Unchained Melody

In the past two weeks I have been back to the Baby Centre for one day, at Tenwek Hospital, and on safari in the Mara!  And I leave this Thursday night.  I can barely believe it.  I have been so blessed to have seen and experience so much in all my time here.  Here's a random assortment of things that happened and what I thought about them... an unchained melody.

-On our day back at the Baby Centre, there was an adoption!  I'm thankful to have experienced that joyful moment for my last day there, and that another precious girl now has a forever family.  I loved what her new daddy said (roughly paraphrased).  "I'm a man of few words, but I am a man of action... it's not her and us, she is one of us now."  I admire this family for doing as God has called and welcoming a precious daughter into their family.  I remember first wanting to adopt children (in the future obviously) when I was about 9 or 10.  After meeting orphans and seeing different orphan care ministries on this trip, I think it's a given for my future.  The church needs to majorly step it up in this area, but I think that's going to be a separate post.

-Tenwek Hospital (in Bomet) is a really, really awesome place.  There is a very rich history of awesome missionaries serving God and others unconditionally.  Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse are huge supporters as is WGM.  I really love the community that the missionaries have there, the kids call the other adults "Aunt" and "Uncle" and run freely among the homes of the other families.  There was also great camaraderie among the volunteers.  A group of us went on a hike up to the highest peak around, with an awesome 360 view.  I love to be in God's creation, and we enjoyed some great conversation and views on the way up and down.  At the top of the hill, there was a group of school kids who were fascinated to see us.  A comment by one of the kids made me so sad.  He said, "Americans call us black monkeys don't they?"  I explained that we do NOT.  It's interesting what people's perceptions can be of other cultures.

-Kayla and I went out one day with Tenwek Community Health, to an immunization clinic for babies.  The most interesting part was when the kids from the nearby school started walking home and noticed me inside the building.  So they started stopping in the road to stare through the windows at the fascinating mzungu (white person).  So I decided I might as well go out and say hello.  I've been stared at a lot here in Kenya, and kids are always very excited to greet us, but this was to a whole new level.  Kayla and I demonstrated a high five and then all the kids wanted to high five me!  It was strange (and kinda flattering).  It's moments like this that remind me that I'm an outsider here.  I've been thinking a lot about this and the implications it has for cross-cultural ministry anywhere.  However, in Christ, we are all the same.

-We also got to go on our safari in the Mara.  It is truly beautiful, unlike anywhere else I've ever been.  Upon arrival, Kayla and I were greeted in the traditional Maasai fashion, by men dressed in the traditional red color, chanting and singing.  At the end, they all started jumping, and man, can they jump high!  Our cabin was open on one side, and we could see the river from inside.  There is also a large hippo population in the area so we would hear them all the time.  Did you know hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa?  Anyways, it was so great to just hang out in the cabin and be totally focused on relaxing and have time to really think over everything that has happened in the past 7 weeks... which is a lot!  We went on safari drives in the late afternoon and early morning, and managed to see every animal except for the leopard, though not for lack of trying.  We saw a cheetah every time we went out, though not one running full out, some lions getting ready to hunt, and A BABY ELEPHANT.  That was probably my favorite.  There were some awesome sunrises and sunsets, and so many beautiful landscapes.

Pictures will tell the best safari stories, I'll try and post some soon!  I can't believe I leave this Thursday night, and I'll be home Friday afternoon.  Bless the Lord oh my soul!

1,000 Words

Pray for Kayla and as we head to the Baby Centre for a few hours then on to Tenwek Hospital for about a week and a half.  We will go on safari in that time as well, which I am super excited for!  Here are some pictures from life in Kenya up to now...

 Feeding a giraffe!

Our gorgeous (and bumpy!) drive to the Maasai village

A Maasai Village

These past two days have been packed and awesome.  Yesterday we did a clinic in a Maasai village.  It was over an hour away from here, and the last few miles off the main road were exactly like you would picture safari driving in Africa.  Our convoy slowly bumped and wobbled along, but the views were exquisite!  I've decided that if I ever live here or somewhere with similar road quality, I'm going to have an SUV, all my past  preferences for small cars with great gas mileage gone in a flash.  Anyways, we were surrounded by gently rolling hills, with golden grass, acacia trees, and cows!  The Maasai measure wealth in cows.  There were patches of light and shadow as clouds rolled across the sky.  The clinic was being held at a church, and the kids were excited when we pulled into the yard.  It is the Maasai custom that an older person greets a child by touching the top of their head, so I was surrounded by a crowd of kids, their heads slightly bowed waiting to be greeted.  Men and women wear large earrings and gauges, and the women wear colorful patterned wraps and the men wear the traditional red plaid cloths.  The women carry bows and the men carry rungus (wood club things).  The Maasai are known for being fierce!  The clinic moved along pretty smoothly, and I loved getting to see this tiny slice of Maasai life, and a part of Kenya different than any I've been to yet. Today we went to the Rift Valley Academy graduation, a boarding school for missionary kids that several WGM kids attend.  It was crazy to think that I was in the same position only two years ago, as I remembered all the emotions of graduation day.  And most of those kids are heading a lot further to go to college than I am, leaving the friends they've lived with for the last several years and their home continent.  I can only imagine how that feels.  Kayla and I head to Tenwek hospital on Tuesday, where we will be spending time at an orphanage and doing a safari!  Pray for our new hosts, and our adjustment to go smoothly.

God's Child

He cries, the high soft sound of a child in severe, continuous, pain.  Sitting on the couch, he looks to be about 5 or 6, but he's 10.  AIDS and cancer have ravaged his tiny body.  The cancer swells in his belly, his lymph nodes so swollen that they press on nerves, hence the tears.  I watch, powerless.  Oh Lord, bring Him your peace.  Thank you that he knows You.  Thankfully, Robyn adjusts his medication and within 20 minutes he is sound asleep.  Now to tell his orphanage "parents" the news.  I know that God will redeem this whether it is in healing his body or bringing him home soon, but seeing the journey to that point is not easy.

New Adventures

Finally!  I'm sorry I've been slacking on this whole blog thing just like I said I wouldn't, but life has been pretty crazy!  It seems that God has other plans for the second half of my time here!  I'm currently in Nairobi working with another WGM missionary who is a nurse.  Today we went to a boy's home and did some simple physicals.  I helped count medications and sign people in.  We really take healthcare for granted in the US- some of these kids were simply getting Tylenol, but it will help them a lot with basic things that they have going on.  Thus, my time at AGC Baby Centre is over.  However, I'm excited for the new adventures with God in Nairobi, and also at the famed Tenwek Hospital in Bomet in the coming month.  Mary leaves on Friday, and Kayla, my new fellow VIA comes in the same night.  So it's a big week of transition!  Needless to say, I have learned a lot about flexibility, which everyone says is important for a missionary to have.  God is sovereign and He is faithful.

Here's a fun cultural story of another new adventure I've had here.  On Saturday, there was a 5k/half marathon with proceeds going to Baby Centre sponsored by a local university.  We rolled in "on time" and no one really knew where or when the race was starting or where registration was.  So we waited around for awhile, and then set off on an adventure to find out.  We managed to find bib numbers, and vague directions to the starting line.  Team Baby Centre (for the 5k) was finally assembled with our matching t-shirts (printed backwards nonetheless).  They read, "I may not always win... but I'm never left behind," citing Deuteronomy 31:6.  We found the starting line, but the race had already started!  There wasn't time for us all to go the full 5k, but we were granted one lap (of the campus), complete with a start from the starting gun and lots of enthusiasm from everyone.  Let me also point out that I am in the country in the world known for having the best and fastest runners, and in an area where the specific "runner tribes" are the majority.  And its 6,000 feet above sea level.  And I'm not that great of a runner, plus I basically live at sea level the rest of the time.  I decided to sneakily take the supportive team member approach and stayed with the last member of team Baby Centre so that we crossed the finish line together for our wonderful 5k that was really only a 2k.  On the upside, the entire rest of the team was there to cheer for us!  A little while after that, we went to watch the finish of the half marathon.  Oh. My. Goodness.  These people really were made by God to run.  It's like watching art in motion.  Even kids of 7 or 8 have the stride and proportions and form down and look so graceful!  I'm still laughing.  Of ALL the countries in the world to run a 5k (or a 2k), Kenya.  Well, hopefully this altitude will help me actually go somewhere running before feeling like my lungs are going to burst.

Pray:
- peace and purpose in this time of transition
- for Baby Centre and other WGM ministries in Kenya
- for Mary as she is leaving and Kayla as she is coming in
- for God's heart and eyes for these people

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