Last pictures from Kenya

Friday evening update - Final message from Kenya

Well, today it is my turn to write the letter. It is bittersweet for me. The reason I was chosen is I am the one left behind! I am thrilled to be able to spend one on one time with my sister, but I am sending home many new friends and family members! It was a GREAT group and I think we were all blessed to be a part of it!

The day started out kinda lazy. There was no set schedule except that we were going to have lunch at Java one last time! Some of the group shopped before and after lunch (o:. We had a wonderful lunch and Antony joined us so he could spend a little bit of time with the team before they left. The rest of the afternoon was spent packing and getting things all ready to leave. Some were waiting for some special glass things to arrive, but sadly they did not arrive before they left. The vans and luggage were all packed and they headed to the airport around 6:45pm. They arrived safely at the airport at 7:30pm.

I think the time here in Kenya was a success. I think each member of the team learned a lot about Kenya, working and living as group, their relationship with God and themselves. We were all blessed to be apart of the group and I think each one of us is thankful that God allowed us to be a part of the group and thankful for each one of those who prayed and supported us.

Blessings from Kenya and as they say here

"kwaheri" or good-bye in Swahili!

Kelli

Back in Nairobi and getting ready to head home!

Hey Everyone!

We made it safely back to Robyn's today. The past few days have been eye opening and very exhilerating. We have seen so much. Robyn told you about the Baby Center, so I will only add a couple of thoughts. It is amazing how they have built up such an important ministry to care for babies. The new building will be able to meet many needs.

After leaving the Baby Center, we made a 'five-minute' stop at the Mosop Mission School to take a look at the work of the previous Kenya team. Several other buildings have been added since then. We also had some gifts for the kids at the orphanage. We planned on dropping the gifts off at the house and staying for five minutes, but we were invited in for cocoa, coffee, and mandazis. It was all very good, but it ended up being about twenty-five minutes. Kenyan hospitality is amazing.

We still got to Tenwek on time for the mexican carry-in lunch. It was extremely delicious. We met many of the people working at Tenwek, whether permanently or temporarily. We saw two of the guys that were on our flight on the way over here. After lunch, Faith Shingledecker gave us a tour of Tenwek Hospital. It was amazing to see how far the hospital has come from its simple beginnings. God's timing was perfect when Ernie Steury started the hospital, and its growth has been miraculous. We were able to hand out beanie babies to the kids that were patients (and even to some that weren't). Their faces showed their appreciation. We had dinner at Robyn's friend Linner's house (pronounced Leena). She prepared a delicious mixture of Kenyan cuisine. We enjoyed ugali, beef stew, lentels, chapatis, potatoes, rice, matoke, soup, pineapples, and chai. It was all very tasty. After dinner, we got to walk back to our rooms in the dark. It was exciting.

The next day, Wednesday, we were up very early in the morning to head out for our safari. It took a few hours over very bumpy terrain to reach our destination of the Sarova Mara Hotel. The long road trip was tiring. It sort of rocks you to sleep. Before entering the game park, our drivers surrounded a wildebeast and frightened it into running. It kept right up with our van and was determined to run in front of us, which it did. God's creatures are amazing. As we approached the gate to the game drive, we were greeted by maasai women who wanted to sell us many things. We could've even taken their picture, but probably for a price. Upon arrival, we had to wait for our rooms for a long time (about an hour). We were able to eat lunch while we were waiting. The meals were an all-you-can-eat buffet. Wow! There was so much to choose from, and we might have chosen too much. :) Our rooms were tents, but not what you would picture at the mention of staying in a tent. They had hardwood floors, a tiled bathroom, a roof, a porch, electricity, furniture, and very comfortable beds, with hot water bottles at your feet. Now that's a tent.

Our first game drive was at three in the afternoon. The vans we were traveling in had roofs that popped up, so we could stand while enjoying the awesome views. The animals that we saw the most of were zebras, wildebeasts, antelopes, and other various grazing animals. We also saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, birds, buffalo, hyenas, lionesses and cubs, a glimpse of a cheetah, and warthogs. The first day was not all that eventful, except that we saw the remains of a fresh kill, and one of our vans got a flat tire. Our drivers got out and had to change it. It was sort of nerve-wracking, because you were to remain in the vehicles at all times, due to being unable to determine what the intentions of a wild animal are. The other van, the one without the flat tire, almost got to see a leopard... almost. We got back and cleaned up for supper, which we had to dress up for. It was, once again, delicious. After supper, we went to Jim's tent, held devotions, and talked about the trip thus far. We had a good discussion. Then we went back to our tents. (Rhea and Allison got stuck in one; the zipper broke; and some of the kids had to go get help.)

In the morning, the early, chilly morning, we set out for another game drive. There did not seem to be quite as many animals about, though there were still a lot of zebras and wildebeast. I don't really know about the other van, but ours had an adrenaline-pumping experience with an elephant. A male elephant came out from behind a bush and onto the very path we were driving on. It began coming toward us with his ears perked in a threatening way. He advanced and we slowly retreated. Bonny, our driver, was about to turn around when the elephant left the road. As we drove past, he turned toward us one last time. Phew!

The highlight of the morning, which both vans had the pleasure of experiencing, was getting to see a lion and a lioness. Last night, we were unable to find a male lion, so this was exciting. Just ask any of us about it. I'm sure there are several great pictures. On the way back to the resort, we got to see a pair of jackals, and also a family of hyenas by their den. We ate breakfast, which was grand, when we got back. Then, we packed up and left for Nairobi, which was a five hour drive.

That pretty much does it; sums up our few days away. When we got back to Robyn's, the power had been out since nine this morning, but it came back on in time to celebrate my 19th birthday.

So, tomorrow we wake up when we want, have lunch at Java House, and do some last minute shopping. Then, we head for the airport at 6:30pm, and begin our journey home. Until then, thank you to everyone that has supported us in any way throughout this Kenyan adventure, and God bless.

This report brought to you by, once again,

Nicole and Jade

See you soon

p.s. - please excuse the length

Tuesday evening update - Baby Center

We left Nairobi Monday am, at 8:10am and headed to Nakuru. Kelli woke in the night with strept throat, so her sister (yep, that's me) started her on antibiotics. I drove because I am still not able to travel on the bad roads of Kenya for far. The road to Nakuru was recently redone, so it is SWEET! Last week part of the new road was closed and traffic diverted, but praise God, this week, all open. It was drizzling and cool as we left Nairobi and even got into some thick fog, so the view of the Rift Valley was not the best, hopefully the team will see it more clearly when they return to Nbi on Thursday. We arrived in Nakuru town around 11am and did some shopping for gifts. Then we went on to Billy Wayne & Jenny Fuller's home for a marvelous lunch on their veranda (porch) that overlooks Lake Nakuru. It was great fellowship, great food and what a view! After lunch on to Jim & Alice Vanderhoofs, another couple of missionaries and our WGM Kenya Field Directors. We had dessert there, along with Jon, Vera, Ben, Brenden and Bethany Steury. What a treat to be with many of our missionaries all in one day. Then on to the AGC Baby Center, where we now have 27 precious babies. Staci Wells Keter welcomed us and showed the rest of the team around the place. Kelli went to bed to rest and keep her germs away from the precious little ones. Rhea & Lesley helped me as we saw several of the babies who were sick or needed review. The others spent the rest of the afternoon holding and playing with babies. Then to supper at the home of Priscilla & Stephen Kones and their daughters, Dorothy & Faith. Priscilla is the RN who is a Tenwek graduate and one I mentored and worked with in Peds at Tenwek. She calls me her Mom. SWEET! She made a feast for us. Then we had a time of them sharing their testimony, welcoming us to their home and then their girls sang to us, first Joy to the World in English and then another song telling of how the Lord will never leave us, in Kipsigis. We were all smiling.

After a good night of rest, we had breakfast together then the team left for Mosop Mission School, to greet children there and then on to Tenwek Hospital. They arrived there safely and have had a tour and gone to their supper at the home of another of my daughters, Linner Rotich, and her family. They go on to Maasai Mara tomorrow and then return to Nairobi and my home on Thursday afternoon. As one of the team put it the other day, "we've seen so much we can hardly absorb it all."

Whitney Smith, one of our WGM VIA (volunteers in action) and I returned to Nairobi this afternoon after I saw a total of 18 of the 27 babies at the Center. They had a GI bug that went around a week ago and now many have colds and have gotten ear infections. Please pray that they will heal. What a precious bunch they are! If you want to see some of their smiling faces check out www.agcbabycenter.org

Until Thursday, God bless you, each one. Thank you for your prayers and for sending the team here. What a blessing!!! Robyn

No updates till Thursday

Due to the team's travel schedule and lack of internet access, they will not have another update until Thursday. This will be a day before the team leaves to head back to the States. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they travel Kenya visit Tenwek, Nakuru, and the Masai Mara.

Sunday Update

Hello Everybody Back Home,
Today has been a day of well needed rest for everyone. It was cold and cloudy all day and just a good day to relax. We all went to the first service at the Good Samaritan church, which is in Swahili. Jim spoke preached the message and it was translated, as for the rest of us we did the children's church lesson for the kids, in English. The second service, the one in English was alot the same except we did a puppet song in front of the whole congregation, before we left to do the children's church. Some of the group went to do some more shopping at the Yaya Market, which was like all the others, just alot of vendors shaking your hand and telling you how good their products were. Around 2:30 we left the market and came home to a wonderful roast lunch with Joy Philips, a friend of Robyn's. Joy told us of the work she is doing in Sudan distributing Bibles to the people there. The rest of the afternoon has consisted of dishes, napping, and packing for our trip upcountry tomorrow. Everyone has continued to remain healthy and has adjusted well. Thank you for all your prayers and the support you continue to give us.

From Kenya,
Adam McLaughlin

Saturday Update

Hello Everyone,

Today was great! It started off poorly (late getting out of Robyn's) but ended well. One of the vans had a "puncture" and was late arriving, so we had to wait for it to arrive. Eventually we were able to go to the Good Samaritan Children's Home in the Mathari slums. Usually, Robyn is able to drive to the school but since we had so much rain and our vans were so large, we had to walk from the main road to where the school was.

This home was very different than Huruma. The children sleep up to 50 in just one room with 3 per bed. They just had a small concrete room about the size of the Jr High room to play in as their playground. On the second floor of the school you had to watch out so that you didn't fall through the floorboards, because there were large holes and the boards were rotten in different places. This home was also very dirty compared to Huruma. The children were getting ready to go to the picnic at Paradise Lost (the park where we went to next). To bathe, the children would take a bucket of water and then dip a rag into it to wash off.

When we were finished at Good Samaritan, we walked back to the vans to then go to Paradise Lost park. This park would compare to Quabache, however this is not a state park. When we arrived, there were coffee plant fields along both sides of the road as you drove back to the park. As we got closer, there were signs indicating that there were camels! I guess you could ride them, but we didn't. Once we arrived at the gate, a few members of the group had to use the bathroom. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! These were squatters and they smelled worse than an outhouse. (Kristin...Now I see why you came back like you did. lol.)

We were then able to go to the camp site where we met up with Michael Johnson's group from Pennsylvania. There, we had to wait forever for the children to arrive. No one ever gave a clear reason for the late arrival, but I guess that's Kenya. After the children arrived, we started off by feeding them boiled eggs, two rolls and a carton of milk. As Michael said, "This is probably more food than they can handle." There were also bag lunches that included: two sandwiches, an apple, an orange and cookies. That they would be fed later in the afternoon.

We then did our puppet show as they finished eating. Once the children had finished eating, we went across the road to a large open field where we played games. The ladies did face painting for those that wanted it, some played soccer, some just kicked a ball around and others just stood around and visited. Michael made the comment that this was more grass than these kids will ever see. Then there were organized games. There were four groups total. We had to name the groups after prophets of the bible. Go Jonah! Once the games were over, the Good Samaritan acrobat team performed for everyone. This is a show that they travel around and do for earning money for the home. They were very good.

Finally we left for home. Everyone is very muddy, dirty and exhausted. Once home, we found out that the gas had ran out on the stove. But that was a good thing, because Robyn's househelp had put the roast on a cookie sheet in the oven instead of in a pot with water and vegetables. So, while we are waiting for supper, everyone is showering and getting ready for our Sunday school lessons tomorrow. Hope all is well.

Earl & Lesley



Rhea and Natalie handing out food to the kids.












Puppet show done for the kids.












Group games done with the kids at the picnic.

Friday Update

Jambo!
I hope this note finds all of you in good spirits! Today was a day full of new, fun experiences! The morning went smoothly, and the drivers actually arrived on time! We left Robyn's house at 9 and headed to Dr. Michael Johnson's house to fill up our water bottles with filtered water. Our first stop after that was the Giraffe Centre. How do we even begin to describe the giraffe centre? AMAZING!!!! We got to pet and feed the giraffes little pellets. Rhea lead several of us in getting a giraffe 'kiss.' We put the pellets between our lips and the giraffes leaned down and snatched the pellets from our lips! This was an AWESOME and somewhat slimy experience! Some of us sat in on a lecture to learn about the giraffe centre and the different giraffes in Africa. The best part about the giraffes was seeing the babies! Yes- they were taller than us!

Next, we went to the Nairobi National Park to visit the orphaned baby elephants. It was so much fun watching the baby elephants come out to "play." They put on quite a show for us. They picked up shovels, kicked a soccer ball, and played in the muddy water pit. One little elephant was 2 months old and they had to put a blanket on it to keep it warm, even though we thought it was so hot! Another elephant was about the same size, but 7 months old. They thought that it might be a dwarf elephant. We also caught a glimpse of Maxwell the rhino before we left. He was boring because he slept the whole time.

From there, we headed to the other side of Nairobi to eat and do some shopping at the Village Market. Mostly the upper class people shopped there. This place was very elegant and there were beautiful waterfalls! There was a wide variety of food choices. Half of us had pizza and the other half had Chinese food or other yummy things. After lunch we went upstairs to the Maasai Market. This was the size of a football field and it had 5 aisles. It contained many of the same things, so our goal was to see who would give it to us the cheapest. Robyn and Anthony bargained for many of us, but some of us did pretty well on our own- like Earl! You will have to ask him about that! Vendors would follow you around to "reel" you in to buying things from them. Many would not take no for an answer, so you had to walk away and ignore them. After bargaining so much, some of us replaced our lost energy with Gelato, which is a European frozen dessert, WAY better than ice cream.

The day was full of excitement, but it wasn't over when we got home. When we left the market, it began to down pour, for a few hours. Water was running everywhere and at one point, it even began to hail. People that were walking took cover wherever they could find shelter. So, because of the rain, the power decided to go out, which is not unusual in Nairobi. We were without power for about three hours. We had a candle light dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread. Obviously, our power came back on, and you are receiving our daily report! Brought to you by Jade and Nicole! God Bless!

P.S. Adam was supposed to write this, but he decided that the movie was WAY better :)


Adam sleeping
















Kelli and Robyn feeding a giraffe at the park.















Elephant with a shovel.

Pictures from Thursday's visit to Huruma

Here are a couple of pictures from Thursday's visits.



Allison, Adam, and Natalie painting fish on the kids.











Jim, Robyn, and Anthony delivering water filtration units to Mama Zapora and the kids at Huruma.

Thursday update

Hello to everyone!!!

We are having so much fun! Today was kind of a sad day though. We started off the day by waking up around 8, which isn't too terribly early, but when you stay up really late laughing and being goofy, 8 is early :). First we went to Nakumatt (Kenyan Wal Mart)around 9, so Robyn could pick up loaves of bread for an orphanage and for our story at Huruma. Some of us also exchanged money for the Maasi Market tomorrow. After our errands were done, we headed for Huruma. We were in the car for quite a long because Robyn was supposed to meet the Mama of Brydges, an orphanage where Robyn helps. Well, it would have been a short trip, but we couldn't find the lady. It ended up being okay and the loaves of bread were delivered safely. Finally at 11:30, we arrived at Huruma!! The kids there are soo adorable! We have pictures, so don't worry you'll be able to see how cute they are too. Because we were late, we were not able to play with the kids like we planned. We went to the room where we set up for our show. The nastiest thing happened in the room at Huruma. There was this HUGE, flat spider on the wall!! Earl was putting his hand really close like it wasn't a big deal at all. I have never seen a spider like that before and I never want to see one again.

The kids began spilling into the room around noon and our show began. We started off by singing some songs with them. Luckily they knew all the songs, so they sang along and out shined all of us. We sang Father Abraham and Praise Ye the Lord and then the children sang This Little Light of Mine in Swahili for us. Hearing them sing that song so loud and beautifully made some of us tear up. After the songs we did puppets. Oh the kids love the puppets! One of the three songs we did today was Sunday School Rock, a favorite to everyone. They sang and clapped along with the puppets. Today our story was about Feeding the 5,000. Jim was the narrator and the rest of us acted it out. I somehow got the part of the little boy with the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. After the story we passed out chunks of bread to each kid and little animal crackers that looked like fish. The kids loved it! Then, after the story was face painting time!! Woo!!! We lined up outside the room and the kids came out in a line. We drew a fish on either their arm or hand. They thought it was so special even though my fish were definitely the worst. While we were painting faces or hands, a few of the Huruma girls led the children in some songs for us. They are all beautiful singers. I really couldn't understand what they were singing because it was in Swahili, but it was so moving spiritually and emotionally. After their singing, we had to say our goodbyes because we were eating lunch in the guest house with Mama Zapora. I hate goodbyes, so that part was very hard for me. The children hugged us or shook our hands and said how thankful they are that we came. I wish you were all here to experience this with us.

We had lunch with Mama Zapora today. She is the sweetest lady! We had rice, beans, cabbage (which is actually really good), and tons of yummy fruit.When Mama was done eating, she told us her testimony about how the Lord has blessed her with her life and all her children. I was already trying to hold my tears back from all the goodbyes, but when Mama Zapora told us how amazing God is, I let the tears come as they had wanted to for quite some time. I think everyone needs to meet Mama and Papa, they're amazing people. I almost forgot to tell you about the beautiful jewelry that some of us bought from the Huruma home. One of the ladies and the kids make different kinds of jewelry and they sell it. I got two necklaces, but it was really hard to choose because it was all so beautifully made. Then we left with tears in our eyes.

It's 4:45 and we're all back at home just relaxing and getting ready for Earl to do devotions for us. Since it's 4:45 PM here and only 9:45 AM for you guys, I hope you're all having fun at work :). Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We love you all!

Natalie :)

Wednesday Update

Hello everyone,

Since yesterdays email was sent before supper I will tell you what happened. As you already know, it was Anthony's birthday yesterday. We ordered pizza for supper. We did not do a very good job of calculating how much so we have a little leftover. But that is okay. When we were done with supper, a few of us went into Robyn's room and got the presents and card we made for Anthony. We came out singing happy birthday. We made him a card with a few drawings of African animals. They were very good. And on the back we put 31 reasons why we love Anthony. Robyn did 15 and the team did 16. The 8 kids were up till about 12:00 working on it. The presents that we got him were little things that we had brought him. But the best gift was a volleyball that we all signed. We gave him the volleyball because he had told Adam and I that he use to play nationally. We had a cake that his wife had ordered. Since they had ordered the cake, we had a bunch of cupcakes to be eaten. A little while ago Anthony forgot to tell Robyn that it was his wife's birthday and so we used the cupcakes to celebrate Agnes's birthday. So is was a really good night.

Today when we woke-up, we met Dawn. She is with "the least of these" ministries. We headed out around 9:00. We headed for Huruma with the intention of the nurses going to Bridges. Bridges is closer to Robyn's house than Huruma. Robyn still had to haul people to Huruma and then come back. Anthony had to haul the water filters in his vehicle. So the plan was that Robyn would carry 4 people who were not going to Bridges so far. Then she would drop them off. This would be about 1/2-3/4 mile away from Huruma. Then We would give the water filters to her so that she could take them to Bridges. Anthony would drive his vehicle to Huruma and drop off the people in his vehicle. Then he would go back for the rest. Well, Anthony thought that he was supposed to wait at the point where it breaks off to go to Bridges. We are sitting there a while and we get a call from Robyn and she is still back at the road to Huruma. So Anthony and I put the water filters back in the truck and took them to Bridges ourselves. After that we headed for Huruma and saw Robyn. At that point, Robyn, Dawn, Rhea, Lesley, and Earl headed for Bridges and the rest of us went to Huruma. When we got to Huruma we had the mind set that we were going to play with the kids. So we dressed accordingly. They asked us if we would paint again but we said we were not dressed for it. So they said that it was okay and we could go play with the kids.

After playing with the kids for a while we put on another performance. We did some songs and then asked the kids to sing us a song. This was amazing. Over 150 kids all singing at the same time was amazing. We then did the puppets again and the kids loved it. Then we told them a story but this time we just acted it out for the kids. I was Jonah, Adam was God, Maddie was the king, Kirsten and Faith were the sailors, Natalie and Maddie were waves, and Kelli and Allison were whales. The kids just loved what we were doing. Finally, we passed out some bookmarks that the kids could write on and put stickers.

Time for lunch. We had mango, cabbage, rice, and lentiles. After lunch 9 of us started walking back to the road where Robyn dropped some of the people off to walk this morning. Anthony, Jade, and kelli stayed back. We passed Robyn on the way and then her and Anthony caught back up to us. We all came home.

When we got home, the people who went to Bridges started to eat leftovers. This was because they did not get a chance to eat any lunch there. They just ate pizza from last night. We then went to Andy's. It is a market with 4 people who sell stuff. So it is completely different than the market we went to yesterday. There we bought some souvenirs. Then we went to the Java house. We then came home and relaxed until supper.

At supper we met Whitney and Christina. Both go to Asbury College. Whitney is here until August and Christina leaves tomorrow. We had baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and ice cream.

That is pretty much what happened today. I want to thank everyone at home for their prayers. We appreciate all of them. We love you all and hope that you are well.

Brian

PS from Rhea:

Lesley, Earl and I went with Robyn today to Brydges Home to assist her with physical exams of the children there. There were approximately 24 children who were sitting in chairs waiting to be seen by Robyn. We were able to see 21 of the 24 child who was waiting. Each child was weighed and their Blood pressure was taken and then Robyn took them into another room and took their complaints and examined them accordingly. She saw everything from Gingivitis to Strep throat to suspected HIV positive status, these were children with swollen lymph nodes and vague complaints. Either Lesley or Rhea were in the room with Robyn recording the information for her as she saw each child and the other one was filling the prescriptions that Robyn wrote. Earl put together the water filters that we brought for the home and then he recorded for each child that was seen the new information as the prescriptions were filled so that the home would have a list of the medications and when they would be given. It was truly amazing to watch Robyn in action. God has Truly blessed her with a gift of medicine and of decernment to see to the true need. Even though these kids had to be truly hurting, they made no complaint whatsoever. A huge prayer request for these kids is the need for food. Last week they went to bed hungry and most of the children we saw today had lost weight since their last check up. They were really concerned about a 2 year old named Elizabeth who had lost 6 1/2 lbs. If I could I would bring her home in a heartbeat. We were there for 2 1/2 hours and did not stop the entire time. Before we left they wanted to feed us lunch but there was no way that we were going to take any of their food. We told them Thank you but please use the food for the children. It was very humbling to have them wanting to entertain us when their needs were so great. Especially for Lesley and I this was an awsome experience to work with Robyn in this capacity.

Tuesday evening update

The team had a special evening Tuesday. We had Antony our driver and his family over for supper to celebrate his birthday. The team also had another special guest, missionary surgeon Carol Spears. She gave her powerful testimony. You will have to have someone tell you her story if you don't know it already. Needless to say we had a busy, wonderful day. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Kelli for the team

Kenya Team Group with Anthony and his family.













Kenya Team with missionary surgeon Carol Spears (second row in the pink sweater).

Day 5 - Happy Birthday Anthony!

Happy Birthday to Anthony!!! Today Robyn's assistant turns 31, and he's never really celebrated his birthday before. So, last night all the students made him a big birthday poster with "31 Reasons Why We Love Anthony." Robyn came up with about half the reasons, and everyone else came up with the rest. Some of the sponsors made him cupcakes, and we wrapped up a couple gifts for him as well. I'm so excited to surprise him!

This morning was one of our earliest mornings so far, which was a big deal for me and Kirsten (we sleep in the same bed) because we're always the last to get up. :) Anthony came to drive one of the vehicles,so before we left we sang Happy Birthday to him and Robyn gave him her present (a sweet pair of shoes.) We decided to wait until tonight to surprise him with the rest of the celebration.

Today we had gotten up earlier because we went to the open air market to get fresh fruits and vegetables for the Haruma Home. This was the most exciting part of the day for me. We were VERY out of place in the market, but once people saw we were with Anthony I felt a little more comfortable. This market is close to Anthony's home, so everyone seemed to know him. We watched Robyn and him buy the food and then we carried it back to the vehicles. Rhea, Leslie, Faith, and I went with Agnes (Anthony's wife) to see her hair shop, which was beautiful! It was called Kui's Princess Hair Salon, and all the walls were bright pink. I loved it!

After that we drove out to the Haruma Home. I love car rides in Nairobi. Even though they're a little intense :), they're tons of fun and I really like looking out the window as we're traveling. Today at the home we painted the whole time. When we finished, a couple of us went to give pencils to the students in their classes. At that time some of the children were on their break so it was so adorable to see them spot us and then run accross the yard to come give us hugs. They're all so beautiful and I'm so excited to show everyone pictures!

We've been back now for awhile and we're waiting for Anthony, Agnes, and his son, Eric, to arrive so that we can have dinner and then surprise him with his little birthday party. Thank you for all the prayers while we're gone! James 1:27 says "Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us," and it's so neat to live out that verse in this way!

God Bless! (I would've have told you that in Swahili since Anthony taught me how to say it today, but I already forget what it is :)

-Maddie

Huruma and Good Shepherd Pics

Team doing the puppet show for the kids at Huruma Children's Home.









Kelli and Rhea planting trees at Huruma.













Jim playing (or at least trying) soccer with the children at Huruma.













Kelli planting another tree at Huruma. 42 trees were planted in all. These will provide food for the children in years to come.














Faith helping swing some of the children at Huruma.













Brian and Earl planting more trees at Huruma.
As you can see, the team did a LOT of digging today!








Team doing their puppet show for the children's Sunday School time, at Good Shepherd Africa Gospel Church.







Team singing a song to the children at Good Shepherd Africa Gospel Church.

Day 4 - Back to Huruma

I'm warning everyone now that this message is going to be very informal and probably won't make much sense...so..just pretend that it is me talking to you.(because I guarantee that I will have many run-on sentences) so..here I go...

Jambo to Everyone! :) ...i actually haven't used much swahili yet except for asante..but hopefully that will change soon. oh. and if you didn't know who this is, this is Kirsten..i'm the reporter for the day. :)

Today was a very eventful day full of excitement! We woke up quite early..well, earlier than any of the other days...and left for Huruma at 8:30..and i took a long time figuring out my hair..which was annoying..because I went to bed with it wet and it woke up crazy!:) haha.

Once we got to Huruma we helped carry banana leaves up a hill to a barn thing where they chopped it up to feed the hogs and goats. It was pretty fun...but you can definitely tell that the altitude is way different in Kenya..i felt silly...all huffing and puffing and needing to take baby breaks. uh. but...i guess we all got BUFF from carrying banana leaves. ;) ha. it was fun:)

After cleaning the animal pen with awesome brooms..we then went to play with the baby class during their recess. Aww..they were so adorable! I met so many kids today..and just had a blast chilling out w/ them. I attempted to play soccer...but kind of just stuck with jumping rope or swinging the little ones around:) Everyone had a great time just being with all of the little children...everything about them just makes you want to smile and pick them up and squeeze them:) I think we have all tried to remember most of the children's names..if they have told us...but there are so many of them...sometimes it is hard to remember.

After having a blast playing all sorts of fun stuff with the kids..we all went into what I think is their cafeteria area.(but i'm not for sure) We sang some songs..and did our lovely puppet show. (which is soo much fun, by the way..and I think the kids really enjoyed it) Kelli told the story of Daniel and the lion's den..with much animation. Then, we colored a picture and handed out pencils...and took many pictures of the kids...especially the little ones..they like to see themselves after you take it. :) They are so cute. Then we ate beans and rice w/ coke. yum:)

We left around 2...and headed back home on the bumpy roads...which are sweet...since you Robyn has a sweet vehicle..a red landcruiser! (which is sort of like a baby 4runner...but i think cooler). so. We went to the "wal mart" ...Nakumatt (and I think it is way cooler than wal mart)...and got some purchases. ps. Tomorrow is Anthony's 31ist Birthday (Robyn's son and our driver)..so we are making a poster and a cake for him tonight:)

alright..next we came home..got cleaned up..w/ our "shower system"..chilled out..did some reading/ journaling...ate another yummy supper. (I tell ya, we are getting spoiled..and fluffier) :) whoa..we had delicious brownies w/ ice cream for dessert. oh yeah. yum. A nurse from Japan who works at Nukuru ate dinner w/ us tonight. We giggled and laughed a lot at supper...whoa..i think we are having way too much fun:)

now..i'm here typing all of this stuff. so it was a pretty darn eventful day full of awesome awesome...EVENTS. thanks for reading.

love,

kirsten

p.s. We all have been having a blast just hanging out w/ each other...and laughing a lot. it has been great! God has been Awesome!!! :)

Day 3 - Teaching Sunday School

Jambo! (Hello Everyone!):
The time here has been wonderful, but I'm just going to tell you a little bit about what we have done today.Today we attended church at Robyn's church- Good Shepherd Africa Gospel Church.THey have a Swahili service and an English service and of course we attended the English service! We started out with worship and praise and then we broke off with the kids to do Children's Church. All of the kids were together and we taught them the song "Shadrack, Meshach, and Abendego." Then they sang "He's got the whole world in His Hands" and "Who's the King of the Jungle?" and We did motions with these songs. Next, we did three songs with the puppets and they absolutely loved it! One little boy enjoyed it so much that he got up on the table and started dancing! But us kids were behind the sheets so we didn't get to see him. Thankfullly, Kelli took a picture! After the puppet show, the kids split up into 3 different age groups. In the groups we taught the lesson about Daniel and the lions den. We read it first and then some of the kids got to act it out. Then, they had a chance to say the verses that they were SUPPOSED to memorize. If they said the verse we gave them a pencil and a stuffed animal or beanie baby. After Children's church we came home and ate a wonderful lunch! We also had guests for lunch. Anthony works with Robyn and he is our driver while we are here, so he and his wife Agnes, and son, Eric joined us for lunch! We've had the rest of the afternoon to relax,so some of us took a three hour long nap! I enjoyed that!

A few of us are still having problems adjusting to the time change and sleep patterns, so pray that this gets better. Also, please keep us in prayer as we head back to the Huruma Children's Home tomorrow. We visited the home on Friday and we are heading back for the next four days to do our Children's Ministry with them! I am very excited! Well, we are getting ready for supper now,so I'm going to sign off!

God Bless,
Jade Tarr

Day 2 - Puppet Show and pics

The Lord gave us sunshine to have any kids from our neighborhood to come and watch the team do puppets, have face painting, and snacks, then playing. It took a while for kids to come, but it brought out others in my housing complex too, so we shared God's love in many ways here where we have 26 families, plus my house helper's daughter, who professes to be a muslim, brought her son for the time. So we are praising the Lord for special times.

We had Dr Michael Johnson join us for lunch at Java House today and then invited the Duncans, our Africa WGM leaders, to join us for supper. We have sung to Faith Kellermeyer twice today as she turned 18. FUN!

Enjoy "seeing" us! Thanks for praying. Keep it up!

Robyn for the Berne Team in Kenya

Day 1 - Huruma, Roads, and so much more

Greetings All

We have just gotten back from our first visit to Huruma. Many happy faces greeted us at the Huruma Children's Home and we were given a tour of the school, dorms and grounds. The children sang for us and we made many new friends!!! We all can't wait to go back there next week. Everyone is getting along well, the jet lag has not set in yet so we are thankful. We enjoyed our first true "Kenyan" meal of Mokimo and Beef Stew. Mokimo is potato, corn and green peas mashed together. Hint for parents all the kids liked it so no more excuses that they don't like peas!!! Even Earl liked it, and that says a lot!!!! Robyn's home is beautiful and very spacious considering that there are 15 of us here and we are not on top of each other.

We also had our first adventure on Kenyan roads. Everything that Robyn has said is not exaggerated!! Thankfully no one got too jostled around - but wait until we go to Tenwek, we have been told that that is a real teeth rattler!! We are definitely spoiled when it comes to our American roads and the drivers. As far as we can tell there are no stop lights, very few stop signs and way too many close calls!!!!

Supper tonight is very American - Tacos!! Afterwards, more work on the puppet show and getting ready for Sunday School at Robyn's church. We are going to be having a "fun day" for the kids in Robyn's complex - we will try our show out on them!!

Your prayers are appreciated and felt 4,000 miles away!!

Until our next post.....
The Kenya Team

The Team has Arrived

It's just about midnight here, Friday morning, July 6, 2008 in Kenya and we're all at my home. ALL the bags came, which really is amazing for BA. Everyone's had a little something to eat and we're going to pray and go to bed.

Thanks for praying! love, Robyn for the group