A brief video of us riding on Lake Naivasha with the hippos...Enjoy!

Shortly after children's church the main service begins...the building is packed! And the worship service is through the roof. ALL of the kids are dancing and singing...it was so contagious! Naturally I love to worship so I join right in. I am dancing with these precious little children! I have the most precious opportunity to dance with these orphans whom God loves so much!!! I am honored and blessed! In my mind I feel like I had a glimpse of heaven...these are my brothers and sisters in Christ...one day we will all be together in heaven...worshipping our God, much like this moment...

When it was time to sit and listen to the message I was swarmed by children from Tumaini's home. I had two children on my lap and then two on each side of me, all trying to have some part of them touching me. Throughout the service I loved on them. Hugging, squeezing, smiling... One of the girls sitting to the left of me was amazed by the differences in our skin tones. She spent most of the church service comparing our fingernails, palms, hair, etc. After her discoveries she grabbed hold of my arm, squeezing it so tight and did not let go! I saw something in this moment...this child reminded me of how we are all the same. Our flesh is just an outward covering...it doesn't mean much at all...what matters is she saw and felt my heart. She saw beyond my pale exterior and how we are so different in that way...she saw that we are both the same on the inside. I saw we are both the same on the inside...Two people who love God and share God's love with others...Once again I am humbled by seeing things though a child's eyes!

When church was through, we were served lunch by the women of the church. Outside the children were being fed too. It was a great time to break bread and fellowship.

Shortly after lunch we were divided up to go and do home visits. It was an opportunity to meet people in the community. It was slightly raining and the roads we were walking upon were muddy and slick.
I tried my best to act like it didn't bother me and that I was just like them! I found out I am not so coordinated and did a little bit of slip and slide! There was one home on our walk down the road, it was a family that was displaced from the violence in the Rift Valley after the Kenyan elections in the beginning of the year. Here was this family: mom, dad and four children living in what we would call a shack. It was their home, sheet metal, cardboard doors. The room was no bigger than 10 by 10. Yet this family was worshipping God and even though their real home was far from here they were hopeful. Hopeful??? She said of their struggles since the displacement; little food, no work, not able or barely able to pay the rent on this smaller than small home, yet she has faith and is hopeful!!! I am put to shame in my heart for the things that I complain about and fret over! The mother said that she knew God cared about her because he sent us to visit. We had a delightful time chatting via translators and we even got to pray for them. Our time was up and we had to leave. In Kenya if you are welcomed back to a home they walk to the gate or end of the property, this is what she did. We were told that we are welcome back! I know I will be going back to Karima one day but I hope that when that day comes this family will be back in their home in the Rift Valley.

Back in April, my husband, Brian, had the opportunity to travel to Kenya with Pastor Rob and Vince from our church in Atlanta. Their trip was more of a fact finding, hammering out the details of what direction our church should take in Kenya. While he was there he had an incredible chance to meet Frances in Njure. Pastor Frances, as I call him, was not always a Pastor. He was an accountant that felt God calling him to minister to people affected with HIV/AIDS. Fast forward to now...he is pastoring/counseling two HIV/AIDS communities near Karima of widows/widowers and their families. These two communities, one named Hope and the other Victory, wanted to support themselves. They were saving and had a plan on how they were going to purchase some cows and then use the cows milk sales to help sustain their communities. They would put all of the money into a general account and which ever family had the biggest needs at that time, the community would come together and help that family out. Imagine that, living as a community, serving and helping each other out. When Brian returned home he told me about the HIV communities and I fell in love with them, without ever meeting them. I knew God wanted us to do something. Brian was diligent in seeking God out about how to help, with that we felt we were to give monies towards purchasing a cow. So together with our church we were able to purchase two cows, one for each community. Back in July, Brian and I attended a GOA (Glory Outreach Assembly) meeting with Bishop David from Kenya. While we were there, Brian was able to present, on behalf of the church, a check that would pay for the cows. It was an emotional giving, and I remember wondering and hoping that these cows would help these communities.

On Monday, November 24, Pastor Rob, myself and two other team members, Sheila and Sandy were given the opportunity to visit with Pastor Frances and some of the members of these two HIV communities (mainly widows). It was an amazing morning!!! I met Anna, a HIV positive mother of three, and we instantly became friends. She told me that she has been HIV positive for nine years and that her eldest child is HIV positive as well. Anna is so full of life and looks very healthy. She is able to take medications and she tries to take care of her body. In addition, Anna educates people on the truths about the HIV/AIDS virus and how it is contracted. She has such a sweet spirit about her. Once most of the widows arrived we had a time of worship and then we sat down to hear updates from the communities.

We heard some really great news. The cows that were purchased were healthy and yielding milk. One of the communities has been able to take care of families, purchase goats and hens. They will use the hens for the eggs, which they will sell. They have also had a little bit of surplus to plant some crops and buy food for the cows so the milk will be good. They also mentioned that they are saving to purchase another cow. The second community's cow was doing just as well. Once the updates were given the real emotional part came. Pastor Rob asked me to come up to the front of the room with him, mind you there were probably 30 widows and widowers in the room from each community. My heart was definitely with these brothers and sisters in Christ. We presented to the group money to purchase at least one more cow, we thought we had enough for two but turns out the cost of cows went up from the previous purchase. The people were so over joyed. Then Pastor Rob asked me to say something. I could barely stand there let alone say something. I was so emotional, so filled with love and compassion. I told them about how Brian came home and told me all about them. How I have been praying for them and how much I cared. It was amazing!

Then just when I thought it couldn't get more emotional...it did. A few of the widows wanted to serve us tea, made with the milk from one of the cows and bread. Now that might now sound like a lot to you or me, but it is a very big deal there. You see, the milk that they used to serve us could have been sold and the bread probably cost them a weeks wages. It was a very BIG DEAL. These widows served and gave us out of there need, out of their poverty. A truly beautiful gesture but one I still don't believe I deserved. We sat with some of the ladies and had the tea with bread, I cried through the whole experience. I am not even capable of putting into words my experiences that I had with these men and women that day. Hearing how they have been shunned from their families and society. Stories of children with AIDS, I know that it raises questions of why does God allow this? But do you know that these men and women don't get mad at God for the sickness that is upon them, rather they rejoice in the life that they have. They work together in community with each other to meet each others needs. They have learned what so many of us may never fully comprehend. How I wish God would eradicate AIDS and heal every single person inflicted with it!
I know that when I return to Kenya, God willing, this is where my heart is. Working with those who have this terrible disease. Sharing God's love with them, praying with them, crying with them and allowing God to use me. I am serious when I say I love these men and women, they hold a very special place in my heart. And I am thankful that God has given me such a big heart to be able to hold so much in there.
There are still many needs for these communities. Medicine, transportation to hospitals to receive treatments, schooling for their children and the list goes on and on...but for now it will start with two cows and the diligence and hard work of these communities will help to make their lives less stressful and meet their needs. God is awesome in how he provides!!!
I hope this entry makes sense, it is late and I am very tired and emotional writing this one...so I may have to come back and rewrite some of it, for the grammatical errors I apologize...

This blog will be about our Kenyan Safari at Lake Nakuru National Park...
Hakuna Matata!!!

I have read, viewed pictures and heard stories of this place. Now it is a reality, so much more than a picture in a book. I have to keep pinching myself because it seems so surreal...

My journey began on November 19, I left Brian and Selah, trying to be strong but ended up tearfully getting into my car for my drive down to Atlanta. Thankfully, we still have a house in the ATL so that is where I stayed for the evening. The fact that I was leaving for Kenya in less than 24 hours had not fully sunk in. I arrived in Atlanta and had the opportunity to spend some time with my good friend and neighbor, Davina. The time I got to spend with her helped to ease my nerves and her prayers for my forthcoming journey comforted me! Thank God for her! I ended up having to take a sleeping pill to aid me in my quest for a decent nights rest. It didn't work too well, I was wide awake at 3:00 AM.

Fast forward and it is now afternoon on November 20. I had lunch with my friend Shelly at Steak n Shake!!! My last hurrah of greasy American goodness, as I knew I would not have such an indulgence in Kenya! Once again, being with a good friend helped to ease my nerves! After lunch Shelly drove me over to my church just down the road. There the team was assembling to head down to the airport. At that moment, I found the nerves fading and excitement starting to fill me...it was all becoming real!

Once at the airport the realization of our journey for the next 20 + hours became very real. The first flight would take us to Amsterdam, there we would wait a couple of hours then off to Nairobi. I have to give props to KLM because we had two very pleasant flights. Way too much food though, it seemed like we were being fed every two hours! Also, thank God for in flight entertainment. 16+ hours on a plane can be a bit boring. However, on these flights I watched a few movies, TV shows and even played Tetris! Great distractions to keep one's mind off of that fact that you are flying over 30,000 feet above the earth in a metal tube! :)

Around 8:30 PM we find ourselves in the Nairobi airport. Going through the Immigration line took FOREVER!!! Thankfully all of our luggage arrived safely and as we walked out of the airport we were greeted by all of our Kenyan friends! It was a lovely welcoming and I was so excited to be there! From the airport we traveled to our accommodations and I didn't have any trouble falling asleep. The next eleven days will be jam packed and I was full of much anticipation!!!

I am now two days out from when I leave for Kenya, Africa! It has been such an emotional roller coaster preparing for this adventure. The emotions have ranged from estatic to fearful! Emotional about leaving my husband and daughter stateside while I go to a foreign land in which I have never been and have only seen pictures of. Wondering if I will be accepted? Wondering if I will be safe, healthy, happy I went, sorry I went...it goes on and on. You know the mind can be a very dangerous place if we allow ourselves to go there!
Why am I going to Kenya?
Mainly because I beleive that God said go... I want nothing more in my life than to please God, yet this is one of the biggest struggles of my life. My flesh wants to please itself and enjoy what the world has to offer. My spirit inside of me longs for the things of God. The desires that I believe he has placed in me, like going to a foreign land to love and share my experiences with God. Not my "American" experiences with God, people in third world countries can't benefit from that. I am thankful that I was born in America and I have the benefits of a great job, home, clothing, food on the table and I know God has provided ALL of that for me. I am talking about how God loves me, how is sustains me, gives me hope, heals me, comforts me and even is hard on me at times all because he loves me. The message of how he loves us all and wants us to have a relationship with him. He created us for him!!! The message of God is about LOVE!!! NOT prosperity!!! God could careless about what I wear, what I drive, how much money I have in the bank...he cares about my heart...is it pure, is it right with him...these are things that I believe transcend cultural boundaries. This is why I go...to share God's love.
What does that look like to me?
To me sharing God's love doesn't mean I have to go overseas, I should be doing it right here where I live in America. It is serving someone else and putting their needs above my own. On this trip for me it will be serving food to children, building, harvesting crops, working along side of the people I will meet. Most of all, just being there, available to be used however God wants to use me...