Our September Lakeside Baptist Church Scouting Trip

We just want to share some of the highlights from our September trip to Kenya with Andrew Mee, the next generation pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church, North Myrtle Beach, SC and Ethan Childs, our grow class teacher and children's worker at Lakeside.  We made this trip as a scouting trip for Andrew and Ethan to see the lay of the land where we work, meet our Kenyan family and of course, visit Promise Springs Rescue Center and meet the girls and the babies there.  

The first day is always a day of travel.  It is hard.  We won't lie.  But we still find fun and good times in that very hard day.  We left the U.S.A. on Wednesday the 4th of September about 10:00 a.m. and went to New York.  We left there in the afternoon and arrived in Nairobi about 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.  Then a four hour car ride to Makutano, where our house is.  So you can see the travel is long.  Our fun was stopping at at Kenyan restaurant and letting Andrew and Ethan taste their first Kenyan cuisine. We had dinner at the Coconut Palms Hotel (the most likely place to house a team in the Spring) with the pastors we work with and our manager, Florah.  Afterward we fell into bed, exhausted but with excited anticipation of what the days ahead held for all of us.

Andrew tasting ugali for the first time.  Ugali is a mixture of corn flour and water or milk and cooked until it is a thick paste.  It is normally served with stew or vegetables. Ugali didn't end up being Andrew's favorite food but Ethan loved it.

Ethan chose chicken samosas and a chicken pie.  Chicken samosas are fried meat pies and the other is just a handheld chicken pot pie.  Andrew's favorite word became samosa!

We spent the first part of Friday, doing what our staff does every Friday.  We went to the local market to purchase the perishables for the week.  Then we took a tour of Promise Springs Rescue Center, the local town of Wiyumiririe and Ethan gave a talk to the children's leaders of God Seekers Fellowship church.

Choosing tomatoes for the team to use in our meals while in Kenya.

Ethan meeting the babies (now toddlers) for the first time.

Andrew shredding carrots as one of our vocational school girls looks on.

Ethan chopping up weeds? as the farmworker, Allen, oversees.

The new dorm, called Dorm C.  It is almost completed but we had to redo the whole floor because it cracked.  We want it to be very good when we move girls in.  We are so close.  Maybe it will even be complete this week!

Ethan and Andrew meet the guards, Joseph and Francis.  They are modeling their new dress uniforms that were brought from the States.  They have been asking for them for special occasions for months so we requested a modeling session!

I got to meet our newest baby, Kyden, for the first time.  I am so impressed with him.  He is the only baby we have had that didn't cry when they saw a muzungu for the first time.  He has already won my heart, but they all have.

Andrew sharing the Gospel Story with all the babies before we left.

Ethan teaching the children's leaders of God Seeker's Fellowship.

On Saturday, we visited the Internally Displaced People's camp.  We toured all four sections of the camp.  We visited a widows group that a team from Lakeside had given goats to as a project to help them in the past,  We met a group of young men, soccer players, that are struggling with addiction and their mothers are leading the group to help them encourage one another in a better way of life. Then, Andrew and Ethan each joined a local soccer team for a full soccer match in the afternoon.  These guys were quite honored by their being willing to join their teams for the afternoon and Ethan and Andrew did a great job of fitting right in.

We started by visiting Kingdom Destiny church.  Pastor Gikonyo has been working for a couple of years to enlarge and rebuild the church after a storm destroyed his original church.  

Next we visited the widows' group that we started working with almost three years ago.  We are so touched by the loyalty of this group to the goat program that a previous team from Lakeside Baptist Church started with them.  In spite of a disease that has caused a lot of death of goats in the area, they are succeeding and thriving.  They trust that God has provided and will continue to provide.  They are going to gift the center with a boy goat and a girl goat...and you know, where there are boy and girl goats, there will be baby goats.  Goat milk will be a great addition to the milk we buy every week!

Encouraging a group of boys that are trying to recover from addiction.  We really didn't know that this visit was on the agenda but it was a pleasure to get to share Christ with them and some encouragement. 

Finally, the highlight of the day!  Are you ready for some football (or soccer as we know it)?

Andrew bonding with his team.

These guys were serious about the game.  

The altitude (6000 ft.) may be getting to them.

 Sharing the gospel after the game.

The day ended with a tour of Juniper resort (another possible location to house a team) and dinner with our hosts of the day.

Sunday saw us worshiping with the girls from the center at Kingdom Destiny Church.  Andrew was the speaker.  Ethan and Andrew got a taste of Kenyan church. Then we went to the center for some volleyball, soccer, and what we lovingly call Sunday afternoons under the gazebo.  The girls wrote questions for Ethan and Andrew and they gave them advice, depending upon the questions.  It was a precious time.

Andrew preaching with Pastor Gikonyo translating.

The Promise Springs Rescue Center girls singing for the church.

Someone gave a chicken during offering.  For the first time, Ken HAD to take it.  He usually arranges it so that Patty gets to accept it and has never touched a life chicken in his life.  One person in the congregation enjoyed this hugely!  IT WAS PATTY!

Volleyball at the center.  We had a lot of laughter and some banter but the girls were on their best behavior.

Football with the girls.  Everyone takes part in play time.  

The regular game turned into just trying to kick goals.  This is Little Julia trying to score.

Matron takes her turn trying to make a goal.

Ethan and Andrew answering questions during Sunday Afternoons at the Gazebo.

The girls listening intently to the advice they are given.

Two days of exercise has made a trip to the local grocery store and exciting prospect.  Truthfully, some of these are gifts for the kids at home.

On Monday, the guys had a pastor's and church leader's conference in Makutano and Wiyuimiririe.  The conferences were very much appreciated and the pastors received certificates, which are very important to everyone in Kenya.  Florah and I left them in Makutano and were going to run some errands for the center and to try to start the process of renewing Ken and my work permits.  God interrupted us as we walked through the village to do our jobs.  A man called out to Florah and said that he really needed to talk.  We sat down with him and heard his story about his struggle with alcohol and how he had made a mistake of getting really drunk the night before and his family was very upset with him.  We talked at length explaining alcoholism, idolatry, and the need to have Jesus as your personal Savior.  This man was eager to have a change in his life.  We prayed together and then took our new brother in Christ, Patrick, to talk with either Ethan or Andrew, whichever one could be interrupted at the time.  Ethan did a great job of discussing things with him.  We are still all touched by this man's sincerity in Christ, the change we saw from him as we visited him a couple of times, and how he described what happened inside of him as he learned about Jesus.

Andrew teaching about How to Read the Bible with Integrity in Makutano.

The whole group of pastors that received certificates in Makutano.

Andrew and Pastor Mbaririe teaching in Wiyumiririe.

Pastors in breakout session.

This man sat through one and a half seminars.  He arrived at the first one late.  In order to get his certificate, he sat through the next full seminar.  He was quite excited to finish.

Meeting Patrick for the first time.  

Ethan talking with Patrick.

Tuesday was visitation day.  Before we could leave for visitations, there was an opportunity for Ethan and Andrew to fulfill a bucket list item.  They took a 2.5 miles run in Kenya.  Visitation day was interrupted by rain and we didn't find the children we usually do but it was a blessed day in any case.  The situations of the people we visited were sad but mostly they are content.  Sometimes you have to realize that the best thing for someone is a little food (always wishing we could give more) and prayer.  And that is just what we did.  Because the rain interrupted the visitations, we returned to the center.  There the staff talked us into picking up the girls from school.  Have we told you about the mud in Kenya?  It is much like driving in slippery snow.  There were some scary moments with a truck bed full of teenage girls but there was a lot of laughter.  Thankfully we made it safely and laughed a LOT about it.  Thanks, Ethan, for coaching Ken through the 4-wheel drive experience.

The run!  Ken and I walked behind so we could get a photo as they guys came back.  We wish we could share the stunned faces and amazed comments that came from those walking along the road about the Muzungus running through the Internally Dislocated Peoples camp!    

Home visits can be heartbreaking.  You find those in situations which you really can't step into other than to lend the help you have.  For these kids, it was just to leave food, pray with their mom/grandmother and know that God is in control of all things.

Also, sharing joy and fun is very important.  Most boy children in Africa do not have men role models.  Most do not have men in their lives at all.  Sharing some "boy time" is a gift that is priceless.

Prayer is the best gift for anyone...anywhere.  It is pure joy to pray with these people and know that as surely as we sit with them and see their needs, our Heavenly Father knows their every care.

 Did we mention that serving in Kenya is no walk through the roses.  Literally!  As we walked back to the truck after one visit, Florah discreetly told me that Ethan had stepped in something.  We'll let you guess what that something was.  Andrew is truly performing a loving act but it was not totally altruistic.  The stench inside the truck definitely did not smell like those roses we mentioned. 

Due to rain, as we shared, the visits were cut short.  We were encouraged to go and pick the girls up from their school.  They love showing their school, humble though it is, to the visitors from the U.S.  Andrew doesn't really fit this desk...but he tried.

It was a harrowing ride back.  I was up front with a couple of girls and my arm kept getting grabbed with a distressed "Mum!" being sounded every so often.  When we arrived back the girls were asked to show us their scared faces and this is the result.

However, all in all, there was much laughter and we told them that this was what riding a roller coaster was like.

Wednesday was the guys' last day.  We had some plans but the people with whom they had worked decided they wanted to have a celebration with them before they left.  We visited one of the boarding schools where the rescue kids are.  Then we were turned over to Pastor Gikonyo because he was to take us to a place where we could view some wildlife...especially rhinos...as a special treat.  Ethan's son loves rhinos and we (Florah especially) wanted him to be able to show his son photos of the rhinos nearby.  Then a rousing celebration to send them back to the U.S. to their families.

We toured the Gilester Boarding School, where the Promise Springs Rescue kids attend and Florah's children also.  

Then off on a chance that we might find that perfect rhino photo!  God blessed us indeed.

Celebration, Kenyan style.  You remember that chicken we were given at church?  This is where it ended up.  Sorry guys...truth!

Complete with a cake made by a local friend of the staff.

We can't help it.  We have to share some of America, too!  These people very rarely get cold anything, much less ice cream.  This is the face of Jane, the administrator of the center, after she tasted ice cream for the very first time.

We love our Kenyan family and we love sharing our American family with them.  It always happens, we never end a trip with two different families but we become God's family all melded into one.  I think this is exactly how he meant us to be making disciples.

A few days after Andrew and Ethan left to return home, Ken and I were in the ECD center with the toddlers.  They had knocked on the office door and very seriously and grown-up like asked us to go to the ECD and play our daily game of sitting in a circle and rolling a ball between us.  All of a sudden, Vinnie and Melvin told us something in their own language that we had no idea of the meaning.  Then they got up and went over beside the wall and began doing handstands.  I fleetingly thought, "Where did that come from?" but really didn't dwell on it.  As I was sitting in the airport collecting photos I saw this one of Andrew doing a handstand.  Suddenly, everything came together.  When we dare to enter into the world of another culture and share what we can (Gospel messages, advice to traumatized girls, laughter, love, true friendship, and yes, even a handstand for young boys hungry for male role models) we leave a legacy.  This is a lesson to us all.  There are always little eyes watching us.  We may not know the full impact, but God does and that's what makes work like this so fulfilling.  It may not be a crop that we will reap, but we believe that it will bring a harvest, in God's time.