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The second half of our time in Kenya was spent working with an orphanage called Springs of Hope and running a Vacation Bible School type kids camp.  The orphanage is a smaller one with only about 30 children.  Although it is a small number compared to many of the places we had been to previously. The children in this particular orphanage were babies so it was a bit different.  It was overwhelming to see how much work is involved in taking care of so many small children.  We bathed babies, washed clothes (by hand), changed bedding, and cleaned inside and out.  It was good to spend time with the kids, but it was hard knowing that these children along with so many other children all over the world lived in such rough conditions.

For four days we held a day camp for kids in a nearby town.  On the first day we had around 80 children and then every day after that our numbers were over 100 kids.  It was stretching for our team to say the least.  The children definitely would push the boundaries of our discipline.  Each day we talked on a specific aspect of God – Creator, Father, Savior and Friend.  We also had activities each day to relate to the messege such as the day over God as the Creator we made play dough and had the kids create whatever they wanted.  It was the first ‘organized’ event we had been a part of since all of Africa.  So often in Africa we had no idea what to expect for the day, but during the camp we had split into groups and organized what each day would look like.  It was nice to have a plan and over all the camp ran so smoothly.  It was nice to be able to do a new form of ministry where we were able to see the same children for 4 days in a row.  We were able to form relationships with many of the children and plant tons of seed.

Our views about church were again challenged in Kenya.  Sometimes it was hard sitting through hours upon hours of ‘church’ that was really just protocol for the service.  So many things in the churchs that we attended seems like just fillers of time.  The concept that a long service is a good service” was hard for some of us to take.  It was evident that those people loved God with everything they had and that they wanted nothing more than to be ‘good Christians’ so it was tough trying to decide on how we felt about the experience.

We were all very sad to leave Kenya.  We had formed such close friendships with the Kenya Y team.  There were many tears on the eve of our departure.  We will forever remember our time in Kenya and the inspiration and encouragement we received there.

Being in Kenya was such a breath of fresh air. When we arrived at the Y base we were exhausted from our journey so we were given so much grace and a day to catch up on our rest. It was great to be around people with the same vision as our group, “to know God and to make Him known.” Not only did they share our heart, but they also shared many of the experiences that we had been through in the past four months.

Our first three days were spent helping around on the grounds. It was so cool to see how other bases are ran around the world especially in places such as in Africa. We cleared paths, cleaned toilets (African toilets), and helped out in the kitchen preparing meals. Those days were definitely gifts from God because in the evenings we had free time to be able to let our minds begin to process the first half of outreach. After that time of much needed reflection and work with our hands we started back into ministry time.

We spent one day in a small village splitting up into groups and going door to door. In Uganda we had had some difficult experiences with this type of evangelism, but this time it went so well and the whole team was encouraged by what was accomplished. Almost everyone we met was either a Catholic or Protestant. It was so nice to be able to sit down with fellow believers and encourage them in their faith. We were able to pray for families, lost loved ones, and for healing. That evening we gathered in one of the local churches to hold a seminar. We used that opportunity to sit down with the youth in the village and talk to them about the struggles they face being a teenager. Our team stepped outside of our normal approach to the youth and it ended up being such a God orchestrated night. The teens really opened up to us and shared their struggles and fears with us. It was great to be able to respond directly to their needs rather than just coming in and assuming to know what they needed. The next morning we held the Sunday service at the same church. It was really the first time that we had the opportunity to follow up on the relationships that we had been able to build. So often in Uganda we would visit schools and only have a couple of hours with them. The service was a typical African service which means that we arrived at around 9 and we didn’t finish until lunchtime which was around 1. During lunch we also had another chance to fellowship with the people of the village.

Jessica and Cheryl with their team

Speaking with the Youth

Monday was our day off. We attempted to go to an elephant orphanage, but when we arrived we found that they are only open to visitors from 11 to 12 and it was about 5 minutes after 12. We were extremely bummed, but Jess just spoke out that God must have something else in store for us. We ended up getting to go see animals at the Nairobi National Park. It was pretty much just a zoo, but God had a special treat waiting for us there. We were about a ¾ of the way through the park when we saw that the lion with his trainer. After talking to the man for a bit we asked if there were any baby lion cubs. He said yes but they were put up. Of course we asked him if there was any way we could see them. He left to find out and then he came back and told us to follow him. We were led back past the employees only gate to this little shed. As soon as we walked in Bethany was handed a baby lion cub! Each one of us got to hold the cub as we were told to hurry up and take pictures. It was very apparent that what we were getting to do was way outside of the park rules. After everyone had a chance to hold the cub one of the guys grabbed the cub and ran it back to where it was suppose to be. It was such a super secret mission and that was part of what made it so fun and exciting. We also had a chance to go into Nairobi and have some french fries and a coke which is always a treat. Cities in Africa are always stressful and hectic but all in all it was a good day off.

Surprise!!!

Simba!

Cuddle!

One other gift from God that we received was the first few days we were at the base we had the chance to go on mini safari walks where we were able to see gazelle, impalas, zebras, wildebeest at one time we saw a herd of 24 giraffe! God is so good to us!

Giraffe - Mini Safari