Picture Update from Life in rural Kenya
Last month, 7 of us Mzungus (A.K.A. White people) ventured into a little unknown village with intentions of bringing hope to the hopeless, sharing the love of God and good news of Christ. Little did we know we were about to embark on a whole new world. Kenya is an absolutely beautiful country filled with beautiful people. As soon as I got off the 8 hour bus ride from Nairobi I couldn’t help but wonder what we’d gotten ourselves into and if we were pherhaps… LOST?! (Wishful thinking) What began to well up inside of me over the next few days I could only begin to describe as culture shock. Everything seemed so foreign and uncomfortable and I was fearing and began to experiance some serious cabin fever. Thankfully, this didn’t last forever. Although, at moments I was so sick and miserable, I also began to see our little village in a new light. The people we lived with I began to adored, the squatty potties became more and more convient (still disgusting), the night gurad with the machete started to feel safe instead of scary, the ladies from the church became a prime example of servanthood, the dirt roads became the highway to spread the gospel and the mazes of corn became our pathway to bring hope to the people in their little mud houses. Our God is so Faithful! Below are some pictures from our time in Kenya.
Tony, Ephram Jesse, Tehillah and I. These are 3 of pastor James’ 5 kids and I one of our first nights there. Your headlamp quickly becomes a good friend out here in these neck of the woods. I rarely left without it, day or night. I quickly fell in love with these wonderful kids, especially Tehilla as she was handed to me soon as I stepped out of the matutu (back of taxi truck ) late on the night we arrived.
This is local primary school in the village. This is what happens whenever we mzungus would pass by. All the kids come running and swarm the fence yelling ‘Mzungu! Mzungu!’ and reach out to touch you. It was insane, very cute, but also overwhelming. I mean they were suppoesed to be in class learning!
Here is dinner about two hours before it is served. Kate and I were going to try and help butcher it this day but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it their way. Mama just slit the throat like it was nothing. Keep in mind this was the chicken that had been roaming the yard just minutes before. We ended up being a little help by taking it in the kitchen and plucking it’s feather before sister Monica gut it and cut it all up. I have a video of the whole process I will post one day! 🙂
Pastor’s oldest son Brian helping out around the house. He was cleaning the maze (a.k.a. corn) and then dumping it from basket to basket to get all the dust off if. They hold it up high so the wind blows it away. The kids out here do A LOT of work around the house to help with everyday needs and tasks. It made me realize how much they are truely capable of. They sure do work hard but also have a lot more responsiblity than most children I know.
Washing dishes the Kenyan way. Yes Mom, they bend at the waist not the knees. 🙂 I kept trying to get them to bend at the knees and they kept trying to get me to do it this way! Killer after a while! Thankfully my team was great at washing dishes so I didn’t have to do them too much with being sick.
These three kiddos are orphans. Three siblings, a girl on the left, and two boys. They would come to the church every day for lunch after school and then hang around until it got dark. It was hard to communicate with them because they spoke no english but they loved my camera, getting sweet treats from me, and playing with pastors kids. They were so sweet and precious. It was neat to see how the church cared for them like their own.
Annie Rose & I with two sweet girls we prayed over while evangilizing.
Sick with Malaria, sleeping the day away under a net on Alisa’s bed.
Pastors boys again. They’d never seen a tent before and didn’t even know what it was. They were great helpers in getting them set up but then they didn’t want to leave us alone in them! So this became a familiar view from inside my tent.
This adorable little girl, I found standing outside church one morning all by herself just waiting for someone to come love on her. Soon as she saw me, she looked looked down at the ground but reached her arms for me to pick her up. She spent the next few hours on my lap in church just playing with my hands and falling asleep.
Us walking the roads to share and spread the love and hope of Jesus!
Oh this lady, is so near and dear to my heart. Her name is Jane. Annie Rose and I met her on our first day out to evangelize. Her husbands name is Justice. After walking through mounds cow poo to reach their mud home we were greeted by her with tears of JOY and warm hugs that welcomed us. Jane was crying because we were an answer to her prayers. She had been praying, asking God to send us, ‘her daughters’ to encourage her and her family in there hard life. I’ve never met anyone like this amazing couple. As we stood there in their home getitng to know them, I quickly became in awe of the Joy and passion they had in their life, simply because of our savior. This picture was taken the second time we went back to visit them when God again answered another prayer for Jane. After we left the first day she started asking for a picture with us. At the very end of our second stay, I all of the sudden really wanted a picture. I felt a little rude in asking but couldnt’ resist the nudge… and looked what happened! 🙂
Sorry this pic is sideways. Internet in Africa here is tough to handle. This is Mama Brian, one of the biggest blessings in my life thus far on the race. She is Pastor James’ wife and I absolutely fell in love withe her last month. She is the epitomy of Proverbs 31. I learned so much from her about how to care for your family. Here she is doing her ironing duties. (Check out that iron with coal!) These were some of my favorite times with her as I would just go sit and talk to her and simply soak up all the wisdom she had to offer!
Me, Annie Rose, and Krump one of my first nights back at dinner. I was a bit loopy at times during my bout with Malaria. So thankful we could all have a little fun in it together!
Sister Eva helping us get water to wash our feet! None of us could carry the big buckets on our heads like they could without losing half the water on the way back. So, they always came with us to teach and help out! It’s HARD WORK getting water from a well and carrying a mile back to your home. Much respect for these wonderful ladies.
I would love to add more pictures but i’m running out of time, the interent place is lockin me in. I hope you enjoy the few I got up and I hope to blog again soon! Thank you to all my supporters! Your prayers and finances are key to the success of this mission. THANK YOU for being a part of all this with me. Love you all. Praying over you each of you at home.
