Boogity Boogity Boogity Amen

Well, as we prepared for our last full day at Naomi's Village, we received favor in that we are able to spend tomorrow morning celebrating with the children. Yea God!

As each of us prepare for coming home, we have mixed emotions as the Lord has touched our hearts in so many ways, but we know His ways are to be true. "As for God, his way is perfect, the word of the Lord is flawless, He is the shield for all to take refuge in him." 2 Samuel 22:31

Today was just another beautiful day a Naomi's Village. We hopped right in and started painting the last wing. All were joyful to be finishing this project as it was all for the sake of the children. It was nice to see all be so filled with the Spirit in all that they were doing in their love and care for the children. In the afternoon, the children received their craft that they made yesterday, which were crowns that they decorated with a lot of ingenuity and they accepted them with great big smiles. It was also great that we did not have to say our goodbyes today. Once again, Yea God!

As the Lord calls on us to reflect on His Word, it will soon be time for us to reflect on what God has opened the eyes of our hearts to. "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles." 1 Chronicles 16:12 From the moment we arrived and saw all that He was doing to now has been wonderful! Listening to Bob and Julie Mendonsa and their heart and passion for these children was totally authentic and I could only think of how they were clothed in the splendor of His majesty. Psalm 93. Developing relationships with all the staff is only to be described as magical. As for each member of this team, it was once again beautiful to watch all of them to be so enthusiastic in serving the children in every moment at Naomi's Village. What a experience on Sunday going into Nairobi and into the slum area was heart wrenching. Listening to the children in the the Red Cross tent praying the Lord's Prayer, to a tent with people who in which serve for those who were burned by the explosion and visiting the sight of the devastating explosion was really touching to the heart.

And not to mention the Wells of Joy Church in the slums and how they worship and praise the Lord. Amazing!

As for the rest of the week, we thank you so much for keeping up with us and for all your support and prayers. Thank you so much for  being united with us on this mission of God and "For the sake of the Children!"

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassion never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

Post written by Tim

We Don't Have Ding-Dongs Here

Today was another beautiful day serving at Naomi's Village, and today we got to both serve at NV and drop by the IDP camp that is across the highway from NV. We got to NV early to get a healthy start on today's painting before we headed out to the IDP camp. Mid-morning we piled into the Land Cruiser and drove the 1km to the IDP camp. We were greeted by a mob of children who happened to be out at recess. Commence human jungle gym. We basically got mauled by a small army of loving children. It was fun, exhausting and hurt a little bit. After about 30 minutes, our guides for the morning, Rachel and Sammy, ushered us off to see some of the existing projects in the camp. Rachel and Sammy both volunteer with a humanitarian aid organization called "Marafiki"which is Swahili for "friends". More info on them can be found at http://marafikicommunity.org/, not to be confused with www.marafiki.com which seems to be some manner of Kenyan online dating website.

Check out that chunk of cheek the kid on the right has ahold of! haha

After leaving the crowd of children, they went back to the free school that has been started there, while Rachel and Sammy brought us to meet Joseph, a man who has placed his confidence in the Lord in the midst of some very dark days, and has lead the IDP community towards self-sufficiency by leading the way in a poultry project. He showed us his home, built by Habitat for Humanity, that recently replaced his long-term tent. As we came up to the door of his house, Sammy, trying to express that the house doesn't have a doorbell said, "We don't have ding dongs here." Once again, something was lost in translation, and comedy took its place. He shared with us how he and the others in the community had been driven from their homes due to post-election violence back in 2007. The members of this community had by and large been prosperous professionals living in a nice area, but were driven from their homes as friends and love ones were abused, killed and had their possessions stolen. Joseph talked about the poultry project and shared how he hoped it would be a means for the community to earn a sustainable income, something few in the camp had had since 2007.

Jenn and Julie with Joseph and Rachel

We then moved on to see a home where ladies were making paper bead jewelry to earn a living. We bought a hand full of items, and as we were leaving, everyone was excited. We were excited to have some great jewelry and to support their work, and they were excited about having made some of the first sales in their new trade. 

We headed back to NV to grab lunch and finish up painting for the day. As we did, we passed an elementary aged boy driving a cart of water that was being driven by three donkeys. And why wouldn't we expect to see that on a rural dirt road in the heart of Kenya.

Tonight we came back "home" and grabbed some dinner and ate well. Then Pastor Geoffery from the slum church showed up with his wife Jane. They brought some fresh chapati that was still warm and we spent some time over cokes and chapati talking about his vision for the church, how the Lord was working and how the Lord had called him to faith. We prayed over him and then shut down our day. 

Tomorrow, the Naomi's Village staff has a mini staff retreat. We are taking on some additional roles as most of the staff will be out, so we will see how that goes. Overall, I think it will be great. 

Post written by Matt.

This Beats Driving on 635!

In case you can't tell, we love putting random, funny quotes as our title. On our way back to the ENT house tonight, Bob decided to take us on back road. Although it was bumpy, narrow, and almost seemed we were only feet from falling off the cliff, Bob chimed in, "Hey this beats driving on 635!" So true!

And we want to say Happy Birthday to Julie's Dad!!

Stopped for a Safari Picnic at the waterfall at Lake Nakuru. 

Today was a very productive day. We got straight to work painting and priming the rooms. We are almost finished painting the room and the bathroom on one side of the wing, and have started priming the other wing. The boys volunteered to pull an all-nighter painting to make sure each wing is finished before we leave Friday. They have such servant's hearts. 

The school kids in their new raincoats that were handed out a couple of days ago!

Joshua and I spent time with the kids this morning singing songs and teaching the promises of God. Joshua taught about how God promises to send the Holy Spirit to His children. A very difficult concept to understand especially for children, but he did a great job (along with our wonderful translator, Ruth) communicating this truth.

Joshua and Pastor Geoffery at Wells of Joy International Church Ministries
in Lunga Lunga Slum

Julie got to spend time helping Bob, James (a Naomi's Village worker) and John (one of Bob's friends) hang the attributes of God in the dining hall. Naomi's Village now has twenty 22" x 28" beautiful frames hanging on the wall reminding the children of the nature and character of God.

Tim and Quincy

Joshua and Alyssa

Matt and baby Mary

We also got to hand out the cards that the children from Kid's Village wrote to each child at Naomi's Village. They absolutely loved the cards! Heidi (one of the long-term missionaries from Texas) said they will probably sleep with them at night.

Kevin, Dennis, and John reading their cards

Shane and Joseph

Everyone really enjoyed their cards

Overall, it was a blessed day. We are still trying to process what we saw yesterday at the slums, especially near the explosion site. Alyssa made a comment yesterday, "How is God glorified in tragedy and death in an area of such poverty?" I resonate with that. I cannot understand how God works. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense. In Ezekiel 18:32 it says, "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." Being a finite human, I can only trust what God has revealed to us in His Word which daily reminds us of those same attributes that we hung today on Naomi's Village dining hall wall.

At the explosion site in Lunga Lunga Slum

Post written by Anna.

Pimp My Matatu

Today we spent the day in Nairobi at the Lunga Lunga slum, which is the site of the recent pipeline explosion.  We spent some time visiting some of the displaced children and heard them singing several praise songs.  We also introduced them to the Kids Village version of "How Great is Our God" which they enjoyed and actually joined in while we were singing.  After visiting the children, we took a long walk through the narrow streets of the slums and visited the site of the explosion.  The streets of the slums were narrow and crowded with villagers walking about.  The streets were muddy ("slum mud" is a mixture of mud with other waste) and lined with vendors selling various items, from clothes to food and sometimes even electronics.  Kids frequently ran up to us asking "how are you" and wanting to shake our hands.

As we approached the explosion site, we all expected the moment to weigh heavy in our hearts, but seeing it firsthand was very difficult.  It looked almost like a battlefield where it appeared a series of bombs exploded.  There were remains of the 10'x10' tin dwellings where villagers in the slums formerly lived.  Remains of burned up shoes, children's books, toys, disintegrated tires, and general household items littered the area.  There were even three pigs and stray dogs fighting at the site while we were there, which added to the overall weight of the moment.  After walking around for a bit, Pastor Jeffrey (pastor of the slum church) led us in singing "How Great Thou Art" and then prayed over the site.

We then walked through the streets of the slums to Pastor Jeffrey's church called Wells of Joy International Ministries where we spent the morning worshipping with them.  The children sang and danced songs of praise while Pastor Jeffrey introduced our team along with the Mendonsas (or the "Bobs" as pastor Jeffrey referred to them) to the congregation.  We were invited to participate in the service by singing a song and we delivered a rousing, crowd pleasing encore performance of How Great is our God - Kids Village style.  Joshua was invited to preach and so he delivered the sermon while Pastor Jeffrey interpreted.  He shared the Gospel accurately and in a simple way that resonated with the church.  After church we had lunch at the Java house, which served food that closely resembles American cuisine.  

It was a full day and we are trying to process through what the Lord would have each of us learn through this experience.  We are thankful to have had the opportunity to worship our God with our brothers and sisters in Kenya.  What a perfect reminder of how great is our God.

Note - a Matatu is a type of van here in Kenya.  We saw a green one with pink interior and blue/orange headrests, hence the title for today.

Post written by Shane.

Silly Mazungu on Safari

Quotes from our safari day:

• Elisha - "Sometimes hotel means hotel and sometimes hotel doesn't mean hotel."
• Elisha - "I'm crazy like that!"
• Elisha - "The water boofalo will kill you, kill you dead, really dead, all the way in pieces."
• Another safari goer - "Where y'all from?"
  Us - "Texas"
  Safari goer - "NO S#*! oh, sorry"
• Matt - "Honor the Lord and FIGHT!" as two male lions walk towards each other.
• Elisha - "I'm a champion. I told you I'm a CHAMPION!"
• Elisha - "Baboon, Baboon, Babooooooooooon!"
• Elisha - "See you when you see me."
• Elisha was trying to get us to say "Semana hoppo" and we thought he said "Yo mama's a HIPPO!"
• James - "We meant to popsicle stick you!"

Elisha is our hilarious driver and Mazungu means whities in swahili - aka all of us including James.

We realize all of this means nothing to you, but we just wanted to tell you what a fabulous day we had enjoying the Lord's creation. We saw tons of animals - lions, zebras, water buffalo, giraffe, rhino, impalas, water buck, pink flamingo, pelican, wart hogs, baboons etc. We will upload pictures tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will go to Lunga Lunga Slum to pray at the explosion sight and participate in a worship service at Wells of Joy International Church Ministries. Please pray for us as this will most likely be an emotional day. Also, continue to pray for Joshua as he delivers the sermon he's been working on. Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through him and that all will hear from the Lord.

We want to say Happy Birthday to Anna's Dad!

annnd Wreck'em Tech!

Uhh... ya I'm American...

After our third full day in Kenya we are back at the ENT house brainstorming ideas for our performance on Sunday (more on that later) at church. Anna and Jenn taught the kids the second lesson from Kid's Village this morning and it went off without a hitch. They even got the kids up and taught them "Rise and Shine" with hand motions. The kids loved it! Everyone is getting more and more acquainted with the schedule and the relationships. You can really tell the kids are getting more and more comfortable with us. So thankful for their joy, smiles, and laughter.

Every Friday at Naomi's Village is Fun Food Friday! We decided to make "Ants on a Log" (pretzels, or sometimes celery, peanut butter, and raisins) once the school kids returned this afternoon. All of the kids know to come in and sit on the floor for instructions and after their instructions they say they're Fun Food Friday chant. So cute! Julie instructed me to really engage the kids in teaching them how to make the snack so how did I start?? "Who has ever eaten a bug?" More than HALF the kids raised their hands!!!! I turned bright red and immediately thought yep I'm American... I should have asked how many of them have had pretzels before! Needless to say after teaching them how to make their snack they loved it! Most of them ended up scooping up the peanut butter and eating it separately, and most of it smeared across their cheeks. 

Painting has continued in the girls wing and the first room is done minus a few touch-ups here and there. Which is a great accomplishment! We have sanded the bathroom and will prime it on Monday. As for the weekend, tomorrow is Safari day and Sunday is our church service in the Nairobi slums. We also may have the opportunity to pray over the site of the recent explosion (I think Julie posted on it recently). 

Prayer requests: That the Lord would continue to use us to show Himself and His love to the kids and staff at Naomi's Village; for wisdom and sensitivity to the Spirits guiding; for Joshua as he prepares to preach in the slum church on Sunday; our time in prayer and whatever else the Lord has planned as we are at the explosion site in the slums; continued energy and good health; and safety as we travel to Lake Nakuru and are on Safari tomorrow!

Be sure to check out all our photos on Flickr. There's a link in the side bar!

Post written by Alyssa

What kind of meat is that?!

One of our main questions of the trip - What kind of meat is that? You'll see why later.

 

Recap of the day:

Sanding and priming one room - to be painted later

Chai and Lunch with the children

The children sang to us after Chai

Worship outside after lunch

Children's lesson

More priming

Making and playing with Ooblek after afternoon chai (the goo that is on the tables in the pictures)

As we were worshiping a few of the staff guys took off running towards the barn. Come to find out a lamb had gotten his neck caught up in a rope and ended up dying. So, what else do you do with it but grill the lamb?! Most of the team had a piece and enjoyed it!

Kenya Gas Pipeline Explosion

I don't know if any of you had heard, but on Monday there was a gas pipeline explosion in a slum in Nairobi. This slum is actually the slum where we will be attending church on sunday, very near where the church service is actually held. We have discussed going to the explosion site to pray and possibly minister to the people there. Please be in prayer for us as we work out the logistics as to how that would work. Also, pray for the people who have been affected by by the explosion. Read about the explosion here.

As for the actual church service on sunday - This will be their yearly celebration Sunday in order to raise church funds. Joshua will be preaching and basically leading the service as far as we understand. It seems like this will be quite an experience because we've heard it will likely last 3 hours or more. Please pray over Joshua as he prepares and delivers his sermon. Pray that God will direct him and that the Holy Spirit will speak through him.

Thank you so much for your commitment to pray for us.
Love,
The Kenya 2 Team

Prayer Guide

Sept 14^th- 16^th—painting dorm rooms, teaching and loving on kids and Naomi’s Village staff members. Pray for quick relationship to be built, for hearts to hear the gospel and for efficiency in painting. Also pray that we don’t accidentally offend anyone out of ignorance of culture, common practices, etc.

Sept 17^th—Seeing the local wildlife. Pray for good rest, refreshing for the Mendonsas and community building. And pray we see a lion fighting crocodiles.

Sept 18^th—Day at Lunga Lunga Slums, Nairobi. Joshua Friesenhahn slated to preach a portion of the Sunday church service at Wells of Joy Church in Lunga Lunga. Pray protection, words for blessing those we encounter and a sweet time of worship. Pray for Joshua as he preaches.

Sept 19^th— painting dorm rooms, teaching and loving on kids and Naomi’s Village staff members. Pray for deepening of relationships, for hearts to hear the gospel and for efficiency in painting.

Sept 20^th — Bob Mendonsa’s day at the Cure Hospital. Some team members may stay to help in the hospital. Others will go on to NV for painting dorm rooms, teaching and loving on kids and Naomi’s Village staff members. Pray for those who stay at the hospital to be effective in caring and helping as well as learning. For those at NV, pray deepening of relationships, for hearts to hear the gospel and for efficiency in painting.

Sept 21^st—22^nd last days at Naomi’s Village. Pray specifically that the relational investments put in over the last several days will open doors for deeper ministry and gospel encouragement.

Sept 23^rd-24^th Fly from Nairobi to DFW via Amsterdam. Arrive in DFW around 2pm. Pray for safety in travel and for healthy debrief as we prepare for reentry.

Jambo from Kenya!!

Good Morning Everyone!

We arrived safely to Grace House in Nairobi last night about 10:30 pm. Our flights went well, didn't have any problems with checking bags or getting anything through customs. Praise The Lord!

The first official team picture at DFW airport
from left to right beginning with the back row:
Joshua, Shane, Jenn, Matt, Tim, James, Julie, Alyssa, Anna

We are currently having breakfast at Grace House on the patio before heading to Kijabe to check into the ENT House where we'll be staying for the remainder of our trip. After we check in at the ENT House we will travel to Naomi's Village and meet the children and staff.

It is currently 63 degrees here in Nairobi and we are all wearing jackets and thinking how long it has been since we said we were cold while sitting outside. We are enjoying much fellowship and community with each other, as well as the Kenyans we have already met. As I type a few team members are getting to know our drivers for the day that will take us to Kijabe, Elisha, his wife Ester, and Duncan. I know the Lord has much in store for us over the next few days and I just can't wait to see how He will reveal himself to us.

One More Day!

Just wanted to say THANK YOU and PRAISE THE LORD!

Within a few hours of getting Julie's email and positing her request to the blog we recieved all the raincoats and ponchos we needed. PLUS, we also recieved rainboots for the kids too! It is incredible how the Lord works. I am amazied to think He uses something as silly as social media as a tool to meet our needs. He has provided for us over and over and over again during our preparation for this trip.

We leave in one day. We had a packing party last night and will be taking 11 bags and 1 box of supplies for the Mendonsa family, Naomi's Village and activities for the children while we're there. There is much excitement and anticipation within the team as we count down to our departure. I watched a few videos of the children on the Naomi's Village Facebook Page last night and I just can't wait to meet them and experience their joy first hand. I know the Lord has great plans and I'm just so excited to see how He works in the next few weeks.

RAINCOATS!

A quick note from Julie Mendosa of Naomi's Village.

Hey, All

Quick plea for a couple of things we need:

1.  Our security guards need rain ponchos - 3

2.  Our school going children could really use raincoats - we have 8 who now go to school. It has been raining a lot in the mornings when they go school.

It is difficult for me to tell you size, but those of you who have been here may be able to remember approx. size of the kids:

Zakayo, Willy, Evelyne, Mary M., Catherine, Millicent, Anne, Emily 

(please see our Meet Naoni's Village post to estimate the size of each child)

The quality of the ones we could buy here is pretty lame -especially for the price.

IF you can help...it would be amazing if you could get these to Matt Tonne before their team leaves (which is like on the 12th!!)

I thought if I spread this around it wouldn't cost anyone too much and maybe not be too difficult with lots of hands involved!

Love to each of you,
Julie


PLEASE CONTACT A TEAM MEMBER ASAP IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DONATE A RAINCOAT!


Thank you!
Love, 
The Kenya 2 Team

Weather and Climate in Kenya

The hottest time is in February and March and the coldest in July and August.

Nairobi, in the temperate Kenya highlands, receives an average annual rainfall of 31 in and  experiences average temperatures ranging from 48° to 84°F in January and 45° to 79°F in July.

Average Annual Temperature in Nairobi: Max 77ºF, Min 55.4ºF

The highlands of western Kenya have a single rainy season, lasting from March to September.

Sources here, here and here.

Current weather in Kenya.

Research conducted by Julie.