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We did arrive home safely yesterday.  We are pretty whipped out from 36 hours of travel.  Please look back through the site for photos.
Thank you all for your prayers.

Masa Mara

The team made a decision to use personal funds for a safari on the exit of our trip.  I cannot begin to tell you how the Lord has blessed us!  I'm sitting outside my tent listening to the baboons.  Today's treat was lions and lionesses feasting on a water buffalo, hyenas feasting on something, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, cheetahs, etc.  The list is too long to list.  It is the most spectacular thing I have ever seen and it brought tears to my eyes.  What a beautiful gift!
Please keep us in prayer tomorrow as we begin our journey home.

Flight Info

We leave Kenya 11:40am America time on Wednesday
We arrive on American Airlines Thursday  12:20pm

Mission Complete

Finished VBS on living for Christ today.  We left it all on the field.  We are completely poured out.  We said goodbye to our new brothers and sisters in Christ.  The 78 orphans, 8 widows were mighty prayer warriors (starting prior to our arrival), the many children and adults who attended and served.  God did amazing work in us and through us and inspite of us.
For those who contributed funds to me for medical needs I wanted you to know that you helped with the wheel chairs and a mosquito netting.  May you feel the blessing of the lives you helped change.
We hit the road for about 5 hours and are exhausted.  We might not post again while on this continent.  Thank you for your continued prayers for safe travels and healing for some bellies and a couple other minor medical issues. 

A Day Poured Out

Jay Case – Greetings! I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the last day of VBS. Today was amazing as I was blessed to give an altar call and many kids and adults came forward to give their lives for Christ. God knows their hearts and we should pray for them as they start their walk with Christ. We start our long journey home tomorrow and I look forward to seeing my family and friends! I thank God for our hosts here. They have been simply amazing and wonderful, giving us all the comforts of home with great cooking, showers, making our beds, washing our clothes, etc. Praise the Lord and Amen!


Becky Jo – Hey friends and family; today was another super duper day with all our Kenyan friends. We got to have an authentic African meal ( no teeth this time ) just some crossed eyeballs! No kidding! It makes you feel funny when your lunch is looking at you. I guess that is why you pray over your food so it doesn’t bite you back when you are not looking.


LaVon- Omosi ! So much to say but words are difficult to find….what an amazing people...what an amazing God we serve. We have been treated like kings and queens here. Before daylight there are folks working hard in the kitchen, outside preparing meats and food for the day. Every day our clothes are taken away and hand washed, then ironed, folded neatly and placed back in our rooms. We wake up every morning to the girls singing in school about 5 am and it is lovely. I spent some time today with the older girls . They surrounded me asking questions about America, about God and told me of their lives and dreams. The need is great here. We all have so many stories to tell…love you all ...pray for the people here please….


Linda – GADS, what to say! We’ve hung around with everyone from a Bishop to the Chief of Education, people from four tribes, Catholics, Baptists, etc. It’s been quite the journey! We have been contacted about working in several more areas of Kenya, one even being to the Masai tribe on a future trip! This area is really hungry for the work we do. A side blessing for me is that two Pastors with separate ministries who have never worked together before came together because of us and are looking forward to supporting the work they are both doing with widows and orphans. God is so good… working in ways we hadn’t even imagined. We are tired, having just about poured ourselves completely out on this mission and are now looking forward to our Safari tomorrow. Seeing God’s amazing creations should really perk us up! God bless each and every one of you who made this all possible, from those who supported us financially to those who cut out every little visor and stuffed every sticker into a baggie. You are part of the trip as well and we didn’t even have to pay baggage overage for you!



Wendy – I can’t believe that we are coming to the end of this wonderful journey. It has truly been life changing. The two young ladies that work in the home (Joshua’s daughter’s, Herena and Grace) have been a blessing. Besides taking wonderful care of us (cooking and cleaning), they love the Lord and it is visible on their faces. The people of Kenya are wonderful and I will miss them. It is impossible to explain why, you just have to come here and visit. VBS was good today…very hot, but good! The children are wonderful and I would love to bring them home with me. The widows are beautiful and elegant with their tattered clothes and craggy faces. Everything to them is about praising our Lord. I got to spend a lot of time with my adopted son Alex (I adopted him last year) and that was really a blessing. He is a tremendous man of God with a lot of responsibilities for such a young man. He has already taken in two orphans and he is only 25 years old. There is really no such thing as childhood in Africa. The very young take care of the REALLY young. It was really good seeing Boaz and his home today. Shane and the crew did a great job! I’m starting to get sad about saying goodbye. But I thank God that I had this amazing opportunity!!!!!

Mark- Wow! What a great trip! I had some issues with my malaria medication, combined with the heat that set me back a bit, but Lavon hooked me up with some good nursing. I’ve met some awesome people here, most of whom you’ve heard about, so I won’t repeat. I will echo what Wendy said about Boaz’ house, though. Great job Shane! It was also wonderful to meet Alex and his family, as well as having Alex as a “roomie” with Jay and I for the last week, which gave me a chance to get to know him. One other person who’s really left a mark on me is Pastor Haren Witende Ahora from Nakano. He’s also doubled as our driver when we go out to visit the widows or today to see Boaz and Alex. I’ve had a lot of time to get to know him and I don’t know that I’ve met a more humble, God-fearing man in my life. His life story is incredible, too long to tell here. He is built like a linebacker (which is kind of unusual here), so the women feel very safe in his care. The children here are incredible and everybody is so sincere and humble and very inquisitive about America. They also think that we’re all rich – one teenage girl asked me if we have poverty in America and if so, do they look like me (i.e. white), which she obviously didn’t think was plausible. Last note for Jeff (Miles): Kosmos from Touchstone Christian Fellowship of Chemali asked me personally to send his greetings to you (at Boaz’ house, where we ate after inspecting the house and the church (with a new roof)). He also showed me a picture on his phone of the TCFC church meeting today under a tree in his village (there were about ten or so people). I might be screwing up the village name, because that’s the name of Boaz’ church and the TCF church is several villages away, but you get the idea. That’s it for now from Kamagaga.

Theresa-I don't need to add anything because my teamates did such an amazing job!

Day 3 VBS

Breakfast has been a trip with eggs, beans, and popcorn.  Oh my goodness, that popcorn  is good for breakfast! 
Some of the teenagers accepted Christ today.  It was lots of fun for the kids, learning about forgiveness.  It was very muddy and fun.  Kip and Tammy (skit chacters) kept them entertained.  Wendy did an amazing Prodigal Son story.  I loved watching the kids do the songs and memory verses. 
The afternoon was another outing  to pray for church leaders.  There was food delivered to a widow and medical treatment given to another.  I know that oftentimes we look to these blogs for uplifting stories.  To be honest, it is heart-wrenching here.  Do we shelter you from the truth, or do we expose what is really happening here?  I think that we've kept our blinders on for too long.  The second widow we visted was ill, laying on a urine-soaked bamboo mat with swarms of mosquitos.  She had two grandchildren next to her.  The girl was about seven years old, taking care of a small child who was crying.  It was obvious  they had not eaten.  They were both so distant.  Some basic medical needs were met, as well as hydration.  Sadly, all that we had with us was candy.  Some basic needs that we are working on are a mosquito net, antibiotics, and food.
Tomorrow we teach on love and offer an altar call.  Please pray for open and receptive hearts.

Post from Becky Jo Day 2 of Teacher Training

Greetings from Africa all you cutie pies. Yippee, we just finished day 2 of teacher training we had so much fun! I was almost blinded today and not from the sun but from the smiles on all the faces of all my new Kenyan friends.  I did think I was gonna melt away today, but I didn't and Jay did

Day 2 VBS

The church we visited yesterday, Waware-Christian Church, adopted Mark and Wendy.
We visited old friends yesterday; Boaz, Helen, Daniel & Jack.  What a blessing to see  them all again this side of heaven. 
Beautiful day full of smiles and laughter.  We taught on sin.  We shared how to make good and bad  decisions. I love that we can learn about God and have so much fun doing it.  The girls tried to teach us to dance.  They are amused by our short pants. We just love their joyous dance and praise.  It's admirable and I hope we  glean some of that!
This afternoon we visited a church in another village.  The church was Kibigori-Christian Church.   They gave us another grand welcome.  It was a beautiful open air church in the middle of beautiful lush greenery.  We shared again and did a craft.  It was a huge blessing for us to know that God used the Muzungu (white people) to draw visitors to the church.  This church adopted LaVon and I.

Mark was given a chance to drive.  He didn't hit a cow, get stuck in a ditch or anything.  It was most impressive.
Wendy had a rat run accross her foot and and scared her like crazy.
Please continue to pray for those we have contact with as well as ourselves.

To Dawn from Alex

Hi Dawn, I know what you are passing through.  I know God is in control.  Just hold on him.  He will see you through.  Especially now that you have lost and extended memeber of your family.  Jesus is in control.  Otherwise, I wish you the best in life.  I love you, Alex.

Day 1 VBS

I sit here and blog in the dark; power outage.  We had a nice first half of the day!  It  was a huge blessing!  My heart skipped a beat with  all those little ones. We had about 400 children.  It was so awesome.  Today they learned about creation.
The afternoon was a time of heart tugging .  We delivered a couple of wheelchairs to the ladies from yesterday.  We then went to the widow's church.  What a huge blessing to see such joy. 
I can't wait to share photos.  It takes too long to upload from here .
Tomorrow is the second day of VBS.

Teacher Training Wrap Up

Linda- There were 4 tribes represented; Luo, Luhya, Kalenjin, and Kisii, We’ve been contacted by many pastors for return trips. Becky and I were given new names. Linda is Akinyi which means joyful and principled; no nonsense. Becky is Anyango which means born in the morning and joy.


Becky-What a way to celebrate my birthday in Africa. Celebrated with our new family and friends. Last day of training is over and we shook everyone’s hand. Now I’ll never play the piano again. What a joy it was.

Wendy-We went to visit some widows. We visited Eunice and Ambori. Ambori was very old in a room with a terrible mattress that hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. The smell of waste filled the room. In the past her husband was an official of the church. He had worked hard but did not provide anything for her. We also visited Eunice’s; she was a second wife who had no children and was widowed. When the husband had died the other wife kicked her out. Two wheel chairs were purchased for Ambori and Nagogo (from yesterday).


Mark has no input so I’ll input for him=) Mark made a great Scruffy and stole the show! Wendy and Mark brought bubbles and the kids loved them. We can’t keep that servant heart from staying out of the kitchen doing dishes. He will hardly let any of us in to share the duty.

Jay-Wish you were here. Would love the help. Hot, hot, hot. God is good!

Jerry- What’s up?

LaVon-Goat taste good.


Alex-(Yes, Wendy kidnapped him) He needs another day to think of what to share.

Theresa-I got a chance to make chipati today. It was a blessing to cook with the girls. It’s a way to really connect when we chip in and help. My favorite story today is that we had this gentleman who was less fortunate than others and you could tell in his clothing and his demeanor. He came to the front when Becky pulled him to help with costumes. He was so downcast. When he was done Linda gave him a hug and he walked away with the biggest smile. It was refreshing. We wrapped up teacher training and it was so amazing. Tomorrow starts VBS. We are so excited.

There are a couple of upset tummies so please pray. Pray also that there will be many changed hearts this week.

Day 2 Teacher Training

Becky had a sassy little post but we had technology challenges so it disappeared.  Technology seems to be the issue for us.  Even the phone that allowed 2 calls no longer works.  It may just be time for a technology fast. 

Day 2 of teacher train had about 250 people.  The message was received well.  I love hearing Joshua share the thoughts from the pastors and teachers.  They get it and are excited to not only apply it in their children’s ministry but also their churches. 

I’ve been the behind the camera girl and I get to see this trip through my lens.  One of the highlights

for me so far has been to witness Mark, our newbie on the mission field, interact with the children.  Although it is not VBS time, there is a lot of children present at Teacher Training.  The scene reminds me of what it must have looked like when the little children were coming to Jesus.  He has such a gentle spirit and is a magnet for the kids. 

Some home to home visits were done and it was difficult to see.  A heart wrenching moment came when a visit to the widow Nagoga who was a previous runner was found alone.  She is unable to walk and had sores on her lower extremities from dragging herself around.  Some funds were gathered and a wheelchair will be purchased for her.

Joshua and Abigale are not only hospitable but resourceful as well.  After our teachings they utilize the tents and PA system for a revival.  It’s a brilliant use of God’s resources!

We are all feeling well. Thank you for all the encouragement and prayers.  They are the backbone of this ministry. 

Yeah

Luggage arrived and showers have been taken.  Medical care has been administered to one of the pastors with a wound.  It's 10:30 p.m. and there seems to be a revival still going on.  Prayers for some rest=)

1st Day of Teacher Training

Travel to Miwani went great.  We had a sweet flight that took all of 35 minutes.  The crazy part is the bus ride to the terminal took almost half  that time:)  Luggage is a comedy of errors.  4 of our bags were left in Nairobi.  Things are a bit stinky around here.  We are praying it shows up soon.
Our hosts have opened up our home to this whole group.  They are so gracious!
The welcome was phenomenal.  We were greeted at the airport with banners and singing. When we got close, we were greeted by a Mardi Gras-like celebration.  There was a huge paper mache man about 8 feet tall that led us down the road by a parade-like entrance.  Honestly, it was both hospitable but embarrassing.  The church has it right, that all the glory goes to God.
Today was the first day of teacher training and there were about 250 people.  They are loving the training. Joshua is inviting the Officer of Education out to review and glean info. and possibly invite Fifty5five back to educate at the schools. 
Glory to God for the work that is being accomplished. 
Please pray for our luggage to arrive.  Please pray for continued health.  Please pray for sleep and energy.

Arrived Safely

Great flights.  Our long flight was delightful as it wasn't a full plane and we were able to stretch out and nap.  What a gift!  All of the luggage arrived too.  Thanks for the prayers. 
Spending the night in Nairobi then off to the village.
--
Blessings,
Theresa

First stop

Safely in LA next stop Dubai.
Blessings,
Theresa

3 Days till Departure

The time is fastly approaching.  Please keep our team in prayer over the following:

Team: Linda, Becky, Jay, Jerry, Mary, Mark, Wendy, LaVon, & Theresa.
Luggage: 18 suitcases, 9 carry-on's , and 9 backpacks (pray it all makes it and in 1 piece)
Pastor Joshua and Abigail as the finalize details for Teacher Training and VBS
Other Pastors we'll be working with: Shem, Boaz, and more.
Safe Travels: travel dates 4/8-4/10 and 4/20-4/21
Prepared hearts for all those we encounter as well as our own.
Wisdom, discernment, and courage to follow the will of God and bring Him Glory.
The perfect matched interpreter for Becky.
Seriously super immunity!