A Day of Rest and Trying to Adjust... Kenya Part 3

Hey Everyone!

I realize that I covered our Sunday in our last post, but I found some pictures that I did not realize we had.  (Thanks Anita!)  Just for the record real fast, all of the pictures on my blog from Kenya are a mixture of ones taken by the whole team.

As I mentioned before, we spent our Sunday afternoon after church trying to adjust to the time difference as we had just arrived.  Most of us tried to stay a wake, so we found some fund ways that also helped us prepare for the coming week, like blowing up the soccer balls we would be taking to the school!  After blowing up the soccer balls several of our team members played soccer with the Kamau's kids, David and Victory.

Here are some pictures, I hope you enjoy them!  I have also included my sketch of the church we attended that I was working on that afternoon.  I am sorry, it is not very good and not near the quality I would like to have it, but I did not have my drawing supplies with me and I was going by memory and I have not taken the time to redo it since we got back.  If I am going to be honest, I don't know if it will ever be finished, I have a pile of pictures in a drawer here at home that are still waiting on me.   Yeah, I am one of those artists.  :P

Anyways, without further ado, the pictures:

This is the Kamau's son, David.  He loved kicking the soccer balls around and had so much energy.  He kept us all laughing on the trip.  :)

L to R:  Samuel (he taught me how to play volleyball later that evening and was a wonderful teacher), David and Josh

L to R: Victory, Bryan and Steve

David again, I know it is blurry, but I love this shot.  :)

Me sketching while watching the game.  It got a little dangerous at one point when a ball almost hit me in the head, but it other than that it was a great place to sketch.  ;-P

My sketch of the church.  I don't know why it is vertical, I flipped it horizontal but it just won't stay, so sorry about that!

Blessings,
Michelle

Here At Last..... Kenya Part 2

Hey everyone!

Thankfully I was able to get plenty of sleep on the flight from London to Kenya, which was a good thing as we went to church hours after arriving.  Our flight landed in Nairobi minutes before six Sunday morning.  I have never been so excited to reach a destination, I was finally in Africa! After approximately forty-five minutes of waiting in lines, filling out paperwork and collecting our luggage we finally made it through customs.

After customs we stepped out of the airport and I had my first true look at Africa, it was beautiful and not at all as I had expected!  I don't know why, but I had this mental image of Africa as some picture out of the "Lion King,"  and while it is that way in some areas, it is not like that in the part of Kenya we spent most of our time.  Nairobi is a beautiful mixture of tropical, hills and just a hint of midwest America!

Outside the airport.

Some statues outside the airport

Excited to finally be in Kenya!!!

Dad excited to be here too!

After a short time we found our ride and loaded our luggage into the truck and then climbed into the twelve passenger van and began to make our way to the home where we would be staying.  We were originally going to stay at a local hotel, but one of the guys on our team, Bryan, was friends with one of the CMF interns, Zach, so they arranged for us to stay at the guesthouse.  Within minutes of leaving the airport I saw some giraffes off in a field off in the distance.  It was unbelievable!  The roads were really bumpy, but that just made it more fun in my opinion.  When we started to enter the city, we began to see homes made of logs and corrugated tin.  Pedestrians were everywhere, it takes a talented driver to weave in and out without hitting anyone.  It was amazing though, it was gently raining and yet there were ladies walking to church in the mud in high heels!  I was glued to the window trying to take everything in, this was my first view of Kenya and I did not want to miss a single moment.

The Kamau's  (the missionary family) home was beautiful!  I loved being able to stay there, it was such a nice relaxing setting for our team to be able to be in the evenings.

Our sitting area where we hung out and were able to have worship in the evenings.

Behind the sitting area were these stairs leading up to the bedrooms.

I shared this bedroom with Anita and Lynn.  You can see our mosquito nets tied up above the beds, at night we would untie them and they covered the bed to protect us from the mosquitoes.  None of us ever experienced any problem from the mosquitoes though, thankfully.

My bed.  :)

The dining room where we had our meals.

The staff had a wonderful breakfast awaiting us when we arrived, for which we were all so thankful.  While I loved all of the food in Kenya  (Lucy was a phenomenal cook)  one of my favorite parts of breakfast was the fresh fruit, I have not had such wonderful pineapple in a long time.

After breakfast we all hurried to get ready for church.  Within two hours of arriving we were all back in the van again, headed to Mathare for church.  I don't know how to explain what I thought when I first saw Mathare.  In many ways I wanted to cry over the poverty I saw, but I was also partially in a state of shock and was kind of numb from it.  Swiftly though, I began to notice the children.  They were smiling and waving to us, calling out greetings.  It brought a smile to my face and I found myself waving back.  As we stepped out of the van and walked into the church, children would come up and touch us or shyly wave from a distance.

Church was incredible.  I cannot think of another word to describe it, I mean, how do you describe church in Africa?  It is a wonderful, very humbling experience.  It was not a grand, beautiful church like I am privileged to attend, it was just a simple frame of logs with corrugated tin nailed to it with a dirt floor.  Yet, the people were some of the most joyful people I have ever met, praising and worshiping God with everything in them.  I wish I had the words to describe it, but all I can say is, you must go for yourself and experience it, I promise you will never regret it!

After church we went to lunch at Java House, a restaurant that would become a favorite among our team while we were in Kenya.

Dad, Peter our driver and Steve at Java house

L to R:  Anita, Bryan and Jake

L to R: Jake, Jim, Aubrey and Josh

Me at Java house.

After lunch we went back to the house.  We spent the afternoon taking it easy trying to adjust to the time change.  A few from our team were very tired and went ahead and took a nap, but most of us tried to stay awake.  I spent a large part of the afternoon sketching out the church we had attended, I would share the sketch with you, but I still have not finished it yet.

I hope you have enjoyed this peek into my first day in Africa.  Hopefully I will soon have part three in this series of posts up!

Blessings,
Michelle

Travel.... Kenya Part 1

Hey everyone!

Here is Part One about the missions trip to Kenya!  Today we are just going to cover traveling there, I know everyone is anxious to see pictures of Kenya, and I can't wait to share them, but there are some neat stories from traveling too, so I hope you enjoy this post!

We left Friday evening and flew to Atlanta where we would board our international flight to London.  Below is a picture I snapped as our plane was taking off, it would be my last sunset in America for two weeks and it was beautiful!  Our first flight was quite short and I really enjoyed it.  I had not been flying since I was nine and it was like flying for the first time all over again since I had not flown for so long. 

Once we arrived in Atlanta we headed for the international terminal where we had dinner while waiting for our next flight.  I was excited to get to eat at Varsity since I had just read about it in one of my books that took place in Atlanta, so it was kind of like getting to step into the book for a few minutes.  :)

Finally it was time to board our flight that would take us to London.  It was late and I was beginning to get tired and was planning on falling asleep as swiftly as possible so as to begin to adjust to the new time zone.... hopefully.  However, once the flight was up in the air I found that I just couldn't fall asleep and was wishing I could sleep as well as the man sitting next to me who was already asleep before I boarded.  Anyways, I finally gave up and began to look through the movies hoping that once I found one to watch I would maybe fall asleep while watching it.  As I was scrolling through the man next to me woke up and it turned out Milia was a movie buff and started telling me about the different movies.  We talked for sometime about the movies, then we began to talk about ourselves and before too long where we were going.  He was going to visit his family and I told him why I was going to Kenya, which lead to a conversation about God.  It was amazing, as anyone who knows me knows, after around 10:30 or 11:00 my brain literally shuts down from exhaustion, but throughout our whole conversation it was as if God was somehow keeping me awake, because I was fully awake.  We spent nearly the whole flight discussing God.  Milia had so many questions, he knew God was real, but he doesn't believe that the whole Bible is true.  He told me that he has decided what parts of the Bible he wants to believe in and which he doesn't and has invented his own God.  We talked through the night about how the whole Bible is the truth and discussed different scripture passages.  I don't know how many times I wished that someone wiser than me had been there to answer his questions better, but I know that God placed him next to me for a reason and I have to trust that God will send others to continue telling Milia about him.  Milia didn't come to know Christ on the plane, but he was truly searching and I believe that God will continue to send people to keep answering his questions.  Would you please join me in praying for him?

We arrived in London at noon and I sadly told Milia goodbye.  Now it was time to go through customs and go sightseeing.  We made it through customs and I was still wide awake, but sometime between customs and making it to the tube (the subway system)  exhaustion hit me and I was ready to drop after pulling an all-nighter.  I made it to the tube, but once we boarded I was out.  Below is a picture where you can see me sleeping in the background. 

Bryan and Anita with me sleeping against dad in the back. 

By time we reached downtown London I had slept enough to be able to enjoy seeing London.  Our first stop was to see Buckingham Palace, and guess what!  The flag was up which means that the queen was home! 

In front of Buckingham Palace

Our incredible leader Tom on the left and Bryan on the right in front of the palace.

L to R: Aubrey, Jake and Bryan

Buckingham Palace

We saw these bushes shaped like the crown in the Queen's Gardens.  It was incredible!

The London Eye, we were not able to ride it, but it was real neat to be able to see it from a distance!

Jake and Aubrey with a telephone booth, you don't see these in midwest America!

Big Ben

Bryan, Jake, Aubrey and me in front of Thames River and Parliament

At the subway ready to go back to Heathrow Airport to board our flight to Kenya!

 Seeing London was so much fun, but it was only the beginning as we boarded our flight to Kenya. Sorry I am so late in getting this up, hopefully I will be able to upload part two soon!
Blessings,
Michelle

Back Safely...

Thank you so much for the prayers everyone!  This is just a fast update to let you know that I somehow found a way to step on that plane last week and I arrived back in the states safely.  I must admit though, I totally left my heart in Kenya and I cannot wait to go back.  For years I have been praying about where God would send me, and I think I now have my answer, He might lead me somewhere else, but I will not be surprised if at some unknown point in the future I end up back in Kenya.  I am working on a series of posts that will tell of what happened, but please be patient with me, I want to put a lot of pictures in them and it takes time to sort through all the pictures.  If you think of me, please pray that I can readjust to life here since this is where God has placed me for now.  Beyond the goodbyes, the culture shock has been the hardest part of returning. 

I can't wait to share with all of you what happened while over there, God did so many amazing things and taught me so much!  Be watching for the first part of the series soon!

Blessings,
Michelle

Please Pray...

Hey everyone,  Today we started our goodbyes.  We told all of the children in Mabatini "goodbye" and while there I also had to tell my "sister"  Sheila goodbye too.  I never dreamed I would fall so in love with Kenya, but I have and now the thought of leaving is becoming very difficult.  Please be praying for me throughout the next two days and even after I have returned home, I am going to miss the people here greatly. 
Blessings,
Michelle

Time is flying...

Wow, it has already been a week since we arrived here in Kenya!  It has been such an amazing experience!  I cannot believe that Wednesday night I will be on a flight headed back to the States.  While it will be great to see my family again, I have fallen in love with Kenya and I am really dreading all of the goodbyes.  I am already hoping to be able to come back again next winter.  I wish that I could fully explain everything, but right now I do not have the time, and honestly, I don't know if words can explain everything!  It is one of those things that you need to experience for yourself.

Everyone on the team has been so great and we are actually a lot like a big family.  For the most part we have all been healthy, but keep praying for our health please!  Being sick is not something any of us care to deal with when all we want to do is be involved in the ministry here.  Twice I have been blessed to be used to lead two women to Christ and on multiple occasions we have been able to encourage the believers in the valley.

Please keep praying for us as you think of us, especially our health.
I look forward to sharing more with all of you soon!
Michelle 

We're Here!!!!

Hey everyone, just a quick update.  We arrived safely on Sunday and went to church and then spent the rest of the day trying to adjust to the time change.  While I had origionally planned to do big posts full of pictures each night I am just going to do fast, short updates whenever I get a chance and there will not be any pictures.  The internet is not strong here so I will do a series of posts full of details and pictures when I get back and just short ones in the mean time.  Today we had orientation and were able to go into the slums and visit a home as well as see a classroom.  I wish I had time to be able to describe it right now, but I need to post this before I lose the internet again!
Keep a lookout for more updates!
Blessings, Michelle

Almost Ready...

Wow, it has been a crazy week!  I had been hoping to be able to keep my blog updated on the preparations for leaving, but I have literally been running every single day!  I am now all packed and my suitcase is a few pounds lighter than the limit (thank goodness, I was a little worried!) and we will be leaving for the airport in just a few hours.  It all feels so surreal right now, I am truly having a difficult time grasping the fact that in a few hours I will be hopping on a plane that will take my half way across the world to Kenya.   I have dreamed about this for so long I am having a hard time believing that it is real even though my suitcase is packed and ready to go. 

This past week has flown by so fast!  On Wednesday my sisters and I went up to the church to help with the Candy Corn Carnival (hopefully I'll be able to upload some pics after I get back) and then last night we went to an Ernie Haase and Signature Sound concert.  The concert was originally supposed to be in April, but because of a tornado a few days before it had been postponed until last night.  It did not really matter though because I hardly slept from excitement of today.  I am actually quite thankful we had the concert as it helped keep my mind busy instead of counting down the hours!  (Once again, hopefully I'll remember to upload some pics after I get back!)

It has been such a crazy ride getting to this point.  After years, God is finally making this dream a reality.  I always knew the day would come, but I just never knew when.  Now I know, it is today!  Looking back, the wait honestly has not been that long, but telling my eight year old self that this day would come eventually was so difficult!  As I always say, it would be so much easier if God would let me know WHEN something was going to happen so that I could begin a count down!  However, that would take out the faith element so in His wisdom, God has arranged things without us being able to do the count down.  After all, if I did have a count down from now until the next thing I would not be able to live in the moment, I would be to busy counting down until the next moment!

Well, I have a few more things that still need done, I just wanted to give everyone a little update!
Keep a lookout over the next few weeks for updates from Kenya!

Michelle  :)

Of Education, Excitement, Everyday and Etc....

Hey everyone!

This post is going to be a mixture of just about everything, as you can probably tell from the title.  :P

Starting with Education:  This past Friday I took my last CLEP test!!!  Yay!  Now I will be off of school until the middle/end of January when I will begin taking courses through Liberty.  I must admit, I am enjoying the thought of a break since I have not had a break from school work in two years.  I have already been to the library and checked out a lot, and I mean A LOT, of books.  (Did I mention I have already finished some of them?  Yeah, I am a bookworm.)

On to Excitement: As I already announced on facebook Wednesday, I have had my braces removed!!!!

 Here I am on my way to the orthodontists to have my braces removed!!!  I know this isn't the best picture, but it was my last picture with braces.

 Here I am with my orthodontist on the left and one of the incredible technicians.  I have loved every single one of the technicians I have had over the past fourteen months and I am so thankful that we chose Dr. Ratzlaff, he is so great!

My braces are off!  It took a while to get used to them no longer being in my mouth.  When they first came off I felt as if I didn't have any teeth!  Then after they were all polished and the glue removed they felt.... I know this sounds weird.... but they felt almost slimy!  I guess I had really adjusted to the roughness of the brackets!!!!!  :P  I am so thankful I decided to have braces now though.  (I almost didn't let mom and dad put them on me because of my age, but a good friend talked me into them  :) )


Okay, now for Everyday and Etc., or in other words, what has been happening:  Well, this is minor, but I did manage to beat the birds to one of the strawberries off of my strawberry plants today!  It is actually a nice big one this time instead of the tiny one I managed last time.  They are really good and there are so many growing right now, I can really tell the summer heat is over.

This isn't exactly everyday, but my family went to Joplin last Sunday and saw Anthem Lights again, like always they were wonderful.  :)  I would share some pics, but they are still on my dad's phone, sorry!

Well, I am getting so much closer to being ready for Kenya!  I now have t-shirts to wear as well as a power converter.  The latter was quite difficult.  While power converters were easy to find, it was quite another matter finding one that would convert enough for a computer, and we are still hoping that the one we found will work.  The employees at Best Buy did everything in their power to help us, but even they had no answers and could not find any, so hopefully we will be okay!

On an extremely random note, dad earned a lot of brownie points a few weeks ago.  I am one of the people that loves listening to Christmas music year around while my sisters prefer to keep it closer to the Christmas season, so, as you can imagine, it is not very well received when I begin playing Christmas music on the piano around August.  Well, dad and I came up with a wonderful plan, before our grand piano, my sisters and I practiced on an old, electric Rhodes.  It had been sitting in storage and not been used for many years, but dad and I came up with the idea of setting it up in the storage room behind my bedroom in an out of the way part of the house so that I can play Christmas music any time I want, so, can we say that it has been used almost continuously since dad put it up for me?  :D

Well, like I told you, this was an extremely random post, but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the recent happenings in my life!  (Sorry, no Chocolate Strawberries recently.  :(  )

Blessings!
Michelle

Video of Kenya

Hey everyone!

This past Sunday at church a video was shown from a team that had just come back from Kenya where my dad and I will be going in a month.  I thought you might all like to see it so that you can see a little more about where I will be going! 

Blessings,
Michelle

http://vimeo.com/49975519

Fundraiser for Kenya

Hey everyone!  I have time for a little update on what has been happening!

It is now just over a month until my dad and I will be going to Kenya for two weeks with a group from our church.  We are busy getting together the last minute details on our end such as vaccinations and creating lists of what we will need to pack and making sure we have everything that will need to be packed!  We began our vaccinations on Monday.   We have received our Hepatitis A and Yellow Fever vaccinations, both of which come in the form of shots, and dad has had his prescription made out for Malaria and we are working on mine.

This past weekend our team that is going to Kenya held a food fundraiser at a car show that was quite successful!  I took several pictures as a way to begin documenting our trip and so that you might "meet" the people I will be serving with!

Menu of the food we served.

When our leader heard that I knew how to draw he asked me to draw the board above to help catch attention.  It turned out pretty decent!

All set up and ready for the show to begin!

There was a really nice variety of both old and new cars.

Steve went on the trip last year so he has been able to help us all understand what to expect.

Anita has not been to Kenya before, but she has been to Mexico multiple times and has helped give me a good understanding of things that I need to pack and what to expect.

Left to Right is dad, Brian and Jim.  They were in charge of the hamburgers and hot dogs.  Dad went on a missions trip in college to Europe, but has not had an opportunity since then until now.  I am so thankful that God has worked out the details for him to be able to come along! 

This is Tom our team leader.  Yeah, when I told him to smile for the picture I received this pose instead!  LOL

Next is Lynn, she is the nurse on the team and we are all really thankful to have her as well!

I saw this race car at the show and had to take a picture of it for one of my art students who loves Nascar.

Now you have had an opportunity to meet nearly the whole team!  The only people not pictured are Aubrey, Jake and Josh.  I was not able to get their pictures for various reasons, but will introduce them in the future.  I am so excited about this team of people God has put together that I will be able to serve with!  Well, that is all I have to update on for now, I look forward to sharing more with you as it happens!

Michelle  :)