It is Spencer's 16th birthday today! Last year he spent his 15th birthday in Mexico on a mission trip and this year he is spending his 16th in Kenya on a mission trip!
We had a great night last night with the staff of Open Arms and our team. A wonderful dinner and lots of fun singing and dancing! Ann's daughter from Texas, has been corresponding with a nun, Anna, here in Kenya for a number of years. Ann was able to connect with her and she and another friend, Edward, came and joined us for dinner! It was very special for Ann to make that connection for her daughter and we enjoyed her blessing song before our dinner! We were able to spend some good time with Levi, hearing his story and Melvin, a Christian recording artist and Morris, the man doing the street ministry! Levi has been amazing support and ambassador for Kenya. He is from here, went to college in the states and is back here working for OAI. He is a crack up too! He has made us laugh and we have created some great memories with him, a few magic tricks and some serious games of spoons! Melvin, has been the worship leader at the village during our time here as well as at the prison and just an all around character. He too has shared some great memories with us and is doing great work here in Kenya! We are hoping he will come to Oregon and lead our church one day soon! Last night allowed Melvin to really come out of his shell and entertain us! And, Morris, well, I can't speak about him enough to help you all understand the amazing ministry he is leading here in Eldoret with the street kids. His heart is so full of love and compassion for these kids and they really respect and love him! He is committed to God and serving him through this ministry and it is beyond humbling to witness! I know we will keep him in our prayers as we all were touched by what he is doing to try and save these kids!
We are preparing for our trip home in a few hours and looking forward to our final visit at the village! It is difficult to say goodbye to these wonderful people of Kenya and I know we all hope that each of you will one day be able to experience something like this yourselves....if only through our stories and pictures and video that we will bring home with us! Again, until we see you in person....Blessings to each of you!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Thursday, August 6th
Thanks for the comments, e-mails and prayers! Thanks for the house sitting and dog sitting and thanks for checking in on us as we have served God in Kenya! Please forgive my error when I said Bethany is from England, she is actually from Scotland! Our second to last day in Kenya today! We had morning devotions at the OAI office cuz we all wanted to see the 2 day old baby that they took in last night. It turns out it was a little girl and she weighed 4 lbs 6 ounces at birth so slightly less since she hasn't been fed anything since she was born. She was very cold and they got her home, wrapped her up in 3-4 blankets and gave her some food. She slept through the night, but Ruth was up all night making sure she was breathing. She has this tiny little head and super skinny arms and legs. But, she seemed very content and happy to be in our arms giving her love. Turns out the mom was 16 and begin raised by her aunt and uncle and they are pretty sure it was the uncle that had raped her. Anyway, the 16 year old mom and aunt and uncle signed over custody and so all they should have to do is go through the courts to gain legal guardianship. Considering the name Esther Ruth at press time, but not finalized yet.
After devotion time, Brandt, Spencer and Shane headed out side to do some yard work for the office. Hunter got on a computer to create a spread sheet with all the prescription info and inventory of the meds for Rachel. Ann worked on helping sort through baby clothes to find things that might fit the new little baby. I got on the computer to upload some photos and the rest headed to the garage to sort through all the Medical Camp supplies and put it in storage until the next camp in a number of months from now. Then at lunch, we inhaled a quick lunch before we headed to Kambi Teso again to give the kids their food. Today's meal consisted of rice and beans, again, smelled really yummy! It is a terrific and spirit lifting sight to see the children running from their homes when they see our bus driving up the road! They chase the bus and run as fast as they can to greet us when we get off! Each one reaching to grab one of our hands, wrapping themselves around our legs leaving each of us with no less than 5 kids attached to us in one way or another. Our entire team was very excited to go again today and see the smiles of all the kids! They line up at the back of the truck, we pass out a spoon to each child that is in the program and they wait their turn to receive their bowl of food! I had a hard time today as I watched about 15 - 20 kids, ranging in age from 2 - 10, standing back, watching the line of children getting food. These children are not part of the program. It is so unfair and seems unreasonable that ALL the children can't feel confidant that they get food. They have to watch and wait to see if there is any left. It felt like they were standing there asking, "why am I not as special as all those kids getting food?" They are a product of their environment and have no idea, really, why the other kids get food and they don't, unless there is left overs. Heartbreaking really! I found myself in tears on the bus! As soon as Ann got off the bus, she immediately picked up the little boy she had attached to her yesterday and she brought baby wipes to clean him up. Then she fed him a ginormous bowl of food that even Brandt or any of the boys couldn't have finished. He sat with his mouth open, waiting for Ann to shovel another bite in! Absolutely precious to watch! Spencer Shane and Brandt took to the soccer field again and today, only the REAL soccer players made it to the field. Bethany was on worship leader duty today and she led the kids in a number of songs! Rachel and Karleigh took to the other field for a fun game of soccer with the younger group. I got out my nail polish and found a spot around the back of the bus to try and hide and paint a few of the girls nails. However, the word got out and I was swarmed. I had no less than 10 kids all around me, reaching their little hands in, wanting their nails polished! I think in all, I painted the nails of about 30 little girls and at least 5 boys. Anita and Hunter stayed back at the office today as both were involved in big projects for the staff and they wanted to complete them today.
At about 3:30pm we loaded the bus and made the drive away from the Kambi Teso slums. Again, all the kids line the road and wave with huge smiles. All they want is a smile and wave back and their day is made! There was a long period of silence on the bus as we drove away. Each of the team members hearts were breaking and we all were sitting quietly in our seats, trying to process all that we have experienced. Each one asking ourselves, God, what are we to do with all that we have seen? What is expected of us now? There is a lot to think about, but our long journey home will provide hours of contemplation time! :)
Tonight we have our final dinner with the entire staff and team! Tomorrow we will go to the village and spend the morning with the OAI orphans! We know it will leaves us emotionally drained to say good bye, but we also know God has done some amazing things through each of us and we are blessed to have been His hands and feet for the last two weeks! We are anxious to see all our loved one's and it has been fun to learn about all the family members through team members sharing! We know you all have been praying for us and we are very grateful! Please turn your prayers to our safe travel home and that the seeds we have planted in the village kids, the street kids and the Kambi Teso kids hearts as well as the 844 patients we treated at the clinic, will take root and that God will do what He does best! Until we see you in person.....
After devotion time, Brandt, Spencer and Shane headed out side to do some yard work for the office. Hunter got on a computer to create a spread sheet with all the prescription info and inventory of the meds for Rachel. Ann worked on helping sort through baby clothes to find things that might fit the new little baby. I got on the computer to upload some photos and the rest headed to the garage to sort through all the Medical Camp supplies and put it in storage until the next camp in a number of months from now. Then at lunch, we inhaled a quick lunch before we headed to Kambi Teso again to give the kids their food. Today's meal consisted of rice and beans, again, smelled really yummy! It is a terrific and spirit lifting sight to see the children running from their homes when they see our bus driving up the road! They chase the bus and run as fast as they can to greet us when we get off! Each one reaching to grab one of our hands, wrapping themselves around our legs leaving each of us with no less than 5 kids attached to us in one way or another. Our entire team was very excited to go again today and see the smiles of all the kids! They line up at the back of the truck, we pass out a spoon to each child that is in the program and they wait their turn to receive their bowl of food! I had a hard time today as I watched about 15 - 20 kids, ranging in age from 2 - 10, standing back, watching the line of children getting food. These children are not part of the program. It is so unfair and seems unreasonable that ALL the children can't feel confidant that they get food. They have to watch and wait to see if there is any left. It felt like they were standing there asking, "why am I not as special as all those kids getting food?" They are a product of their environment and have no idea, really, why the other kids get food and they don't, unless there is left overs. Heartbreaking really! I found myself in tears on the bus! As soon as Ann got off the bus, she immediately picked up the little boy she had attached to her yesterday and she brought baby wipes to clean him up. Then she fed him a ginormous bowl of food that even Brandt or any of the boys couldn't have finished. He sat with his mouth open, waiting for Ann to shovel another bite in! Absolutely precious to watch! Spencer Shane and Brandt took to the soccer field again and today, only the REAL soccer players made it to the field. Bethany was on worship leader duty today and she led the kids in a number of songs! Rachel and Karleigh took to the other field for a fun game of soccer with the younger group. I got out my nail polish and found a spot around the back of the bus to try and hide and paint a few of the girls nails. However, the word got out and I was swarmed. I had no less than 10 kids all around me, reaching their little hands in, wanting their nails polished! I think in all, I painted the nails of about 30 little girls and at least 5 boys. Anita and Hunter stayed back at the office today as both were involved in big projects for the staff and they wanted to complete them today.
At about 3:30pm we loaded the bus and made the drive away from the Kambi Teso slums. Again, all the kids line the road and wave with huge smiles. All they want is a smile and wave back and their day is made! There was a long period of silence on the bus as we drove away. Each of the team members hearts were breaking and we all were sitting quietly in our seats, trying to process all that we have experienced. Each one asking ourselves, God, what are we to do with all that we have seen? What is expected of us now? There is a lot to think about, but our long journey home will provide hours of contemplation time! :)
Tonight we have our final dinner with the entire staff and team! Tomorrow we will go to the village and spend the morning with the OAI orphans! We know it will leaves us emotionally drained to say good bye, but we also know God has done some amazing things through each of us and we are blessed to have been His hands and feet for the last two weeks! We are anxious to see all our loved one's and it has been fun to learn about all the family members through team members sharing! We know you all have been praying for us and we are very grateful! Please turn your prayers to our safe travel home and that the seeds we have planted in the village kids, the street kids and the Kambi Teso kids hearts as well as the 844 patients we treated at the clinic, will take root and that God will do what He does best! Until we see you in person.....
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Wednesday, August 5th
Hello from Kenya....today we all went to the women's prison, except Brandt, Hunter and Spencer. Brandt spent the morning walking the village property with Daniel to map out where all the produce and fruit trees will be planted. We will be buying 15 banana trees and planting them tomorrow. Spencer and Hunter did some major construction labor on the orphans homes. They thought they were going to do some misc. clean-up stuff, but found themselves doing hard labor. They figured the locals working on the homes were laughing the whole time! The rest of us, Shanon, Karleigh, Anita, Helen, Rachel, Bethany and Ann went to the prison with David, Levi, and Morris. It was a great experience to be able to lead them in worship and share some words of hope. A few of the women have little children/babies in there with them. They seemed very welcoming and pleased we were there. They laughed and sang with us! I shared a bit of my testimony as did Helen from the UK. Then David shared a brief message before we passed out containers of milk, a tooth brush and tooth paste and female products. The warden was a bit hesitant at first, but after about 30 minutes of Levi negotiating with her, she let us in and I think she was very happy she did! Just before we left, we all had to go into her office and have a soda....I think there was some money exchanging hands too, but we just tried to drink our warm sodas and be happy that we were able to minister to the ladies. On our way back to the office to meet up with Brandt, Spencer and Hunter, we had to stop at the police station to bail out a man that helps with the feeding program. Again, some negotiating and money exchange went on and 45 minutes later, we were on our way. Fortunately, Levi, who works for Open Arms has an uncle and he happens to be the Chief of Police. We made it to the office, had a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the lunch staple here), and then we were off to Kambi Teso, which is the slum area where OAI does a feeding program 4 days a week. These kids, all 125 of them are dirty and sick and hungry. The meal we provide is the only food they have each day and so they go three days without food until we come again the next week. They are so excited to see the bus pull up and come running. Each of them just wants to hold your hand, receive a hug and give you a smile. It is just heart breaking! But, we served them big bowls of a dish that smelled really good and some water. There are big brothers, maybe 10 years old, caring for their infant siblings. They are so loving and concerned for their younger siblings, making sure they get food and water, sharing their own food and water if necessary. There were two little girls, about 5 and 3 sharing one bowl of food. The 5 year old would give one spoonful to the 3 year old and then one to herself and then one to the 3 year old, etc. After they all ate, we hung around and played with them for a couple hours. Shane, Spencer and Brandt got in to an energized game of soccer with about 30 of the older kids while Rachel and Karleigh played soccer with about 30 of the younger ones. Bethany, Anita, Helen, Ann, Hunter and Shanon did their best to keep up with all the rest that just wanted to hold our hands, sit on our laps and be loved! Poor Hunter had two young boys that were completely mesmerized by the hair on his arms. They kept rubbing it up and down and giggling....Hunter was very patient with them! Just before we left, we passed out little fleece teddy bears carrying tiny Bibles. They children were beyond thrilled. I know I have said it a few times already, but it continues to amaze all of us, how much joy is in these kids' hearts. They were smiling so big and saying thank you, thank you, over and over again. This food and water and time we spent with them meant the world to them and brought a short period of fun, love and care in an otherwise empty world for them. As the bus pulled away, the children wave until their hands hurt and then run down the hill to see if they can beat the bus to the bottom, just so they can smile and wave to us again! How simply it is to shine a little light int heir lives, a hot bowl of stew, a cup of water and the touch of someone who cares for them. Sure makes you re-think they way each of us responds to these simple things....how we really take those things for granted. We can make a different choice and |I hope we all will!
Tonight we went out to support Morris and the street kids ministry. These are the kids that live on the streets and spend the day and night inhaling glue. Morris use to be a street kid for 7 years and he made the choice to get out and seek help and is now committed to helping those still on the street. He is amazing and the kids love and respect him. It is tough to sit on the steps and smell the strong scent of glue, but these kids want to be loved and are so excited we are there to sing with them and provide them with milk and a roll. They want to have hope but it seems unrealistic to them. Morris is making a difference as God is using him in a mighty way!
Just before we went to the streets, we were eating dinner and Rachel Gallagher received a call that there was a one day old baby at a hospital that had been abandon. The baby was taboo, which means it was conceived through incest and the mom new that the baby would not be accepted. The tribal response to babies from incest is to kill the baby. So the mom actually saved the babies life in a way. The problem really was, that the hospital does not have any formula, baby blankets, baby clothes or anything. And the staff leaves at night, leaving the babies to fend for themselves for the night if there is no mother in the hospital. So, we hurried through dinner and Rachel and Renee went to get formula and pick the baby up. We think it is a girl and we will meet the baby in the morning. Not sure what the future is for this baby....possibly a new orphan for the village. But for now, PLEASE pray for this baby and for Rachel, Renee, Ruth and David who will be caring for this baby for now. Also today, they found out that a mom from the street kids program who has a two week old baby and inhales glue while nursing the baby, might be another baby they need to take in. This mom has already lost a baby that is in the Open Arms Village. Pray for this situation too!
Thanks to everyone who is reading this and to those who have left comments....WE APPRECIATE IT! I hope to put some more photos up tomorrow! Hope you all have a great day and thanks for the prayers. Our team is holding strong and growing in faith with each day!
Tonight we went out to support Morris and the street kids ministry. These are the kids that live on the streets and spend the day and night inhaling glue. Morris use to be a street kid for 7 years and he made the choice to get out and seek help and is now committed to helping those still on the street. He is amazing and the kids love and respect him. It is tough to sit on the steps and smell the strong scent of glue, but these kids want to be loved and are so excited we are there to sing with them and provide them with milk and a roll. They want to have hope but it seems unrealistic to them. Morris is making a difference as God is using him in a mighty way!
Just before we went to the streets, we were eating dinner and Rachel Gallagher received a call that there was a one day old baby at a hospital that had been abandon. The baby was taboo, which means it was conceived through incest and the mom new that the baby would not be accepted. The tribal response to babies from incest is to kill the baby. So the mom actually saved the babies life in a way. The problem really was, that the hospital does not have any formula, baby blankets, baby clothes or anything. And the staff leaves at night, leaving the babies to fend for themselves for the night if there is no mother in the hospital. So, we hurried through dinner and Rachel and Renee went to get formula and pick the baby up. We think it is a girl and we will meet the baby in the morning. Not sure what the future is for this baby....possibly a new orphan for the village. But for now, PLEASE pray for this baby and for Rachel, Renee, Ruth and David who will be caring for this baby for now. Also today, they found out that a mom from the street kids program who has a two week old baby and inhales glue while nursing the baby, might be another baby they need to take in. This mom has already lost a baby that is in the Open Arms Village. Pray for this situation too!
Thanks to everyone who is reading this and to those who have left comments....WE APPRECIATE IT! I hope to put some more photos up tomorrow! Hope you all have a great day and thanks for the prayers. Our team is holding strong and growing in faith with each day!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tuesday, August 4th part two
Sorry! No idea what happened there!
Rachel B. says: I went to see a 3 year old named Irene who had fallen into a pot of boiling water and had burns all over her upper body. She was so cute and I was able to play with her in ways that allowed me to assess her mobility. The scars are so bad that they restrict her movement at the elbow. I gave her a few exercises and the guardians that care for her some exercises to do with her. She was not able to move her little arms in a full range of motion or even in what would be considered a normal way. She was fun to play with and her smile was really sweet. I also got to stop in and see another little village with a single house for orphans. They had about 7 children there and 2 of them are twins. They are only 1 1/2, but have only developed to about 8 months old. The mom left after they were born, because they were twins. The dad had been leaving the babies at home all day by themselves, while he went to work. Eventually the dad gave the babies up so that they could receive proper care. A very sad situation as they are so far delayed in their development.
Anita says: she loves her husband and misses him tons! She had a great day today and felt like she was in just the right place at the check-in desk. She met loads of people and registered 160 of the 324 patients. She says it was lovely that so many want to sit down and reach to shake your hand and smile. The children were fascinated with her blonde hair :)
Helen says: We completed 4 ocean scene pictures that were stunning and the house parents took them to hang them in their homes for the children to continue to see. There was great excitement about the masks that we finished. I had an amazing time rolling around on the ground with little Johnny! It really is wonderful. Victor and Johnny love it when I become the tickle monster and chase them. Victor's eyes go wide and he gets this deep chuckle that causes us all to laugh! It was sad to pack up all the art projects and close down the kids camp. The children were asking if they got to come back agan tomorrow which confirms they have been having a ball! I am indebted to the whole team and especially Ann who has stuck with me and the kids through thick and thin! She is amazing!
Spencer and Karleigh were in the kids camp all day and they were amazing! They were in charge of the little one's. Spencer had Ian (the child he wants to bring home with him), Victor, Mercy and Gloria. Karleigh had Beatrice who really counts for 2, Johnny, who also counts for two and Ghad. Their job was to make sure the little ones were contained and having fun. Ann, Helen, Bethany, Morris and two Kenyan volunteers took on the other children. I was a floater today and covered everything from pharmacy, prayer tent, check-in to children's.
The day started with our service and again we had about 30 people ask to accept Jesus! It was very exciting and fun to pray for them all. As the people waited to be seen by the doctor's I moved through the line, playing with the children, passing out stickers and taking picture! Things ran really smoothly today and we also had another organization there who was drawing blood and testing for HIV. It was free to everyone. All 27 orphans in the village have been tested before and 2 of them are HIV positive. Rachel, who is about 8 (she was raped at the age of 5 when her grandma sent her to fetch water in the water jug. Her grandma asked Open Arms to take her and it was a good thing because 3 weeks later, her grandma died. Robert is the other child that is HIV positive. They both are two of the sweetest kids in the village.
In the kids camp today, Bethany and I began painting the nails and toe nails of the children...it became kind of like an assembly line. We went from one little hand to another and then one little dirty foot to another! The boys even got in line! We had pink, red, mauve and polka dots! One of the girls even painted the nails on one of Spencer's hands with the bright red polish! Then they turned and painted the house moms toe-nails! It was very sweet to have them all sitting around us and waiting so patiently for their turn!
By the time we finally finished filling all the perscriptions, it was about 5:00pm. We then had to break down the tents, count the inventory of drugs, box them all up and load it on the bus. Everyone came together to get this done. Even the orphans were helping make it happen. I had Abel, big Mercy, and I think about 5 other kids helping me count and write the inventory. They are so eager to be with you and help you do whatever you need to do. When we came out of the final tent, our bus had been opened up to load and there were village children in all the seats, the drivers seat and hanging out the windows. It was a wonderful site to see these smiling faces, laughing, giggling and enjoying their time on the bus. I know most of them wanted to go with us or have us stay longer, but it was now about 6:20pm and we needed to head back for dinner! Our team had saddness in our hearts as we have so grown to love these kids. We will get to see them a bit on Friday before we start our journey's home, but we were already missing them as we pulled out of the village!
I know I speak for the whole team when I say, we have been rolling on the ground, climbed up on, painted, covered in red clay dirt from head to toe and even after showers, we are still wiping dirt off of us....BUT, we wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything in the world! Between caring for the children and caring for the 844 patients, we have been blessed more than we can possibly express. We know our job was to come and serve the people of Eldoret, and we have, but as God is so well known for doing, he blesses the servants as much as he blesses those that he sends us to serve! Tomorrow some of us will be going to the women's prison while others will be unloading the bus, restocking shelves and prepping food for our afternoon feeding program in the slum area. We know tomorrow will provide some challenges, but we are ready for them!
Please pray for a good night sleep for everyone, for continued healing of Helen's elbow, Brandt's back/neck and for every single one of the 844 patients we saw. Please pray that God will heal each and every one of them, not just physically, but spiritually too! Until tomorrow...
Rachel B. says: I went to see a 3 year old named Irene who had fallen into a pot of boiling water and had burns all over her upper body. She was so cute and I was able to play with her in ways that allowed me to assess her mobility. The scars are so bad that they restrict her movement at the elbow. I gave her a few exercises and the guardians that care for her some exercises to do with her. She was not able to move her little arms in a full range of motion or even in what would be considered a normal way. She was fun to play with and her smile was really sweet. I also got to stop in and see another little village with a single house for orphans. They had about 7 children there and 2 of them are twins. They are only 1 1/2, but have only developed to about 8 months old. The mom left after they were born, because they were twins. The dad had been leaving the babies at home all day by themselves, while he went to work. Eventually the dad gave the babies up so that they could receive proper care. A very sad situation as they are so far delayed in their development.
Anita says: she loves her husband and misses him tons! She had a great day today and felt like she was in just the right place at the check-in desk. She met loads of people and registered 160 of the 324 patients. She says it was lovely that so many want to sit down and reach to shake your hand and smile. The children were fascinated with her blonde hair :)
Helen says: We completed 4 ocean scene pictures that were stunning and the house parents took them to hang them in their homes for the children to continue to see. There was great excitement about the masks that we finished. I had an amazing time rolling around on the ground with little Johnny! It really is wonderful. Victor and Johnny love it when I become the tickle monster and chase them. Victor's eyes go wide and he gets this deep chuckle that causes us all to laugh! It was sad to pack up all the art projects and close down the kids camp. The children were asking if they got to come back agan tomorrow which confirms they have been having a ball! I am indebted to the whole team and especially Ann who has stuck with me and the kids through thick and thin! She is amazing!
Spencer and Karleigh were in the kids camp all day and they were amazing! They were in charge of the little one's. Spencer had Ian (the child he wants to bring home with him), Victor, Mercy and Gloria. Karleigh had Beatrice who really counts for 2, Johnny, who also counts for two and Ghad. Their job was to make sure the little ones were contained and having fun. Ann, Helen, Bethany, Morris and two Kenyan volunteers took on the other children. I was a floater today and covered everything from pharmacy, prayer tent, check-in to children's.
The day started with our service and again we had about 30 people ask to accept Jesus! It was very exciting and fun to pray for them all. As the people waited to be seen by the doctor's I moved through the line, playing with the children, passing out stickers and taking picture! Things ran really smoothly today and we also had another organization there who was drawing blood and testing for HIV. It was free to everyone. All 27 orphans in the village have been tested before and 2 of them are HIV positive. Rachel, who is about 8 (she was raped at the age of 5 when her grandma sent her to fetch water in the water jug. Her grandma asked Open Arms to take her and it was a good thing because 3 weeks later, her grandma died. Robert is the other child that is HIV positive. They both are two of the sweetest kids in the village.
In the kids camp today, Bethany and I began painting the nails and toe nails of the children...it became kind of like an assembly line. We went from one little hand to another and then one little dirty foot to another! The boys even got in line! We had pink, red, mauve and polka dots! One of the girls even painted the nails on one of Spencer's hands with the bright red polish! Then they turned and painted the house moms toe-nails! It was very sweet to have them all sitting around us and waiting so patiently for their turn!
By the time we finally finished filling all the perscriptions, it was about 5:00pm. We then had to break down the tents, count the inventory of drugs, box them all up and load it on the bus. Everyone came together to get this done. Even the orphans were helping make it happen. I had Abel, big Mercy, and I think about 5 other kids helping me count and write the inventory. They are so eager to be with you and help you do whatever you need to do. When we came out of the final tent, our bus had been opened up to load and there were village children in all the seats, the drivers seat and hanging out the windows. It was a wonderful site to see these smiling faces, laughing, giggling and enjoying their time on the bus. I know most of them wanted to go with us or have us stay longer, but it was now about 6:20pm and we needed to head back for dinner! Our team had saddness in our hearts as we have so grown to love these kids. We will get to see them a bit on Friday before we start our journey's home, but we were already missing them as we pulled out of the village!
I know I speak for the whole team when I say, we have been rolling on the ground, climbed up on, painted, covered in red clay dirt from head to toe and even after showers, we are still wiping dirt off of us....BUT, we wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything in the world! Between caring for the children and caring for the 844 patients, we have been blessed more than we can possibly express. We know our job was to come and serve the people of Eldoret, and we have, but as God is so well known for doing, he blesses the servants as much as he blesses those that he sends us to serve! Tomorrow some of us will be going to the women's prison while others will be unloading the bus, restocking shelves and prepping food for our afternoon feeding program in the slum area. We know tomorrow will provide some challenges, but we are ready for them!
Please pray for a good night sleep for everyone, for continued healing of Helen's elbow, Brandt's back/neck and for every single one of the 844 patients we saw. Please pray that God will heal each and every one of them, not just physically, but spiritually too! Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, August 4th
Today was an amazing day in Kenya! After quite a bit of rain yesterday and last night, we woke to blue skys however we lost power again :( I forgot to tell you all that Shane shared a devotion yesterday and did a terrific job! He was a little nervous, but I was proud of him and it created some great conversation for the team!
As for today, we all were excited about our last day of the medical camp and prepared for whatever God had in store for us. We made a few shifts in posts for some team members and I think the day was a huge success for everyone and for God! We saw 324 patients for a total for the 4 days of about 844. With 7 doctor's moving patients in and out faster than the pharmacy can keep up, we tried to plan ahead and spent time this morning, pre-packing as many pills as possible! Ruth, Rachel G., Hunter, Brandt, Renee and Rachel B. were in the pharmacy. They literally spent 6 hours filling perscriptions! Rachel B. took a brief break as she went to see a little girl who needed some Physical Therapy.
As for today, we all were excited about our last day of the medical camp and prepared for whatever God had in store for us. We made a few shifts in posts for some team members and I think the day was a huge success for everyone and for God! We saw 324 patients for a total for the 4 days of about 844. With 7 doctor's moving patients in and out faster than the pharmacy can keep up, we tried to plan ahead and spent time this morning, pre-packing as many pills as possible! Ruth, Rachel G., Hunter, Brandt, Renee and Rachel B. were in the pharmacy. They literally spent 6 hours filling perscriptions! Rachel B. took a brief break as she went to see a little girl who needed some Physical Therapy.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Monday, August 3rd part 2
Sorry about the part 2 deal...I had much trouble posting tonight and after I did post it and went to check it, I realized it left out and entire section. I lost power twice during my typing and so I had no idea what was saved and posted.
Anyway, here is the section that was left out:
Ann from Texas has proven to be just amazing and we are all in awe of her. I won't say her age, but let me say that you would never believe it. She doesn't slow down and is the best helper to Helen in the children's tent. Last night after dinner, we sat in the dinning hall and cut masks and feathers for the projects today and she worked until we were done. She spends her time with the children and let me say, they LOVE her and she LOVES them! She has a heart the size of Texas and wants to give her whole heart to these children and the people of Kenya!
Spencer wants to bring one of the children home; Karleigh wants to come again; Hunter is game for whatever; Shane is in no hurry to go home and wants to get a picture with a monkey and Brandt has now mapped out all the seeds and citrus trees he will need to bring with him. As for me, I am doing the best I can to take it all in, process it and document it with pictures and video so that you all can experience, in a small way, what we have been experiencing and hopefully be inspired to make a trip to Kenya yourself!
Anyway, here is the section that was left out:
Ann from Texas has proven to be just amazing and we are all in awe of her. I won't say her age, but let me say that you would never believe it. She doesn't slow down and is the best helper to Helen in the children's tent. Last night after dinner, we sat in the dinning hall and cut masks and feathers for the projects today and she worked until we were done. She spends her time with the children and let me say, they LOVE her and she LOVES them! She has a heart the size of Texas and wants to give her whole heart to these children and the people of Kenya!
Spencer wants to bring one of the children home; Karleigh wants to come again; Hunter is game for whatever; Shane is in no hurry to go home and wants to get a picture with a monkey and Brandt has now mapped out all the seeds and citrus trees he will need to bring with him. As for me, I am doing the best I can to take it all in, process it and document it with pictures and video so that you all can experience, in a small way, what we have been experiencing and hopefully be inspired to make a trip to Kenya yourself!
Monday, August 3rd
Hello from the Vroman's plus one (Shane Monahan) and the rest of the team...Helen, Anita, Rachel and Bethaney from England and Ann from Texas!
First let me apologize for any mis-spellings in past, present or future posts as there isn't a spell check and I can't type and edit my own work, so sorry!
Now as far as the pictures we finally got posted, 1)Lizzie, Mercy, Gloria, and Beatrice, they are the four youngest girls in the village. 2)Hunter and Ian; 3)Shane and Victor; 4)Spencer with Johnny; 5)Brandt with Beatrice and Johnny climbing on him under the tree; 6) Brandt, Hunter, Spencer and Shane clearing the Sirikwa pit; 7) three eldery ladies I spoke of with corrected ages of 89, 94 and 99; 8) Shanon and two little children there for medical attention; 9) cute little boy from the eighth photo; 10 & 11) Spencer and Rachel in the never ending gam of climb up the legs and high five; 12) Brandt inthe pharmacy; 13)street kids ministry with Morris leading them in worship while they sniff their glue...sad!; 14) Karleigh and Ghad; 15)one of the kitchens inside the house parents home at the village....this is where they cook all their meals and the meals for us!; 16)orphans bunk rooms in the village; 17)father Daniel and his son Kevin; 18)Shane smooching a giraffe; 19)Anita, Hunter and Spencer lovin' on a baby elephant and finally the 20)Vroman's plus one!
Today was an amazing day! God is soooo good! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us! We asked God to bring more patients to the medical clinic and boy did He answer those prayers! 325 patients today!! When we arrived at the village, there were already about 25 people waiting, some of which had arrived at 8:00am! We quickly set everything up and jumped right in to our worship service. The OAI Village children sang a few songs and Levi did a fabulous job leading us through the song, "Jesus, teach me how to pray" Very cool! Next, David Gallagher with House Father Peter Kamali translating, delivered a message about how we all fall short, we all have sinned, we all have felt unworthy, and yet, God loves us and is accepting of us! It was a great meesage. Throughout the message, people continued to arrive for the clinic. At the end of his message, David invited those that want to accept Christ to come forward....about 50-60 people came forward and our entire team spread out in front of them and laid our hands on them as we prayed together and asked Jesus in to our hearts! Can we say, "Yeah God moment!" We quickly moved from that in to medical mode. The heat was beating down on us as it reached about 85 today with very little shade. Our doctor's from Kenya were moving through patients as quickly as possible, but they kept coming. And so did the rain! We had all hands on deck in the pharmacy to try and keep up with the perscriptions....
Anita who has been helping organize and lead the children's ministry, was taking care of the little ones today at the kids camp and she had 7 ranging in age from Beatrice at 2 1/2 up through the age of 4. She had her hands full but said the children loved doing arts and crafts like hand painting, using glitter to decorate shells and decorating masks to wear. When the rain came, she said the plans had to go by the way side as it was a down-pour and they had to switch gears away from crafts and just keep the little one's playing.
Helen who has been leading the charge in the kids ministry, had a full day of activities planned. Being the dedicated teacher that she is, she set out yesterday to retrieve sticks for part of a craft project and took a tumble...her hip, leg, shoulder and elbow all took a beating, but mostly her elbow...couldn't hardly move her arm and was concerned about how she would get through today....well, God heals and today she felt better. Rachel, who is a physio therapist, gave her some exercises to do and by the time the rain came, she was on auto pilot and almost forgot about her elbow! Helen says that they did arts and crafts and made amazing pictures, but when the rain came, they had to switch gears as the children's tent was flooding. Out came the bubbles, balloons and mud, what a great combination for entertaining children she said!!!
Rachel from England worked the Pharmacy today and she says:I enjoyed the service this morning and particularly the musical performances. Plus, being a part of all the people coming forward and receiving God was amazing! The medical camp was awesome, busy, and hectic! But, really a good feeling to treat such a big number of people!
Bethany from England says: I am alive and well and not anxious to leave anytime soon! Her highlight yesterday was rolling off the table while the children and other leaders watched with amazement!
Brandt, Ruth, Rachel G., Rachel B., Karleigh, Hunter and myself were in the pharmacy counting pills, pouring cough syrup and trying to read doctor's hand writing. Shane and Spencer started on crowd control then headed to work on clearing another one of the Sirikwa pits before the rain came and brought them back to the medical tent. When the rain came at about 3:00 it got really crazy with the children's tent flooding, the pharmacy flooding and the doctor's cubicals flooding. Thunder, lightning and a major down pour of rain. It lasted about an hour which caused some difficulty with the patients wanting to get in to covered areas and we had none! In the end, everyone was doing whatever was needed to address the needs of the patients and move people through the system. It got a bit stressed, but, all in all, we managed to hold it together and finish the day strong.
Please pray for a good night sleep for everyone! Many of us are not getting solid sleep and it is starting to catch up. ALso, pray for energy and stamina for our last day fo the clinic tomorrow. And do I dare say it...pray that God will bring those patients that need medical care....we are here to serve them and will serve until we have to close the doors and pack up! Thanks for the comments, the prayers and for checking up on us! Until tomorrow...
First let me apologize for any mis-spellings in past, present or future posts as there isn't a spell check and I can't type and edit my own work, so sorry!
Now as far as the pictures we finally got posted, 1)Lizzie, Mercy, Gloria, and Beatrice, they are the four youngest girls in the village. 2)Hunter and Ian; 3)Shane and Victor; 4)Spencer with Johnny; 5)Brandt with Beatrice and Johnny climbing on him under the tree; 6) Brandt, Hunter, Spencer and Shane clearing the Sirikwa pit; 7) three eldery ladies I spoke of with corrected ages of 89, 94 and 99; 8) Shanon and two little children there for medical attention; 9) cute little boy from the eighth photo; 10 & 11) Spencer and Rachel in the never ending gam of climb up the legs and high five; 12) Brandt inthe pharmacy; 13)street kids ministry with Morris leading them in worship while they sniff their glue...sad!; 14) Karleigh and Ghad; 15)one of the kitchens inside the house parents home at the village....this is where they cook all their meals and the meals for us!; 16)orphans bunk rooms in the village; 17)father Daniel and his son Kevin; 18)Shane smooching a giraffe; 19)Anita, Hunter and Spencer lovin' on a baby elephant and finally the 20)Vroman's plus one!
Today was an amazing day! God is soooo good! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us! We asked God to bring more patients to the medical clinic and boy did He answer those prayers! 325 patients today!! When we arrived at the village, there were already about 25 people waiting, some of which had arrived at 8:00am! We quickly set everything up and jumped right in to our worship service. The OAI Village children sang a few songs and Levi did a fabulous job leading us through the song, "Jesus, teach me how to pray" Very cool! Next, David Gallagher with House Father Peter Kamali translating, delivered a message about how we all fall short, we all have sinned, we all have felt unworthy, and yet, God loves us and is accepting of us! It was a great meesage. Throughout the message, people continued to arrive for the clinic. At the end of his message, David invited those that want to accept Christ to come forward....about 50-60 people came forward and our entire team spread out in front of them and laid our hands on them as we prayed together and asked Jesus in to our hearts! Can we say, "Yeah God moment!" We quickly moved from that in to medical mode. The heat was beating down on us as it reached about 85 today with very little shade. Our doctor's from Kenya were moving through patients as quickly as possible, but they kept coming. And so did the rain! We had all hands on deck in the pharmacy to try and keep up with the perscriptions....
Anita who has been helping organize and lead the children's ministry, was taking care of the little ones today at the kids camp and she had 7 ranging in age from Beatrice at 2 1/2 up through the age of 4. She had her hands full but said the children loved doing arts and crafts like hand painting, using glitter to decorate shells and decorating masks to wear. When the rain came, she said the plans had to go by the way side as it was a down-pour and they had to switch gears away from crafts and just keep the little one's playing.
Helen who has been leading the charge in the kids ministry, had a full day of activities planned. Being the dedicated teacher that she is, she set out yesterday to retrieve sticks for part of a craft project and took a tumble...her hip, leg, shoulder and elbow all took a beating, but mostly her elbow...couldn't hardly move her arm and was concerned about how she would get through today....well, God heals and today she felt better. Rachel, who is a physio therapist, gave her some exercises to do and by the time the rain came, she was on auto pilot and almost forgot about her elbow! Helen says that they did arts and crafts and made amazing pictures, but when the rain came, they had to switch gears as the children's tent was flooding. Out came the bubbles, balloons and mud, what a great combination for entertaining children she said!!!
Rachel from England worked the Pharmacy today and she says:I enjoyed the service this morning and particularly the musical performances. Plus, being a part of all the people coming forward and receiving God was amazing! The medical camp was awesome, busy, and hectic! But, really a good feeling to treat such a big number of people!
Bethany from England says: I am alive and well and not anxious to leave anytime soon! Her highlight yesterday was rolling off the table while the children and other leaders watched with amazement!
Brandt, Ruth, Rachel G., Rachel B., Karleigh, Hunter and myself were in the pharmacy counting pills, pouring cough syrup and trying to read doctor's hand writing. Shane and Spencer started on crowd control then headed to work on clearing another one of the Sirikwa pits before the rain came and brought them back to the medical tent. When the rain came at about 3:00 it got really crazy with the children's tent flooding, the pharmacy flooding and the doctor's cubicals flooding. Thunder, lightning and a major down pour of rain. It lasted about an hour which caused some difficulty with the patients wanting to get in to covered areas and we had none! In the end, everyone was doing whatever was needed to address the needs of the patients and move people through the system. It got a bit stressed, but, all in all, we managed to hold it together and finish the day strong.
Please pray for a good night sleep for everyone! Many of us are not getting solid sleep and it is starting to catch up. ALso, pray for energy and stamina for our last day fo the clinic tomorrow. And do I dare say it...pray that God will bring those patients that need medical care....we are here to serve them and will serve until we have to close the doors and pack up! Thanks for the comments, the prayers and for checking up on us! Until tomorrow...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Pictures, pictures, pictures!
Finally able to get some pictures up so you can see what life is like here. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 2nd
Serving the World....in Kenya! Just a bit of info on the Open Arms Village....There are two family compounds with a set of house parents in each. Each set of parents is in charge of 13 or 14 children. They are so gentle and loving with these little orphan children and show them so much love. It really is a great place God is creating for these children to go and be safe and grow up to be amazing people. Today is a Sunday and that means church and putting on your best dress....one thing some of you may not know about Kenya, they dress pretty nice every day, so on Sunday, they kick it up a notch. A typical day's dress attire for a man is a pair of nice pants, a collared shirt and nice dress shoes. For the women, it is a dress or skirt with a nice blouse and nice shoes. The childrena are a little more casual. The further from town you get, you might see the children without shoes, but no matter how far away from town you get, they still dress nice! And it doesn't matter if they have a job or are just hanging on the streets. So, on Sunday, the chilren are dressed up in the sweetest dresses, some with hats, the boys have nice pants, a nice shirt and some include a sweater or vest. For miles you will drive the road and pass families walking, all dressed up, carrying their Bible and headed to church! Very cool to see! For our team today, we headed to the Open Arms Village for a church service and we just spent the day hanging with the children and house parents....it was the best! When we arrived at the village, the children came running over to the tent for church, carrying their Bibles with them. The church service started with one of the house father's speaking in English and the other house father translating it in to K-swahili. After opening in prayer, the children or otherwise known as the 'Open Arms children's choir', came up front and sang a couple songs as well as led us in a couple songs! They sing in english and K-swahili. Next, Peter, the house father speaking in English asked which children wanted to share their memory verse and about 7 of them went to the front and stated their verse in english! Very cool to see these young ones learning scripture. Peter gave a short message using Psalms 27:4 and the older children follow along in their Bibles...again, very cool to witness. After the service, we were sitting around for a bit and a couple of the boys continued quizing each other on different Bible scriptures....I asked them if they knew Matthew 5:16, (which is my life scripture), and Joseph, who is 12, quickly said yes, "Let your light shine before man so that they can see God through your good deeds." Pretty darn close and pretty impressive! From this point, we just all started playing differnt ball games and parachute games with all 27 childrren. Ann, who is from Texas got a kickball game started. Shane and Spencer were throwing the whistle rockets to some boys, Rachel, from the UK, Karleigh, and I got the parachute going with the little ones and Helen, from the UK, played catch and parachute and oh my gosh, every other game she could think of! Hunter had kids climbing all over him. We enjoyed a wonderful, authentic African lunch made by the house moms. It included Ugali, chicken, a green spinach dish that had pieces of maze in it and these yummy tortilla things! I thoroughly enjoyed it as did Brandt, not sure that Shane, Spencer and Hunter were able to get through the whole thing, but Karleigh did her best to clear her plate. Helen and Anita were thinking that the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches weren't so bad after all! :) After lunch we played some more with the children who just can't get enough hugs, swings, jump rope turning or ball tossing. An afternoon of laughter...it doesn't get much better than that! We took lots of pictures and video to bring home to share. It seems impossible to think we have already been here almost a week...so much to do and so little time. Looks like we will need to come back and each person on this team, even the UK ladies, need to bring a handfull of people with us next time! Vroman's plus one are in great shape....Hunter's back is better as is Brandt's neck, so thanks for the prayers. Little Johnny seemed improved today too! God is so good and your prayers are appreciated. For now, the prayer request is for hundreds of local people to come to the medical clinic tomorrow so that God can work miracles for them through the doctors and our team! Thanks for checking in on us...please leave a comment for us! Until tomorrow....
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Saturday, August 1st
Hello Everyone! Vroman's plus one, here in Kenya! Today was a day of rest which meant shopping, experiencing the local culture and a trip to the Kiero View. The Kiero View is like their version of the Grand Canyon. So, our day started with a trip in to town which is an event in itself just getting there. I am not kidding when I say the roads are narrow. A typical road here is about the width of a single lane plus the emergency lane. And we are driving in a big bus or motor coach as our friends from England call it. There are people walking everywhere and riding bikes. I kid you not, there can't be more than a foot, if that some times, between our bus and the bikes and people walking. And the most amazing thing....the bikers and the pedestrians don't even flinch when we whip by them with inches to spare! I think most of us have finally been able to relax and know that our driver, Isiah, is more than capable. But it is really crazy. We did a little shopping this morning, had lunch in town and then head to the Kiero View. It is really beautiful and super peaceful there. The valley of the canyon is filled with little farms and huts and is very green. We watched a thunder and lightning storm come through the canyon leaving a beautiful rainbow for us to see! The road to the Kiero View is lined with small little shacks, road side huts, cows, pigs and chickens roaming freely. Well not really freely; their owner is somewhere in the area, but never anywhere near the cows, pigs or chickens. All along the way, there are children playing in the dirt and we wave from our bus. They see us and give us this ginormous smile and wave back as long as they can see the bus in the distance! When we returned from our sightseeing adventure, we spent the evening visiting with a couple local men, learning about the various tribes and the traditions that still exist and those that have been lost. Very educational! At The Noble, where we stay, a young couple had just been married and that opened up the dialog about marriage here in Kenya and the traditions that go with it. Typically the man must give a dowry to the future father-in-law; depending on the tribe, it may very in value. For this couple it was 14 cows at $1,200 a piece. Can you imagine! They do have their whole life to pay it, but then they are forever indebted to the father-in-law. Anyway, it was interesting to see and learn. Here in Keyna, the population is about 80% Christian, 10% Muslim and 10% traditional tribal or unknown. However, the Christians are not all living the life of a Christian. Some have viewed being a Christian as a position of power and use their faith to gain wealth only. We are still trying to fully understand that piece and will work on flushing that out before we come home! We had our first real rain here this evening. The temp was about 60 and it rained for about 2 hours. The red dirt here is so packed that it can't absorb the water and it just pools. Tomorrow we will go to the village and do a church service and spend the day with the orphans. We will have them show us how they spend their day, which will include them teaching us how they do their laundry, chores, gardening, cooking, etc. Thanks for the comments...Gus, I hope Margo and Maggie are not freaking out too much and that your time at our house has gone ok so far...we really appreciate it and Melinda, Bill and Elle, thanks for helping out too! Continued prayers for the orphans in the village, specifically for little Johnny who has been in and out of the hospital 3 times in the last two weeks. He is 5 and adorable and they can't seem to figure out what is wrong....antibiotics through an IV 3 different times and no improvement. One of the doctors who has been helping at the clinic thinks they need to do a full blood work up as he was a bit concerned about the possibility of Leukemia. So, please pray for him and Brandt's stiff neck that had him in bed most of the day! Until tomorrow...
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