During this week, both of our computer power cords died. Which explains the inconsistent posts and lack of photographs! This morning I actually have time to enter the Internet Cafe and use their computer for a while, but this will probably be my last time before home.
This morning, Saturday, we visited the baby elephant sanctuary. We got to touch and photograph adorable baby elephants! Now we are heading to a late lunch and then walking to Becky's for Bible Study. We are all very tired from our busy week of VBS. Tomorrow we have church services, then we are training the 2-5 year old teachers in the afternoon. Then we pack and head to the airport at 5am on Monday.
Our final adventure is our overnight layover in Amsterdam where we will have a little time to see the city and take a canal tour and walk through the city. Then we arrive in LAX mid day on Tuesday.
Please pray for continued safety and a smooth trip home.
Blessings to you all!
Love, Tamara
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Crazy Busy Week!
This week was crazy!
Sunday we shared in the teen class, went to church, participated in a skit for the children's ministry, tried a new restaurant (delicious) for lunch and spent the afternoon preparing for our teaching the next day.
Monday and Tuesday we trained the teen leaders in children's ministry foundations and prepared them for VBS. There are almost 30 teen and young adult leaders who teach the children on Sundays or are volunteering for VBS. They are so excited and respectful and willing to learn. They love the worship songs and the games! The leaders are doing a great job! Becky has trained them very well and they are already doing much of the things we are training them to do. Our job is very easy! Becky, the Children's Director invited us to her home after training for lunch and we had our first real salad - we have been craving fresh salad greens! They call it cow food here and most Kenyans don't eat fresh salad greens! We played volleyball and shared dinner and had a great time of fellowship!
Wednesday, we hit the ground running on the first day of VBS. It is also the day of voting on the referendum - the new draft constitution for Kenya. We have all been praying for a peaceful day with no violence or riots. God answered our prayers and Kenya now has a new constitution.
We gathered in the morning for prayer and worship then the VBS began at 9am with the games Lanae taught us. The children and leaders were in the church building, laughing and calling out as they played games with beach balls. As I walked through the room, I felt such a rush of joy and peace and gratitude. I feel that I am just exactly where God wants me to be. I remember the quote from the movie Chariots of Fire: When I run, I feel God's pleasure. I felt exactly the same way, I am doing what He created me to do. This morning, as I serve God in ministry, I feel his pleasure!
There were almost 100 children the first day and it went so smoothly! The leaders did an amazing job and the children were so adorable! Both Lanae and Ryana were amazing in their roles as worship leader and game leader and everything just flowed so well! We had lunch with the team and prepared for the next day of VBS.
We were invited to Bishop Kamau's home for dinner and his wife Ruth made a delicious Kenyan meal for us. Rice, chicken, potatoes, greens, chipate (delicious flour tortilla type of bread) - it was wonderful! They have an adorable 3 year old named Stephanie who was so sweet and cute during the evening.
Thursday the VBS also went incredibly smoothly and we had a few more children. Becky invited us over again for volleyball and fellowship. They took us to an amazing Ethiopian restaurant with delicious and amazing food. They bring it out on a huge platter with a giant tortilla type of bread and you eat it with the bread and your fingers. It was so much fun and so good! Everything I've eaten here has been delicious and wonderful and we haven't had any stomach problems at all - what a total blessing!
Friday was the final day of VBS with even more children attending. One of the components of this weeks VBS is Compassion. I taught that session and it began as a challenge to me personally because so many of these children are so incredibly poor compared to our standards. Will they understand or even care about other children who have even less. But God is so amazing! On Wednesday, as I shared with the children about God's love for us and how he wants us to share his love with others, they understood. I told them about children in Turkana in Nothern Kenya where the children are so poor that they run around naked until they are around 9 years old. I noticed that we all had clothes on so we are rich compared to those children. I also reminded them that our hearts are rich when we know Jesus. I told them about orphanages in the Kiberi slums very near VBS where the children didn't have any parents and very little food and medicine. We agreed to bring shillings, clothes, shoes or if they had no extra to spare, they would write a not to the children. And they agreed to tell their parents about the children and ask their parents before they brought anything from their homes to share.
Tuesday morning so many of the children ran up to me to show me the shillings and clothes and shoes and notes that they brought for the other children. They were so excited to share their offerings! My heart was so touched and again I felt such a wave of joy to be here. By the end of Friday, we had a huge pile of clothes and shoes, 2,075 shillings (our goal was 1,000) and several notes to the children who will receive our bounty. What an incredible gift. We prayed for God to multiply this offering just like he did the loaves and fishes and the children were so blessed to give.
I am completely humbled and totally blessed. These children and families who have so little, offered up such a huge gift to God in their compassion for other children. He is so good!
VBS ended much too soon! We ended the day by joining the angels in heaven celebrating the new decisions for Christ made by the children. The bubble gun and silly string was such a hit that the people in the office wondered what in the world was going on. I reminded the children how much we loved them because Jesus loves us first and that their leaders gave their entire week to love them. I asked them to tell their leaders thank you and give them a big hug. Ten minutes later our hearts were still being blessed with big hugs from so many children - it was amazing!
Sunday we shared in the teen class, went to church, participated in a skit for the children's ministry, tried a new restaurant (delicious) for lunch and spent the afternoon preparing for our teaching the next day.
Monday and Tuesday we trained the teen leaders in children's ministry foundations and prepared them for VBS. There are almost 30 teen and young adult leaders who teach the children on Sundays or are volunteering for VBS. They are so excited and respectful and willing to learn. They love the worship songs and the games! The leaders are doing a great job! Becky has trained them very well and they are already doing much of the things we are training them to do. Our job is very easy! Becky, the Children's Director invited us to her home after training for lunch and we had our first real salad - we have been craving fresh salad greens! They call it cow food here and most Kenyans don't eat fresh salad greens! We played volleyball and shared dinner and had a great time of fellowship!
Wednesday, we hit the ground running on the first day of VBS. It is also the day of voting on the referendum - the new draft constitution for Kenya. We have all been praying for a peaceful day with no violence or riots. God answered our prayers and Kenya now has a new constitution.
We gathered in the morning for prayer and worship then the VBS began at 9am with the games Lanae taught us. The children and leaders were in the church building, laughing and calling out as they played games with beach balls. As I walked through the room, I felt such a rush of joy and peace and gratitude. I feel that I am just exactly where God wants me to be. I remember the quote from the movie Chariots of Fire: When I run, I feel God's pleasure. I felt exactly the same way, I am doing what He created me to do. This morning, as I serve God in ministry, I feel his pleasure!
There were almost 100 children the first day and it went so smoothly! The leaders did an amazing job and the children were so adorable! Both Lanae and Ryana were amazing in their roles as worship leader and game leader and everything just flowed so well! We had lunch with the team and prepared for the next day of VBS.
We were invited to Bishop Kamau's home for dinner and his wife Ruth made a delicious Kenyan meal for us. Rice, chicken, potatoes, greens, chipate (delicious flour tortilla type of bread) - it was wonderful! They have an adorable 3 year old named Stephanie who was so sweet and cute during the evening.
Thursday the VBS also went incredibly smoothly and we had a few more children. Becky invited us over again for volleyball and fellowship. They took us to an amazing Ethiopian restaurant with delicious and amazing food. They bring it out on a huge platter with a giant tortilla type of bread and you eat it with the bread and your fingers. It was so much fun and so good! Everything I've eaten here has been delicious and wonderful and we haven't had any stomach problems at all - what a total blessing!
Friday was the final day of VBS with even more children attending. One of the components of this weeks VBS is Compassion. I taught that session and it began as a challenge to me personally because so many of these children are so incredibly poor compared to our standards. Will they understand or even care about other children who have even less. But God is so amazing! On Wednesday, as I shared with the children about God's love for us and how he wants us to share his love with others, they understood. I told them about children in Turkana in Nothern Kenya where the children are so poor that they run around naked until they are around 9 years old. I noticed that we all had clothes on so we are rich compared to those children. I also reminded them that our hearts are rich when we know Jesus. I told them about orphanages in the Kiberi slums very near VBS where the children didn't have any parents and very little food and medicine. We agreed to bring shillings, clothes, shoes or if they had no extra to spare, they would write a not to the children. And they agreed to tell their parents about the children and ask their parents before they brought anything from their homes to share.
Tuesday morning so many of the children ran up to me to show me the shillings and clothes and shoes and notes that they brought for the other children. They were so excited to share their offerings! My heart was so touched and again I felt such a wave of joy to be here. By the end of Friday, we had a huge pile of clothes and shoes, 2,075 shillings (our goal was 1,000) and several notes to the children who will receive our bounty. What an incredible gift. We prayed for God to multiply this offering just like he did the loaves and fishes and the children were so blessed to give.
I am completely humbled and totally blessed. These children and families who have so little, offered up such a huge gift to God in their compassion for other children. He is so good!
VBS ended much too soon! We ended the day by joining the angels in heaven celebrating the new decisions for Christ made by the children. The bubble gun and silly string was such a hit that the people in the office wondered what in the world was going on. I reminded the children how much we loved them because Jesus loves us first and that their leaders gave their entire week to love them. I asked them to tell their leaders thank you and give them a big hug. Ten minutes later our hearts were still being blessed with big hugs from so many children - it was amazing!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Blessing Parents!
Saturday, July 31
Got up early to pray and review my notes for the two hour Parenting Seminar I led today. By the end of the session there were 19 parents and all of them really seemed interested in becoming better parents. My focus for the workshop was on encouraging parents to be the spiritual leaders in their home. I shared what God says about parenting, helping our children grow a relationship with God, characteristics of children at various ages and how they learn and specific tools to use in parenting.
Most of the material I pulled from the Extreme Home Makeover series I taught at New Song several years ago. It was so cool to be teaching again! I asked Ryana to share from an adult child’s perspective what a child needs from her parents and they all loved her! They had lots of questions, mostly about children’s behavior at different ages and they really wanted to learn more. Three of the women came up afterwards needing some support and I prayed for each of them. It was such an amazing blessing to minister to these women who work so hard and have such tough situations.
After the workshop we had an hour to relax with a cup of tea, then we walked about a mile to the Becky’s home – she’s the Children Director’s at Cornerstone. We figured we should walk because that’s how many of the locals get around! And it felt good to walk because it was the first time we really got out into our neighborhood. After the study we stayed to play volleyball with Becky’s family. Team Coates and Team King – we got trampled! But next time we’ll be in shorts and sneakers instead of skirts and flip flops and then we might be some competition – maybe!
Got up early to pray and review my notes for the two hour Parenting Seminar I led today. By the end of the session there were 19 parents and all of them really seemed interested in becoming better parents. My focus for the workshop was on encouraging parents to be the spiritual leaders in their home. I shared what God says about parenting, helping our children grow a relationship with God, characteristics of children at various ages and how they learn and specific tools to use in parenting.
Most of the material I pulled from the Extreme Home Makeover series I taught at New Song several years ago. It was so cool to be teaching again! I asked Ryana to share from an adult child’s perspective what a child needs from her parents and they all loved her! They had lots of questions, mostly about children’s behavior at different ages and they really wanted to learn more. Three of the women came up afterwards needing some support and I prayed for each of them. It was such an amazing blessing to minister to these women who work so hard and have such tough situations.
After the workshop we had an hour to relax with a cup of tea, then we walked about a mile to the Becky’s home – she’s the Children Director’s at Cornerstone. We figured we should walk because that’s how many of the locals get around! And it felt good to walk because it was the first time we really got out into our neighborhood. After the study we stayed to play volleyball with Becky’s family. Team Coates and Team King – we got trampled! But next time we’ll be in shorts and sneakers instead of skirts and flip flops and then we might be some competition – maybe!
Working with the Kenyan Children
Thursday 7/29
In the morning Ryana and I went to the Church to help out in the preschool and primary children’s classrooms. When we arrived the children were sitting in class “taking tea” aka “drinking” chocolate and a snack. It was their last day of school for the break and after they finished we all went outside to play games. The teachers announced that we were going to lead them in games. Which we hadn’t planned to do, but we quickly came up with a few games and started teaching them. Suddenly we noticed that the teachers had disappeared and 2 hours later we were still outside with the children struggling to think of games to play with them. The older boys all wanted to play soccer which they call football and the younger kids just wanted to hang out with Ryana! It was a great morning!
In the late afternoon we met with Bishop Kamau and Pastor Amos and made plans to visit an orphanage in Nakuru on Friday. We were supposed to visit the baby elephant sanctuary, but we chose to visit baby humans instead ;)
I spent the afternoon preparing my materials for the parenting seminar I am leading on Saturday and the girls just chilled. It was a relaxing afternoon.
Friday 7/30
Visit to Nakuru – St. Ann’s Baby and Children Home.
Jimmy picked us up for our 2 hour drive to Nakuru. We stopped at the supermarket to buy some things to take to the orphanage; tea, drinking chocolate, sugar, biscuits and cooking oil; basic food staples.
Ten minutes away from Nakuru all traffic stopped. Several cars in front of us had stopped in the road because there had just been an accident right in front of us. A matatu (a taxi van) and a pickup truck had a head on collision and several people were dead and many others were trapped in the vehicles. They had to pry the car doors off to get the injured people out. It was horrible. As Jimmy got out to see what he could do, we prayed for the injured and the families of the dead. We were so thankful for God’s protection; it could so easily have been our car in that accident.
It took quite a while to clear a path for traffic and we finally arrived at the orphanage as the children were finishing their lunch of rice and beans. They were so excited to see us. Our heavy hearts from the accident scene lightened with the sight of the children. After a quick tour of the house we ended up in the playroom with the children. They all wanted to be held and cuddled and they pulled out books for reading. We enjoyed a crazy hour with about 20 children from age 2 to 4 years old. They are so adorable! After a while it must have been nap time because some of the children started crying and would not be consoled. So the staff took them all outside to work off a little energy before nap time.
We sat down to talk with Irene, the founder of the 3 year old orphanage. I asked her to share her story of how the orphanage got started. She was living in London with her family and had never worked with children except her own, but felt God’s call to return to Kenya and care for the abandoned children in Nakuru. Her orphanage takes newborn abandoned children and nurses them to health. The stories are amazing and heart wrenching; brand new babies rescued from pit toilets (can you imagine a newborn baby surviving that?!), from the bush, from dumpsters, from the river bank (they named that boy Moses ;) I can only imagine the desperation of the mothers who abandon their children to the elements and certain death. These are all miracle babies; each one should have died of exposure, disease, drowning in the latrine. Yet here they play, beautiful, healthy precious toddlers and pre school children.
When Irene told us the story of how she started the orphanage and that she named it after her youngest daughter Ann because it was an extension of her family, I was done in. My heart was captured by the children and the love of this woman and the tremendous need for these adorable little ones to be placed into real families. Ryana has been aggressively petitioning me to adopt 2 or 3 or all 20 and take them home, but I think God has other plans for my involvement.
We returned to our hotel thoughtful and hungry. As we sat down to dinner, we discussed our day. Each of us felt the same heart beat; to raise funds to support this orphanage, these children and the Kenyan families willing to foster or adopt them. Kenya makes it virtually impossible for international adoption. They require both parents to spend 3 months in Kenya bonding with the child before the adoption process even begins. So our united thoughts are to sponsor Kenyan families to adopt the children. Each child fostered or adopted will not only provide them a family, but will free up room at St. Ann’s for another rescued newborn requiring round the clock care to be nursed to health.
In the morning Ryana and I went to the Church to help out in the preschool and primary children’s classrooms. When we arrived the children were sitting in class “taking tea” aka “drinking” chocolate and a snack. It was their last day of school for the break and after they finished we all went outside to play games. The teachers announced that we were going to lead them in games. Which we hadn’t planned to do, but we quickly came up with a few games and started teaching them. Suddenly we noticed that the teachers had disappeared and 2 hours later we were still outside with the children struggling to think of games to play with them. The older boys all wanted to play soccer which they call football and the younger kids just wanted to hang out with Ryana! It was a great morning!
In the late afternoon we met with Bishop Kamau and Pastor Amos and made plans to visit an orphanage in Nakuru on Friday. We were supposed to visit the baby elephant sanctuary, but we chose to visit baby humans instead ;)
I spent the afternoon preparing my materials for the parenting seminar I am leading on Saturday and the girls just chilled. It was a relaxing afternoon.
Friday 7/30
Visit to Nakuru – St. Ann’s Baby and Children Home.
Jimmy picked us up for our 2 hour drive to Nakuru. We stopped at the supermarket to buy some things to take to the orphanage; tea, drinking chocolate, sugar, biscuits and cooking oil; basic food staples.
Ten minutes away from Nakuru all traffic stopped. Several cars in front of us had stopped in the road because there had just been an accident right in front of us. A matatu (a taxi van) and a pickup truck had a head on collision and several people were dead and many others were trapped in the vehicles. They had to pry the car doors off to get the injured people out. It was horrible. As Jimmy got out to see what he could do, we prayed for the injured and the families of the dead. We were so thankful for God’s protection; it could so easily have been our car in that accident.
It took quite a while to clear a path for traffic and we finally arrived at the orphanage as the children were finishing their lunch of rice and beans. They were so excited to see us. Our heavy hearts from the accident scene lightened with the sight of the children. After a quick tour of the house we ended up in the playroom with the children. They all wanted to be held and cuddled and they pulled out books for reading. We enjoyed a crazy hour with about 20 children from age 2 to 4 years old. They are so adorable! After a while it must have been nap time because some of the children started crying and would not be consoled. So the staff took them all outside to work off a little energy before nap time.
We sat down to talk with Irene, the founder of the 3 year old orphanage. I asked her to share her story of how the orphanage got started. She was living in London with her family and had never worked with children except her own, but felt God’s call to return to Kenya and care for the abandoned children in Nakuru. Her orphanage takes newborn abandoned children and nurses them to health. The stories are amazing and heart wrenching; brand new babies rescued from pit toilets (can you imagine a newborn baby surviving that?!), from the bush, from dumpsters, from the river bank (they named that boy Moses ;) I can only imagine the desperation of the mothers who abandon their children to the elements and certain death. These are all miracle babies; each one should have died of exposure, disease, drowning in the latrine. Yet here they play, beautiful, healthy precious toddlers and pre school children.
When Irene told us the story of how she started the orphanage and that she named it after her youngest daughter Ann because it was an extension of her family, I was done in. My heart was captured by the children and the love of this woman and the tremendous need for these adorable little ones to be placed into real families. Ryana has been aggressively petitioning me to adopt 2 or 3 or all 20 and take them home, but I think God has other plans for my involvement.
We returned to our hotel thoughtful and hungry. As we sat down to dinner, we discussed our day. Each of us felt the same heart beat; to raise funds to support this orphanage, these children and the Kenyan families willing to foster or adopt them. Kenya makes it virtually impossible for international adoption. They require both parents to spend 3 months in Kenya bonding with the child before the adoption process even begins. So our united thoughts are to sponsor Kenyan families to adopt the children. Each child fostered or adopted will not only provide them a family, but will free up room at St. Ann’s for another rescued newborn requiring round the clock care to be nursed to health.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Safari in Maasai Mara!
(I haven't gotten any safari photos from Lanae yet, so those will come later)
Monday, 7/26/10
Up early and on the way to Siana Springs in Masai Mara for safari. It was a long 5 hour drive to our lodge, but it was through such beautiful country and we enjoyed getting to know our safari driver David. He is half Masai and half Kikuru and very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, geography and culture. We drove on the Great North Road aka: the silk trade route, the longest road in Africa that stretches from Egypt to Johannesburg. A short way from Nairobi we hit the bush, passing through the Savannah into the Great Rift Valley which starts in Israel and runs through Africa. We passed fields of corn, barley and wheat. The land is owned by the Masai community and they rent it out to the Kikuyu people in small plots.
We checked into our luxurious safari tent – it is sooooo cool! There is a huge grassy area with lots of deer grazing, not sure which kind – but they are very cute, and baboons and monkeys are frolicking in the trees! Had a delicious and plentiful lunch, then started on our first safari run in Masai Mara. All the roads are very rough; dirt or rock or gravel, nothing paved, so the drive is very bouncy! The top of the van pulls up into a canopy and we can stand up in the van looking out as we drive. We feel like puppies with our heads hanging out of the window - it is so much fun! I love Africa!
We saw thousands of animals; giraffes, zebras, different types of gazelles and antelopes, birds and cape buffalo. We woke up a lion and lioness who were taking a nap and we were 10 feet away from them – it was amazing! Then our driver tried to go around another driver on a narrow road, got stuck in a deep hole and had to be towed out by another driver - such fun! Then a gnat flew into my eye and David performed surgery with a piece of grass – I’m happy to report that it was successful!
We were on the Mara for the sunset and it was spectacular! We arrived back at the lodge in the dark just in time for a camp fire and dinner. There is plenty of delicious food, buffet style and of course tea with milk and sugar – the Kenyan staple. We were just finishing up our dinner when several Masai warriors ran in with high pitched calls and scared Ryana half to death! They were joined by another 20 or so young men who danced and jumped and performed for the dinner guests. Then back to our incredibly cozy room and comfortable beds for a good nights sleep!
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to these crazy animal calls! They were so loud and something heavy was jumping around on our tent roof; I think it was the monkeys! It wasn’t a dream, even though neither of my daughters woke up to hear it, but it was a wonderful, wild, jungle moment for me!
Tuesday, 7/27
Up early again today and on the road for an all day drive. We are heading to the Mara River to see the great wildebeest migration. On the way we saw a cheetah which we are told is very rare to spot. She had cubs with her but we couldn’t see them because they were hidden in the grass. There were thousands of zebras and wildebeest herds migrating in the hills and we drove through them all day! We saw amazing herds of giraffes, elephants and more lions. We are still looking for rhinos and leopards.
We had a delicious picnic lunch overlooking the Mara then arrived at the River. Unfortunately, there were no herds on the other side of the river ready to brave the crossing, but we saw huge crocodiles and hippos! As we reached the summit of a small hill near the river, we had an incredible view! Mara means spotted (because of the trees dotting the plains) or meandering. As far as the eye could see was wide open space, herds of animals and blue hills in the distance. I imagine after God created Africa, He viewed his work, smiled with deep satisfaction and said “it is good!”
Imagine the Wild Animal Park times a million or so more acres, with no fences, pens or structures; and the animals have to catch their own meals! It is absolutely incredible!
Nine hours later we return to our lodge. We are dusty, tired and happy. You know those Footsie Wootsies they have at the fairgrounds? Imagine a full body footsie wootsie for 8 hours! We are a little weary but very satisfied with our adventure today! We actually have a little down time before dinner is served so we are reading, writing, and enjoying chai tea in the open air lounge. The generator was just tuned on so there are now lights and electricity for the one outlet in our tent and best of all – the water is hot for our shower! They just lit the huge bonfire so I will sign off for now. I won’t be able to post to the blog until we return to Nairobi and pay for Internet service, so there will be lots of information and photos at once!
Monday, 7/26/10
Up early and on the way to Siana Springs in Masai Mara for safari. It was a long 5 hour drive to our lodge, but it was through such beautiful country and we enjoyed getting to know our safari driver David. He is half Masai and half Kikuru and very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, geography and culture. We drove on the Great North Road aka: the silk trade route, the longest road in Africa that stretches from Egypt to Johannesburg. A short way from Nairobi we hit the bush, passing through the Savannah into the Great Rift Valley which starts in Israel and runs through Africa. We passed fields of corn, barley and wheat. The land is owned by the Masai community and they rent it out to the Kikuyu people in small plots.
We checked into our luxurious safari tent – it is sooooo cool! There is a huge grassy area with lots of deer grazing, not sure which kind – but they are very cute, and baboons and monkeys are frolicking in the trees! Had a delicious and plentiful lunch, then started on our first safari run in Masai Mara. All the roads are very rough; dirt or rock or gravel, nothing paved, so the drive is very bouncy! The top of the van pulls up into a canopy and we can stand up in the van looking out as we drive. We feel like puppies with our heads hanging out of the window - it is so much fun! I love Africa!
We saw thousands of animals; giraffes, zebras, different types of gazelles and antelopes, birds and cape buffalo. We woke up a lion and lioness who were taking a nap and we were 10 feet away from them – it was amazing! Then our driver tried to go around another driver on a narrow road, got stuck in a deep hole and had to be towed out by another driver - such fun! Then a gnat flew into my eye and David performed surgery with a piece of grass – I’m happy to report that it was successful!
We were on the Mara for the sunset and it was spectacular! We arrived back at the lodge in the dark just in time for a camp fire and dinner. There is plenty of delicious food, buffet style and of course tea with milk and sugar – the Kenyan staple. We were just finishing up our dinner when several Masai warriors ran in with high pitched calls and scared Ryana half to death! They were joined by another 20 or so young men who danced and jumped and performed for the dinner guests. Then back to our incredibly cozy room and comfortable beds for a good nights sleep!
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to these crazy animal calls! They were so loud and something heavy was jumping around on our tent roof; I think it was the monkeys! It wasn’t a dream, even though neither of my daughters woke up to hear it, but it was a wonderful, wild, jungle moment for me!
Tuesday, 7/27
Up early again today and on the road for an all day drive. We are heading to the Mara River to see the great wildebeest migration. On the way we saw a cheetah which we are told is very rare to spot. She had cubs with her but we couldn’t see them because they were hidden in the grass. There were thousands of zebras and wildebeest herds migrating in the hills and we drove through them all day! We saw amazing herds of giraffes, elephants and more lions. We are still looking for rhinos and leopards.
We had a delicious picnic lunch overlooking the Mara then arrived at the River. Unfortunately, there were no herds on the other side of the river ready to brave the crossing, but we saw huge crocodiles and hippos! As we reached the summit of a small hill near the river, we had an incredible view! Mara means spotted (because of the trees dotting the plains) or meandering. As far as the eye could see was wide open space, herds of animals and blue hills in the distance. I imagine after God created Africa, He viewed his work, smiled with deep satisfaction and said “it is good!”
Imagine the Wild Animal Park times a million or so more acres, with no fences, pens or structures; and the animals have to catch their own meals! It is absolutely incredible!
Nine hours later we return to our lodge. We are dusty, tired and happy. You know those Footsie Wootsies they have at the fairgrounds? Imagine a full body footsie wootsie for 8 hours! We are a little weary but very satisfied with our adventure today! We actually have a little down time before dinner is served so we are reading, writing, and enjoying chai tea in the open air lounge. The generator was just tuned on so there are now lights and electricity for the one outlet in our tent and best of all – the water is hot for our shower! They just lit the huge bonfire so I will sign off for now. I won’t be able to post to the blog until we return to Nairobi and pay for Internet service, so there will be lots of information and photos at once!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Weekend Adventures in Kenya
Sat. July 24th
I've noticed that most homes, businesses, organizations, hotels, etc. are either in compounds or behind guarded gates. Here is a photo of our hotel behind the electric fence. Those two little windows on the top floor and in the center of the photo are the windows to our room.
I've noticed that most homes, businesses, organizations, hotels, etc. are either in compounds or behind guarded gates. Here is a photo of our hotel behind the electric fence. Those two little windows on the top floor and in the center of the photo are the windows to our room.
Our room fee comes with breakfast in a little café downstairs. Every day the menu is the same - we have a choice of fried eggs or Spanish omelet, toast and tea. For variety we get bananas or pineapple or watermelon after the meal. We see a lot of different people each day from all over speaking many different languages! We love the staff, they are so incredibly polite, adorable and friendly. I love it here!
Bishop Kamau was officiating at a wedding on Saturday and invited us to attend. Our driver picked us up at 9am for the wedding that was supposed to start at 10 but by the time we picked up other passengers we didn’t get to the wedding until 11:30! The ceremony was just getting started – that’s “Kenyan time”. The wedding was similar to our weddings in America, except the pastor preached in Kiswahilli and told a bunch of jokes that we didn’t understand.
The food was excellent and we were treated like royalty. We went to stand at the end of the long, long food line but a young man pulled us out of line and took us directly to the front of the line! We felt really embarrassed about cutting in, but the Kenyans in line were so gracious and wouldn’t let us go to the back of the line.
After the meal, all the Kenyan women dance with the bride and groom, leading them into the wedding party area. One of the Kenyan women pulled me into the dancing line so I danced with them! She gave me directions and helped me with the dance steps. It was so much fun!
We left the wedding before it was over so we could make it back to the Bible study on time. The Bible study is for the teenagers who are teachers in the children ministry. We joined them in chai tea and a delicious snack and finally met Becky, the Children’s Director, who was off on vacation with guests all week. She is incredibly nice and an amazing leader. She and her husband met Bishop at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California then later joined him in ministry in Kenya. They’ve been here 12 years and their 2 children have grown up in Kenya.
Sunday, July 25
I feel like we have hit the ground running and haven’t stopped since we landed in Nairobi. We are also a little jet lagged, so I find myself falling asleep each night as I am doing my devotional. We’ll probably need to plan some down time, but I can’t imagine sitting still for too long!
We arrived at church this morning at 7:30 am for prayer with the teen teachers, then attended the 8am service – mostly in English with some Kiswahilli. It was similar to our services and Bishop preached a great message on humility and thankfulness. He introduced us at the service and announced that we will be teaching a parenting seminar next Saturday.
Then we attended the teen class where we unsuccessfully tried to learn all their names and they learned how to throw the nerf footballs we brought with us.
Lanae and Ryana went into the younger children's class and I went with the older children. Here are a few photos of those adorable little ones! Ryana's little friend was so comfortable that she fell asleep in Ryana's arms.
I got to lead a small group of 12 year old Kenyan girls. They are so beautiful and sweet and soft spoken. They were very excited after the small groups when it was time to pull out all the equipment we brought; nerf footballs, Frisbees, double dutch jump ropes. They had such a blast and were so excited to have these new toys. I jumped rope with the girls too! Thanks to New Hope for the donations for these items!
Becky invited us to her home after church for Chinese take out. We had such a good time getting to know each other and sharing lunch with her family. Then our driver picked us up and took us to the market for some shopping. It was like a mini swap meet with all kinds of Kenya arts and crafts and it was crazy crowded with so many people! But we found a few treasures and gifts to take home and we had so much fun negotiating!
Friday, July 23, 2010
A Day with Children and their Families
This morning we met with Bishop Kamau to finalize our safari plans and booked 2 nights at a lodge in Maasai Mara. We head there next Monday for 2 days and we’re pretty excited about it! Then we bought and packaged food for 5 very poor families and took off to Cornerstone Ndeiya, one of their 30 sister churches planted in Kenya. The church was about 45 minutes drive outside of Nairobi and the country was beautiful! They have a preschool for the children (4-6 years old) in the area who are orphans, living with guardians (usually Grandmothers) or whose families can’t afford school. We got there right as they were having lunch; ugali and greens. All I can say is that these children are stinkin’ adorable!
They sang songs for us and they loved the bubble gun we brought and were total hams for Lanae’s camera.
They live in tiny one room shacks with dirt floors and tin and scrap wood held together with nails. They have very few possessions and moms are struggling to raise their children in these conditions. One mom shared with us a traditional meal of beans and corn which she had just prepared. She washed the utensils by rinsing with a cup of water and put them in the food dish. So we prayed that we wouldn’t get sick and we tasted her Kenyan meal. It was quite good!
It was an amazing day spent with the children and their families. I have so much respect for what this church is doing for their people. And of course I want to help them care for the children.
We were covered with red dust from walking through the red soil all afternoon; we returned to our hotel, tired, dusty and happy.
We had delicious pizza in the restaurant and relaxed in the hotel until bed time. We finally figured out how to use the showers. There is a heater switch that you have to turn on to get hot water. We didn’t know that, so our first showers were very invigorating with cold water! Sure was nice to discover hot water tonight!
The church sent along bags of clothes for the children and they let Ryana and I present shirts to the kids. I was playing peek-a-boo with the little guy as I put on his shirt!
They sang songs for us and they loved the bubble gun we brought and were total hams for Lanae’s camera.
They let the children out early from school since it was Friday and we crammed 5 children and 4 adult teachers into our van. We visited the families of these 5 children and I was totally humbled by their homes and the simple way they live. The mothers were gracious and appreciative of the food and I got to pray for each of the families and bless them and their homes. Below are 3 of the children we took home, one of the moms and me presenting the food gifts to another mom. The last is of a young girl doing laundry in a wheel barrel - everything here is done by hand! And behind her is her home, built with a frame of sticks then filled with mud.
They live in tiny one room shacks with dirt floors and tin and scrap wood held together with nails. They have very few possessions and moms are struggling to raise their children in these conditions. One mom shared with us a traditional meal of beans and corn which she had just prepared. She washed the utensils by rinsing with a cup of water and put them in the food dish. So we prayed that we wouldn’t get sick and we tasted her Kenyan meal. It was quite good!It was an amazing day spent with the children and their families. I have so much respect for what this church is doing for their people. And of course I want to help them care for the children.
We were covered with red dust from walking through the red soil all afternoon; we returned to our hotel, tired, dusty and happy.We had delicious pizza in the restaurant and relaxed in the hotel until bed time. We finally figured out how to use the showers. There is a heater switch that you have to turn on to get hot water. We didn’t know that, so our first showers were very invigorating with cold water! Sure was nice to discover hot water tonight!
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