There Are Monkeys Eating At The Buffet!

Volleyball with the older kids at the orphanage
Red light green light during P.E.
Church in the Kipsango Slum

That's a sentence I never thought I'd hear, "There are monkeys eating at the buffet". The other day a group of monkeys bombarded the outdoor buffet we were eating at and started eating the buffet! Everyday here has been such an adventure. We went to visit a teacher from the school today in the only public hospital in Kitale and when we walked in we were astonished to find that each bed has two patients in it! Things like that are hard to see here.

On Sunday we had church in Kipsango, a slum in Kitale, and it was unlike any experience I've ever been a part of. People who can barely see, don't have shoes, and many elderly people journeyed just to come to church. It was really special to get to worship together with them.

We are going to walk through Kipsango tomorrow after school which I think will be hard to see but probably necessary. I hope I am able to capture even a small part of what I've seen and felt here to share with you all. We are leaving Thursday morning for Lodwar, a city in northern Kenya where most of the people from the slum came here from so I won't be able to update the blog until next week. Its helpful knowing you all are supporting us from so many miles away :)

Saturday School!

Ilove being here more everyday, the kids are finally fairly comfortable with us and so we’re laughing together A LOT more- my cheeks hurt tonight from laughing so much today. Yesterday we brought 5 volleyballs to the school for the kids and they LOVED it; surprisingly however the teachers loved it even more. We played volleyball with the teacher for over 30 minutes and they were getting so into it, they even cleared the students off the field so we could continue playing.

I taught the “baby” class (3&4 yr olds) this morning for their Bible class and it was an adventure. Some of them got bored and ran outside to play, some of them were turned facing the back wall, but most of them just sat starring at me with their mouths open. Bridget taught the older kids and after we were done there we journeyed with Richard and Helen (the owners of the orphanage) to a wild life reserve. After an Elon rammed the side of our car and almost broke the glass and tipped us over I did something I never imagined doing… I road an ostrich!!! By the end I was falling off but it was fun to say the least.

Tonight we gave the children their shoes that we brought them and what a JOY that was to get to do. Its amazing how something that is so simple to us could be so so so special for them. It was a miracle but each child found a pair of shoes that fit, praise God for that! Tomorrow Bridget is “preaching” in Kipsango, the worst slum in Kitale so please be praying for her. I miss home but I know I won’t want to leave when its time J

Trying Ugali with Kale for the first time... not so bad!

Arm circles during P.E. (above)

Bridget and Madam Ester during social studies (left)

learning how to make Mandazi! (below)

We're Here!

Jambo! Thank you so much for your encouraging comments :) We just got internet for the first time so that's why the delay. We got to Kitale (where the orphanage is) Sunday night after a 6 hour celebration in Eldoret for the 20 year anniversary of the ministry that the owners (Richard and Helen) are a part of. I LOVE it here!!! Bridget it teaching social studies at the school and I am teaching 2 P.E. classes a day, its so fun and we are learning A LOT. I have many fun dances to bring back to the states so get ready... After school we get to hang out with the kids, help with homework, do Bible study, play volleyball, and yesterday we went on a run with some of them! Unfortunately we are mizungos (white people) so we couldn't keep up.

The school is in the middle of Kipsango, one of the worst slums in Kenya, and it is heartbreaking to drive through it everyday. There are people digging in trash, lying on the ground too weak to move, TONS of children just sitting waving to our car... I am so thankful to be here with this ministry however because they offer so much hope to these people. I have seen a kind of joy here that I have not witnessed in the United States, they have nothing else but God and they are so thankful to him- I am learning so much from them. We keep very busy and are worn out at the end of the day, but that's why we're here. We try to attend Swahili class at the school to learn some, we're getting there slowly.

Know that we are safe and feel so blessed to get to be here. The people here keep thanking us for coming here to teach and help the children but I don't think they understand how much they are teaching and blessing us, we feel privileged to be here. Thank you all for your prayers, I will try to write again soon!

Its Here!

After months of talking, preparing, packing.... its here!! It is time for me to go. I leave tomorrow morning from Denver at 10:30 and I am pretty much packed. Delta allows 2 bags (for free) for international flights but yesterday they told us we'd have to pay for them to New York so pray that they give us some grace with that! Somebody gave Bridget $300 to use for the orphanage however she wanted so we used that money to buy every child there a pair of shoes. I am excited and nervous and anxious all at the same time but mostly I just want to be there! As of today I have received $2,700 from all of you and I feel so incredibly blessed and honored by that- I cannot thank you enough! There is not internet at the orphanage where I am staying but there is a nearby internet cafe where I will hopefully venture to sometimes! Thank you all for so much continued support, encouragement, and prayer. May the Lord bless you and keep you all. Talk to you from Africa!

12 Days

I am so excited and so nervous to say that there are 12 days left until I leave. For the first time, I am starting to get pretty nervous but I have been reminded so often of the Lord's unfailing love. Psalm 52: 8-9 says "I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good." More than anything I am getting more and more hopeful for this trip! Thank you so much to those who have contributed financially, I have received $1400 already! It blows me away that this is actually happening.

Bridget and I have been asked to bring children's tennis shoes with us and we are going to decide on Monday how we would like to go about collecting them. I will keep you posted on how you can help with that if that is of interest to you! Thank you all for your support.