Sunday morning... We enjoyed our first African worship service today - the joy and enthusiasm and energy and praising God was beautiful! The air wa filled with the sounds of whistles, hooting, calling, and spontaneous prayer. They are beautiful dancers who's bodies feel the music and are so inspired to praise and worship our Lord. Several times throughout the service a spontaneous conga line would form and would wind all the way through the church, out the doors, back in again - finally after 10 minutes the conga would stop and the service would continue. A church service in Kenya lasts neary 4 hours - I doubt anyone in the US would sit in church that long!!
The Praise Team asked me to join them - and knowing NO Swahilli or what they were singing I joined the team in dancing and clapping (and I am sure I looked quite silly!!)
On Saturday afternoon, Anne took us to her dress shop - for us girls there are no words to describe how excited we were...the piles of beautiful fabrics, the pictures of all of the patters/style on the wall! We each picked out fabrics we liked, a style of dress and Anne's dress maker (Kevin) will have the dresses made in 3 days...you can tell Anne loves the dress shop as well - she was smiling and so excited to help us pick out our favorite fabrics and a style of dress we would most like! I think we could have stayed in that dress shop all day long and I would have lovd to purchase several more outfits...next trip I think!
We are all doing well...we are healthy, are falling in love with the children and enjoying all of the new sites, sound and smells of life in Kenya.
Thank you for your prayers...more as soon as we can get to a computer again (we are at a little hole-in-the-wall Cyber cafe now...it's upstairs of a little shop and the ceilings are less than 6 feet high!) Tanya
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mary Weds Titus
Our trip in Kenya is going well - last Saturday, Cheryl received a special honor. She was able to travel with Anne to pick up a bride - Anne was in charge of picking up the bride and driving her in the wedding processional. They went to the church where the men of the church decorated the van with streamers and then Anne and Cheryl went to fetch the bride (the roads were horrible, they were driving through a market area full of goats, chickens, cows and pigs). Finally they arrived at the bride's home - they came out of the house carrying her. Along with her came 17 bridesmaids of various ages all dressed in pink. There were also 18 pageboys dressed in black suits.
Everyone in the community gathered around the car - cheering, hooting and blowing whistles as Anne and Cheryl drove the bride back through the streets to the church for her wedding. When they arrived at the church, the bridesmaids got out first - they danced into the church followed by the bride (her train was carried by two little girls dressed in white). Although we can't upload a picture (we will share pictures when we get home) the bride was dressed in white, a very typical American wedding dress. Anne and Cheryl were just the processional drivers for the wedding - so they were't able to stay but Cheryl enjoyed seeing a glimpse of this piece of Kenyan culture.
Everyone in the community gathered around the car - cheering, hooting and blowing whistles as Anne and Cheryl drove the bride back through the streets to the church for her wedding. When they arrived at the church, the bridesmaids got out first - they danced into the church followed by the bride (her train was carried by two little girls dressed in white). Although we can't upload a picture (we will share pictures when we get home) the bride was dressed in white, a very typical American wedding dress. Anne and Cheryl were just the processional drivers for the wedding - so they were't able to stay but Cheryl enjoyed seeing a glimpse of this piece of Kenyan culture.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles
Friday morning at the school began like we believe every day begins at The Glorious Academy - devotional time in the church and then porridge and play time in the play yard. The play yard is the land our church helped purchase and is the future building site for the orphanage.
This morning we brought three bottles of bubbles to play with the kids - there is no way to describe the pure excitement and joy...giggles and squeals...laughter and so much fun! The kids all came up to us and said "Teacher...and me, and me" asking if they could blow bubbles. We had to tell them to blow slowly, slowly...pole, pole (in Swahili..."pol-ee, pol-ee"). It was amazing to see such pure joy - we are now wishing we brought more with us!
We had a chance to teach the students again - Amy was teaching in Class 2 - she taught maths (and yes, they add an s on the end), swahili and english. They wanted to skip lunch and have her teach science! The children are all so incredibly eager ot learn. Melissa was taking pictures of each child with their name on a badge so we can take their photos back and match them up with pen pals in the United States. Lee and Sandi were taught Swahili in Class 1. They were in the advanced Swahili class - learning grammer and how to change words for plurals. Kevin and Tanya taught Class 3 (there are 8-12 year olds in the class). One thing we are learning is that 8 year old kids are the same all over the world (they reminded us very much of our 8 year old son, Arik!!) We taught math and science and were amazed at the children. They love to learn - Kevin taught about the parts of a tree and what we use trees for.
This afternoon our amazing adventure will continue - Abu (the youth pastor here) asked Kevin to speak at a youth conference he is coordinating in Eldoret today and Saturday. He is expecting 300 youth from all of the Baptist churches around the Eldoret area. Kevin will be speaking for 2 hours this afternoon and teaching a class on Evangelism - all of the MAD4Christ youth in Kevin's youth group at home will recognize that Kevin has been talking to them about Evangelism for the past several months...isn't it amazing how God works all of this out! Kevin had no idea he'd be asked to teach youth at a conference...but what an amazing opportunity! We are teasing Kevin that he will now be an international youth speaker!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers! God is good and we are so happy to be here, we are welcomed by the most amazing people with beautiful hearts and spirits who show the love of God to everyone they meet!
This morning we brought three bottles of bubbles to play with the kids - there is no way to describe the pure excitement and joy...giggles and squeals...laughter and so much fun! The kids all came up to us and said "Teacher...and me, and me" asking if they could blow bubbles. We had to tell them to blow slowly, slowly...pole, pole (in Swahili..."pol-ee, pol-ee"). It was amazing to see such pure joy - we are now wishing we brought more with us!
We had a chance to teach the students again - Amy was teaching in Class 2 - she taught maths (and yes, they add an s on the end), swahili and english. They wanted to skip lunch and have her teach science! The children are all so incredibly eager ot learn. Melissa was taking pictures of each child with their name on a badge so we can take their photos back and match them up with pen pals in the United States. Lee and Sandi were taught Swahili in Class 1. They were in the advanced Swahili class - learning grammer and how to change words for plurals. Kevin and Tanya taught Class 3 (there are 8-12 year olds in the class). One thing we are learning is that 8 year old kids are the same all over the world (they reminded us very much of our 8 year old son, Arik!!) We taught math and science and were amazed at the children. They love to learn - Kevin taught about the parts of a tree and what we use trees for.
This afternoon our amazing adventure will continue - Abu (the youth pastor here) asked Kevin to speak at a youth conference he is coordinating in Eldoret today and Saturday. He is expecting 300 youth from all of the Baptist churches around the Eldoret area. Kevin will be speaking for 2 hours this afternoon and teaching a class on Evangelism - all of the MAD4Christ youth in Kevin's youth group at home will recognize that Kevin has been talking to them about Evangelism for the past several months...isn't it amazing how God works all of this out! Kevin had no idea he'd be asked to teach youth at a conference...but what an amazing opportunity! We are teasing Kevin that he will now be an international youth speaker!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers! God is good and we are so happy to be here, we are welcomed by the most amazing people with beautiful hearts and spirits who show the love of God to everyone they meet!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
We have arrived!
We are so excited that we have arrived (safe and sound with the protection of God) in Eldoret, Kenya. We landed in Nairobi on Tuesday evening - the airport was a busy open airport with no doors or windows - we have best described the atmosphere as organized chaos.
Pastor Martin, his wife Anne and his youth pastor Abu came to pick us up at the airport and arranged our overnight accomodations in Nairobi. They then drove us Wednesday morning on the "scenic" route to Eldoret through the Great Rift Valley. Never in our wildest dreams would we imagine to see baboons along the side of the road and zebras grazing in the fields. After two years of planning, praying and coordinating we are here and it seems like a dream come true!
As we arrived in Eldoret Wednesday afternoon, we settled into the Smart Island Guest House and then went right to the church for a welcome - the only way to describe the welcome we received is overwelming! We were moved to tears - music was playing, the church members and children were clapping and cheering and jumping up and down in excitement! We each received a lei and a small Kenyan flag as we were welcomed into the church and were seated in places of honor at the front of the church.
The hospitality and heart of the Kenyan people is amazing - they are quick to smile and laugh and are so curious about who we area. One little girl told her father that whenever she sees a white man, she thinks she is seeing Jesus! A little girl came right up to Kevin as soon as we arrived, he knelt down and she just stayed there hanging onto him. The same little girl (she's a very outgoing and extroverted little girl about 2 1/2 years old) came up to Lee and sat on his lap during the welcoming service. She was also the same little girl who greeted us when we came this morning.
This morning (Thursday) we arrived at the school around 9am and led the children (44 in attendance today) in morning devotionals today - handing out salvation bracelets, tshirts and suckers to each child (we were quite popular!)
We will try to post pictures and additional updates throughout our time - thank you all for your prayers! We are excedingly blessed, humbled and in awe of what God is doing here.
Pastor Martin, his wife Anne and his youth pastor Abu came to pick us up at the airport and arranged our overnight accomodations in Nairobi. They then drove us Wednesday morning on the "scenic" route to Eldoret through the Great Rift Valley. Never in our wildest dreams would we imagine to see baboons along the side of the road and zebras grazing in the fields. After two years of planning, praying and coordinating we are here and it seems like a dream come true!
As we arrived in Eldoret Wednesday afternoon, we settled into the Smart Island Guest House and then went right to the church for a welcome - the only way to describe the welcome we received is overwelming! We were moved to tears - music was playing, the church members and children were clapping and cheering and jumping up and down in excitement! We each received a lei and a small Kenyan flag as we were welcomed into the church and were seated in places of honor at the front of the church.
The hospitality and heart of the Kenyan people is amazing - they are quick to smile and laugh and are so curious about who we area. One little girl told her father that whenever she sees a white man, she thinks she is seeing Jesus! A little girl came right up to Kevin as soon as we arrived, he knelt down and she just stayed there hanging onto him. The same little girl (she's a very outgoing and extroverted little girl about 2 1/2 years old) came up to Lee and sat on his lap during the welcoming service. She was also the same little girl who greeted us when we came this morning.
This morning (Thursday) we arrived at the school around 9am and led the children (44 in attendance today) in morning devotionals today - handing out salvation bracelets, tshirts and suckers to each child (we were quite popular!)
We will try to post pictures and additional updates throughout our time - thank you all for your prayers! We are excedingly blessed, humbled and in awe of what God is doing here.
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Prayer for the Children by Ina Hughes
I wanted to take a moment to share with you the following prayer - this was prayed as part of a beautiful commissioning service to "send us on our way" yesterday at church. I had never heard this prayer before and it broke my heart. Please pray this with us... THIS is the reason we are going on this trip!
We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted Potatoes", who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those who never get dessert,
who have no soft blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who cannot find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of their friends,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles make us cry.
And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried - and for those who must,
for those we never give up on - and for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother with love - and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
We pray for the children. Amen
Thank you for your prayers - Tanya
We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted Potatoes", who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those who never get dessert,
who have no soft blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who cannot find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of their friends,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles make us cry.
And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried - and for those who must,
for those we never give up on - and for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother with love - and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
We pray for the children. Amen
Thank you for your prayers - Tanya
Thursday, August 4, 2011
It's Almost Time
I feel compelled to at least write some sort of a post or update prior to leaving on our trip, but I have to be honest...my head is spinning, I'm a mix of emotions and I am just trying to get everything done before we leave! I am amazed to realize this is actually happening...in only a few short days we will be in Kenya and working with the kids! After two years of talking about a trip like this and at least a year of intense planning and coordinating we are down to the final hours! We honestly feel blessed to be able to be part of a trip like this and have the opportunity to work with the kids and embark on such an adventure!
We have been overwhelmed by the support of family, friends and community - those who have supported us financially, in prayer and with donations - we are taking 8 suitcases (each team member can have two 50 pound bags on international flights) of items to donate to Pastor Martin and the school...school supplies, crayons, notebooks, pencils, pencil sharpeners, toothbrushes, kids clothes! We were also blessed by a donation of 60 backpacks from the Grand Casino...wow! Not sure if we can fit everything we have in our 8 extra suitcases...but we'll pack up the rest and pay for shipping once we get back!
More to come as we get closer to departure...I think I'll have some good "airport" time and will try to update from there! I'm hoping we can get to a cyber-cafe in Kenya from time to time to update from there...with pictures and blog updates!
A few questions we've been getting...thought I would answer for the group:
-Is it 100 degrees there? It's actually pretty similar to our weather...temps in the upper 70's but with humidity feels like mid-upper 80's
-we're almost exactly at the equator - so 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night
-we're at a higher elevation...about 7000 feet elevation
-not sure how many hours we'll be in the plane (not thinking of that to be honest...!!) Maybe 18-20 hours of actual time in the plane...that's alot!!
Let me know what other questions you have - we look forward to reading your comments and cannot thank you enough for your prayers, support and encouragement! Tanya
We have been overwhelmed by the support of family, friends and community - those who have supported us financially, in prayer and with donations - we are taking 8 suitcases (each team member can have two 50 pound bags on international flights) of items to donate to Pastor Martin and the school...school supplies, crayons, notebooks, pencils, pencil sharpeners, toothbrushes, kids clothes! We were also blessed by a donation of 60 backpacks from the Grand Casino...wow! Not sure if we can fit everything we have in our 8 extra suitcases...but we'll pack up the rest and pay for shipping once we get back!
More to come as we get closer to departure...I think I'll have some good "airport" time and will try to update from there! I'm hoping we can get to a cyber-cafe in Kenya from time to time to update from there...with pictures and blog updates!
A few questions we've been getting...thought I would answer for the group:
-Is it 100 degrees there? It's actually pretty similar to our weather...temps in the upper 70's but with humidity feels like mid-upper 80's
-we're almost exactly at the equator - so 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night
-we're at a higher elevation...about 7000 feet elevation
-not sure how many hours we'll be in the plane (not thinking of that to be honest...!!) Maybe 18-20 hours of actual time in the plane...that's alot!!
Let me know what other questions you have - we look forward to reading your comments and cannot thank you enough for your prayers, support and encouragement! Tanya
Thursday, June 23, 2011
This is Just the Beginning...
We wanted to share a picture we just received from Pastor Martin - this is a picture of all of the kids standing on the piece of land we helped purchase...why is this particular piece of grass so special? This is where we pray we are able to build an orphanage for these beautiful children! Maybe not this summer...but we are trusting God and walking step by step alongside of Him in faith that we will be able to help Pastor Martin build an orphanage and a home for these kids soon! What an amazing thought! And what a blessing to be part of something like this!
Well...our trip is coming closer and closer! We leave for Kenya on August 8th - flying through Amsterdam and landing in Nairobi on August 9th. Our time in Kenya will be filled with working at the school, visiting families of the school children in their homes, some construction and physical labor and Pastor Martin is planning a soccer tournament for 500 youth the last Saturday we are in Eldoret...WOW! And we barely know how to play soccer...we may have to ask Kevin's brother, Bruce, for some tips when they visit us in July! We will fly hom from Nairobi...tracing our path back through Amsterdam on August 21st, arriving in Minneapolis on August 22nd.
Our team has been blessed and overwhelmed by the support, encouragement and prayers for our trip - we absolutely feel your prayers and need them so much as we prepare for this amazing trip. Thank you for your interest and questions about our trip - it's so much fun sharing with you and we will do our very best to post pictures and blog updates along the way!
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