Ya'll, I'm in Africa. It has been my dream to come here since I don't know when, and I am loving it. We are living in Bungoma, Kenya for the month and staying at Pastor Jackson and his wife Mama Jane's home. It was an easy 9 hour bus ride from Nairobi, where we spent some time with the whole squad for a few days at possibly the coolest hostel ever. I love that 9 hour bus rides are now considered easy – only on the World Race!
Here's what we're doing this month:
Preaching at church services and youth meetings – Please pray for my nerves to be calmed for this! I am not the most comfortable speaking in front of people, especially for 45 minutes to an hour. But I will do it. Please pray that God will put the exact message on my heart that He would like for me to give to His people.
Visiting hospitals and praying for the sick – This is an amazing yet heartbreaking experience. During our first visit, our first stop was the children/babies ward, where we met families and learned what illnesses their children were dealing with so that we could pray over them. The families were so grateful that we had come, but it was definitely a struggle to hold back the tears the entire time we were there.
Taking part in praise and worship – Hopefully by the end of the month, we girls will be able to dance with the praise team at service on Sunday morning. We're practicing our African dance moves but we still have a ways to go. 🙂 It is amazing to see the heart and passion in the worship of the church here – it is a literal crying out to God and a joyful dancing before Him.
Attending home groups twice a week for prayer and fellowship – The Monday night group is a dedicated prayer time, while Thursday night is worship and a message (given by us). Our entire team splits up on these nights, and one person goes to each home group. It's really fun to get to know a small group of people and feel like a little family.
Doing door-to-door evangelism in the community twice a week – This has been one of my favorite things up to this point. The hospitality of Kenyans is at a whole different level than I've ever seen. Almost everyone invites us into their homes and tells us how much of a blessing we are to them. Many of the people we've encountered so far are already Christians, but it is wonderful to hear their stories and fellowship with them. Yesterday, we visited a couple named Morris and Freida, who are 88 and 79 years old. They are devoted Catholics and have lived in the same house since before Kenya even gained its independence. The depth of their wisdom was incredible and it was an honor just to spend time with them. Please pray for both of them, as they have both had strokes and it is much more difficult for them to get around now.
Playing with children at school and speaking at chapel there – We went to the school on our very first day of ministry and it was basically the exact "Africa experience" I had always pictured in my mind. Precious little African children in school uniforms ran up to us and attached themselves to us for hours. We teach Bible stories during chapel on Friday mornings.
Orphanage visits – We will visit an orphanage a little ways outside of town and spend some time loving on the kids there.
That's all I've got for now! Internet is less conveniently accessible this month but I will do my best to keep you all updated on what's going on here in Kenya.
