If you read the title of this blog, you might think, “Awesome! Twining is going to talk about feeding the hungry, or teaching people how to make money to support themselves, or having the resources to accomplish good things or having adequate health care.” While all those things are involved and are important, what if I told you we were going to talk about saving lives? What if I told you that by teaching people a few simple things they could do something to cut down on their health risks? Is that something you could find palatable? Is that a ministry you could get behind?
Nope. I am going to talk about venomous snakes and the impact they can have on people’s lives. Before you shut this blog post off and discontinue reading, please just read a little more. This is a problem that goes back as far as biblical times (read Numbers Most people reading this are thinking “Ewww snakes – I want nothing to do with that. I can’t stand them. They are so slimy and gross. Why would anyone thing that could be important. The only good snake is a dead snake.”
So, I am involved in two organizations in Kenya. I am an advisor to a nature conservancy in western Kenya called the Upendo Conservation Area. And I am also the founder and one of the leaders of the Snake Community Action Network – a growing group of more than 80 people. Both groups have a focus on training communities about snakes and how to avoid or prevent snakebite.
Nope. I am going to talk about venomous snakes and the impact they can have on people’s lives. Nope. I am going to talk about venomous snakes and the impact they can have on people’s lives. This is something that goes back as far as biblical times (read Numbers Most people reading this are thinking “Ewww snakes – I want nothing to do with that. I can’t stand them. They are so slimy and gross. Why would anyone thing that could be important. The only good snake is a dead snake.” But I will remind you that God said EVERYTHING he created is GOOD: and I hate to tell you but that includes snakes.
This is something that goes back as far as biblical times (read Numbers 21:3-7. In that story, God provides a way for people to be healed from venomous snakebites. We believe he has sent us to do exactly the same thing. If God thinks enough of this problem to send us to help the poor through this burden, I hope you can to.
Most people in the United States have probably never even thought about snakebite as a serious health issue. That’s because in the United States we get about 4 bites for every 100,000 persons (7K-8K people per year), and only 5 deaths every year. But consider the numbers on a global scale: about 5.4 million people are bitten by venomous snakes each year, and up to 140K people die. And many of those that survive are left with serious, debilitating injuries that keep them from being able to work or take care of themselves – perhaps even an amputated limb.
Let’s hone in on two examples that might make this easier to understand. Kenya is about the same size as the state of Texas, so let’s compare them.
- Texas is 1.2% larger than Kenya
- Kenya has about 55.9 million more people than Texas.
- Texas has 15 venomous species of snake and there are only 30 in the entire US. Kenya alone has 29.
- On average 1-2 people die from snakebite in Texas each year, and only 5 people across the entire US. By comparison, nearly 1000 people die in Kenya from snakebite each year, and 4000 suffer a permanent debilitating injury of some type that keeps them from working and taking care of their basic needs.
So, while snakebite might not be a serious issue where you are, it is a very serious issue in Kenya and East Africa. There are several reasons why snakebite is a problem. Here in the US, if you are bitten by a venomous snake, you can go to the hospital and receive an appropriate antivenom to counteract the effects of the venom. But in Kenya, there is a scarcity of antivenom, and some of those that are available are ineffective or not designed for the snakes from the region. And antivenom treatment costs a lot of money – money which these poor families do not have. Furthermore, many of the health care facilities do not have staff that are trained to handle a snakebite emergency. Add to that the distance people might have to travel over very poor roads to get to a hospital (most people have to take motorbikes), and you can start to see how immense this problem is.
Yet there is a solution. How many times have we been told throughout our lives that if we change our behavior we can have a better outcome for a problem? The same is true for the problem of snakebite. And this is where we come in. By we, I mean the teams I mentioned earlier. We conduct one-on-one or group trainings on the streets, or in venues like churches, schools, and with organizations. In those trainings, we teach people about snakes and snake behaviors, how to identify the most dangerous snakes, what to do if you are bitten by a snake, and how to avoid snakes and therefore prevent snakebite. If people follow these simple tactics, their chance of being bitten is reduced significantly. And if they are bitten, we can be there to help them through the treatment and recovery process. We might even be able to help them pay some portion of their medical bill on occasion.
So here is the way I, as a Christian, look at this situation. Jesus gave us the command to go into all the world and share the Good News with all creation, and especially the poor. So we need to ask ourselves, what does Good News look like to the poor? Jesus did not just come to preach that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand, but also to do practical things to help those in need. Educating about snakebite so that it can be prevented, and helping those families where a snakebite has occurred are practical ways to demonstrate God’s love to those who need it. We seek to bring Good News to the poor by reducing the likelihood that they will be bitten by a venomous snake, and providing resources to as many victims as we can. And we want to empower those who are already Christians to carry on that ministry when we are no longer there.
We need your help to keep this ministry going. We run entirely on donations at this point. If you would be willing to help, please contact me to learn how you can donate.
Tending To the Garden 
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