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!

The Lost Get Found

The Summer hustle and bustle is coming to a close! We just parted ways with our last volunteer team until November and Uhuru Academy will be concluding its second successful term of the year August 8^th. Not to mention I have officially been in Kenya for 6 WHOLE MONTHS. Wow. I really do not know how that happened or understand how time can fly by so quickly. Literally, June and July were a blur!

To highlight the major events we did have the City Project team from The Summit Church in Durham come visit for two weeks and they certainly left an impression! They plowed some farm land we are going to use to grow more lettuce, did some manual beautification of the school as well as continued the ever prevalent struggle of paving the driveway to the school, held a worship service with the students and a church service, organized/participated in many field days and craft activities with the students, and had the most positive attitudes. J We really enjoyed their energy and enthusiasm and how they really bought into the vision of Uhuru Child and sought to love on not only the people of JIkaze and our students, but also the people living in Tigoni (where we live). In their spare time after a long day of physical labor, some of the students would venture out of the team compound to meet people in Tigoni who they could sit and listen to stories from and even share the word of God with. It was so encouraging just seeing the love of Christ exude from these college students and seeing their hearts for anyone and everyone to know Jesus. No one is exempt from the love of Christ through the gospel and I think I was reminded of that through them being here.  Here are a few pictures from them assisting the students in interpreting God’s Word in Bible Study one Saturday morning!

Also, I attempted my first visa run a week and a half ago and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life! Basically, I had only planned on staying in Ethiopia for a few hours and because of that, the visa office at the Ethiopian airport would not let me leave the airport. Apparently, there is a rule that you must be staying in the country for at least 24 hrs before you can exit the airport and get an Ethiopian visa. Long story short, I waited in two lines for an hr each, trying to figure out if someone could help me get a visa and get out of there….to no avail. I kept bouncing between two employees at two different desks, one of which was rude to me every time I tried to ask him a question. Then, the two employees started arguing with each other about the rules in Amharic (Ethiopian national language) while I stood there hoping the woman helping me would be able to get through to this guy. In the end, he remained a jerk. And the icing on the cake was that my plane ended up getting more and more delayed each hour as they gave us an update for 8 hours. I was supposed to arrive in Nairobi that same day at 12:45 pm but did not arrive until 8:45 pm. Needless to say, I will not be flying Ethiopian airlines anymore! It was a headache yes, but just terrifying being stuck in a foreign country, in an airport I had not previously flown to, with a language I did not understand (I wish every African country spoke Swahili), and I was by myself!

Recently, I have been doing a word study in the Bible with the word “lost.” Like, what does it mean when the Bible describes people as lost? How does God address these people and why does he “find” them? What makes them get lost in the first place? And I feel like this experience has given me a very real experience of what its like to be “lost.” I was left to fend for myself even though I didn’t know where I was supposed to go half the time or if I was ever going to find someone nice enough to help me. Then, I realized once I was safe at home in Kenya (yes, my home now), that that is what happens spiritually to us when we stray from God. We are desperately searching for truth or resolution in places that we aren’t even sure they exist. We are so far away from anything safe or comfortable that we don’t think we will ever return to our home, in God’s arms. BUT, we are never far enough that He cannot seek and save us. The parable of the lost sheep, which I am pretty sure everyone is familiar with, says that He will gladly leave the 99 on a mountain, to seek and save the dumb sheep that has left His side (my paraphrasing J ). What a promise! Why we ever go astray from the perfect love and security of God I don’t exactly know, but what I do know is that we are sinful. We want to follow our own way, no matter what the result is and when we finally realize we are lost and have no helper and are at a loss for what to do or where to go, we can ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS call on the Lord for rescue. That’s one of His identities! We have a loving Rescuer who will literally drop everything to come save His flock. What a Father. So, no I am not happy or excited about what happened last Monday, but I am thankful that God used that moment to give me a visual representation of what happens when we leave His side where we are safe. Not to say I left His side in going to Ethiopia because I had to do it, but being lost there and scared and alone made me realize this is what we do to ourselves when we choose to go our own ways and is always the result. Our desires and the worldly things we chase always over-promise and under-deliver.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” –Psalm 84:11

P.S.  Tim and Jody’s cat, Toroak, that I helped to deliver her babies is doing very well and the kittens seem healthy and active. They are going to be 4 weeks old soon which also just seems impossible to me! But, here are a few pictures of the cuties!

How do you celebrate 4th of July outside of America??

Well, it seems to me that this question can be answered quite simply and the response I feel many Americans would agree with; BE AS PATRIOTIC AS POSSIBLE SO THAT IF THIS COUNTRY DIDN'T KNOW AMERICA WAS THE BEST IN THE WORLD THEY KNOW IT NOW! As patriotic as we Americans can be, I realized that not many other countries have songs about their country other than the national anthem. We so many like "America the beautiful", "God bless America", and "proud to be an American" just to name a few. Being outside of the country really solidified how much I love my country but also how much everyone in America loves our country! It's heartwarming knowing that I can call the United States my home and that even though i am far away, I can do my darnedest to let the people here know what all the hype is about! And no matter how much democrats and republicans differ, everyone can come together for a common interest which is AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!

But seriously, our team along with our summer interns and some people from our church (one of which is British ironically) all celebrated (on a British compound) our independence from the British (which the Kenyans can totally relate to and appreciate) on the 4th. It was your traditional 4th of July celebration! We had great food, weather, and company!! I mean that's what your celebration always consists of on the 4th right? Food, outdoors, and family!! Oh yeah and FIREWORKS! Sadly, we did not have any of those but I think we made due without them. We got to enjoy sunshine, warm weather in the midst of our winter season, some games of badminton (further proof we were in a British compound), homemade greenbean casserole, scalloped potatoes, meat hot off the grill, and Fourth of July themed desserts and drinks! We topped the night off we being in a food coma and good conversation with some great people! I don't know what I expected out of a Fourth of July in Kenya but I will say it was a great way to celebrate away from home. And even though I did not get to see fireworks in person, I knew I could count on social media to post enough photos and videos to suit my fancy!

The British compound where joe and Caitlyn live and also where we celebrated!

 Our festive drinks !

The super delicious 4th of july cake:)

Our director of studies, Caitlyn, and one of our summer interns, Taylor holding up their festive 4th of July drinks!

Me, with our other summer intern Bailey, and our British friend from church, Anna

All of the girls :)

Also, when Christine and I returned to Tim and Jody Jackson's place that night (since we are still house sitting for them) we got ready for bed and turned in. Well, I have been sleeping with their cat every night who was pretty pregnant. And this particular night she was restless and meowing a lot and come to find out she decided to go into labor at midnight that night! So, Christine and I were by her side the whole time as she had to lick the baby to life, help it to nurse, while also pushing out the next one. I tell you God made his creatures to be some kind of tough because humans would never have the endurance or patience for all of that stress at once! But little toroak (the mother) had her 3 kittens in a span of 2 hours and they are all healthy and doing great! So is momma kitty! And I am excited to announce that I will be taking one as my own once she is old enough! And yes, she will be traveling back to the states with me when I leave Kenya as a permanent pet :)

As our time at Tim and Jody's is ending tomorrow, I will be sad to not be with momma and her kittens everyday but I know Tim and Jody will be so excited to spend ample amounts of time with their sweet girl and her babies! Not to mention we must be gearing up because Tim and Jody are arriving with our next and last team for the summer, the city project team from the summit, tomorrow so we all must get in our places! As we go into these next two weeks, I would ask that you would be praying with us for this team to come ready to share the love of Christ with these people and that not only would the people here be changed by their presence but that these city project students would be changed by seeing the gospel come alive among the nations!

June at a Glimpse....

June has been the busiest month in my opinion, so far. We have had two teams come through this month, both doing huge things with Uhuru Child to help our progress and growth both at the school and the farm! I have enjoyed getting to be part of their endeavors as well as helping lead these teams. Also, Christine and I have taken on the role of house sitter for the next 6 weeks as one of Tim and Jody Jackson's neighbors is gone. So, we have been going back and forth between our house and their house as well as taking on house sitting for the Jackson's as they left Saturday for their daughter's wedding! So even in our down time we are shuffling around and trying to get things done. It's good though and we do not complain that we get to stay in houses larger and nicer than ours for the next 6 weeks! (Not to mention one house has a dog and the other a cat so I am getting to hang out with some of my favorite animals!)

Leading teams after having been here for 5 MONTHS officially makes me feel like I have been here for even longer! We have just learned so much in this past 5 months about the culture, how things work within our organization, our roles, etc. that I feel fully comfortable answering questions that volunteers have. I also enjoy getting to know them and their reasons for being interested in our organization. It's one thing to here about Uhuru Child stateside but its definitely another world to come and experienc the chaos that is Uhuru Academy, Uhuru Shamba (farm), and Uhuru Lettuce Processing! I enjoy welcoming outsiders into our world and showing them the work God is allowing us to here! 

The first June team was specifically an Uhuru Child college group. There were about 18 of them and they stayed in a team house provided by Amali Safaris. Amali Safaris is owned and operated by one of our close friends Kelvin, so by partnering with him, we get a really nice house for our volunteers to stay at while also supporting his new business! While this team was here, they helped plow an acre of our new farm land for planting of more lettuce seeds! Our lettuce business is quickly growing and in order to keep up with the demand we are expanding our farms by 10 acres or more! So this work they did was start and huge help to this expansion project. Also, they did some beautification work at the school and assisted our groundskeeper in some projects! They helped dig up some of the bad soil to make room for new grass and helped pave more of our driveway at the school to make it look more presentable to visitors. In addition to working hard, they planned a Sunday church service at the school with the students where some of the volunteers shared their testimonies or a message with the girls. One of our students who became a Christian last term even joined in to share her story! Everyone was moved to tears by the end of hearing everyone speak and you could just tell the Spirit had been moving in that room! It was awesome! This group also cooked spaghetti with the students one night for a family dinner! And on one of their free days they came to the school for some outdoor fun involving soccer (of course), volleyball, and basketball to build closer relationships with the students. These girls love when we have visitors from the US come and making new friends so it was a pleasant experience for all! And possibly one of the most unique things we have experienced on a trip so far was the Massai dancing around the bonfire at the team house, provided by Amali Safaris! They some traditional fire dances and one of our volunteers even participated in a mock wedding! Needless to say, this trip had a unique and wonderful experience with us in Kenya and we enjoyed having them!

                                             Amali safaris team house!

      One of the greenhouses we visited in Jikaze where we employ 17 members of Jikaze!

                                       It's not a bonfire without the Maasai!

The weekend after that trip left, a few if Christine and my friends who are in Kenya for 6 weeks came to visit! They are a group of 10 students from UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State involved with the ministry Christine and I both were a part of in college called Campus Outreach. One of my very best friends, Emily, was the female leader of this trip so I was so thankful they could come and stay in the Amali Safaris team house for the weekend! They have apartments in Nairobi and are doing ministry on the University of Nairobi campuses so they took a break for the big city to come to rural Limuru! During their time here they also helped plow some of the farm land as well as visit Jikaze and one of our local Kenyan churches here in Limuru. Then, after that full of day of work they graciously came to the school to lay more cement and further that process of paving the driveway and then played soccer and volleyball with the students to get to know them! They even assisted with lettuce in their jam packed weekend! We tried to give them a true Kenyan experience apart of the hustle and bustle of the city and I think they enjoyed their time with Uhuru Child. I know I enjoyed getting to see them especially my best friend and plan on visiting them a few more times in Nairobi before they head back to the states! BUT, it won't be long until 2 of the boys from that group along with 3 more from Campus Outreach move to Nairobi in January for two years to do full time ministry on the campuses of Nairobi so I am excited to have more friends moving closer in the next 6 months!

Finally, we concluded June with the coming of a team of adults from the Summit Church in Durham. Some of them brought their children and some were still in college so it was a wide array of people which made it more interesting! One of the men on this trip also painted a mural on the wall of the dining hall and it is gorgeous! We could not be more satisfied with his work. Tim and Jody Jackson, our older married couple on staff here were the primary leaders of this group so I did not get to spend as much time with them but the time I did spend I enjoyed! They were a very caring and passionate group who I think really understood the vision of Uhuru Child and were excited about becoming more involved when they got back to the states. Some of the people on this trip were part of a bible study that sponsors two of our students and getting to meet them in person was more than they could have dreamed of. Getting to see their blessing in action, helping these girls receive an education made it all worth it and we are hoping and praying they would be advocates for more sponsorships after seeing the impact they have made in these girls lives. God is doing some amazing things both Kenya side and stateside !! Sadly, this team was only here for a week as opposed to the full 2 weeks the other trips are doing but I think they maximized their time efficiently and were able to grasp just the amount of work is put in here day in and day out from the school, to the shamba, to the lettuce processing.

AAANNNNDDDDDD they left behind 3 interns for the summer! So, Kenya staff has taken on 3 interns for the summer, two will be here for 6 weeks and one for just one more week. Their names are bailey, Taylor, and heather all from different walks of life so they are keeping it interesting for us! Bailey and Taylor are both here for six weeks and Heather for one, but both Taylor and Heather will be working with the teachers at the school trying to develop more learner centered activities instead of just trying to get the students to memorize facts for a test. We know their knowledge in these areas is going to be a huge help to not only help our students succeed more in class but also help our teachers to become more effective and set our school apart. Bailey, who is going on staff with Uhuru Child stateside is also going to be doing some exciting things both here and in the US. She will be handling and leading our future trips as well as better preparing them Pre-trip for Kenya! She will be the liaison between us and future trips and making our trips more effective by not only preparing future volunteers but helping give them more ownership over their trips. Her vision is to help them to really understand and buy into their mission while they are here as well as the mission of Uhuru Child in hopes that more people will become passionate and involved stateside! It's a great opportunity all around having these interns here to help things move along more quickly and efficiently for the organization as a whole, but they are also just some really cool people that I am excited to get to know and spend more time with.

That's a glimpse of what has been happening this month and I apologize for not posting sooner but things have just been so nonstop which is such a GOOD THING! I will try to do better in the coming weeks as July is fastly approaching and our last team of the summer will be arriving.

QUICK PRAYER REQUEST: my grandfather has cancer and has not been doing well lately and my grandmother has recently called in hospice to make him comfortable. I am sad that I am not getting to be there with my family at this time but my request is that you could pray for my grandfather to be peaceful and comfortable and surrounded by the people he loves and that God would comfort my family and be with them at this trying time in the instance that my grandfather would pass. My Poppy is a strong man of God and am thankful that he has lived such a glorifying life serving our Lord and I am proud to call him a fellow brother in Christ and loved Patriach of our family! I love you Popster!

Summer and Second Term are Heating Up!

Second term has officially started back at Uhuru Academy and we are excited to announce we received a new form 2 student named Teresia Wanjiku!! All of the students gave her a huge welcome and she has fit right in!

 Also, we had our first summer team come for 2 weeks from Vanderbilt University! It was a group of 8 girls and 1 boy and they came to Uhuru Academy to teach some life skills clubs on communication skills, decision making skills, hygiene, relationships, HIV/AIDS, and business as well as help workers in Jikaze fetch firewood, deweed gardens, plow the fields, meet with different families in the village, and help beautify the land at the school. It was nice having a chance of pace from our regular schedules each week and to inform others on what exactly Uhuru Child is doing day in and day out!

Along with accompanying them to Jikaze and the school, I also got to go with them on their safari....for free! It was the same park I went to with DB, my boyfriend, the week before but still a wonderful experience. We stayed over night in the lodge which was really nice! It even had heated beds! And we went on 3 game drives and saw some lions stalking some zebras and impalas!  We were so close to some of lions, one of whom was sitting in a tree above our heads. It was epic. And the food was amazing. I was definitely glad I got to chaperone! Not to mention the students themselves were a treat to be around and I enjoyed spending time with them!

cape buffalo

impala

lioness perched in a tree right above our van!

lioness walking down the road!

lioness stalking some zebra!

stalking action

Lake Nakuru Park

zebra

On the last day of their trip, the Vandy kids made pizza with the Uhuru Girls and soap as a tentative business the students could start! All in all, it was a productive trip and I was definitely glad they were our first visitors this year because they made it very enjoyable and set the bar very high for future groups! And, they are going to continue to raise money at their school for Uhuru Academy through their KenyaDigIt club.

Christine teaching everyone

Enjoying the fruits of their labor!

It was nice getting to sit in on the Vanderbilt teams' life skills clubs or GLOW club as we call it (Girls Leading Our World) because they had some great lessons that invoked many questions from the girls. It also helped prepare the way for Christine and I to start our series on HIV/AIDS which will take up the whole term! I am excited about doing this series because there a ton of myths about the disease and how it's contracted and what actually happens in your body once you have it. I didn't even know some of the answers to the questions the volunteers were asking the girls! So it'll be informative for both sides. And we are hoping that by equipping our students with these facts, they can become leaders among their peers and in their communities by informing others with the truth so that these lies about AIDS will stop spreading. Also, so that those who do have AIDS will not be treated like lepers by their communities or families.

In Bible Study, Christine and I are starting a unit on prayer! We are going over the what, who, when, why, where, and how of prayer because it is one of the more misunderstood topics in this culture when it comes to Christianity. So, we are hoping to give them a clear picture by teaching and modeling before them what prayer is and isn't and what the significance of prayer is. 

In Discussion group this term, we will be covering different religions of the world. In Kenya, the dominant faith is Christianity but there is a Muslim and Hindu presence so there are also many misconceptions about those faiths and their followers. By covering some of the major world religions, we hope to inform them about the similarities and differences between these religions and Christianity so that if they were ever sharing their faith with someone of a different religion, they would know how to relate the two accurately. Also, we would like to inform them of the facts so that they can be leaders and properly inform those in their communities and families.

Lastly, in Chapel which is the part of discipleship program that I lead and teach, we are going to do a rendition of J.D. Greear's (pastor at the Summit Church in Durham, NC) series "A Search for a King" and it's about the life of King David! This is one of my favorite sermon series by JD and I am excited to convey these principles and applications I learned from it to these girls! It will be hard for them at first to learn how a Bible Story they heard as children relates to them personally but my goal is teach them that everything, every story, In the Bible not only relates to us but points us to Jesus. I don't know all of their religious backgrounds but most of them grew up in church and in some of those churches there was not a lot of deep, personal, reflection and relation to the Bible and it's teachings or practical application being taught. So, we hope that by the end of this series they will be able to explain how a passage relates to them and what they can apply to their lives from it!

Like I said, some really exciting things are happening this term not to mention 3 more teams coming this summer for short term trips! 2 college teams and 1 adult team and I look forward to showing them and being proud of what we are doing here through Uhuru Child!

A few requests for Uhuru Academy:

-LAPTOPS LAPTOPS LAPTOPS! We have 3 laptops for our computer class and 20 students do if anyone has an old laptop they a getting rid of or don't use or know of someone that does, please please please let me know!!

-we are having some fundraisers for instruments for music class going on online right now at http://www.crowdrise.com/kenyamusic

- as well a fundraiser for a library and filling it with books! http://www.crowdrise.com/uhurulibrary

-and we are always accepting money for scholarships for our IDP camp girls! If you would like to donate money to sponsor a student at our school go to http://www.crowdrise.com/ScholarshipsforIDP

Uhuru Academy is only running because of the grace of God, prayers, and generous donations so please continue to help us in these areas! And tell your friends!

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" -Isaiah 52:7