Final Thoughts from Jesse

Wow. It certainly has been a long two weeks hasn't it? I thought I'd share alittle bit about my experiences now (that it's all over) since I didn't do so during the trip.

Others have told you of our experiences in London. My head was spinning whenever I sat down, probably due to the exhaustion, so I wasn't at my best. I even fell asleep in the frozen yogurt shop, much to my shagrin.

The first thing that hit me when we landed in Nairobi was the fact that we where required to fill out health cards. Seems they where concerned with a swine flue outbreak. A-maz-ing. After waiting in line behind two sitters for about an hour (the guys behind the desk where very thorough) we cleared immagration and discovered to our joy that all the equipment we had sent over had arrived safely. After unpacking we all went to the half way house. Kristine heself has already posted a blog on her "little angle". We learned on the last day that the baby was later named Agnis Hillary after the SecState who arrived in town on the same day.

Day two (or rather four) saw us playing at our first orphanige with children over two. The VBS songs where a hit, despite our technical problems. I must have hit the wrong button or something because the movie refused to play. Fortinately, plan B was put in effect. That is, activating a CD and player that we had brought along for just such emergencies. I ended up doing the hand motions sitting down with Trenton for a curious group of two year olds in the front row. Afterwards we got a tour of the facility and attached school. The kids where so cute doing a couple of dancing games for us afterwards. One of the amazing things was that when we passed out a bag of hard candy to them, I saw kids sharing and making sure that their friends had some too. It's not that hard to imagine just the oppisite happening here at home.

The first concert went well, despite a few minor hickups with the sound system. We all agreed afterwords that we could now truely appreciate a dedicated sound team who actually knew what they where doing. When the score or more of kids went up to accept Christ, I had to wonder, just how many are actually surrendering and how many are up there because their friends are going up? During a particually fine dinner at the all meat place, I spoke up in prayer for our new bretherin in Christ, that they would all be genuine and that God would protect them and keep them in Him. It's the least I can do to keep them in my prayers here at home.

The first full blown concert (actually the only full blown concert) in which we actually stuck to the order of songs was that Sunday. On the way out of our first slum, Erika was accosted by some guy and Dakota was almost stolen from, right out of her backpack. This sent us guys into Defcon 1, if you will. We each picked a girl to escort in and out of the slum. Daniel covered Kristine, I had Rebeka, and Steven backed up Dakota. The concert was good but you could still smell the bathroom when the wind shifted. Like Dakota said, it's a little different from ours. It had no ceiling and was basically the walls of two houses, the church worship building and a door. The walls all had holes in them, mostly low, and the door had no lock. Oh, and this was no hole in the ground either. Just a rut in the stone street. I didn't find it too bad. "Just aim, and fire." Now, if you had to go #2 on the other hand...

Next was the community center in the Eastly sector. I spent most of my time playing with the teenagers there. They asked me to sing a song but the only thing I had handy to sing acapela was "Deep and Wide" complete with hand motions picked up teaching the two-three year olds at Lighthouse. They liked learning the hand motions so I guese I was ok in their books. When Daniel pulled out his camera, they couldn't get eneough of it (they never did). I warned everyone on multiple occasions that the cameras where liable to just sprout legs and run off if they weren't carefull. Lunch was beans and rice (they make pretty good beans in Kenya) followed by painting the common area. I don't recall getting that much paint on me when we did the house! The workers there where so impressed that they went and bought us all milkshakes when we went out to eat that night. That was also the night that we practiced the drama, both at the restaraunt and at the gueste house.

The next day was the Farm and our first public performance of the drama. A pity that the audio on the posted vid does not synch up with our actions. They where all spot on, though I could have taken a little more time on my sneaking. But, it all worked out in the end. By this time, Rebeka could have given Trenton's entire message for him. I think that's Matthew Sekajima's job.

Having rocks thrown at our car by the workers in the illegal distillery definately threw me into somekind of overdrive. That was a hostile area and I thought I needed to be on full alert. I shouldn't have worried. But that's me I guese. I had to be reminded that I wasn't here a soldier but as a missionary. That made all the difference. The concert at the church next to the described school went beautifully. Other's have posted the video on our little buddy who just walked up to the stage and started dancing away with us. I don't think he picked up on the motions until after we finished but that was just fine. He was cute anyways.

Though we didn't know it at the time, that was our last interaction with a slum area. Our next targets where all in downtown Nairobi or in what was mearly considered a low income area. Specifically, the AIDs orphanige, a church in what could almost be a slum, and in Nakuru (did I spell that right?). At the orphange, I spent my time in the baby room. The first boy I held fell asleep in my arms just as we got the message that inorder to guarantee that they sleep through the night, the babies are not allowed to fall asleep until 1730. It was only 1500 hours. "Lucas, wake up man." In an attempt to wake him up, we placed him in a baby walker. No such luck and he fell face first into his bib on the walker. "At least it's not a plate full of spagetti."

The next day, Daniel came down with traveller's diaria. We had to leave on the day trip without him. That same day, Steven and Kristine kissed the same giraffe, causing a bit of an aqword moment between the two when they figured out that by kissing the giraffe, did they kiss eachother? I just rolled my eyes.

At the low income church, I was surprised to see another squadron on muzungus ( I probably just butchered that spelling too). Turns out, we weren't the only ones visiting that particular church. A team of Californian collegue students had arrived as well. They left after the service. Which was probably just as well. I gave a small testimony on "Love Me Like You Do [So Amazing]". I tried to get the audience involved but no body moved. Live and learn. The second performance of the drama went exeptionally well, even with Daniel down for the count. We had Blake take over his role and Tia took over for Blake. I would have liked to have given Blake more time to practice but he did great for how little time he did have. Tia also filled her role nicely for not having practiced alot.

The next day was filled with travelling to and going on the safari. We even performed the drama in the car on the way over. The film of that practice was never released to the public. We saw zebras, water buffalo, pink flamingos, lions, rhinos, giraffes, and baboons. Since no one else is willing to tell the tale, I will. Our first encounter with baboons was up close and personal. We saw a number of them on the road side and stopped for some photos. One of them came forward and I started praying that he wouldn't notice the food we had stashed away on the floor of the van. These things have rooves that can open up a couple of feet to let air in and cameras out. Nifty. Our pal just walked on without even noticing our redvines and the like. Just as I was turning a way, Heather screamed her lungs out. I turned around just in time to see our pal snatach a luna bar from my mother in the rear van, hop off the hood, and make a clean get away. From that moment on, Steven refered to the luna bars and "babuna bars".

We youth got up early the next day to try and see an African sunrise. We pretty much missed it. It was a cloudy day and we couldn't leave the grounds without a car. Steven got a little too close to the electric fence trying to get what shots he could. Talk about a shocker when he discovered just how close he was. Strange, we couldn't even hear the current running through the fence. As we where about to head in to breakfast, the gate guard beconned us five feet back. We caught one last glimpse of the sun rising into the clouds. Beautiful.

We performed one last concert at an orphange in Nakuru. Their youth worship team sang a song on how bad drugs where for you. Right after we performed our worship songs, we did the drama with me being the only one in full costume. What a coincidence.

On our way back, it hit me that I'd probably warned our drivers that they where about to trade paint with something or another atleast once per day. When we stopped at an observation point where you could see the whole Nakuru valley, Mike went right to work converting one of the suveniere shop workers, prompting me to ask sarcastically, "Don't you ever turn it off?"

Our last meal together was at the first place we went to, the Indian food restaraunt. Our trip home was pretty uneventfull, thank God. I don't have much more to right. I'm still processing what happened to me and then I'll post it.

I only have one last thing to say, "I'll be back." Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome to do so. I can't wait to see what God has instore for us then. Hooah!!!

Thoughts about the awesome team

I am thinking about when we dropped everyone at the airport. I thought the team probably must be feeling relieved that the trip is finally over. I was surprised to see Heather's tears as we said good bye. It touched my heart! I was touched that you guys felt close to us and had been happy to have our friendships grow. I thank God. He was showing us that he cares and loves us by bringing us the Lighthouse team. I hope the team knows that they were God's vehicle. Thank you for being such a blessing to us!! We will forever love you guys!

Praise God. Amen. Praise God again. Amen. In church, I remember people repeating this phrase. I think....wow...he should be praised. We had so much fun serving with you all from the slum schools to an orphanage and anything in between. God handpicked you all. 13 individuals with wonderful hearts. Their sensitivity and vulnerability brought hope to everyone that they touched.

I think about how nothing is a coincidence. If the team hadn't come, the man at the rift valley lookout point might not had been saved. It was God's plan. If the team had never come, my kids would never had the chance to get up and lead worship with the rest of the team and perform some drama. They had never done that before. They were stretched but happy to serve. It touched my heart. It was God's plan.

My prayers were answered. I had prayed for the team...protection, for every detail to be worked out, for God to be seen, and lives to be changed. Thank you all for being such a blessing to our family. May God bless all of you. (Hopefully you all didn't feel too much jet leg.) I will continue to pray for all of you.

Love, Trisha

Asante Sana God!

Seeing as how my sleeping patterns are beautifuly ruined what with me waking up at 7 am bright and early only to fall back asleep at 9 am and wake up at dinnertime to find that I was not hungry at all (which is extremely strange in and of itself, the fact that I was not hungry) and how today I am wide awake at the glorious time of 6:20 am, happily munching away on an enormous bag of Honey Nut Cheerios, which my dad informs me lowers cholesterol and therefore is the best cereal in the world, I decided that I should probably blog, watch some television, complete my very very large pile of summer homework, or go running to get back in shape. Which, I also decided, I would do in that very order, with the possible exception of running, seeing as how since returning from Kenya I have only eaten Cheerios and a spoonful of rice and snow peas, which, much to my mom and my dismay, my dad insisted was edamame and would only eat the little beans inside. But to get back on topic, I wanted especially to blog about the orphanage/school in Nakuru, because the experience touched me, making me very happy but also sad because it was our last day of ministry.

Before arriving at the orphanage, we were trying to decide whether to do the drama because none of us had brought our costumes (except Jesse - way to go!). We decided to do it anyway because, as we had learned before, it was not about doing the drama perfectly with all the props - it was about how God would use the drama to touch other people's lives.

Right before the concert, we were frantically making the signs at the same time while making salvation bracelets for all the children. Eventually it was time to go inside and begin the worship concert, but somehow I got stuck outside making at least twenty more salvation bracelets while trying to explain what the colors meant, which I'm almost sure none of them really understood what I was saying. I would finish one bracelet for the child that was left out of the craft, only to turn around and see five more children walking through the gates into the compound without bracelets.

Stressed out as I already was, I was extremely sad to discover about an hour later that I had been explaining the colors all wrong! I forgot what yellow was, so I told everyone that they were humans, and that we sinned (that was black - I got that one right thank goodness). Red for Jesus' blood and white for purity I also got right, but I forgot what blue was so I told them that it was Heaven, and finished off the tale with green for Eternal Life (which I also made up, but yay that was right too).

But anyways, after the worship concert (where I just want to add that Bekah, your testimony was beautiful), it was time to do the drama (but I also want to add that during the concert while Daniel was drumming, he accidentally flung his drumstick into who knows where and he had the most hilarious look of surprise on his face that I ended up laughing so hard I'm almost sure tears sprung, which was when I remembered that I was supposed to be djembe-ing) (but good job playing the drums Daniel!).

And back to the drama... Everything was backwards though... which stressed me out even more. Dan, however, stepped into the role of Greed and was pretty much perfect. Hats off to you!

When we finally finished the drama, I felt emotionally spent. I could hardly breathe and my head was spinning. Everyone else went inside to listen Trenton's message but I stayed outside, hugging the wooden pole for support. Normally I would have ignored whatever was bothering me and gone in with the rest of the group, but I could not bring myself to let go of that pole. Looking back, I believe God wanted me to stay out there, and so I did.

As I stood, grasping that pole like it was my life, one of the girls on the worship team, Brenda, approached me. She caught me by surprise and reached out to hold my hand. Immediately I could breathe again and my head returned to normal, but that pole was still firm in my grips. Brenda told me that the drama was very beautiful and that it touched her heart. I almost cried with happiness. She asked me if I was an actress, to which I replied by laughing, and then realizing how that might appear rude, I quickly explained that it was my first time ever doing anything like that. Praise God, I almost yelled out loud. He used a thousand imperfections to create an imperfect drama that would still reach the people He wanted to touch using His power.

We talked for what seemed like eternity, until the other two girls on the worship team, Maureen and Sharon, came to tell me how much they loved the worship and drama. Soon we were all laughing and talking like best friends who hadn't seen each other in a very long time. They taught me how to make chapati (one of those do-not-try-at-home recipies), told me about their lives, and what they wanted for the future. I told them about my life, about the team, and about snow and snowball fights - a conversation that ended with them wondering why anyone in their right mind would want play a game where the object was to hit other people with balls of snow while trying not to get hit themselves.

Through all the laughter and bonding (not bondage), the girls encouraged me so much. They made me repeat, "Practice makes perfect" at least a hundred times (probably because they were serious about me being an actress). I also encouraged them, talking about my faith and how I loved God.

After a time, I was talking just to Brenda again, who showed me the rest of the compound. By this time I had finally released that pole, though only because I had to if I was going to walk around with Brenda. When she tld me that they had waited for us since Monday morning (it was a Tuesday afternoon), my heart broke. We were all enjoying our safari, looking out for animals, mions, brhinos, basically goofing around. Brenda told me that they had waited Monday afternoon for us to come. I could hardly breathe again. Finally, Brenda said, they had waited Tuesday morning, wondering if we would ever show up. I couldn't stand it! That morning we were lounging about, worrying about our questionable living quarters, and eating slowly, while the children of Nakuru were patiently awating the visitors they were so excited to receive.

I apologized at least a thousand times, but Brenda would not accept any. She said that she and everyone else was so happy that we had come in the first place, and that all that waiting was worthwhile. "Better late than never!" Brenda said, smiling. Which, of course, just broke my heart even more.

We eventually did go back in, and I ended up sitting next to another girl, who I ended up giving my own salvation bracelet away to, which I again explained poorly. She looked happy though, and I trust that God will explain to her what the colors really mean.

After my bonding with the girls, I felt so elated. That elation manifested in me playing a number of unknown games with the rest of the children, holding hands and laughing hard. One of their games involved some intense dance moves that Bekah and I tried to imitate, causing roars of laughter.

That last day was wonderful to me. I don't ever remember being so happy. I just want to praise God for everything.

But I don't really want to finish this blog because that will mean I have to start my homework...

To end, I suppose, I just want to thank everybody for what each person brought to the team. You guys mean so much to me and I will never forget any of you.

But before I really end, I wanted to tell everyone my story of pre-Kenya. Back in March-ish (it might have been April or May or maybe even February), after I thought I had officially agreed to be a part of the Kenya 2009 team, my parents decided that I would not be able to go. News had recently broken out about pirates and kidnappings on the coast and my mom decided that my safety came first.

When she told me I would not be a part of the team, I choked. I cried straight for a week. One night I went up to my rooftop and cried there for hours, which resulted in my parents thinking that I had run away, both of them driving to every place they thought I might go.

I felt eternally heartbroken, and can't remember ever having cried to much in my life. Every part of me hurt as I imagined having to cancel, imagined myself at home hearing about everyone's time in Kenya, imagining the children and people in Africa that I longed to give love to. I thought that life would not go on (which is silly, but that is really how I felt).

I couldn't face my parents though. God and Christianity were not things we generally talked about. I prayed that my mom would change her mind, I prayed for a miracle. I spent hours on the computer, researching about the dangers of Kenya, compiling a sort of statistical booklet for my parents. Which all resulted in me, coming home one night from SYTE, amazed that I hadn't crashed because I was crying the entire drive home, resolved to talk to my mom about Kenya.

The conversation is a bit (ok it really really really is) too emotional for me to write out, but it was pretty much a wonderful time of bonding, understanding, and lots of tears and tissues, resulting in an eventual, "Fine, If God really wants you to go, you can go, as long as you promise to wear lots of sunscreen."

I am so grateful to God, and my parents, that I was able to go to Kenya with you all. I am so glad that I stood up and argued for this instead of obeying my parents (ha ha). Not to say that you should disobey your parents. Anyways, usually when my parents say "no," it is a definite "no" and I know I can't do anything about it. I can't even express how happy I am that I didn't let this particular "no" be a definite one, and all I can say is that I really see now how God uses the weak and transforms them with His power to do things way way way way way out of their comfort zone. Thank you again, team, for being my family in Christ.

Love,

Kristine

A big thank you to the LCC Kenya Mission team!

Thanks be to God and the mission team for their awesome service, love and support for the people of Kenya, Christian churches in Kenya and to our family. The impact made will be everlasting in the hearts of all who were touched, especially for some of the locals here who's lives have been changed. Thank you to the team leader, Cindy Ko, who organized each detail of the trip and provided a safe covering for the entire group.

We enjoyed the maturity and leadership of the youth part of the team, watching each one connect with other Kenyan youth and holding hands with children while ministering in the slums. Especially Steven Ambo, who opened his heart out to the boys of different slum communities...and also entertained us with his imitation of various dinosaurs and geese. Daniel Hwang also reached out to many kids and had a great heart for service...although he also imitated various species such as baboons. Jesse Sandefur did a great job with the powerpoint and was so gentle and loving to little orphan babies...and did not imitate anything!

The young ladies seemed transformed from being more quite and reserved to expressive and willing to take chances. Rebekeh Ogimachi surprised us with stepping up to lead worship and sharing her testimony with such confidence and love that it seemed like she had always been doing it. Dakota Chenoweth became quite assertive and interactive with other children and insisting to the drivers that we must see a lion (which we did, but not a large male). Kristine Fu was fantastic with Steven Ambo in the lead of the youth drama and was always smiling and fun throughout the trip.

The old geezers weren't so bad themselves. They were able to strike a wonderful balance in allowing the youth to flourish and lead, while gently guiding and protecting at the same time. Trenton Yenokida did a great job preaching and leading many to the Lord with altar calls for a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Erika Yenokida, (his beautiful wife), was awesome in organizing the drama and all the craft and VBS activities for the children. Heather Nakamura cried constantly throughout the trip and made us all sensitive to the awe and wonder of God and how He was interwoven through the experience. She also kept smiling and was a positive encourager, even when she had flamingo poop mud dripping down her leg.

Daniel Ko was always engaging in spiritual matters in devotions and had a great sense of humor, even though the team members were merciless in taking pictures of him whenever he nodded off. Barb Wong had such a great heart for evangelism and was the team historian, taking photos and videos of the team activities. Liana Sandefur helped with the worship team and was a great prayer warrior and protector of the team and the youth.

The witness and testimony of the team here in Kenya has touched lives and glorified God. This is in more than the obvious acts of service, worship, and ministry, but even in some of the simple things that were done. For instance, the team visited the families of three scholarship recipients (from the previous Lighthouse team) in the Mukuru/Kwan-Njenga slum. One of the families was a Muslim family where the parents died of AIDS and the grandmother was very sick. Unbeknownst to the team at the time, they had never been visited before by anyone, including Muslim community. This made a great impact and witness of the love of Christ and the team to the entire community...Christian, Muslim, and non-Christian!

Thank you LCC Kenya Mission team for all that you have done. We love you and thank you. May you remember this experience and live for Christ in all that you do and share it with others. May God richly bless you.

Love,

The Hyodo family

Even during downtime, they play music!

As we were getting ready to leave for the airport, the youth couldn't resist the piano! They don't know I recorded this, he he! :)

I love to hear them play and sing.

Walking on Water?

Hmm...could it really be that Trenton is walking on water? I'll let you figure it out. ;)

Ode to Matt S.

While listening to songs on the ride to the Safari, we decided to record a little message to Matt S. :)