UPDATE #1
It’s been a great first week here in Kenya! We arrived late last Tuesday night in Nairobi and have been going nonstop ever since. We spent several of our days working with various schools, including two nursery schools and a 1st to 8th grade school in the Nairobi and Eastlands divisions. The love and joy that can be seen in each of the students was a blessing to each of us on the team. A big part of our ministry here in Nairobi has included so much dancing! Even in our Sunday worship, we were able to dance and praise the Lord alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. Keep praying for our team as we adjust to the food, culture and language. We will be traveling to the Mwala Division later this week.
UPDATE #2
These past two weeks we’ve ventured out of Nairobi to explore the mountainous Mwala and Machakos divisions. We could not choose what we loved more, hearing the heart-warming “Karibu!” (Welcome!) or seeing the breath-taking views. We only took photos of our visit to the Mwala Division, because we chose to do our “photo fast” during our third week. It was humbling to just focus intently on God’s vast creation rather than taking pictures. We’ve fallen in love with every child we’ve met and have experienced their joy through dance, praise and worship.
We’ve been encouraged by the God-driven community of the schools and corps, from public open-airs, crusades and marching through the streets while chanting praise songs in Swahili, to being greeted by friendly smiles on a daily basis. We’ve been able to minister to the children of the corps and schools through songs, dance, Bible stories, sports and games. On Sunday, Matt and Geron preached on the importance of prayer and the armor of God at the Machakos Corps. They did an awesome job of bringing God’s Word to life even with a language barrier.
This week we’re going to be traveling to a new division and our team will be split into two groups while evangelizing within the community. We’re all excited to see what God has in store for the second half of our summer!
UPDATE #3
It’s been our fourth and fifth week, and we suddenly cannot stop calling Kenya our home. Now we all have a different understanding of the quote, “Home is where your heart is,” because we’re the living truth.
Last Sunday the team split into two groups and preached at two different corps in the Kathiani Division. Rachel and Keyarah preached at one corps about the love chapter, while Briana preached about how Jesus is the only one who can truly save. Our weeks have included not only ministry at the corps but evangelism at multiple schools.
Two of those schools were Joy Town (a school for the mentally and physically disabled) and the School for the Blind. We were encouraged by the joy and determination of the students to succeed despite their impairments. One of the coolest things was seeing teachers who had previously graduated from Joy Town return to give back to their community.
God has changed the seven of us in many different ways. We’re not the same people who arrived here five weeks ago.
