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. :)

"What Did Dan Do On The Mission Trip?" Parting funnies!

Sleeping at dinner at the Midland Hotel...

Sleeping in the van...

Sleeping at the Indian restaurant...

Sleeping at the Masai Market...

HAHA! We love you Dan!

Parting Thoughts

Wow! We're home. But my heart is still in Kenya.

I wanted to blog about our last service day in Kenya, couldn't get online before we left. After our day on the safari we stayed in Nakuru for another day and visited a school/orphanagechurch just outside a slum. The Bishop of the church gave us a tour around the property. There are 180 students that attend the school and about 150 of them live there as well. The other children live with the Bishop and other members of the church because they are already way over capacity at the orphanage.

The boys dormitory


The facility was pretty nice(by Kenyan standards). There was a two story building for the school and two dormitories for the children. they are hoping to build another dormitory for the boys. They showed us the kitchen and their store room. We found out that the family that supported them by buying the food for the entire school was unable to help them for the next few weeks, and they were down to their last few days of food. Before we arrived that day Mike suggested maybe we should see what their needs are and where we could help. Well of course we went out and purchased enough food to last a week or so, until their funding comes through. They were elated and praised God for bringing us at just the time we were needed.

Before

After! Praise God!

After our tour we began with a craft for the younger kids. It was our last time making the witness bracelets. They seemed to like them a lot and remembered what each bead stood for. Yeah! After that it was time for the concert! We also performed our drama for the last time, with only half our props, but God works with what you have. It was amazing! I'm so glad we made(or God made) the decision to do this particular drama. We have been told multiple times on this trip how much it has meant to the youth who have seen it.

Of course the concert went well and everyone loves "Every Move I Make" and "Everyday." I have videos and pics of our concert goers really getting into these songs, thanks to Steven energetic way of teaching them the moves. ;) And then there is Trenton's message-no matter how many times we have heard these messages, they never get old. Who could get tired of hearing how much we are loved and desired by such a good God? I do believe(as Mike has said) that T has the gift of evangelism.
I am so proud of how dedicated he has been in giving these messages(7!) throughout this trip. Of course I am bias, but shouldn't I be? :)

And now I will share with you the highlights of this last day, my two angels that sat(and slept) with me the entire visit. Their names are Anna and Angie. They are both 4 years old and adorable! Anna showed me her bed in the dormitory, she was very proud. And Angie jsut seemed to need a hand to hold and lap to nap in. They coughed and drooled and got sticky candy all over me, and I loved every minute of it!Angie and her sticky candy.

Angie(left) and Anna

God is good and worthy to be praised! My heart was broken for the children I saw and the life they are forced to lead, and filled with hope and awe for how they love the Lord and stand on his promise everyday in spite of the life they are forced to lead.

Erika

It's 2:30a Friday morning Seattle time. It feels weird to be back home. Part of me is still in Kenya mode (it's 12:20p today there). There was ice in my water; can I drink it? If I don't finish my meal, can I give the rest to someone I meet? What happened to all the diesal, dirt and wild driving? A 2 lane road in Nairobi means 2 cars, a bus, a motorcycle and bicycle can fit and manuever through. Throw in a half dozen pedistrians for good measure. Lines on the road are optional. No one hawking their wares at street corners and during "rush hour" traffic. Usually only the motorcycle drivers had helmets, and their passengers were out of luck. Where did the mosquitos go? What about the grazing cow (very skinny, with bones showing through their hide) on the meridian strips and along the roadside?

The Lord got us all home safely, most of the luggage arriving (I think the Yenokidas are missing one, and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow), smooth flights, and pretty good health. A few of us got respiratory bugs, and a few of us got the stomach bug (is it a 1, 2, or 3??). No injuries. So many answers to prayers.

It was great to see the welcoming crowd of family and friends at Seatac. The youth made the adults very sweet cards of appreciation. It was us old guys who were blessed by the youth over and over again. There were hugs and smiles and "see you real soon!" as we said goodbyes until Sunday or sooner. Indoor plumbing and drinking water from the tap are awesome gifts!

Thank you, Cindy, for being a wonderful team leader. You took such good care of us, we didn't have to worry about anything. Thanks, Dan, for being her wonderful support, and for your comic relief. Thank you, Trenton and Erika, for leading the youth, and consequently, the adults as well (we're all think we're younger than we are). Thank you, Barb, for your photographic and electronic talents, recording events so others can see what we saw. You also have an evangelistic heart and planted seeds whereever we went. You're awesome! Thank you, Heather, for your tender spirit and heart, making us cry alongside you, tears of faith, hope and love. Thank you, youth, for being amazing team members and leaders. You set the bar for trying new things successfully. I didn't hear anyone complain. Your parents should be very proud of all you accomplished with the Lord. The Lord grew you guys in our short 2 weeks together. It was a blessing for me to witness your growth and stepping out in faith. Thank you family and friends, for your loving support and prayers while we were in Kenya. It was a great experience to serve there.

I'm still sleepy, so I'll finish my thoughts when I'm more coherent. Forgive me if the grammer doesn't make sense. For now, thank you all again. Bwana asifiwe! Mungu mu mwema!

Mzungu Anna.

Anna.

Hallelujah Everlasting

One more day and our journey through Kenya comes to an end--but our Mission continues. I've learned so much about nearly everything on which I could have expanded my horizons. From car games to food, from team members to [Kenyan] church members... God has blessed me so much more through the people I had the opportunity to interact with--much more than I feel like I have offered to them. I am also starting to see Trenton's messages to the Kenyan people begin to play out in my own life as I grow stronger in faith and discipline.

There is an abundance that I have that could just spill out all in one page, but I think that much of it will have to be saved so that I can personally tell you. One thing that I must get out now, though, is one of the most important realizations that hit me during this trip.

Preparing for this trip required much pondering, inward reflection, and of course, prayer so that we know exactly why we are going on this trip. In retrospect, my answer to that question of "Why?" was very vague and lacking in true understanding (which I believe God used to teach me things I would have never would have learned as deeply as I had during this trip). I mean, I understood the concept of Missions and that God had called me to do His work outside of my comfort zone. I didn't realize what impact God would have made through us until we visited Pastor Paul's church for Sunday worship. It struck me that we were giving them THE message of THE Gospel; THE message of the sin's destruction and the redemption of the Cross; THE ultimate message of hope that if each one of us were to die tonight, that they would know exactly where they would be (this is so hard to describe in words!). Seeing so many of these people--most of them adolscents and little children--stand at the altar to accept Jesus was a moving sight. But what was even more extraordinary to me was the fact that these people have so little, with almost no hope of living a better life, yet they so readily accept the committment to lead a new life with Jesus. It's amazing to see their willingness to transform their lives in an instant, especially for those who may have not even heard of the Gospel until we arrived. The heart of Kenya is so huge, I'm glad that it's on a continent as large as Africa.

This whole trip has been a blessing to me, and, I pray, a blessing to all whom we have touched in these two weeks. I could not have asked for a better team as they have all taught me the perseverence, the compassion, and the daringness of being a Christian. I can't wait to be back home to share all that is welled up inside of me, but at the same time it breaks my heart to know that our time with the Kenyans is over. I have come to love the people and the culture, and hope to serve here at least one more time, God willing. My heart will forever be in two places at once. I will never forget the love shared these two weeks, and I pray that I will be able to take all that I have learned and apply it to my normal life. It is going to be tough, so I ask God for strength and courage, but I know very clearly that through God, all things are possible.

Well that sure was enough about me. For the people here in Kenya, I ask that you pray and pray and pray some more that they would take what they have heard and experienced from our visit and run with it like they have never run before. Pray that God would use them for great and miraculous things as the witness to their friends and families. And pray that the New Hallelujah will become an eternal praise for all!

Praise God (amen)! Praise God again (amen)!

--Daniel

Random Collection of Thoughts

Two in a row what?

Since i haven't blogged in a long time, it feels like, i have a lot of random little things to share! which aren't quite on the level of the stuff i just talked about.

• I didn't come in expecting to see advertisements on the side of the road for American TV. However, i've seen some, which is kind of interesting, and it's kind of funny that the only show i've seen advertised here is Prison Break. You might recall the T-Bag pictures on the side of the van in my last post.. i caught Wentworth Miller on a banner, too. haha..

• I kissed a giraffe!!!! hahahahaha. Kristine did too and it was pretty awesome. Their tongues are a little over a foot long, and they're actually kind of rough. They eat leaves from the acacia tree, which has super long and super sharp thorns, so their saliva acts as an antiseptic for them, which is kinda handy.

• I've gotten hurt a lot these past two days. Bumped myself on the chin with my camera, got hit in the cheek accidentally, got a burn from the cords we used for the signs in the drama, and this morning, when we were trying to watch the sunrise, i touched the electric fence. haha...

• I LEARNED SNAPS!! Finally. I think April and Laura introduced it to me two years ago? on a bus to/from Mt. Hermon. And it was really frustrating. It was still really frustrating, but i got it this time! woo hoo.

• About 700 of those 3000 pictures that i've taken so far were taken yesterday on the safari.

• So.. many of us are Asian. And when we're passing through the slums (etc), we get "Chinese?" shouted at us a lot. I think it boggles their minds that there are Asian people from the States, because it's kind of like "oh" when we tell them where we're from. And there've been a lot of times when the kids come up to us (daniel+jesse+me) and go "Jackie Chan!" or "Jet Li!" or "Bruce Lee!". I got the Shaolin Soccer guy (Stephen Chow) once, which was kind of cool. (he has the same name as me! sound-wise. And me and Jack were talking about him the other day!)

I think that's all for now. 2ish days left.. !

- steven

Mathare

Echoing everyone else's recent posts, it's really hard to believe that our two-ish weeks in Kenya are almost up. We went on a safari of sorts yesterday, which was actually really cool! I say actually because in the weeks leading up to the trip, i'd felt like we could be doing other stuff (revisiting an orphanage or a slum, say), but today was a lot of fun! We saw some flamingos, pelicans, water buffalo, impalas, rhinos (!! - my new favorite safari animal), giraffes, and even lions. I got tons of pictures, so they'll be coming up here sometime. Maybe after the trip is over? I'm very impatient, and i'll probably want to upload a lot of photos, and it takes a while for them to upload, so i might wait until the internet connection is super fast (aka at home).

Speaking of pictures, i just looked through iPhoto and found that i've taken nearly 3000 so far. WOWWWW. That's a LOT - and it makes me really glad i brought my computer (where i upload my pictures every few days). haha.. if yearbook has taught me one thing, it's that the bigger your pool of pictures taken, the more good ones you'll get. Remember that. I suppose that practically speaking, that approach only works with digital photos.. but digital's what i'm doing, so we're good! I'm going to have to weed through these photos so we can all compile each of our respective photo caches (it has been noticed many times that we're a bunch of shutterbugs, but our bringing tons of cameras will pay off with the beautiful pictures you all will see!).

It's difficult to think about what exactly to write about in this blog post - it feels like there's been so much that i've seen and learned and have yet to really process. So.. talking with me about this trip when i get back will probably be like that too (but do it anyway!).

I think that the slum that made the biggest impact on me was Mathare. Like Trenton wrote, we started off our time there with a very real reminder of our vulnerability. I was one of the ones taking pictures out the window when the rock was thrown at the van.. at first i had no idea what had happened, but i figured it out a few seconds later. It kind of set the tone for the day for me. Instead of walking through the slums like it was just a normal day, i felt more wary and more cautious than i had been in days previous.

When we got out of the vans in front of the Mcedo Beijing School (the Beijing part came from a Chinese team that helped build it), there were lots of kids around, kind of just looking at us. Maybe it was just that mindset i had put myself in from the rock, but it didn't seem like they were as energetically happy to see us as kids in the other slums did. Maybe they felt more wary too..

And then there was this one little boy who started crying. It was hard to hear. Bekah picked him up and comforted him, but he was still crying a little bit.

After we toured the school (where some missions money from last year had been spent to buy some tables and chairs), we got to walk through the slum a little. It felt harder to do than it had the days before... i also wasn't watching where i was going at one point and ended up running into a thick metal cable (i think like the ones on power lines that go down to the ground?). I don't think it showed, but after the rock incident, i was feeling more jumpy and it really freaked me out. A minute later, we were walking past some people gathered in front of a house and i said hi to them ("habari!") and this old man grabbed my wrist and started talking to me. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but the group was moving and i had to go too, so i tried walking away. He wouldn't let go until one of our guides through the slum talked to him and he backed off. It was all very weird (and also freaky) and the guide told me that he'd been drinking.

We reached a high point (literally, not figuratively) in the slum soon after that. You could look out over all of it, go as far as you could see, and not see the end. It was staggering. During the school year, i'd done a project about the slum of Kibera in Nairobi, the most volatile of Nairobi's slums and the biggest in Africa. One part of this project was to come up with a feasible way to deal with the problem. My group came up with some possible measures that could be taken, but being there is different. Looking at it in person made it feel so much more daunting than the figures on paper ever could. Even if a solution to the health problems of overcrowding and disease and violence was found and implemented, it would be hard and imperfect, and thinking about that (along with going to the bases in Eastleigh) showed me just how important the good news of Jesus really is. (whoa oh ohhhh.. God be the solution..)

- steven

Seeing the world through their eyes...

When asked why I was looking forward to serving in Kenya, one of my biggest reasons was the chance to serve with the young people on our team. I was looking forwrd to "seeing the world through their eyes", and absorbing some of their energy and enthusiasm.

With only one more day of ministry left, I can definitely say that has been one of the highlights of our trip. I've known most of our youth for several years now, but really haven't gotten the chance to spend much time with them. After serving with them for two weeks now, I can't say enough about how much respect I have for each of them.

They truly have hearts for God, and are so willing to serve in any way they're called. I've seen them face their fears, become more confident leaders, communicate effectively, and make very difficult decisions. They've had to wake up early (which I'm sure hasn't been easy), keep a busy schedule, and spend two weeks away from their friends, cell phones, and other important parts of their lives. They've done this all with great attitudes, big smiles, and the desire to become better servants of God.

Thank you Beka for sharing your beautiful voice and musical talents, way beyond your comfort zone. Thank you Steven for being such a sensitive communicator and team leader, and for honestly sharing your hopes and fears. Thank you Kristene for making the drama so impactful, and demonstrating a true heart for God. Thank you Dakota for being so couragous in facing your fears and becoming a great member of the worship team. Thank you Daniel for your fun personality, sense of adventure, musical talent (playing the cooler) and enthusiasm to grow in your faith. And thank you Jesse for your honest desire to develop a heart for the things that break God's heart.

So I really want to thank the "younger members of our team" for letting me see the world through their eyes. It will be an experience I won't forget, and one that I know will change me forever. You guys rock!!

Bwana asifiwe (praise God) for you all!

Heather

Pics of our youths in action...

Now that we're almost done, I'm finally getting some pics organized....these are from our first couple of days......

Rock Stars in the Kwan Njenga/Mukuru slums (3rd day)

The Nest Orphanage (2nd Day)

Bekah

Steven with Joshua, a boy we met last year

Kristine

Dakota

This skit was part of Erika's sharing

Mike Hyodo's daughter Nikki

Mathare Slums

As you drive into the slums and look down the ravine to the right you can see these people making illegal moonshine. They saw us looking and taking pictures (we didn't see them at first) and started yelling and throwing rocks at the van...not fun.

Here is a picture of what I talk about below...can't really describe the smell except to say that it is a combination of trash and sewage.

Mathare Slums: These were probably some of the worst conditions I have seen yet. Every time we travel into the slums I have some difficulty emotionally. I have a hard time when I see children in such poor conditions. When we were driving in one side of the road was covered with trash, where goats and other animals were feeding and wandering around. As I was looking that direction I noticed that a young boy about 3 years old was squatting down. What I saw next was something I will never forget. He starting going to the bathroom right there in the open, next to the road.

One of the encouraging things for me was walking around the slum with a young man, one of the teachers named Ephent. He grew up in the slums, went away to college and now is back helping the young people of Mathare. He talked about transforming people and the area one child and youth at a time.

At the worship concert about 35 youth and children came forward during the alter call to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
At Comido School in South B slums about 25 and at our worship time after our dental/food outreach another 15 youth/children came forward. So the total number of commitments was around 75 or so. It is amazing to see people give their lives to Jesus Christ. Each and every member of our team has contributed in big and smalls ways to the eternal decisions that were made. I praise God for the privilege of serving God in this way and watching Him work so powerfully in and through our team.

Missing everyone, especially the kids.

In Christ,

Trenton

Fish 'n chips and almost ripped.....you'd had to been there!

We haven't had much internet access lately, but now I've got the modem while we're driving out to Lake Nakuru, so I'm gettin' blog happy!

Before our arrival in Kenya we had a 12 hour layover in London, so I have included some pictures. It was a great way for the team to spend some time together…

We had an interesting incident that was alluded to in an earlier blog, but everyone, as one post comment said, “remained curiously silent”!

So here's the deal.....
While in London we went to a restaurant and were seated in a basement section managed by one waitress. When we were given the bill it only had the total on it and we were told we had to pay her and not to pay at the upstairs cashier. The bill seemed a little suspicious so Cindy requested an itemized bill. This must not have sat to well with the waitress because she would now only talk to Erika. After reviewing the bill we discovered the waitress had overcharged us for our meal and added charges for table usage….she basically tried to rip us off!!

It wasn’t that big a deal, but I’m the only one willing to "be real"....haha...to share the moral to this story …..
”Don’t ever trust a Romanian, who’s an Italian/French wannabe, speaking a mixture of English, French and Italian, who then speaks Spanish to a Chinese guy, in a London fish and chips restaurant”……oh well….you would’ve had to been there…..we're all still laughing about this!

Nice pics though.....

dan

BiG Ben

Westminster Abbey

Little view of Big Ben

Mzungus...Mzungus....that'd be us!

Wow…we’re nearing the end of our trip and everyone has written some great stuff, so I wanted to share a few photos. We finally got around to taking a team photo last week, but some people commented that it looked like we were at the beach…..don’t we wish!

The photo was actually taken during our visit to the Comido School, in the Kwan Njenga/Mukuru slums. It was on the roof top of an unfinished 2 story building.

I have included pictures taken last year looking up and down from the building to give a visual of the height..We were at the highest place in the slums. Everything else were just little shacks! I could just hear all the slum kids looking up and yelling.. It’s a bird, it’s a plane …..it’s Mzungus..Mzungus...Mzungus……..how are yooouuu....how are yoooouu? ;-) !!!!!

dan

A day at the beach....we wished!

A Message of Hope...

This is the drama that the youth performed at The Farm. It really touched the kids there who had been rescued from the streets. The drama shows how Jesus' love can deliver us from the sins and temptations of the world...

A Day Off

Saturday we enjoyed a day off. A day of rest, what a nice change of pace. We started our day with the adults going out for coffee in the city center, then we returned and worshipped with the the whole team before heading out to do some touristy stuff. :)
We went to a giraffe facility. I wasn't too excited about it at first, though Kristine was. But it ended up being a lot of fun. Steven and Kristine kissed a giraffe! There are pics!!!!
We also visited a bead shop that helps single moms. They make the beads out of clay by hand! It was amazing to see the operation.
It was a lazy, meandering kind of day. And now we are coffeeing up before our long worship day!

Brennen-have a blessed game today! We are proud of your hard work-BE AGGRESSIVE!
Gabe-big hugs and kisses from MOMMY.
Sydney-Thank you for all the emails, we miss you tons.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Erika

Monkeying around...

We took a walk on the Windsor Golf Course yesterday, and made some new friends. I guess Vervet monkeys like apples...

Youth Street stories

Hi everybody
Yesterday we went to the Farm, were youths from the streets are brought. They go to school there and live there. We went to a field and had to remove grass and plant Mango Trees. It was hard work but each youth in my group told me their story and how they got to the Farm.
Mary is a 17 year old girl, who ran away from home after her mother beat her. She was on the streets for 3 years. She said that it was very hard for her and girls in general. She could only spend 5 schillings for food everyday, which she usually spent on little fried bread treats , sort of like dounuts. And she said that evening were the hardest for girls because you'd have to get a good sleeping place away from men. Because men would try to rape the girls. But one of her friends told her about the Farm and she went there. She has lived there for a few years now and she is a Christian. She lives at the farm where she goes to school.
Another youth I met was Kent who is 16 years old. He also ran away from home because he was beaten by his mother. On the streets he stole to get money for food and mostly for drugs. At night he would sleep in front of store entrances. One evening he heard lots of screaming and saw one guy running and others following him. So he folloed and saw them tie the man down. He heard that the man had stolen a purse from a woman and tried to run away after being caught. So the men tried him down and burned him alive. After Kent saw this he stopped stealing, but it was hard to find food. One of his friends told him about the Farm, so he went there, and now he is a christian and wants to be a Mechanic when he grows up.
Evans is a 16 year old boy who ran away from home because his mom made him sell illegal drugs to others and he got addicted to those drugs. when she found out she would beat him. On the streets he slept on street corners where other men would beat him up and he was always bruised and bleeding. He went to an organization where they helped him, but after a few months he ran away because he was scared and wanted to get more drugs. But then the farm welcomed him in and he became a Christian.
I think it is amazing how God Brought all these youth to the Farm where they became Christians and have good schooling to prepare them for the future. So that they can ahve a better future than living on the streets.
-Dakota-

Asante sana squash banana!

What a wonderful past few days! Walking through the slums is truly an experience, to say the least. At the Komido school, we all hiked up the (very, very, very fragile-looking) stairs (with no railings) up to the highest point. Looking out, we could see the surrounding homes, a mass of metal rooftops cramped together in a neverending horizon. Our guide through the kwangjanga slums, asked me, “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” I could honestly answer her that I never had.

But it wasn’t so much the vastness of the poverty of over one hundred thousand Kenyans in just that one slum that was heartbreaking, it was the children who never lost the smiles on their happy faces, thankful for the smallest thing they had in the world.

My favorite girl was named Kristen. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, caring for her little sister, Faith. And now because I’m writing this blog about 5 days later I can’t remember anything else and am going to just move on to the next day.

A bunch of days go inbetween here…

The Farm. Probably my favorite place, besides the Halfway House where I met the love of my life (sort of, haha). It was such a refresher to be communicating and connecting with people my age who could understand what I was saying. Truth be told, the “planting trees” part in the morning, which, incidentally, involved no planting of trees whatsoever, was almost torturous. The heat combined with bending down with my not-so-amazing-back to pick up dead grass and attempt to beat off the dried mud left me dizzy and lightheaded. Barb took pictures of Dakota and I for “proof” that Mercer Island girls actually do work. Which is such a silly stereotype, haha. I’m pretty sure I rejoiced when Larry Conway called out, “Lunchtime!”

I walked back with a lovely girl of 17 named Mary, who had a sister named Christine. She told me that she was learning how to be a tailor, but aspired to work in the salon. She explained to me how the Farm worked, and I was amazed to hear the schedule.

Perhaps I should have begun explaining how The Farm works. The teenagers at the Farm were originally children on the streets. They knew only a life of animal survival, struggling just to live each day. Many of them were involved in violence, drugs, and other horrible experiences. After being recruited to The Farm, these teenagers are taught the regular school subjects like math, reading, English, and history. In addition, they study their vocational occupation for their future after they leave The Farm.

Mary told me that they studied seven days a week because they had to fit eight missed years of learning into as little time as possible before they turned eighteen. On Sundays, they attended church and were taught to love Jesus and follow Him. Each and every boy and girl there had their own story and history of hardships on the streets, but when asked to tell their story, they wanted only to talk about their plans for the future. This brought tears of happiness and amazement to my eyes – these kids were moving on from their previous life, changed by the love of Jesus.

After eating lunch with Mary and her friends, one boy wrote me a dictionary of Swahili, which I am sure will treasure forever. They laughed when Bekah tried to say, “Praise God” in Swahili, though. I love you Bekah, haha. After that we performed the usual worship concert, and after that, we performed our drama.

The night before, we had practiced for many hours, trying to get the timing exactly right. But when it came time to actually do the drama, we were met with an unexpected challenge. Our Jesus robe was lost, and so was the toy gun and all of our signs. We started to freak out, frantically searching for the lost props while trying to stall the kids as long as we could. Still, I felt a certain calm. I knew that despite the challenges, we would still be able to do our drama, and it would touch whoever God wanted it to touch. It was all in His hands. It was a humbling experience, knowing that everything we had worked so hard for the night before was ruined, but it reminded us that the props weren’t as important as the message we were trying to send.

Turns out, God does miracles. We found the signs last minute, and the Jesus robe and the toy gun followed shortly after. I found out later that we reached at least one person, and if he was the only one, the entire drama and hours of practice were worth it. Even the huge purple and blue bruise on my left knee from falling so much was worth it.

And last but not least of the day, Ultimate Ninja. ‘nuff said.

Today (much to the happiness of my dad, I am very sure), Dakota and I got to help out at the Dental clinic with Mike, fully dressed in the most glorious scrubs, of course. We didn’t really get to do anything special, except hold the light and clean the dental instruments of course. But it was an amazing experience nonetheless, getting to witness the dental process firsthand, because after all, when we all go to the dentist, we never actually get to see what is going on in those mouths of ours.

Watching some of the Kenyans get their teeth removed was more encouraging and amazing than I ever imagined it to be. Of course, before getting teeth extracted, they needed to be injected with anesthetics. Still, it was very blatantly obvious that they could still feel the pain. But the Africans are tough. One woman had a very decayed wisdom tooth that was bothering her. As Cindy and Mike tried to pry out the bad tooth, she never budged or said a word, even though there were tears streaming down her face. When we asked if she was in pain, she always resolutely answered, “No.” Her strength and determination inspire me. And miraculously, after all the blood and staring into people’s mouths all morning, I still want to be a dentist. Ha ha.

Last night we, the youth, decided that we wanted to have a talk with our parents (for the week). For the past few days we had been feeling uncomfortable and paranoid about what the wiser peoples of the team were saying about us. The uncertainty, combined with the unmistakable separation of youth and adults during dinner and bus rides made us think the worst – that we were being stereotyped into the troublemaking young teenagers that needed a maturity check.

That night, at the Hyodo house, Steven suggested that we confront our worries and, at the very least, clarify our feelings and try to bring a stronger feeling of unity of the team. When we returned to the Guest House, we had a meeting with the team and voiced our feelings and worries.

The meeting was the most amazing connection with each other yet. All week I had felt very self-conscious and afraid to be judged. But after telling our parents our concerns, they met us with respect and kindness. Long story short, the adults explained to us that they were only talking about how encouraging and wonderful youths we were in the trip, and how each one of us had an amazing gift that we brought to the team. We were always separated because they thought that the bonding we had with each other should be encouraged.

Ever since our talk I have felt a great weight lifted off me. I had been so focused on trying not to offend the adults that I was getting so tired and stressed out. But after the clarification I felt so elated again, like on the first day in Kenya. Even though I was physically tired and very sleepy and it was late at night, I was filled with energy and inspiration to do a whole night’s helpful work.

Today we visited Amani Ya Juu, the sewing ministry place. It was such a beautiful place, and I bought a pencil pouch. Today I spent so much money I can’t even try to think about it. We went to the New Life orphanage and played with children. The children there may or may not have HIV, but the caretakers do not reveal their health status to volunteers. One of the toddlers loved to repeat whatever I said. I made him say “Banana” and “Kristine” about 50 times, but then when Daniel tried to take a video of it, he refused to say a word! They were all very charming and they seemed very well cared for.

Afterward, much to the happiness of Dakota and I, we went back to the Maassai Market. I got even more stressed out than last time because haggling just drains my energy, but I am happy with what I bought and I probably thought I spent more money than I did because we were spending money in the hundreds (shillings).

And we just watched Lion King. Which, incidentally, is in Swahili. Or most of it is. Asante sana squash banana = thanks for the squash banana!

And really, I just want to give thanks to God for this entire trip and the relationships I have built with the Kenyan people and also for the relationships I have built with fellow members on our team.

And…. Sorry for this super long blog that nobody will want to read, but I was just sort of typing my entire trip on Steven’s computer and not uploading anything.

Love,
Kristine

Friday already!

I'll echo everyone else in saying that I've been a pretty horribly inconsistant blogger throughout this trip... It's tough to get internet since our modem (or cord for the modem? or something else technologically-too-advanced-for-me-to-be-sure-of?) kind of died... So I'm blogging at the Hyodo's while all the youth are watching Lion King :) We've been looking forward to it..

Well it's been a crazy week... I kind of had this mid-trip breakdown and wasn't feeling too well physically, emotionally, and all that... I was super exhausted and got really moody and anti-social (ha) and was feeling frustrated at how not-well-focused I knew I was being... But after a 3 hour nap in the middle of yesterday and a really really good team meeting last night, I'm feeling much much better. Praise God.

We've been getting to go so many amazing places... that lots of other people have already told you about.. A highlight was definitely the Farm, where we got to do some work with the kids and play some worship/do our drama for the first time. The kids (well, teens) were so great... I got assigned to a different group while pulling all the dead grass/weeds where I was the only Seattle-ite, and I really got to know some of them. We bonded over the songs on the radio that we all knew :) Some Chris Brown... Rihanna.. Beyonce.. there's pop culture for ya... I even got to tell them that my sister met Chris Brown.. to which they responded "Your sister sang with Chris Brown??" hmm... (You're still cool, Rache.) Eventually that led to trying to find out which worship songs we all knew (we found more than I'd expected!) That was fun.. Then on the walk back to the main building, some of the girls taught me a simple song that had both a Swahili verse and an English one. I basically worked on it the whole day and still don't think I was pronouncing it right =P But they were great, and so happy to teach me anyway :) Hearing their stories and seeing their joy and hope in their new lives was inspiring. The work that's going on at the Farm is so amazing.. I was talking to some of the girls about possibly coming back to see them again next year, but some of them won't be there because they'll turn 18 and go out and find a job. But with the education and training that they're getting in their specific field, they don't seem scared at all. They're getting so well equipped and you can really see how much their lives are being changed by this ministry. Very cool.

During our worship "concert" I wanted to throw Lord I Lift Your Name on High in because it was one of the songs I'd found out that the kids on the Farm knew... and so we brought up some of them to teach the motions and that was fun :) got them more involved.. I'm not really sure if someone else has written about this yet but God definitely helped us out in our first drama performance by having all our props show up at the very, very last minute! We went to go set up for the drama while Trenton "stalled" and coudn't find the prop gun, the signs, or Steven's Jesus robe... So that didn't exactly help to calm any nerves we were already feeling. We prayed before going out and then just went for it. Thankfully, the signs showed up before we needed them and the gun and robe showed up mid-drama so that we were able to finish the drama with all props present. Kind of crazy, and very cool. Thanks, God.

There have been so many other amazing experiences... I know already that this trip is going to take a lot of time for me to fully process.. I'm looking forward to getting all the team's pictures compiled and getting to share them all with all of you :) I can't believe it's Friday already! As we're winding down, pray that everyone's energy and health would stay up and that God would bless the rest of the ministry we have yet to do in Kenya! Thanks!

bekah

"Michael Lives" at the Mcedo School!

Yesterday we visited the Mcedo Beijing School in the Mathare Slum. We were surprised to be greeted by this "dancing machine" when we arrived at the school...

Our time is speeding by-it's Friday already. Today we went to Amani ya juu, a women's sewing ministry/company, where they employ women to sew projects for sale internationally. I bought a wallet from them last year. We heard from some of the women how they were able to move out of the slum and provide for their family. Praise God!

We also visited New Life Orphanage, an AIDS orphanage, but not all the babies have AIDS. We held and played with the children for just a short time. I fed a little guy, about a year old, then took him outside with the rest of the children to play in the yard. I tried to put him down a couple of times and he threw his body on the ground and cried. Looked like a 2 year old act to me. I picked him up again and gave him a ride on a toy, then helped him go down the slide. I prayed over him, and sang Jesus Loves Me to him a couple of times before we had to leave. It was sad to leave him. I cried. I hope he remembers that Jesus does love him. It is my hope. It is my prayer. Amen.

VBS at the Nest Orphanage

What a fun day! We spent the morning at the nest orphanage, singing. doing crafts, and playing with the children. This is a video of Barb's new favorite song, "10 Men"...

Soccer is a Universal Language

Kids playing and Trenton Kicking the ball at our Dental/ Food outreach, Worship concert

Trenton (far left...I know the Kenya sun has made it so that I am only a few shades lighter than everyone else here) playing soccer with the boys at the Farm.

Trenton kicking the ball (plastic wrapped with rubber bands)

Trenton playing with a swarm of kids at the Comido School in the Kwanjeng Mukuru slums (and yes I fell down)

Later at the Mathare slums I started juggling with a large crowd of youth. After I was done I asked them how many of loved soccer. Almost all of about 35 kids raised their hands. I told them I loved soccer and Jesus. I then told them to keep playing soccer and also follow Jesus. Their response was interesting...they looked at me intently and said "I will".

Playing soccer with everyone allows me to connect before I even meet and talk to any of them. Because I can juggle better than any of them they automatically gives me respect and listen to me. Some don't speak English well, but we can play together and I can love on them.

In Christ,

Trenton

Another day and more pics

Apparently you can't take pictures of the US Ambassador's residence...Erika didn't know. Later we read a sign that you can be arrested if caught...so far they haven't shown up to get her. Just in case could you please send bail money. jk

Here I am with a few of the boys at the Farm. Alex is in the yellow and Charles is in blue. Charles was on the streets from the age of 7 to 11. They have such a wonderful spirit and love to play soccer. Be praying for them.

Here are Anthony and Kennedy after they were introduced to Ultimate Ninja. They were both street boys in Eastleigh. If you saw the conditions and places they used to live and what they used to be like you wouldn't believe it. Listening to Anthony preach and share the gospel with on the streets was powerful.

Here is a little boy at the community center (Made in the Streets) who wouldn't go to sleep, but found a lot of comfort on Anna's shoulder.

Here is a trash pile where some of the homeless lived in Eastleigh. They were looking for food and sleeping on it because it was warmer. You can watch video and see pictures, but walking around places like this is different.

Tuesday...we went to the Farm where the street boys from Eastleigh are taken. They have to be clean from drugs and want to change. Some of the boys I met and talked to had been on the streets from the time they were 7yrs old. Living at the Farm they go to school and learn a trade. Seeing how the gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change lives, bring light to dark places and give hope to people is the most powerful and amazing thing.

In Christ,

Trenton

P.S.

Hi Brennen, I hope you are having fun at your tournament.

Sydney, you would love the worship times (you too Brennen and Gabe).

Gabe, you and Josh would have a blast together here. He loves dancing and worshipping with us.

You would love to see so many youth and children give their lives to Jesus Christ. They are so happy and thankful to see us here. No one ever comes to visit them.

One of the saddest things I saw yesterday was when a three year old boy who was standing by the road in some trash pulled down his pants and pooped right there. It is very dirty in the slums and it makes me very sad. I am glad we can come and encourage them and provide food and clothes for some.

I love you, Daddy