This month was amazing I will be posting a photo blog soon if I can, wifi permitting!
For now I just want to recap the month for you!
This month was phenomenal. We had an entire 4 weeks with Woven Together Ministries and our host Deb, and honestly it wasn’t long enough!
First I will share the consistent things we did every week:
Friday afternoons we joined the church leaders meeting!
I LOVED being able to be a part of this meeting. It showed how the church and Woven Together Ministries was in fact woven together. It takes a team effort for things to happen here. The meeting covers all that happened that week with testimonies as well! Then plans for Sunday unfold to make sure everyone is on the same page for the message at church and to make sure everything is culturally understandable.
Saturdays were Kids Club!
Every Saturday we walked down the hill to find at least two kids already in the church by 9 am (the time Kids Club started). The rest of the kids would arrive over the next hour and we would begin the program by 10 am. The program consisted of worship and dancing (ending with the church clap every time) and then a Bible Story/ Drama. After that the group split into a younger group and an older group to do crafts and play games/ football (soccer). Then we would all get back together and recap the day and what everyone learned. We also typically sang the songs we had planned for church the next day with the kids to practice the motions. Then it was tea time and the kids would head over to the Gazelle for some chia tea and Mandazee (a fried bread). After the kids were done we would have our lunch and then worship practice for Sunday. Sometimes during that time we would fill in in other areas around the compound if we were not needed for the practice.
Sundays were church! We got down to the church and mingled around for a short while before the church service began. Then we would sing some worship songs and be joined by the kids who did the motions with us. After our worship set, worship and praise begin Maasai style! It’s quite the workout to join in Maasai dancing and we all loved every part of it! After the worship and praise there were testimonies from the church and visitors and then the welcome songs! These were the best, we sang the songs and danced around while high fiving or hugging everyone in the church! Then came time for a drama if there was one then the kids went out to Sunday school and all of the adults huddled together close to the stage for the teaching. Church this month is one I will never forget!
Those were our only truly consistent thins that happened weekly, but there were things that happened daily as well, when they could be fit in, and those things were music lessons! Nikki taught guitar and Sarah piano to some staff members and some church members throughout the month.
During the other days of the week we did various things that all made us feel truly like a member of the team here! During our visit the president of Missionary Ventures (the mission organization Woven Together Ministries is a part of) came to visit with his wife. Bill and Tammy were such a gift from God to all of us girls, we have plans to go visit them already! But, while they visited Bill did some teachings for the staff so we took over those staff’s roles while they attended the teachings. We had girls in the shamba (garden), girls at the gate doing security, Whitney holding babies and playing with kids who’s moms were in the training, and girls in the Gazelle working in the kitchen. I can’t tell you how much fun we had doing these jobs but also how ‘woven together’ we felt into this ministry by being given these responsibilities!
There were also special events that happened throughout the month!
We had a two day girls club that included several items from our Beauty for Ashes curriculum and ahh, it was beautiful! The girls really opened up and showed us their true selves! The second day ended with pampering and a runway show where the girls strut their stuff and danced around in their true identity of royalty as God’s daughters!
Like I said, during our stay Bill and Tammy came to visit so one day was dedicated to getting everything ready for their arrival and for us to welcome them in the same fun way that we were welcomed. This time we got to be members of the team though!
On the last day with Bill and Tammy we had a goat roast that turned into a lamb roast. It was so cool and educational to be a part of that preparation, I learned so much about the Maasai culture and their traditions. We watched from living lamb to dinner as the lamb was prepared. It really brought the Cross into perspective as Jesus was the spotless lamb and he was not killed with mercy like the lambs we ate. We ended the night with some surprises but then truly ended the night with communion with Deb, and our team, and Bill and Tammy.
We also were able to help with two promotional events for the Gazelle! We had a community event that was a music afternoon with free coffee or chia, a free bread roll and a free piece of cake! There was music and special invitations were handed out to community members and so many people were able to stop by, sing and dance with us and of course do the church clap!
The second event we had was for tourists! The Gazelle is right on the main road to Maasai Mara Game Reserve and because of that the safari cars drive right by it on their way there and back to the city. We made hundreds (over 600) of bread rolls and packed some containers and printed some little papers sharing about the Gazelle and then handed them out to the cars. It did not take long to run out but so many of the drivers said they would definitely stop by with their passengers in the future. We even had a few groups stop in right then and there! A big God moment happened too, the containers we used to hand out the bread were kind of pricey, but one group stopped by and donated enough to cover those containers! God is so faithful in showing up during our little steps of faith!
There you have it, the most prominent moments of ministry from our time in Kenya.
Know there were many other little things that happened every day, ministry isn’t always planned, but that’s because ministry is life and life is ministry.
