Hope

This is baby Hope!  She arrived yesterday at only a few hours old!  And it was a total coincidence that I was wearing a Hope shirt.  She is SO TINY oh my goodness.  I think all the blankets might have actually weighed more than her.  (But really).  What a privilege to hold a child so young, to be part of her very first hours on earth.  Because of where I go to school, the concept of hope is huge for me, as my time at and journey to Hope are such huge evidences of God working in my life.  It represents a home and a time of great spiritual growth.  This baby (the first one to arrive at the AGC Baby Centre while I've been here) has been a huge reminder from God that He called me here this summer.  It's a huge blessing to have that reminder.  I went down to help feed her for the 10:30 feeding last night.  It was so peaceful, with all the little babies sleeping, to just sit with Hope and try and make her eat.  I'm becoming more comfortable with the routine here, and this little darling has brought such joy.  Bless the Lord oh my soul!

Today, I went to Salgaa for the first time.  There is a ministry to prostitutes there through the Africa Gospel Church (parent of AGC Baby Centre).  Wow.  The work team that has been here has been there as well, so we broke into several groups and went to visit the women in their homes.  The woman my group visited with told us her story with unswerving honesty, although there were tears on her face at times (and others in the room as well).  Through the combination of her life circumstances, she ended up in her situation- a situation that very quickly became a trap.  Now, she has accepted salvation and attends the support group part of the ministry, yet her life is still very hard.  We encouraged her.  We prayed for her.  We shared scripture with her.  We cried with her and for her, and for the countless other women in that situation.  Though I walked away heartbroken for her situation, she still has heard the Gospel.  She has knowledge of the one thing that can save her.  There is hope in that!  To see her through God's eyes, a beautiful and broken child, is to see hope.

"Those who sow with tears, will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying their sheaves with them." --Psalms 126:5-6

A Good Afternoon

Yesterday we ran afoul of some chicken salad, not leading to the best 24 hours ever.  Ah well, it happens.  Thus, I spent the day sleeping, reading, watching movies, doing sudoku puzzles, and wishing I was at home.  Today we were supposed to help lead a girl's Bible study at the local church, which I was super excited about.  Teen girls are an age group that I love to work with, and they have a much higher chance of understanding English than the babies!  We got there to find that there was a work team from a college and Tennessee there.  Oh joy!  People my own age!  The kids were having so much fun playing with the team, and only a few showed up any way, that Staci decided to just let everyone relax and hang out.  I had a great talk with one of the team leaders who is actually the daughter of the famed Dr. Steury of Tenwek Hospital (WGM hospital in Kenya).  She was really encouraging and just brought me an awesome sense of peace, with her easygoing personality and experience with missions and Kenyan culture.  Then some Kenyan college students showed up for a big game of volleyball.  Volleyball is not on my list of specialties, but it was so great to have really good conversations and have people encourage me in what I'm doing.  I definitely fed off the work team's energy, which was so welcome after being cooped up in the apartment.  I'm realizing how used I am to having people around me all the time, to come here and have a different situation is a little bit daunting and lonely.  Don't get me wrong, the people I am with are great, I'm just used to having a cluster or building or campus or house full of people, and my phone to easily communicate with any of them no matter where I am.  Today was good though.  It was encouraging and energizing, and finally got me out of the haze of literal sickness and homesickness. I'm really excited to go to church tomorrow to help with Sunday school, interact with the team more and have worship.  Bless the Lord oh my soul!

Pray for:
- peace, presence, purpose, patience. (alliteration for the win)
- meaningful relationships to be built and deepened
- communication

The First Days

Well, I'm here and I'm alive and unharmed.  I have already experienced so much in just a week after leaving home!  I made my first international flight by myself to London (yes Mama, I had a cup of tea on the plane) where I met up with my mission buddy for the next 5 weeks Mary.  We went to our hotel, and then rode the Underground into the city!  I have dreamed of going to London for as long as I can remember, and it was even teh Queen's Jubilee weekend!  Crowds of people really are the same anywhere you go though (and all the tourists can't agree what side of the side walk to on), and Buckingham palace was closed off for the festivities.  Westminster Abbey was awesome, and I even got the quintessential picture peeking out of a red phone booth.  Our train passes were good all day, so we ended up just riding around finding cool places to go- that was my favorite thing- having the freedom to go anywhere in the city.  And I even got to Platform 9 3/4.  Life goal accomplished.  London is someplace I most certainly want to explore again with more time, maybe not on the weekend of the Queen's Jubilee, or a month before the Olympics start.  A rainy Tuesday would be perfect.  Our flight to Nairobi the next day was a little delayed, so we didn't get in until pretty late.  After an agonizing wait for my bags (I think they were the very last ones off the plane, and I was very afraid of losing my luggage!) we met Staci, our host missionary and went to the WGM guest house in Nairobi.  Thus, I didn't get my first glimpse of Kenya in the daylight until the next morning when we started the 3 hour drive to Nakuru.  Its the rainy season, so everything is really green!  Its beautiful.  The Baby Centre is about 15 minutes out of Nakuru, on a very bumpy dirt road, surrounded by fields of maize and red-roofed houses.  Mary and I are sharing a guest apartment.
Working with the babies has been harder than I thought.  There is always someone crying, and not all of them are used to seeing white people.  I'll get more into my thoughts on being here in another post.  Adjusting has been trickier than I thought- this isn't glamorous folks.  It's noisy and messy, and there are more kids that need attention than I possibly have limbs for.  I'm trying to learn the names of the babies and the staff, and find the ways that I can be a help and blessing to this ministry.  The kiddos are napping right now, so Mary and I have an organizing project in the office.  I know that this is what God has planned for me this summer, and that I will feel more comfortable as time goes on, I'm just really overwhelmed right now!

Please pray for:
- continued relationship building with the kids and especially the staff
- better understanding of accented English!  I hate having to ask people to repeat what they've said when I should be able to understand it
- senses of purpose and peace
- as always, for God to move mightily!