Reality Check

Lying in bed feeling completely drained and exhausted from my first full day in the hospital: up at 5am, hospital until 3:30pm, class 3:30-7:30pm, meeting with an old friend for dinner, study until 11pm for tomorrow’s quiz. And I feel “exhausted.”

...what a “first world problem.” Oh how I loathe myself when I get on a self-pity rant… lying in bed after wallowing in self pity, and (thankfully) God starts to bring me back to reality.

Let's see... No, I didn’t walk 3 miles to get water for my family. No, I didn’t have to work the fields to grow my food. No, I didn’t have to skip breakfast and lunch because not enough food available. No, I don’t sleep in a mud hut outside on the ground. No, I am not suffering from all sorts of respiratory problems from cooking in a mud hut. No, I don’t have any chronic illness. No, I don’t feel alone in the world without a family. No, my parents have not abandoned me or died. No, I don’t know what it’s like to not have a solid support system of friends and family. No, I don’t fear that people could come attack me at any minute in the night. But yet somehow my flesh still finds a reason to complain or to soak my mind in self-pity. HOW DISGUSTING!!

Oh I am so thankful when God smacks me out of my fleshly thinking, out of my self pity.

I am still (will always be) learning so much about how to give back to God what He has entrusted to me: to much is given much is expected in return (Luke 12:48). 

I'm learning what it means to be genuine in my praise and thankfulness towards the blessings and trials He gives me to grow and strengthen me. 

I am THANKFUL for the blessings in this season of life. I really am. God’s teaching me how to be more and more thankful each day. I’m thankful for the tears of when I’m overwhelmed by His blessings.

Tears when I visit my aunt and she gives me a big bag of home baked goods and delicious snacks for the ride home.

Tears when I realize that the hospital where I’m doing clinical has a different disposable blood pressure cuff for EACH patient. (Not sure if these are tears of thankfulness of our ability to prevent disease or tears of sadness of how much our country consumes energy and resources.)

Tears when I’m lying in bed complaining in my head about how I’m having such trouble falling asleep in my air-conditioned room, safe house and comfortable bed. Oh how blessed I am with such comfortable living conditions. But God is reminding me that only He gives rest!

Tears after I call my mom or dad, and I’m overwhelmed by their love for me.

Tears when I feel like I can't study any more, but I know He gives me the brain capacity and knowledge to learn what I need to become a good nurse.

Thank you Lord that you keep my heart tender. Thank you that every week, often many times in a week, you remind me of the great blessings you’ve given me for this season.

May I always remember that the Lord gives and takes away (Job 1:21). May I always become disgusted with myself when I complain about losing sleep because of studying. Oh what a BLESSING it is to be in nursing school!! May I always weep of thankfulness and joy when I see more and more glimpses of the Lord’s goodness and love! Oh I pray that I will praise Him even if He takes away all of these blessings He has given for this season of life!

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;

there is no good apart from you.’

…The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

In the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me;

Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices,

My flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life,

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore”

Psalm 16:1-2,5-11

Farther Along We'll Understand Why

It’s almost 2am, and I’m unable to sleep. I just can’t stop thinking about the people I love in Kenya. It’s almost 9am there, and the kids are in school. In about thirty minutes the children in school at Segera Mission will get their porridge for the day. My kids in class one are learning English right now and will study math soon. Oh how I miss them so much!

I’m struggling with what to do with all these thoughts and feelings. How do I turn these longings to be with people I love in Kenya into productive thoughts and actions in America? A missionary in Ecuador who was killed by the people he was trying to share the gospel with, Jim Elliot, a man I respect greatly for his love for the Lord once said, “wherever you are, be all there.” How do I do that? How to I live fully here when so much of my heart is with the people in Kenya?

My first few days home, all I could do was cry. I wasn’t crying because I was missing people in of Kenya (although I do miss them) but I was crying because I just couldn’t get over how blessed I am. And so many of my blessings are just because I was born in this family and in this country. I have a new and much deeper appreciation for my good health and the easy access we have to health care. The fact that I have bandaids and Neosporin in my room and don’t have to walk 4km just to get a wound cleaned is a HUGE blessing!! I will never be able to thank my family enough for the over abundance of love I’ve received from them!! When I first got home I couldn’t talk to any family members on the phone without crying at the end of the conversation- crying from being overwhelmed by their love for me! I can never complain about studying for a test again after I’ve seen how much so many kids would give just to make it into high school in Kenya.

What Lord??? I don’t understand! I don’t understand why have I been blessed with an overabundance of love! I don’t understand why I’ve been given this good health and incredible education. Why me??

Sometimes it’s really hard to accept these blessings after I’ve seen a whole other side of living. (This was a big struggle my first week back. I spent my first 24 hours back in America crying because I didn’t understand what to even do with these thoughts and realizations.)

I don’t know a lot yet. I don’t know answers to many of the questions and thoughts that I’m wrestling with.

But I am learning to embrace the tears: to embrace feeling overwhelmed by these blessings and then to turn them into praise to the Giver of them all! I’m learning this is all apart of “growing pains.” I’m learning to keep asking “What now Lord?” but being okay when He takes awhile to answer (because He’ll answer in His time.) I do recognize that I have a big responsibility now: to much is given, much is demanded in return (Luke 12:48). I have been given so much; so now my daily question is what can I give back today, Lord? It’s an honor and a privilege, never an obligation to give back to the Lord. I’m learning daily what this looks like in small ways. I understand better that He’s after the process of my transformation not just my end result.

I’ve been fighting apathy: apathy because it’s easy to become comfortable and complacent the minute that I put all my focus on myself instead of upward, on the Lord. And it’s much easier to be too focused in myself in America: in a culture where everything is about “me.” We make it all about ourselves here. So how do I fight against this strong current of self-centeredness?

On a retreat with my church in Columbia, the head pastor once said, “You know people today are the most generous people I’ve ever met. People will give away all their money for a great cause; people aren’t as selfish anymore. But people today are more self-centered than ever before!” I completely agree with this statement because I see this as one of my biggest struggles. It’s easy for me to give away my money and my material possessions, but I constantly fight the desires I have to put all the focus and glory and praise and attention on me! How scary: to live life, thinking that I’m being so generous but at the end of the day not giving glory to the One who deserves it ALL, so at the end of the day all of my labor is worthless. This mentality of self-centeredness is what I’m fighting against. This is what I have been given a deeper understanding of and I hope and pray I will never, never stay more focused on myself than my Savoir!!

Oh I pray that my summer never turns into a distant memory but that the reminder of David’s big smile or Billy’s laugh or Leah’s voice reading a story or little Jimmy crying never fades. I pray that my compassion increases and that my heart never hardens!

May this difficult process of being held accountable for all I have seen and heard always bring glory to my Heavenly Father! May my eyes always stay in view of the cross. And may my reliance always be in the Holy Spirit.

All glory to God for showing me more of His creation and giving me a heart to love more of His children!! 

A song that speaks Truth and Peace to me in moments of weakness...

Farther Along by Josh Garrels 

Farther along we’ll know all about it 

Farther along we’ll understand why 

Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Chorus

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Chorus

credits

from Love & War & The Sea In Between, released 15 June 2011
Vocals, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Dobro, Electric Guitar, and Drum Sequencing by Josh Garrels
BGV by Annalisa Nutt
Accordion and Bass by Jay Kirkpatrick
Electric Guitar 2 by Scott Frantz

tags

Kwaheri Kenya!

I don’t know where the time went; I can’t believe that in less than 48 hours I will back in America! I haven’t been able to post a blog since I’ve been at Segera, so of course there is so much to share! I don’t know how to put these past few weeks into words, but I’ll write some events and thoughts from each week that will hopefully paint a picture of life here.

            Mon. June 27^th – Emily and I arrived at Segera Mission!

            Tues. June 28^th - Sat. July 2^nd –I worked in the clinic all week 9am-5pm each day. Christine, the head nurse, is incredible and she should really be called a doctor because she does as much as some doctors do in America! While working in the clinic I have had a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Sometimes I feel lightheaded at the many gory sights, and I’m continually rejoicing in the small moments when I overcome any nauseous feeling! (I know I’m supposed to be a nurse, but some of these awful burns that burst with puss and blood make me feel sick. It’s been a struggle for me, but I’m working on boasting all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Other times, I’ve been so excited to learn new skill: learning to give a shot or learning to feel the orientation of a pregnant mother’s baby. I was overjoyed when a pregnant mother came in to have her baby, and I got to see a birth! But many other times haven’t been as joyful and have required much hope in the Lord. Just a few stories from the clinic:

            Chekuti is a beautiful 8 year old girl who has osteomyelitis, (a bone infection that is really bad) and the bone on the heel of her foot is completely exposed. She is supposed to come in to soak her foot in hydrogen peroxide and redress the wound every other day but she doesn’t come into the clinic often enough. I don’t know how far away she lives, and I don’t know much about her home, but I’ve heard that there hasn’t been great progress with her healing yet. A baby came in with a bad burn from hot tea. The burn is all over her foot and lower leg and the baby has come in every day to cut away the dead skin and clean the wound. Another baby came in with an open wound that had cow dung in it (because the mother honestly believed that when you get a wound cow dung is the best thing to do for it). A lot of problems here are simply from misunderstanding and miscommunication about what is healthy and what is not. People put Tylenol pills in open wounds because it is medicine, and they don’t understand how medicine works. How are they to know you can’t just use it for anything unless they’re better educated? And people drink the contaminated river water instead of getting clean water at the mission because, as one boy said to us, “the water from the mission has no taste.” I could go on and on about stories of thorn pricks that turned into terrible bone infections, about babies burned in terrible accidents, about many different diseases that aren’t a big problem in America because we have better access to vaccines, and a better understanding of how to take care of our bodies. Life is hard out here. It’s tragic and so overwhelming; often it’s confusing and frustrating. But the one thing that the Lord constantly reminds me is that there IS hope for these people! There IS hope for this area. There is SO MUCH hope in Christ and there is SO MUCH love through Christ! I must daily, hourly, every minute choose to see the hope and believe in a God that is bigger than these problems!

           

            The best way to spend the evening after being in the clinic all day is to play with the children who live at the Mission: Singanoi, Patrick, Hellen, Ester, Faith, Amina, Elisabeth, Lotapetu, David, Ashley, and Lewis! Our favorite things to do: swing, pretend to drive cars that are made of rocks, pretend to fly to America, play at the memorial, or pick little fruits from the trees. They LOVE to draw in my journal or take pictures with my camera. I have so so SO much JOY while playing with these kids! I could write a whole blog about each of them, about the stories of their lives, and about how much I love each child!

Monday July 4^th- Sunday July 10^th –I worked at the school all week. The school here is preschool to 2^nd grade. I’ve been teaching 1^st grade during the morning and tutoring a group of 1^st and 2^nd grade students in the afternoon. (I teach English and Math every day, and sometimes Social Studies or Science.) I love teaching these students more and more each day! I love watching their improvements in Math and English as the time passes, and it’s been wonderful building relationships with them. Many of these kids walk kilometers each more just to get to school; some walk up to 4km each morning and afternoon. They are so eager to learn, and they are so appreciative of the free education, free uniform, and free food they receive here! Susan, the head teacher, is wonderful with the kids, and is passionate about making sure the slower learners don’t get left behind (which was a big problem that I saw in some of the classes in Kandaria). It’s been great to get to know Susan better, and she’s been teaching me how to bead jewelrey like the Samburu women do!

            I was able to go to a village nearby, Samaria, and share a message from the Bible with them! Faith, who works at the mission, has a tape recorder that plays the Bible in each of the tribal languages around here so that there is no miscommunication through translation! Going to their small village, was another eye opening experience that I could write a whole blog about, but sadly don’t have the time right now.

Monday July 11^th- Saturday July 16^th –This week I split my time between the clinic and the school. I still taught English and Math in the morning, tutored in the afternoon, and most days worked in the clinic in between. By now, the staff at Segera have become another family to me! I love cooking with them, washing clothes together or just laughing singing together! They worship together every morning, and I have been blessed by joining them in praise and prayer to our God!

            The moments working in the school were so joyful! I love teaching them, reading with them, singing with them, playing with them outside! It’s going to hard to leave them; it’s always hard to leave after you’ve just built up relationships with people, but I can’t wait to come back sometime and hear how well each of them are doing in school! These kids have big dreams! Join me in praying for them: that they’re able to perservere through challenging home situations, that they stay in school, and that their high school is able to be payed for (because that’s a big reason why many children don’t continue education past 8^th grade- high school costs more.) 

It was a really hard week in the clinic. A lot of terrible accidents happened and a lot of tears were shed. (Again, I could write a whole blog just on the events of the week.)

There’s no reason to go into details right now, but just know this big praise (and prayer request)! Mary, a two week old beautiful little girl, was born with spinabifida (that’s when your spinal cord does not fully form so your spinal nerves stick out of your back). It’s very dangerous and no person can live like that for long. It’s 100% preventable if the mother gets enough folate in her diet the first month of her pregnancy, but that’s hard to do out here where the diet is limited. Well, the praise is that through the donations I received for the trip, through donations Emily received, through money Mary’s father raised, through Segera Mission’s help, we’re able to provide money for Mary to go to Nairobi to have surgery done! PRAISE GOD!!!! After the surgery the recovery is still very difficult and most likely she’ll have to have much more treatment, but we’re trusting that God provides the money and the means for that to happen. Most of all we’re trusting that he will completely restore her health and completely heal her!! Please, please, please join us in praying for Mary!!!

            I know I say this in my blog posts a lot, but I truly cannot thank each of you enough for your prayers. They are so powerful, and I feel them constantly! I cannot thank you all enough for your financial support: 100% of my trip was paid for through each of you loving me selflessly in your generous giving! And best of all, through you with God’s money, two surgeries have now been provided for two people in need!

Thank you, thank you all for your constant love and encouragement!

           

It’s going to be really hard for me to leave Kenya. I have fallen in love with this culture and the people here, but I cannot wait to see the people I love in America! Please be praying for Emily and I as we transition back to the States.

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Not Goodbye But See You Later

It’s my last day in Kandaria, and I’m reflecting on all that I’ve seen and heard,  all that I’ve learned, and all that I’m now accountable to share with you all in America. I could write forever about the sights and sounds of Kandaria, and I could spend hours trying to put what I’ve learned here into words. But I only have a little time on this computer with internet, so I’ll do the best I can to update you all! I apologize for not blogging more, but I’ve only been able to update my blog at the clinic and I haven’t been in the clinic much over the past two weeks. In between days in the clinic I have taught math, science, and English at two of the local schools. I loved teaching math to the 6^th grade class at Akado Primary School, and for a day I seriously considered changing my major! J With much help from David’s mom, I’ve been able to weave my own basket- which has been a wonderful way to connect with many of the women in Kandaria, especially those who don’t speak English but love to weave! I’ve learned to make many Kenyan dishes, and I’ve perfected my ability to walk on all the rocky paths without falling. We were invited over to a loving woman’s house, Joyce, who invited us over for “lunch” which means nonstop eating from 10:30 until 4! (I certainly have not lost any weight since I’ve been here- because it’s really rude in their culture to not eat all of the food they prepare, and they always prepare SO much food.) We’ve been able to meet and help out with a team of Americans who were here for a week working in Kandaria to build a clinic. (The nearest clinic for the Kandarian people was up the mountain- imagine trying to carry people up the mountain because there is not a road.) We’ve made more house visits, and with the overabundance of money God provided through so many of you, we’ve been able to provide money for a woman in desperate need for a surgery because of a prolapsed uterus. Welfrida is a joyful, hardworking old woman who we met at a home visit. She and her husband have barely enough food to eat each week, so the surgery is the last thing she will be able to pay for. With the money, we’ve also been able to meet some of the needs of orphans and families without much daily food to eat. Right now we are praying in FAITH that God will use the little food we’ve been able to give and multiply it to meet their needs each day- just as in 1 Kings 17:8-16 when the widow’s The jar of four was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.” Remembering James 5:16-18 that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” Join us in praying that God will multiply the beans and corn that we gave until the orphans and families are able to buy more food or receive more!

                I’ve already shed some tears at the thought of leaving Kandaria, but God willing I will be back here next summer and/or after I graduate! We leave tomorrow to meet up with the Mt. Bethel team in Molo tomorrow, and I cannot wait to hear all about their trip thus far! (AND I get to meet up with Amanda- one of my best friends since 6^th grade!!!) On Sunday Emily and I leave to go to Segera where we will be for the last month of our trip. (Look at my link to Emily’s blog for better details about Segera!)

                Please continue to be praying for the people of Kandaria (all of the last prayer requests are still very relevant). And please be praying for Emily and I with the new challenges we will face at Segera- Pray that we constantly remember to seek first the Kingdom of God because then all else will fall into place.

                I cannot thank you all again for your prayers and love and support!! I truly feel your love and prayers, and will never be able to thank you all enough!! May God bless you all abundantly!!

P.S. This may be my last blog post because I don’t know if we’ll have a computer with internet at Segera.

                

So Many New Lessons

The community in Kandaria is simply beautiful! We walked around Saturday morning to do some home visits (most of our visits were to orphans that House of Hope supports). [A little fact of the Kenyan culture and example of their generous hospitality: if you just want to see someone for a short visit you never tell the person in advance that you’re coming because if you do they will prepare food for you to stay all day!] The community works together to take care of everyone’s needs. There isn’t an orphanage in Kandaria because all the orphans live with family or someone in the community. We went to four different homes, each family with a different story.

                First stop at Dickens’ house. Dickens is a man we’ve met before because David mentors him. He’s a young father of four beautiful girls, and he has taken in his youngest brother, George (12yrs), because their parents passed away. House of Hope has supported George since he was a young boy, and George adores David!

                Pelisa is a strong woman who loves the Lord so much! She is widowed and a grandmother to 4 orphans that used to stay with her, but with her old age she’s not able to take care of the children properly anymore so they are with other family members. House of Hope is able to support one of her grandchildren! Recently Pelisa has had a lot of back problems from falling on the rocks walking up to her house. (Kandaria is a town on a mountain, so steep rock paths are their common walkways.) We had the privilege to pray for her with David translating, and so with faith we know that she will be healed! (James 5:13-18)

                Michael is 14 but only in grade 6 because both his parents have passed away and nobody was around to encourage him in school. He lived with his grandparents for a little while but his grandfather beat him, and so now Joseph, a young single man who is a teacher at a local school and a pastor, has taken Michael into his home!

                Angel, 11yrs, is a beautiful girl with the biggest smile!! Both her parents passed away from AIDS and she has HIV. House of Hope is able to pay for all of her medicine that goes along with having HIV and she’s doing great! She’s in a loving home with her widowed grandmother, and you would never be able to guess she’s gone through so much by meeting her!

                There are around 300 orphans in Kandaria and only about 3,000 people total. Brightpoint supports about 50 orphans in the area and House of Hope is able to support 24 in Kandaria (and 36 in the whole district), but that leaves many more without much help. Even though most of the orphans do have actual homes, their basic living needs are not being provided for. Family members (usually it’s widowed grandmothers) have very little money even for themselves, and so providing for growing children is very challenging. There are countless stories of people in Kandaria that would break your heart. AND there are so many joyful stories about how God provides continuous love and hope even in the most tragic situations! My first initial reaction to all of this was “Okay, how can I help? How much money do they need? How much can I give? What can I do to solve all these problems?” A minute later the Lord reminds me that the problems are much deeper than I can imagine. No amount of money will solve all the problems. I realize that I’m asking the wrong questions- it’s not about me or what I can do to help. At the beginning of a day, God doesn’t say to first give away all our money or help everybody around us. Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Although we are called to give generously, our fulfillment (I’m recently learning) is not supposed to come from helping others. We can never be fulfilled that way! It’s not possible because God created us to be fully satisfied by Him alone. So I must be reminded that I alone can never fulfill all the needs that I see around me. First and foremost God wants my whole heart, and only then will I trust that the Holy Spirit will prompt me to give my money, my time, and my energy where needed.

I’m so thankful that I worship a God bigger than me and the problems of the people around me! I’m so thankful that this life is not about what I think I can do for people’s needs! I’m so thankful for this opportunity to open up my view of the world and of God’s love! – Forever thankful for this opportunity to experience life in Kandaria!

Ero camano ahinya (thank you so much in Luo) to all of you for your support and continue prayers!! And a BIG thank you to my Lord for breathing life into me and giving me a deeper view of His love!

Sweet Little Immaculate

Here's a picture of the little girl Immaculate who I asked you all to pray for in my last post. Thought it would be nice to put a face to the name.
She loves coloring, candy and I've never seen her without a smile!

Nyasaye Oqwedhu! May God Bless You!

I honestly don't know where to begin. SO many new sights, sounds, thoughts. New struggles, new lessons, new burdens, new praises... But I'll do my best to keep you all updated with the most descriptive but concise words (because I tend to be wordy). 


Traveling with Emily and Shelley was the biggest blessing! I would have had a lot of trouble (and boredom) without them. There was much laughter and joy throughout our flights and car rides! I have now been with the Okongos for 6 days, but time feels so different here so it seems like weeks! Week days we're in the clinic working with David. He owns a clinic in Sondu which is a short drive from his home in Kandaria. We're learning about the medicines and common diseases here and what positive blood tests look like. Almost everyone who gets a blood test tests positive for Malaria- which is easily treatable with medicine (but not everyone can afford the medicine and many people do not even come in to get tested.) I usually work the front desk which is a pharmacy, and the biggest challenge I'm having to overcome is the language barrier. Most people speak Swahili and many can speak English but there are four different tribes that are common in the Sondu area (and each tribe has their own language). I'm learning new Swahili words and phrases everyday, and I'm also learning a lot of Luo, David's tribe. Thankfully David comes to the rescue any time there is a problem with communication, but I would LOVE to be able to communicate with the people better. Praying for increased understanding and ability amidst this barrier! But I'm learning much perseverance through it all.


The lifestyle here is a much slower pace than mine in America, and the first two days I didn't know how to react to it. I didn't know what to do with my time. But I've grown to truly LOVE and appreciate this new way of life! The big smiles from everyone in town, the dancing, the generous hospitality, the humble people, the simple living... It's all so different from America, and it's so beautiful! Building relationships has been a big part of this past week- with David and Justine, with David's parents and siblings(David's parents live next door and many of his brothers live nearby. David is one of 16), and with people in the community. 


David and Justine are truly incredible!! Some of my favorite parts of the day are when I'm sitting down talking with one of them and learning about their lives and Kenya's history. A beautiful story that represents David and Justine well is a story about David's organization, House of Hope. He told me that before House of Hope was started, he and Justine only ate sukuma wiki (kale) for one month in order to save money to put towards the organization. One of the last days of their month of eating sukuma wiki they came home and found talapia at their doorstep- a true sign that God cares about little details of our lives! (House of Hope is an organization that supports 36 orphans right now, and a clinic will open up at the end of July. He also hopes to build a school there.) 


Some highlights of the trip so far:
-visiting David's son at his boarding school. We had a picnic with watermelon, friend chicken, and chapati. mmmmm :)
-going to David's church- experiencing the beautiful simplicity in which they worship God!
-climbing the mountain behind David's house Sunday afternoon 
-visiting the Kandaria women's community meeting (They meet under a tree and make baskets and organize things for the community. They greeted us with loud singing and much dancing! We learned how to weave baskets, and David's mom showed us how to balance a basket on our heads! 
-the mornings are my favorite- grab some chai tea and watch the sunrise:)Words cannot describe the beautiful view from David's house. Kandaria is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!




I'm learning about so many different needs in Kenya and just trusting the Lord to direct my time, my money, my prayers, my actions where He desires.


I can't thank you all enough for you prayers and financial support for my trip!! 


Burdened on my heart right now that I ask you all join me in praying for-
- House of Hope and all that it encompasses. (Pray for the orphans who have lost their family. I've met one of them. He is in 10th grade and has lost both of his parents and 5 of his siblings. Pray for the upcoming opening of the clinic, and that God will provide nurses, doctors, and all the medical supplies needed. Pray the the extra land to be provided to build a school.)
-Sweet little Immaculate. A girl who lives near David's house, and I don't know much about her and her family but I know she's in difficult living conditions. She picks up trash all the time and sucks on the wrapper to get the after taste of what food was in the wrapper, and she is one of the most joyful children I've ever met!!
-All the people in Kenya of are following false leaders and false teachings. I'm learning more from David each day about how everyone here believes in God and most proclaim to be Christian, but many churches here do not even follow the Bible. One person will decide that God has spoken to him, with create a little church and people who do not know how to read or who do not know much about the Bible will follow this false teacher. There are churches EVERYWHERE here, but the number of churches who actually are rooted and grounded in the Truth of the Bible are few.


Praying for each of you that, you all are blessed by the Lord and filled with so much JOY JOY JOY!!
I love you all dearly!!
Caroline Atieno (My new Luo name!)