Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Sa-sa (What’s up)!  Jina langu ni (My name is) Sarah.   Today we got to sleep in, which was really nice for James and me as we had been sick the last 24 hours.  We did breakfast on our own then met for family devotional time.  Jake led today and shared out of Acts 4:27-30  and 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.  Afterwards we prayed for the day, packed up our things and headed for our daily walk to Isaac and Esther’s.  As we entered through the door, the aroma of yet another delicious Kenyan meal prepared by Esther’s mom, sister-in-law and two dear friends greeted us.  When everyone was done eating, we migrated to our usual spot on the porch and enjoyed a cup of chai tea.

Hayley, Jessica and Ashley

Shortly after, Elisha and John arrived right on “Kenya” time to pick us up.  We loaded up into the vans for another “fun factor” ride down the mountain.  I rode in Elisha’s van where there is never a dull moment.  My favorite Elisha quote of the day (that he hollered at everyone we passed by) is, “Angalia katika wangu muzungus nyuma!” (Look at all my white people in the back!) J

As we drew closer to the camp and the glare of the sun from the tin roofs came into sight, reality set in this was our last day at the IDP camp.  Suddenly my eyes began to fill with water at the thought of having only one more day with them.  When I signed up for this trip back in March, I had no idea how much the people of Maai Mahiu would steal my heart.

Elisha and John drove us down the red dirt road that led to Mary’s home.  A group of kids from the neighborhood and our RVF (Rift Valley Fellowship) Kenyan rafikis (friends) were there to welcome us when we arrived.  We all said our hello’s to each other and then piled into Mary’s home.  Mary and her family led us in a song of worship and then Isaac shared a few words before leading us in prayer.  Afterwards, we ventured outside and Esther placed us into groups.  My group today was James and Peter.  As we began to walk towards our first house, I felt a tiny hand take hold of mine.  The tiny hand belonged to a Kazuri (small and beautiful) girl from the neighborhood named Sandra who wanted to join us for the day.

Mary and her family



Sandra and James

The first home we went to belonged to a woman named Jen.  Jen is a single mother of 6 who lost her husband during the election violence back in 1992.  This attack took place in the Rift Valley Province where RVF is now being planted.  Thankfully, her oldest son was of working age and was able to take over providing for the family.  Tragically however, in 2007 Jen had to re-live the nightmares as the presidential elections once again brought violence against her people.  She witnessed her son brutally murdered as he was burned alive.  Both attacks were targeted at the Kikuyu tribe – the people we have been walking among and building friendships with the last 2 days.

Since her son’s death, it has been very difficult for Jen to make ends meet.  Although she makes beautiful handbags and jewelry to sell, it hasn’t provided enough for her kids to go to school.  Jen is unable to sell her items at a market because she can’t afford the fees for space and the distance to a market is too great from her home in the IDP camp, so she relies on the sales of any visitors who come to the camp.

Through it all, Jen continues to proclaim the sufficiency of the Lord and His faithfulness to her family.   Our team heard numerous heartbreaking testimonies similar to Jen’s during our time there – testimonies of devastating losses, but hope in our beautiful Savior.  They know physical existence is not what Christ died to bring us.  He came that we might have abundant life and have it more abundantly.  As impossible and unreachable as this truth may seem, God can restore abundant life.

Grace and Peace to you,

Sarah

2 Corinthians 1:5
“For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

Isaiah 53:4-5

“Surely You, Jesus, took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered You stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.  But You were pierced for our transgressions; You were crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon You, and by Your wounds we are healed.”

Tuesday Morning

Today was my favorite day yet. We had a hearty breakfast and hiked about 4 kilometers down to Maai Mahiu in beautiful weather. The team had a great time talking and enjoying the beauty of nature, and Matt said that he was very thankful (as are we all) to see that our team is not clicky. We have a diverse team – almost like a mulit-gen home group – and we each have spent time getting to know and enjoying other team members. God has been so good to give us such unity on our trip, and I am thankful for the new friendships that He has formed for me!

After the hike, we went to the CTC -  a non-profit organization run by Isaac’s childhood friend Jeremiah. The CTC does so much good for the community, and is not located far from Rift Valley Fellowship. It employs mothers for sewing projects and Whole Foods has partnered with the CTC to sell “Life in Every Stitch” bags and coffee sleeves at their stores.  Many of the mothers have children with disabilities, and the CTC provides occupational therapy for kids of all ages and with varied disabilities there as well. They also offer adult education classes, have won the contract from the government to clean up the trash in Maai Mahiu, and do counseling and STD testing for anyone in the community who would like to come. We spent a lot of time there and were very grateful to see this organization (ran by Christians, I believe) helping to take care of many societal issues that Maai Mahiu faces.

Hearing about all the programs CTC has going on

one of the Malaika Mums sweing a CTC tote bag

written by Lauren.

Monday = Funday!

Jambo, rafiki! (Hello, friend!)

After a long weekend, we had a day of rest where we got to sleep in and take some time to reflect. It was great to be able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful view from the ENT House. For me, I was so thankful that I had time to contemplate on what we've seen and experienced here in Kenya. Psalm 136 was a comfort to my heart in the midst of all that we have been going through. Seeing all of the poverty and suffering that people were going through was really hard because I felt helpless. I wanted to go in and fix everything even though I knew that I couldn't but Psalm 136 reminded me of the fact that God's love is steadfast and eternal through ALL circumstances and that He is at work here. 

In the afternoon, after lunch, we had a chance to visit Rift Valley Academy. Most of the students there were foreigners so that was interesting to see. The campus is beautiful, and Esther was gracious enough to give us a tour. Apparently, she used to work there as well as Isaac and now her children attend the school. 

Rift Valley Academy

I would totally send my kids here.

 We didn't really know exactly where we were going, which everyone was okay with as long as "the fun factor is high" as our fearless leader says. They brought us to Sun Hotel, a beautiful resort with wild animals hanging out in the backyard. We had an opportunity to feed monkeys, roar at hippos and see one giraffe from afar. After all of this exciting fun, we had chai time. The sunset was breathtaking and a glimpse of how beautiful our Creator is. We prayed together and thanked God for this day of rest. 

Posing in front of Lake Naivasha. The hippos chose to not join us.

Skunk + Monkey = Him

The Beautiful Sunset!

I have never been on a mission trip where we actually took time to sit and have alone time with the Lord to reflect on what's been going on. The Lord knew that this was exactly what I needed. I am so thankful for how He knows who I am and where I am at. God is the best.

Love and miss you all,

Jessica

Tuesday Afternoon

I never thought of adding this to my "bucket" list until today, and now I can gladly cross it off!  After leaving Comfort The Children International (CTC), as a team we got to ride the Piki-Piki (Kenya motorcycle taxi) a few miles down the road to the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp.  Before leaving, Pastor Isaac led us in a prayer with the team of Kenyan drivers, and then we loaded up and hit the road.  With the backdrop of mountains and 16 motorcycles riding together, the ride was such a thrill that was added to the day.  

As we arrived at the IDP Camp, I had tried to mentally and spiritually prepare for this, but wasn't sure what to expect.  To give a bit of history, this camp came into existence back in 2007-2008 due to the internal conflicts in Kenya.  At that time, there were people from several different cities that were put in tents here in the Rift Valley due to their homes being burned to the ground and being driven away from their towns.  

Now, instead of tents, there are actual houses for the people that were provided by Habitat for Humanity.  One of these houses is the home for Samuel and Terri, believers from Rift Valley Fellowship who have started a Home Group.  We started as a team in Samuel's home where we prayed for their family and our afternoon of encouraging the people.  As my team was invited into Jane's home, Lauren and I were humbled and encouraged by her faith in Jesus.  She talked to us about how the past few years of suffering have allowed for her to be more conformed to her Savior.  

Our next home was to visit George and his grandmother.  George is a 17 year old who is passionate about music and has recently started going to RVF.  I got to hear some of the pain from the day he saw his house burn to the ground and one of his best friends die.  Words cannot express how to respond.  George's grandmother spoke of her faith and hope in the Lord and reminded us of the story of Job.  Even if all things are taken away, God is still worthy of worship.  She also spoke how the Lord provides and is meeting their needs.  I was amazed to see the hope that these people have in the Lord.  

I pray that hope will continue to rise for this community of people.  After our home visits, we had another Open Air where we got to hear Brent's testimony and Truth preached from Pastor Isaac.  During the Open Air, we also heard Rose's story.  Rose is a part of RVF and talked about no longer wanting to be known as an IDP Camp, but as a community that has persevered and has hope.  Hope can be stirred in many ways, but only the true hope in Jesus will satisfy.  

Towards the end of Open Air, Isaac introduced a youth soccer team.  This team won first place out of seven other teams in the surrounding towns.  This is huge for this community.  This team is currently practicing with a volleyball, and RVF's hope is to provide the team with two new soccer balls and eventually jerseys for the team.  

Part of our prayer tonight was for a name for this community.  A name where they are not known as a displaced people, but as one that has hope.  We also prayed for the Lord to work through the youth in the soccer team.  Wouldn't it inspire these kids to have a name on their jerseys other than IDP?  I pray for the Lord to unite this community for his glory.

Let hope rise. . .

-Jake Bunger

Day 3: Launch of Rift Valley Fellowship!

Today was a big day! We had a morning devotion led by James where we were able to just meditate on being the bride of Christ. It was so good to just spend some time in worship and prayer to prepare for the day.  Then we headed down to Isaac and Esther’s for breakfast. It is about a 5 minute walk from where we are staying.  For breakfast we had toasted homemade English muffins with butter and jam, sausage and papaya. Needless to say it was delicious! Esther has been so gracious to us preparing our meals and we all have raved about the food! After breakfast we spent some time in prayer with Isaac and Esther for the launch of their new church plant Rift Valley Fellowship (RVF) in Maai Mahiu. We prayed that the Lord would just fill the building with people from Maai Mahiu. We prayed that God would speak through Isaac and that His Holy Spirit would just pierce hearts with His truth and love. We specifically prayed Numbers 6:24-26 which reads, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Since church does not start until 2pm, we first went to the town of Naivasha to meet some orphans that Esther and Isaac mentor. The ministry is called Jamii, which means family in Swahili. There were about 10 kids ranging from ages 9-20. All of the kids have lost their parents and our now living with relatives, but they get together regularly with Isaac and Esther and the other children for bible study and fellowship. Another couple, Agnes and Peter are also very involved in this ministry and visit all of the kids at least once a week. They are all in school and study very hard. They told us that Agnes and Peter have felt led to take in 6 more baby girl orphans to live with them and their 3 sons. To do this they would need a bigger home than the one that they have. There is a property nearby that is for sale that would be perfect. We prayed that the Lord would provide for them and we also shot a video to show others how we can help this incredible ministry. We then spent time just hanging out with the kids and getting to know them. Jessica and I spent some time with a 13-year-old girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth was so sweet and soft spoken! She is in grade 7 and likes football (soccer) and loves reading. Her dream is to one day become a doctor! Esther later told us that they have been praying hard for the older girls because it is common for girls to have genital mutilation when they reach a certain age in Kenya. It is a horrific practice that signifies womanhood and supposedly keeps women from cheating on their husbands. Esther and Isaac do everything in their power to keep this from happening. They even keep some of the girls that are at boarding school in their home during vacations so they don’t have to go home. After praying with the kids, we got back in the vans to head to Maai Mahiu for church.

Elizabeth, Peter, Margaret, Esther, Isaac & their daughter, Rachel

We ate lunch in the car, some samosas made by Esther. They were delicious! When we arrived at the church it was already filled with people! There were children from Naomi’s Village and Valley Light, which are two local children’s homes. All of the Kenyans that we had been working with for the past few days were there as well as Bob and Julie Mendonsa, the founders of Naomi’s Village. We got started a little late because we were on “Kenyan time,” haha.  As we were worshipping, people just kept coming! It was so sweet to see the Lord answer our prayer so specifically. The place was packed out the door! There were even pastors from other churches in the area, it was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ! You could see the excitement on people’s faces that this day had finally arrived.  It had been labored over in prayer for so long and the Lord’s presence was palpable. The children from Naomi’s Village sang a sweet song to start off the service. We are excited to visit them later this week! Bob and Julie spoke about their dream of having a gospel-centered church in Maai Mahiu and how wonderful it was to see it come to fruition. 

Bob & Julie Mendonsa

Matt & Isaac

Isaac then gave a message from John 8 about how the Pharisee’s brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus. They wanted to know what Jesus would say, and He responded, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.” Isaac spoke about how we all fall short of the glory of God and are all in desperate need of God’s forgiveness.  There is no sin too great that it cannot be forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice. This was especially powerful because there were 4 people there that were HIV positive and taking anti-retroviral medication (ARV’s). The ARV’s cause them to look different from everyone else, so it is evident to everyone that they are HIV positive.  They have not been able to attend a church because they are outcasts in their community and have been shunned. They spoke to Isaac after the service and they said how grateful to God they are to have a place to go where they do not feel condemnation, but acceptance. Praise the Lord! This church is so needed!  There were also 4 women in attendance that Esther has been pouring into for many months. She was so encouraged to see them there! Esther later told us that she estimated about 6-7 Kenyan tribes were represented. This is a huge deal because most churches in Kenya are segregated by tribe. The following is another testimony of God moving through RVF written by Brent!

During the worship service a boy named John (age 13) walked in the gate and sat under the outside tent. John had attended both the first and second “open air” preaching events and made a special bond with me and I prayed for and over him at both events. John’s original goal was to have me buy him a ball or a bike or anything to “quench” his immediate desires. Prayers were specifically for John to realize that the Lord would provide for his needs and that RVF would be a place he could be provided the love and grace for him to be emboldened to make much of His name. After the service, John fellowshipped with many other children in attendance and had a great meal. John is looking forward to coming and worshipping God next week at RVF.

After the service there was a traditional Kenyan meal served for everyone. We helped pass out plates of food and just spent time talking with people and playing with the kids. This meal meant a lot to people because often times they won’t know when their next meal will be. At the very end of our time a man named Eliud approached Matt and told him how moved he was by the testimony that Matt gave two days before. He confessed that he has been an alcoholic for the last 20 years and has been cheating on his wife. He thought that his sins were too great for God to forgive, but after hearing Matt share his story and present the gospel, he now knew that even his sins could be made clean with the blood of Christ.  Matt brought him to Isaac to share his story and they led him to Christ right there. It truly was a beautiful day! Praise the Lord!

Lunch!

Love to all,

Catherine

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Prayers Please

Will you pray for us?

There are a few of us who are suffering from different ailments. There have been a few sore throats, some stomach problems, headaches, allergies, sleepless nights, crazy dreams induced by anti-malaria medicine, etc. Nothing super serious as of yet, but still a bit of a thorn in our sides.

Please pray for healing and restoration. We feel spiritually and emotionally rested after a restful day off yesterday, but some of these issues are not helping us to feel physically restored. We long for the day when Jesus returns and this is no longer an issue preventing us of serving our Lord. When that day comes all we'll do is worship our King. Until then, we eagerly await.

We love all of you very much and are so blessed to have you praying for us.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Today was wonderful – some of us woke up a little early to read outside as the sun rose over the Rift Valley. It was a little cold, and I read a Psalm that proclaimed the glory of God and it brought me to worshipful prayer. There was a lot of rustling in the trees, and I soon found out that monkeys (or baboons) run rampant around Kijabe, and one was even bold enough to cross the lawn to the tree in front of me.

I had heard that monkeys were aggressive, so I cautiously made my way back inside and finished my reading there. We did a morning devotional as a team, and then headed to Isaac & Esther’s house for breakfast. After unpacking the supply bags that our team had brought them, we headed down to Maai Maihu to meet up with the other Kenyans at Rift Valley Fellowship. A little boy named Peter sat beside me – he had the most innocent eyes and a sweet smile, and he politely answered “Yes” to everything that I asked him. I began to show him my pictures from America and he was fascinated – he later told one of the adults (in Swahili) that he wanted to go on a stroll with his friend (me) later that evening, and that he wanted to come visit me in America. I laughed and said I would love for him to come visit me.

We organized into teams of seven or eight and got to know each other better as we fellowshipped and prayed with one another. We then walked to a lunch spot and Peter came with us. He ate a big plate of food and asked for a Coca Cola – he probably didn’t understand what we were talking about at lunch, and was completely captivated by the TV the entire time. Peter is so cute that almost everyone with a camera took pictures of him all day long. Toward the end of his meal, Peter’s eyes flooded with tears – at first we thought that his eyes might be watering from watching the TV so intently (almost without blinking!), but we later realized that his little heart was full of gratitude for the day and for the meal, and he told Esther later that he did not expect to eat dinner when he got home that night.

Peter 

After lunch we organized into groups of four and walked around a new part of town for about an hour and a half. We stopped and prayed with several people, and were able to share the love of Christ and the hope that we have in Him. Several people said that they were Christian, and Rift Valley Fellowship generously offered them audio-Bibles if they did not have one. As we walked along, children from the surrounding area flocked to us – we seemed to pick up a handful of them every time we stopped to talk with someone. I saw a sweet, meek little girl smiled at me and I felt lead to ask her if I could pray for her. I asked her if she wanted prayer for anything, and she replied, with a big smile - “Yes, I need new blood.” I prayed for her healing and hope that God has healed her today.

We met several people who seemed interested in joining us at Rift Valley Fellowship on Sunday, which was very encouraging. We did open-air evangelism in a new spot since our former location was occupied by a fundraising event. This new area seemed less visible, yet people still gathered to hear the worship music and our testimonies. Children gathered all around us to play with us, and we all had a great time.

I prayed that God would give me the opportunity to share my testimony if He wanted me to today, and sure enough Esther asked me to do it. I was nervous beforehand, and asked the Holy Spirit to speak through me and to give me peace and confidence. And He did!! I had a wonderful peace up there as I was speaking, and Esther translated my testimony into Swahili for the bystanders. I was grateful to see them listening, and am hopeful that the Holy Spirit helped me to share my testimony in a way that explained the Gospel and glorified my God.

Nellie gave me a sweet hug after I was finished, and I sat down next to an elderly woman named Veronica. She pulled out a card from one of the Kenya hospitals and pointed to numbers written on it (probably a blood cell count). I am not sure of what sickness she has, but I prayed over her for healing and for God to bless her with His nearness, and she smile. Pastor Isaac shared an encouragement in Swahili and we headed home.

Veronica 

After dinner, we gathered to share stories from the day and to pray. Hayley mentioned that she saw Peter heading home after the open-air evangelism with a sad look on his face, so she pulled him aside to ask him what was wrong and tears began to stream down his face. Hayley said that he had fear in his eyes, and really did not seem to want to go home. Esther later confirmed that she had had a conversation with Peter earlier that day, and he said that his mother was a prostitute – he had seen terrible things, and Isaac told us that a lot of men abuse the prostitutes and sometimes even their children. Many young children have seen and experienced such terrible things, and they are defenseless to stop them.

We ended the night in prayer, and are hopeful and are excited for tomorrow’s service at Rift Valley Fellowship!

Goodnight!!

Blessings & Love,

Lauren

Friday, September 14, 2012

We landed in Nairobi, Kenya late last night. When we arrived at the airport, a slew of travelers were asleep on the floor, I suppose awaiting their next-day flight. We loaded up our 30+ bags into two vans and drove out to a Christian guesthouse for the night.

The vans were filled with excitement and we strained to see out the windows into the Kenyan night. Although it was dark outside, we could see the palm trees and the poverty around us. There were not many people out, and the city seemed much more developed that I had imagined.

We arrived at the guesthouse, got ready for bed, and the girls gathered into a room for prayer. I was blessed to hear my sisters’ hearts for our King as we prayed, and we ended the night with fellowship.

We woke up early Friday morning, just in time for a pancake breakfast. The maple syrup and mango juice were delicious! We then traveled to a market to exchange our dollars for shillings, and met a colorful character greeting people by the door. I began to share the Gospel with him and asked if he believed in Christ – he smiled and seemed to mock me with his response “uh, yeah!” - and I asked him if he had a Bible. He said he did not, and I asked him to point us to a bookstore where we could buy some for the people that we would meet in Maai Maihu.

Everyone in Kenya has been extremely helpful and polite thus far – the bookstore salesman helped us pick out Swahili and Kikuyu Bibles, which they thought people in our area would speak. We purchased a handful of them, and walked back to the exchange rate place to give one to the man.

He spoke Swahili, and asked for one of those – I asked him to read John 3:16-17 and he read it in Swahili words that I couldn’t pronounce, even if I had tried! He then smiled really big and said “this means that God loved the world and gave His Son so that we will not perish and have eternal life.” – I was overjoyed that he seemed to have a firm grip on the Gospel and seemed to love the Lord – he thanked us for the Bible and said that he had been wanting to get one.

Our team stopped at a Java house, and Kenyan coffee is great! We then proceeded to drive to Kijabe, which is where many missionary families live, including Isaac and Esther Karanja, the pastor (and his wife) of the church that we are helping to plant.

The Karanja’s are very hospitable and fed us a wonderful meal of rice & sausage, green beans, carrots, and bell peppers. After lunch, we drove down a rickety dirt road to Maai Maihu, a town notorious for prostitution. We met the other Kenyan pastors and congregants for Rift Valley Fellowship (RVF), and worshipped the Lord together before we went out to share the Gospel in the surrounding neighborhoods.

We broke into teams of four, each with two Kenyans and two Americans. We stopped by several houses and met many people, most of whom had heard of Christ and proclaimed that they had been saved. It was difficult to interact with them, even though we had translators with us. I did my best to share the hope of the Gospel with them, and hope that it encouraged some of them. I had also put together a longer version of the Roman Road to Salvation in Swahili, and we passed these out to those who seemed receptive to our message. I am very grateful to have had those with me because of the language barrier.

I was encouraged that so many people had heard of and claimed Christ as their Savior, but because of my own history with nominal Christianity, I usually hesitate to drop the Gospel conversation even after people say that they are Christians. Even if they truly are saved, I hope that hearing the Gospel again encourages them in their faith (as it does for me!).

We invited the people we met to come join us for fellowship on Sunday at RVF, and many of them said they would come. After about an hour, pastor Isaac and the Rift Valley Fellowship worship team did some open-air evangelism. We sang, shared testimonies, and Pastor Isaac gave a sermon on Matthew the tax collector’s call to follow Christ. The message was very fitting, and I was very grateful to hear Pastor Isaac drive the Gospel of Grace home – we are all sinners, we are all filthy, and Jesus came to save us despite this. Jesus loves us so much that He gave His life for us, even while we were yet sinning against Him. After Isaac’s message, we had a time of prayer and many children came forward to greet us and to be prayed over. I was touched that the children seemed very grateful for prayer, and it reminded me of Jesus’ desire to let the little children come to Him.

We headed home and had to take the long way back to Kijabe, since the path down the mountain was too difficult to climb back up. It took about an hour, and I think that almost every person in our van fell asleep. We were awakened by the potholes close to Kijabe, and preceded to end the night with a Kenyan meal with Esther and Isaac. After that, we headed to our Kijabe guesthouse and talked about how the day had been. We shared encouraging stories, some concerns, and brainstormed about how to best point the people who we meet to Christ. It has been a fun and tiring trip thus far, and I am hopeful and excited to see what God will do tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Blessings & Love,

Lauren

Jambo!

As you may or may not know, we have been without internet access for the last few days. Rest assured, we are all doing well and the Lord has been revealing Himself in mighty ways. Lauren has been drafting a few posts and we hope to be posting some today. Hopefully we'll have many more to come from all of us throughout the rest of our time in Kenya.

After 2.5 days of evangelism/house visits and the church launch yesterday, we are very thankful to have a day or rest today (Monday). We will spend time in the IDP camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday we will visit Naomi's Village.

We thank you so much for your constant prayers. We have definitely been feeling them and the presence of the Lord. We'll talk to you soon!

Kwaheri! (goodbye)

Hello!

Hello friends and family! Welcome to our team blog! As you can see, there are previous posts on this blog that are not from our trip. Jambo Kenya actually started as a team blog from the Kenya II 2011 team. Two members of our current team, Julie and James, were a part of that team last year as well. Obviously, we're down to the wire - we leave for Kenya in less than 24 hours - so we decided to use the 2011 blog for the 2012 team as well.

We would love for you to read a little about this area of Kenya and the 2011 team's experience. Maybe it will give you a better idea of the area we will be spending our time. Keep in mind that our trip will be much different than what you read about. The 2011 team went to Kenya to spend time at Naomi's Village, a children's home founded by missionaries from The Village Church. Our main purpose this year will be evangelism and to help support the ministry of Pastor Isaac Karanja and his wife Esther as they launch the Rift Valley Fellowship church plant. We are very excited to be involved in this church plant. We have already heard great things about how the Lord is moving in mighty ways in Kenya.

In the left navigation bar you will find a link to our team YouTube channel. We hope to post videos and slideshows on this channel often while we are in Kenya. You can view our first video now - a recent team meeting where Pastor Isaac and Bob Mendonsa share their heart for this area of Kenya as well as how the Lord has been working.

Please keep us in your prayers as we leave DFW tomorrow evening around 6pm. Please pray for the people we will meet while we are in Kenya. Pray that the Lord's name is made much of in all that we do.

Thank you so much for your support. We love you.

Post written by Julie.