Culture Night @ Scott Theological College

Scott holds an annual Culture Night. This ABO was blessed to be there the week they held the celebration. It was so neat to see the different tribes/cultures come together. There was a point where people from different tribes, all over Europe, Asia, and the US came up and recited John 3:16. I lost count but I think there were at least 12 representations. Wow!

Scott students representing the Kalangan tribe.

Me singing a gospel song holdin it down for my folks back home!

Students representing the Luo tribe...the tribe Barack Obama's dad is from. It was so funny. Whenever I would meet a student from the Luo tribe, they would ask me if I knew who he was. They also had a huge picture of him on the screen at culture night.

This guy was so funny. He is truly a natural.

Scott Theological College Choir

Katalooni Secondary School

I had the wonderful opportunity to share at Katalooni Secondary School in Machakos as well. The youth were so receptive and eager to learn more about the Lord. These two pics are with a few girls that I met and got to fellowship with after the service.

Pictures of Machakos, Kenya

The Burning City

This is a little village next to Scott Theological College in Machakos. They call it the burning city because some years back it caught on fire. We would pass through here to and from Kisooni Church. I felt like I was a part of a parade or something every time we passed through. Kids would always come up and want to touch you. I think I might have been the 1st black American they ever saw. One day and few of us girls went for a walk and we had a whole parade of kids follow us back to the campus. They even sang for us and begged for us to come back.

Scott Theological College Campus

This was the lovely view that I saw everyday at ABO. It's even more breath taking at night. There's people who live all the way up that hill. I was told that they just received electricity about a year ago.

Me on Our Hill Walk

Us ABOers went on a hike up the hill....Praise the Lord, I'm still living!

Me and Megan taking off on the Walk

It was about at this point where I realized that I so wore the wrong shoes!

People hard at work!

On our way up the hill we ran into these people doing something with rocks. It was hard to understand but I think they are making something for water filters. As we kept walking I heard a rustling in the bushes. There was this small petite women climbing up the hill carrying at least 5-10 gallons of water! Man, I am so blessed to have running water whenever I want. Speaking of water...those of you in the US...come to Africa and you would so appreciate the luxury of water. There were a few days that we planned to do laundry or take a shower but couldn't because there was no water. We also had power outages. And the Internet...huh, that's a whole nother blog!

Pictures of Kisooni Church in Machakos, Kenya

Choir at Kisooni

I truly enjoyed watching them. They even had choreography to every song. It was also so neat to see the kids also sing with the adults. This was truly what you call a mass choir! Me sharing at Kisooni

This was a wonderful opportunity. I was actually shacked that they asked me to preach because I was woman. I was also under the impression that the pastor was going to preach as well...but it was just me. I'm sure the people were happy to have a shorter sermon for a change!

The Best Church Ladies in Machakos

These beautiful ladies fed us after church every week. They were so sweet and loved to be able to serve. They truly have the joy of the Lord...even though you can't tell too much from the pic.

Walking back from Kisooni

I know most of you are surprised that I walked to church. Well, surprise... I did. The 1st Sunday was so funny. Ngumbi (the guy on the right) told me that it was only a 10 minute walk and we walked for an hour!!!!! Okay....it was more like 30 minutes. When I told the church, they all laughed and got reprimanded the team for not getting me a Matatu (an adventurous form of public transportation). I told them that I didn't mind...it was good exercise and a great time to fellowship.

Cultural Bloopers...aka My First Month in Africa!

Man, I never would have thought that one person could learn so much in one month. I spent 3 weeks in Africa Based Orientation and just spent 1 week taking a Language Acquisition course. Although these courses were very helpful and in some ways essential, there's nothing like learning from your own silly cultural mistakes. There's so many...I'm wondering which one I'm willing to share. Hmmm.... Well, you know the word pants...it means something else here. I found out that pants are underwear not trousers. So, when you call trousers pants your whole life, it's a little hard to break that habit. Anyways, on the way home from church, some Kenyan friends and I were having a cultural conversation. One thing you see a lot of here is women wearing skirts. You hardly see women wearing pants...I mean trousers. So I asked some of my friends (which included a MALE)...what do you think about women wearing pants?!!! They both looked at me and said, "What"?! After realizing my silly and somewhat embarrassing mistake, I yelled ,"I mean trousers!" We all laughed and I was teased for a while. However, I think the habit is broken. Pants will forever be called trousers! Ahh, there are many more stories but I choose to keep my dignity.

My Ministry Team to Kisooni (Sam, me, Miriam, & Ngumbi)

Life of a Missionary!

Jambo!

That's about all the Swahili I know. Please pray that I pick up the language because I don't think I can make it around East Africa for 4 years with just knowing how to say hi! Anyways, today is the day that we go to Machakos for ABO (Africa Based Training). We were all told that the internet connection in Machakos was horrible so we're all in the lobby trying to get all our emails sent out with laptops. It's quite funny to look at. I guess that's the life of a missionary.

Yesterday we went out into the town to exchange money. When you look at their money you think, "Man I'm rich!” Then you do some calculations and realize that it cost $4 for deodorant. So, really it’s all about even. So much for thinking I was catching up with Donald Trump. Nairobi is not what I thought it would be. Someone told me that Nairobi didn't look like Africa, they were wrong. The roads are congested, people walking everywhere, a hundred people in one cab (yes I'm exaggerating...but not by much), shops on the side of the roads, people cooking outside, ladies walking with their babies on their backs with million pound bags....the list goes on and on. The only thing I witnessed that wasn't so African was a man walking down the street in a full Spiderman costume. However, I think that's probably strange in America.


This morning as we were packing our bags, we got in the big conversation about worship. We all mentioned how through our struggles, we realized that they only way through it was worship. It's so much more than just singing a song in a church service. It’s a lifestyle. Worship is so powerful. In my own life, I have been so amazed at what miracles have happened through worship. I've seen people healed, delivered, and set free. And in my own life, I have had deep struggles and pains. It was through worship that God brought me through it all and delivered me from those things and gave me such strength. Truly being in His presence brings us so much joy and that joy of the Lord gives us great strength. God is truly our rock and refuge. In Him alone do I find true peace and rest. I am reminded of the scriptures in Psalms, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge (Ps. 62:5-8)".

Mayfield Guesthouse (Nairobi, Kenya)