Visitors, Camp, travel & Doctor's appointments kept us BUSY, BUSY in July and August!
Working with youth, the month of August means three things for us here in Kenya #1) a month long school Holiday for the kids, #2) the CMM "Count Me In Youth Camp" and #3) a trip upcountry. Somehow we squeezed them all in and managed to have a blast doing all three....imagine..lol!!
The Tues. night LCC Ladies Life Group continued throughout, but we did take a short break from the ladies Kibera Bible study in August in order to spend time with the kids.
Below are pictures and updates from both Aug & July...sorry it's taken me so l-o-n-g to post!
"COUNT ME IN" YOUTH CAMP
This is the third year Life Community Church has sponsored the youth from St. Catherine's for the "Count Me In" Youth Camp, and the second year that I have had the joy of taking them. In previous years you may remember I took youth from upcountry to this same Camp. It is such a blessing that one of those young people, Collins Okoth, now goes as my assistant youth leader!
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| Collins Okoth. |
An added treat this year was being able to provide each of the youth with a "big orange" t-shirt. Coming from East TN I'm still a bit of a UT Vols fans lol...and the kids loved the bright color!
Pastor James, the founder of St. Catherine's, was also a fan of the t-shirts and expressed his gratitude for the kids having matching shirts to show their solidarity as a group.
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| Pastor James giving his approval! |
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| Sharon with her new t-shirt |
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| The whole team! |
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| We also did name badges this year |
A great opportunity to get outside the Kibera slum environment the Camp provides the youth with 5 days of Christian teachings, praise and worship as well as healthy social interaction and sports activities. For some of the new kids at St. Catherine's this was their first time experiencing this type of environment. They LOVED it!
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Pacifica was sick last year and missed Camp.
This year she was very excited to be able to attend! |
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August is cold in Nairobi. Seline, Sharon & Pacifica tried to stay
warm at breakfast by covering up & wearing sweaters.
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| Even Trevor & John had their sweaters on! |
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| Mirriam, Sharon, Seline, Tilly, Sharon & Ahida |
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| With a full schedule each day....some got tired towards the end of the day :) |
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| Goofing around with Mirriam, Lavender & Ismael |
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| Love the praise & worship at Camp! |
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| The youth really look forward to worship-morning, noon & night! |
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Football is another favorite activity at Camp.
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Spectating is just as much fun :)
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| Tea time...mmmmmm! |
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We had a great spot under the trees to debrief between teaching sessions.
Some of the best 1-on-1 ministry occurred here. |
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| The kids also got 2013 Count Me In t-shirts! |
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Odris & Regan are best friends. When you saw one...you saw the other.
Can you tell they were happy with their new t-shirts? |
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| Hard to get all 20+ together for a group shot...but here are most of the them :) |
At the end of the week we all agreed that the Camp was a success and that much was learned!
The rainbow was an added bonus and the kids thought it appropriate that it ended at the dinning hall-their "pot of gold"!
UPCOUNTRY
A few days after the Camp, I travelled upcountry. A highlight of the trip was a day spent visiting some of the youth, including my nephews Tom & Job, doing work for their Uncle on a farm. They were clearing some "virgin" land of trees and stumps to prepare the field for planting. Hard work to say the least!
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| Job digging out a stump. |
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| The adjoining field after being cleared. |
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Apindi at work! Note the girls in the background
carrying water on their heads from the river!
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| Tom was still smiling after a hard days work :) |
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| Lunch for the workers (and us on-lookers) was served under a nice big shade tree! |
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Momma Victor (on left) is a widow and the owner of the property.
She showered us with warm hospitality and lived up to the boys compliments
of her as a great cook!
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| She even sent me home with a gift chicken! |
I also attended the last day of a Church Conference at Kwakwara Baptist Church. The Conference was a week long event and was completely packed on the last day, so I took advantage of the outdoor seating and enjoyed interacting with the kids!
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My brother-in-law Jared transported me back & forth on his motorbike.
Here he is with Miguel, one of the teachers son's. |
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| One of the banana trees at home. |
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| Coco basking in the sun outside the kitchen :) |
JULY VISITORS & LEADERS CONFERENCE
In July we were blessed with a visit by a U.S. Mission team from Heritage Fellowship Church. The team consisited of David & Janene Waldrop (who previously lived in Kenya) along with Greg & Debbie Wiley, Jesse, Katlyn & Augustina.
During their time in Nairobi we partnered to do did ministry with the kids at St. Catherine's school and sponsored a one day Leadership Conference in Kibera. The Leadership Conference focused on Kingdom Living. Below are some pictures.
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| Group prayer time before the Conference |
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| Augustina and Katlin were the very friendly & welcoming greeters |
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| Augustina found time to play with the school children and made lots of new friends! |
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| Greg & Debby Wiley |
Greg and Debby spoke during the morning sessions and shared about prayer, forgiveness and making Christ the Lord of our lives. With over 30 years experience in missions, they brought both passion and insight to their teachings and many people had significant breakthroughs!
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The ladies are filling in the circles with all the areas of life that are "meaningful" to them.
We then wrote Christ over the page...dedicating all we are to Him! |
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| Josephine (left) did a great job of translating through out the day |
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David & Janene Waldrop shared on Kingdom Marriages and spoke honestly
about the ups & downs of their 30+ years together |
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| Some of the husbands were dubious when the teachings on Marriage began |
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| The women however got fired up and had lots of questions |
The Conference was a great success, with a beautiful exchange of ministry and prayer afterwards between all participants. We are so grateful to everyone that helped with the teachings, translation and logistics.
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| July 4th celebration with an assortment of American missionaries :) |
