Early this morning after breakfast, we were going through the orphan folders, reading and placing their pictures with their folders. As I was reading most of them I would glance at the picture and read a little bit, feeling sorry and wanting to do something. But as I was flipping through I came across this folder with Freddie and Felix's name on it. These two little boys live behind Bishop's house (where we are staying), we have played and really hav gotten to know them well. Freddie reminds me so much of me when I was a little kid. He is always smiling and he has this amazing...

After two days of traveling on planes and going through airports, we finally made it to Nairobi on June 9th, my birthday. Before getting on a 13 hour bus ride to Mpeketoni, we were able to go out and explore downtown Nairobi. As we set out for our adventure, we exchanged our American dollars into shillings and set out to find the marketplace in the middle of downtown. As we were moving forward, deeper into the middle of downtown, this man approached us asking us if we were looking for the marketplace, (knowing that we were tourists because we were the only light colored skin for miles)....

A story from the night we drove to the bus station in Nairobi; an excerpt from my journal: “Our mutatu taxi shows up 30 minutes late and we start our journey to the bus station in the city. First of all, we were all crammed in there. It was kind of crazy. We got a couple of good pictures of it though. So then we’re just riding along being amazed and scared by all of the insane driving when all of a sudden some guy running by opens my window and tries to grab my purse! Thank goodness it was wrapped around my neck! I screamed, closed the window, and definitely cried a little. It...

To God be the glory in the safe arrivals of every team. Just yesterday night we arrived in Kijabe Kenya and it seems so sureal. I mean after all the talks and preperation we are now finally starting off in the great adventure God has called us to do. Trining camp was great! Through it all we had the oppurtunity to get closer to God and one another. One thing i learned today after walking the streets of Kijbe was how happy and warm these people are living the most simple ways. Day-to-day living with the worries of only THAT day. Compared to my fast-paced life that has a never ending set of...

After hearing an inspiring story the first night about the Lord bringing literal rain to a drought-stricken Kenya I was consumed with the image of bringing God's rain to the Kenyans  this summer.  During the afternoon our team was challenged to paint a canvas with an image that described what we saw or wanted God to do in Kenya. We each chose a phrase to put on it and I chose "bring God's rain".  That's what I want to do as we pour out our lives on these people. Just as we finished painting it began to rain outside the cabin. It was such a refreshing...

God tells me I'm beautiful. He tells me I am stronger than I think I am. He tells me my expectations will surpassed. He says he has me in his hand. At training camp, we got split into two groups. One group had to raise their hand and keep their eyes closed while the other group walked up to us and put their hands on us. We kept our eyes closed and had to tell that person what God was telling us about them. We switched and there was much truth spoken to me even though the person speaking had no idea who I was. I think we should affirm eachother more often. Encouragement is so profound...