Posted by Elise:

Recently I read an article from Compassion International about a young man from Kenya that is living in Europe now, working in a research facility, trying to find a cure for Malaria.  He had grown up in Kibera and his life was quite desperate.  When he got a sponsor, his life changed for the good.  He started getting enough to eat, and he was able to go to school and now he is trying to make a difference for his fellow Kenyans.  I love this story for many reasons.  I love anyone who wants to annilate Malaria for children.  I love to hear how something as simple as a child being sponsored totally changed his life.  I especially love the fact that our church has the chance to be a part of similar stories!

 

You have heard a lot about our camps and training, but members of our team were also involved in 4 meetings with our Kenyan friends, working on our Vulnerable Childrens initiative.  They have worked very hard.  We are coming home with a big vision to share with everyone, and I believe you will be excited to hear what this team accomplished. 

 

In a few hours we will be getting on the plane for a long trip home.  We all have loved our time here, but we are all very ready to come home and be with you all.  VERY READY!  We are tired and our hearts are full and we look forward to sharing with the rest of our team, which is you.  Thanks Team!  Blessings to each of you!  With Love the Travel Team!

Sports Camp is almost over and our numbers have grown each day.  We started out with 370 children on Thursday, 430 on Friday and we are exspecting 500+ today.   

Beth is feeling much better and doing a fantastic job after recovering from Malara.  She ROCKS showing all the children the moves to Jesus is a Superstar and Deep Down Buggie.  The team is elated she is feeling much better.  Thanks for all your prayers.   

 Managing sports isn’t the only part of camp that requires a great effort.  Regina our logistics exspert  has had to organize snack for all our campers that attend.  Her daily visits to the bank and Nakumatt to pick up 500+ juice bottles and crackers to keep smiles on the campers faces has been a labor of love.  Regina has been the life raft that all of us hold onto. 

The sports we are presenting at camp this year are basketball with Virgil and Ryan, soccer with Elise, Max, and Caroline, and volleyball with Jeff.  We can’t forget the many Kenyan teachers who volunteered to help of teach the sports to the kids.

We are all having a wonderful time playing with the children and working with our new Kenyan friends.  We are all blessed.

Posted by Jeff:

Yesterday the team went to Kibera to visit a local school.  Kibera is one of Africa's largest slums.  Kibera is an area as big as central park and 2.5 million men, women and children live there.  I didn't know what to think as we drove up to Kibera.  My eyes widened and my heart fell.   I couldn't believe people could survive there, but to my amazement people flourished.  We picked up Pastor Micheal and George and Charles our 2 armed Administrative Police that were with us for our protection.

We drove to the center of Kibera on a road that looked like a balance beam with streams of trash, sewage, people, shops, and mud homes on either side.  We stopped and got out of the bus and followed Pastor down a dim path between several mud houses.  I felt like I was in a maze.  We twisted and turned through the mud buildings, passing Kenyans who couldn't believe there were "mazungoo" in the neighborhood. 

We finally arrived at the school and met the teachers who volunteer to work with the children. There was a small open classroom with a tin roof and 2 mud walls.  The children were of many different ages and learning about letter sounds and addition.  The team was a surprise to them and they put on a show of songs and bible verses. It was amazing to witness in such conditions their thirst for learning was in overdrive. 

Through conversation we found out they had a field where we could play some games. So we got out the soccer balls and journeyed to the field.  Once again we entered the maze of mud huts and sewer drainage that shared the pathway out of the slum.  We got to the field and had a chance to see them smile and play together. 

I know everyone on the team was elated to see the children play and interact with us. Spending this time with these children made it very clear that God works in wonderful ways.

Posted by Jeff Bectle:


What a wonderful place Kenya is to visit.  I couldn't believe we managed sports camp for 600 + children in Nandi.  Ryan, Virgil, Max, Caroline, Beth, Elise and our Kenyan friends Pastor Enock, Pamela, Ruth, Vickie and Ken have done a fantastic job.   It was wonderful to hear all 600+ of them singing as we walked down the road to the church.  


My first experience with the African wildlife was with my roommate Virgil.  As we were getting ready for bed Virgil noticed somethling funny looking on the floor. We walked over to it and looked close. I asked Virgil to pick up my shoe and give it a nudge.  On closer inspection we discovered it was one of Africa's deadly dozen... it was the dreaded bat balloon!  A balloon I had not used during sports camp had fallen out of my bag and was lying on the floor.  To say the least Virgil and I were relieved it didn't attack.  

On our way back from Nandi, which was an adventure in its self because of the roads and drivers, we stopped at Nakuru Wild Life Park.  This park has the largest concentration of Flamingos in the world.  It was a sea of pink.  While waiting to get into the park some of us wandered around snapping pictures of the monkeys and baboons that were walking around while some of us rested in the van.  A baboon decided to visit the van and steel a bag of onions, but Max who was quick on his feet jumped the harry thief and rescued Pastor Enock's onions.


This has been a trip of a lifetime and God has allowed our team to impact the lives of so many Kenyan children and adults.


On a more serious note Beth, one of our teammates, has taken ill with Malaria.  So please send her your prayers for a quick recovery.

Posted by David Magnet:

We received an email today that Beth Oaks has malaria.  Please pray for her as she recovers and the rest of the team as they continue to lead.

Posted by Elise:

After doing three trainings at Nairobi Gospel Center for teachers, the Sunday School teachers know me and love me, and the feeling is mutual.  Last Sunday when we were arriving I greeted them with a lot of familiarity, in my jeans and flip flops.  We were so excited to see each other.  This is what my friend Pamela, the children's pastor told me.  "Sister Pastor Elise, we have a new teacher that was at the teachers meeting you came into today.  Before you came, there was so much excitement about your arrival.  When you came to greet us, everyone was so happy, but my new teacher.....who after listening to the other teachers thought the Messiah was coming.....asked after you left, BUT WHEN IS THE PASTOR COMING?"  She did not expect a pastor to be so casual and informal.  That is not part of their culture.  My prayer is that I will always be able to model a different approach to pastoring children.  One that is relational and even a little casual.  My prayer is that these dear teachers will see that being intentional with these children in relationships will make a big difference. 

We returned to Nairobi last night in a rain storm.  More than once I left grip marks somewhere, it is not a drive for the weak of heart or spirit.  The roads flooded and it took Max and Carolyn 3 hours to travel across town. 

Our work this week includes meeting with the team here in regards to our vulnerable children partnership.  We will also do a one day camp in the slums of Kibera and prepare for three days of sports camp and 4 days of training. 

The new building that Nairobi Gospel has built has taken over our basketball area for sports camp, but if we have not learned flexibility now, we never will. 

Jeff Bechtle, who is now also in love with Kenya will write the majority of the blogs from here out. Jeff and Max do not act like this is their first time.  It has been a great team!  Thanks for your prayers!  You are a part of a big team!

Note to Self....do not wear flip flops in the rainy season while in Kenya, especially if you are invited to visit someones farm.  We have made some sweet friends in Nandi.  Our friend James invited us to his farm on Thursday.  It was lush, green and muddy!  Some of the members of our team wanted roasted corn for a snack.  So, they picked the corn...I believe a machette was involved, and carried it back to the van, and the sweet ladies at the guest house took it from there.  The roads get very hard to drive in during the rainy season, and I am suprised we only got stuck once. 

 

Today it was dry enough to go outside for sports time.  I was very curious how camp would go with 600 kids.  If you go to FCBC, picture 70 kids in the blueroom, if the blueroom was muddy, and then picture me and an interpreter, and kids asking me to demonstrate how to dribble the ball.  Feel free to laugh, but actually I did pretty well.    Then picture 6 other areas that size with 75-100 kids playing volleyball, soccer, netball, preschool games, and basketball, with 2 coaches in each area, and that is what sports camp looked like.  It actually went well.  We finished up in the early evening and are preparing to go back to Nairobi tomorrow, via Nakuru State Park, which is a game park. 

 

Our team of 13 is having a great time together.  Max summed it up best in our debrief tonight.  He said that in his career, if he had been assigned a conference with 600 participants, he would have had a team preparing for months.  We have basically been turning on a dime the whole time and have enjoyed it all.  I attribute that to a great team, which includes you and your prayers.  Thanks so much!

Rain Rain go away!  We have been praying for rain for Kenya and boy did we get it.  Last night we had torrential rains during the night, and some this morning.  In Nandi that means that tires spin in mud and people on scooters do donuts and crash like they were driving in ice.  As a result we could not have camp outside.  SOOOOOO, what do you do with 600 kids in one room for two hours?  We happened to have a movie, Surf's Up, that went really well with our theme for the day, 'Don't Give Up.'  We then put together a dramatic play of Noah and the Ark.  I was a monkey and Carolyn was a bird, and Beth was a lion.  That is what is around her face in the picture....her mane.  Flexibility is the name of the game.....we just thought  the name of the game was soccer.  Our plan B went pretty well, and we were pleased that we could model some more story telling tricks for the leaders. 

 

The picture of the cups is just one small visual of how many kids we are dealing with.....that was just a portion of snack! 

Our new friends are very hungry for training and resources so we are pulling out all of the ideas we have.  That has included sock puppets.  Regina went to a second hand store and bought some socks so we can give them some more tools to use to avoid lecture style teaching. 

We are having a great experience, but there are stomach aches and fatique and Regina has a cold.  Please pray for strength and healing! 

Posted by Elise:
I love how God works!  In this picture is Ryan VanHoven.  He is on staff at UW Sports ministry.  This is our second year working with him in Kenya.  He just finished a camp in South Africa, in the mountains, where they had to end camp early because of snow.  Can you believe it!  


FCBC supports Ryan in his ministry financially and prayerfully.  Sitting next to him is Enock Matte who we work closely with in our Vulnerable Children ministry. He from Nairobi Gospel Center.   Seeing the two of them working together was just a real blessing. The three men are making a plan for volleyball with 100  children and one net.   


We have really become a strong team of 13.  We laugh a lot together and work together well. I am so thankful for these partnerships that have brought us all together.  I love to see God's people working together! It has been a great day and we can feel those prayers!

Posted by Elise:

We are getting ready to start day two of our camp here in Nandi.  Our accomodations here have been very nice and the area is just beautiful.  I have included a picture of the guest house that the men....except Max....are staying in.  Max is with the ladies, and is sharing a bathroom with seven women.  The guest house was recently built by the church and we are the first guests to use it. 

 

Jeff and Max are new to Kenya and to our training.  They have both done a great job and are adding a lot to the team.  Max has a lovely teaching partner Ruth that keeps him in line. 

 

Our biggest challenge is how to do camp for 600 kids, but we are figuring it out.  The weather is lovely and that helps.  Ryan, from UW arrived from a camp he was doing in South Africa at 4:00 this morning.  We are glad he has arrived safely. 

 

It is interesting to see Kenya through the eyes of someone that is here for the first time.  I don't ever get totally used to the poverty of the children, but after 5 trips, I am somewhat used to it.  It is a stark reality to those that are seeing it for the first time.  God continues to break our hearts wide open about how we can make a difference. 

 

Thanks so much for your  prayers.  We are at the point where emails back from you would help in our fatique!  Thanks for being a part of our team!

It is early morning here in the Rift Valley.  We are blowing up soccer and basketballs.  We will continue to teach in the part of the Rift Valley called Nandi through Friday as our schedule now stands.  The children here continue to be a blessing to us.  To hear all of them singing praises to the Lord is wonderful.

As we always do, we are learning much about Kenya.  While starvation exists in Northern Kenya, food is plentiful in the Rift Valley where they get a lot of rain.  However, there is no distribution system to get the food where it is needed.

Please continue your prayers for us as we serve the children and adults in Nandi in the way Christ himself would have done.

In HIS Service,

Regina

Posted by Elise:

We are having a great experience in Nandi.  It would be very easy to love this church the way that we love NGC.  The people are so gracious and have such a big vision for serving vulnerable children.  Camp with 600 kids has not been just controlled chaos, it has been well run.  The children are great.  Many are orphans that came here just for camp. 

I always tell teams that I lead that FLEXIBILITY is the key to any mission trip.  We 

 

That said, we are all very tired and Regina and Beth are on the verge of being sick.  Please continue to pray for the health and strength of our team.  We are already collecting stories to share, and pictures we hope to share soon. 

Posted by Regina:

Our internet has just been connected!  We are in the beautiful Rift Valley of Kenya, often referred to as the Cradle of Civilzation.  The team jumped right in to teaching adults and childreb.  We were expecting 400 children to attend.  There are 600 children here!

Please pray for our health and stamina as we work with the children and adults.  The internet is slow here, so we will send additional information later.

In HIS Service,

Regina

The team is in Nandi.  It was a long drive but Kenya is beautiful!  We arrived at the church to 400 children worshiping.  They are very happy to be at camp and we are so happy to serve them!  Many are orphans and it is really a privilege to serve them!  


We were not expecting to work with children until Thursday but we will start working with them in the morning.  We are already on plan B.  Your prayers are welcome as figure things out.  As usual our friends here are so great.  We will be here until the weekend. Thanks again for your prayers!

From Nairobi to Nandi

Posted by David Magnet:

We received a quick email from the Kenya team letting us know that they arrived in Nandi safely.  When they arrived they walked into a church full of cheering kids.

Please continue to pray for them as they get ready to train the pastors and leaders in Nandi and lead sports camp.  They are expecting around 400 kids for sports camp.

The Team Is On There Way

Posted by David Magnet:

The team is on their way to Kenya today.  They've checked their luggage and should be taking off in a couple of hours.  Pray for them as they travel.  They have a 13 hour flight to Ethiopia and then a 2 hour flight into Nairobi.

Two Days Out

Life is not easy.  In fact, it is flat hard.  One of my pet peeves is when someone hears good news....a medical test came back with positive results, for example.......and their response is "God is Good"  I believe that, but I believe He is good when the results are bad.....we just don't hear those declarations as loudly then.  I have been thinking about that a lot as we prepare for our trip.  All of the news I have seen about my beloved Kenya is bad.....the economy is bad, the drought is bad, and famine is growing.  How do you stand in the midst of that and say, "but God is good"?????  I believe it, I have believed it this week when I have watched my dad be very sick, close to death.....I believe God is good, all of the time, in loss and in pain.  I believe that.  How do I tell those that are suffering this?  How would you?  Think about it, pray for the team.  We will need your prayers, and your emails!