Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

As Shakespeare wrote: parting is such sweet sorrow.  It came time to say good bye to our Kenyan Team who we've spent so much time with over the years.  This time was extra special.  We watch God grow them in the ministry.  We watched how the Lord molded together a team with different gifts and talents.  God has formed them into His Fifty5five team of Kenya.  I tear up for so many reasons.  Selfishly I tear up not knowing if I will see them again this side of Heaven but knowing our hearts are forever bonded in Him.  Also, because I see God unfolding a bigger work than I could have ever imagined.  He has equipped His Kenyan children to equip more of His Kenyan children.  Missionaries from America often go and serve in other parts of the world but are asked is is lasting?  Our goal at Fifty5five is always to train up teachers and to work ourselves out of a job in a country.  We want to train up the locals to train up the locals.  We want to teach them to fish not give them a fish.  We've seen it in India.  We are seeing it again in Kenya.  Thank you Lord for what you have done and what You continue to do!

A Spoantaneous Training

I had originally planned to do a second Teacher Training but the additional orgainization did not follow through with me on their contact.  We always go into this with a general plan but are totally open to the Spirits prompting.  Watch Him work!  On the flight out to Ethiopia Lavon was seated next to a very intoxicated man.  He kept the whisky shots coming.  It came to a point that she had to move.  She was seated next to an Ethiopian businessman.  They began to talk and she shared how why we were going to Ethiopia.  He had been on business in Dubai.  He had taken on a task from his church to seek cirriculum for the Sunday School teachers.  He came back empty handed.  LaVon game him our contact information and he contacted me while we were in Sendafa.  I went to Addis one day (you may have read the post from Patty explaining the treck to get there in a previous post) and met him for coffee to chat with him more.  I explained that we do not provide curiculumn but tools on delivery of teaching.  We agreed that he would set up a training within 3 days.  He delivered.  We spent 1 day in Addis and went to his small open air church.  When we arrived there were about 5 people but by the end it had multiplied to over 50.  They were delighted to receive a mini training in 4 hours and are eager for us to come back so they can connect for the full training.  They also video taped the whole session so that those who could not join could view it.  A few faces from Sendafa also came.  It is always such a joy to see God's plan roll out and us just being open to His prompting.  The Kenyan team also did some of the story telling.  They grew so much from this training.  We were so proud of them.  It brings tears to my eyes like a parent to watch them grow.

VBS

We hosted a 2 day VBS in Sendafa.  There were over 200 children.  Teacher Training is our primary goal but what I always say VBS is the icing on the cake.  It is always such joy to see those little faces and watch them jump to new songs.
We took them out to play with the parachute but it was a bit muddy/slimmy and that was most interesting.
At one point during training one could hardly hear anything from the PA system over the pounding rain on the metal roof.
The most interesting part of the VBS was plugging the Kenya team in.  They were now doing their 'practical' part of their training.

Wrap up for Teacher Trainining in Sendafa, Ethiopia

(7/17) We wrapped up 3 days of Teacher Training in Sendafa. I can not begin to tell you how I see God's hand in this whole orchestration of events.  I had coffee many months ago with a local Ethiopian who's NGO we worked with in Ethiopia last year.  He connected us to the Center for Child Development.  They did not comprehend what it was we did but were trusting their friends' referal.  He told me that the training they received filled a gap that they were missing.  They were trying to figure out how to nurture creativity in the kids but they themselves were not taught how.  The story telling and props were so complimentary to their own program.  The trainees also asked losts of questions on discipline, personalities, etc.  The fruit of this training is like that of a new level.  These trainees will go on to train others.
Let me tell you a bit about the facility.  Those that attended received diplomas from an 18 month program through the Center for Child Development.  The training is funded by Compassion.  May times these are children that were raised by the aid of Compassion and want to give back,  It is pretty incredible.
We are in the process of working with the center to form a partnership.  If you are considering a trip you might want to pray about Ethiopia next year=-)

Training in Sendafa

(7/15) I write this update Wednesday in the wee hours of the morning with the howls of the hyenas in the back ground. 
Fifty5five teams (Kenyan and US) are reunited. Thank you for your prayers. We all arrived safely on Tuesday.
We are very excited to see the Lord work. We had originally intended to go to Tanzania as well as Ethiopia. But, the Lord had different plans for us. It is beautiful to see His plan carried out. Our Kenyan Team will finish their training with us and will take over training in Kenya and maybe more. Liston is a great man of prayer and faith. I feel confident God will use him and his/His team in a mighty way. Thank you to Oak Ave Church for their contribution that helped make it possible for them to travel and meet us.
I'd like to introduce our team.  Our Kenyan Team is Bishop Liston, Sophia, Mary, and Seth. This will be Liston's 5th time with us. Two of those he coordinated the training. The others have attended 2-3 times.  They are all from Kissii.
Our American Team consists of Becky Jo and Linda who are the primary trainers. Bob who's primary duties are to video the training to allow us to get the training to those who we cannot travel to for safety reasons and to leave as a training tool for those we do train. LaVon is part of the core team. She'll be working closely with our Kenyan teams on prep work as well as numerous parts of training. She helps it run like a well oiled machine. Lastly myself, Theresa. I have the privilege of coordinating the trip and the details that come with it. Thank you to all those who support our fundraisers and individual contributions. Thank you to our families at Touchstone Christian Fellowship, Warehouse of Elk Grove, and Lakeside who are instrumental in supporting us. 
Our loved ones make a huge sacrifice supporting us as we travel abroad a couple times a year. For those who have loved ones on the trip please know we are having phone issues but may have wifi. So an emails may reach them. As awesome as it is to unplug it is also valuable to get encouragement from home.
Thank you all for your prayer support.  You are the backbone of this ministry.
Please pray for the teacher training over the next 3 days.

Day 1 Teacher Training

(From 7/16) Training was wonderful. The Center for Child Development brought in their degreed teacher trainers. They will then take the training and teach others.
The people were immediately engaging and animated.
Many are video recording the training. This is confirmation that a video to leave with them is important  (that is what Bob is doing).
The coordinator shared that they do not use props. They also do not nurture creativity and that is their goal. They were so excited to see the storytelling with props. 
Everyone is doing well. Maybe a little sleep deprived but not complaining. The accommodation are missionary top notch. We are housed onsite. It's lovely to save on travel time.

No New Info

Just in case you were wondering, I have had no additional information to post.  Both Jeff and Mike had heard from Lavon and Theresa so they know they are safe.  Please continue to pray for endurance, sleep and an out pouring of the Holy Spirit.