We have had a wonderful weekend and are plowing ahead into the week. We had some kids from the Baby Centre over to the house again this Saturday and Sunday met with the Ngata AGC church council. It is amazing how missions minded the church is and how much compassion they have on their community. We really enjoyed meeting them all and hearing about their vision for the church. After the fellowship Cason went to play a football (soccer) match with some guys who have put together a team near Ngata. His team lost, but Cason has really enjoyed getting to know the guys and is excited about the opportunity to have a positive impact on their lives. He's got more practice this week and another game next weekend!
We have some good news from the Baby Center! Elizabeth and Isaac were adopted today and later this week little Timo will be going to a home as well (see photos of these kids at left). Praise God! Both mothers were very excited to take their new children home and both brought an entourage of friends and family to welcome the new addition. Please pray hard that these new parents will be compassionate and understanding of the major transition the children (esp the older two) will go through. And thank the Lord that some orphans how have Christian homes to grow up in!
Last night Cason and I attended a Bible Study for missionaries from all over Nakuru. Close to 30 people came and many different nationalities were represented. There were quite a few from Denmark, and also some from Germany, Ethiopia, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, and the US. we loved hearing all of the accents and sharing our commonality in our mission and love of Christ. Alice Vanderhoof gave the message on Matthew 9 and 10. One of the major points that really hit home with us, was the message that Jesus sent out with His disciples: "The Kingdom of Heaven is near." We had a great discussion about what that meant, and we were both convicted to live our lives more in light of that truth.
The Kingdom of Heaven is near - what an amazing and exciting statement! And how motivating! Just as true 2,000 years ago as it is right now. It is near... are you ready?
then this is a long post. Here are some albums from the last week.
This album is of us working with the kids at the learning center and a few of the scenery around our house - Click HERE.
And HERE are a few more of the kids from the Baby Centre, including a few of Isaiah who was just adopted - Praise the Lord! Please be praying that he has a smooth adjustment to his new family.
The Baby Centre received three new arrivals today - 1.5 month old triplets came from Tenwek Hospital. They were a few months premature and their mother died the night they were born. Please be praying that Benjamin, Lydia, and Caleb continue to gain weight and remain healthy in their new environment - especially the tiniest one, Caleb. We'll try to get some pictures of them sometime soon.
I know it probably seems like we are putting up a ton of pictures, but we love these kids so much and really want to share them with our friends and family. We hope you enjoy seeing the children that we are working with as well as our surroundings. Please comment our the blog or photos... we love to hear from you and it makes it feel like there are people on the other end of this.
Thanks for reading and for being interested in what the Lord is doing through us!
What a great weekend! Saturday morning, I (Cason) worked a little bit and Colleen went to the Baby Centre to get some kids - we thought it would be fun to get them out of the orphanage for a bit, so Owiti, Precious, and Timo came over for a few hours. It was so much fun, and neat to see the kids outside of their normal environment. It only took them a little bit to get used to our house, but they really loved playing in the yard, making pizza, pulling everything possible off of our shelves and getting some individual attention.
On Sunday, we went to church at Ngata AGC, which was such a wonderful experience. They have an English service (in addition to the Swahili one), which was such a blessing and we met so many great people. We are looking forward to partnering in ministry with that church - they have some amazing outreach programs in the surrounding communities.
After some Sunday afternoon rest, I convinced Colleen to go with me to a restaurant we had heard of to try to watch a football match - Manchester United vs Manchester City. We were the only "Mzungus" (white people) in the packed establishment and there were people watching through the windows from outside. The game was very intense, and much to the delight of most Kenyans, Man United won controversially right at the end - as a Liverpool fan, I was cheering for a draw. The intensity of the match got the best of a few of the spectators, and a few had a little scuffle right by Colleen... but it was dispersed by the bouncers fairly quickly.
One of our new friends from church, Norman Ruto, met us there and he invited us to go to his house for dinner - so what we thought was just going to be an afternoon out turned into a full evening with Norman. On our way to his house, we made multiple stops to see people - I think he is vying to be our official tour guide for our time in Kenya!
Norman's family was so nice and served us the best tea we have had in Kenya (which is saying something!) and a Kipsigis (tribe) meal. His father talked to me all about Kenyan politics and the reason from some of the tribal hostilities, which was very interesting to hear his perspective. Though, of course, the Kipsigis were blameless the way he told it. : )
After dinner, Norman invited us to spend the night out there (since is house is a ways from ours in Nakuru), but we politely declined... opting instead to take our lives into our hands by driving home at night. Thank the Lord, but we made it safely.
Monday was a holiday here, the last day of Ramadan. I worked a little bit, but we spent most of our day out at the Baby Centre - I was trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to teach some of the older kids to count and recognize "how many" blocks were in the pile. We'll keep working with them. Check back for pictures from our time out there sometime soon.
We went out with the Greenlees (the other young American couple here) for lunch (to a fantastic Chinese restaurant in Kenya - go figure) and they showed us the market in town with all of the merchants - you can get some amazing soap stone and wooden carvings there. All of the vendors tried to say they were our best friends, even though they struggled to remember our names. : )
Monday night we headed to the Vanderhoofs (our field directors) for dinner where we met two men from the mission project down in the rural Maasai area. We shared testimonies with then, learned about Maasai rituals and customs (including painful ear piercing, having to kill a lion as a right of passage, public circumcision, etc) and discussed the difficulties of ministering/evangelizing in Maasai culture. It was an enthralling topic and really got us thinking about challenges of bringing the gospel into certain cultures, particularly such spiritualistic driven cultures like the Maasai.
Sorry this is such a long post - we just had alot going on!
For those people lifting us up in prayer, please pray for the following:
The Drought- there has been a terrible draught here for over a year so the crops are failing. People and animals are starving, especially in the Maasai and rural areas that depend so heavily on agriculture for food and grazing.
As treasurer, I got to write a check today that will feed 3,000 families for a few weeks - a humbling and exciting thing to think about! Please pray that it can be used as a powerful ministry opportunity.
The Children- Pray for the orphans that the right families would come along to adopt them and raise them to love the Lord. Some of the children are so anxious to be out and really struggle with behavior because of it.
Before you jump to conclusions about how Colleen's been torturing the children based on this picture... this is actually Elijah's happy face. He loves to be picked up and held, but his eyes about pop out of his head from excitement. He is so much fun!
Click HERE to see Colleen's most recent album of pictures.
The last few days have been really great but also stretching. I'm (Cason) still trying to get the hang of things as the treasurer and figure out my responsibilites. Colleen is figuring out how she can be most effective teaching the kids at the Baby Centre, working with the Caregivers and relying on their expertise for guidance. We've been working some on our Swahili and are getting some of the greetings and commands. It didn't make me long being at the Baby Centre to learn "no," "come," and "get down." : )
Colleen has been going out to the Baby Centre everyday to work with the kids, and the last two days we've gone back together in the late afternoon/evening. I'm getting to know more people from the Ngata AGC church and I've played football (real football...), which has been so much fun. I held my own and hit the post/rock twice tonight, but didn't score one. : ) The field is dirt and rocks and over half the guys play bare foot - makes me feel like a sissy for wearing shoes. Please pray that I can continue to get to know the guys from football and be a positive influence on them, encouraging them to come to church.
One final thought:
If your prayer life is lacking lately, I recommend driving at night in Kenya - between the matatus, pikipikis (motorcycles), overloaded trucks, no lane lines, people not knowing how to use their headlights, plus people walking and cycling in the street... Jesus and I were having a quite intimate conversation about not causing bodily harm to anyone.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. - I John 4:4
This is Precious and her first encounter with a mirror. I (Colleen) thought it would be fun to show the kids their reflections and it made for a very fun day! Some of them would look at themselves, then up at me, then point to the mirror questioningly. Others looked behind it to try and figure out where this other person was, while others just drooled on it and licked it. They had so much fun once they realized that they were looking at themselves. My mirror is terribly smudged and messy now!
The children here are beautiful and so excited to be learning. I am amazed at their attention span. I had one little 3 yr old boy sit in my lap for 40 min. reading the same 10 page book over and over. In the end I got so bored that we got up to do something else! If you would like to see a few more fun mirror pictures of the kids, click HERE.
Please pray for these children as they begin learning how to behave in a classroom setting, and pray that I can pick up swahili quickly so that I can teach them more effectively. The language barrier has made things much more difficult, but I am learning more and more everyday. Thanks for keeping up with us! We appreciate your support and prayers for us and for the kids!
Hello friends! It is amazing to think that we’ve already been in Kenya for almost two weeks! Thanks so much for your prayers and support. Click the links below for to see our facebook albums – the second one is all of babies from the Baby Centre! (you don't need a facebook account to see them)
"I was born to drive in Kenya. The drive out to the Baby Center was scary, but the way back was awesome! I love that there are no rules and you can just zip in and out of cars...."
- My lovely Colleen, after driving by herself for the first time on the free-for-all roads of Kenya.
We spent the afternoon at the Baby Center yesterday, which was so much fun! This gorgeous little girl is named Ida.
Here is Colleen sitting in the shade surrounded by the kids... we're trying to learn all of the names, so I think this is Andrew, Joshua, Precious, Meshak, Daniel Owiti, and Ida.
Click on the photos to see a larger version.
Colleen went back to the Baby Center today to start to work with the kids in the classroom. It was a great experience, but a bit difficult to keep order and communicate with the caregivers/children. It would be very beneficial for the kids to have some structured learning and one-on-one attention, so pray that Colleen learns Swahili quickly and can be assertive in setting up a program.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." ~ James 1:27
This picture was from our first trip to the Baby Center where Colleen will be working. This little one is named Precious Angel... most of the 30 children have Biblical names, but Precious was named before she got there. Colleen starts work at the Baby Center this week doing education and development with the children, so keep her in your prayers!
In other news, I (Cason) drove for the first time today on the busy roads of Nakuru, which was quite an experience. I managed to stay on the correct side of the road, but didn't always know the proper edicate for the alleyways and free-for-all roundabouts. I think I am going to need to drive a bit more aggresively to be a real Kenyan. This week is also full of on the job training for me, and there is alot to keep up with and remember, so I appreciate your prayers for that as well.
That's all for now! Thanks for your prayers and support, and for checking the blog! We miss you all (almost as much as Colleen misses Papa Johns...)
Verse of the day from our morning devo: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." What am amazing thing to be able to say! That is what we are striving for day after day - to completely submit to His will. God Bless!
Here is a picture of Colleen and our dog Tucker (he came with the house), with the back of our house in the background. We love the upper balcony off of our bedroom and the lower porch that overlook our backyard.
Colleen loves the mosquito net over our bed…
Colleen on the swing in our backyard… even though it is a bit dry, our yard really is amazingly beautiful. Colleen has seen all kinds of birds while sitting out on her porch. Our little gecko friend that Colleen couldn’t resist trying to touch… see the post below for the story about how chaos ensued.
What an amazing experience. Cason said it all when he described the beauty along side slums, dirt, and filth of Nairobi. When we flew in from the airport it was dark and so I did not see Nairobi well until the next day. What a shock! I was very intimidated by number of people and the hurried city life. Thankfully Nakuru (where we live) is a slower paced town and not quite as overwhelming as Nairobi. I am thanking God he did not send us to Nairobi!
The people here are caring and welcoming. We have been very blessed to meet Cate, the assistant treasurer, and her husband, Meshach, who is the pastor of our church. I am excited to get to know them! Jim and Alice Vanderhoof have taken us under their wings and have made these first few days so wonderful. It has been great having them with us and answering our questions constantly!
I have been floored by the incredible birds here! We have seen so many bright and neon colored birds, which has been a striking contrast to the somewhat brown landscape. We are excited to see how the rain transforms the color of everything though. We have been told there hasn’t been rain for a long time, but when it comes everything turns green and lush. Like Cas mentioned yesterday, I did get to see Zebras and Baboons on the drive in, which was great! We are hoping to go the park right by our house, but have to wait until Cason’s work permit comes in.
Our house is such a blessing. All of the noises from the city are carried up the mountain and through our windows and are oddly relaxing combined with the exotic birds singing to each other.
To all those who were worried about me touching and picking up animals… I have already disobeyed the warnings. It’s actually quite a funny story…
So, last night we were alone in our house for the first time. I was going to close the curtains when Cason pointed out a small yellow gecko stalking bugs on the window outside, so naturally I went running out there yelling for Cason to come look. Well it was a bright yellow lizard with red spots and common sense says to not touch bright animals b/c it typically means poison… so naturally I wanted to touch it. So while Cason stood beside me telling me repeatedly to leave it alone I slowly reached my hand up to touch it’s tail. The lizard the promptly kamikaze back-flipped off the window at my face, ran down me and off into the night. Needless to say we were both screaming, which turned to laughing, which turned to hoping that our screams didn’t alert the guards. What a great first night. Cason hasn’t completely forgiven me ;)
In other news I visited the baby center today! It was a quick visit but very fun. The children are beautiful and lively - I can’t wait to start working with them. A little 2 1/2 yr old named Timo climbed over the playground fence and into my arms within the first few minutes of being there. The older children (2-3 year olds) seem eager for more stimulating activities… but figuring out how to teach them and keep them interested will be challenging. I really need to learn some Swahili! But I am up for the challenge and can’t wait to begin. God has given us both strength and joy since being here, so we can praise Him for that.
Tomorrow (Friday) we leave for Tenwek for a field meeting… it will be great to meet all of WGM’s missionaries in Kenya, and to see some more of the country.
Thank you so much for your prayers as we were on our way to Kenya. We made all of our flights, and all of our bags made it except for one, so we can praise the Lord for that!
We arrived in Nairobi on Monday night (afternoon in Eastern Time) after traveling for almost 24 hours straight. It took us a little while to get our luggage situation straightened out once we figured out that one of our bags didn’t make it. (Side note: We added a bag last minute, taking our total from 5 to 6… and 5 out of our 6 bags made it. I think that we prayed hard for those 5 bags, but apparently not hard enough for the last one. Lesson learned. : )
After a great nights sleep, we ran some errands in Nairobi with our Field Directors, the Vanderhoofs, which was quite an eye-opening experience – especially for Colleen. Nairobi is a big dirty city, with beauty/luxury right next to ugliness/poverty on nearly every street. As she and I discussed last night, I think that will be a theme for our entire time in Kenya – scenic tranquility and magnificence, good times, and laughter on one hand, and abject poverty, filthiness, difficulty, and fear on the other. Which I guess is just like life anywhere else. My prayer is that our perspective on life/Kenya would include both extremes, and that above all we would remember why we are here: Because of the Love of Christ – to live it and share it.
As Paul says, “For Christ's love compels us…” 2 Corinthians 5:14
From Nairobi, we drove to Nakuru, our new hometown. The drive has some incredible views and Colleen was so excited to see zebras, gazelles, baboons, and all kinds of exotic birds along the way, as well as some fantastic views of the Rift Valley. In Nakuru, we started to move in and had dinner in town. We also met some of the incredible other WGM missionaries in town with whom we will be working – we are so excited to get to know them more and to start work. Everyone seems quite pleased to have a field treasurer again, which makes me a bit nervous; hopefully I live up to expectations!
I’ll let Colleen tell you more about her perspective of Nairobi, our drive to Nakuru, and our house since she is seeing it all with fresh eyes. I will just say that our house is amazing, and we feel so blessed to have such a beautiful place to call home – we might never want to leave!
We are still trying to get our phone/internet situation sorted out, so at present we don’t have good internet access. We’ll let you know more information in a few weeks, but once we are up and running we should be able to email, blog, and skype on a regular basis – our skype moniker is casonandcolleen, so send us a add request if you have it.
Thanks again for your prayers and support! Colleen is going to post more of an update later tonight I believe, which will be afternoon for most of you. Hopefully we'll be able to post some pictures soon!
