kenya team blog

Hi Everyone. 

I am on my way to Kenya with a team of 10 others.  You can follow our blog with stories of our journey at:  provinkenya2009.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy the stories.  I will be back home on the 28th of July.

Faith

Pray for Kenya travel.

Deciding on an airline and a flight itinerary when traveling 8,000 miles is always a big deal for me.  I have learned that British Airways is my favorite when flying to Kenya, but when it came time to book our team travel to Kenya, I branched out and decided to go with a new direct flight being offered from Atlanta to Nairobi through DELTA.  This seemed like a brilliant idea and one that would be easy on the team.  There were a number of factors (time and money being the main two) taken into account when purchasing these team tickets.  They seemed like a gift at the time!  Really.  They were hundreds of $$$$$ cheaper than any other tickets and when I called to book them, they made them even cheaper.  

Well, there new little flight pan wasn't approved so all their flights to Kenya....CANCELLED.  They promised to "protect" us on another airline.  The new flight plan was issued today.  It involves multiple layovers, in multiple countries, for many more hours.  What once seemed like a gift now feels like a bit of a nightmare.  While our dates remain the same, we lose 2 days serving in the country due to travel arrangements.  

Pray for strength to get through the several hours of travel.  Pray that we have wisdom on what should be dropped from our schedule in Kenya.

God is good.  And, the trip will go on, even in spite of the cancelled flight.  For that I am thankful!

Thanks for praying.

KENYA 2009

I am heading back to Kenya......AGAIN!!!!  This country has stolen a piece of my heart I will never get back.  This year I am taking a team with me.  There will 11 people, mostly from Providence church, traveling to Kenya from July 14th to the 28th.  We will be serving alongside Transformed International (www.transformedinternational.org) in Kitale, Kenya.

Most of our time will be spent serving a group of 6 girls who are a part of a new program called the NEEMA "grace" Project.  It is a program designed to bring street girls in off the streets in order to see them loved and restored and reintegrated back into society.  We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with them several days while we are there.  We will also be spending time at a number of other places playing with orphans, holding babies at the abandoned baby home, visiting a widows project in the Soweto Slum, and serving TI and other ministries in practical ways.  The team has been preparing for this trip since April.  

As I receive more information over the next few weeks, I will post updates on what we are doing and how to pray.  

TRANSITION

Well, what better place to announce a new season in life than a blog you have written on in months!

I am hoping to utilize this blog as a place to share updates about what is happening in my life as I begin to venture into a different season.  For the past 2 years I have working as the Administrative Assistant at Providence Church in West Chester and for the past year I have been serving as the Global Missions Director there as well.  Some of this is about to change.  After much prayer, fasting, and time overseas in Kenya, Senegal, and Romania I feel like the time has come to begin a new season doing Global Missions initiatives full time.  Over the next several months, I will transition out of my admin role for the church and begin serving full time doing global missions.

Over the next few months, I will continue to write more about what that looks like practically and financially.  It will be a huge step of faith for me, but I am committed to taking 2010 and pouring my heart and time into global initiatives.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Faith 

CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE

Well life seems to change so quickly that I can't keep up.  I am back from Kenya after a quick trip......so quick there was not much time to update along the way.  I will, once again, try to post some stories from the past for those who are interested.  

I have had some requests to start up my blog again, and I am considering doing that very thing. It seems strange to write about life when I am at "home" in West Chester, but I may begin doing just that.  For now, I will tell you that I live in West Chester, PA.  I am living with two lovely gals in a farmette just outside the borough.  It has been a fun switch from living in Coatesville.  I am working with Providence Church as an admin assistant and global missions gal, and also helping to launch Sequoia International where my job is to work on linking businesses, churches, schools, individuals, etc with international humanitarian projects.  Its been a wild ride the past 10 months, and I think it will keep me entertained for quite some time.

That's the quick update for now.  Hopefully now some of you know where I can be found and what you can find me doing.  Time for me to sit back and enjoy some hot chocolate and toast while watching the SNOW fall!!!!  Yup SNOW IS FALLING and it looks beautiful around here!  What a pleasant morning surprise!

NEEMA Day

Today was lovely. After no sleep......really NO NO NO NO sleep on wednesday night, I got out of my bed at 5am to head to the airport to travel toward western kenya. A quick stop in Eldoret and then it was off to Kitale to hang out with the gang from Transformed International. They are a group of young people who love Jesus and love the kenyan people. I have been staying with them for the past 24 hours and it has been a delight! I slept straight through the night and think I am now on Kenyan time rather than US time. I woke up early feeling refreshed and ready to spend time with Jesus. I sat outside and read for about an hour in the morning before going in for morning devotions with the team. It was awesome.
After that, we (4 of us gals) headed to NEEMA, the home for street girls. The home house 6 wonderful young girls that have been brought in off the streets of Kitale. We learned about their new home, watched them dance and sing songs about how Jesus love has changed their lives. I will tell you more about the program later. We then headed to have lunch in town. It was precious to be a part of the girls first "field trip" into town since being brought in off the streets. Gods grace and beauty is made evident when you hear the stories of these lives and watch those "work" with them love on them. We were joined by a few more staff and interns from TI for lunch and a trip to the museum.
I LOVE this "project." I don't like to refer to it as a project because it is something that involves the restoration of precious lives. Pray for these 6 girls (Sarah, Sharon, Recbecca, Catherine, Metrine, Lillian) and their house mom (Janet), their social workers (Ann and Rose), their seamstress (Joyce), and their school teacher (Nancy). God is at work in their lives. Pray for protection, joy and peace as they continue this adventure.

More to come......................

Day turned to Night, Night turned to Day, Day turned to Night AGAIN.......

........and then I arrived back home in Kenya!!!!!! It looked the same and smelled the same as when I last left. I was pleased to see my luggage made it this time. Joseph picked me up and took me back to the Eshel Guest House on Lamwia Road, and I was thrilled to see I could have found my way back if I needed to. Christine and Michael were waiting for me and squeezed me tightly. Little Miki has grown so much and is even sweeter than before. Christine said every time she says my name he runs to living room to look for me and then he realizes I am gone. I love that little boy and his mama....she is lovely! We chatted for a while and then I headed to bed.

Today I slept in, and repacked to prepare for my trip to Kitale tomorrow. I had to get a new cell phone number since mine had expired (you can call or text 0715 456 873). I believe from the US you dial 011 254 715456873. I think that is correct. I was excited to see the Pointsettia tree blooming outsie my old room. I had to stay in a new room this time because Jacob and Noelle (who lived at the Guest House with me last year) got married. They just happen to be here right now too, and they are getting "my room" with the big bed and the bathroom. Apparently yo get special privileges when you come back with a spouse. :)

I realized I have not blogged since February and I was reporting disappointing news. Things seem so much like they were when I was here. The only difference I noticed is that they are fixing and stretching the roads. I am sure I will see some of the fall out later in the trip. The people here like to talk to talk about our upcoming election. I have already been asked numerous times if I will be voting for Obama. They actually have an Obama headquarters in Nairobi which seems sort of silly since they can't vote here. Who knows???

Well, I guess thats it for now. I am exhausted and need to go back and sleep for my early morning trip to Kitale. I will be spending the next 3 days in Kitale with Transformed International (www.transformedinternational.org) checking out what they do. I will try to update the blog later this week.