Update 5

Hello Friends!
      I apologize that it has been so long since we have updated you all. Our internet has been limited even more than usual and our lives have continued to stay busy! It is one week until we return home to the States, and both Leah and I have mixed feelings. To say that I am not excited to come home would be a lie, but the thought of leaving the girls here without knowing when or if I will return makes my heart just as uneasy.
     This past week Leah and I were able to travel and visit Word of Life Camp Nairobi. We stayed with David Obunde and his wife Elisabet and three children. It was so refreshing to serve alongside David. During the two days we were there we visited three schools and did Bible Clubs in each of them. The children were SO excited to see David and the Mzungus (a polite way of saying white people) he brought along! Leah and I led songs (and I found myself thanking God for a mother who filled my childhood with children's music galore). For those of you who don't know, Word of Life is a camp that my family has attended in New York every year for 30 years. The camp here in Nairobi does a camp during the months where children are out of school and then does about 12 bible clubs a week in local schools. It is one of the most solid ministries I have ever been a part of. Their clear respect for the Word of God and love for Christ is clear in every single employee and the love they show for their community. It was a blessing and an honor to get to serve along side them. Leah and I were both challenged in our own walk after only spending 30 hours with David and his wife. They seek God so clearly each day. To add to the excitement, Elisabet is Argentinian. So, as we sat in Kenya, we were in their home speaking spanish and eating some delicious Argentinian food! They truly made us feel at home.
     After we left Word of Life we met up with Robyn Moore (a family friend that we met in Tenwek 10 years ago) at a Rugby game. Unfortunately we were walking in right as the game ended. We stayed with Robyn for one night and she brought us to Heshima School the next day. "Heshima" means 'Dignity'. This is a school for disabled children in a town outside of Nairobi. Disabled children here are almost always hidden from society. In order to go to school you have to be able to pay, and most people are unable to pay for a child who "can't learn". There is also simply a lack of knowledge of how to help children with special needs. If a couple has a special needs child, they may hide the child completely from society because of shame. Fathers often leave women who bear them a child with a disability, and many women, in an attempt to provide for the child, lock the child in the house all day while they go to work. Many of these children are simply abandoned. Heshima school is a place that attempts to address some of these issues. They have approximately 16 children (almost all of whom have cerebal palsy) and they work with them on motor skills and development. They help keep them clean and fed, and as they get older they teach them life skills such as yard work so that they can get a job in society. My favorite part goes beyond just helping the children though. The school is also the location for "Dignity Designs". Dignity Designs is a jewelry company that employs the mother of every child in the school. The mothers come to work a few days a week and hand make jewelry with beads that come only from Africa. They are paid a salary and their children's school fees are completely covered. It truly is remarkable. The way God is working in this school by showing love to the "least of these" is exactly what God calls us to do.
     We are back at Hekima for the last week of our stay. We were welcomed back warmly by all the girls and staff. Not only have we felt closer to the girls each day, but the men and women who work here as well. We definitely feel like part of the Hekima Family! Leah and I are both overly sore from our hours spent in the shamba(garden) 'slashing' and pulling weeds. It never ceases to amaze me how hard working almost every Kenyan we have met is. They do everything by their own sweat and hard work. It is actually quite inspiring and a little ashamed of all those times I complained about weeding the garden at home (sorry about that mom!). Leah is truly inspiring for me as well! Today she asked me if I wanted to wash my clothes by hand and my first response was "ummmm.. not really"! I am normally excited about things like that, but in the moment the laziness got the better half of me. She took her clothes and buckets and went outside anyway and inspired me to be the un-lazy person I know exists somewhere inside of me! The girls thought it was great that we were doing our laundry by hand like them and all surrounded us to help soap, scrub, rinse, and hang. It was actually quite fun and gave us one more taste of true African culture. Leah and I have found over and over again that God has provided one of us with the motivation we need when the other is tired and worn out. I can't imagine being here without her.
      Let me assure you all again that your prayers are felt here each and every day. There are days when we are tired, or missing home, or even feeling a little under the weather, where we feel a strength that is not our own come alongside us and lift us up to do something. We only have 8 days left and we want to use each and every moment for the Lord. So much can happen in 8 days, and we pray that God will use us in whatever way he sees fit.
     Since we have been in Kenya there have been some nation-wide tragedies such as a bombing in Nairobi and a helecopter crash that killed their Security Minister. Hekima Place is located an hour from the city along the N'gong Hills and the Rift Valley so we have not been near any of the political threats, but we watch as those around us speak so poorly of their own country and feel their own well beaing threatened. Almost every Kenyan we meet talks about how corrupt their country is. It is an interesting combination of extreme pride in their tribal roots and wanting to separate themselves from their national leadership.
     If we are not able to update before we leave please keep us in your prayers next Monday and Tuesday (July 2nd and 3rd) as we travel home. Please pray for energy and motivation as we hope to make each day count before we come home. A wise man (I like to call him Dad) once told me that the biggest lie that Satan feeds us is that there is no power in the Word of God. Please pray that we won't believe that lie and that we will continue to share God's Word in a Powerful way. Sometimes it takes a deliberate effort to not rely on our own strength. The girls may not remember every day we spent with them, the games we play, the songs we sing, or the snacks we give. However, They will remember feelings. They will remember the love and truth of Christ and his Word. Please join us in fervent prayer that we will continue to hold on to that Truth even as our minds and hearts yearn to be home.Thank you all! This trip would not be what it is without all the prayer and support that is surrounding us.
God Bless,
Lizzy (and Leah)

Update 4

     God works in such amazing ways! Over and over these last couple weeks God has orchestrated our trip above what we could have planned. Each day has been a blessing as we continue to meet new people and experience new things! There are now two volunteers staying who are from Oberlin College in Ohio. One of them lived on the same floor as my cousin Bill Townsend. Just goes to show you what a small world we really live in!
     Last week after we returned to Hekima we had the opportunity to be out in the community a little bit as well. The first day we spent doing some manual labor in the Shamba (garden). They have this way of cutting weeds and grass that they call "slashing". It basically consists of a very long machette that is bent at the bottom which you swing back and forth to manually cut the grass. Pete (one of the new volunteers) and I slashed from morning until lunch. It was actually quite fun! Although, I imagine that if I had to do it every day the novelty might wear off. Leah and the other volunteer were pulling the weeds manually where we were not able to slash! It was nice to get down and dirty with a little sunshine!
     Another day during the week Leah and I had our first public transportation experience! We were headed into Nairobi to meet up with Robyn for a HIV Clinic. To hire a cab would have been 30 dollars as opposed to the 5 dollars it costed to take a car, a matatu and a bus! For all of you who are reading this thinking we are crazy, we had our Kenyan university student with us to make sure we got on the correct vehicles! She kindly escorted us to safety. The first car we got in had 3 goats in the back seat accompanying the 6 people. On the way home there were 10 people in the car, but no goats. They know how to use their space wisely!
     The clinic itself was amazing. We were located in one of the slums of Kenya and they were educating the children on their diseases and also giving immunizations. Leah was able to be in the room observing the short check-ups while I kept the kids outside occupied playing hand games and marbles. If anyone ever doubts that God has a sense of humor, let me assure you that he does. There is a couple named the Bells who run an infant rescue center here in Kenya. The day before the Clinic we randomly met them at the local 'mall' where we were having lunch. We spoke for a few minutes and then basically expected to never see them again. Little did we know that they are good friends with Robyn and they happened to be at this clinic as well. And one step further they are from Anderson Indiana which is very close to Indiana Wesleyan. They came to Africa and felt God calling them to start an infant rescue center which is currently running out of their home. They have 2 adult children back in the states and are in the process of adopting 2 Kenyan children right now while they also have 8 infants living with them at home. As a treat for all of the children at the clinic, Robyn, the Bells, Leah and I took the kids out for pizza. So we had a few hours to get to know the Bells and the kids who were at the clinic. It was amazing how polite and thankful these kids were. The second Robyn got out of the car they mobbed her with hugs and hellos. Leah and I are hoping to maybe find time to spend a day or two at the infant rescue center. I just can't resist going to a place filled with adorable bundles of joy!
      Currently Leah and I are at Tenwek hospital! Getting here alone was a God thing because we both had it in our head that we were leaving Monday afternoon, only to recieve a phone call at 2pm on Sunday "checking up" to make sure we were still on for meeting at 4. Keep in mind that we were an hour from where we were meeting these people and dont have a car! So after a few frantic phone calls to our taxi man Sam we jumped in the car and rushed to meet them. We arrived at approximately 3:58pm with enough time to buy a coffee for the road! God is SO good. We drove with two missionary doctors and one kenyan language teacher. It was such a blessing to be in the car with fellow believers as they made us feel right at home and the joy of Christ was so evident in each of them. The one Doctor reminded me pretty heavily of this one really great guy I know in Zanesville whom I like to call Dad. :)  He had the same ornry humor which made me feel even more at home!
     We arrived at Tenwek in the evening and Dr. Row walked us down to where we were staying which is right across from where my family stayed when we were here. Every little thing got me excited! Seeing the yellow tenwek sign, seeing our old apartment; even things like the trees that I remembered. Even the man who sells Kisi stone is in the same spot and is the same man who was here ten years ago! I spoke with him today and he claims to remember our family (although I have my doubts), but Barb confirmed that it is the same man! We are staying right next door to Barb Pinkley who has been amazing to us. We have been eating all of our meals with her and are envious of her cooking skills. I feel a little spoiled to be honest! She arranged for Leah to shadow some orthopedic doctors and Leah has basically had the schedule of a med student since we have been here! She has been able to see multiple surgeries and even got to scrub in for one yesterday! I can't share all the details as well as she could, but she is simply GLOWING. I'm not sure if surgery is what she hopes to do, but I do know that she is loving every minute of seeing first hand the power that God gives to those here. She was able to meet a man who came to know Christ right before his surgery and has been so amazed by the freedom Tenwek doctors have to share Christ with every patient they have. The time, the care and the prayer that the workers here put in is amazing!
      On Tuesday, both Leah and I went out with community health! We got up and had tea with all of the Kenyans who work in the health center (which looks exactly as I remember it from sitting with Jonny counting pills day in and day out!) and then we crammed into the back of a truck and were off on our journey. We were accompanied by 3 nursing students and 2 doctors and we were holding a clinic for mothers and their babies. Leah and I were put in charge of weighing the babies, which basically meant that we got to hold every single baby as they went in the door. I wished so much that I spoke swahili because there was so much to be said to the mothers who smiled at us and shared their children with us. They were all so sweet and thankful for the clinic. None of the babies wore diapers and they were all wrapped up in 5 or 6 layers of clothing with hats and winter coats. They were all SO precious. I could have stayed there all day.
     We leave Tenwek tomorrow, which is too soon. However, we are excited to be back to Hekima and see the girls. We both are feeling so blessed by all of our experiences. There are times where I feel that I am getting so much more than I am giving, which is a humbling thing. I want so badly to be helpful and make a difference in whatever way possible, yet over and over I am being blessed by the people and experiences I have more than I could imagine. We have 2 1/2 weeks left in Kenya and we are both torn between the excitement of going home and the desire to spend more time here. Your prayers have been evident to us. Apart from some allergies and the occassional upset stomach our health has been amazing. Even on the days where we don't get much sleep we somehow have energy to get through the days. God has provided us safety in transportation, and blessed the relationships we have made.
     This past week has been an emotional rollarcoaster as Leah and I both reflect on everything. There is so much that needs to be done, and so little that we can get done in the short time we are here. I often find myself struggling with the insecurity of not being able to do enough. Pray for us in these next 2 weeks that we will both continue to have servents hearts in everything that we do and that we will know Gods plan for us. 'The Joy of the Lord is our Strength."
Thank you for your prayers! We are both excited to come home and share what God is doing!
God Bless
Lizzy (and Leah)

Update 3

Hello Friends!

It has been an adventuresome, amazing week for Leah, Maddy, and I. Since we last wrote we have been on a few different excursions with the girls as well as an adventure of our own!  Let me apologize for no pictures in this post, but it adds an extra hour to get them on here because of the slow internet and I don’t have the time today!

Last weekend some of the girls who have been doing well in school got to go with us into Karen (a town nearby) to see the “Baby Elephant Orphanage” and the “Giraffe Center” The Elephant Orphanage is a project started by Karen Blixen which takes in elephants that are found orphaned for different reasons. Many of the elephants lost their parents to poachers. The organization does not go looking for these elephants, but simply responds to calls from tourists or locals who see baby elephants alone. They only allow humans to see the elephants while they are feeding them in order to allow the elephants to stay wild. They, thus far, have a 100% success rate at integrating the elephants back into the wild with a new family. It was really interesting to see.

After the Elephants we headed over to the Giraffe Center with the girls. Basically, it consists of big porch where the Giraffes are able to come right up to. The workers give out handfuls of food pellets and the giraffes eat them right out of your hands! My family may remember being there, and I have a vivid memory of the Jarrett girls telling us that they would feed the giraffe from their mouth! So, it goes without saying that I was NOT going to leave that place without giving it a try. I marched right up that porch, handed my camera to Leah, and asked the guy worker about it. He so kindly demonstrated, giving me the courage to try it! Yes, I kissed a giraffe; In EVERY sense of the word. It was interesting because there were more white people in these two ‘tourist attractions’ than we have seen the whole time we have been here and I found myself gravitating towards the Africans instead of the tourists. However, we did have some good conversations with other travelers. One lady came up to me and asked me if I would please feed the giraffe from my mouth again so that she could take a picture! So, I went in for round 2. Leah and Maddy, while amused at my determination, were not quite as enthralled with the idea, and stuck to feeding the giraffes with their hands! By time we left a few other young tourists that were in a group were talking about that crazy girl who fed the giraffe with her mouth and they too gave it a try! I feel that we left our mark and started a trend! I believe the Jarrett Girls would have been proud! 

Monday night a group of 10 volunteers arrived to share the guest house with us. They have been traveling in Kenya for about 3 weeks, and leave tonight. Since they were going to be here last week, we decided that it would be the perfect time to go on Safari!

To give you an idea of how much of an amazing experience the safari was, I’ll have you know that I wrote 14 pages in my journal about the trip. Needless to say, I am going to summarize on here: Our driver picked us up at Hekima on Wednesday morning. We loaded up, and started the drive. Our guides name was Peter and then there was another man traveling with us named Godo who is redesigning the website for SpurWing (which is the company that we scheduled our safari through). Peter has worked in tourism for years and was a bottomless pit of knowledge. He used to work in Spanish tourism, so he fluently speaks 4 languages: Spanish, English, Swahili, and Kikuyu (his mother tongue). That in itself was impressive. We stopped at a gift shop at the rift valley which brought back memories again of my previous trip. I don’t know that it was the exact same spot, but I am going to let myself believe that it is just for the sentiment of it all!

For those of you who have ever been on a mission trip, or heard of some of my family’s road-trip adventures overseas you know that if you get from point A to point B with no troubles, it is a MIRACLE. As we were getting closer to the Maasai Mara Safari, we heard a snap and pulled over. Luckily we were right in a small town and so we pulled over at an “Auto Shop” and discovered that one of the fan belts had snapped. There were two adorable little boys standing outside our car smiling at us every time they caught our eye. I just wanted to get out and love on them, but we stayed in the car until it was fixed. About 45 minutes later we were up and running again and back on the road.  About 10 minutes later: SNAP: there goes the other belt. This time we just removed the old belt and kept driving because apparently you only really HAVE to have one. We dubbed the small break downs as an adventure and laughed our way through until we finally arrived at the campsite!

We were approximately 3 hours late for lunch so grabbed something quickly and then headed out on our first game drive. The beauty of the land is indescribable. We had beautiful weather and were driving as the sun began to go down. That first day we saw so many different animals and were consistently amazed by their size and grace. Peter (the guide) kept feeding us information and I couldn’t stop thinking how creative our Creator is. The evening ended with a delicious dinner at the camp site and hours of talking by the campfire. Peter is 28 and married with one boy. We all sat around the fire talking about everything under the sun. I learned so much about the different culture that we are in. Leah and I were literally hanging on every word that the workers shared. We also had the whole camp to ourselves because it is low season and we went in the middle of the week. So we basically had 7 men waiting on us hand and foot. I wasn’t about to complain ;)

Here is where it gets interesting: The next morning we woke up early and headed out for an all day game drive. We drove for a couple hours expecting great things: but what we didn’t know was that the Maasai Mara was out to get us from the start! We were on our way to the hippos to have a picnic lunch by the lake when we got stuck in some mud. This wasn’t the first time we had been temporarily stalled in mud. But on the other occasions, one man drove while the other pushed a little and we were good to go. However, this temporary break turned into 4 hours in a ditch in the middle of the Mara. Any normal person would have been upset , but at the end of the trip it was everyone’s favorite part. We dug out mud by hand, shoved rocks under wheels, pushed, pulled, and prayed. After the first two hours we decided to stop and eat our “picnic lunch” in the van. Then we all got down in the mud some more. 4 and a half hours after we had gotten stuck, we prevailed in getting out! Truthfully, I give all the credit to the prayer. I think I would have made my mom proud with our joyful attitudes. We did everything without “complaining or arguing.” Peter told us of other times when he had been stuck where the people he was driving left with another driver and he had to get out alone. Once he even slept in the car in the mud until morning when a bigger car could come pull him out. We informed him that we would be sticking around and getting out.

The rest of the safari was just as interesting as we saw more animals and more beauty. There are so many more details I could share, but I don’t feel that I could do the experience justice with my words. The third day we went to the Maasai Village in the morning. The children were beautiful, but covered in cow dung and flies. One little girl was afraid of my white skin when I tried to talk to her, while another little boy would have given me high-fives all day long. While it was a bit of culture shock to comprehend that these people truly lived like this every day, I found myself having a respect for their sense of tradition. Some things have changed over the years, but they still live with a respect of their past. More than a respect: they live in the same mud huts, eat the same food (including drinking blood and milk every day), and practice the same marriage traditions. The best part was when the men did their “jumping competition.” Peter joined in the competition, but lost miserably. We were told that whoever would jump the highest would get a girlfriend. Some of them were jumping pretty high!

It was late Friday night when we arrived back at Hekima, and it was bitter sweet to end the adventure. We were all exhausted from the trip, but couldn’t stop talking about all of the wonderful things. In the short three days that we three girls spent with the two men, we went through a lot and felt a sense of family.

The girls welcomed us back to Hekima with open arms, all asking about our trip and telling us about the “Carnival” that the other group of Volunteers had done. We played soccer with the girls and the uncles on Saturday. Leah slipped once and fell on her wrist and hurt it. We are hoping that it is just a small sprain, but please keep her in your prayers as we feel it out the next day or so to see if it improves.

We are excited to be back at Hekima, and are starting to get closer to the girls each day. Some of their stories just break my heart. But they have such love and family here. Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of an older girl who was literally brought to tears by all of the girls wishing her birthday wished. As she addressed everyone she choked out “I am so thankful: I never thought that I would have a family like this” before breaking into tears. I hardly know her and I was crying. It was heartbreaking, but so encouraging to see how God has provided for her and so many others.

Please continue to pray for us as we are about to our half way point. We have four more weeks here and are still going strong. However, we are always grateful for prayers for energy and health.  The second half of the trip is going to include our week in Tenwek, our visit to Word of Life Kenya, and our visit to our World Vision Child. We are so thrilled to see what God has in store for us!

God Bless,

Lizzy (and Leah)

Update 2 :)

(A Hike through the Great Rift Valley)

As I sit writing this update, I want to start by thanking all of the people who wrote letters for Leah and I to take with us. We have been spreading the letters out, reading them throughout the weeks as little inserts of encouragement . One in particular was so clearly a gift from God to me. 

Tonight, I spoke with one of the house mums for a while about the great gift this home is to the girls. We talked about our lives and about our countries, and for the first time since I've been here, my heart truly broke deeply for a specific other: For this woman who serves next to me each day, for this country, and for these children. I caught a personal glimpse of the heartache of one woman. Someone just like me. I began to feel that I couldn't do enough. To think of all the ways I could sacrifice the excess in my life to help someone else: how small changes in my own little world could be life changing for this woman. The anxious feeling of helplessness overwhelmed me and my heart literally became tight. Leah and I were talking through our experiences of the day and both pleading to God that we can be his hands and feet. Our desire to be used by Him has been ignited and is burning stronger than before.  I was still anxious, and feeling less than capable when the conversation came to an end and I began to settle down by opening a letter from an anonymous writer. The card literally brought me to immediate tears. I pulled out a note card that had a big sticker that said "Anxiety,"  reading "cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." Crying lead to laughing and audibly praising God for his goodness. I believe the exact words choked through my tears were "Leah! God is so cool! Its not even fair!"  While rather ineloquent as those words may have been, it was all I could say, and exactly what I meant.

This past week has been a fairly calm one, but wonderful each day nonetheless. The week began on Sunday with church here at the home. Most Sundays the girls split up and go to different churches in the area. This coming Sunday we will go to an Episcopal church right down the road! We have been told that it is QUITE loud and that we should be prepared for shouting! It will be interesting for sure to see the difference in celebration. We also hope to stay for a Swahili service  at least once while we are here!  After church on Sunday we were informed that all of the girls go on a hike down the Great Rift Valley anytime it is dry on a Sunday! (Keep in mind that this would have been the day after our 3 hour hike through the Ng'ong Hills and we were barely walking on flat ground.) Despite our aching legs we went with the kids down one side of the steep valley, up the other, and back again! It was beautiful and great to be out with the girls! It still catches me by surprise when we ride the bus to school each morning driving right along the beautiful Rift Valley, or in the morning when I walk out the door and see the Ng'ong Hills. God's creativity when creating this world astounds me. I can only imagine what the Garden of Eden must have looked like, and I am certain that my imagination doesn't do it justice.

At school this week I have been in class 4 each day. The teacher for class 4 left for another job last Friday and so for 2 or more periods a day they have no teacher. So instead we have had improv music lessons, vocabulary lessons and a few English lessons that I was able to teach from the book that the Principal (or head teacher) gave to me. They all know I am studying to be a teacher and jump at any opportunity for me to teach a lesson or grade papers. I am thoroughly enjoying it! I do find myself wishing at times that I had some of my resources at home so that I could go to the class prepared to truly teach a lesson, but other than the English book, I am left with a piece of chalk, a board, and my own imagination! I find that my cleverness and creativity of what I can do with these two things comes and goes at its own will. I will have to find a way to control that inconsistency sometime in the next two years before I begin teaching on a full time basis! However, when worse comes to worse, we play hand games! Next week I will be moving to a younger class: either first or second.

(Hand Games in Class 4)

When the girls have a birthday it is HIGHLY celebrated here. Kate and the mums take great care to make each girl feel like an important individual, and not just a member of a group. There are speeches, gifts given, songs sung, and of course CAKE! They turn on music and dance and sing, enjoying themselves and celebrating the life that has been given to them. The little girl who celebrated her birthday today has been here for six years, and has found home.

 (Fun with the Girls)

This weekend and coming week there are some fun excursions that we will be taking. So our next update may very well be filled with tales of the fun we will have seeing the sights of Africa with our friend Maddy (the other American who is here volunteering) and some of the girls (who are doing well in school and get to join our trips as a reward!) Thank you all again for your prayers and support. Our health is good, our hearts are at rest, and God is continuing to work each day through little moments spent investing in the lives of the children and adults. Some of my most meaningful/challenging moments and conversations have been with the adults I have encountered, yet the laughter and joy that comes from each child brings chills to me in a different, yet powerful way. There is no doubt that God is working in the hearts of Leah and I just as much as we are hoping to impact the lives of each person we meet here.  Please to continue praying for good health and also for safety in travel as we have the opportunity to leave Hekima this coming week for a few trips. We are so thankful for each and every one of you.

To all my family, I find myself wanting to reminisce about past experiences with you on a daily basis as memories flood back from our previous trips. I know that those first memories are ones that will forever be in my mind. I love you all and wish that I could share many of these experiences with you as well! Stephen, Layla, Tim, Jenna, Emily, Jonny, Mom, and Dad you should start preparing now for me to talk your ear off the next time we are together!

God Bless,

Lizzy (and Leah)

Update One

We have arrived safe and sound! (four days ago as a matter of fact). The flights were all on time and as planned! To try and tell you everything God has already done, or everything that we have already experienced would be near impossible, but for those of you who are praying and have been supporting us we will fill you  in on as many of the highlights as possible!

Our first snag came when we arrived in Nairobi. My usual smile and charm unfortunately did not work on the lady in customs who seemed to be determined to make it as difficult as possible for us to get from the airport side of the glass to our ride standing 15 feet away. The flash back of our first trip where there was a man who wanted to charge my family "duty" (or taxes) on all 10+ of our medical supply filled boxes came to mind and I immediately prayed for the same grace that was granted my family so many years ago. Honestly, this scene had been on my mind the whole trip there and customs was the part I was most nervous about. God used that experience though to prepare me for the scene to come. Had I been caught unaware, I would have been much more flustered and worried. Unfortunately, there was no persuading this woman. She immediately picked out the red duffle bag filled with little girls clothes, school supplies, and shoes. 49lbs exactly of supplies for the girls at Hekima. It was the ONLY bag she wanted to look through, and of course it was the one with the majority our gifts to the orphanage.{{Note to self: when packing supplies, don’t put them in a mysterious red duffle bag that obviously does not match any of your other luggage!}} Robyn (our missionary friend from Nairobi) stood on the other side of the glass yelling at us asking us what she was saying and giving us advice. However, when push came to shove, we lost the short battle, but our spirits were still high! Then, when we were 2 feet from the door, a different lady came up to us and said "YOU, Ma'am. You need to go through customs." I told her I already had and she didn't immediately believe me. Luckily I had the receipt from the taxes we had paid and of course the lady I had just spent 10 minutes debating with witnessed that I had already been through the process. So finally, now 48 hours, 3 plane rides, 5 people, and 4000 shillings later, we stepped into Kenya!

Arriving at the orphanage was a blessing in its own! The roads are….well, Kenyan! We were all exhausted from traveling and ready to get some sleep. To our surprise there was no power at the orphanage when we arrived! Again, an experience that was familiar to me. We used flashlights and candles to make it to our room. We brushed our teeth, and all conked out for the night. The home is beautiful and has its own water system that purifies all of the water used. The water from the faucet is perfect to drink, which makes one less thing for us to stress about while we are at Hekima. The next morning we unpacked and got organized while the girls were at school, went and saw some of the babies, and then took a VERY long nap in the afternoon. Kate Fletcher (the head and founder of the orphanage) came and woke us up reminding us that we would regret all the sleeping later that night when we couldn’t sleep! We got up, met the girls, had dinner, and the generator turned off again at 9pm, so we went back to sleep. To Kate's prediction at 1 am Leah and I woke up, ready to start the day. After talking for 45 minutes, then laying in silence trying to sleep for 2 hours, one of us finally said… "snacks?"   When we went into the kitchen where, low and behold, we found Maddy (another volunteer from the states) up as well. So we played phase ten until morning :) This, I do believe, is the definition of Jet Lag!

(Snacks and Cards at 4 in the morning)

Friday we went to school with the girls! We will be going Monday through Friday from 7am until noon and we ride the bus with the girls. The school is small, but very organized. Over half of the students are from either Hekima, or another orphanage up the road. God is doing amazing works in their lives by giving them the opportunity to go to school. It is truly one of their biggest opportunities to live a good life as they get older. I sat in the fourth grade class with a young girl from the orphanage named Wombui. By request of Kate, I will be her personal tutor over the next six weeks! She is a very high spirited girl who has ADHD and struggles staying on task, so has fallen behind in reading. She loves to talk with us in English and is enjoying having special time with the volunteers practicing reading English. The school is an English speaking school and so the majority of the teaching is in English. They were so excited for us to be there, and the first three "class periods" were spent sharing about myself and singing… LOTS of singing! There were 5 different tribes represented in the 4th year class and each group sang a song in their own mother tongue. I also was asked to give the music teacher piano lessons and was able to grade papers and help teach. I can't even imagine how amazing these  weeks to come will be. Of course, the school (along with every other Kenyan in the country) take a break for tea at 10am. This is a tradition that we are very quickly coming to like! My goal before I leave is to learn exactly how they prepare it so that I can do the same when I return to the States.

(Riding the bus to Good Hope Hill Academy)

I'd like to thank all of you who so willingly donated money and items to the orphanage. We were able to provide them with a wide variety of sizes and styles. It is amazing to me how God can have a plan even before we know of it. In the morning bible study with the staff, three of the "mums" stated specific needs for their children, all of which we were able to meet with the contents of the donations we brought. The woman who runs the "store" where the mums come to exchange clothes that are too small for clothes that fit, or to get new shoes or school supplies, was thrilled with the generosity of everyone. We literally over-flowed some of the shelves! 

(The school Supplies)

(Shoes, socks, and underwear)

Living with us in the guest house is a local university student who has to obtain 200 hours of community service. She is so kind and has been such a blessing to us because she speaks the language and always goes out with us and shows us the town. Her name is Faith. Yesterday, she asked in the morning if we would like to go on a "walk" with herself and her dad. She said they go up the hill every Saturday and that there is a beautiful view!  This so called "hill" was a serious of 5 so called "hills". In the opinion of us three Americans, it was 5 mountains! It was a little less than 2 hours climbing up the steep hills to the top. They are known as the Gong Hills and are absolutely beautiful! We are literally about a 100 yards from the Rift valley which these Gong hills go along.  As we were panting and complaining while we walked, Kenyan runners continuously passed us. When we got to the top we were able to talk with them and we joined in their mountain top aerobics (just incase the 2 hour trek was not enough!) One of them has lived in America for the last 17 years and is only here in Kenya for the year to visit family. He makes a living running marathons in America. Another of them was the son of a woman who won a medal in the 1963 Olympics. They were all very friendly! We are right in the middle of a large population of Massai people. After the long hike Faith's dad was kind enough to take us to lunch. This lunch consisted of ALL meat: Many areas of a goat that I have never eaten, nor particularly wished to eat before. We each tried a little of each, but were not exactly use to a large portion of intestines after a long day of hiking! We then proceeded to get a grand tour of Faith's home town, house, and surrounding area. It was a great day out, and such a blessing to have Faith and her family to show us around and keep an eye out for us Americans who don’t speak the language, and don’t know our way around!

Thank you all so much for your prayers! They are apparent each day. God reveals him self in so many ways, and our opportunity to serve these girls as well as minister to them and show them God's love is vast!

As we enter into week two please pray for continued strength and energy as we adjust to the climate and time change. Also for open minds, hearts, and mouths to speak and show the truth to everyone we meet. We have had zero problems with the food so far, but are trying new things each day. So please continue to pray for good health in every aspect. God is so good and we are so blessed to be served by him! 

God Bless,

Lizzy (and Leah)

Let the Games Begin!

     Friends,
       This blog is where Leah and I will update all of our friends and family as we go through the adventures to come in the next 9 weeks of the summer! We will have limited internet access when we get to Kenya and have decided that it will be easiest to only update at one online location! We will be sure to link the updates to our Facebook pages or you can choose to subscribe to the blog page itself!
       Our trip is One week away AND COUNTING. Leah is leaving in the morning for a wedding in New York and will be flying to meet me in Detroit straight from there! As we sit states away from each other, skyping as Leah packs up her bags, our excitement is growing! Although we are bound to forget SOMETHING, we feel fairly confident in our extreme packing skills! :)
      As we prepare for our trip we ask that you pray for our hearts to focus on God's will and desire for this trip! We want to make sure that each day is spent giving Him glory! We also pray that the hearts of each and every person we meet will be opened before we ever get there. We are both officially in FULL swing. Leah especially as she is leaving "home" tomorrow morning! Please pray for her travels as they begin, and good health for the both of us.

Thank you for your Prayers,

Lizzy and Leah