Safely in Kenya

This is Adele, on behalf of the team. I had to come to town to draw money so that Dave could purchase wood for the shelves he's building for my house. We also had to order cement and building sand etc, so I bet Dave's having fun exploring the building world in Kenya.

I met Dave in Nairobi on Saturday morning. We went to some hardware stores in Nairobi to find supplies that are hard to find on this side of the country. You can read more about that on my blog.

On Sunday morning, we headed back to the airport to pick up the rest of the team. It was SO NICE to see all the ladies coming out one by one--tired, but excited to be in Africa.

Even as we drove out of the airport, there were 3 giraffes just walking on the side of the road, and I wished I had my camera at hand to take photos of their faces. Linda's moth dropped wide open. "We're REALLY in Africa," was the general exclamation.

I first took the team to have breakfast. It was good to visit and also talk about expectations etc. After that, we stopped by the Giraffe Center as well as the orphaned elephant center, by which time the team were really, really ready to head to our hostel and sleep. Hardly any of them had slept during the flight to London or the one to Nairobi.

We had day rooms booked at a Catholic hostel, so everyone took showers (their last hot showers for a while) and napped for almost 3 hours. Not having had much sleep for the past 24 hours, it was hard for some to really wake up after the nap, but we had a plane to catch.

The flight to Eldoret takes you over the Great Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru (with it's pink, flamingo-lined shores), Lake Naivasha, some crater which I don't know the name of yet, and then finally over the farmlands of the Eldoret area. Some of them saw a LITTLE of the scenery from our 19-seater plane. Most of them slept and asked afterwards, "Where was that valley you said we'd fly over?"

At Eldoret, we were met by the director of the orphanage and one of the parents, and we started the final leg of the journey to ELI's center at Ilula. We had to stop briefly in town to buy bottled water, and Linda was excited to go into the store with me to check out what Kenyan grocery stores are like. :)

I love how each team member is noticing different things. Dave's been taking photos of construction projects, "No way! Check out that scaffolding! The boys will want to see a picture of that!" Alissa's been taking photos of hospitals, and I bet Terri took some photos of the preschools along our way to the orphanage. (She was in the other vehicle, so I can't say for sure.)

Welcome!
Once we arrived at Ilula, the children were standing in a big circle, singing songs to welcome us. We went around shaking every child's hand as they said, in English, "Welcome!"

It's amazing how much I had missed the kids after having been gone for just 3 days to meet the team, and I was incredibly proud of the little ones as well as of the ministry as a whole. What an honor to be a part of something so beautiful!

Supplies
After dinner and some time of visiting with the director of ELI Kenya (Ilula), Samuel Teimuge, we were all more than ready to head to bed. But we were starting out the morning with VBS, so everyone headed to my place first to dig through the action packers and find what we needed for this morning.

VBS Day 1
This morning, the kids were buzzing with energy, ready for VBS. We divided them into three teams according to age. While one group was with Terri for the Bible story and today's memory verse, another group joined Tamara (assisted today by Pat and Linda) for crafts. [They made photo frames and name tags for their cubbies.] The last group was outside playing games with Danette and Alissa. I was also outside, taking a photo of each and every child. Tonight, I'll be printing those and we'll mount them in the photo frames the kids decorated this morning.

"I feel right at home"
At lunch, it did my heart well to hear everyone talk about their morning. Tamara said that she felt right at home, and Terri was thankful that things went so smoothly this morning.

Afternoon plans
Terri and Tamara are sorting through ALL the VBS supplies right now, separating the crafts into different tubs for different days. After that, they'll be back at the orphanage hanging out with the kids.

Danette and Alissa are giving physicals to at least 30 kids this afternoon.

Linda (who is now going by "Gogo Hally"/"Hally's grandma"--I'll explain in a moment) was leading the ELI women staff fellowship this afternoon, after which I believe she and Pat were going to do more planning for the leadership training which is starting tomorrow.

As I said earlier, Dave is out buying supplies. He got his hands dirty this morning by helping to fix one of the ELI vehicles.

Names
According to Kenyan tradition, a person is often known by the name of their oldest child. The director, for example, is addressed as "Papa Kigen," (Kigen's dad). But if you have grandchildren, you no longer get called by the name of your firstborn, but by the name of your oldest grandchild. Grandma in Swahili is Gogo (with the O sound pronounced like in HORSE, but a shorter sound), and so Linda is now Gogo Hally. The kids call her gogo (grandma) for short. She loves it!

Food
ELI's cook has learned that teams need to be eased into eating Kenyan food. Today, at lunch, they were introduced for the first time to a Kenyan vegetable, sukumawiki, similar to kale. I'm curious to see what we'll have tonight. Ugali, perhaps. That's Kenya's staple, and sort of similar to grits, but cooked to much more of a solid state. When you eat it for the first time, you can't help but remember the name, "Oh golly!"

Team
I love the variety on this team, and that every single person truly has an immense contribution to make to the team. Everyone's been flexible. Everyone's been curious about the Kenyan culture. And I'm not sure a single person has not wiped a tear at least once--especially yesterday, when we arrived and were welcomed by the children.

The rest of the week
On Tuesday, we'll continue with VBS and doing physicals for the kids. Dave will start with the construction of the shelving for my hut. And on Tuesday evening, Pat and Linda's leadership training will start. That's the same for every day this week, except that Danette and Alissa might go to ELI's other Kenya site on Wednesday to visit the clinic we run there.

On Saturday, I believe the whole team will help a little with the construction project. On Sunday, we'll attend children's church in the morning as well as regular church right after that. And someone from the team will be asked to share at the afternoon youth meeting.

Next Monday, ELI will have a staff retreat, and the orphans will be left totally in the hands of the team to just hang out with them for the day. (I'll be at the ELI staff retreat.)

I am not sure when we'll be able to post an update again, but we'll do so asap. And I hope the next update will have photos, too.

Praise
* That all our luggage made it here safely
* That everyone's doing well
* For a successful first day of VBS

Prayer
* There are some effects from being at such a high altitude and spending an entire morning in the sun, playing games with kids. Please pray for continued good health.
* Pray for the team's digestive systems as they'll be introduced more and more to Kenyan foods...
* Pray for meaningful times at VBS, especially with more community children coming as the week progresses and word spreads about the fun we're having
* Pray for Alissa and Danette as they do physical exams on the orphans, to have wisdom regarding treatment options
* Pray for Pat and Linda as their training starts on Tuesday evening.
* Pray for Dave's time with the Kenyan men, that he'll be a blessing and encouragement to them, and vice versa

From a beautiful Kenya,
The Team