I will sing a new song

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,

and he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground

and steadied me as I walked along.

He has given me a new song to sing,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Missing Kenya

We have been home for over two weeks now and we have gotten back into life as we knew it, but there are many moments that I seriously miss Kenya. I mostly miss the people, but I also miss the fruit. While there this summer I was introduced to passion fruit which is a perfect combination of sweet and extremely tart . I ate them frequently and would often have a big glass of fresh passion fruit juice which was incredible. I was really craving a taste of Kenya today and thought that something passion fruit flavored should satisfy this desire. I wandered around the grocery store and much to my disappointment I could not find anything passion fruit flavored. The last aisle I walked down contained cold juices and it was there that I spotted some passion fruit juice. I was thrilled. First thing I did when I got home was pour myself a nice big glass. I was so excited as I began to take a drink and sadly it was not good. Actually it was really, really bad. It tasted nothing like passion fruit juice. Guess I have to do something else to get myself a taste of Kenya......

Simply Faith

Yesterday I returned to work and casually asked how things were this summer. My boss looked at me puzzled and said has no one talked to you? I said not really why? I was expecting some disaster to have happened with the kids on my caseload while I was gone and was in no way prepared for what he said next. In short, apparently the governor "finished" the budget which included a huge cut to social services and much of that included substance abuse treatment services (which is where I work). Last Thursday it was believed that Friday, August 1 would be our last day and potentially our agency would close. Fortunately this was avoided and the agency is staying open and my job is safe for now.
Over the summer I thought about simple faith a lot. Most days we would visit peoples homes and they would talk about how God provided for them through rent money, food, school fees, healing sicknesses etc. It made me think about how I see God's as my provider. In the past few years I have really seen God provide for Tim and I, but do I really see him as my ultimate provider. Is my faith shallow at times? Of course I acknowledge how God provides for me, but do I ultimately believe that all things come from Him alone... If you believe in God in Kenya, when it rains you know God provided, when you get money for rent or for food you know without a doubt it comes from God, when your child is well you know God has healed them, when you are safe through another day you know God has protected you. Do I see that daily? When it rains do I complain because it gets in the way of things I want to do? When my paycheck comes do I see that God provided through a job? When I eat do I recognize God providing my daily bread? Honestly, sometimes I am not sure that I do. I guess by almost losing my job it made me rethink about this. At anytime I may not be able to pay the rent but I know I have family who would help us financially or credit at the bank to help me out or a lot of things I could sell to get extra funds but do I trust in that over God's provision? I ache to be someone who always sees God in everything. At times we see those who live in places like Mathare Valley and we talk about how horrible it would be to live like that and how much better it is in America and in some ways that is true. However, in America we have the ability to overlook God and to think we do things for ourselves. Not sure who really has it better sometimes.
My prayer as I return to my home and readjust to life is not to miss God in the day to day. To see Him in the ways I saw Him this summer. To have my faith simplified.

Adjusting

So we are back home and today is my first day back at work. Not sure how this is going to be for me. Nothing like jumping right back into things huh? The past few days have been great getting to catch up with family and friends. It has been good to share our summer with them and to hear about all they have been up to this summer. Not sure I was ready to leave Kenya, but am always glad to be around people I love.
Debriefing was like a holding area in between Kenya and America. We talked about how to tell our stories, how to avoid rejecting American culture, how to continue to see God in our lives etc. It was good to have that transition, but when our plane landed in America I was ready to be home. Maybe that is because I was sick on the plane?!
It was helpful to have experienced missionaries give us tips on how to talk about our summer. How do you cram 2 months worth of incredible experiences into conversations that keep peoples attention? What do people really want to know about? What is saying too much? too little? How do you encourage others to be a part of what you have been a part of? How do you adequately describe 2 months of God?
In the past few days when I have thought about the summer the word that keeps popping in my head is Creation. I feel like I spent the whole summer in awe of God's magnificent creation. The most beautiful part of this is that I dont mean the animals or trees or anything like that. Actually most of the animals and vegetation we saw we saw our last 2 days. The creation I have been most captivated by is us, by people. I maybe somewhat biased but I feel like the most beautiful people on Earth live in Africa. Their smiles could light up the world. The laughter of children is the most precious song. The determination and joy on a face of someone who has received life forever is priceless. I feel like we spent the summer seeing God's best work. Even in the most difficult of times (and believe me there were certainly those as well) we witnessed the glory of God and the magnificence of his Creation. This came not only from the Kenyans, but from those on our team, from our families and friends, and from everyone who was faithfully praying for us at home. In the midst of the challenges, of the enemy working overtime to stop what God was doing, in cries heard throughout the valley-we saw God be big, we saw God be God. I am not sure how to describe that fully but I am excited to try.

We are back!

We made it safely back to the states and we are currently in Indianapolis for a time of debriefing. We are looking forward to seeing everyone when we get back to Illinois.

Out of Africa

At 1130 tonight our plane flies out of Nairobi and we begin our long journey back to the states. We will be back in Springfield on Saturday and will be at WSCC on Sunday. We just returned to the city from our safari. It was a great relaxing time and it was wonderful to step out of the city and to view God's awesome creation. It was also a great transition from the slums back to America.

I am certainly sad to leave as I feel at home here, but also know that God chose us to be here for these 2 months. I have no idea what his plan is for our future, but we are excited for whatever that may be. We are also very excited to share our experience with anyone who cares to listen. Although we will no longer be in Africa we will put more pictures up here and update you on our transition back home.

Thanks to all of you who thought of us this summer, who read this blog, who emailed us, who financially supported us, and most importantly those of you who prayed for us. There were many times when we just knew people back home were praying for us. We really appreciate that. Also please know we are praying that many of you will join us on our next trip to Kenya!!

See you on the other side of the pond!

Part of the Valley

Here is a view from the 3rd floor of the Hope Center in Pagani. This is a part of the valley-most of it looks similar to this.

Trash aka taka taka

Here is a common scene in the slums. Where ever there is open ground it becomes a dumping place, and piles of trash end up like this. In some cases there isn't even enough room to walk around you have to walk over. Not sure what all we have stepped in! We were able to help a CHE group clean some of this up in Bondeni the other day.

Finally a picture

Here are a few matatus stuck in an ever so frequent traffic jam. Pretend you are crowded inside and there is very loud music playing. It could be Africa rap, American ganster rap, or my favorite Celine Dion. The other night we road home in what I like to call the Barack Mobile. Yep-it has a huge picture in the back window of Obamas face. I kid you not we love Obama here. okay-we are off to pick a matatu to head to the center!

Giraffe Park

Alicia got a kiss from one. I wasn't so daring. It was a fun day even though it was cold and drizzly.

Meet Peter

This is our friend Peter. I like to call him my little monkey boy because he wants you to pick him up and hold him and when you do he jumps up on you and wraps his legs around you very tightly and it reminds me of a monkey. He loves to be spun around very fast and for you to hold him upside down and act like you are going to drop him on his head. Whenever you do something he thinks is fun he says "tena na tena" which means again and again. We first met Peter and his sister Lillian on a Saturday when we went to the center to go help with the trash clean up. We had a lot of time to spend playing with them and they hang out at the center a lot. They are on the waiting list to start school next term.
I had the chance to go to Peter's home with one of the social workers the other day and to meet his mother. They live near the center in a tin shack that is about as wide as a queen size mattress and not much longer than one. About 6 people live in this place. Peter's mother is HIV positive and she is very sick. Peter's father has died from AIDS. They have no money as his mother cannot work and even if she could jobs here are hard to find. The center allows Peter and his siblings to come to the center each day to receive porridge in the morning and to eat lunch.
Tim and I were planning on sponsoring a child while we were here and we are planning to sponsor Peter. Although not in school right now Peter is a very smart. He loves to laugh and he has an endless supply of energy. We are very excited to be a part of his life.
At any given time there are many children on the waiting list at Missions of Hope. Children waiting for a sponsor and waiting to start school. Every time we walk through the slums we meet with many kids who are of school age but cannot afford to go to school. When we are praying with parents one of the most common prayers issues is for their children to be able to go to school. Education is of very high value here. Education is a huge step in changing the lives of many. I know many of you reading this already sponsor a child and it is so important that you know how much your sponsorship matter to these kids, their families, and this community.

If you don't sponsor a child or are considering supporting another one I really encourage you to pray about it alot. Sponsorship not only allows a child the opportnity for a good education and to eat daily-even more important than that it opens a door for people from the center to share Jesus with the families. We have information on how you can support a child please feel free to email us or to talk with us about this when we get back. To those of you who are sponsoring kids already-thank you. Your support is a huge blessing to these families.

A few laughs

The other day Easter was going to lead to visitors around to see the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps and visit some people who had be resettled. I decided to go with him. I was waiting at one of the schools for him to come and get me and when he did I saw him with one girl who was black and had been at the training I had just left. He said 2 visitors so I thought we still had to meet them somewhere else. He introduced me to her and said Alicia tell her where you are from. So I said I am from Illinois in America. She said yeah I am from Tennessee. Oh so you know Illinois then!! Oops we laughed about that and had a good morning but for a minute I felt like an idiot. She was originally from Nigeria so I was at least right that she was African.

So I have truly seen God as my protector. Everytime we safely get off the matatu at our destination I am thankful for another fun experience, but sometimes while we are on them my time is spent praying to our Father to protect us. I say none of this to scare you we really enjoy them, but there are times when I have closed eyes and a tight grip on the handle bar. The other night as we were heading home their was an accident so we had to re-route. That generally involves taking off down some side road. Keep in mind we are in the slums and it has rained hard for 2 days so dirt roads become muddy. So I cant decide what is going to be worse getting stuck in the mud and possibly wrecking or having to get out and walk in this area after dark. Fortunately God continues to answer my cries for safety and we make it back to town. Once the adrenaline level returns to normal we just laugh. I think most times we get on the matatu we have some adventure. I want everyone to have the experience at least once, but if you are considering coming to Nairobi please know you do not have to ride a matutu. Most teams rent a van and a driver so you would only have to have this experience if you choose to. We have some video of a ride through traffic but cant get it to upload today. Maybe later.
Love you all

Awaken

Our time here is almost up. I am pretty sad about that and cannot quite grasp the fact that soon I will not be getting up and heading to Mathare Valley and get to spend my days with Phanuel, Willis, Easter, and Eddy and all the other friends we have made. Soon I wont be surrounded by smiling brown faces chasing me down yelling Mzungu or How are you. Soon the near-death matatu rides will over. I know God called us here this summer and I am so glad to be here. What our future hold only God knows at this point and that is cool with me. We just keep seeking his will for our life.
On Sunday nights we have meetings to talk about our weeks. I didnt think I had too much to say until it was my turn and then I completely lost it. I was a crying mess thinking about leaving here. It was kind of embarrassing!! The chorus of a Shane and Shane song (Vision of You) kept going through my mind it goes like this

Awaken whats inside of me
Tune my heart to all you are in me
Even though your are here-God come
May the vision of you be the death of me

It keeps going but I listened to that song alot before we came and a few times since we have been here. In the Bible Moses really wanted to see God but he couldnt actually see him or he would die. To me though this song represents not necessarily a physical death but death to selfishness and personal things-surrender to Gods plan for your life. As we seek what our future holds I want to really die to me and allow God to use us in whatever way He wants. We have truly seen many visions of God this summer and there are 2 weeks left. One of the guys with us commented that God has really been showing off. That is the truth. My prayer is that those visions of God are the death of me. And my other prayer is that many of you are praying about getting on a plane (and maybe a matatu) and heading this way to visit Mathare Valley.

Two weeks left

It is hard to believe that the summer is already wrapping up. This last week has been busy with home visits and a CHE training. It is encouraging to see how people really engage in the training and are learning as much as they can. It is also fun to watch the guys we have been working with teaching and sharing the lessons. It has been a great week. Last Sunday we went to church in Joska. It was my first time out there since I was sick the last time that the group went. It is a neat place and we are going to go spend Thur. and Fri. there this week. Most nights we spend at peoples homes and it is neat to continue building the relationships with people we are working with. We also went to a giraffe park on Monday. It was crazy being that close to them and Alicia was even daring enough to get some kisses with them. We will post pics soon of the experience. We then went to the nicer side of Nairobi and spent some time at a new mall that had a movie theater. Some of us went to see a movie while others spent there time wondering around the mall. I saw Kong Fu Panda. The deal was movie, hot dog, soda, and popcorn for 380 kenyan shillings, which is around 6 dollars. It was a welcomed break from the valley. We are exited about our night in Joska, and we are planning on getting the necessary materials for smores. We enjoy making the Kenyans that we work with try all sorts of new things. Thanks for your continued prayers and we look foward to sharing pictures and more stories with you soon.

Something Good

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? John 1:46
A banner hangs behind the pulpit in the tent at the church in Pangani (the area that the center is located in ). The first day we arrived at the center I read this verse and thought how brilliant it was to put this on a banner to encourage the community. Of all the verses we have given people to encourage them in the past few weeks this one is certainly one of the most encouraging. The answer to the question is of course Yes since Jesus came from Nazareth and at that time many people didnt think anything good could come from Nazareth much less the Messiah. Yet Jesus did-he came from the most unlikely of places. I just love that about him-just full of surprises and he always seems to turn things upside down. I am sure there are many people that dont think that anything good can come from Mathare Valley, but that is so not true and I feel like that verse is placed in the Bible for people such as these.
Over the past weeks we have met and been encouraged by some tremendous people from the most humble backgrounds and darkest places. We met some women the other day who are single because either their husbands left them when they found out they were positive or died from HIV/AIDS. These women have taken in orphans and are taking in pregnant women who have been kicked out of their homes. To top it off they have no jobs or money or much of anything yet they have chosen to live in community with one another. A few of the women were Christians and a few were not, but in the past few weeks all of them have been saved including one of the young pregnant women who is a Muslim from Uganda. We have met with them several times in the past few weeks and they have the light of Jesus glowing within them. I would say that is something good.
Today we met another group of young men who went through the CHE program a few years ago. They now work at a community center which houses a school with over 200 children, a community library, a HIV/AIDS support group, youth sports and arts program, micro enterprise loans for women who are guardians of orphans and spiritual mentoring etc. They grew up in this community and rather than sit back and think only of themselves they have really poured their lives into making this community better. It was super encouraging and they really exemplified just what being the hands and feet of Christ looks like. That too is something good.
I could honestly go on and on and on but for now I wanted to share those with you. If our Saviour can come from a place such as Nazareth who knows what amazing people will come from Mathare Valley.

The rains down in Africa

Tim put up a few pictures-sorry it has taken so long. I want to share another matatu story with you and I want to say sorry there are no picture of them yet I really want to get the right picture so you can fully understand the essence of the matatu experience. On Friday we did home visits in one of the areas that is far from the center so we were in a matatu on the way back and it begins to rain...hard. Traffic gets a bit backed up and so our drivers does what anyone in this situation would do he goes off roading. Yep we are in a van/bus that hold like 30 people on dirt (not mud) roads driving very quickly. In America this kind of driving may not even be attempted in a 4-wheel drive truck. It was better than any ride at 6 Flags. We get back to the main road safely and traffic is still backed up and I am not sure why because I couldn't really see out. Finally, we arrive near our stop and we get off the matatu. It is still raining and so we are running and jumping around to avoid the mud and all the garbage that is now sweeping into the flooded roadway (the reason for the traffic jam). Up to this point I have managed to avoid all of the garbage and then I see it...We have to cross the road which is now covered in about 3 inches of garbage filled water. We just went for it, but I must say I was a little grossed out by all the unseen things that kept brushing past my feet. I think I am glad I couldn't see what it actually was. We made it back to the center and went to the Ham's house for a 4th of July celebration with hot dogs and fireworks. It was a great day. It seems as though we have new adventures everyday which is so much fun for us. I hope someday many of you will travel here with us so you can share the experience with us.

Alicia with Kids

Alicia spends a lot of time in the yard with all the school kids. She spins them in circles til either she or them is about to puke. Usually her as there is normally a long line ready to spun around.

Soccer Game

This picture is from the soccer game that we played a couple of weeks ago. The Kenyans all work at Missions of Hope. It was a great afternoon of fellowship.

Alicia holding babies

Alicia had the chance to go to an orphanage and hold babies one day.

Haircut

We have been working with a guy named Eddie. I went with him one afternoon and got my hair cut at his barber's. I think it was the first time he cut a Mzungu's hair. He went with the grain so he didn't cut much off and it was all different lengths. It was fun and I may have him try again before we leave.

Another Week

Tim and I were placed with the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program when we first got here and as you know we really enjoy the guys that we work with in that program. Community Health Evangelism is such an amazing program and is so impactful in the community. Basically, it is about getting people in the community involved in solving problems within their community. With this comes a sense of ownership that has many times been absent in communities such as those in Mathare Valley. They teach basic health lessons on hygiene, cleanliness, preventing illness, HIV/AIDS awareness. One of the goals is for these practices to spread throughout the entire community in order to promote change and wellness. This works through multiplication as in you learn how to keep your environment around you clean and then you tell your friends and they tell others and so on and so on. These lessons also incorporate Biblical principles and teachings which allows the Gospel to be shared throughout communities. It is really cool to be a part of something that is led by nationals. Next week we get to be involved in one of their training seminars. We have really been wanting to see what it looks like and we will finally get the opportunity. Also this weekend one of the communities is doing their first project-a garbage cleanup. We were invited to be a part of this and we cant wait. If you have seen pics of the slums you know garbage abounds everywhere so this will be no easy task, but it will be so neat to see the community get involved in making their place cleaner and healthier. This CHE group is run by some really young men and we have continually been encouraging them to keep changing their community because they are the future of Kenya.
Last weekend, we went to an outreach of the CHE group in Bondeni. Every Saturday morning they feed porridge to the children in the area. Anyone can come and they can get as much as they want until the large pot is empty. The kids come early and hang out so we got to spend some time with them which I always love. Before they get the porridge some of the guys lead them in signing songs and reciting verses. It was beautiful to watch kids sing songs loudly to Jesus and to know that their bellies are full. It has also been a great way to get the community to come and inquire about CHE. I love that it takes place in Bondeni since that is the community Westside is supporting. The guys in this group are great and they are really reaching out to their community. I wish you all could see it. Speaking of seeing it I'm sorry we have not put many pictures up. It takes a very long time to upload them at the Internet cafe and we don't always have a ton of time. We will continue to try and we have many photos and video to share when we get back.
Much love.

Relaxing Weekend

This weekend we did not do anything to crazy or busy. Yesterday I went to the center and meet with one of the ministers from Mountain Christian Church in Maryland for a little bit. It is incredible to hear how God has used that church to impact the community. They have been bring teams over since 2005. One of the team members that came along this time made a comment as have a few people in our group. He said that Bondeni has a different feel to it than the other slum communities. We had a couple of people with us who have said that they thought Bondeni was evil. I don't always notice it like that, but there is a definite need for us to bring the love of Christ to that community. I am thankful for the opportunity to come and serve, and to help share the light with those who's homes we enter. Alicia talked about having dinner with Josephine the other night. One of the things that she said that stuck with me was that she is convinced that when we set foot inside someone's house that we are bringing the light of life with us. They may not accept Christ, but Christ's light has been introduced to the house and that is something. It has been a blessing getting to spend time with people like this, and to be able to go into so many homes, and to think that God's lamp has at least shown in that house for a short time. Thank you for your prayers. Today Mary and Wallace brought back with them how much the Church family in America cares about and loves the people of Kenya. We hope that this may continue to grow and that we may continue to lift the people of the valley up in prayer so that God may shine His light in a great way here. We are so grateful that we get to be here and to experience all that God is doing.

Oh the matatus

So with all my heart I wish I could conveyed what an experience a matatu ride is to you. Each day we walk about 15 minutes to the city center and "pick" a matatu. We have the routine pretty well figured out by now and most days Tim and I are alone when we go to the center. We have figured out that nothing happens until after morning tea so we sleep a little longer and arrive right around tea time. We "picked" (which means get on) the matutu this morning and it began to race another matutu traveling the same route. At some point a car coming in the other direction caused the matutus to collide and one of our side mirrors came loose and was unable to be returned to its original position. What does someone in this situation do?? Well, in Nairobi, you pull out into the road and cut the other driver off and begin yelling at him in Swahili. I am thinking he they were cussing each other out but I am not sure as my Swahili is just not that good yet. A few minutes later we have several people from each matatu yelling at each other in the middle of the road so we decided it was time to get out and walk the rest of the way as we werent too far from the center. I kept looking back at them and they were still fighting. It was really funny to me. I wish you could see the way they drive here. It is almost like a constant game of chicken. Good times!!

The Valley

Yesterday we had a meeting with all the interns and the staff. The meeting was called but no one knew what it was going to be about. Where expectations not being met...were we doing something culturally inappropriate...lots of guesses no answers. So when we got there we learned that we were not in trouble, but were going to have a party. Three of our group left today to go spend time in Massailand. The staff wanted to worship and celebrate and say thanks before they left. We all had a great time. One of the gifts that the staff gave them was a t-shirt that said, Turning the Valley into the Mountain of God. It has been amazing to see this saying being a reality. We go into so many homes and they say, tell me about salvation. Who is Jesus? The guys we are with keep saying that the harvest is ready, the field is ripe, and many lives are being commited to Christ as a result. It has been amazing to see how God truly is building a mountain in the valley and how people here are desperate for His love, and grabbing hold of it when it is shown. It has been a blessing to sit and hear the stories of people finding out that they are HIV/AIDS positive, or how they had to flee their homes during the violence, and then to see how God has taken those terrible situations and turned them into something beautiful. It is amazing to see how God is working and just how receptive people are to His Word.

A few times a week we go to someone's home for dinner and last night I am almost sure we had dinner with Jesus. We had dinner with a lady who works at the center named Josephine and she is the head of the social work department. She and her 6 year old daughter had a beautiful Bible study with us where we talked about God being clothed in a robe seated on the throne and how he sits on the throne of our lives. It was very touching to listen as a 6 year old read scripture and talked about God with her mother. After that we had chai (tea) and Tim asked how she ended up at the center. She began to speak and the 5 of us who were there were literally enthralled by what she was saying. She talked about how even the smallest things like smiling at a child or greeting someone is ministry and it warms the heart of Jesus. She talekd about how she tries to be encouraging in every encounter she has with parents and students as she may be the only Jesus they see that day and she may be the only one who speaks hope to them. She talked about not being a good Christian because many people were good by their own standards but she wants to be a contagious christian and to draw others to God with her life. She also said many of the prayers in Mathare Valley are not always prayed to the LIving God and God does not respond to the prayers of the hopeless he responds to the prayers of the faithful. The whole time she was tlaking it was so encouraging not because she said it but because you knew she believe what she was saying and most importantly she lives out that faith. Have you even felt like when you spent time with someone that you had been in the presence of God? That is how we felt and I loved it so much because it helped me see what is must have been like for the disciples to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen to him speak wisdom and hope into their lives.
I know I mentioned awhile ago that our accomodations were really nice but I forgot to mention that there is a washer and dryer in every room. Yes you read that correctly a washer and dryer in every room. The washer is a red bucket in the shower and the dryer is any place we can find to hang out wet and probably not really clean clothes. I generally do the laundry while I am in the shower and then we hang it out the window during the day. Washing clothes by hand is certainly a daunting task and to make it worse our clothes our absolutely filthy bu the end of the day so it is a challenge to even get them somewhat clean. I dont always try to hard as cleanliness only lasts about 10 minutes after we walk out the door. I should also mention that the toilet is in the shower as well. There is a thin curtain separating the 2 areas, but you are basically in the toliet while in the shower. I guess its super convenient.
So we have been eating a great deal of Kenyan food at the center each day. Ugali is the national dish and it is basically corn meal and flour and there is not much taste unless you put something over it. We like it enough but we eat it alot. We have 2 girls on our team who are from Mexico and as it turns out they use corn meal and water as paste for pinatas! You can imgaine how disgusted they were when they found out that we were eating paste-ALOT!! I guess one man's staple food is anothers pinata paste.
Today was good we met with some people who had been resettled after the violence and then went to someones house and had some goodies-like passion fruit, good chai, and roasted corn. We also watched home videos followed by a collection of music videos of Celene Dion. Dos life really get any better?!
Tim is feeling better. My mom and them made it home from Uganda. Tim's family is all doing well. Thanks for the prayers.
Much love

Sickness

Why can we not get away from it. Alicia has mentioned that I have not been feeling well. The other night after playing games i was very hungry. So I had a cheeseburger for dinner, and we had bought some peanut butter and honey for the room. So i made a sandwich when we got back to the room. I am not sure what part of the eating didn't sit well but it would not leave my stomach how it was suppose to. I managed to hold it down for 24 hours but not without a ton of pain. Once I had finally violently vomited the sickness out; I felt much better. I go into all this description because as we have been here I have been reading from A.W. Tozer The Pursuit of Man, and in one chapter he writes about out dying to sin and how painful that it is to deny ourselves so that we may allow room for Christ to come in and dwell within us. I hated being sick, but the cleansing and renewing that I felt after getting rid of the filth reminded me of this idea. We are surrounded by sin and it is all sorts of disabling and filthy, but to know that God has provided a way for us to remove it, with some work and pain, so that we made be made whole again. What a great God that we serve that we can have hope beyond our moanings and longings for something greater. It has been an amazing few weeks and I pray that we may continue to allow God the room that He needs in order for us to be made well and complete in Him.

Funnies

Tim and I took a day off for the most part. We are heading to Mathare soon to meet our team and head to someone's house for dinner. Tim is recovering and we went and got him some more meds but thought it was a great day for him to continue to get better. The pharmacies or chemist as they are called here are interesting. Basically you just walk in and tell them what you want and they hand it to you. It seems almost too easy but maybe that is because we have only tried for antibiotics.
I thought we would share a few funny stories with you all. I know some of the blogs are serious but we are laughing a lot! The team with are with is great and so are all the staff people and MOHI.
I know we are making huge mistakes when we speak Swahili and I know it has caused many nationals to laugh at us so it is equally funny to me when I hear people make mistakes in English. So last week we spent a lot of time with a guy in one of the slum areas called Kosovo. When we would go to peoples homes he would introduce them and give us some background info, but he would misuse pronouns and he would interchange them throughout a conversation. So we would be in a womans home and he would say: HIs name is Elizabeth and He has 3 kids..she owns a business selling fruit etc. At first I was confused and then I couldnt resist laughing so I had to disguise them with coughing. I looked around at our team and they were laughing as well. We continue to make jokes about it and it causes some pretty serious laughter. Other than this his english was great but this mistake was too funny to resist mentioning.
Yesterday one guy on our team (Justin) started walking and talking with a guy in the slums and apparently he was trying to get Justin to give the 4 girls in our team and/or Justins sisters to him as wives. Justin said with all seriousness that he was really sorry but he didnt think he could afford us as we all cost around 10,000 goats (which is a lot) and the guy was like OH and walked away. Thank goodness this guy couldnt afford us.
When we leave the center at the end of the day and we are waiting for a matatu we are generally approached by street kids asking for money for food. Well, the problem with being in such a big group sometimes is that you just talk and share your thoughts and you aren't always sure who you are actually talking to. So yesterday as our group of 23 is walking, a street kid approaches Eric and says I am so hungry and Eric says I know so am I. I haven't eaten since lunch. Then he looks at the kid and realizes he is not one of us but is a street kid who is actually REALLY hungry. Oops!
There are many stories like that and last night I laughed until my abs hurt. We love the gift of laughter and we are so thankful for those on our team for providing it for us. We really have some funny people with us. Sometimes at night Tim and I will talk about the day and we just laugh for a long time
Here's hoping your day is full of laughter.

Restored

I love the way God just gives you special gifts to restore your spirit and He always seems to give them to you when you need them the most. Yesterday we went to Joska for church and a fun day. Joska is a boarding school run by Missions of Hope International. It is about a hour out of the city and currently enrolls over 400 children. First it was great to just get out of the city and drive through the countryside and see what you imagine Africa to actually look like rather than just a busy city. We all needed the escape. When we walked into the church it had already started and the kids were singing and they were singing There is no God like Jehovah over and over. I seriously became a mess I started crying and just rejoicing. The kids that are at this school are kids from the slums, they are street kids, they are the glue sniffers etc. These kids have been restored by God to something bigger than themselves. They were having such a great time praising Him. I love the children of Africa and hearing them sing and seeing them smile always grabs my heart so I spent a portion of the worship service with tears rolling down my face, but it felt cleansing and very healing. We got to play all afternoon with the kids and I loved that so it was a great day. We all needed it and I know we all feel ready to face the week. In a few minutes I will get on a matatu and head back into the slums and who knows what the day holds but God has totally renewed my spirit and I feel ready to face whatever comes my way.
Thanks for all your prayers. God is really showing us alot in a short amount of time. I am glad He has chosen to share these things with us even though they are heart breaking. He never gives us more than we can take and I am glad that I have been given chances to just find my strength in him alone. Please pray for Tim he is not feeling well and missed the fun day yesterday. He is feeling better today but is taking the day off. I think something he ate did not agree with him, but pray that he gets better tomorrow because we all want him to be out working with us (especially me :) ) Also my mom, Connie, Jeanie, and Shannon and the rest of the team are on their way back from Uganda. Pray for safe travels. Thanks for your prayers we really can tell that you are faithfully praying for us.
We hope everything is well in the states. We are thankful to hear from you and look forward to sharing with you when we get back.
Have a great week!

Game Day

Today we got out of the city for awhile and got a chance to play soccer and basketball with some of the people who we have been working with. It was a great time to get away from the city and normal routine. Alicia has said so much in her post that I don't think I have much to add. There is a definite battle between Good and Evil in the slums. At times it feels like they are so close to breaking free, and then we see glimpses of the lies that Satan uses to trip people up. We continue to learn a lot about how the Hope Partnership is advancing the Kingdom in Mathare Valley. I was going to post this a few days ago but the internet cut out before I could so here it is a few days removed.

Another Week Gone By

Another week has passed. Sorry it has been a week since we updated everyone-we were really busy this week and were unable to get to the internet before it was too late to be out. Many things have happened and it has been another great week of seeing God at work. To be honest though this week was certainly filled with some difficult times at least for me-alicia. This week was the first time I felt different than everyone around me. Everyone has been so welcoming to us that for awhile I kind of forgot that I looked different and was from a different place. This week that changed. It is a good thing and I feel like I am getting to see all sides of Nairobi which I think is important. As you continue to read this please know we are doing great and are so happy to be here. God is here and we are so thankful he called us to be here with him for the summer. I will be candid of course but I also feel like I need to be honest.
We are so aware that God is at work here but so is the devil and we have certainly seen that it a few ways in the past week. If you know much about Nairobi you are probably familiar with street children. These are kids who live on the street and generally beg for money. We have the same things in the US in some ways I know but I have to tell you it is very hard for me to have a precious 8 year old child come and beg me for food or money. We are told that to give only encourages them to keep begging, but I just cant always ignore it. A few times I have reached in my bag and gotten out some crackers or something. I know it doesnt solve the problem but at least for one night that child isnt so hungry. There are also street kids who sniff glue and most of the day they walk around with the bottle up to their nose and they sniff glue out of it. Many of them beg for money to buy more glue or for something to eat. They are dirty and mostly sleep along the road or in the piles of garbage. Their eyes are dead. That is hard for me to see. We have seen some other things as well but I cant seem to write about them on this blog right now I think they are better to talk about when we get back. All of these things are sights we witness on top of the extreme poverty we see everyday. I am not going to lie this is tough. I feel like I have seen sin at it ugliest. I have seen just what the world looks like apart from God. All the more reason for us to be here. I have been praying for such a long time for God to break my heart the way His breaks, praying to see the world the ways He does. When I see these things I am filled with some joy that my GOd finds me worthy to catch a glimpse of what He sees. And my heart breaks and yet He is only showing me a fraction of what He sees everyday. My heart is certainly broken, but in those moments I feel God near. I know He is here with them, with me, with you. I know He never intended life to look like this, but we chose this. We ate the fruit-we choose the world. As I see these battles going on everyday I am constantly reminded that my God has overcome this world and all the things of it. That sometimes I feel stuck in between darkness and light, good and evil, joy and pain...but in the end our God reigns over all things. There is no need to fear He won the battle a long time ago.
In the midst of some of this darkness the light of GOd is breaking through. We have been a part of leading several people to Christ. Many of these people will be spending eternity with the King of Kings and that is something to rejoice about. Satan is at times trying to do things to distract us from that, but it isnt working. We know God is using us to spread the message of Jesus, the message of hope to a world that is very lost with out him. God is good all the time. When we see some of the things we have seen or hear some of the things we have heard we could not be more excited to be here.
I know that was a lot-sorry-it has been a week so there is alot to say. Our friend Dixon accepted Christ yesterday and we got to be a part of that. Many of the team who are visiting those with HIV/AIDS have led several people to Jesus and many are asking questions. We praise him for those lives. Thanks for praying for us and for them. We are bold in what we have been praying for and God has answered many of those prayers. I continue to pray for him to break my heart for what break His because when that happens I fall more deeply in love with my Jesus and am more compelled to share that love with others.
I want to end with something funny so I will tell you a little about the soccer game. Kenya won 2 to 0 which was awesome. We had a great time, however, something of note is that at soccer matches you not only yell for your team, but it also a great time to make political statements. Before the game I heard people chanting and I thought they were saying Zimbabwe must go so I joined it thinking this was like booing them and I want to show as much Kenyan spirit as possible. Then I see a sign that says Mugabe must go so I ask Willis if Mugabe is their star player he says nope it is their president. So i stopped cheering Zimbabwe must go and decided to stay far away from political chants and stick with GO KENYA or the wave. Also everyone loves Obama as his father was Kenyan and from the Luo tribe. Many times people yell at us to vote for Obama. At the game they were cheering Ochiette (their star player), Odinga (the prime minister) Obama. It is very funny to me.
As I wrap up this novel I have written I want to thank you for your prayers and support. We love it here. God is good and in the midst of despair His love shines. It cool to see it firsthand for sure. Last Sunday we sat in a small church in one of the slums and people were signing in Swahili and I had no idea what they were saying but they were really praising God and even though I have no idea what words they were using-God does. He knows all people, languages, tribes, and tongues. At the same time we were signing a worship song in English. As I looked around I thought this must be what Heaven looks like. A mix of everyone worshipping the same God! I cant wait to do that forever!

Until next time! Much love!

One week down

We have been here over a week now and I feel like we are really settling in and getting used to things. Our accomodations are great and the food is good as well. We are not really roughing it at all so sometimes I feel a little guilty but I guess missions doesnt have to be bout roughing it it just needs to be about Jesus right?
This past week was full of home visits. We are really getting to hear some amazing stories and see the way God is working in many lives and how is power prevails through dangerous situations. Yesterday we went to visit a woman and her child and like many of the people we met this week they were displaced during the post-election violence. Her child was in the home when it was set on fire and his head and hands were burnt. The child is okay and is very active but God definately saved him. During the time of resettlement she accepted Christ and so Tim asked her if she had a Bible and she said no so we were able to give her ours. We talked with her about reading it and shared some scripture with her. The guys said that is a really big issue for them because many do not have Bibles and so the only teaching they get is on Sunday at the church. Tim and I are planning to use some of the support we raised to purchase Bibles to distribute to some of the people we visit. We feel this is one of the most important things we can do. Thanks for support us not only did you provide for us to get here but you will be an instrumental part of sharing the word of God with many. It will be cool to see the change that happens in the community once people really dig deeply into what GOd has to say. I think the change that will come will be huge.

On another note, in a few hours we are heading to the Kenya vs. Zimbabwe soccer game. This is a World Cup qulaifying match. We are very excited and certain this will be quite an experience. Some of the guys from the Hope Center are going and some of us are planning to paint our faces like the Kenyan flag. Good times, good times!

Have great weekend and Happy Dad's Day!

Useless Swahili

So as i said we were learning some Swahili-some we can use and some that is not useful but very funny to us so here is another phrase we have learned...

nawesa pata ati ati? which translates-- may i have a what what?? As you know the matatus are filled with music much of which is rap and so we thought that phrase can i get a what what was appropriate; however, that doesnt really translate exactly so we have may i have a what what!! Same difference and it provides a great deal of laughter which is awesome and makes what could be difficult situations somehow seem lighter. Have we told you how great the guys we work with are?? Oh and we are also trying to teach them a little spanish which is fun and they happen to be very quick learners and even make up their own words such as friesta which is a combination siesta (nap) and free time. It works and we enjoyed a nice friesta today.

God is working here and some huge things are happening and we are also having a great time which we want to share some of that with you.

Much love!!

Work

The last couple of days we have been incredibly blessed to go and visit with many people. Yesterday we went and meet with people who were HIV positive, and heard there stories. One woman told us about when she found out in May of 2006, and how it affected those around her. Many of her friends and her parents disowned her. Her husband however went and got tested some time later and found out that he was positive as well. The two of them take their med's everyday together. They have become a light in the community because they are willing to share openly about the disease, and have become very involved in the counceling that the Hope center does. They have encouraged a number of people that they know to go and get tested so that they may get help as well. That was one of many stories that we heard yesterday from people who are living with HIV/AIDS.
Today we had the opportunity to go into some home of people who were displaced during the violence here back in Dec/Jan. They were afraid of what might happen to them so they fled their homes often not taking anything with them. They fled to an IDP(internally displaced persons) camp, and most stayed there at least one some even two months while waiting for things to cool down. While there the people we have been working with would go throughout the camps asking people if they were willing to go back, and if they were they would pay for the first couple of months of rent as well as food. It was done in such a way that the majority of people we talked to accepted Christ as a result of this action. It was amazing to see how God answered the prayers that we were praying from half way around the world; in such an incredible way here.
The last thing that I want to say in this post is that a couple of the families that we visited today also have children in the Bondeni Hope school. I asked them about child sponsorships, and they mentioned that their children were being sponsored by someone. They couldn't express enough how grateful they were that their children could go to school. I couldn't help but wonder who was sponsoring those children, and the excitement it brought to me to think that more than likely I know the person who is making such a difference in the lives of these families. Thank you for making a difference! We have been so encouraged to see first hand what a difference the Church has made from half a world away.

ASANTI SANA!!!! (THANK YOU VERY MUCH)

Matatu

Matatu is what they call some of the public transportation. Basically it is a 12 or 15 passenger van with like 30 or 40 people shoved in it. It is decorated with various stickers on the outside (such as rap singers, britney spears, mariah carey etc) and music is played on the inside. Today we rode in one for the first time. What fun!! It was jam packed with people and played very loud unedited gangster rap! What an adventure!

Another funny thing- one of the men we are with is named Willis so I was telling him about the show Different Strokes and how the catch phrase was "Whatch u talkin about Willis?" So he taught me how to say it in Swahili.........Una semanini Willis!! We also learned how to say other things that will not necessarily be useful so tomorrow it is back to the good stuff!!

Mungo akubariki!! (God bless you-okay that one is very useful)

Habari

I will continue what Alicia started yesterday with my language learning. Harbari is a common greeting like saying hi in english. I am not sure if I can say as much as she said yesterday but I would like to share a few of my initial thoughts with you. I am not sure where to start as so much has happened in our first 5 days. We have walked through the slums, toured the city, gone to African church(with lots of dancing), and eaten lots of rice and stew to name a few. The joy that is sticking with me is the relationships that are being built. Alicia and I were put in a group of 6 people that were going to be working with the CHE(community health evangelism). The CHE members that have been taking us around, Willis, Phanwell, and Easter, happen to be from Bondeni, the community that West Side Christian Church supports. The are amazing guys who are doing incredible ministry. Today we went to some homes with them and watched them talk, listen, and show the people the love of Christ. It was amazing getting to pray with and talk with them as we walked. It is amazing that even through language, distance and cultural barriers God shines in such a real way. It has been encouraging even in the mess of life in the slums to meet and work with people who love God, and are working hard at sharing that love with all who they come in contact with. We are so encouraged by the work that God is doing here. I will leave you with just a little more swahili. Bwena Asifiwe! Praise the Lord!

Karibu!!

Karibu means welcome in Swahili! We have really been welcomed to Nairobi and we are trying to learn Swahili so that we can better communicate with the people in the slums. I think we are trying to learn to much too fast as I am now dreaming in Swahili and we have only been here a few days. We have a few greetings learned so at least we can say Hi to the people we meet.

AS you know we arrived safely nad we have showered and are pretty rested. Tim lost some luggage and he is at the airport picking it up. He will probably write some on here tonight. We thought we would each write about our first few days. So here is the Alicia version of the first few days;

We arrived that the airport about 630 a.m. and many of us were unable to sleep on the plane so we were very tired. After finally getting through customs we hit the ground running. We went to the Hope Center and were oriented to the place and met many of the staff. Then we walked through the slums. I think that I was too exhausted to grasp the magnitude of what the slums were really like. I felt a bit numb that day to be honest. The next day were spent the morning with some CHE's (Community Health Evangelists-an amazing program we will write more about later). We walked to the river where people were brewing alcohol illegally and talked with some of them. Many of the CHE's were former brewers and what we would call alcoholics but they have since given their lives to GOD and to serving those that are in the same pit they were in. They are a great group of people. As I saw people in such desperation surrounded by garbage, filth, decay, the trappings of sin, and death it hit me. I was in the slums of Nairobi with the needy what Jesus calls the least of these. One of the guys said he feels like when he is working with the people of the slums and the brewers he feels like he is where Jesus would have been if here were humanly walking the Earth. I cant agree with him more. In the midst of all of this I can sense God's very real presence. He is with the poor no doubt about it. Nothing gets by him-no crying in the dark of night, no death due to HIV, no rape or abuse, no cry for help, no addiction, nothing. When I am there I am reminded that He is Almighty God in a way I miss when I am in America.

Today we walked through the slums to church. I am beginning to recognize a little of the area. It rained this morning before we left and what the rain left behind was an overwhleming stench. People who have visited Mathare always talk about the smell and the first day due to exhaustion I missed it, the next day it was faint almost smelling like a pig farm, but to day it was oh so real. There were times it took my breath away but you cannot escape it. Today the slums were packed with people since it is Sunday and many are not at work. I was very overwhelmed today. People were crowded all around us and I had no idea where we were or where we were going. There are 23 of us MZUNGUs(white people) so we really stand out. Today I wore a thin pair of flip flops and as I walked the ground I stepped on rocks, garbage and I am sure other things I do not want to know about and I saw people standing around clothed in rags with runny noses and dirty faces and it hit me-this is life! They dont leave at 5 p.m. like I will when the day is done-many of them probaby never leave. The darkness of that thought really hit me. Luckily there is hope for all things in God. When I see places like this I am always reminded that our God is bigger than all of this. He knows what is going on and He has a plan. I am so thankful to be a part of that plan for this area. He is doing some amazing things here. I am excited to learn more about them and to share them with you all.

I know I am rambling a lot but there is much in my head and we havent updated anyone in several days. LIke Bono said God is in the slums where the poor play house. You had better believe he is!! He is raising some great leaders up out of the darkness that is surrounding them. They are changing the community around them. For those of you involved in the Hope Partnership and/or who participated in A Different Kind of Christmas-please know God is blessing what you are giving. He has multiplied it and is using it to help many. Thanks for you willingness to give to the people of Mathare. Thanks for supporting us. We are so happy to be here.

As I say that I know it sounds like I am sad or overwhelmed and some moments I am, but it is in those moments that I am seeing God the most. I will gladly take moments that break my heart if it always me to draw closer to my GOd. Thanks for you prayers. We love you and will update soon. Perhaps with some funny stories of mistakes we are making while learning the language and some pictures.

God is so good!

We made it!

After two full days of travel we have made it to Nairobi. It was a long trip and most everyone is exhausted, and ready for a shower and bed. We will have more to say about the trip at a later time, but wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely. Tim and Alicia

And We're Off

This afternoon we leave the states for the summer. We are very exited and have just finished going through our PDO (pre departure orientation). We are travelling with a large group and it has been great spending time with them and getting to know them before we go. We are very exited about all the ways that God is going to use this team this summer.

We will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya at 6:30 Thursday Morning. The plan is to drop our things off at the place we will be staying, and then we are headed to the communities where we will spend most of our time this summer. Nothing quite like hitting the ground running. We look foward to being able to share our life as much as possible, and appreciate all the prayers that are being lifted up. Thanks again for partnering with us.

Done

Packing

We are getting ready to start packing momentarily and this is a glimpse of what we are working with. We will let you know how this pans out!

6 Days and a Wake-Up

This time next week we will be in a van with the family traveling to Indianapolis for PDO (pre-destination orientation) and then off to Kenya. The past few weeks have been filled with a tremendous amount of preparation, but I think I can safely say we have all we need to go we now just need to figure out how to get it into our bags without surpassing the weight limit :)
I have been super busy at work trying to get everything done before we leave. I have recently discovered that I can be a procrastinator when I dont like to do something!! At work I put a lot of time and effort into my relationships with co-workers, referral sources, kids and their families. I can honestly say that one of the best things about my job is the people that surround me; however, I am not good at the paperwork so I just ignore it. These past weeks I have been scrambling to get things done and I am slowly running out of time. I am also trying not to get frustrated because I do not want the last fews days with family, friends, coworkers etc to be hurried. I want to really enjoy these moments but some have been challenging (I have only myself to blame)!!!
That being said I am so excited to get outta here and head to Indy as it is the final step to boarding that plane that will take us to Kenya. I cannot wait to be on African soil again. My heart has been yearning to get back there since I left Uganda last summer and it is almost here!! I cant wait for the smiling faces of the most beautiful children I have even seen to grab my hand and call me MUZUNGU!! I cant wait for Tim to experience Africa with me!! I cant wait to share the love that is literally bursting out of my heart!
As we prepare to leave I have really been praying for the preparation of my heart and my biggest prayer has been for God to just take out my eyes and replace them with his own so that I am only able to see people the way He does. To remove my hands, my feet and to replace them with those of Jesus so that every step I take and every touch will be those of Christ. Most importantly that my selfish, judgemental heart will be replaced with His so that I can just LOVE! I know God has some huge things in store for us this summer and I want all those things to be accomlished so I am just praying for me to get out of the way and let God move. I can be quite an obstacle sometimes and I really dont want that to happen this summer.
So the books have been read, reports written, forms notorized indicating what we would like to happen to our bodies should we not make it back from Kenya (little morbid) and support has been raised. Thanks for all the prayers. Please keep praying for us.
On a side note we had an encounter with another bat last night so thank goodness for the vaccinnations. Not sure we needed them as much for Africa as we did for central Illinois. I was very brave with the bat so I am not thinking the bugs will be no problem at all :)

29 Days to GO

So we have only got 29 days until we board a plane headed to Kenya! We are really getting excited and need to start packing and preparing. We have moved out of our apartment and into Granny and Gramps Stewart's house.
A few weeks ago we were able to go to Indy to a conference on the church and AIDS. The conference was hosted by CMF so we were able to meet many of the staff of CMF and one of the members of our team. We were definitely overwhelmed by the stories and statistics we heard about the AIDS pandemic in Africa. We were also challenged and excited to see how God is using all kinds of people to spread His love and provide hope throughout the world. We are glad to be a part of that. My brain certainly cannot comprehend the millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS; however, my heart can connect with the people in the stories the missionaries told at this conference. I know Tim and I will meet people this summer who will really touch our lives.
I guess all along I have know that we would be doing HIV testing, counseling, education, etc but I never really thought about what that looked like until we went to the conference. I was really struck by the fact that this summer we will probably be telling people they have HIV, we will be holding people as they are dying, we will be playing with children who are infected with HIV and/or have been orphaned by it. Are we ready for that? Is anyone really ever ready for that??
So please pray for:
*Tim and I as we prepare to go. Pray that we can get stuff ready and packed up. Pray for us to get the bills taken care of and all the other last minute things that I have probably forgotten!
*Pray for our families as they prepare for us to go.
*Pray for our team as they prepare to go. Pray that there will be unity among our team.
*Most importantly, pray for the preparation of our hearts. Pray that God will strengthen us to be able to do what needs to be done this summer, pray that we will be able to share His great love with many, pray that above all His name is glorified in all that we do. Pray for our hearts to continue to break for a world He loves. Pray that after this summer we will never be the same.

Thank You

Many of you who recieved our letter know that we needed to have half of our money raised by today in order to purchase our plane tickets to Kenya. We have surpassed the 50% mark and are well on our way to reaching our goal amount.

We are very thankful to all of you who have contributed to us financially and very thankful to those of you who have been praying for us. We are most thankful to God for providing for us. We have been very humbled by this experience and God is definately showering blessings upon us. Without question we know we are to be in Kenya this summer-God has made that abundantly clear to us through support raising (among many other things).

So thank you, thank you, thank you. You have blessed us greatly and we are so grateful. You have been a wonderful reflection of Christ to us in your gifts and willingness to give. We just cant say enough so please know our hearts are full of thanksgiving.

On a side note the last blog about the bugs-I was mostly kidding. I do not like them but can deal with it. My great friend Connie was a litte worried about me so I wanted everyone to know I am okay and was just adding some humor. You can pray along with me that God will keep all the bugs hidden while we are there and that is okay with me :) You never know I may end up saving Tim from some critter!

One more thing...

I have had a lot of people ask if we are scared to go to Africa and honestly I have said no. Before we started talking with CMF I had a few weeks filled with some sleepless nights thinking about civil war, random violence, getting eaten by lions etc. That passed quickly as I realized I was being irrational. So when people ask now I can truly say NOPE I am not scared.
Until today.....I finished reading this book called All you cant leave behind: A rookie missionary's life in Africa by Ryan J. Murphy. It's a great book about his family's first year in Kenya. It is written like a blog so it is easy to read and I finished it in 2 days. Anyway, in the book he talks about he bugs and other pests they have encountered in Kenya. These included (to name only a few) beetles the size of walnuts, various spiders some with huge red eyes, roaches (my personal fave), and the clincher a RAT. So some of the fear is slowly creeping back in. If I can be perfectly honest when I picture these things I get a rushing sense of panic taking over my whole body. I try to picture myself in the situation and how I will handle it. Sometimes I do well and other times I seriously freak out.
To many (like my husband) this may seem silly but in my defense I handle these things better than expected in the situation and I always get rid of the critter for fear it will eat me or end up on my face. But I am thinking when people ask about my fears I may have to change my answer from none to bugs!
So if you are praying for us and you want to add this to your list I would for sure be grateful!!

Just an update

Just a quick update. Life for us has been very busy lately. I have a hard time deciding if I am coming or going and many days I have no idea what the date is or what month we are even in! My caseload at work has about doubled since January and I am working a second job as well. Tim has been subbing and Upwards Basketball just ended last Sunday. We are planning to move out of our apartment at the end of the month so we have some packing and painting to do. We will be moving in with Granny and Gramps Stewart until we leave for Kenya. We are super thankful to have family who support us and allow us to shack up with them when we need to.
All this busyness is sure making time fly by and so before we know it we will be in Kenya :) Our support raising is going well and that has been one thing we havent had to do much with. God has really taken care of the financial part of this trip for us. We said we would go to Kenya no matter what and the rest has been all His doing! Support raising has been such a humbling blessing. What a great God we serve! We have had many people give to us in such a way that we knew it could only be through God. We have had people who we know do not have many extra resources but have given much. We have had money come from suprising places. We joked the other day about how many people dread opening the mailbox for fear of all the bills but we are excited everday to open ours because it usually contains another gift (and not many bills). I say it again God is good and so are those who love Him! We thank you!
We got our packing list and a list of our team. Sixteen people will be joining us in the slums of Nairobi. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to go. Pray that the team will really connect and be able to accomlish much this summer. Please pray that Tim and I will be able to get all the things done we need to get done before we go. It definately feels a bit overwhelming right now.
As our departure date gets closer and closer I find saying to Tim "We are going to spend the summer in Africa!" I cant quite comminicate it to you over the internet but that statement includes a great deal of excitement. Most definately a dream come true and who am I that I get to do this? The cool thing about God is I dont have to be anyone special just available. With that I wish you all a great weekend!

African Children's Choir 2

Here is the whole group of us. We had a great time. Our friends the Jacobsons had 3 boys and we had 3 girls so we hung out both nights. They are a great group of kids and we were so blessed to have them in our homes for a few days!!

African Children's Choir

The African Children's Choir will be in Decatur on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. They will be performing in the Kirkland auditorium at Milllikin University. To get tickets click this link:
www.millikin.edu/kirkland or call the box office at 217-424-6318.

If you have never seen them before I encourage you to go if you can. It will truly bless your heart. If you can't go and watch them check out their website. The story of how the choir began and how it has grown over the years is incredible.

Tim and I have offered to host a few of the kids at our house for a few nights next week. If you know me at all you know this is quite a precious gift from God!!!

It's been awhle....

So it has been awhile since we wrote on here and we just wanted to update anyone who reads this what is going on with us.
We got all the shots we need to go to Africa. That was a pretty simple task. I was a little concerned because last year I had to get 7 shots (which is never a fun time). After the shots, I was really sick for several days and ended up with an infection in my arm. So it is safe to say I am not really a fan of having a needle shoved in my arm. Fortunately, this round of immunizations went well.

We are definately overwhelmed right now. God has been using so many people to provide for us to go to Kenya this summer. The support we have recieved to date has been tremendous. We have over half of what we need for the whole summer.
We are getting closer to reaching our goal of $11, 000. There is still a lot of money to raise but we are seeing God work in such a great way. To say God is good is such an understatment. When we go to thank him for all He is doing it is such a struggle to find the words to say. We are so thankful to all of you for your prayers.

Please continue to pray for us-your prayers are certainly being answered.

Contagious Joy

It is getting late and I should be getting to bed because I have a super long day of exciting paperwork tomorrow; however, it has been an great day and I have some thoughts just running through my head so I thought I would write them out.

I work with a great lady at the juvenile center and ever since I told her about our summer in Africa she has been so excited for us. We have had some great conversations about Christ, missions, our jobs, and trying to figure out this life we've been given. She has been telling so many people about our trip and directing them to our blog. (Thank you Sharon!) One day she joked that she was more excited about us going to Africa. She is for sure as excited as we are. One day I thanked her for her encouragement and she said No thank you for going. You and your husband are doing what we are supposed to be doing. I knew that in my heart but to hear someone else say it really took on another meaning. I dont say this to boast in any way at all Tim and I are just trying to be faithful to what God wants for us whatever that might be. I have to be honest though the joy I felt in that moment was just incredible. We have been so excited about going to Africa that it doesnt feel like a duty it just feels like the best opportunity ever. To have someone else so pumped about what God is doing in your life filled me with this feeling I could not describe and then it hit me-this was the joy they are always talking about in the Bible. It was just so fulfilling.

And the joy continues....We sent out support letters last Friday so if you do the math they have been out less than one week and we have already received more than half of what we need to raise by April 18. People have been giving in such a way I am overwhelmed (in a good way not in the usual lose my mind sort of way). Today as Tim and I were talking about what we had been given in the past 2 days alone we were once again just flooded with this joy.

If we dont say it enough we are so excited to serve in Africa this summer and we are so thankful for those of you who have already supported us financially. We still have a long way to go, but we know that our God is going to provide. In fact He knew exactly who and where all this money was going to come from even before we decided to go to Kenya. Wow-there is that joy again! Most importantly, we want to thank you for your prayers up to this point and to thank you in advance for the prayers you will continue to pray. Our God is doing some great things.

I should go to bed now this was longer than expected. Again thanks for your prayers for Kenya. We are so excited that a peace agreement has been signed and now healing can begin.



Much love to you all

PEACE

Just a few minutes ago we got an email from CMF letting us know that a peace agreement has apparently been reached!! That is some very exciting news and such an answer to so many prayers. Here is a link with the whole story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/28/kenya

Yea for peace!

Support

In a few of these blogs we have written about support. It occurred to us that maybe it would be a good idea to write about this. As one would expect for us to go to Africa this summer it will cost some major money- approximately $11,000. This includes airfare, room and board, meals, and medical expenses. Not included in this cost are other expenses that will be accrued while on the internship and in preparation for the trip. This is a large amount of money and so we have to raise the money to go. We trust God to provide this money through family, friends, co-workers, churches, even strangers.

The great thing about raising support for us is that we get to watch God in action. He uses the people that we care about to bless us richly. The great thing for those who support us is that they are a part of what we are doing in Africa. Even though they may not be physically in Africa with us they are a vital part of what we will be doing this summer. This is true for those who support us financially and also for those who support us in prayer. When you pray for us or send a donation you are not giving to us, but you are contributing to God’s Kingdom. That is a pretty cool thing. This summer when you read about things that are happening in Kenya and see pictures of who we are meeting and what we are doing, please know you are just as much a part of it as we are.

If you are reading this and you didn’t get a letter and you would like to be a part of this whether it be financially or most importantly prayer (or both) please shoot us an email at thestewarts08@gmail.com We would love to get you some info about how you can be a part of this great experience.




Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. Philippians 4:17

GOD is...

GOD is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.
GOD is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a disease that will end both their lives.
GOD is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.
GOD is in the debris of wasted opportunities and lives, and
GOD is with is if we are with them.

-Bono

Who knew.....

So when we got our first batch of info from CMF Tim and I were looking through it and when we came to the vaccination info we were very suprised to discover we needed a rabies pre-exposure vaccination. Needless to say, this caused us to laugh VERY hard. Some of you may remember when Tim and I first got married we lived in the third floor of his parent's house and one night we were "attacked" by a bat.

Here the short version (I hope) one night in the middle of the night we were walking down the hallway toward the bathroom when something flew out and landed on Tim's shoulder. He flung his shoulder forward and the thing flew into my hair. We ran into the bathroom where we found ourselves trapped as this thing was flying crazily about. We figure out it is a bat and when it lands on the wall away from the door Tim yells at me that we have run out of the bathroom NOW! I am paralyzed by fear and say I cant and he lovingly tells me that if we were in the army they would leave me. So under much hesitation I cover my head in towels and run for my life. We narrowly escape the bat.

The next day I call animal control to see what they think and apparently this is an emergency and what we should have done was call the sheriff's department at 3 a.m. to come and rescue us. So they come to get the bat and the can't find it so it is now somewhere hiding in our living space. Nice!!!

Since Tim got scratched and the nasty thing was in my hair they suggested we go get the rabies vaccination. So we go and get it and you must go to the ER which you know is going to be an experience. So we go and find out that on night one Tim gets 7 shots and I need 3. Then you have to get shots 3,7,14, and 21 days after the first one. I felt like someones pet dog!

It was quite the ordeal and provided a lot of humor for everyone. I jokingly said this (and many other exeriences in the first few months of our marriage) were preparing us for missions. Who knew I was right!!

So Tim and I can rest assurred that we can be bitten by any rabid beast in Africa and we are safely vaccinated from rabies.