Day 4

Wow. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome that church service was. It is so cool to worship with these people in different languages and in different ways but all under the same God. Their passion for church and the Lord were absolutely indescribable. The power of the prayers and the preaching were so great. I did not know what they were saying, but oh how the presence of God was apparent. He was there in every aspect of the churst. We started with prayer and speaking which turned to powerful worship. The songs were very lengthy and the people sang with such pride, truly and genuinely worshiping the Father. After the pastor had spoken, Eric was given the chance to preach. He spoke about Joseph and how he was sold into slavery by his brothers. They then asked if any of us wanted to share anything. I volunteered to speak and told them of how my life before I met Christ was broken and I was alone, but God gave me life. I read Isaiah 41:10. It was so very encouraging to see the people respond to me with claps and smiles. All of the others in my group spoke a little and we closed our talks with singing the Asante Sana Yesu (Thank you, Thank you Jesus) song and It is well with my soul. Two more of the villagers spoke and we prayed, sang more songs and took the offering. As we closed, one of the women of the church rose to share with us how we and 410 bridge had helped change her life. One thing i remember most was her telling us that she was so blessed by us and she felt we deserved the best water she had. They walk miles to retrieve water for their families and some days, they have to go without water, but she wanted to give us the best of what she had. That was so humbling to hear her say. She also wished to bring us ornaments and gifts for the next time we visited. They are poor, they do not have much at all, yet she wanted to bless us with everything that she could. I was speechless.

We ended church with greeting all of the Kenyans and taking group photos. Many of the children were scared to death of the white people, while other children loved playing with us. I am still so amazed by how much God was present in that room. The spirit of God surrounds us EVERYWHERE. That was very apparent today. At one point the pastor was praying and he continued to get louder and lower to the ground, until he was on his knees shouting before the Lord. Just imagine if churches in America had that passion. What would happen if we brought that fire to America?

We ate lunch in a random field far away from the people and then we headed to the village of TuTu to be apart of the church crusade. The children are so loving. Upon arrival i had many hands touching and seeking after me. There were 5 preachers there to talk to the village people, plus all of the people on our team. They shared the gospel and the worship team led in song and dance. The children are so respectful during all of this. They were so quiet, patient and modest, such a difference from American kids. One little girl, Hannah held on to me the entire time we were there. She was very shy, but made it known she was not letting go of me for anything. I made sure to tell as many children that i could that God loved them (Mungu anakupenda) and also, that I loved them. It was so cool to talk to them in my broken swahili. I did a very poor job, but i managed to hold conversations.

Earlier today, I kept feeling bad because I wasn't sad. I always that coming to Kenya would be emotional and make me feel very sad and depressed, but being here has brought me such joy. I feel bad that these people lack education and health care, but as far as im concerned, they are better off than us when it comes to joy and happiness.

Day 3 (sorry it's all taking so long!!)

Well, Emily Anna and I got very restless nights of sleep and of course our alarm didnt go off, so we woke up with 10 minutes to get ready, get packed and leave for Segera. We made it, but we were cutting it close! The land is beautiful here. I love Africa so far. On the bus ride we turned a lot of heads. One man that was driving beside us kept speeding up and asking for my number, which then turned to him giving me his number on a sheet of paper through the window of the bus. The children love to wave to us using both hands, they smile and they shout to the white people.

The journey to Segera took about 4 hours, but it went by so fast because all of us were so busy site seeing. Arriving to Ereri School was very overwhelming. There were so many children lined up to wave and greet us. The teenage girls and older woman were greeting us with song and as soon as we stepped of our bus there were hands grabbing us from all around. The people performed a welcome ceremony with song, dancing and a tour. The Kenyans pulled us into the dancing, I was the first to get pulled out there and we all celebrated our arrival. The children were the ones to show us around their school. Annah grabbed my hand and didnt let go until i was leaving. These people amaze me with their love and joy that they show for others and the pride that they have in their school is unbelievable. The children LOVED playing with our cameras and all of the people were so amazed that i could speak Swahili. I would say to them in swahili that i knew a small amount of swahili and they would run around repeating my words to all their friends and telling everyone that i could speak it. Annah kept repeating to me "Mzungu ninampenda" which means "white person, i love you" I have never felt so loved until i came here.

It is so cool to come to another country and see the works of the same God in America being done in Africa. It blows my mind how big and awesome He is. One of our 410 Bridge leaders, Andrew spoke to us tonight and encouraged us to focus on friendships this week. We are not here to help them work and/or survive. They can handle that on their own. We are here to show God's love and to shine His light by building frisndhips and getting to know the Kenyans. You see, they can handle it all without us. They work harder, some of them pray harder and they live in a beautiful land without distractions like we have at home. Quite frankly, they live better lives than we do. Not easier lives, just overall better lives.

God is showing me so much on this trip. His beauty, His fullness, His purity, His love. He continues to reveal more about himself to me daily. I continue to pray for what He wants for my future. I could truly see myself calling Kenya home, but i will wait and be patient for the calling of the Lord.

Kenya Day 2- Just another day on a plane..

Well the flight from Chicago to Brussels was probably the most uncomfortable trip i have ever been on. To put in in perspective, taking 1 benedryl can normally knock me out for a LONGGG night, but on this plane ride, it did absolutely nothing. So, with a total of 30 minutes of sleep, we arrived in Brussels at 8:30am (2:30am our time). A one hour lay over gave us just enough time to get the entire team across the airport and to our gate. Now, I sit and write on our flight to Nairobi. Oh a wonderful 10 hour flight.. To start off the first hour, the Lord really encouraged me when reading 1 Thessalonians 1 and 2. I have also been reading Radical by David Platts. I'm only 2 chapters in and im SO challenged by the things im reading. When we choose to follow God, He deserves ALL of our life, not just bits and pieces. He literally wants EVERYTHING and in order to fully follow him, we must be willing to give up anything.

I have to say, God is literally rocking my world and im not even in Africa yet. As we were boarding the plane, everyone on our team got seperated and we were all dispersed throughout the airplane. A young man started walking towards me and in my head im thinking "well crap, he must be in the seat next to me." In all honesty I was really wanting to have the 2 seats to myself to attempt to get some sleep and not to mention, avoid the awkward flight conversation. Not too long after he sat down, the conversation started. So who are you? where are you from? why are you going to kenya? etc. Well, Ian is from Nairobi, him and his rugby team were flying back to school from the tournament they just played in Paris. He speaks swahili and taught me some new things and he helped me write a letter to give to Francis. We chatted the entire plane ride about everything, but we really got to talking about Christianity and the Bible. Quite frankly, this guy knows better english than any of us do and he knows wayy more about the Bible than i do. We talked about the Rapture and the Seven Seals. He also told me stories that they had heard relating to the Bible. All of it was just very intriguing. The flight ended up being very enjoyable and im very glad i met all the Kenyan boys!

We are FINALLY in Nairobi. They plane landed, we checked through customs, exchanged our money, got our luggage and spotted Alfred. Alfred would be our 410 leader for the week. He met us right outside the airport, waving a sign and greeting us with a huge smile and a big thumbs up!! I cant even describe how i was feeling at that moment. On the bus ride to the hotel, i broke down. I am finally here, serving the Lord and tomorrow i would be on my way to Segera, heading to meet the people i have so longed to meet!! GOD IS GOOD!

i apologize for the fact that i am a horrible writer and changed tenses in this blog post about 1000 times. It will continue to happen and i will continue to apologize. You can see why i am not an english major..

Kenya Day 1

Well day 1 was quite uneventful. Planes, airports, and more planes. Lots of travel time, but good bonding time for a team i have to be spending the next 10 days with. Since i cant sleep on an airplane, travel has allowed for a lot of bonding time and a lot of Jesus time. On the first flight to Chicago, i did my quiet time. God definitely has perfect timing with things. In Colossians 4 Paul commands the church of Colossae to continue to pray and be watchful in Thanksgiving. He also commands them to walk in wisdom towards outsiders and to make the best use of time. Relating this passage to my life, I am leaving america to head to a very different place and to share the gospel with complete strangers. This trip is guaranteed to be full of many outsiders. I must walk in wisdom towards EACH one of them. Not just the Kenyans, but every person i come into contact with. I must not only apply this to my trip, but to my everyday life as well. I hope and pray that God will use me to share his gospel with not only the Kenyans but EVERY person i come in contact with from here on out. I want to make the BEST use of time and to make every person matter, because to God EVERY heart matters. 

There is so much anticipation for this trip and i cant wait to see what God has in store. 

Side note: Earlier in this flight i was sitting, drinking apple juice and watching glee. Molly Patton, you have rubbed off on me. 

Side note #2: it's really weird writing these as if i havent already experienced it, but im just going through and writing most of what was in my journal so bear with me!