Us in Kenya 08/15/2010
Some of the latest pictures from Kenya.    Add Comment Day 6 - Saturday 08/10/2010
Jambo! Good morning! Today we arose at 6am and started our journey to the slums. As we were on our way we were halted by screahced against the pavement and the guys scream pull over. Then we are met by a stranger who hands us a piece of our suspension to the van. Speaking of that van its quite the joke because the gentlemen have saide the tieres continuously smoke up and this was the 3rd time it had broken down in the first week. The orphanage is praying for a safe bus that can seat 33 and provide the home with good transportation. IT’s a big dream of theirs. We got a taxi to come pick us up and we headed to “Korogosho” (the 2nd largest slum in Nairobi it holds 245,000 people) We met the director of African Enterprises for that entire slum. He gae us a tour of the projects, the wells, and the toilets that thy had built to keep human waste out of the streets were children play barefoot. They are called pit toilets without seats. They are nothing compared to what we have in the states. The director also took us to one of their projects that help single moms from the slums with providing them with a job as seamstresses. It was amazing as the women sang and danced to us a song in Swahili that means “Visitors are like flowers”. We bought some hand sewn clothing, bags, and African souveniors. Our next stop was the slum of Mathare! We were greeted by orphans yelling HOWA YOO? HOWA YOO?. They surrounded us and tugged at our clothes and insisted on giving us handshakes. It was the cutest thing ever. We handed out candy and were saddened to see how poor everyone was. We had never seen poverty as we saw it that day. It brought us to tears to see such a great need in these peoples lives. We then met Ben a native who ministers to AIDS patients in this slum. We got 7 grocery bags of food and headed to visit the AIDS patients in the slum. The two that touched us the most was a disabled boy that was born HIV positive. He will never walk and it can’t speak but can sometimes understand. To be continued…. Day 5 - Friday 08/10/2010
First official day in AFRICA! Woo Hoo! Our accommodations are prosta super. We are blessed by Stephan’s & Rosemary’s hospitality. They are the founders of the children’s home we are staying at. No flying coakroaches this time. Haha Ukraine trip 2009. We got to meet all 20 of the orphans that live there. It was simply amazing as they welcomed us with open arms. They sang “Bog do mene dobriy” the guys had taught the their first Ukrainian song earlier. The atmosphere quickly changed as they introduced us to a Swahili song called “Acuna mungu kama we we” (There is no other like Jesus) They grabbed our hands and we started to dance. We met the rest of the team and had fellowship during their night devotion/kid’s service. We were just taking it in as we saw how open they were to God’s word and the strong friendships they have amongst themselves. We also met Misty our roommate. She is with HEART (Health Education Africa Resource Team) and joined us after that missions was over. Day 4 - Thursday 08/10/2010
Brussels, Belgium: Woke up and rushed to the airport for our departure. Customs was brutal and took away our carryons one of which we still have not received. We get on the airplane and it backs up and starts heading towards the runway. Within minutes we see that the plane once again unexpectedly stops. Here goes round 2! We all begin to wonder what the hold up is and then we are notified that it is THE exact same plane with the EXACT same problem. Liliya starts crying. The Indians next to us start yelling that we should join forces and protest taking the same plane. Natalie is sleeping. Veronica is excited about another free hotel stay in Brussels. After a really tense hour they announce the plane is departing in 10 min. We are still skeptical that this plane is going to make it but Praise God it did! Flight Delay 08/10/2010
Plane delayed in Brussels, Belgium. We had to wait 3 hours before they turned us around and we thus got to find out that our plane was more than halfway full of world missionaries, orphanage directors, Christian writers, photographers..etc. We were blessed beyond measure to meet new friends who are eager to serve in and around Kenya & The Congo. Fellowship with people on fire for God inspired and encouraged us in our preparation to serve in the region God has called us. We have learned a few Swahili words and phrases by socializing with natives on the plan. This trip has begun with an unexpected twist and we know that our God is in control. Our eyes have also been open to some of the Kenyan civil problems going on and the different tribes and their search for peach within their land. Our hearts are with the people of Kenya because of today’s situation even before entering the country. Praise God! We pray that God continues to move within and through us so that His name may be manifested. Mungu awabariki awa! {God Bless You} August 3rd 08/10/2010
Departing from Washington D.C. to Brussels, Belgium for connecting flight. August 2nd 08/10/2010
Departing from San Francisco, CA to Washington D.C. Jambo!!! 08/10/2010
Jambo « Hello », We are a group of college students from California uniting to serve God in the region of Nairobi, Kenya. God introduced us to a native Kenyan missionary Stephen Mbogo. He runs an orphanage called ByGrace Children’s Home that we will be staying and volunteering at from August 1st-28th. The orphanage website: http://bygracehome.org/ Half of the team arrived straight from a missions trip in Ukraine. Worship team members Nikolay Lutsik with son Mark Lutsik, Vadim Zanko and Worldwide missions president David Mazur have started on the many projects we will be completing throughout the month of August. Veronica Amsden, Missions Worldwide VP, Liliya Mazur worship team member and Natalie Krasnodemsky GrowDeep teen ministries, are heading over to start work with the children and joining the rest of the team on all the projects including: 1. Greenhouse Construction Project 2. VBS (Vacation Bible School) for orphans living on the streets in the slums of Mathare3. Building/repairing the facilities at ByGrace Children’s Home4. Hosting a worship music workshop for the local Kenyan church (we are bringing guitars as gifts)5. Open air preaching in Nairobi6. Visiting AIDS-infected neighbors who are dying to encourage and help them 7. Bible studies with the children8. English tutoring lessons More information can be found under the blog (Kenya) tab that will be updated with posts and photos whenever connection is available. Please keep Kenya, the local church, the children, our group, in your daily prayers. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10To God be all the glory!-Hope for Orphans, Kenya Team 2010 | ArchivesCategories |
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