Camp 53 - Day 4

Today at Camp 53 was awesome.  The topic for today was Sexual Purity.  Sex education is almost non-existent here, with most families never talking about it except to say, "don't do it;" a good message, but hardly enough information for a young person.  We kept to the usual format, with songs, and a devotional to introduce the topic.  This time Eliza Marks led the devo, and she did a great job.  Mbuvi then talked all about the biblical reasons for maintaining purity until marriage.

 

Afterwards we spilt into gender groups, with just our counselors leading, to answer questions.  The response was astounding.  The girls wrote their questions out on cards, so they could remain anonymous, and that really allowed them to ask great questions.  The depth that they were willing to go was very refreshing.  We extended their time twice to allow them to finish.  It was worth the trip, just for this exercise.

 

After lunch, Ryan led a great drama that illustrated the importance of purity, but also the availability of forgiveness and a fresh start through the saving love of Jesus.  The students really connected with this one.  Then it was time for ACT group.  The students were able to ask more questions and talk through what it means to have a new start.  These groups have really turned into small families.  They are working just as we had hoped.

 

After free time, Joel and Mbuvi rocked it again, and the staff and one ACT group performed dramas.  One of the students asked to recite a poem about sex and purity, and she did great as well.  For our fun activity, we had another Dance Party, since the first one was so well received.  The Kenyans learned to do the boot-scoot booggie, and many of us learned that we still can't dance.

 

Tomorrow, our final session and departure.

Camp 53 - Day 3

Today was Fun Day at Camp 53!   We started with breakfast and a devotional before boarding a big bus for the drive into Kisumu.  The bus was borrowed from a nearby Catholic school, and has seating for 66 people, so it was just right for our group when we added one of the Land Cruisers. 

 

We drove to the Kenya Wildlife Service Kisumu Impala Sanctuary.  This place was originally established to protect a small habitat of Impala from human conflict and later to protect hippos that live in the lake.  It has grown into a small animal orphanage as well, where they provide care for orphaned wild animals that were injured and had to be rehabilitated, and could be returned to the wild. 

 

The KWS people were really helpful and nice.  The divided us into three groups and gave us a tour of the place, explaining where each animal came from and what circumstances brought them here.  There were warthogs, ostrich, tortoises, a leopard, two cheetahs, six lion, and a baby giraffe.  Although they were in enclosures like a zoo, it was good to be able to get so close to them.  Benedict, our guide, knew each animal by name and all of their history.

 

As we finished the tour and waited for lunch, I was not sure how best to fill the time.  I walked out to our vehicle and along the way, passed an ice cream vendor in the parking stand.  She had enough for all of us, so I got her in and everyone queued up for ice cream.  Thanks God, for providing just what we needed.

 

I had asked Thomas and Francis to go and make a booking at a local place, the Hangover Restaurant, that he had taken orphans to before.  They did, and we drove over there.  At restaurant in Kenya is a bit different from Chili’s in the US.  They are small, cramped affairs, with lots of staff, and a limited menu, (chicken, fish, beef, ugali, chips.)  When we arrived, the 100 seat dining room was packed full and there was no room at all for us.  The staff assured us they would work it out, and though I was stressing about it, they finally managed to add enough chairs and tables and cajole the patrons to finish quickly, to accommodate us.  The food was excellent, and despite the sides of raw beef hanging in the open closet in the dining room, we all enjoyed the experience.

 

Afterwards, we loaded back into the bus and went to the Nakumatt Mega City, a Super Wal-Mart type place with an attached mall.  This kids were happy to be able to window shop for a while, and some of them even had a few shillings for personal items and other small purchases.  Then we loaded for home.

 

Francis, Thomas, Stephen, Cherie and I were following the bus in the land cruiser.  We were about a15 minutes from home, when we spotted the bus stopped on the road with it’s hazard lights flashing.  As we approached, we saw a motorcycle, laying on the shoulder and a man writhing in pain on the ground.  I had an icy ball in the pit of my stomach.  I feared the bus had hit the bike and killed the man.  But in fact it was the car ahead that hit the bike, but our counselors in the bus witnessed it.  The rider was not badly hurt, just a leg injury, and the car that hit him was taking him to the hospital.  Not a great situation, but not a disaster I had feared.  We reache home without further incident.

 

Now this may seem like a fairly simple little day outing to you, but it was the highlight of the entire year for most of our students.  Many of them had never been to Kisumu, had never seen wild animals, and never eaten food as good as that.  They were all very happy.

 

After supper, we had a great time of prayer and worship.  Ryan led them through prayer stations, joel led reflective songs, and Mbuvi brought the heat!  We finished late, tired by very satisfied.

 

Camp 53 - Day 2

I honestly thought after yesterday that it would be hard to have a better day at the VTC.  I was happily wrong.  Today’s theme was “Family,” and it was perfectly timed.  After a day of discussing unity, family was the next logical step.  We followed the same format as Saturday, with worship taking a little more of our time since it was Sunday.  Joel led an amazing worship set with the help of Tyler Snelson, who is on the media and worship teams at Midcities.  And yes, they used guitars.

 

I led us through communion and Patrick Weeks gave an incredibly moving personal testimony.  Many of the kids said later how touched they were by his words, and especially his honesty.  It played a key role in what would happen later in small groups.  Mbuvi gave another powerful sermon exploring the concept of the larger Christian family.  The spirit was very much with us today.

 

During small group time, the students really opened up to each other and their counselors.  Some shared their personal stories, some relived their grief at the loss of their parents, and found some peace and healing in that.  Stephen, who has just finished a grief counseling class, got to put his skills to the test today.  God is using him in such a powerful way, I am so proud of the man he has become.  But for me, there was one orphan’s story that I will never forget.

 

Julie Auma is the first born of a mother in a polygamist marriage.  Her mother was the third wife of a wealthy man.  She and her three siblings were badly treated by the rest of the family, as is often the case in polygamy, and they were forced to do much of the work in the very large household.  She was able to attend school, however, and she studied hard and did well.  At the beginning of her first year of secondary school, (we would say freshman year,) her father died suddenly.  This set off a bitter family dispute on how to divide his wealth.

 

Not surprisingly, the third wife was cut out completely and she and the kids were cast out of the family.  They were adrift and homeless, when she got another big shock.  The woman she had called mother all of her life confessed that she was not their mother - she was their aunt.  Her biological mother had died during the birth of the youngest child, and her father had taken the sister as his replacement wife.  Julie and her siblings were now total orphans.  Not long after, their aunt, unable to care for them abandoned them at our Dirubi Orphanage.

 

Undeterred, Julie threw herself into her studies.  Despite the shocks and upheaval in her life, she was able to become a model student.  She graduated last November from Agai Secondary School with a B average on the standardized testing.  When I spoke with her, I was impressed with her poise, intelligence, and her great English skills.  She has now received a partial scholarship from Nairobi University and has been called to join there by January 15.  If you are interested in helping us financially support her advanced education, please drop me a note.

 

This afternoon, Ryan Rampton led another great large group exercise about our changing families.  He coupled his personal testimony with a group activity that really brought the point home for the students.  We even took a panoramic “family picture” of our new, big family at the VTC.  This evening Mbuvi again brought the word powerfully, challenging the students to commit to their new family and do all they could to support one another.  We ended the day with a fun time of “silly songs” led by our counselors.  The students really enjoyed this.

 

Tomorrow we will board a bus bright and early for a special trip to a Wild Animal Orphanage in nearby Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria.  I can’t wait to see what God will do with this great adventure!

 

 

Camp 53 - Day One

The idea for this camp came from Katelyn Creech, daughter of KWO board member Cherie Creech.  In August of 2012, she attended a “Foundations Camp” for incoming Texas Tech freshmen.  The purpose of that camp was to help build relationships between students, and give them a new support structure of Christian friends that could help make them successful during their time away from home.  She was deeply impacted by that and so thought it could be applied to our Kenyan orphans who are leaving their orphanage home for the first time to attend this Training School.  It was a Spirit led decision that is paying off this week.

 

About 45 students have just arrived at the John and Mary Sure DeFore Vocational Training Center.  Here for the next year, they will learn a trade and some life skills that will allow them to be able to earn a living in the future.  But this week, they are ours!  The team that has traveled here to conduct this camp is an awesome group of young people, with some more “seasoned” travelers thrown in.  They are Katelyn Creech, Hannah Sharp, Eliza Marks, Morgan Neale, Shelly Durham, Patrick Weeks, Blaze Wooten, Ryan Rampton, Tyler Snelson, John Bartholomee, Cherie Creech, and myself.  We are joined by Kenyans Francis Mbuvi, Stephen Owino, and Joel Njue.

 

Yesterday began with a large group session, with worship songs led by Joel, a devotional from Katelyn, teaching by Francis, and staff introductions.  We then divided into smaller groups with each “counselor” taking 3-4 to work together on the material of the day.  Today the theme was unity.  These students are coming from our 14 orphanages, speaking 6 or 7 different mother tongues as well as Swahili and English, so learning to become unified through their common love for Christ is essential for a successful year.

 

Each student received a bible, notebook and t-shirt and they also played large group games, and group exercises, led by Ryan Rampton, to build unity and understand the reason it is so important.  We repeated the large group – small group pattern in the afternoon, adding in a drama to illustrate the importance of speaking the same language.  We finished the day with a “Dance Party” where our counselors taught group dances like the cha-cha slide to the Kenyans and they taught us how they dance as well.  It was great fun!

 

Overall, it was a great day.  They students are responding very well to the Americans, they are so happy to get to know them, and logistically we are doing fine.  No one has been very sick, and the team of counselors is jelling nicely.  Check out some pictures on the KWO Facebook page, and I will continue to report and post pictures daily.  Tomorrow our theme is Family, so your prayers are appreciated.

Camp 53 - Travel Days

This will be short, because I'm wiped out.  I am back in Kenya with an amazing group of people.  We have traveled to the John and Mary Sure DeFore Vocational Training Institute to conduct a foundations camp for our incoming class.

 

Our flights were smooth, though a bit delayed.  We arrived in Kenya with all of our bags and that's what matters.  After driving to our Arrival Center at Kamulu, we shared a meal with the Mbuvis and went straight to bed.

 

Today we drove from Nairobi all the way to the VTC.  Counting lunch and a supplies stop at Nakumatt, it took us 9 1Ž2 hours.  We drove the southern route this time, through Narok, Bomet, Sotik and Kisii.  Along the way we saw some of the great Kenyan travel blessings; amazing views, baboons playing on the road, a bad road accident, and Masai tribesmen tending their herds.  We arrived just before dark.

 

After unloading we went straight over to Dirubi Orphanage to share evening devotional with the kids.  There was great singing, mercifully short preaching, and we all joined in on a song with the Dirubi Choir, "Happy We Are, Happy We Should Be."  All in all a very productive day.  Tomorrow, we will start camp with these 40 students who have only just arrived themselves.

 

Hang on folks, this one is going to be fun!

Chebaraa

After our lazy day yesterday, today was anything but.  Last night we asked our waitress at dinner what time they opened for breakfast.  She said, “Six.”  So this morning we were there at six to get an early start on a long drive.  No one from the restaurant was there at six.  When the waitress finally arrived at 6:20, she said, “Did you mean ‘on-the-dot?’”    Ah, Africa!

 

So we did finally get out of the hotel by seven, which was fine.  We made it to one of our most remote, and newest feeding stations, Chebaraa, just after 10AM.  It’s a long dusty road!  We began assisting the Chebaraa church in feeding orphans in February.  They already had a decent kitchen and hall, so all we have added so far is a well.  As far as anyone knows there, it’s the only well for miles around.  There is a river but it’s almost 2km away and somewhat seasonal.  The well is producing over 150 liters a day right now, and the rains haven’t started for them yet, so it should be just fine all year. 

 

By 10:30, we were worshipping with the church.  The place was packed with kids and adults, I bet there were 150 in the small building.  They don’t get many, (read any) visitors here, so I’m sure there were more than normal.  It was a great service, not as long as a typical Kenyan service; only 2 hours.  I preached Tod’s “Forgiveness” sermon for the last time this trip.  I might have done ok.

 

As the introduction to that sermon, I have been telling them about how much we Americans were concerned for their country when the Westgate Mall attacks happened last month.  I related it to my own personal feelings after 9/11 and how angry we all were as a nation.  I was trying to get to a starting point for forgiveness, and making a link between our two cultures.  What has struck me as I have told that story is how effective it has been.  Everywhere we have gone, the people have been so happy that we still wanted to travel to Kenya, even after Westgate.  They just knew that after the attacks, no more Americans would come.  They have been so thankful for just our presence in their country.

 

After church we shared a meal with the entire church - beans, rice and some meat.  It was good to be fed just what everyone else is getting for a change.  Usually they really lay on a spread, which is part of their culture of hospitality, but a bit hard for us to understand sometimes.  We left their place around 1:30pm.

 

This time, Angton didn’t intend to try a new road, but he missed a turn and we got to try one anyway.  It took us three hours to get back to the highway, and then another two hours to get here to Narok.  We gave him a bit of a hard time, which he took in stride.  After we made it to the highway, he had the line of the day.  He said, “Tim, sometimes when you preach a sermon that was really good, the devil is waiting around the corner to test you to see if you really believe what you said!”  Forgiving him came really easy, just then.  Touché, Angton!

 

The Seasons Hotel is actually quite nice.  It’s a stopover point for Safari travelers who are going by road to the Masaii Mara Game Reserve, so they are used to mzungu.  Tomorrow, we will return to Nairobi and begin preparing to return to America.  Be Blessed!

Easy Days

One thing that I have learned in planning these trips is not to be too aggressive in traveling near the end of the trip.  After so many days of moving from place to place, my body and mind all get too tired to be effective and I get snappish, and even a bit discouraged.  Homesickness is always there, but it is magnified by fatigue.  On this trip I have scheduled easy days here towards the end.  After visiting Ndhiwa, Grace House, and Manning, we took a whole day to get back to the VTC.  Friday was a meeting day.

 

At least once a year on an oversight trip like this one, I bring all the directors together for a big meeting.  We always have many topics to discuss, and invariably the conversations all go back to one thing, money.  Even though we all know and trust that God will keep providing all that we need, the requests for funding various improvements and projects are constant.  I keep a running list of projects and am always praying for wisdom to know which ones are the most important.  The directors have learned to be patient as we wait for God’s timing.

 

I have also learned that a significant portion of these meetings needs to be just instructional.  As I was inspecting locations on this trip, I noticed that many of the deficiencies I was seeing seemed to revolve around the kitchens.  Issues of stoves, smoke, firewood, and portion control were pretty consistent.  As a result, I spend a couple of hours in this meeting just trying to teach on the nature of fire, smoke, air movement, toxic gasses, etc.  I tried to stay with an instructional tone, hoping that a deeper understanding of the fundamentals would help them figure out how to make improvements on their own. Only time will tell.

 

These meetings are always inspirational for me, because the questions and discussions really reveal the depth of their love for the orphans and widows.  They help keep me on track with my priorities and do their best to lift me up.  Our time spent in prayer is especially precious to me.  To a person, these are all very high quality Christians that I would trust with my life.  It’s a real blessing to be able to work with them.  Most aid organizations look long and hard for good people that they can trust in foreign lands, and God has handed me a select team on a platter!  He is so much better that I deserve.

 

Today we have just driven down to Kisii and are resting here for the day.  Thomas, Alfayo, and Bernard have now joined us and we will be together until we all leave for America Tuesday night.  I can sense the excitement in these three.  Visiting America will be one of the highlights of their lives; a true adventure.  I can’t wait to show them my home, after spending so much time in theirs.  Understanding the context of the people you work with is so important, now they will get to learn about ours.

 

Tomorrow we have a long day of traveling to our final feeding station, Chebaraa, for church.  We could probably make it to Nairobi by tomorrow night, but that would mean transiting the city at night.  In case of a breakdown or bad weather it could put people at risk, so we will just stay at Narok and arrive in Nairobi Monday by noon or so.  There is a hotel there that we visited on our way out that needs to be tested anyway.