Bed Bug Prayer

The last few days I have been waking up with huge, red, itchy welts on my body. I got my first one in Vipingo this weekend. At first I thought it was a mosquito bite but after it didn't go away for a couple days and then turned into a tiny, bruise like circle, I knew it wasn't a mosquito bite. Mosquito bites are usually small and go away fairly fast if they are not tampered with. However, when I was in Word of Life last year, I used to get these bites in the night. I was so perplexed until  someone told me that they are bed bugs.

"Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." - I don't think I ever took that literally.

Now I have huge welts (mostly on my back) that are extremely itchy and uncomfortable. I fear that I have brought some bed bugs home from Vipingo.

I did some research on the internet to determine if my bites were indeed bed bugs. My research came back positive: I am being bitten by the sly, bloodsucking creatures.

So I researched if there are any major health side affects and thankfully, nothing major can be transmitted. Some websites suggest "severe psychological effects due to lack of sleep" but in my case, I sleep like a log.

Then I tried to figure out how I could get rid of them. Most websites suggested you get professional pest control people into do it. Pretty sure Kenya doesn't offer those services. There were also certain chemicals that could be used but they are only found in pet food stores. Nope, no pet food stores around here.

A good vacuum cleaner with a small nozzle was good for sucking up all the little eggs in the house. Most Kenyans have never heard the word 'vacuum' before so that wouldn't work.

One other suggestion was to wash all your clothes, linens, and other fabrics in scorching hot water and putting them to dry in a drying machine with intense heat for 20 minutes. Would drying in the hot sun for 20 minutes work too? because drying machines are few and far in between around here. Soaking them in blazing hot water was the most promising option but considering I heat water on my gas stove and have a few small basins to do my laundry in by hand, that would be a momentous task.

After going through all this, I decided my best option was to pray (although that should have been my first response). God of the universe could surely stop this annoying pests from biting me.

Jesus, please make them stop biting me!