God's Ministries at Work

Well it looks like all of my postings are going to be a day behind, but that is ok. I will do my best to update you all on what we are doing and the amazing experiences we are having here in Kenya. I can definitely feel the team growing stronger each and everyday as we become closer and feel more comfortable around each other. Each individual definitely has their strengths and it is exciting to see God not only working in the people we are seeing but also in our own hearts. So today I will be talking about the amazing day we had on Tuesday July 27th.

On Monday we went to the NEST Baby Orphanage which was a great experience and so much fun to hold and feed the little ones. Well today we made our way to the NEST Orphanage which is a ministry that takes care of the older children and leads them to grow in Christ. Making our way to the orphanage was quite the experience. It was my first time traveling away from the city into the rural areas. The orphanage is found in the highlands where a lot of tea farming takes place. As we were on our way, we saw many people on the side of the road. It was so fun to see them waving at us. When we gave them a wave they would smile and it seemed like for that moment it just made their day. Once we were about half way to the orphanage I was waving at everyone I could and loved to watch their reaction.

As we got closer to the orphanage we headed off the main road to a trail less traveled. All I can say is the last stretch of road was BUMPY haha. We were flying all over the bus and if you weren't careful your bum was not happy with you because we would land on our seats hard. But it was so worth it once we pulled into the orphanage.

Once we got there we walked in to meet the kids. They had prepared an entire song and introduction for us which was amazing to watch. They sang songs beautifully and really made us feel welcome. After our introductions the fun began :)

We started to teach the kids some songs with hand motions to represent what the song meant. They all had smiles on their faces and I could see that they were having so much fun. After teaching them two songs the VBS team did the skit/story of Daniel and the lions den. It was so much fun to watch and the team did an amazing time keeping the kids entertained and laughing throughout the whole thing. After that we went into and activity and helped the kids make lion masks. They were so cute and had a great time showing all of us their masks they had made. Helping them was a joy and I loved seeing their faces light up as their masks got finished. After this we had to finish our picture taking and time with the children and say bye to the kids. It was hard to leave I have to be honest. I wish I could have helped them all for so much longer. Once we were leaving the kids all came out and waved to see us off.... but the bus's battery was dead haha. So all of the guys had to get out and push start the bus. It was a fun experience to say the least but was surprisingly successful. After the orphanage we head to Amani Ya Juu...

The Amani Ya Juu ministry is a place that takes in women refugees from around Africa and teaches them how to sow and make crafts which are then sold through the organization. The women get paid for all of the products they make and usually make enough to move out of the slums and to support their families if needed. Throughout this entire process they learn about the Lord and the love of Jesus Christ. It was a great place to tour and meeting the women there was a great experience. You could definitely see the strength they had and devotion to bettering their lives. The few women that spoke to us had truly turned their lives around... the Lord is so amazing!!!!

When we first got to Amani Ya Juu we went through their gift shop to see all of the products that the women make and had the opportunity to buy some of the gifts to support the ministry. The bags and various clothing and house items they made were great and of pretty good quality. After looking at what the women made, we took a tour of the facilities there and the women sang a song to us in greeting. It seems like singing is such a great part of the African culture and they do it so well. After our introduction we went throughout the rest of the facility to see how their operations work. We then had lunch there and it was such a great time. The team really got to learn more about each other as our conversations were flowing.

Once we were done with Amani Ya Juu we came back to the Heart Lodge to relax and prepare ourselves for Wednesday (yesterday) which was our first time in the slums. I will be writing a blog tonight about that experience... talk about life changing. Today we are going to another slum school to spend the day with the children... I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Love you all,

John