So here I am again! Today is our last day in Nairobi; tomorrow we head to Mombasa!!! Yay!!!
Our time here at Little Sisters has been so great. The time flew by so fast, I don't really know where it went. Reconnecting with the team has been so nice, though an interesting process. I developed a cold soon after I got back, so I was really tired and stuffed up for a couple of days. Due to that I definitely didn't have all of the energy that the rest of the team had, so that was really difficult and made me feel a bit ostrasized, but now I'm back and doing really well! I'm going to miss this team a lot when this is all done and over with :(
So I won't bore you all with the nitty gritty details of our time here (if you want to know I can tell you about it when I see you in the states), but I will do a little overview. We got to go to a place called Mother Teresa Orphanage, where we worked with mentally and physically disabled children and women. I was part of the "Trubidor Team", which basically just went around to all of the different wards and sang for the people there. That was a crazy experience. I wasn't expecting the people there, especially the children, to be as physically deformed and crippled as they really were. I was taken aback at first, and it was a little difficult to communicate with them since most of them don't take and just stare off into space. Some of the kids really responded to the music though, which was really cool.
We also went back to Mathare Valley where we split off into groups of 3-4 and walked around the slum, walked up to people, and asked if there was anything they wanted us to pray for. If they said yes, we would pray, and if they said no, then we would move on. Just like last time, the slums didn't really affect me at all. I didn't hate walking around and praying for people, but I didn't love it either. It was just another day I guess.
We leared about two different religions for two of the days, Hinduism and Islam. We went on a prayer walk through two different Hindu temples, where a priest talked about the religion and gave us a tour. Basically the temple hold statues that look like dolls of all different sizes, and people go in there and worship and pray to them. Apparently there are around 330 million different Hindu gods and goddesses!!! So crazy, especially compared to Islam where there is strictly only one, Allah. So for Islam day, we got to learn about the Islam religion in the morning and then we went to a mosque and kind of had a Q&A with the leader of the mosque. That was very interesting. I felt sorry for the guy, how when we asked questions he didn't know how to answer the question. You could see how he was struggling to explain things, and half of the time he never really finished his thoughts. You can tell that they lie and manipulate the religion to appeal to a western audience, like trying to tell us that women feel prettier wearing the head scarf...I think not!!! Anyway, I got to learn a lot about both of those religions, which was pretty cool.
On Sunday after church we got to go to a Masai market and buy all of our souveniers and such. That gets frusterating after awhile. At first I was really excited because I love shopping and had been waiting for this trip for weeks. I had a fun time bargaining with the natives and looking around, but you can only handle so much of people trying to make you pay too much for merchandise. After walking away from a couple people because of that, I got tired and starting paying a little bit more for things that I knew weren't worth that much just so I could get my stuff and leave. Overall it was really fun though. There are still some stuff that I wanted to get that I didn't have time for that day, but we get to go back to the City Market on our last day in Kenya, so I will try and get them then.
Tuesday was our "tourist day", so we went on a safari around Nacuru Lake. It was different from what I expected, but still fun. We saw gazelles, antelope, rhinoes, zebras, giraffes, waterbuffalo, baboons, and some other animal I don't remember the name of. Watching two people get their lunches snatched by baboons was very entertaining :)
Wednesday we went to the Focus Center, which in Kenya's version of InterVarsity. We met the staff, learned about Focus and what they do, took a tour of the compound, and then went to their Christian bookstore where we could purchase books. All of you who know me knows what that means...! All of their books were for super cheap, so obviously I couldn't help myself and bought seven books. Don't know how I am going to get them back to the states. I figure if God wants me to read these books, he will provide a way :)
Yesterday we got to visit a youth prison, which was really just a place that they stay for 4 months, no more no less. Very lax security and structure...it almost seemed like a boarding school. The youth are there for smaller crimes such as theft. We all sat mixed together for an assembly type thing, where we listened to people from the prison and our team give testimonies. There was also some singing, we performed a skit, and then we ate lunch. That was a little bit awkward since both of the inmates I was sitting next to spoke very little english. After lunch we got to go outside and play soccer and volleyball. I played volleyball, which was really fun. We were losing most of the time, but we finally won the last game we played. It was nice to see the inmates loosen up and have some fun.
Finally, today we went to AIM AIR, which is a Christian organization that flies missionaries and supplies to remote locations all around Africa. We got a tour of the hangers and offices, and then got to have a forum with a pilot, physician, media technician, and an administrator to learn more about the organization and the mission field. Overall it was pretty interesting.
Soooo...what else do I have to say? I could write about what God is teaching me, but I really want to be able to talk about that in person; it's so much better that way. What a will say is that he has taught me a lot about myself and my own character. There are also a lot of lessons that haven't been revealed to me yet, but I'm excited to discover them!!!
So tomorrow, off to Mombasa. Breakfast at 5:00am and on the bus by 6:00-6:30, then a 11-13 hour bus ride!!! Sweet!!! Can you hear the sarcasim dripping off the page right now?? Haha, but it will be fun, as long as the road stays smooth enough for me to read. We shall see!!!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Back With the Team!!!
Hey everyone!!! I know that it has been awhile since I last updated my blog. I didn't have any internet access where I was staying the past three weeks. Gosh, what to say...
I guess I will just say what I have been telling my teammates. My ministry assignment was good, but it was really really challenging. I redlined so many times while I was there (basically just freakin' out). There was absolutely no privacy EVER. Even at night there was members of the family sleeping in the next room, and we had no door to close. The family members would always be walking in and out of our room, so there wasn't much alone time. We were constantly on the go. We would wake up at around 8:00am, leave the house at 10:30ish, and then get back at around 7:30-8:00pm. There were 7 children in the family, then the parents, and a grandmother, plus neighbors and their children coming over every night. We would eat lunch around 3:00pm and dinner around 10:30pm, going to bed at midnight. The area is large rolling hills/mountains; very green and wet. It rained every day for the last 1.5 weeks we were there. So that is the background info I guess.
So basically our program was a lot of door-to-door evangelism, going to church members' homes to encourage them, going to schools and talking to the children from the Word and telling them the importance of education, going to church on Sunday, and that is about it. A different family from the community hosted us every day for lunch, where you are always served ugali, rice, potatoes, cabbage, japati, meat, and lots of chai.
Hmm, what do I say??? It is difficult to summarize 3 weeks worth of information. Like I said, it was really challenging. I felt very uncomfortable evangelizing the first day, and though it got easier as the days went by, it didn't get any more comfortable. The evangelizing for the most part felt very impersonal since the people we were talking to were complete strangers. However, I saw God do incredible things in that area. Truly the harvest is plentiful! Many people accepted Christ from the evangelism; at least 35-40 people, so that was really amazing to see. Even if I felt awkward or insincere when speaking, God worked through me for his glory.
I preached for the first time the first Sunday we were there. I talked about the lives of Joseph, Moses, and Gideon, showing how God can take ordinary people, no matter their weaknesses or current and past situations, and do amazing things through them. I called the sermon "From Ordinary to Extraordinary". Amazingly, when I got up to preach I was not nervous. God calmed my nerves and I was able to just enjoy the experience, going away from my notes at times and just letting God lead me. That was cool to experience. The people were very receptive, and a good number came to the front to get prayed for.
What else...? The food was really good but there was just so much of it. A lot of chai too. I got sick from the fresh milk, so I stopped drinking that and was fine for the last half of the ministry. I have never shaken so many hands in my life, or met so many people. I have also never been stared at so much before. We stuck out a lot. We climbed mountains every day for our ministry, so I now have legs of steel.
There is so much more to tell, but it is hard to explain on the internet, so I will share stories when I get back. Right now I am back with my team in Nairobi at a retreat center called Little Sisters. I have running water and a toilet again. My hot shower this morning was the best thing ever :) We got back to Nairobi yesterday afternoon, so we are having a rest day today. That is good, because I need time to myself to sit and reflect and recharge. I will update you all on what is going on again when I get the chance, so for now I will just say I miss you and love you all!!!
I guess I will just say what I have been telling my teammates. My ministry assignment was good, but it was really really challenging. I redlined so many times while I was there (basically just freakin' out). There was absolutely no privacy EVER. Even at night there was members of the family sleeping in the next room, and we had no door to close. The family members would always be walking in and out of our room, so there wasn't much alone time. We were constantly on the go. We would wake up at around 8:00am, leave the house at 10:30ish, and then get back at around 7:30-8:00pm. There were 7 children in the family, then the parents, and a grandmother, plus neighbors and their children coming over every night. We would eat lunch around 3:00pm and dinner around 10:30pm, going to bed at midnight. The area is large rolling hills/mountains; very green and wet. It rained every day for the last 1.5 weeks we were there. So that is the background info I guess.
So basically our program was a lot of door-to-door evangelism, going to church members' homes to encourage them, going to schools and talking to the children from the Word and telling them the importance of education, going to church on Sunday, and that is about it. A different family from the community hosted us every day for lunch, where you are always served ugali, rice, potatoes, cabbage, japati, meat, and lots of chai.
Hmm, what do I say??? It is difficult to summarize 3 weeks worth of information. Like I said, it was really challenging. I felt very uncomfortable evangelizing the first day, and though it got easier as the days went by, it didn't get any more comfortable. The evangelizing for the most part felt very impersonal since the people we were talking to were complete strangers. However, I saw God do incredible things in that area. Truly the harvest is plentiful! Many people accepted Christ from the evangelism; at least 35-40 people, so that was really amazing to see. Even if I felt awkward or insincere when speaking, God worked through me for his glory.
I preached for the first time the first Sunday we were there. I talked about the lives of Joseph, Moses, and Gideon, showing how God can take ordinary people, no matter their weaknesses or current and past situations, and do amazing things through them. I called the sermon "From Ordinary to Extraordinary". Amazingly, when I got up to preach I was not nervous. God calmed my nerves and I was able to just enjoy the experience, going away from my notes at times and just letting God lead me. That was cool to experience. The people were very receptive, and a good number came to the front to get prayed for.
What else...? The food was really good but there was just so much of it. A lot of chai too. I got sick from the fresh milk, so I stopped drinking that and was fine for the last half of the ministry. I have never shaken so many hands in my life, or met so many people. I have also never been stared at so much before. We stuck out a lot. We climbed mountains every day for our ministry, so I now have legs of steel.
There is so much more to tell, but it is hard to explain on the internet, so I will share stories when I get back. Right now I am back with my team in Nairobi at a retreat center called Little Sisters. I have running water and a toilet again. My hot shower this morning was the best thing ever :) We got back to Nairobi yesterday afternoon, so we are having a rest day today. That is good, because I need time to myself to sit and reflect and recharge. I will update you all on what is going on again when I get the chance, so for now I will just say I miss you and love you all!!!
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