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     Well, it has been a few weeks since arriving in Orange County. My life is now back to normal and it feels so wierd. I started work the week after I got home, school started this week, and I have been to numerous family events. Its hard for me to imagine that I experienced what I did in Kenya. For some reason it almost seems as if the trip was shorter than two months. Looking back, the days went by at a normal pace, but now it seems like only a week.
     I need to slow down a little bit, to really reflect on what I have seen and done. God has given me a life changing experience and I need to be appreciative. People are so impoverished all over the world...I need to share the memories and stories. When I first left I did not even realize how it would affect other people. After a few weeks or so my mom told me how  this and that person had shared about me to their friends...it is an endless cycle. God has a plan in this mission trip; me taking this leap of faith has helped plant seeds in people's lives.
     Lord, I praise you for the two months you provided for me to be in Kenya. I pray that my view on life would forever be changed. Bless all of the people I came in contact with and created friendships with.

Bosnia Family Well

     A few months back my parents had the idea of donating money to put a well in Kenya. On Monday I had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Steve and Ben the hydrologist to figure out where we could place the well so that it would be used properly and have the best effects. We decided on a small five acre compound that holds one hundred families called Bosnia.
     We arrived at the village to meet the elders and talk about the precise location to place the well. The experience in itself was unreal to me. The people were so kind and loving! I was honored to be there and help them have access to clean water. After Steve and I got out of the car, a group of young children came up to say hello. But the first one we said hi to was a girl named Naomi--total God thing. It was as if that was Him saying, yep this is where the well is supposed to be.
     We then prayed together and took some pictures of the final spot for the well. After I prayed the elders sang a song for Steve and I; it was such a blessing.
     Yesterday Ben the hydrologist began the process of the well and they may have it finished before I leave Kitale Friday morning! So if you think of it, please pray for protection over that community and the well. Pray that people would not abuse the clean water. And pray that the village would give all their praise to Him for providing the well!
     Thank you Lord that I was able to witness such an amazing experience. To see that my family is able to help a village of one hundred families to have access to clean water. You are so big God, You can accomplish anything--big or small. I love that about You. Please protect the well and let it change many lives of Bosnia! Amen.

Women of Kitale

     Yesterday a group of girls drove to Kipsongo (a neighboring city to Kitale) and went to a place where women create and make jewelry for a living. The room was very small, but it was filled with tons of beads, from bracelets to necklaces. Each woman had her own section on the wall with a picture of herself and what she had made.  It was so special to be able to see who had created each piece of jewelry, I wanted to buy them all. The jewelry is so unique and beautiful and I am honored to be able to support four different women through my purchases. Here are a few of the women that make the beads.

 

     Later that same day a few of us girls went down to the Shimo women's bible study that we have been involved with for the past few months. This was my first time helping with the study and it was such a great experience. Typically there are around twenty five to fifty women that come every Friday for fellowship in the Lord. Last week the topic was how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in John 13:1-17, and this week we enacted what Jesus did. About six of us girls knelt down to wash the womens' feet; it was an amazing feeling to not worry about my needs and just focus on what He would do for the people He loves. The women felt His blessings and His never ending love through our actions. 

 

     Lord, I pray your blessings over the women of Kipsongo and Shimo La Tewa. I thank you for each and every one of them that I got the chance to talk and spend time with, as well as financially support. Let them see You in me when I interact with them, let them feel loved by You. Please bless my final week here in Kenya and allow me to be Your hands and feet. Amen.

Beautiful Things

All this pain
I wonder if I'll ever find my way?
I wonder if my life could really change at all?
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found?
Could a garden come up from this ground at all?


You make beautful things
You make beautful things out of the dust
You make beautful things
You make beautful things out of us


All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautful things

You make beautful things out of the dust

You make beautful things

You make beautful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new

You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautful things

You make beautful things out of the dust

You make beautful things

You make beautful things out of us

     Praise Him, for He makes such beautiful things! This song has become one of my favorites since being on this trip. It has opened my eyes to see how God has created each of us for a purpose in a special way. Thank You!

Distractions

     Let me just tell you this, it is so hard to focus on this trip. Distractions are a daily struggle. Sometimes my thoughts are with my family and my sister’s wedding, sometimes I think about school or what I am coming beck to in a few weeks. I have so many things I feel like I need to prepare for, but then I realize that my focus should be here in this moment. I am constantly being tempted and drawn away from my daily ministries. Heavenly Father, please keep You at the core of my day. I do not want to worry and think about my future needs, I just want to work for You here and now. Lord, be with me today and each day of this trip. Show me what you want me to see. 

Luke 16

Okay so how crazy is it that I have two weeks left and I will be back home? So many people have come and gone on this trip and soon enough I will be one of them. It freaks me out some. Like, I am not going to be able to wake up and see all of the kids’ precious faces and get to old their hands.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little can also be trusted with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

God wants us to follow His word and do what is right and true at all times. Honesty really is the best policy…it’s not just a common saying. And the next few verses about two masters: it seems so obvious but everyone struggles with this, we all have our worldly possessions that we covet and desire. Most of the time we end up choosing them over spending time with God each day. But He is a million times better then those worldly things. Not only that, people who see us say, “we love the Lord and are Christians” then we act another way. That only ends up turning them away and being confused about what is the right thing to follow.

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.’”

The rich man and Lazarus story is so real to me, and shocking at the same time. Lazarus loved the Lord regardless of his awful situation and he ended up in Heaven; while God blessed the rich man abundantly, however he did not give Him praise so he went to Hell. Once in agony, the rich man wanted to spare his brothers’ lives and share how to be saved, but the Abraham replied, “they have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” God wants them to have the same chance as everyone to chose Him over the worldly things. So crazy.

Thank you Heavenly Father for allowing me eyes to see You. Thank you for giving each of us the opportunity to chose everlasting life in Heaven with You. I pray that I will make the time to know You and to love You. You deserve all the worship and praise for all You have done in and for our lives. Amen!

Updates

     Okay so I have a few updates for you! Remember Sarah, the elderly woman who had a horrible jigger problem and was malnourished. Well over the past few weeks with all your thoughts and prayers at home and the help of the doctors and nurses. We have been able to make her almost one hundred percent better! She can now talk with us and make funny faces with us. She eats biscuits (cookies) and drinks chai tea like its her job. I love visiting her every week and getting to see her respond so quickly! God has really shown himself in Sarah's life. Her jiggers are basically gone, which means she is no longer being eaten alive. Praise God!
     After one night at the hospital, Dorkus was taken care of, and her injuries were not as bad as expected. When Kyleigh and I arrived to check on her, we saw her walking around and talking. Wow right? We sat down with her and talked about what had happened. She told us that she had forgiven her sister who had beaten her! If that were me, I honestly do not think I would be able to forgive so quickly. Dorkus is a great example of who Jesus is. About an hour later we paid her hospital bill and she was discharged. God loves her so much and I am honored to have been able to help her through all of that trouble.
     Thank you Heavenly Father for always being present in our lives. You are the Almighty Healer! Amen to that! And thank you for all your prayers back home and keep it up! It is definitely working!