My Big Fat AFRICAN Wedding!

Yep, that's right. Christine and I were bridesmaids in an African wedding this month! Our two core Kenyan staff members, Lydiah and Francis got married and we got to be part of their special day. In preparation for this day, Christine and I got our hair braided with weave for the first time, as per Lydiah's request so that all of the bridesmaids would match, but instead of trying to explain every little detail of the differences and similarities to American weddings, I thought I would explain it, picture by picture....

 First, after the bridal party is ready, the women who represented Francis during the dowry process (the process by which he had to pay Lydiah's family a bride price in order to be able to marry her) have to come to Lydiah's mom's house and sing until Lydiah's women let them in. Their singing went on for about 10 minutes until Lydiah's family welcomed them in and began singing with them, Kikuyu worship songs.

 They continue to sing as we are being led out of the house kind of like a parade.

BUT, we were not allowed to walk on the dirt, so while  these women are singing, they are laying down Kanga or Kitenge (a form of African designed fabric) for us to walk on all the way to the car.

The relatives are dressed in their best Sunday outfits ready to attend the wedding themselves!

Before we began the procession into the wedding, the same women who "sang" us out of Lydiah's mom's house, met us at the gardens and began singing us up to the location of the wedding so that everyone would know arrived! There was a LOT of honking the horns too...

Then, the wedding began! The whole wedding party choreographed a dance to do down the aisle before Lydiah made her grand entrance! This is me and my partner, Francis' brother James!

Christine and her partner as well as the more of the wedding party breakin' it down aisle.

We all turned and made a way for Lydiah and her mother to pass through. I don't believe anyone could hold their tears back!

The bride, her mom, and the flower girl making their grand entrance!

Stacy, the flower girl and Lydiah's niece

As Lydiah made her way down the aisle, we all followed her and the groomsmen followed Francis. Since, African weddings last for around 2 hours, the wedding party sits down at the front, men and women on opposite sides, until the couple is united in holy matrimony.

After the wedding, the Uhuru Child Kenya staff (plus Maggie, one of our stateside staff members) took a picture with our new married couple!

The Uhuru girls were able to attend as well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves! In a world where so many couples are dysfunctional or torn apart because of sin and circumstances, it was nice to know they were seeing Holy matrimony between two people who love each other and more importantly love God and seek to glorify Him through their becoming one.

This is a picture of the Uhuru Shamba or farm workers from Jikaze who made it to the wedding!

The whole wedding party :) Soon after this, we left to go to another set of gardens to take more wedding photos with just us....

On our way back in, the honking the horns incessantly began again and the same women who sang us out of the house and into the wedding, sang us into the reception where two enthusiastic emcees were energizing the crowd for our arrival!

We had to dance into the reception, doing what the emcee was telling us to do all the while Swahili songs are playing in the back ground! It was so much fun but also made me nervous at first, having all of these eyes on us before they could join in the dancing.

The fun band who brought the party!

Us dancing into the reception and everyone joining in!

We made a big circle and basically started a conga line but with much MUCH more dance moves!

Lydiah and Francis enjoying their reception!

At one point, we all had to get on the ground and start dancing.... when in Rome!

It was so fun even the caterers had to join in!

Once it was time to eat, we crossed this bridge and went to the seats set aside for the wedding party, while the guests sat under the white tents that surrounded the central tent where the cakes were.

This is the hut the wedding party was seated under! Just beautiful!

One of the bridesmaids, Frida, and Christine in our beautiful custom made bridesmaids dresses!

Me, Frida, and Christine relaxing after all that dancing...

Naomi, Frida, and Christine showing off their dresses!

Me, Frida, and Christine!

After eating, Francis and Lydiah received gifts from the guests. They came up one by one and gave them their gifts and some gave speeches if they felt led. Kenyans LOVE a good soap box speech...even if it does last for 30 minutes to an hour!

Francis, then proceeded to the cake table where he had to dance around it...

The really cool African safari themed cakes! Totally stealing this idea for my wedding cake.....

After dancing around the table, he had to come back and get Lydiah so they could cut the cake together...

They both danced to the cake table...

They cut the cake, fed each other, then their wedding party one by one, then the wedding party served the cake to the guests.

More bridesmaids pictures in between...

Loved theses dresses!

I don't know when I will get another chance to wear it but I did not want to take it off.... other than it was super hot being in the sun in it all day!

Lastly, after the cake was cut and everyone got a piece more dancing happened before the reception was officially over! It was so fun and they had a great band so we were sad for the day to end!

The whole wedding and festivities lasted basically all day. We were awake since 7 am getting ready and the reception did not end until 7 pm that evening. Twelve hours of fun African craziness! We were so thankful to get to be a part of it with our braided hair, traditional dresses, and African jewelry! It was so also just encouraging to see the true meaning of what a wedding represents biblically displayed in Kenya. There are so many broken families here, just like in America, but this glimpse into the true purpose of marriage was the mean reason why this day was so glorious. It was a great display of the metaphor of marriage meant to symbolize Christ's relationship with the church, as we are His bride. I can only hope that Lydiah and Francis will live out the rest of their lives displaying their Christ-like love for one another to their communities and families, being an example of the true purpose for marriage in their society.

Finishing Strong

Exciting things are happening as of lately! As you know, Christine, Lydiah, and I have started a bible study for the pre-teen girls in Jikaze, the IDP camp Uhuru Child is involved and invested in. Most of the high school girls attend boarding schools and are not there during the term, so the younger girls are who we are mainly ministering too. Well, while the girls that attend Uhuru Academy from Jikaze were home on midterm break, they assisted Christine and I (Lydiah was not available that weekend) in translating the message. We were going over the story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac and the covenant God made with Abraham. We barely had to do a thing because our Uhuru girls took their bibles and ran with the story! They seemed to really enjoy being teachers to these young girls and applying their leadership skills learned at Uhuru Academy, in their community setting. So, after chapel one night at Uhuru Academy where I was giving a message on sharing the Gospel and the Great Commission, one of the girls that helped us that previous weekend, came up to me afterwards and offered herself to teach for us when this third term is over! Of course, I said we would love to have her plan with us and help lead this bible study! After all, aren't we trying to equip these girls to be leaders in their communities anyway?? Also, Christine and I will be in the states over Christmas break and would love to be able to pass on the responsibility to these Uhuru girls who are part of the community the pre-teens belong to. Being able to see the process we were implementing through this discipleship program come full circle where the girls now are equipped and ready to take their knowledge, leadership skills, and faith to their communities is so worth all the time and effort spent this past year!

One of the Uhuru girls teaching about the sacrifice of Isaac

Another one of Uhuru girls teaching about the covenant with Abraham

Worshipping after hearing God's word!

Dancing to songs of loud praise to our God!

We also had a community event at Uhuru Academy this past Saturday where everybody who was anybody was there! We had some important faces there from the community to promote our school and get our name out there for the upcoming school year. It was cool to see how far we had come from the beginning of the year and getting to take responsibilty for being part of such a great movement for girl's education and discipleship. We showed the attendees the school grounds, had a flag raising ceremony, face painting, science demonstrations, a BOUNCY CASTLE,  games, and the students performed some songs and skits. All of these activities were then followed by the Director of the Education Office who had nothing but good things to say about our school! It was quite a success and we will be praying for more students to see and hear about all our school has to offer inside the classroom as well as outside and that our attendance would grow by more than 400% !

Our banner!

The girls manning the face painting station

Christine and I serving pilau (rice with meat), mokimo (potatoes and maize), stew (veggies), and chapatti (flat bread)!!

One of the students giving me a flower tattoo

The bouncy castle was a huge success!

Me, Christine, and Lydiah representing Uhuru Academy with the rest of the staff in our polos!

One of our students doing her part as Hannah, mother of Samuel, in our skit about Women of Strength in the Bible!

The Form 1s performing "One Step At a Time" by Jordin Sparks

The girls performing a skit to promote Uhuru Academy!

As the school year is drawing to a close and we are wrapping up our last few clubs at Uhuru Academy, Kamandura Girl's High School, and Jikaze, I can't help but just sing praises of thanks to God for just how far out of the water He has blown my expectations of what this year would look like! And it's not even over yet! We have two winter teams coming before this year is over with as well as the social business to keep running so the load is only lightening so much. Also before the year ends, we will be inviting our 20 students at Uhuru Academy back for a little thing we like to call GLOW camp! It's a camp based on our life skills club called GLOW club (Girls Leading Our World) that we do at both Uhuru Academy and Kamandura High School. The girls will be inviting one of their friends to come with them and will board at the school for 3 days as we continue to teach and equip other girls with the life skills necessary to succeed and become leaders! The December volunteer trip as well as some of the Uhuru girls will be helping lead this camp, so we are really excited for the future endeavors before Christmas break! 

I would just ask that you continue to pray for these girls as they go home for the end of the year break and are faced with some decisions that will test their faith and their strength. We pray they would consistently choose to follow Jesus and all he has been teaching them this year and be able to impact their communities, families, friends, and ultimately their country is an uplifting and positive way!

"He who called you is faithful; He will surely do it" -1 Thess. 5:24

As you may or may not have heard, there was a terrorist attack in Nairobi a week and a half ago that killed over 60 people and injured around 175. Christine and I were lucky to not have been anywhere near the mall the terrorists attacked and even in the past we have only gone there 4 or 5 times since we have been here. Still, it was absolutely devastating hearing that so many men, women, and children were victims of this attack. All of Kenya is still in mourning over this terrible crime against humanity and my hope is that all of the culprits have been apprehended and justice will be brought to the victims, survivors, and their loved ones. What is comforting is that God is still on His throne and His promises are still true in Revelation 21:1-4.

Jikaze Pre-teen Bible Study

I first heard the news of the attack while were about 2 hrs from Nairobi in the opposite direction. Lydiah, one of our Kenyan staff members who is the Head Discipleship Coordinator, Christine and I were in the Great Rift Valley in Jikaze continuing our bible study we started about a month ago with the young girls. We were anticipating that we would continue our ministry with high school girls there, but most of them are in schools farther away and aren’t in Jikaze during the term. So, our dynamic has changed from high school girls to girls about 9-13 years old. We still rejoice though!! God has given us an opportunity to reach these girls at younger ages so that by the time they reach high school they will have a more solid foundation on where they stand with their faith and beliefs. Our hope is that we can influence this younger group of girls to become the leaders now and be prepared when they enter into high school just like our girls at Uhuru Academy. Our first two lessons with them were just to see how much  they know about the Bible so we started with Creation and then the Fall and will continue to work up to more challenging topics. I am really excited to see them open up more (because they seem to be pretty shy and intimidated right now) and really understand what the Gospel means to them personally. I want to see how the Spirit moves in their hearts and brings them into a deeper relationship or maybe a relationship for the first time with their Lord and Savior instead of just head knowledge or adapting what their parents believe! We wanna see girls come to know JESUS! Oh yeah, I get to practice my Swahili with them too since most of them have not had a lot of English classes yet!

Kamadura Girls' High School GLOW Club

Also, we have been trying to start our life skills club called GLOW club (Girls Leading Our World) in another girls’ secondary school in Limuru called Kamandura Girls High School. Over the past two weeks however, due to the teacher’s strike that happened earlier this year, their students are making up exams. BUT, on Monday, Christine and I went to their morning assembly and made an announcement to the students about GLOW Club to see if we got any interest. BOY DID WE! We showed up Tuesday for our first GLOW club at Kamandura, and literally, I think the whole school showed up. Now, that may have been because we are white and they were curious, but hey, what ever gets them there initially! GLOW club can finish the hooking and sinkering! If I had to estimate, I would say there were about 150 girls there. WE WERE OVERWHELMED! We had plans for nametag making and ice breaker games….NO. We had to improvise and think fast and just did a make shift self-esteem lesson on the fly! I think it went pretty well and the girls got a good idea of what our club is going to entail, I just think Christine and I need some advice on how to managethat many students! It’s definitely a change of pace from our 20 students at Uhuru Academy!

New Bible Study

BUT THE LORD WAS FAITHFUL! He got us into Kamandura and gave us more girls to impact than we could even hope for so we trust He will provide the means necessary to teach and equip them!

Christine and I have also joined a bible study at the church we attend in Nairobi! Its full of girls our age committed to Kenya for a year or more and they are all single! We had been praying for more friends since we live in a rural area, and God delivered through this group of young ladies. We are both so excited to develop deeper relationships with them, and not take for granted the gift of community that is easily looked over when we lived in the states.

Lastly, I am coming home to the North Carolina for about 10 days for a best friend’s wedding and just to visit! I would appreciate your prayers for a safe trip there and back, and good quality time with my loved ones  :)

Matthew 5:4

says "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

What a relief to know that we are promised comfort in times of mourning, even if we can not reverse the circumstances. This comfort is enough to allow us to see the hope beyond the mourning. The hope that if we are Christ Jesus, we WILL see Him face to face, our pain and suffering WILL subside, and we WILL see our brothers and sisters again one day. HOPE. 

As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, my sweet grandfather, Poppy, has been sick and slowly declining for the past month and half. On August 25, sadly, he passed away.

I am sure he would like to be remembered as this handsome, young devil!

I got the news that he had 2 weeks to live on the 24th and then rapidly scrambled to find a last minute plane ticket (along with the funds) to get home in time to see him one more time. To no avail. He passed away as I was waiting to board my plane to America. I was so angry and filled with grief, but I was in a tent with about 200 other people waiting to board a plane (because the Nairobi airport international departures terminal caught on a fire about a month ago). That angered me even more because I could not even grief how I wanted to for fear of having all those people stare at me or worse, ask me what was wrong and avoid sharing this tragedy with a perfect stranger. I just wanted to be alone but I was about to spend  the 24 hours with 200 people so clearly that wish was not granted.

I made it home safely however, and was sooooooooo glad not only to recognize that RDU airport (minus the immense humidity I had forgotten about) but to see my cousin, Gray, who came to pick me up! It was such a surreal experience to be back in America where everything was familiar and yet different at the same time. On the way home, I was so excited. Even though I knew I was about to walk into a sad situation, I could not hold back my joy of anticipating seeing my family for the first time in 8 months! Not to mention I was blown away by just how clean America is and how pothole-less the streets are!

Squishing my Nana with my sister and cousin, Kennedy

We went to my Nana's first and my whole family was gathered there....what a sight it was too. My favorite times of the year have always been when my whole family gathers together at my Nana's house. I guess that's why I love being in big groups of people, it's what I am used to. The best part though was seeing my daddy! I swear he hugged me 20 times and wouldn't stop! But, I loved every minute of it even though I probably wouldn't admit that to his face :) And, when my sister arrived, she actually put aside her sassy comments long enough to express that she missed me and hugged me as we sat together on the couch. It was a glorious reunion, even under the saddest of circumstances. I also did not broadcast my brief return on social media because I wanted to have some quiet time with my loved ones.

I was home for a total of 9 days and was so thankful I had the opportunity to be with my family at that time. I feel it gave me more closure than remaining in Kenya would have because just being able to grieve with people who understood how much this person meant to you really does make all the difference. His funeral and internment were wonderful services and really did him justice. Poppy was a reverent man but so full of love and joy that he could make you smile without doing anything! I will miss him dearly, as I know my Nana and Daddy and his siblings will too, more than I can know (and I pray I don't have to experience that kind of grief any time in the next 50 years :) ). I was so encouraged by the welcoming I received from my family while I was home too. It was nice to just feel familiar in my old stomping grounds.

Taylor, cousins Haley and Gray, me

I will say, I took advantage of my time there by restocking on toiletries, filling my stomach with things like MCDonalds, Chikfila, and Mexican, and getting my fare share of pumpkin spice lattes! I will return in a month though, for my best friend, Rachel Lilley's wedding! I can not wait to celebrate this union and be with ALL of my friends just like old times :) I also get to see my wonderful boyfriend, DB, who I have been separated from for 5 months! So, I definitely don't hate that!

Anyway, I am safe and sound back in Kenya and our 3rd term officially started on Tuesday! We have already had our first clubs of the semester at Uhuru Academy as well as Jikaze, the IDP camp we partner with, and look forward to expanding into 2 schools nearby this term!

ALSO HUGE PRAISE!!!!!!!! ONE OF OUR STUDENTS BECAME A CHRISTIAN AT A YOUTH CAMP OVER HOLIDAY AND IS NOW ON FIRE FOR THE LORD! 

Jonah 2:9- "But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay, SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD!"

Visitors, Puppies, and Vacation!

As usual, my life seems like a blur or for your Harry Potter fans, like the golden snitch that I can never quite get a grasp on. This year is so quickly fleeting that I have not had time to really sit down and think about what month it is or how it even got here until now. It’s August people, August! The 22^nd of this month will mark my 7^th month in Kenya and 6 weeks until I visit home for the first time since I came to Kenya. I can’t even comprehend how good the Lord has been to me in not only bringing me here, but giving me life-giving work that passes the time so quickly that I have to consciously remind myself to cherish every moment. Here is what has been going on recently…

The last week of our second term at Uhuru Academy mainly just consisted of exams but we took one day to take a field trip to the meteorology center in Nairobi where the girls had the opportunity to expand and apply their knowledge from geography class to real life data and weather forecasting! I had the privilege of being a chaperone on this field trip and I really don’t understand weather forecasting or cloud formations or any of that stuff so it was interesting to hear people who spend their careers researching and following weather patterns explain it. I think the girls really enjoyed their field trip and break from exams before they headed home for a month before 3^rd term starts! Here are some studious pictures of the girls from that field trip and just a few individuals with some of the students!

Ann Gathoni

Ann Wangui

Gladys Chege

Lynette Wanjiru

Gladys Mbuya

Margaret, Form 2

Margaret, Form 1

Last week, two pastors from the Summit Church where I attended when I was in school at NC State, J.D. Greear and Todd Unzecker, came to Kenya on their way back to the states from a conference in Turkey to check in on Uhuru Child! It was nice to get to meet and hang out with them outside of church and in our environment and be able to share with them what each member of Uhuru is doing to expand God’s kingdom. We got to share with them our testimonies and stories of how we made our decisions to come to Kenya over dinner at Tim and Jody’s house and through some front porch talk afterwards. It was relaxing getting to come together as a body of believers, sharing what God has done and is doing in each of our lives, as well as the places in which we live. We also got to go on a tea field with these two pastors, some Uhuru staff members, and some Kenyan friends from Tim and Jody’s church. It was a cloudy and rainy day as usual but we made the best of it with the ample amounts of conversation and laughter. Not to mention, I found a puppy and carried it for 2 hours as we walked through the tea fields! It was skinny and hungry when we found him and so I just decided I could not leave him there and took him home with me! Unfortunately, he cannot stay because of the compound in which we live, but Christine and I are fostering him and currently looking for potential homes for the little guy! Then, on the last night JD and Todd were here, we all went to Zen Garden, this super delicious sushi place in Nairobi, and had one last hoorah and meal with them before they headed back to the states. I really enjoyed their company and entertaining them while they were here (both in the hospitable sense and comedic) and really hope they come back soon to visit!

JD, William (Steve's friend), Steve (Tim and Jody's watchman), Todd, Christine, Tim, Me and Puppy, Dennis (Tigoni Fellowship Pastor) , and Samuel (Steve's friend)

 JD Greear thinking it's funny to pretend to love this puppy like I do!

He might actually think the puppy is cute in this picture.... I'll give it to him.

 I would say he is comfortable in his temporary home!

And wouldn’t you know that as soon as they left the airport in Nairobi, the next morning the international arrivals section went up in flames! So, a friend from the states who was supposed to arrive that day and come stay with us, ended up being delayed for about 3 days before she could enter the country. Her name is Ashton and we are really excited to host our first guest! Christine and I have worked hard on making our house, our home with decorations and furniture, and that we finally get to welcome someone into it for a 2 week stay J In addition to that Christine and I finally bought a pretty sweet coffee table the other day and it will be here on Wednesday! Pictures of that find coming soon! All in all, we are excited Ashton finally made it to Kenya and that we, yet again, get another opportunity to show someone our lives here and invite them in to what the Lord is doing in Kenya! Plus, it’s just nice to have new people around to interact with because being in the rural part of Kenya sometimes can make you miss the availability of driving 20 minutes to see friends you don’t work with or haven’t seen in a while! So, if anyone wants to come on over, we can get you a place to stay! 

August will be coming and going just as quickly as the past 6 months but I plan to continue to pursue that “snitch” that is my fleeting time here and appreciate it!

Speaking of quick, remember those kittens I helped birth on the 4^th of July? Well, they have grown up like weeds and here is an updated picture of them!