impacting the world for Him

February 7, 2012 – Another beautiful day in Kenya.  We woke and shared breakfast, then loaded our van with food for the COTR School in the Rueben Estates slum.  Over the last two days, loading the van with food has become our daily workout.  Pastor Greg is doing the bulk of the hard work hefting each box over his head to a team that stacks them on the roof rack.  We left GCC at about 9:30am and went straight to Rueben.  Set amid a random collection of factories, we wove our way through the narrow roads to the COTR Academy.  We experienced a couple of minor delays as the van was a bit too tall and was snagging some of the power wires that cross the road.    After a few helpful men used a brush to hold the wires up while we drove under, we finally made it to the school.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the school administrators and all of the students.  The children were in classes from pre-primary to Level 8.  We were treated to many songs and dances and were greatly honored and impressed with the hard work and preparation by the kids.  Our team presented the administrators and teachers with gifts.  Following the presentations the children were fed their daily porridge.  For most of the students in the school the porridge, along with some beans, is their only meal of the day.   When the children finished their meal, they returned to the classrooms.   We split up in teams of two and went to each of the classes.  In the classes we helped the students make necklaces, gave them pencils and erasers and candy.  Before we left the classrooms we asked the students if they had any prayer requests.  Amazingly, in the midst of such poverty and need, the prayer requests were for successful exam results, prayers for their teachers, prayers for their parents.  Such love for the Lord and great expectation.  The work being done in Rueben is incredible.  We thanked everyone for the warm welcome and visit, then headed back to GCC.

The afternoon was spent with the kids at GCC.  It was difficult saying goodnight knowing that tomorrow morning we leave for 4 day to head to Kisumuu, Gombe,  and Nakuru.

We may not have blog posts for a few days as we leave the GCC guest house.  God bless everyone and thanks so much for your support!

Love – The Kenya Team 2012

Today God has worked in many of our lives and has impacted our perspective in so many ways. This morning the team got to see the flag raising of the school flag here at Church on the Rock academy, it was beautiful. The children welcomed us and sang us wonderful songs. Team members presented calendars to all the teachers, a knife for the scout master, and books for the library. After that we took at tour of the school, saw all the classes and met most of the teachers.

Then the team loaded into the bus and drove to Kibera slum where we went to the school there and gave gifts to the teachers such as knives for the men and bags for the woman. Team members also gave the kids a pencil, eraser, and candy…lots of candy, the children also preformed skits and songs for us. Then we had the feeding program for the kids… which was amazing and the children were very thankful. It was so interesting to see the joy on the kids faces and how just the little help we were giving was changing a life. Then we took a tour of the slum and got to see how and what these people live in, it was so eye opening and really changed how i thought of my life and the other people in my life and what we complain about on a daily basis. Then we went to lunch at KFC… the only one in Kenya! It was really good and everyone enjoyed there chicken.

After lunch we were headed to the girraffe center, feed the giraffes, saw warthogs and got the chance to go on a nature walk. It was supposed to take twenty minutes but took an hour and a half instead. After our tour through the woods we drove back to GCC and cooked pizzas for the children. Seeing some of the kids face after experiencing pizza for the first time was priceless. Exhausted, after a long day exploring Africa, we laid in the grass and stared at the stars.

Well time to hit the hay(: Goodnight! -Kayla Martin

I think I know why Greg and Jean want everyone to experience a trip like this. You can sum in up in one word – perspective.

It starts with who we are. We are all at different phases in our lives and our faith, as well as different ages, sex and upbringing. We all come to this trip bringing our own expectations and ideas. We all come with a different perspective.

Which makes this journey an amazing thing. To take these different people and their perspectives, and call them one body, something in Eph 2:23 that God declares “his fullness dwells in”. All different, yet all one, completely reflecting the very nature of God.

So what does God’s nature or perspective look like for this team? I would describe it in three words – faith in action. I wish I could always say that we have the faith of a centurion, who didn’t have to see Jesus physically touch his servant to know he could be healed. Sometimes, because of where we are at in our faith, we need something, like the disciple Thomas’ need to touch Jesus’ hands and feet to know he was alive, to push us past the tipping point of our faith. Believe me, God is doing that with this team – pushing everyone past their own tipping point, wrecking them in some case. It is quite a remarkable thing to behold. Seeing the team work together, pray over each other and the people we are here to serve, being transparent in the sharing of their lives and perspectives of what God is calling us to do. Or better phrased, who is God calling us to be?

The past day we spent worshipping with the church (Church on the Rock, COTR). Seeing worship from a COTR perspective was amazing. It was invigorating to your bones, and had a remarkable rhythm that soothed the soul. And you could see so much joy, from youngest to oldest. God’s spirit is alive in the church, and the people celebrated and worshipped the King of Kings.

The people were amazing to talk with during Sunday School classes and at breakout training sessions after service. They had many questions and were eager to learn and share their experiences and perspective on the same questions and struggles we have. How do we growth in our relationship with God? How do we deal with the distractions of the world? How do we become a better neighbor, especially to those who are very different from us? Again, different perspective but one body unified.

In the US, much of the political and social debate has been about the economy and the perspective of the haves/ have-nots, manifesting itself in the 1%/99% demonstrations. Today, we will be travelling to the Kiberu slum, one of the poorest places in all the world. We are going to see, touch, taste, smell and hear poverty as we have never experienced before. To think of it in a different way, you could say that the 99% of the US is the 1% of the rest of the world.

There will be no Photoshop experience for this journey. It will be an unfiltered perspective. I fully expect hearts to be broken and our faith to be shaken. I expect we shall the questions that have been asked of old – Why does this happen? What can be done? I also expect that each one of us will do that which will cause us to shudder – we will all have to look in the mirror. There we will see the answer to those questions.

Thank you all so much who our following us on our journey, and those who have supported us in so many ways. We continue to covet your prayers and your encouragement and look forward to sharing more with you!

P.S. special shout out to “the boys” from Shannon. She misses you lots and loves you even more and can’t wait to tell you all the stories!

P.S.S. havings trouble downloading pics so pray for a faster connection!

Hi Everyone!

Kylie here

We are just starting out day 2 in Kenya! It’s already Sunday morning here. We had a great time getting to know the kids yesterday and are excited to worship with Church on The Rock in a couple of hours.

Yesterday we organized our ministry bags, and then did several stations of carnival games with all the kids. They all ended up with a bag of candy We then helped the kids write letters and Valentine’s Day cards for their sponsors.

The kids were all super excited to meet us, and they all just wanted to play with us and hold our hands. It was super fun getting to know them and spend time with them. We’re looking forward to more time with them later today after church and Bible classes.

Have a great Sunday tomorrow!

The Kenya Team arrived safe and sound and very tired. Last night they headed to bed after unloading 60 bags into the guest and a short orientation. This morning was unloading and sorting ministry items and then a very full day of playing with the children of GCC. I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince any of the team to come home now!

A great supper, devotions by Lori Hineman, reflection time and now everyone is getting ready for church at COTR Langata, our sister church in the AM. Another full day tomorrow of teaching and playing! We have one or two of the team who have headaches due to the intensity of the sun here, but other than that, everyone is healthy and having a great time serving the Lord! Thanks for your prayers!

Pastor Greg

Our halftime entertainment in London, was spectacular!  It was cold and clear, OK  very COLD and clear.  Pretty much amazing.  We got here with no incident – great checkin- great flight.   We headed into downtown London and did the tourist thing,  keeping a good pace to try to keep warm.  I think our team would agree that a nice warm bed never felt so good last night.  All are gathering now to head back to Heathrow for flight Part II.  Noontime today, Friday, your time it will be midnight and we should be arriving in nice warm Nairobi to begin our magnificent African adventure.  Thank you so much for your prayers.    Will try to update soon after our arrival.

I just heard from Jean as I sit in here in Kenya. All of the team is safe and sound in London. They have checked into their hotel at the airport  completely exhausted as they took the afternoon and walked around London, seeing what they could in a few hours. The weather was cold, but the sky was clear and London was fun, especially for those who had never been there before.  It was also a time for them to get out the kinks after sitting on an airplane for 9 hours. They should all sleep well tonight!  Jean tells me that everyone is doing great and having a great time.

They will be up and at em early in the morning as they catch the Hotel Bus back to terminal 5 at Heathrow.  Then it’s through customs again, following a waiting game, until the are told which gate to go to to board for their 8.5 – 9.0 hour flight to Nairobi. Pastor Joseph and I will be there at 9:40pm (10:40 am your time) when they arrive, and will be watching for them as they come down the stairs from customs and into the baggage area where they will collect their 60 bags & 19 carry-ons and move through the “nothing to declare” area of the airport. Please pray that they can get through without any issues of having bags opened; and that all the bags get here!!

Then it’s loading the bus and heading to the guest house here where I’m staying tonight. Everything is ready for them, but the bags will still have to be unloaded and everyone get settled in! Most likely it will be after midnight before they get to bed, and then breakfast at 8am the next morning! Whoo Hooo! Here we go!

Thanks to all the prayer partners and family members who are praying. God is going to do some special things through this group…and it will be because of your prayers and willingness to let them Go and do what God has called. One day, you may be here also!!!

We’ll let you know when they arrive here in Nairobi.
Pastor Greg

After months of team meetings and much preparation, sixty bags have been packed, inventoried, weighed, tagged, and locked! We are ready to head off to Kenya! Nineteen members of the 2012 Kenya Mission Team are preparing to leave for Nairobi, via London, to join Pastor Greg in a mission of love and encouragement for our brothers and sisters in Africa. Two of the families on the mission team will get to meet the children (Paul and Violet) that they sponsor through Christian Ministries in Africa. We will visit Grace Children’s Center, meet David and Jennifer Hatley, visit our sister church – Church on the Rock Langata, help at a feeding program in Nairobi, visit GCC in Gombe, and meet the boys at GCC in Nakuru. We are excited to see just how God will use each of us during our time in Kenya! Check back for updates from the 2012 Kenya Mission Team