ASANTE (Thank You)

I would like to thank all of my friends and family for your prayers while I was in Kenya. What an experience! I also would like to thank all of you who gave monetary donations for the mission projects. My goal of this blog is to inform and show you of how your donations were used for the different projects of this mission trip

Introductions

I would first like to introduce a few people who made this mission trip possible. Harun and Anne Gatobu are Methodist ministers originally from Meru, Kenya. They now live in Kentucky with their three boys, Mutethia, Nabii, and Munene. They were ministers for the churches in Wallace, Hershey, Sutherland, and Paxton, where the seeds were planted for this mission trip. Also, Charles Mwiti, Anne's cousin played an instumental role in our trip. He lives in Nairobi with his wife Lucy and four children and owns Lindberg Safari, which is a travel agency for safari tours. He made all of the travel arrangements and provided transportation for our mission group of around 30 people from both Nebraska and Colorado. Charles is originally from Meru, Kenya, where the mission site and projects were held. I am so thankful for Anne, Huran, and Charles for making this mission trip possible.

Zurich, Switzerland

We left Denver International Airport on Wednesday, June 17th and arrived in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday, June 18th at 10:00 am. We toured the countryside and visited a cheese factory and a chocolate factory. The countryside is very lush and is renowned for it's high quality milk because of the lush grass. We stayed the night and left Friday morning for Nairobi. The total air time was about 20 hours.

Nairobi, Kenya

We arrived at the Nairobi airport around 5:30 p.m. By the time we got all of our luggage and left the airport it was dark. Being close to the equator the days and nights are pretty close to 12 hours year round. We arrived and stayed at a Presbyterian Guest House. We also visited the Kuzuri Bead Factory, the Giraffe Center and a curio shop. We returned to the guest house where our host families picked us up and took each of us to their homes for an overnight stay.

Sunday, June 21st

Our host families are all members of the Charles New Methodist Church where we attended church this Sunday morning. The church service lasted 3 hours. There was lots of music and introductions of our group members. The church served us lunch. We left for Meru, the mission site around 4:00 p.m. and arrived in Meru around 9:00

First Day at the Mission Site, June 22nd

The Mission project's goals are to educationally support orphaned children in Kenya. MWAKI is the Meru word for a Builder. MWAKI is an initiative of Pastor Anne Gatobu who was confronted by the saddening statistics of the many children orphaned at an very early age due to the devastation of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. In many cases both mother and father have been claimed by the unrelenting AIDS pandemic.

The donations provided by many helped with the educational support of the 40 children who are part of the MWAKI program, which includes school supplies, books and uniforms. Without these supplies a child in Kenya cannot attend public school. If you would like to consider sponsoring an orphaned child, please contact me.

The first day of the mission site was held at the Mulathankari Methodist Church where the MWAKI students came to meet and eat lunch with the mission team. There was a lot of singing, dancing and rejoicing. A few students recited poetry, stories, and songs. In turn, David Rowe and I put on a puppet show for the children. We also passed out back packs with school supplies and clothing for the MWAKI children.

I took individual pictures of the children. I brought a small printer and printed their individual photos right before their very eyes. I had about 15 kids surrounding me watching as the pictures appeared. They then decorated picture frames for their photos.

Second Day at the Mission Site, June 23rd

This was a big day for the members of our mission team who are part of the quilting project. The donations for this project was used to purchase sewing machines and supplies in order to create employment for some of the village women. Our mission team taught and trained the women in quilting and also, in organizing and managing a business. The entire week was spent in training and teaching the women. Also, donations went towards the construction of a community building where the women will store the sewing machines and work. The building will also be used for community events, etc. One of our mission projects was to finish the building with construction and painting, but it wasn't in the finishing stages while we were there.

Third Day at the Mission Site, June 24th

I spent this day with some of our members preparing for the health clinic to be held on Thursday. We inventoried medicines and put together health kits. The entire mission team toured a tea farm and factory in the afternoon. Kenya is known for its black tea.

We also crossed the equator.

Fourth Day at the Mission Site, June 25th

The entire mission team was involved with the free health clinic for the people in the community. We had some doctors and pharmacists from the Meru hospital volunteer to help and also Jim Tarr, a dentist from our mission team. We served around 800 people and handed out health kits as they exited the grounds.

Fifth Day at the Mission Site, June 26th

On this day, some of the mission team members volunteered to visit three different High Schools to mentor the students. Our aim was to elevate low self-esteem in youth, discuss career choices and AIDS prevention. When I spoke, the group of high school students began laughing at me. They were only laughing at my accent. I spoke to the students about staying focused and how sometimes family, friends, drugs and alcohol, and boyfriends can deter them from their education. I told them with the help of Jesus and their own self-determination that they could stay focused on getting an education.

I am in the process of developing a sponsor program for the high school I visited. Some of the students are in need of financial aid in order to continue their high school education. More details later.

June 26th

In the afternoon, the entire mission team visited an elementary school across the road from the mission site. This is the school that Charles Mwiti attended when he was a child. This is also the school of the MWAKI orphans. There are approximately 225 students and 14 teachers. The classrooms are very primitive along with the teaching supplies. We provided the teachers with supplies and each student received a pencil and a small stuffed bear. It was amazing to see how excited they got by receiving so little. Some of the students performed for us with singing and dancing.

Ken Muthee

I met a a student at the mission site and asked him why he wasn't in school. His reply was that his grandmother, who he lives with, couldn't afford the school tuition for him to attend school. His name is Ken Muthee and he is in sixth grade. He is not one of the MWAKI orphans for he has a mother, but lives with his grandmother. On the day that we visited the elementary school, I gave the head teacher 500 shillings for Ken's tuition for ten months, which is about $6.00. There was 50 shillings left for him to buy a pair of shoes.

Lost Camera

I lost my camera on Friday, June 26th. It's really quite comical of how it happened. I was at the mission site and had just finished taking some pictures of the quilting women. I put my camera back in it's case, but forgot to zip it up. I then went to the bathroom (latrine) and guess what? You guessed it! My camera slipped out of the case and down the hole it went. Oh well! Thanks to Shanon Williams, Nancy Berry, Nancy Hoatson, and Connie Wolfe for sharing their pictures with me.

Sixth Day at the Mission Site, June 27th

Our mission project for this day was a Vacation Bible School for around 200 village children of all ages. The Avalanche Ranch curriculum used in 2007 in many United Methodist Churches in our area was shared with the children of Meru. Jodi Nelson and her daugher Jaclyn brought their cowboy boots and hats for the occasion. Several stations were set up for the children to rotate to. Kevin Stoner, who is from Lincoln, and I had a puppet show station. We also let the children play with the puppets and sang songs with them. Snacks and lunch were served to the kids. Donations that were made went towards the food and craft materials. We also handed out Prayer Bears or little teddy bears to the children.

Last Day in Meru, Sunday June 28th

Our last day in Meru was spent at a local church service. Some of us went to different Methodist churches, some to a Catholic church, and some to a Baptist church. I attended the Mulathankari Methodist Church which was the mission site for most of our projects. I had the pleasure of listening to the retired Reverend Francis Mwenda, who is the first woman minister in Africa. She became a minister in 1949. The service lasted three hours, but the sermon was only about 30 minutes. Charles Mwiti was gracious enough to translate the sermon for the English only speaking. The church was packed, with the men sitting on one side and the woman and children sitting on the other side. At the end of the service, an auction was held for those who brought farm produce to use as their offering.
Afterwards, each mission team member spent the afternoon in the home of one of the church members. I had two home visits, one with the Reverend Mwenda and her husband and then we drove to Stanley and Dorcas Kinoti's farm. Stanley is a progressive farmer in the area. He has received four Outstanding Farming awards. We toured his 3-acre farm which consisted of banana and macademia nut trees. He is so proud of his farm and his accomplishments.

Commission of the Building, June 28th

When our family visits ended on Sunday afternoon, we all met at the new building site where a commissioning ceremony was held. A macadamia tree was donated by Stanley Kinoti and planted near the building. The people of the community are so very grateful for the building.

Safari

The last four days of our trip was spent on Safari. We visited three different game reserves and stayed at some very nice lodges. It was truly amazing to see God's creation so close and personal. How Awesome!