces.
Here was something different.
The contours of their faces held the glimmers of life and hope.
She told me that from
the first time she had visited three years ago there faces had changed so much.
“So I spoke this message,
just as he told me.
Suddenly as I spoke,
there was a rattling noise all across the valley.
The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons.
Then as I watched,
muscles and flesh formed over the bones.
Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
Then he said to me,
“Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man.
Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath,
from the four winds!
Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
Ezekiel 37:7-9
“So I spoke the message as he commanded me,
and breath came into their bodies.
They all came to life and stood up on their feet—
a great army.”
Ezekiel 37:10
And though there still is no
rain in Pelekech…
And though there are still girls who marry even before they are thirteen…
And though there are still so many who can’t read and only understand the Bible in a very small way…
I know that
Pelekech is rising.
Rising into the fullest beauty of
being made in the image of God…
Rising into their royal calling
of being Image Bearers.
We watched and worshipped as the people in the dry valley of Pelekech drank from the Living Water.
They were fed the Bread of Life.
We rejoiced as they gave glory to the One True God for bringing a school.
That night the people of Pelekech went to sleep with enough food in their houses for more than a few days.
Three years ago the valley was dry with only struggling life…
In every corner of Turkana there are villages waiting to rise again.
In a world where the darkness at times seems to be overwhelming the light in my own heart was revived.
“ I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again …
Then you will know that I,
the Lord, have spoken,
and I have done what I said.
Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
Ezekiel 37:14
That day we witnessed a miracle.
Light and hope are rising in the valley of Pelekech.
I don’t think I will ever read Ezekiel 37 in the same way.
As it is in Heaven, Lord,
may it be on the earth today!
“But thank God!
He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, my dear brothers and sisters,
be strong and immovable.
Always work enthusiastically
for the Lord,
for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
1 Cor. 15:57-58
(P.S. We visited Pelekech February 10th. This morning I was excited to received pictures detailing the rising of the school.
A special thank you to Daniel Pollard for allowing me to share these with you.)
