heading home.....

hello all.

the team just arrived safely back in nairobi and will be heading home tomorrow at 7:15am. we have alot more to update you on and will get those blogs and photos up as we have access to the internet which may not be until we get home.

pray that we remain patient with one another. it will be a loooong journey home. we fly to south africa in the morning and have a 10 hour layover before flying from south africa into newark, nj at 11am on tuesday. we hope to be back home by 2:30pm on tuesday.

we are excited to share with you some of the things that have happened during our time away. we are left with many new friends and lots to process. continue praying for martin. he is talking and walking again and has begun to eat as well. we are praying for a full recovery and will keep you posted.

thanks for your love and prayers!

faith

In-Step Ministries...BABY HOME

Hello dear family, friends, & loved ones. This is Andrea blogging again on behalf of the team.

Our days have been very busy! The guys have been working hard on random construction projects and we ladieshave been building relationships with the girls at the Neema Home. Yesterday, we had a special outing to work with a middle-aged married couple from Washington named Jeff & Carla Picicci. They began doing missions work in Kenya a few years ago and the Lord gave them a very clear vision to begin "Rehema Ministries" (rehemaministries.com). They have a home for abandoned babies/children. Last year when they began, they had around 30 kids and have doubled in one year....now housing 63 abandoned children and are calling them their own. They desire to raise Godly, educated boys and girls into men and women who will help to change their land and further the Kingdom.
As we drove over the very bumpy dirt roads (covered in potholes) to get to their home, the anticipation grew! We arrived & greeted so many tiny faces. Some of them were scared of us, but most smiled happily and welcomed us as playmates. Carla gave us a tour of their *beautiful* property - telling us story after story of miracles for how God provided every need and necessary funding. They have 20 acres, much of it used for farming. They have a huge water system that was donated to them - which is connected to an underground river source which they surprisingly found upon digging. We walked around the house and different buildings...seeing the kitchens, the assembly line of high chairs and feeding tables for the kids, the countless cribs and pack-n-plays covered in mosquito nets, and the very loooong changing table with a mound of diapers on its end. We learned that they go through 220 diapers/day, they take their diapers to the Kitale landfill on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Only 5 of the 63 children are HIV positive but most have TB. There are 29 full-time staff, 3 shifts/day of nannies ("aunties"). 

I walked around the property with the team listening to each incredible story of God's goodness and ways that He has led them as my eyes were brimming with tears of joy and awe. We neared the children again to play for a bit before lunch. I walked over to a section where the babies were propped up in a row on a couple of long mattresses. I was immediately drawn to one boy, whose name is "Teddy". Teddy is 7 or 8 months old, I would guess, but I could tell that something was very wrong with him. I picked him up and saw that his gaze was distant and unfocused and he had poor control over his body and neck movement. I just held him, rocking him, praying and singing over him. I silently spoke life over him and clutched onto his tiny fingers as they grasped mine, only to look down and see that a few of them were webbed together. At that moment, Carla came over and sat down next to me on the floor while Teddy had just fallen asleep in my arms and she told me his story while tears just rolled down my face. His young, alcoholic mother had abandoned him and they think he has fetal alcohol syndrome. 

Carla went on to tell me another story of a little girl who had falling asleep next to me on the floor. Her name was Sarah. Carla explained that Carla's mother was a teenage girl who had prematurely given birth to her in a latrine, leaving her to die. Sarah had landed face up in the waste and cried and cried until one of their workers found and rescued her. Sarah is now a strong, healthy little girl. The thing that shocked me the most about hearing this story was that before this trip to Kenya was ever even planned up, I had a very vivid dream about this exact story of Sarah. I woke up from that dream a little less than a year ago, crying, praying & journaling , wondering what God was trying to tell me...little did I know that I would be sitting on the floor in a Kenyan home next to the very girl that I dreamt about. I just sat with Carla, weeping so hard, telling her about my dream...and praying over these children! I can't imagine being a mom to countless children, remembering each of their stories (let alone names!) and trusting as God provides enough food and money to get by each day and month...being strong for kids with such unimaginably difficult lives...and teaching them about a God who is their faithful Father despite the abandonment of their earthly parents.

So, that was yesterday...and today we spent our last full day with our Neema sisters :) Today was a day of sharing testimonies and talking about baptisms because tomorrow me, Stephanie, & the Neema girls are all getting baptized. I joyfully shared my testimony and all that God has been teaching me over the last year as it's been a time of great restoration and learning about the Father's love. The coolest thing for me is that five years ago I was coming home from a missions trip to Romania and really felt strongly from the Lord that my next missions trip wouldn't be for awhile, but eventually would be to Africa to work with orphans, and that I should get baptized there. So that's all been floating in the back of my mind/heart for years...and, here I am, in Kenya, sharing my testimony with former street girls the day before we ALL get baptized together in a river outside of Kitale! How exciting!!!! :) 

We love you and miss you....thank you for battling for us as we are here serving and loving....we stand and move on your prayers! See you soon :)

URGENT PRAYER

Those of you following this blog know that the team in Kenya went to the funeral and burial services for Veronica, one of the children supported by TI, on saturday.  On Monday, we received word that Martin, Veronica's 4 year old brother was HIV positive and also had the chicken pox.  He was diagnosed monday and treated aggressively on tuesday.  Today, we got a call that they were taking Martin back to the hospital because he was having difficulty breathing.  We just heard that the doctors have admitted him and are treating him for pneumonia, meningitis, and chicken pox, all while being HIV positive.  This is a desperate situation!!!! We need the Lord to intervene and breath NEW LIFE into Martin's body.  

This community has suffered a lot of loss lately and their hearts are breaking.  Pray for LIFE.  Pray for PEACE.  Pray against fear and anxiousness for the children at HBF, the TI Team, the house parents, social workers, and teachers.  Pray for HOPE!!!

Thanks for standing with us in prayer for this miracle!  We are desperate for the power of God to made known.

-Faith-

NEEMA GIRLS UPDATE

Monday and Tuesday we went to the Neema house. Sunday night, we spent some time in prayer asking for God to bless our time with these women and ease our interaction with them. And let me tell you, the days were beyond blessed. God is faithful to answer. We met Olivia, Catherine, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Metrin (Mrembo), and Sharon. They are beautiful. Olivia is the most recent addition to the Neema house and she is flourishing there. We also met Joanne, Janet, and Joyce who are the teacher, house mom, and seamstress.
The night before we made our first visit we were told that the girls are very shy and not to be surprised if they didn't welcome us in with open arms. That night as we prayed together our hearts were encouraged and refilled for the following day. And do you want to know how God answered our prayers? They literally welcomed us with arms that were wide open!

Isaiah 60:1
"Arise shine for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."
60:3
"Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

We came from the US to their light. Before we came to Kenya, I was reading my bible and read Isaiah chapters 60-62 and the Lord was telling me all throughout that these verses were promises to the girls of Neema. The Lord is clothing these women with a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair! These women were taken from the streets where they were made to believe that their lives and their bodies were worth little to nothing. A little over a year ago, the first girls were brought into a house of grace (that is what Neema means in Swahili). Now "Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land and everlasting joy will be theirs." These young women are learning to speak English and are doing very well but communication is still difficult. Nevertheless, the Lord has called them beautiful and that word we have all learned to translate - "Mrembo" They respond with a giggle and shy "thank you" to this praise, but I believe that they know it is truth. I pray that they do and that it is the Lord who is speaking it to them.

Isaiah 62:2-4
"The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married."

Hephzibah means "my delight is in her" and the Lord delights in his daughters of grace. We have been blessed to meet and spend time with these women and we pray that their hearts will be encouraged by our company as our hearts have been encouraged by theirs. We plan to see the Neema girls again this week.  Thursday will be another day to play and build relationships and friday we are having a joint baptism and then ending the day with lunch in town. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, this trip and everyone on it has been abundantly blessed. Please, continue to pray!
Hebrews 13:21
...may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

"It's okay, we'll worry about it later."

Daniel Jumma is an inspiration!  He has 7 children of his own and cares for 20 foster kids at his home.  We spent an afternoon at his home playing with the kids.  They were all so entertained just to run in circles with us, or jump up and down, or play hand slapping games.  Looking around his home, we noticed that the ceiling in the sitting room was falling apart.  Juma mentioned that he was expecting some funds to be wired to him in order to build a new ceiling.  Yesterday, Seth and I joined with Sean, Mark and Derek from TI, met Juma and his son in town at the hardware store to pick up some supplies.  

When we got back to Juma’s house we began tearing down the old ceiling.  I can’t even begin to describe how much dust and dirt rained down on us.  With the old ceiling down we were able to begin hanging the new one in it’s place.  Because we didn’t have anything to cut the ceiling panels with we had to leave two of the edges of the room unfinished.  The room is far from anything that we would see in America, but it brought a huge smile to Juma’s face!  Even the kids were smiling as they came home from school and saw their new ceiling.  

Anytime anything went wrong during the day – even when we had to tell Juma that we couldn’t finish the two edges – he would respond in the same way.  He would smile and say, “it’s okay, we’ll worry about it later”.  Juma is a man who currently has no electricity, no running water and no governmental assistance in caring for these foster kids.  Juma is a man who is filled with love and compassion.  He doesn’t focus on what he doesn’t have.  Instead, he focuses on God the Father who continues to provide for him.  .  

-Ray Smith-

Update from Eileen

Tuesday in Kitale our team split up to experience several different experiences. Revee' and I had the opportunity to join Daniel and Anne on some TI work. We walked into town where we met our first challenge - crossing a rather deep water pipe ditch on a 2 x 4. Fortunately Daniel was there to lend a hand across otherwise I'm sure I would have fallen in the ditch. We headed across the street to the hospital where we met up with Sopora, the Hope Bright Future Home manager. She was there with Martin and Stella who were receiving care for chicken pox and malaria. From there we met Anne and some Kenyan government officials at the Children's Welfare Department. Hopping into the back of a truck we headed fro the market to pick up rice and beans for the widow's project we were going to visit. I went with Anne to pick up the beans. She grabbed my hand as we wove our way through the crowded market place with Kenyan men calling out mzungu (white) behind me. We darted down an alleyway where on either side vendors were selling beans and maize. Mission accomplished we met up with Revee' and Daniel who had gone off to purchase a super sized bag of rice to go with the beans. Soon we were off on our primary mission which was to assess a widow's project which claimed to be taking care of 20 or more orphans. Daniel explained that thorough assessment is necessary because often times these claims are a scam. A few minutes into our trip the truck broke down but it wasn't too long before the problem was fixed and we were on our way toward turkana. When we reached our final destination we were welcomed by twenty or more women dancing singing and making some strange African sounds. As Revee' and I stepped out of the truck we were engulfed by the women giving double side hugs to each one before being led up to the porch where we would then shake hands with all the men. Soon we all sat down to hear the story of their need for support from the Children's Welfare Department. It didn't take too long to determine that the story didn't seem quite legitimate. One of the first signs of something off was when a rather well fed Kenyan woman got up to speak prompting us to wonder if there really was an issue with feeding the kids. Then the woman who they claimed was the teacher led the children in song, but the children didn't seem to really know the song or seem to have a connection to the teacher. Afterward we inspected the dwelling which again did not seem like it was really being lived in - very suspicious. Before leaving we spent some time interacting with the children who were supposed to be the primary focus of the meeting with this group. Daniel asked several of them if they lived with these women to which most replied that they lived down the road. It was pretty clear that they had rounded up some children to pose as their orphans. Daniel also pointed out that the children would have appeared more malnourished and shown signs of ring worm on their  scalp. Daniel's gut feeling was that what we saw was a scam which was hard to accept because we were hoping that there would be a legitimate need. All in all it was a fascinating experience to learn how Ti goes about investigating potential projects. Daniel and Anne's commitment to helping widows and orphans requires sound judgement and a discerning spirit. Kenyan children and people pull at your heart strings but today I learned that effective ministry means having a firm commitment to your mission. We can trust God with his decision to trust us as he leads us to those who truly are the neediest.

Shika Baba

In Swahili, "shika baba" means "hold onto the Father".  We have been learning what that really means.  Saturday was an incredible emotional day for the team, learning to extend love, comfort, hope, and peace to a group of 29 orphans and staff who were mourning the loss of precious Veronica.  We loaded up the matatu with the team and kids and headed to the burial.  The children sang then entire way...songs about how their lives our changed by God and they will be together again one day.  I wept.  Our team was large enough, along with the TI staff, to make sure that each one of the children had someone to sit and comfort them through the service.  All of these children have already experienced the loss of both parents, so this was painful for them too.  We were glad to be there to comfort them.  We were happy to end the day playing and offering them much joy.  Soccer, bike rides, hand games, hop-scotch, etc.  It was a great way to end our time with them.

Sunday was a day of rest.  Some of the group went to church, while others stayed behind to read.  Then we all met up in town for lunch together.  Some people experienced their first "boda-boda" (back of a bicycle with a kenyan driver) and "piki-piki" (back of motorbike with a kenyan driver) rides.  Some of the ladies and gents learned that you should NOT hold onto the kenyan driving you around.  That is too forward.  There are little handles under the seat and behind the seats that you should hold onto.  Meredith was racing around on her bike to get the attention of our group to tell them to let go!  It was comical.

We came home and began working on dinner.  Four of the team members had the opportunity to kill the “kuku” (chickens) for our stew.  It was an entertaining experience for all watching!  The laughter could be heard for miles as they learned to kill, pluck, and roast the bird.  Jeriah says she is now ready to survive in the wilderness.

We headed over to hang out in the home of Daniel Juma, a man who has taken 20 street kids into his home for him and his wife to care for.  He shared how the children are rejected by society.  Neighborhoods don’t want the kids near their houses and churches are also unwilling to accept them.  It is so sad.  After hearing their stories the team went outside to play, play, play!  

We came home, spent hours making chicken stew and chapatis for dinner.  Laughed over memories and food, prayed together, went over the plans for the day, and headed to bed.

Today (monday), the girls are heading out to spend the day with the 6 girls at the neema project.  We are hoping relationships are built quickly.  The boys will be building a chicken coop for the neema home.  

We are excited about a new week.  We are hoping that we can serve well, stay rested and refreshed and stay present with any individual we encounter.  Pray that the team stays unified.  we are around eachother 24 hours a day, which can be a challenge.  The Lord uses all those things to stretch you and scrape away many things.  We need grace to continue serving well together.

Thanks again for praying for us.  We are having a great time!!!!  What a privilege it is to serve here!

Faith