Dedicating the baby center

Tromping down the stairs to deliver Trena her ringing cell phone, still sleepy and in my PJ, I was not planning on staying, but when I rounded the corner I was called by Sarah into the conversation by the staff. Tom, Emmanuel and Sarah were discussing how the devil is the one who tempts (not sure how awake I was for this kind of early morning conversation, but I was not going to miss it) this quickly proved to be a great start of the day.

Someone throughout the day commented about how I have been able to be apart of the start of the baby center full circle, and this morning event reminds me of the first "family" dinner with the staff. Trena has wanted to create a family environment with the staff, so has made Monday nights eating together as a family. The first Monday we were here I was able to see how God has anointed this place because Tom, the Massai nightwatchman, began to ask questions about forgiving others who have wronged him. This conversation led to a discussion about salvation in Christ. How amazing and full circle it was to see Tom again asking questions the morning of the house dedication.

People began to pour into the yard and Trena welcomed them like the gracious hostess of a house filled with love. I have been amazed to watch and learn all that she has shared in the process of "building" a house. Children gathered on the lawn and adults claimed seats in the plastic chairs as Stan began to play his guitar and the Kenyan group began to sing. As Trena shared the process of Haven of Hope and vision for the ministry, we listened to how God has unfolded and sped through the process of getting a house, setting up staff, and bring us to this time ready for babies to come. As I looked around I realized I was surrounded by the hand of God, He had sent me here to build relationships with people and I was delighted to see those around me where not just people, but friends.

Trena had asked Deborah to explain for people to pray over the house as a foundation before babies arrive. This was my favorite part of the day as everyone spread out around the yard, house and rooms lifting prayers for the ministry. As we drove back from town tonight, I shared with Trena the peace I have about not having pressure to feel the need to get the babies before I leave in a week. I have a confident assurance after today, I have come and completed what God has sent me to do as the "second set of hands" I have come and helped set up the house for the babies.

While I'm at it, here are some fun pictures...

Adopting my baby elephant Kudup.


Amy and I at giraffe center

"KISSING" the giraffe (i was told I had to do it, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, uck!)

Baby Rhino at elephant orphange

Another busy week

Monday-July 20 We were able to meet the HFBC team at Flomina. It was fun to watch the kids introduce themselves and try to shake hands with everyone. Here I am with the kids in their uniforms. I know many teachers from my school donated money to help pay for the uniforms, so it was important for me to see them coming home from school with them on.

Tuesday-July 21 Picking up Hezekiel and Tyson from Nairobi Children's Home with Janice, Naomi, Laura, and Jackie. We were able to see the dining room and hold some kids while Janice and Trena talked with the admin, about picking up the boys. This was the day I was hit with the reality of a lot of the children in the country and their situations. Below is Tyson and Me near the playground at the clinic.

Wednesday-July 22 Visiting Mike Eden's place, again we were blessed to visit with the HFBC team. Since Monday, Trena and I have been without power (cold showers are not fun) and then we lost the ability to pump water from the borehole, so were without water. (we are in Kenya :) So when we were offered to have warm showers at Brackenhurst by the team, Trena and I willingly woke up early that morning to drive to the hotel. Below are pictures of the kids of Eden.

Thursday-TODAY!!! We are going to meet with the lady from Nairobi Children's Home, she has prepared a list of files for Trena to look through to see if any of the babies match the ages she is trying to target and accept for the home.

Miracles of God are often mistaken for a daily event that has gone our way.

If we chose to acknowledge the event as something we made happen we take our eyes off what God is doing and try to steal His glory. The miracles of God are all around us, are we willing to step away from ourselves so we can see His greatness? A song we sung as children defines a miracle as a supernatural intervention of God, I expect a miracle.

The past few days God has been working soooo fast it is hard to even keep up with what He is doing much less have time to blog about the events. So here's a quick run down of the events:

7/17/09 praying the night before we did not want to have to travel to Kajaido in order to submit more paperwork, but felt a peace about staying home, I think we rested well that night with the thought of a slow morning. Friday morning we had a message from the children's department officer that he would be in Ngong that day, so we could come there instead. (the Ngong offices are 5 minutes from home and the Kajaido an hour and 30 minutes) another of the small miracles was that he even called to tell us. When meeting with him, he said was very polite and said he was even encouraged by our progress with the paperwork. Our goal that day was to get a letter from the department saying that we could accept children. Although we didn't get a letter, we are close, he told us that if we have children identified that needed homes along with their background, then he would give us the approval to accept them.

7/18/09 meeting the Houston First Baptist team to feed the community around Heshima. What fun as the children played and were able to eat rice/veggies prepared by the teachers.

7/19/09 Amy spent the night and we got up to travel to elephant orphange, giraffe center, and market. I was able to drive the two of us around all day and only had to call for directions once!

7/20/09 Flomina orphanage was where we spent the day with the Houston team. We again played with the kids, they were so cute as they would start with a handshake, but then not let go of your hand and cling to it as we walked around the compound. The morning started with an amazingly smooth trip to the area with no traffic and plenty of time to pick out fabric for the rest of the baby rooms.

God is so good, because that is His nature and it is fun for me to see Him reveal Himself.

Visiting Amy at Brackenhurst

Amy's here from Houston! I have been looking forward to her visit for the last few weeks. She had scheduled her trip after I knew I was coming, but we have both been looking forward to our time together here in Kenya. She is going to be teaching this week on discipleship and I have the blessing of being with her on the first day. I have enjoyed the refreshing time of being with a friend, while building experiences together at the same time. Last night as we waited for the fire to die down in the cottage, we remembered how only last summer we were touring Israel together with our sisters. Oh how we wish they were here with us!

We have to keep pinching ourselves as we walk down the path, or sit with Jamie and Mimi at dinner. Are we really in Kenya together? Today after a wonderful time of worship at church, we were able to go to town with friend's of Jamie's for lunch. Building friendships, that was what I had asked for in my journey, what a blessing to see that happening.

Sorry for the delayed update, but here it is...

Moving Day! (or shifting as they say in Kenya)

Rolling over on the new blue mattress we bought the day before at Nakumatt, it hit me, if I were on a mission trip like I have done in the past, I would be home by now. Yet I am seeing God is so faithful to Himself and I continue to be in awe of how He lets us be apart of His work. When I committed to come for seven weeks (as my mom pointed out, not six weeks) many people said, "Wow, that's a long time," and so I began to think maybe it was too long. Two weeks into my trip, I am soooooooo glad that I will not be leaving soon, there is still too much excitement I am getting to see God unfold.

Here's a recap of the last week:

Monday, June 29, 2009-With a plan to return to Kaijado in order to turn in registration papers, we walked outside, opened the gate, were ready to lock up the dogs, and latch the door; only to realize the car would not start. With a clicking sound when we turned the key, we realized something was wrong with the battery, what could three girls do to figure out how to fix a car on such an important day. Trena called her "normal" contacts, and Julius, the administrator of Heshima came to save us for the second time in the week. (We had two punctured tires only a few days before he came to fix.) Thankfully we realized that the folder of registration papers was laying on the table inside the house and we would have drove off without them. Arriving at the children's administration office, we had to wait for the assistant to return from lunch, but then saw the sovereignty of God's hand as Trena was able to share the heart of her vision and ministry. The fun part of the day was I drove back, making a driving record of 100 kilometer drive.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009- Thinking back on this day later in the week, we really could not remember what we did, so knew it had to be busy. This was the day that Alice and Lynette came to the baby house, they had a pool of water on the floor to mop before we even thought about getting one out. They are incredible women! Tom was also here for the first official day of work, he is the Masai night watchman. We are so thankful for him and feel completely safe knowing he is out watching at night. (Trena claims she didn't steal him from the current landlord, but as they say in Kenya, "that is a long story."

Wednesday, July 1, 2009-Moving day, and up at 7:00 (ugh!!!) Silas, the contractor who is making repairs on the baby house, was able to get us a guy with a Toyota truck as a transporter for the furniture. Unfortunately the day started with negotiations about pricing for how much it would cost to move things. Trena offered to "top off" his truck, which means to fill it up all the way, but he said that he would rather have the money, because if his truck got carjacked, then all the fuel would be wasted. With the pricing settled for the day, they had three rooms cleared, furniture disassembled and waiting to be loaded in the truck within the hour. The three guys had the whole house moved within two trips to the house, and one trip to the furniture shop with a quick stop by to pick up the big refrigerator at Nakumatt. We were thankful, because we had been invited to a friend's house for dinner that night and it was a great fellowship time for a long day.

I'm still here, the internet is just not :(

Just wanted everyone to know that we have moved into the baby house, and I have tried several time to update the blog, but so much has happened and each time I run into a problem with either the battery or internet. I hope to post all the fun pictures soon.

God is working things out, will you join us in prayer?

We went to turn in the registration paper work today for the BABY HOUSE. (I think I should mention that I drove all the way back home, Trena is so trusting after only a day of practice)
We were very encouraged as we talked with the assistant children's director of the area, because he was very interested in hearing Trena's heart with the ministry and listened to her desire to be so specific in how God is directing her to serve the community.

So as we walked away we prayed:

*For the senior children's director of the area to be open and willing to listen to the explanation of the assistant, who heard us speak today, so that he can also hear the heart of the ministry
*That the assistant is able to communicate the goal and vision of the ministry the way we have expressed and God would have them see what He is doing in that area
* For the committee who has to meet to give approval to meet quickly and agree that they should allow the go ahead of the babies to be accepted by the baby center
* That all the remaining staff (cook, ground keeper, night watchman) travel safely to the house this week
* The certificates of good conduct, resumes, and all remaining paperwork for staff come in quickly, so the registration process can be complete so we can submit to the government headquarters.

So amazing to see God go before and after us, please continue to walk with me as we go.

Mombasa, Kenya: Fort Jesus and Meeting Barisa-my sponsor child
Going to Mombasa: Longing has been in my heart to return to Kenya since I came on my last mission trip in 2006. I just knew I would come back, so at a conference over a year ago when I saw the World Vision table, I wanted to pick a child from Kenya. Two things helped me find Barisa, his picture had him standing in front of a Masi blanket and the second was his birthday is May 8th, a day before mine. It was exciting to think that I would be so close to sharing a birthday with someone who lived in a place I loved.
When contacting Trena to come to Kenya, the thought didn’t even cross my mind that I was going to be in the country and to arrange a visit with him until well into my planning with Trena. As soon as I realized it, I was on the phone with World Vision to see what the process would be to make it happen.
Many phone calls during odd hours, waiting on background checks, and a final clearance to learn that Barisa lived near Mombasa, I was ready to make plans to visit and decided it would be best to have someone travel with me. I was blessed to have Jamie and Mimi Johns offer to travel and experience the adventure with me. Many thanks go to Jamie for making and generously blessing me with all of the travel arrangements for us to travel to Mombasa on June 22 and then visit on June 23.
Trena, Kirsten and I got up that morning to meet Jamie and Mimi at Java Junction (a restaurant in town) I called World Vision at 10:00am to be sure about the details of meeting before we all got on the airplane and flew to Mombasa. The lady on the phone said she knew who I was, the name of the hotel where I was staying, and that they would take care of it all. I asked if we would have to travel and she said about 100 kilometers. I felt better, but still had an uneasy feeling about the full details, I waited for someone to call me all day, but nothing.
While in Mombasa I was also eager to visit Fort Jesus, as recently God has put another person in my life with whom I feel call to get to know more. He is a Kenyan living in Houston and when found out I was going to his home country asked if I would take some pictures of a few simple things to bring back for him. Fort Jesus was one of those places. I was amazed again at being called to be a part of God’s work (which He is always doing around us, we only have to be available and willing to be a part of it) and feel that this connection will open more chances for me to get to know what God is doing in his life. What an amazing blessing!
HOWEVER…The beginning of the adventure started at 9:00 pm that night when I got a phone call to my room telling me someone from World Vision was downstairs wanting to talk to me. I thought it best to go find Jamie to come with me (my mom told me to listen to my heart when making wise decisions, this was one of those times : ) and boy was I glad that he came! As we entered the lobby I saw the man and introduced myself, he then went to say he would be there at 8:00 in the morning so that we could drive the 246 kilometers and then 45 more. I was instantly distressed because I knew we couldn’t drive that far and still make it back for our flight at 4:00pm that same day. Thanks to Jamie and his willingness to be my voice, an hour and a half later after “negotiations” Jamie had convinced our driver that he needed to go pick up Barisa with his father and bring them back to us at the hotel by 11:00 the next day. (A conversation and process I will never forget! Lesson learned: Always finish the deal before you leave.)
So… Jamie and I went back upstairs, still uncertain that the Kenyan driver would hold true to his word and I would be meeting Barisa the next morning. I went to my room ready to burst into tears and prayed for all the details we had talked about until I knew the only part left was to just trust. Trust that God knew better and had our best interest in mind.

Meeting Barisa:

The next morning at 11:05, (a miracle when working in Kenya) the World Vision van pulled up to the hotel with Barisa and his dad all the way from the village where they lived. It was so neat to see God at work as He brought us a greater plan than what would have been done. Barisa and his father ate breakfast and then after the father wanted to thank me for how much I did for Barisa. He also wanted to tell me that he has saved the letters I sent and even wanted to answer one of the questions I asked. It was really a “how did I get here moment” J I then gave him a soccer ball, and we looked through a picture album I had made for him. With the World Vision people gone and the Johns upstairs at the hotel, Barisa’s dad was able to tell me that Barisa needed a school uniform, so later in the day we went to a uniform shop and bought him 2 pairs of shirts, shorts, belts, shoes and socks for him. The rest of the day we made and threw the airplane models, colored, and then went to play soccer at the park off the Indian Ocean.

I had brought a machine called a Pogo, which prints pictures straight from your camera, so was able to give Barisa pictures of us together from throughout the day. The Ocean was my favorite part of the day, because as we approached the water and Barisa saw it, the biggest smile he had all day came over his face as he saw that much water for the first time in his life. The day ended with a huge tanker truck coming down the canal and Barisa watching it pass by.

I have come from the other side of the world to met the child that I sponsor, I have seen him experience things that he would have never had the chance to see before, and I have hear the heart of a father who struggles to feed his family on a daily basis. My memories are so full as I walk away from Mombasa and remember the place where I learned the practical lesson of finalizing plans, but more importantly the cemented reality of what I say I believe about God has being tested. I feel to have been found faithful, blessed and continuing to growing in the direction of believing what I say I do. Will you ask what He is calling you to believe?

Visiting my world vision sponsor child on June 23

Thank you for your prayers for my time in Kenya. I will be traveling to Mombasa tomorrow to visit my world vision child on June 23. Please pray:

*safe travel to the airport and flight to Mombasa
*clear communication ahead of time with the World Vision representative so that I know what time and location I will meet him
*excitement and love as I meet Barisa, he is a 13 year old boy
*fun time together as we meet on Tuesday, not an awkward time, but quick unity
*that I can share with him how much God loves him

Thanks for your prayers as this is something I have been planning and waiting for a long time to do, but am a little anxious to have happen.