Touchdown

Well we've landed safely and gone to our respective homes for some much needed sleep. We can't wait to talk to you guys about all that's transpired during this time. Jesus is awesome. Bwana Asafiwe. Amen.

The Final Countdown

[Sorry, this post is late - we were supposed to have this up at the Kenyan airport but the internet was flaky there and we were pressed for time, and they wanted to charge us 8 pounds in London.]

Best. Trip. Ever.

So we're sitting on the floor here in the Kenyan airport waiting for our flight. We will do our final debriefing and try desperately to process all that Christ has done on this trip. Good luck, us.

The day started off by doing final packing, weighting luggage, and doing stupid-checks in the ENT house. After that we loaded the vans up and headed to the slums of Lunga Lunga to go to church. We got a bit lost on the way and arrived 30 minutes late to church (the one thing Kenyans do on time), so we had to scratch the song we'd prepared to sing. And the peasants rejoiced. The place was rockin' when we walked in and kept rolling for the next three hours.

Paul spoke out of 2 Timothy about not having a spirit of fear. This was a message the church was more than ready to receive due in part to a tragedy that hit Festus (one of their pastors). About a month ago, while he was in the church praying, his house burned to the ground with his wife and child inside. Grief is great with this family and with us for them. However, he was there worshipping his heart out and serving the Lord. Truly a Job-like spirit.

After service, we took polaroids of all the families and stuck them on pieces of paper with encouraging scripture on them. Then everyone sat around in the church (a room about 20' x 20'), ate African Donuts, drank Fanta, and just talked. They made sure to spread out all us Mzungus to make sure everyone got a full experience. The church in Lunga Lunga sends its greetings to all of you and The Village Church as well.

The slums were probably the most counter-cultural environment we've been in. There was a single road with families/shops packed in on either side. The mucky road wound about with trash littering the ground. It also had a very distinct smell. And I pray desperately that Christ will NOT remove these sights and sounds from our head. This is how these people live and my fear is that we will retreat to our warm showers and clean floors thinking, “Well I'm glad THAT'S over.” Instead, I would rather us look for the shoes we've had to throw away, think about our brothers and sisters over here, and hit our knees for them. They were amazingly welcoming and were poor in money only; but rich in everything else.

We left Lunga Lunga and finally got to try Java House in Nairobi. This place was as good as advertised. Good food, great conversation. Recommendation: try the minty-pineapple drink. From there we walked outside and into the Masai Market to do our final shopping. Let me tell you, our girls are awesome at bartering. This was no Black Rhino incident. They were trading pens, power bars (for athletes!), hair bands, wet naps, and Transform bracelets. We even had one final group effort to fend off a pack of wild wolves (vendors) and get the price we wanted. [Thanks guys!]

Now we're in the airport. We got here early so the drivers could get back to Kijabe before dark. We've repacked out bags with our new goods and “showered” with wet naps. Ahead of us lies the monumental task of grasping everything. Christ, help us. Sear these images, moments, people, and thoughts into our brains. Allow it keep pushing us deeper into you and deeper into love. There's so much more on my heart, but as is true for all of us, it will have to wait for post-trip conversations.

In that light, we are looking forward to seeing you soon and thank your for partnering with us on this trip in prayer and other ways. There are many ways to continue serving once we get back. Invite a team member over for dinner. Email. Ask questions. Continue to Pray. Re-entry can be a very difficult time as we've been in a different culture for almost two weeks. There will be several conflicting emotions as the Lord works on our heats.

Please pray for the team. Several of us left in obedience with precarious situations in work and family. Pray for directions and processing. Pray for Festus and the church family in Lunga Lunga. Pray that God would call us to continual mission living (both overseas and at home). Pray for safety in travel as we come back. Pray for lives that will continue to be challenged by all that's been revealed to us. Pray for the Mendonsa's. We get to leave here and go back home to family/friends and they continue to be half a world away. Now don't be mistaken, this is where true life is for them, but it is ALWAYS great to be connected to loved ones. Pray for their ministry, all God is doing with them, and how you might play a part.

Thank you so much for everything, more to come, so...

Best. Trip. Ever. (So Far)

-Daniel

Reminder Flight Numbers:

Nairobi to London – BA 64

London to Dallas – BA 193

What we are looking forward to back in the states:

DJ – Courtney

Greg – Piano

Beth – Own Toilet

Leah – Milk From a Cow

Elaine – Kiddos

Michael – Working Shower

Hannah – Email/Connectivity

Ginny – Dog

Kristen – Own Bed

Paul – Susan Boyle

Daniel – Green Boogers

*Muah*

Hello everyone! I preface this blog entry (sadly, one of our last) by saying we love you all and are so grateful for your support! Despite the physical distance between Kenya and America, every one of you has remained in our thoughts, prayers, and hearts!

Well, today was our last full day in Africa...so difficult to believe! I'm sure I speak for the group when I say that our time here has absolutely flown by! Every moment has been such a joy and blessing and our hearts are heavy tonight with the thought of leaving. Fortunately, today was our recreation day in Nairobi so we still had a lot to look forward to and experience!

The morning started out, per usual, with lots of love and laughter! An absolutely delicious breakfast (french toast and leftover homemade pizza from the night before) was provided by breakfast team #3 (Team "C Your Way Out of the Kitchen") which included members Ginny, Hannah, Greg, and Daniel. And then miracles of miracles: our ride(s) appeared 30 minutes before schedule!! So, we hopped in the vans and, after swinging by the Mendonsa's, we were off to Nairobi!

After another fantastic drive through African countryside, we arrived in Nairobi and successfully exchanged the remainder of our American money (in what seemed like a shady back ally...but no worries, it was totally legit) in Kenyan currency . Thank you, DJ!! I wouldn't have known the first thing about getting any of that done! Our second stop was the Kazuri Bead Factory, a factory that employs single mothers and teaches them the art of handmade bead and pottery creation. All proceeds support these mothers and their families, which is amazing, and the beads/pottery were so beautiful!

Next stop: the giraffe center in Karen, Kenya! Such a fun experience...especially for everyone who got kissed by a giraffe! See below for pictures of your loved ones getting a little lip service, Kenya style!

We were planning on eating a late lunch at Java House (apparently THE place to be according to all the locals!), but had to eat elsewhere due to infamous Nairobi traffic. Between a sandwich shop and a Mexican restaurant, where do you think 16 Texans chose to dine? I'm happy to report that while the food wasn't as good as the tex-mex in Dallas, it was still enjoyable! ...as was observing the taco-eating contest that ensued at one of the tables!

After stopping by the Nairobi grocery store (and purchasing loads of Kenyan coffee and tea!), we headed back to the house in Kijabe, which we've all begun to fondly refer to as "home." It was our last evening to sit outside and take in the breathtaking view so we pulled out all the stops--including the indoor couch from the living area! No better way to spend an evening--and how we will miss it!

Bob and Julie (along with Ty and Mande Clark, who arrived in Kenya this afternoon) then came over and joined us for our nightly debriefing session. They shared their individual and joint testimonies with us, and we were so blessed by their presence and participation! The Mendonsa family has grown very near and dear to all of our hearts and we ask that you keep them in your prayers! We all then enjoyed a late dinner together and have now begun the sad task of packing.

Tomorrow morning we leave Kijabe behind and will head into Nairobi for the last time. We will be attending church service at the slum church of Lunga Lunga, an experience we are all looking forward to! After, we will eat a late lunch and then be dropped off at the airport...I still can't believe our trip has come so close to the end! Please pray for a safe and blessed last day in Kenya as well as a safe and uneventful flight back to America! Please, also, continue to pray for both the Kenyan people and the Mendonsa family. Such wonderful things are happening here and we all so blessed to have experienced it first hand! We love you all and will see you soon!

-Leah

Rain Down

We started our day with saying our Goodbyes at Cure hospital. It was already our last day in the facility. We shared devotionals in the morning and made a round through the different departments. We share the general opinion of the staff that our stay was way too short. We thank everybody for their kindness and support. We were blessed to work with such incredible and godly people.

Our next stop was the Feeding Program started by Julie Mendonsa and Esther. Together with Esther she identified 36 children that walk 1 hour daily to school without breakfast and lunch because the family was not able to provide. For a couple years God has used the Mendonsa's and a group from The Village to provide food for those families twice a week.

We met Esther at the school around noon and she started to give out the food which included bags of beans, maize and cabbage. The kids would patiently wait until their number got called out to grab their bags and wait again. We were all surprised by the outstanding good behavior of the children. They would not fight over the food or try to take more than they are allowed to. Elaine saw a little girl picking up all the leaves of the cabbage after all the food was separated and thought for a moment that she was cleaning up, but the girl put the leaves in her bag with the rest of her food to take home. The need is big.

We gave the kids little bags with crayons, bookmarks, coloring-pages and markers as small gifts. Daniel and DJ in the meanwhile started playing “Wildebeast” with the other kids on the school campus. Both guys would stand still and wait until all the kids had gathered around them and then would start chasing after them. The children and everybody else had a blast.

Our following mission was visiting the IDP Camp. We arrived in the camp through a road that divides the camp in the middle. The picture we saw was of children and adults scattered among tents to the left and right. These tents were covered in dust and dirt with holes or partially ripped. One of the first thoughts that was said out loud was that no one of us could imagine how to live here. We were even more amazed by what God had done in the peoples hearts and how He had worked in this place. In great wisdom, they have managed to install a government system in the camp that includes a health department, security, educational system and a judicial system.

We started out by handing candy to the kids. It took only minutes to gather them around us and only another minute and it started raining! Finally! We have been praying for rain in the last couple days over and over and here it was! The Lord is good! We found cover in a nearby tent which is used for schooling and community activities. We kept playing with the children, entertaining them with pipe-cleaners and loving on them until the rain stopped and we were able to go back outside.

Paul and Pastor Peter had the opportunity to share the gospel with the adults while we would play, sing, jump, run or just simply hold and love on the kids. When asked if we had brought them anything, Paul answered that we did not bring any food. But we had brought encouragement and a word from God. The camp elder responded by saying that bread could be eaten and then forgotten, but a word from God would stay.

Before we left we were able to arrange that the camp will be provided with some Bibles, which was their request. The camp started a spontaneous praise and worship ceremony after receiving this news. As we left the camp, we listened to the drums and the people worshiping our GOD and King. How awesome that they were praising HIS mighty work in place so full of poverty.

Things to Pray For:

Please pray for the people that are still struggling with what they experienced in the post-election violence, that are tortured by memories at night that makes them cry and scream out in desperation. Please pray for continued wisdom and provision in the IDP-Camps and strength through Gods mighty hand. Please pray that the families in the feeding program would continue to be provided for and that they will eventually have the ability to provide for themselves.

-Hannah

Nipe moyo safi, Bwana

(Give me a clean heart, Lord)

What a wonderful morning! We had running water to take showers! All of us were smelling and feeling much better today as we made our way up to CURE. Thank You Father for the big blessings, and the small ones such as water!

Today marked our second to last day working at CURE, and I am already thinking about how much I will miss the people that I have met here. The joy that all of us have felt working at CURE was summed up perfectly when a beautiful little Kenyan girl came running up at full speed to greet Paul with a hug this morning as we entered the lobby of the hospital. We had the privilege of worshipping with the prosthetics/orthotics people in their workshop. I have to say, one of my favorite things here in Kenya is listening to the people sing praises to God in their language, and we got to hear them sing in Swahili this morning. The prosthetics/orthotics people (artists as I would call them) showed us the amazing work that they are doing to create prostheses for patients with a new knee joint that they actually learned about from Letourneau University in Texas! Man, it's a small world! A couple of hours after that, Elaine and I got to work with a patient who received one of these prostheses just today, and started the process of learning to walk with his new leg including helping him navigate stairs. I have to hand it to the “artists,” they did incredible work on that patient's leg, and I could see the joy in his face in knowing that he would be able to walk again.

The amazing gifts and talents of our team did not go unused today, as Dan and Greg worked their tails off to repair and actually rebuild the computers at the hospital. This is no small feat, I might add, with a temperamental and slow internet. Two of our nurses, Beth and Leah, spent some time this morning discussing PALS with the nurses at CURE, and then assisted Dr. Bob in casting a young girl with a femur fracture. There was plaster everywhere! Leah got to scrub in like a superstar on a C1-2 [spinal] fusion surgery with Dr. Mead, and Michael, being the stud that he is, was able to scrub in on a bilateral (both feet) clubfoot surgery with Dr. “Smooth Operator” Mendonsa, and also help put the casts on afterwards.

DJ, God bless his soul, did data entry from files dating back to 2008. DJ, you truly have a servant's heart! One bonus that came out of this was coming across a patient's name which the guys have decided is the Best. Name. Evar. … Killforce … It is now a race to see who will be the first to use it on his child.

Kristen, Elaine, and Hannah worked with Francesca (an absolute angel who works at CURE) in the “Pray Loom” (How Kenyans pronounce “play room”). They colored pictures, made bracelets, played games, and Francesca gave the gospel to a child with the evangicube. Every time I walked by the play room this morning, I could see the absolute joy on the faces of the children, and the workers, however..., there was one little girl who was very afraid of mzungus. Surprisingly, the guys (Michael, Greg, and Dan) were the ones who won her over.

At lunch Julie Mendonsa took us all to the Dukas (the Galleria of Kijabe), so that we could find some fun gifts for all of our beloved friends and family! Thenya was the woman who owned the shop that we were at, and she was so gracious to us. After we left the shop, Thenya thanked Julie profusely with tears because we had provided her with some business today. It was so awesome to be able to bless her in that way, and hopefully help provide for her and her family.

In the afternoon, most of the girls worked in the warehouse organizing all of the scrubs and tape. In the end, they were completely covered in dust, but had made a significant dent in the organization of the warehouse! Michael, Dan, and Greg had the privilege of helping out with the ward fellowship time, and Dan and Greg were the keynote speakers today. Greg gave his amazing testimony, while Dan preached to the parents and kids on the 5 core Preschool values taught at Kids Village back home at church!

The girls finished the afternoon off with attending Emily's basketball game. Emily is definitely becoming the female version of Dirk Nowitzki, and played like a champ! Will had a small run-in with the soccer ball and another soccer player. He ended up with a very manly looking shiner on his right eye. You should see the other guy!!

The evening came to a close with Paul telling inspiring and funny stories of his high school years up to the present, while Michael and DJ challenged all of us with such serious questions as “what is your least favorite food due to smell” and “what is your most embarrassing moment.” Dinner time has become some of the sweetest moments of this group as we sit around the table, tell stories, and laugh. Dan and Greg then both gave their testimonies. We have amazing men on our team!

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” - Elliot
I feel that God is definitely calling us to give up all these silly things that we think we can't live without, to gain more of Him. The Kenyans that we have met over this past week have been such an amazing example of what this looks like in real life. May the Lord help us to mimic them in this way!

Things to Pray for:
Pray for us as we go to the IDP camp tomorrow that we will be able to minister to the people there and encourage them the way that God wants us to. Pray that we will be encouraging and helpful to the people of CURE on our last morning there, and pray for our hearts as we say goodbye to the friends that we have made in the hospital. Pray for safe travels for us as we return to Texas, and for Ty and Mande Clark as they fly from Texas to Nairobi on Saturday. Pray that God would provide rain here in Kenya and provide food and provision for these amazing people.

-Ginny
Jeremiah 29:11