July 17

Today we had church at Massai Corner.  We drove up in the bus and were greeted by members of the church and by Pastor Eric.  Pastor Eric was all spiffed up in a suit!  I loved it!  They swarmed the bus to welcome us, with hand shakes and "JAMBO!!"  One thing I love is how welcoming everyone is here in Kenya.  We walked over to the "church" which consisted of benches made out of trees and covered by a canopy, and decorated with bits of beautiful fabric on a string around the sides.

We sat down sporadically throughout the "sanctuary", we wanted to sit with the people and not alienate ourselves.  We started with singing praise songs…in Swahili (which sound beautiful!), and Pastor Eric's daughter sang a welcome song to us, she has a beautiful voice!

Then we were asked to introduce ourselves (the team), Pastor Eric then asked all visitors to introduce themselves, and then finally the members.

After this, some of us took the children over to a Mango tree to have children's church, while the rest of us stayed to listen to the Pastor's message.  He spoke in Swahili so I couldn't understand, but he spoke with such passion that I knew the people there were going to be changed.  I found out later that he spoke about taking off the old and putting on the new.

Once church was over we moved onto the  "Hand to mouth" ministry!  This was one of 3 jokes total we heard by the Kenyan people!  Pastor Eric made it up, it of course means lunch!  The lunch consisted of your choice of Rice, Yugali (spl?), or Chipati (spl?), beans, and tomato and onion salad, greens (like turnip greens, so good!), and a little lime, oh and there was a.. potato soup, but not like what you would think but sooooo good!  And a little meat, but the meat is very tough there so I couldn't chew it.   But I mixed  the rice, beans, tomato mixture, greens and a little lime on top, i ate 3 servings!! it was sooooo good!!!

Once we were done eating we set up the clinic, which consisted of 2 small tables with 3 chairs around it for diagnosis which Matt, Whitney, Lisa and John (a native Kenyan who is a lab tech and helps Lisa out a lot), and one larger table with all of the pharmaceuticals which Jaylyn and I ran. 

Cayla helped get people organized and helped with wound care.  Then we started seeing people.  It was  slow start because a lot of these medicines I had never used before and had to figure out what each one was etc.  Once we saw the first 10 people Jaylyn and I got the hang of it and it went much faster.  We saw around 200 people!  We treated anything from ring worm, to malaria.  

We were all exhausted!  It was not your normal go see the doctor like we are used to in the states.  They had about 2 min a piece to see, ask questions and diagnose, otherwise we would've been there all night, it was exhausting and at times frustrating.  I'm sure Whit and Matt had their frustrations, but Jaylyn and I had ours as well.  The people weren't happy with the amount of medicine we gave, they wanted much more, or they wanted us to give medicine to those that had been seen and were told didn't need medicine.  But it turned out fine, and we got the job done!  One thing I have seen with our team, is just that, we work as a team!  When something needs to get done, it gets done.  I love every single person on our team like family!

While we were running the clinic, the others were playing with kids and passing things out.  We had one station passing out new swahili bibles that were donated by Elyse.  She brought 200!!  So that morning the head of each household walked away with a brand new bible. 

Then others passed out pillow case dresses made by Kaylene and her church, they were adorable and the people went crazy over them!  

Once we were done seeing the last person, we put everything away, loaded up and headed back to Chris and Lisa's and the Windell's for game night and pizza!! 

Pizza in Kenya is much different than pizza in America.  First, they don't have pepperoni, so they use salami!  Even though it wasn't real pepperoni, it was so good!  I ate 3 pieces!  Then we all sat in a circle at the Windell's and played catch phrase.  It was a great time of fellowship and winding down.  We had our glass bottle cokes and orange fanta's (really popular there), and lots of laughs!  Although I was so exhausted I had a hard time hearing people when they called out answers, I just heard jumbled words!! Lol!  The Windell's and the Moore's played with us too, so good times were had by all!

Finally, we were all to tired to go on, and half of the team got back on the bus and rode over to Chris and Lisa's house for bed.  

It was a wonderful exhaustion, I would do it again in a

heartbeat! 

July 16

Today was our first day going to Massai Corner.  Massai Corner is REAL 4 Christ's new project.  At Mbewau they have 2 acres, at Massai they have 5!  Massai is on the South Coast of Kenya, so it is a coastal region.  It is beautiful area!  Very lush, and from some views you can see the ocean.  As we drove up we saw the Pastor's house, a mud hut, and a canopy covered seating area.  The Pastor's house was a recent edition.  Pastor Eric came highly recommended to the Moore's and for good reason!  He is well educated, an amazing speaker, and the thing I remember the most, he has an amazingly friendly smile!  He loves the Lord and it shows!

The mud hut is "Momma's".  She is the elderly woman who owned the land and sold it to REAL 4 Christ ministries.  Part of the deal they made with her is that she gets to continue to live on the land in her house until she goes on to be with her Heavenly Father, and at that point the house would become their's as well.  She is the sweetest little lady!  All smiles and "JAMBO! JAMBO!!" (HELLO! HELLO!! In Swahili).  

They have started to build a well.  We went to look at it, they had only dug 30ft, but it looks so deep!!  Chris said they do about 30, then put bricks around and wall it, and then do another 30, this well will be 140 ft deep!! Only two guys do it, with a bucket and shovels!  Amazing!  Chris said the men told him when they are working in it it literally feels like Hell!  I cannot imagine such hard labor!  But so incredibly excited that the well is being built for the community! Oh and its hard to tell by this picture, but a chicken had fallen in! They had to lower a guy in to get it out, it was funny:)

The canopy and seating is where they have church.  I'll talk more about that in my next post.

Today we walked the trails.  I was in a group with Pastor Eric, James & Agnes (members of the church), Stephanie, and Tyler.  

The first house we came to the man told us from the beginning, "I don't want to hear what you have to say, I am muslim" He was very very nice, he was just kindly declining.  I decided to just have a simple conversation with him about his family and life, sometimes its the little things that show Christ, and I wanted to make sure I did my job in sharing Christ, whether through the gospel or my actions.  He told me he actually lived in Mombasa, and this was his mother's house and land.  His mother was at a private hospital in Mombasa because she had malaria.  I told him I was very sorry to hear that but that I would pray for her.  I continued to tell him who we were and what we were doing.  Pastor Eric also spoke to him, but in Swahili so I am not sure of everything he said.  The man spoke very good english though, so towards the end of the conversation I told him "I know you are muslim but we would love to see you tomorrow, we are having church, but we are also have clinic and lunch, so please come join us if you would like to!"

At that point we told him thank you for his time and kept on walking the trail.

The next few places we stopped we met some awesome people.  For the most part they were already saved, but were attending churches very far away and were unable to always make it because of the distance, and were very pleased to hear about a church so close by!  It was so exciting and encouraging to see people like that, especially when I have heard so many times, "what about the people who live in Africa away from the main areas, how can they hear about Christ and why should they be condemned if they don't know"  This journey was proof to me that the Lord makes His name known, even to those we suppose don't hear, they do, some haven't yet but so many we met knew His name, the problem most faced was having a place to fellowship and worship with community!  

Then we arrived at Alfred's house.  We went in and began speaking to him, I asked him if he knew Christ.  He said he knew who He was.  His english wasn't really good, but good enough that we could somewhat communicate without a translator.  I asked what he had heard about Jesus.  He told me he was raised in a Christian home, his parent taught him who Christ was, but he had to many temptations to live the life of a Christian.  Well if anyone knows me, this is my area of expertise!!! My life is living testimony of hearing Christ, even knowing who He is and saying "I'm just not ready yet, I really want to do my own thing" and then time and time again falling flat on my face!

Pastor Eric spoke to him for a minute, and then I said "Pastor, would you mind if I give my testimony?"

The Lord in this moment overcame me and I poured my heart out to this man.  His expressions were what kept me going, you could see in his mind he was thinking…"Could this mzungu (white person) be saying what I think she is?  Could she have gone thru all that?  Could this be the same person she is talking about?"

When I got done telling my story and how Christ has worked in my life and completely changed me from who I used to be to who I am now, I told him, if you want to change you can!  Then he told us YES! That he wanted to change!  I was so excited to see the Lord working in this man's life!  Then James told him his testimony, in Swahili so I didn't understand, but the way he was going, I could tell it was powerful!  Please keep Alfred and his family in your prayers, I know and some of you may know as well, how hard it can be to turn your life over to Christ.  To change your habits, sometimes even friends so that you won't make the same mistakes again.  Pray also that he finds friends like James, accountability partners to see how he is doing and to help him make good choices.  That last part is what has made the biggest difference in my walk.  I am NOT always perfect, but I know I have friends who aren't perfect either, but who want to be like Christ as much as I do, and so we lift each other up and help keep each other accountable in all areas of life!  

We went to a few more houses and met a few more really awesome people!  Then we headed back to the road so we could be picked up by the bus.  

Once we returned half of us helped paint Pastor Eric's house and the other half got to play play play with the kiddos!! It was so fun!! We taught the kids the chicken dance, we jump roped with them and through a football around with them.  BTW they are really confused as to why we called it football, trying to explain it I got a lot of weird looks!  Lol!  They don't understand why we call soccer, soccer and not football, and when I was explaining that ball was America Football, they said how does that work? They still thought we kicked it around like a soccer ball, then I said no we they throw it, and they said "Hand ball??" I said nope!  Football, I know its confusing!! In the end they just said ok whatever we don't care, lets throw it!  The girls can throw hard!!!

The boys played an awesome game of soccer, and Matt was on the "skins" team! It was hilarious!! We didn't even know there was a skins team till we look over and are almost blinded by the whitey running around shirtless! It was awesome!  

We also blew bubbles for the kiddos and they LOVED that!  The kids were going nuts!! The day was great and we were all exhausted and ready to go to bed when we got back! 

Psalm 100:1-2

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

July 15

This morning we woke up at 5am!  Today was our surprise day!  None of us other than Tyler & Jenny knew what we were doing.  All we were told was to wear our bathing suit and wake up at 5.

We all loaded up into the bus and began our drive.  It took about 2 hours to get to our destination and Jenny and Ty kept the secret until we got there!! We all tried to guess what we thought it would be and failed miserably!  Jaylyn had a pretty creative guess…A concert on a boat!  

When we finally arrived at our destination, Jenny said "Ok are you ready to know??" We yelled "YES!!"

Her response…"SNORKELING!!!"  

Are you kidding me??!!!  I was stoked!!  Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean and seeing more of God's amazing creation..YES PLEASE!! 

We got all signed in and headed to the boat.  Before we got on the boat some of us decided to jump off the pier into the water, a 10ft drop!  (I was not one of them:)

But it was fun to take pics of all the crazies in our group:) (love you guys!)

We then loaded on the boat and headed out to the Corral Gardens.  As soon as we got a little farther we were offered Chai and Mondazzi's (still haven't figured out the correct spelling), which were delicious!

We then got to sit back and enjoy an amazing view, and feeling the slight mist of the ocean as we rode on.

I feel like it took a good hour to get to where we needed to be, but we finally arrived.  We were handed our gear and I tried to figure out how to put it on, I've never been so this was all new to me.  

We then jumped off the side of the boat and began our snorkeling experience!!  

It took me a good 20min to get used to sticking my head in the water and breathing, I was hyper ventilating at first, but I finally got the hang of it…for the most part.

It was an amazing experience.  The Corral was beautiful, the fish were so colorful, and the water was so clear!  This Texas girl is used to the gross waters of the gulf, the water itself was a sight to see! 

I swallowed a lot of sea water, and my goggles kept filling up but I tried to enjoy it!

After a while the boat came around to us and we all got in.  We went a little further to a strip of beach that was in the middle of the ocean.  The boat let out the anchor and we ran to the shore to chill and hang out.  

The sand was so white!  It had specks of orange in it, I still don't have any idea what that was but it looked cool!  The sand itself felt so different from the dirty gulf.  We laid down soaking in the sun of the equator and relaxing.  Austin found a sea snail in a beautiful shell that looked fake it was so shiny and perfect!  It still had the snail inside it and it was heavy!  He had to leave it because the waters are government owned and you can't keep anything.  Elyse and Whitney found some pretty cool stuff too.

After a little bit the tide started to come in.  The gulf tide seems to take a while to come in, but not in Africa!  It started to come in and within 10min the strip of land was no more!  We walked out to the boat and even with water up to my chest I could still see my feet!  It was awesome!

We all got in the boat and then headed to lunch.  

We pulled up to a restaurant on the side of a cliff!  We walked up the shelled stairs into an outdoor paradise.  Our team had a table on the edge of the cliff and all of us faced the ocean, it was an amazing view with an amazing meal.  We started with a whole crab (soooooo good!!), then a seaweed wrap (I really like it), then a Fish and Coconut flavored rice dish, followed by a dessert of the local fruits, mango (I of course couldn't eat it since I am allergic to them), Passion Fruit (really weird texture but very good!), bananas (LOVE African bananas!).  It was the perfect meal for a perfect day.  The only thing that would have made the day any better would have been if Chris had been there.

We then headed home, got on the bus and drove to our hotel.  The hotel is a quaint little place going through "renovations", I loved it!  The walls were paper thin so you could hear the sounds of all the Kenyan's on the street, radios blasting, even a pastor…we think!  But I was so happy and worn out from the day I didn't even notice!  Allison and I stayed awake for a while talking, I talked more than her…surprise surprise!! Lol!  It was good though!  I love the times I've had with these girls to get to know them.  

We went to sleep to the lullaby of Kenya outside our window…these memories will last forever!

July 14

Today we got to visit the local hospital.  As we drove up the inmates from the local jail were there.  Every thursday is the day the inmates come to be seen.  As we were driving up I couldn't help but notice the filth outside the hospital, I keep thinking of how totally overwhelming the clean up would be!!

As we walked thru the hospital we had to hold our breath, and breath thru our mouths.  The stench of dirty people, and disease filled the air.  As we walked upstairs and entered the ward, we were greeted by a grandmother of a little boy named Jeffah.  Jeffah has a tumor in his jaw.  

The type of cancer these children have is curable.  They think it comes from the mosquitos, because this type isn't seen in America, or anywhere else.  The problem  however is, the people still rely heavily on Witch Doctors, yes I said it!  When a child first shows signs of the cancer they take it to the witch doctor.  The "doctor" then tells the parents they have been cursed, or have done something wrong.  Sometimes thats the end of it and the child dies having never been treated.  Sometimes the parents take them to the local clinic, which is basically like taking them to a 5 year old and asking for help, it gets you no where.  A lot of times the cancer presents in the abdomen and so the clinic says they are malnourished, and blows them off.  Then the children start to get worse and they go to a larger clinic, where they will test for everything under the sun and then they might send them to the hospital to be seen, and at that point is where they are referred to the oncologist finally!  The sad part is, by this time, this curable cancer has gotten so bad that sometimes it is to late!  This cancer usually respond to medication within two weeks, unless it is just too far gone.

But at this point even if they have caught it in time and they have started their treatment, they are still not in the clear.  They still have to worry about the people actually treating them being competent!  Just recently we were told by our missionary friend, that the Intern (someone actually in school and soon to be a doctor) treating one of the patients gave an intravenous chemo medication intrathecally!! For those of you that don't know this means, a shot that should go in the arm, they injected into the spine!  This child died 3 days later, not without being in excruciating pain!  

We brought games and some of us played with them, while some of us talked to some of the people who work there about the cancer ward.  

After we had been there for about an hour, we decided to take a tour of the rest of the floor. 

We said our goodbyes and took our final pictures with these brave little souls, who were smiling:)

As we walked down the hall and turned towards the "General" hurt area, where anyone who was hurt or had a disease that wasn't a specified ward went to.  There were babies, and children, hooked up to tubes crying.  The floor was one big room with iv's like i've never seen, like something out of a WWII movie.  The room itself had "windows" really just opening in the walls, no scenes, so it obviously wasn't sterile.   There were babies that had been abandoned and children so sick that the flies crawling on them didn't bother them or even make them twitch!  There were birds flying around throughout the room and no one paid any attention to them.

This is life in a Kenyan hospital.  It was like we stepped out of a times machine.

My heart ached for those children.

As we left I was in awe of how primitive and scary it was to look at this place, this place where people are supposed to come to be cured of diseases and pain and they are hardly functioning themselves.  

After this we drove back to Chris and Lisa's house, and had a quick time of reflection.  We then prepared to leave and head out to visit Shanzu.

Shanzu is a place where disabled women can go and live and be taught a tangible talent that can be used to help them make a living.  They make bags of all kinds and sizes and clothes and jewelry!  

This is a place where you don't bargain because that money goes to the organization to help them live. 

We all loaded up on this cool stuff and checked out!  

We were all very excited about our purchases! Including Matt an Austin who decided to model their shorts:)

This day was very eye opening.  There are so many many things wrong in this world, but if we each take the time to listen to what the Lord has called us to, and do it, we will begin to see change happen.  

Rach

July 13

Today was the day we handed out the new play shirts!!  These shirts were very special to me.  Each child got a new Mbewau/Wowkidz! play shirt to wear only while at recess.  These kiddos tend to be pretty rough on their clothes, hopefully these shirts will help make their uniforms last longer!  

Thank you so much to everyone back home who helped make this possible (Jackie you especially!! Love you!), and a special thanks to Monograms & More for the huge part they played in these shirts, without your giving we would not have these shirts!!

We got every class out one by one, lined the children up and put not their new shirts.  The shirts were a BIG hit!! All of the children loved them!  Then once the whole class was outfitted in their brand new shirts, we arranged them and took class pictures with the teachers!  

This process took a while, but went amazingly smooth!  

Once this was done it was about lunch time.  I headed over to the Feeding Center, and got there in time to snap a few shots of Jaylyn giving a hygiene lesson to the children.  Thanks to some awesome donations we had a toothbrush and toothpaste for every child!  Jaylyn demonstrated good tooth brushing techniques, and taught them to do this every morning and every evening.  She did an awesome job, and the kids loved watching her swish!! 

At the end of class we handed each child a hygiene packet with their toothbrush and toothpaste, they loved it!

Once school was over we all gathered and got ready to go home with the assigned kiddos.

Today my group went home with the Kalume family.  Anne, Sampson, and Martin Kalume all attend Mbewau, they also have twin sisters who are 1 1/2yrs old.

The Kalume's don't live far from Mbewau, still about a 15min walk (we weren't walking super fast).  

When we arrived, the mother (who is all of 90lbs…maybe) immediately grabbed Austin's backpack, it is just the custom to serve your guests!

We walked up to her house and she grabbed plastic chairs for us all to sit in.  The people here are so hospitable, even to strangers!

Then we began to hear her story unfold.  Mrs. Kalume is 24years old, with 5 young children.  Her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident with the twins who are 1 1/2years old, were 5 weeks old.  She is unable to work and under their customs is under the rule of her husbands family, and cannot remarry without their permission, which is rarely given. 

So instead she will remain where she is, living in the house that was her and her husbands, which for the area is a "Nice" mud hut, which her and her husband moved into 10 years ago.  It was larger and actually had beds with mattresses, and 5 different "rooms". 

She farms for food, she has a crop of Maze (corn).  The Moore's sponsor the children to be able to attend Mbewau, and she gets water from Mbewau.

She gave us a tour of the house, and a tour of her farm, which was pretty far back!  She also gathers greens that grow and any fruit that might grow near her farming area.

Her twin daughters are so cute, but couldn't get to close while they were awake because they are scared of white people! Even Chris who has known them since they were born!!  But, one of them fell asleep while we were there, so both Chris and I were able to hold her!!  She is really small for a 1 year old and super light.

Justin was our translator, and as we walked back we went past his house, he stopped us and said "you must come in! my wife has made you Chai" Well it would be rude to say no! Lol!! Love that stuff!  

So we went to his house!  Elizabeth is his wife, she is the asst teacher in the baby class and so sweet.  

Justin and Elizabeth are wealthy for the area, and are the only ones with electricity nearby.  We walked into their hut and they had furniture and a tv!! 

We sat down and were served hot Chai!  It was really good and we enjoyed talking to Justin, Maureen (who stopped in for some chai), Elizabeth and Justin's brother.

We then got a call and the rest of the team was ready to go!  It was our last day at Mbewau until next week, and because we had taken so long we got out of loading the bus!  lol!  oh well!  It was a good day!!

July 12

Today started out slow. We woke up a little later than yesterday. We went down and had "Morning Glory", which is the staff's morning devotional, it strikes me every time I see the Kenyan people worship, they are so passionate. They always sing and say "Praise God! Amen!" Over and over. Their passion is Mramba, beautiful.
After Morning Glory we went upstairs and did our teams devotion. Jaylyn did it, she read from a passage in Revelations, and talked about how mighty our God is and how powerful and that we need to remember to fear Him.
I reflected on this and rested until time for breakfast. We had Mondazi, which is like a donut but without icing, and fruit. The bananas here are so amazingly good!
My stomach has been a little yucky the last few days, I think the change in food combined with the Malaria medication is making it not feel good. So I just ate fruit and had Chai (they have tea several times per day).
After Chai, I had an assignment to take pictures of all of the siblings and staff with their children. I was given a list and began working on that.
At lunch we ate with the children. It was a bean stew, with garbanzo beans, carrots, potatoes and spinach. I liked it, with a little salt:) After lunch we were all pretty tired and the children were going down for their nap, so I took a nap.
At 2 we woke up and went downstairs, it was time for chapel! Usually they have chapel every friday, but they moved it to today so that we could experience it! It was awesome! They sing and dance! Then each class, the Baby Class, KG1, KG2, KG3, STND1, all sang a song and told a memory verse for the week. They then announced the student of the week, and then our boys, Ty, Austin and Matt led the devotional. They told the story of Feeding the 5000, and did a really good job.
Once that was over we had a meeting.
After school we followed little Maria home, we were welcomed by her mother, Irene who works at the school. She told us she has 10 children and lives with another women who is her co wife. Their husband passed away in 2006. She showed us her house which was nicer than the one from yesterday, but that isn't saying much. Her and her co wife have a room and her husband has a room. Even though he died the room is kept unlived in. In Kenyan tradition the husband and wives have separate rooms, and if the husband dies the room remains unused.
She gave us all Maze and even let us taste some of her roasted Maze and it was so good!
Chris and Lisa had come suddenly to the school.
Then something devastating happened.
We were faced with a funeral to go to. Not just any funeral, a funeral for a 7 month old. The women were around the baby mourning, the men were in the background solemn and not showing emotion. The women wailed, and sang songs.
The part that was so devastating was the reason this child died. This child didn't have a life threatening disease by American standards. She was born with jaundice. In Kenya when a baby is born it is kept in the hut for 7 days, it doesn't see the light of day for any reason. By the end of the first week of its life its bile was white like cottage cheese, and that is when they brought the baby to LIsa. She immediately went to town to find an ultra violet light. When they finally found one and took it over, they realized the family didn't have electricity! They had to use 4 extension cords to plug it in. The mother knew how to read so not only did Lisa show her what to do but she left her with material to read about the reason for doing it. After 3 days of therapy, and Lisa checking in every day on the baby, the mother brought all of the equipment to Lisa and gave it to her saying "you are burning my child" and refused to do it anymore. The baby had had 3 blood transfusions and finally today at 7 months old, her liver failed and she passed in the hospital.
This would never happen in America, even to the poorest of poor. Our hospitals would not let anyone leave until the child is well and able. But the Kenyan hospital sent her and her baby home the day she was born, not treating the jaundice from the get go.
When Chris and Lisa came to the hospital Lisa said the mother told her "Now this burden is gone" That cut me to hear a mother say this! But it is the way these people think. I am so sad for them.
When Chris was telling us about the family he said it made him think of the Psalms that says "you are a lamp unto my feet", he explained what that verse actually meant. The lamp spoken about was an oil lamp, they didn't have the lamps we have now, these lamps let off very little light, in the dark it would let off enough light so that you could see just enough to step in front of you, so basically it was saying that we should trust in the Lord enough to only see your next step and that He will continue to show you the way and not lead you astray.
Today was joyful and heartbreaking all in the same day. I just cannot fathom a child dying from something so trivial as jaundice! All of my children had jaundice and it was NOTHING serious! But this child, this child is now buried in her parents backyard, with women and men mourning her death.
The funeral was a Christian one, the parents have known Chris and Lisa for a long time, they had counseled them before marriage and had been there thru the whole pregnancy, there at the birth etc. There was a mixture of Christian and old Tribal traditions.
As we walked up all of the women were encircled in the front yard around the body of the baby like a viewing. The baby was beautiful, she was dressed in a pretty little pink outfit.
Chris told us that the hospitals will not release bodies until you pay the bills, and so it is not uncommon when you are in a hospital to see dead bodies, blood and everything laid out on tables and no one pays any attention. They are not moved until the paperwork is done and the bill is paid.
When Chris and Lisa went to the hospital the child was laying on a bed in the hallway, the family didn't have the $3 it cost to get the paperwork and pay the bill, so they paid it for them. They didn't have the $5 it costs to buy a coffin, or the $6 it costs to buy a dress for the baby to be buried in. These people are so impoverished they couldn't afford the simplest of funerals for their little girl, and this is not uncommon!
The people here are poor, poor in America doesn't even touch poor in Africa. In America when you are poor you can still get medical care, groceries, and housing. Here when you are poor you are poor. The houses are made of mud, the children sleep in cramped corners, and sometimes have mosquito nets but not always. They barely have one pair of clothes, and those clothes are in tatters. They walk miles to school by themselves barefoot and think nothing of it, if they go to school.
Blessed is an understatement. Blessed does not begin to cover what we are. We are rich. I stress about paying bills, these people stress about eating even one meal per day.
I hope the things you hear from me create a sense of blessing in your life. I hope for myself that I remember that I get to go home to air conditioning, a bed with a mattress, and food for every meal. My children have shoes and clothes and are fed, and when they are sick they have a doctor to go to who is qualified. We are truly blessed. Let us not forget that!

God Bless!
Rach
Rach

July 11

Today we woke up at 5:45am, got dressed and went downstairs. The children started trickling in and doing their chores. Once they were done with their chores they got in line and sang songs and prayed in preparation for breakfast.
We watched as they sang in Swahili but also in English! Children from 3-8, know two languages in this third world country!
Breakfast consists of a Porridge, it tastes like cream of wheat without any sweetener, the children love it because it may be one of only two meals they receive in a day, here at Mbewau, when they go home they usually do not get dinner.
Today I was very tired, my body was still adjusting to the time change. I was assigned to the baby class with Whitney. When we went in the teacher had a schedule and so we helped her. The children learned about water and where you get water from and what you hold water in.
Then the teacher drew in each child's book a pitcher for them to color, there were probably 30 students!
Once this was done it was time to take them to the bathroom, the teacher then turned to me and said "I am going to take Chai" which means tea for those of you that don't know, and left me by myself with 20 little girls while the boys were in the bathroom with Whitney! The girls immediately jumped up to come and touch me and wouldn't sit down! Lol! Hapano (spl?) means No! It was my most used word today!
The teacher returned shortly and we started to play games like Simon Says, although they didn't quite get the concept but had fun trying!
It had been raining in the morning so we weren't going to take them outside however at this point the sun had come out so we decided to take them outside to run around until lunch. They were so full of energy! They got on the swings and ran around!
At lunch time they all got in a line and sang "march march march, march like a soldier!" it was so cute.
Lunch was Yunagi and beans. Yunagi is a cornmeal mixture that reminded me of dumplings like from Chicken and Dumplings. Yunagi itself has no flavor, but it soaks up what you eat it with. It was good!
After eating I was so tired that I had to come take a nap.
I fell asleep at 2 and was out until 3, and feeling much better.
As soon as I woke up I got ready, I knew already that we were going home with a couple of the children to film and take pictures and do a small documentary for REAL4Christ.
At 3:54 we began on our journey, we walked down a rocky dirt road thru the village and thru a windy short cut in what I can only describe as the jungle! As we were walking we would pass women carrying water on their head and babies no their backs, men in bicycles and motorcycles, and children! Lot's of children!
We had three teams and we were all going to different homes, when we finally arrived at our destination it had been 45 minutes!! And all I could think was these children make this walk morning and evening every day with no chaperone!! Barefeet!!
As we walked up nothing could truly prepare me for what i was about to see. Samu lives in a mud hut, barely the size of a closet. Her mother hadn't know we were coming and she wasn't there, she was working on the farm which was far away. However Samu's sister was there and told us her story. Samu's father passed away a few years back and she was the youngest of 7 children. They have a farm and they live off of what they grow. They also have goats.
As we left, I couldn't help but think, this child not only knows a foreign language, but walks 2 miles (that is how long it ended up being) there and back every day by herself and without shoes! My children's lives are light years away from these children who live in mud huts!!
Coming back from that you take a different perspective of life in general.
I hope to continue to learn to be thankful and use the blessings I have been given to help those who are not as blessed.

Be blessed!!
Rach

Sunday, July 10: Church at Mbweau!

Today I woke up at 7 am, I could have slept at least another hour! But I knew today would be busy and I wanted to be still for a bit.
Last night I shared my testimony with the girls on my team who were staying with me, and I had the priviledge of hearing Whitney's.
When sharing your life story, the good the bad & the ugly, you become aware of what makes each of us who we are. I feel much closer to Whitney now & I hope that relationship will continue to flourish.
After we woke up Whitney & I (the two coffee drinkers) made Kenyan coffee (so good!!) and we all had peanut butter toast. We then got dressed and ready for church.
At 9am, Johnson, our driver pulled up in the bus.
We gathered all of our belongings and prepared to rough it for a few days at the school. We then went to pick up the other half of our team from Chris and Lisa's. Once there, we stuffed all of their luggage onto the bus along with the mattresses we would be sleeping on, which btw are 4in thick foam!
We then headed to Mbewau church.
Mbewau is absolutely beautiful! Driving up there are mud huts and cows and goats! But once thru the gates...wow! Chris & Lisa have done a fantastic job building this place.
We immediately took our luggage off the bus, placed it in the empty classrooms we would be staying in, and headed to church.
Church is held in an open room, kind of a pavillion, this pavillion doubles as a feeding center for the children and staff during the week.
As church began the choir began to sing and you could see worship in their expressions. They began clapping and dancing and yelling AMEN!!
I couldn't help but think, why don't we get this excited when singing praises to our Lord?!
It is such a different culture, one where expression thru music and dancing is not only the norm but a way of life.
Once the choir was done they began a short message, we of course didn't understand as it was in Swahilli.
I do know however we read from
1 Chronicles 22:11-13 "Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would. Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he places you in charge of Israel, so you may obey the law of the Lord your God. Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the Lord ordered Moses to give to Israel. Be strong and brave! Don't be afraid and don't panic!"
To me these verses are so relevant to where we are at, at what Chris and Lisa have done with the ministry the Lord has given them.
Chris then came up on stage, he welcomed the "Mazoongos" (white people aka the team!)
He had them compete for who could clap the loudest for the team, it was great!
Then he asked each of us to stand and say who we were. But as our side began to go, Chris looked at me and whispered "come here".
So I got up and went to him and then he said..."I want you to give a short testimony to the church....oh, and I want you to sing, you don't mind singing a praise song in front of 150 Africans right?"
WHAT!!!! I had a lump in my throat and started panicking!! My sister is the performer NOT ME!!
So back track to the night before a bit, when we were eating "Baby Baby" by Amy Grant came on the radio, if you knew me when I was younger, I loved her! So under my breath I was singing it, I know every word. He happened to hear me and said "you have a good voice!" I thanked him and thought that was the end of it...I THOUGHT WRONG!! LOL!
So he didn't give me a song he just said sing, at this point my heart was pounding! I could feel my face turn red! And the only song I could think about was Amazing Grace.
So, I got up in front of 150 Africans, our team and Chris & Lisa, and I told a short version (very short) of my testimony thru a translator. This part was such a blessing, just to be able to thank God for what He has done in my life and how far He has brought me in the past 5 years even!
Then, I started to turn to walk away thinking, he won't really make me do it.. wrong again! Chris looked at me and said "Oh no! You are gonna sing!! They will love it!"
So, I sang the only song I could think of, and it truly was appropriate. I feel I could have done 10X better, but I was super nervous! I did it though!
Chris then got up and said "I know most of you think Americans live a perfect life. That they don't have struggles. But that isn't true, we deal with heartbreaking situations every day, and the Lord is good to deliver us from this. The song she sang talks about the Grace God extends to us, about how we were sinners and now are saved."
It was beautiful. It began a journey that isn't over yet, but one that had scarred my heart forever. Africa is forever going to be a place I dream about, I hope for, and I pray for.
I will be working on pictures tonight and as soon as I have uploaded some we will add a link to think blog so you can check them out!

May God bless you! Amen!
Rachel Driskell

Day 1

We slept in until 2pm today, which was amazing since we had been traveling for 38hrs with little sleep and it was 5am here when we finally got to a bed!
I woke up to a very quiet house with the windows open and a wonderful breeze flowing thru them! I hadn't really had a chance to look around the night before since it was very dark, and..well I had been exhausted! I looked out the window and it was beautiful!! It was green with bursts of colors from Hibiscus and other beautiful flowers!

The house itself is awesome! Shutters on each window, it is like a beach house. I then heard a squawking noise and realized, they have a bird!

The Windell's three daughters were up and playing with the bird, so we got to visit with them a bit. They have lived here for 9 years! They are 18, 13, and 12.
I then was offered some yogurt, which I love:) It was so good!

A different texture than our yogurt, thinner, but good! As I took my yogurt to the living room to sit down, I walked past the front window, outside was a tire swing:) Well the girls from our team that stayed here and I decided to go explore the yard. It was even more beautiful once we went outside, and the temp was perfect!
The girls and I decided to have a little fun and swing (it took a little coaxing to get me to participate, but I did!! Brought back childhood memories!).

It was good to just chill and have some fun, for we know this week is going to be hard work and we can't wait!
Around 6pm is when the bags finally arrived!!! We got our own bags out and took them inside and were able to FINALLY get a shower!! I was funnnnkaaayy!! LOL!!
Showers here are much different than the ones we have. Water pressure doesn't exist! We take for granted the every day things that we think are necessities, such as a shower head that has good pressure, hot water, and electricity!! The water felt good it wasn't too cold but definitely wasn't warm, and I was gross so I didn't care, I would've bathed in Ice at this point!
Once we were done getting dressed, we headed to Chris and Lisa's house. That itself was an adventure!! The Kenyan streets are not pretty! And the Kenyan's themselves think that you either have great brakes or will just drive around them....all of them!! They walk all over the street in dark clothes, they drive motorcycles and just swoop in and out of traffic! And that wasn't even a very busy street! Lol!
When we got to Chris and Lisa's we had to go thru a guarded gate first and then had to go thru another gate to their driveway. They live in a beautiful home with a pool out front!

The Moore's and the Windell's had so graciously made us food and it was soooooo good!! We ate and fellowshipped and it was wonderful!
I finally got to really talk to Chris and Lisa, I had skyped with them and emailed etc but now I was face to face with this awesome couple! I felt at home.
As the night got later we went thru our ministry bags, Lisa helped us separate what she wanted to take to the clinic and school tomorrow and what needed to be stored there for later.

We got it all organized and gathered around for our first team meeting.
We are going to be doing some amazing things the next two weeks and I cannot wait to see the way the Lord MOVEs in all of our lives! (If you haven't been keeping up with Imani, MOVE stands for: Motivate others, seek Opportunity for change, use your Voice for the Lord, and Experience God's grace!)
Hope you are enjoying keeping up with the trip!!
Night y'all!!!

Rachel

We made it!!

Wednesday night started our journey, we car pooled to Houston to stay at Elyse's parents house for the night. They were so awesome and had fajitas ready for us when we got there! I'm sure most of you saw the pictures of us going thru all of our bags. We took everything out and rearranged so we could fit it all and be 50lbs or less! It was done quickly and we were so excited! 29 bags total!! 17 of which were just ministry bags! Thank you guys all so much for donating these items!! And I have to thank CTOMA, they donated 150lbs of medical supplies! God has been so good!
After that we all crashed, a little hard to fall asleep at first when I knew I would be heading out for the airport at 6:30am the next morning! The only other plane I had been on was to and from South Carolina, 16 seater!
5am came and I woke right up! Had my morning coffee, called Chris, who was such a wonderful husband to pray over me:) We got all of our luggage lined up, and then the shuttle Elyse's parents had gotten for us came and we loaded up!!
We made it to Bush Airport a little before 8am and lined up to check in.
Then came the first bump in the road. Jenny had called several times to make sure of how much luggage we could bring. Well it turns out they changed the policy a week or so before we booked our flights, so instead of getting 2 bags free we only got 1! We had to pay for the rest of them which stunk! At first I was mad, and kept thinking gosh what a waste of money! But then I reminded myself that it wasn't a waste of money, we were bringing over much needed supplies for the clinic, and toys and candy and shirts for the kids at Mbewau! I started to just be thankful for the fact that the Lord provided that extra money so we were able to bring them!
We got that done and got on the first flight, 2 hrs to Miami. We got there and had a longer layover so we got to just chill, eat and fellowship.
Next was Miami to London, 8 1/2 hrs long!! I caught up on all the movies I missed! LOL! Then I slept a few hours.
We got off at London and booked it to catch our connecting flight, there was not a long layover here at all! We got there got all checked in and then found out that the flight from London to Nairobi was delayed! Our flight had been scheduled for 10:20, they said it was then delayed till 12. So...we waited. Finally 12 rolled around and we started to board. As we walked onto the plane the temp in the plane was literally 90 degrees!! I thought I would suffocate!! Another hour went by as we are all just sitting waiting on the plane in the heat! Finally at 2 the AC started working, but it was still another hour before we actually took off on another 8 hr flight! I slept the 2 hrs we were sitting there, and then took a few naps here and there, but this was the flight I was supposed to stay awake for.
While on this flight, we were all scattered on this huge plane. I was sitting next to a little 2 year old named Whitney and her mother who was pregnant. She reminded me of Kennedy, so it was a little bittersweet. I played with her while her mother slept, I let her play with my "Talking Tom" app (I held the phone, don't worry Chris:), I held her some let her draw me a picture. It was nice to get to play with her:) She was an adorable little African version of Kennedy!
We finally landed in Nairobi and the whole plane applauded!! We got out and had to pay for our Visa's and were wondering whether we would even be able to get on our connecting flight to Mombasa. As we were paying for our Visa's an attendant came up and told us not to get our luggage, that it wouldn't fit on the flight and we would get it in the morning...ugh!!
But on the bright side, they had held our flight for us!! I'm sure we made some people mad, but we were so glad to not have to sleep in the Nairobi airport!! We got on the plane, and this time it was only a 40min flight! When they said we were decending I could hardly believe it! I felt like we had just taken off!
Anyway, Chris and Lisa met us there, we all got to our host homes safely and now...BEDTIME!! It is 5am and we are exhausted!!!

KENYA HERE I COME!!!

Oh my goodness!! Today is the day I leave to drive to Houston to meet up with the mission team! We fly out early tomorrow morning! There are so many many emotions going on this journey!
My human side is zoo nervous, my stomach is in KNOTS! I am leaving my kiddos and hubby for 2 1/2 weeks!! So many unexpected things have happened just in this last week to make me worry, but I am CHOOSING to trust in the Lord! He has NEVER let me down and I know He won't this time either. I know my children will be well taken care of, I know my husband will be given the strength to handle it with out me, and I am amazingly blessed to have a job where everyone I work with will be praying for me and have already been such an amazing encouragement! Blessed is an understatement!
I am so thankful to have such a close relationship with Jenny, she has helped me prepare for this trip in more ways than you could ever imagine! She even came over to help me pack! Took me to walmart today so that we could pick up a few things I had forgotten, and just in general has been a rock for me!
I am even more thankful for my husband, Chris, without his support and encouragement this would not be happening. He is so good to tell me how proud of me he is, to remind me of his love for me, and to be the spiritual leader in our home encouraging me with scripture! I am more than blessed to have him as a husband.
Thank you to all of my family and friends, not only for your monetary support, but for your spiritual support! Your prayers are coveted more than ever before! Thank you to those who have put yourself on the "LIST" to be contacted in case Chris needs anything, seriously amazing people in my life!

As I am gone and as I have prepared for this journey, I have kept close to my heart

Colossians 2:2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,

This summarizes our reason for being, for every move I make. I pray to live out those words daily!
As I travel please pray not only for my physical health and wellness, but for my spiritual health, pray that I continue to show Christ in everything I do, that it is the fore front of my mind, and if nothing else the lost in Kenya see our team and say "I want what they have!" Pray that our team impacts lives daily!!

Keep looking for my blog! I will be posting, and I will be putting pics as well!! I can't wait to come home and tell you all about it!!

Love in Christ

Rach