"The Russians are coming!"

We recently just hosted a short-term missions team from Russia. We had 7 Russian guests that stayed with us for 10 days on a short-term mission trip here in Nairobi. During one of the women’s Bible study the Russian ladies shared their testimonies and one testimony in particular struck me. Lena started out her testimony with the statement “You never know what God is going to do in your life.” She was referring to the fact that she never thought she would be in Africa. As she said that thought provoking statement I was thinking to myself, I never thought I’d be in Africa listening to the testimony of a lady from Russia. As the team was in Africa for their first time they carried such excitement with them everywhere they went. This is the fourth time I’ve been to Africa so I have somewhat become numb to my surroundings. The ministry here for me has become normal everyday life. I no longer cry at the site of the barefoot children running around in tattered clothes playing in trash, or get excited when the kids yell out muzungu (Westerner) and run over to shake my hand. I no longer get a huge smile on my face when I hear the sound of worship songs sung in Swahili. I no longer look out the window for wild game in the safari park next to my home or marvel at the beautiful green trees I pass on the way to church. Just as some Southern Californians get used to seeing the beach everyday I have gotten used to seeing Africa everyday. I enjoyed having the Russians here because they brought back that excitement I once had with being in Africa. As we did a small children’s concert at a school in the slums I found myself tearing up as they sang worship songs and prayed sweet prayers in Swahili and I cried as the women in the hair salon sang their tribal songs for us. As my time here is coming to a quick end the tears have returned and I’m starting to grow sad at the thought of going back home to America. I know I shall miss the African life. It’s hard to imagine that in a matter of 24 days I will be back in San Diego returning to the life I left behind 9 mos ago. I’m going from Nairobi to Mombasa to Uganda to debriefing in the FRM office in Murrieta, Ca to my graduation night and finally back to my normal life. It seems like 9 mos of change happening in 24 days. I can’t even imagine packing up and boarding that plane back to the States. I’ve been in much prayer that God isn’t done using me in Africa. To think that this could be the last time my feet are on African soil is a thought that instantly brings tears to my eyes and one I try to avoid. But as Lena so simply said “You never know what God is going to do in your life.” I’m excited to see what God has for me next!

The Russians with our Kenyan church leaders

2 Corinthians 1:4

On Tuesday I taught 1John 4:17-19 to the ladies at the hair salon in Kibera. I had such a sweet time teaching about how God’s perfect love casts out fear and as we mature in our relationship with God that love is perfected in us and we start to trust Him more and more. I shared with them that I’m having some fear as we approach the end of this program. I’ll be returning to the States on June 1^st and graduating from this EMT (Extreme Missions Training) program on the June 9^th. I mentioned that in order for me to come to Africa I gave up my job and home in America so I have nothing to return to. I’m having some fear because I don’t know where I shall work or where I shall live. This puts me in a position where I am having to practice my trust in God. That morning I was so encouraged by a lady named Eunice. She shared a testimony of how God recently provided for her. Her sister recently died and she had no money to bury her. Here in Nairobi if you don’t have money to pay the morgue or pay for a proper burial a mass burial is then performed. Eunice had been praying 2 weeks for God to provide the money and on the last day before the mass burial was to be performed He provided! Then, Doreen, the owner of the salon, lovingly encouraged me by reminding me that the same God that took me out of America and brought me all the way to Kenya to teach the Bible in hair salon in Kibera was going to take care of me when I get back home. As she was speaking to me tears started to well up in my eyes as it felt like the Lord Himself was directly speaking to me. I find it to be so sweet of the Lord to use these African ladies in my life. As I teach them the Bible it’s easy to get caught up in the mindset that I’m here to feed and encourage them looking past the fact that they can feed and encourage me as well. The truth is as Christians we have all experienced fear at some point and have seen the Lord meet us where we needed Him. I was reminded that just because these ladies live in a slum doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer me. This day was an extra special day because week after week as we go in to teach these ladies, for the most part, they remain silent leaving us to wonder if they are even paying attention or understanding our teachings. It seemed like we had a break through as they shared testimonies of God’s goodness; it was just what I needed to hear. I shall miss them when we leave but I will hold on to their encouragement as fear starts to creep into my mind.



Anna-Marie, Doreen, Christina, and myself 



He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  2 Corinthians 1:4 (NLT)

A "Good Friday" Indeed!

To celebrate Good Friday we got to experience a day in the life of an African woman. We three girls plus Jamie and Natasha treated the women that we disciple to lunch for an Easter celebration.

On the menu: Koko (chicken), ugali (maize flour), sukuma wiki (collard greens), rice, and sodas. We bought three chickens from Karen, a lady from Bible study and had a meal at the ladies home in the slums behind the church.  

We got the full African experience from picking out the chicken,

carrying it to the cooking sight,

                                                                     killing it,                                                         

 plucking out the feathers, 

cutting it up,

cooking it,



Evelyn showing me how to grill

 and finally eating it!

Traditional Kenyan dishes-ugali, chicken, rice, and sukuma wiki

It was a sweet day of fellowship and remembering what Christ did for us on the cross. Most of the day I just sat back talking with the ladies and observing them interact with each other. I enjoyed listening to them talk to each other in Swahili & their mother tongue, giving each other advice on the best way to cook the food, and laughing with each other.

 

Eunice, myself, Christina, Jane

 

Jamie, Milicent, Evelyn, and myself cooking lunch



After hours of cooking we gathered together to read the Easter story, eat together, and play with the children. 





Giving Mercy a head band like mine.



Painting toe nails!

It was a full day of enjoying the African culture. Of course killing your own lunch isn’t the norm in the American culture but it speaks volumes to the ladies that we Mzungus (Westerners) would be willing to get our hands dirty and live like them for a day.

The Big 3-0!!!

For my 21^st birthday I was in Las Vegas indulging in sin. I thought I was having the time of my life. I thought I was so lucky to be able to celebrate my 21^st in Vegas where I’m sure so many 21 yr olds dream of spending that milestone birthday. Today as I turned 30, another milestone birthday, I was in a hair salon in Kibera (one of the world’s largest slums) teaching the Bible to a group of hair dressers. Not exactly an ideal place to spend a 30^th birthday. But for me being in Africa is dream come true.

As I woke up this morning I laid in bed praying and thanking God for saving me and pouring out His love on me. I can’t believe I spent 27 yrs of my life in darkness deceived by the things of the world. I thanked Him for the great gift of being able to celebrate my 30^th birthday in my favorite place in the world…Africa. Since I have become a born again Christian my one desire has been to be a missionary in Africa. I marvel at the fact that before I was born God knew that I wouldn’t be spending my birthday in a bar with friends but that I would be in Africa sharing the Gospel with ladies who are stuck in sin like I once was.

A funny thing happened this morning. We were driving to the Bible study and traffic was exceptionally bad. My study was to start at 9:30 and we had a children’s ministry meeting starting at 11:15am that we could not be late for. I looked at the clock as we were sitting in traffic and the time read 10:15; I was told that we had to be leaving the salon at 11am. As I looked over my study I started to cut things out and thought maybe I should just share the Gospel.

When teaching in Africa you always have to figure in time for translation. If your teaching is to be an hour long you prepare your content for a ½ hr because with translation it will take up 1 hours worth of time. So for today it meant I had 15 minutes to teach including greeting the ladies and prayer requests at the end. I sat in the car and prayed, “God you know what these ladies need to hear from You today. You know what is going on in their lives, what they are struggling with. Fill my mouth with Your words and lead me into what You want them to hear, I am simply Your mouth piece.” I taught the main points of 1 John 3: 1-10 and then preached the Gospel.

 I felt the power of the Holy Spirit speaking through me. I felt passionate about what I was sharing and knew it was only the Lord. At the end as I was saying my goodbyes a lady stopped me and told me that she liked what I shared and felt that she was the only one in the salon and I was talking directly to her. I myself know that feeling very well; that feeling of conviction that only comes from the Holy Spirit. I asked her if she was born again. She said no. I asked her if she wanted to receive Christ right now and she said she wasn’t ready and wanted to think about it a little more. I told her that she should think about it and when she was truly ready she could just pray to receive Christ and God would hear her prayer and she will have salvation. She proceeded to tell me that she goes to church every Sunday but isn’t born again and said that while I was teaching that she kept thinking, “This girl knows me, she is talking directly to me, but I don’t know her how does she know what I’m feeling?” I told her that was God speaking to her and God knew what she needed to hear today. She asked me to keep her in prayer. The neat thing about this lady is that she isn’t one of the hair dressers that regularly attends the Bible study; she was a client that just happened to be having her hair done today. I left there on a high and with the confidence that this lady Rose will pray to receive Christ.



Kibera hair salon

We ended up being late to our meeting, but it didn’t matter because I knew that that moment was perfectly orchestrated by God. I knew that our being late was His doing. Had I had the full hour to teach, my study would have been totally different. I might not have taught with such passion or shared the Gospel. I might have relied more on myself and not on God. Rose might not have been impacted by my original teaching. God totally blessed me today and I saw how He worked everything out for good. I know that I shall remember this birthday forever because as I look back on my life and remember all the terrible things I was once involved in I see the power God’s redemption as He now uses me to proclaim the goodness of His son Jesus Christ. 

Myself & Mildred my translator



Please pray that Rose would take the step of faith to pray to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Videos from Sudan

I wanted to share with you some videos taken in Sudan to give you somewhat of a feel of what it's like there. I hope they make your heart smile as much as they make me mine.

This is video of Sunday school on the compound. This is Lino & Joseph (Senior chaplains) leading the kids in worship at the start of Sunday school. I spent every Sunday getting to enjoy these kids sing their cute songs to the Lord.

This video was taken at an outreach in a village called Longo. We were at some Army barracks sharing the Gospel and the women were sharing their testimonies and a Bible teaching. As we arrived at the barracks we all started dancing & singing Sudanese style!

These videos were taken as we were riding in the back of the lorrie leaving the outreach in Longo. There were about 75-100 people piled in the back. It was one bumby ride but so much fun as we held on tight & sang songs the entire way.

This is video was taken at the compound during our International Women's Day event. We had more children show up than we expected so we had to keep them entertained for 6 hrs. I had this little one get up & lead the other kids in worship. This is my favorite Sudanese song. The translation from Arabic to English is "Who is our provider? Je-sus, Je-sus, Je-sus, Jesus the Messiah (Ye-su, Ye-su, Ye-su, Yesu al Masia). Who is our Healer? Jesus, Jesus the Messiah. Who is our comforter? Jesus, Jesus the Messiah

Love Covers Outreach

For our last week in Sudan we were able to bless a school with FRM’s signature school outreach called Love Covers. Lover Covers is a 3 day VBS at a local school. We scouted out schools in the bush looking for one that had the most need and fit other criteria. We found Angel Primary school in the remote village of Mugali. Angel primary had about 50 kids and 3 teachers with only 1 teacher showing up regularly, and had grades P1-P4 (1^st grade-4^th grade). The school has one mud hut which is the teachers’ office and the children sit under trees on broken benches and tires. As the sun moves throughout the day the students move from tree to tree seeking the shade. In the few weeks prior to the outreach FRM registers the children and then makes random drop-ins at the school to check attendance.

             Me & my translator Godfrey

This is to encourage the children to attend school regularly to get an education and not just show up the day of the outreach to receive gifts. On the day of the outreach if a child is in attendance but isn’t on the registry they do not receive a backpack or school supplies because most likely they found out from a friend that Americans were in town giving out things.

During the 3 days I taught P-4 different stories from the Bible that showed the kids that God is our provider. The lessons were broken up with crafts, recess, lunch, and dramas.

Gifti, me, Bosco doing a drama

       I had the prestigious role of playing Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue

                                                     

 In Christina’s class she had a little boy that asked for prayer because both of his parents just died. He was crying uncontrollably and the other kids in her class cried along with him and they all prayed for him. These kids face challenges at young ages that most of us will never face.

                This is the boy who lost his parents

The last day of Lover Covers was the big day! All the classes gathered together and Wes did a short teaching and shared the Gospel. The kids then performed songs and dances for us, and thanked us for being there.

                Wes sharing the Gospel                                                 Girls performing a dance for us


We closed out the day with distributing backpacks stuffed full of notebooks, pencils, erasers, a blanket and mosquito net. We also gave the children new school uniforms and bright red Love Covers t-shirts. I’ve never seen kids get so excited for paper and pencils!


                                                          Godfrey giving out backpacks

Immediately they all put on their new t-shirts and had big smiles on their faces. I just imagine how excited they will be come Monday morning to put on their new uniform and show up to school with a backpack and supplies.

They went from this....                                                         ...to this

       From this backpack....                                                             ...to this backpack

                        



As we were preparing to leave we treated each kid with a soda and then we waved good-bye.

 

                                                      My bodyguard-he's a commando!!!

                                                          Mine & Godfrey's class P-4

                                                                    1 Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."