Thursday, August 1, 2013

8/1/2013

    We're home! After a month of being in Kenya, we are all back safe. We got home on tuesday, after being on a plane for 21 hours. It's crazy to think that we were just in Nairobi two days ago, and now I'm at home, sitting on my couch, after sleeping in my own bed. This past month has been incredible. We saw and experienced so much, and it really changed my life. There were things that happened and things we saw, that I'm not sure how to explain besides the fact that God is so incredible. But we also saw things that rocked us to our core, and it was hard. But even in those times we found a way to remember just how great God is and everything He does.

    During the month, we had 6 kids sponsored, we prayed for so many people, we helped build a house, we kissed giraffes, we swallowshipped, we fellowshipped, we ate so much food, and we saw God work in so many ways. We did so much over in Kenya, and it's hard to keep track of what happened on what day, but it was all so good. It is good stuff for sure. For me, I'm really afraid of forgetting everything that happened. I want to remember every single thing, so that I can tell people about it and get others involved in some way. Whether it's sponsoring a child, or praying for a group of people, or even being so radical and going over there and spending time with everyone over in Kenya.

    In Kenya it's so easy to stay focused on Christ and not get pulled away by all the craziness of life. We were all surrounded by a team who was so focused on Christ and everyone was so encouraging, so it was easy to stay in that mindset. And we didn't have any distractions from everyday life because we were in Kenya, and everything is just a bit slower and more laid back. Coming home is a little difficult, because you get thrown back into the craziness. Yes, it's good to take a nice hot shower, to not worry about having to wash your clothes by hand, having a toilet that doesn't leak, and to sleep in your own bed. But it's also hard to adjust back to how go, go, go everyone is here.

    Some of the things we saw, were hard to take in and hard to comprehend, but we were meant to see it, so we can come back and tell everyone about it. One of the hardest things to do were home visits, where we would go visit houses of families and take care packages to them. The families that we visited had kids in the Tumaini program, and that program is what keeps them alive everyday. We met children who were HIV positive who couldn't get medicine until they were sponsored, kids who depended on Tumaini for school fees and school uniforms. Through sponsoring a child changes their lives. We saw a few kids who got sponsored right before us going over, and we were able to see a huge difference from the time they were sponsored to when we left. You wouldn't think that $35 dollars would do much, but it means the world to these kids. You can change their lives. I feel so blessed to have been able to meet the staff of Tumaini, because they have a personal relationship with all of the kids in the program. We would be walking down the street, and one of the staff would say, "there's one of our kids" and that happened lots of times. The staff is so passionate about helping these kids, it's so awesome. 

    Over the past month, I was pushed to my limit and stretched in ways I can't really comprehend. But it was all so fantastic. I wouldn't trade the past month for anything. I loved every second of every day we were there. And I'm so looking forward until the next time I go back to Kenya. 

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10

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