journey into the Way

Kenya 40 Journey Team is Home

The team arrived safely home last night into San Francisco. Thanks for all of the prayers for this team while they were serving in country and traveling!

Kenya 40 Team Homeward Bound

    The first 40 Day Journey team is headed home and in the midst of traveling. Their flight plans had to be changed late this last week due to Delta still not flying out of Nairobi. They had to an extra 12 hours of travel to get home to San Francisco. They are spending tonight in London and then will finish up their last leg of travel tomorrow before I meet them at the airport. Please continue to pray for the this last leg of their "journey" and we hope to have some updates on how their extended time in Nairobi was in the days to come.

Kenya 40 Day "Journey Into The Way" Team Update: Week 3

It’s been one week since Joe and I returned to the states and left the remaining four young adults of the Kenya40 Jourey Into The Way team in Nairobi. They continue to serve alongside of two churches. They participate in Fountain Of Life’s home visitation ministry three days a week in the informal settlements (“slums”.) On the other days they are teaching and interacting with the boys at Fountain Of Life’s home where 50 boys live. 

They have also had the opportunity to spend the night out with Fountain Of Life, Juja. This is another church home we partner with where 12 girls reside. It sounds like this has been one of the highlights of the trip for the ladies so far. This first 40 day “Journey Into The Way” team is going well and I will do my best to keep the updates coming. You can read Tanya's and Ben's latest blog post below. To view her blog and the other team members who are blogging, scroll down to the previous post. 

Tanya : http://odelysse.blogspot.com/2009/07/africa-3.htmlAfrica 3

So this week has been full of activity. We drove out to Juja and spent the night visiting an orphan home of 12 girls. The boys had to go sleep at the pastors house but Krystle and I spent the night at the home with the girls. It was so fun, they really are a family. They played with our hair and then we had story time. Different girls would take turns trying to tell stories and then the other would clap for them when they were done, they ate all their dinner then played games and made sure everyone got a turn without being reminded they just knew, then they prayed and we went to sleep. Each girl was so sweet and they sang all these different praise songs. I loved it. Needles to say Krystle and I are hoping to go back to Juja one more time.
Also Ryan and I went to visit a different slum this week. I got to pray for healing for a woman who is sick but doesn't know with what. (She also has HIV so getting sick with other random disease is bad.) She had a baby she was holding that she placed in my arms and she was so cute. I thought she was a few months old but turns out she is over a year old but not well fed. Her eyes were huge. I loved holding her though, I really wanted to take that one with me, like really. The whole rest of the day I kept thinking of her and how she probably is dying to ( I think she has HIV as well but I am not sure) and how I wish she could have a bit of life where she wasn't hungry. I kept thinking of the things I would want to show her, mainly I wished I had brought my bottle of bubbles to blow for her since that seemed like something she would enjoy that I actually could have done.
I know I can't take kids home with me so don't worry.
Also big Praise, the kids we are working with were maybe going to be homeless at the end of July but they got an extention until next March. PRAISE GOD!!!
The team is well, I got sick on Tuesday morning for a bit but felt better pretty soon after. Please keep us in your prayers!
Prayer request:
1. Health, with only a few weeks left none of us want to miss any time with the kids, so we hope to remain healthy.
2. Team unity, especially with having to split on slum days I don't want any division (there hasn't been any but hey let's just pray against it just in case)
3. Funding, were still lacking cash so prayers for that would be good.
4. Just prayer for our relationships with the boys, some of us have gotten to have really good conversations and other are always asked to play soccer or thumb war. I think we all want to have those deeper conversations so pray for that to come naturally.
5. Pray against home sickness. I'm emberassed to say it but that one is mainly for me. I am 26 and miss my mommy. I think its also because I was sick for a while and so I wanted mommy to take care of me.
Short internet time today sorry for the lack of editing. Love you guys. Keep the emails coming. Especially Megan Williems!

Ben: 

http://jeromesjourney.blogspot.com/2009/07/week-3.html

Week 3

This week has been pretty exciting. Last Friday we spent the night in Juja, just outside of Nairobi. We worked with the home of 12 girls. Friday night we just got to play with them. Ryan and I stayed at the pastor's house in the guest room. We found ourselves not able to serve, the family insisted on us just sitting around and letting them serve us. We've been finding it's a blessing to them just to have visitors (it's part of Kenyan culture). We definitely have a thing or two to learn about hospitality out of the little we have as opposed to abundance in the USA.
Saturday we spent much of the day with a team of local IT university students cleaning, washing, and cooking for the girls. I got to talk with some of the university students while chopping a bucket full of cabbage, carrots, and onions (Though I quickly found myself crying whereas they all seemed immune after doing it all their lives lol). We also had some time to play some games with the girls. I found myself answering a lot of questions about the church in the US and the US in general. I also got to learn some things about Kenyan universities and a few phrases in Swahili.
Krystle and I then went to a nearby slum. It wasn't as terrible as Madari where we went last week, there was much more space and the sewage conditions were much better. The conversations we had were a little less awkward with the experience of madari and I was just happy to be able to pray with them and learn more about their struggles. I was sad to learn that one lady could not keep her 6 children in school because she needed about $1.50 per child. Pastor Gideon is working with them in a program to help many families in the slums with such problems but his funds are limited. I'm happy to be working with him and the Fountain of Life orphan home. He definitely has a heart for the poor and orphaned.
The rest of the week has been spent teaching each day with the boys. They are preparing for their quarterly exams next week. We've been teaching them all subjects: Math, Science, English, etc. They also have CRE which is basically biblical teaching. The knowledge these kids have of God, the Bible, and prayer at such a young age is way beyond what I knew. Some of the college students put me to shame by how much they know (and they use it too).
In our evenings, our team has been working on spiritual development together. We pray and discuss some good readings we each have been given. Part of the focus of this trip is not to just keep serving and doing things, but to take time to step back and pray, listen to God, etc. I really value this team for pursuing this focus. It's easy to fall in love with God's mission and forget about falling in love with God.

One thing that we are looking forward to is getting closer to the boys. We are getting to know some of them better as they start to feel comfortable sharing with us their stories. Some of the kids here are not orphans at all but come from homes where they were unwanted or abused. It's amazing to see where they are now despite such circumstances and happy to be in a home with caring people. They all really do act like a big family of brothers. I know they are in great hands with the teachers they have here, Flora the social worker, and especially Pastor Gideon and Mama (Florence), along with some others that I don't know well yet (there is a really loving woman who works low wages to cook and be with the boys). FoL is really a great example of what it means to be the Church of God.

Well that's all I have time for. It's going great here. I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you all for your prayers! FoL got the extension they needed to for the boys to stay on the property till March of next year. Meanwhile FoL is still trying to get enough funds to build on their property. Some of it has come in, but not enough yet.

Thanks again everyone
Blessings

Kenya 40: The Story Continues...

    On July 29th six of us arrived in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the first 40 Day Journey team. Joe and I returned to the states after 10 days in country with the team of four young adults who will stay until Aug. 2nd serving alongside of the local church and focusing on their formation in the Way of Jesus, among the abandoned and orphaned. One of the other comitments they made to focusing on this journey as a season of formation was to "unplug" and limited their connection with technoloogy and its lure to continually be "up to date." Therefore, they have chosen as a team to limit their interaction with the internet to once a week for a short period of time. Altough the updates may be infrequent you can continue to follow their "story" at their personal blogs below.

Tanya: http://odelysse.blogspot.com/

Ryan: http://undefined144.wordpress.com/

Ben: http://jeromesjourney.blogspot.com/

Kenya 40: Matthari and FOL

    Monday we went with FOL's home visitation ministry into the slums of Matthari. The team did great as we visited nine separate families and their children. We practiced a ministry of presence, listening to each of their struggles and how we could be praying for them. Many of these families the church assists in various ways. One of the greatest needs and most significant is the childrens' school tuition. Once I get back to the states I'll post a couple pictures.

    Yesterday we had the opportunity to be back with the boys at Fountain Of Life. Each team member took one if the classrooms and taught for the day. Joe and I fly home tonight. The team remains into August. Please continue to pray for the team of four who will remain in Kenya. They are ready to settle into their own pace of ministry. Also, the team continues to battle some physical ailments. The last ten days we have had three different members having to stay resting at home in their rooms.

Kenya 40: Serving at FOH and Worship w/ FOL

    Yesterday the team served alongside of Fountain of Hope Church as they facilitated their Saturday feeding program to 70 kids. The team also helped facilitate games for the children and spent time with the girls who live in the home. This morning we worshipped with Fountain of Life Church on the new property. The team shared their hearts and about their excitement about serving alongside of the church over the next month. I also has the opportunity to share about the purpose of this team, the vision of Journey Into The Way, and to thank them in advance for the impact they will have in the lives of these young adults. Tommorrow we will accompany FOL's home visitation team into Matthare, one of the largest informal settlements as the ministry serves mothers living with HIV and their children. Please be praying as this will be one of the most challenging experiences so far.

Prayer Request

The team would appreciate your covering over us in your prayers. I've been fighting something since Wed. It it kept me in my room for a day sleeping. I'm still only about 70%. Two other guys on the team seem to fighting something very similar since last night. Thanks...

Kenya 40 Update: Living Simply

      In Santa Cruz you often see a bumper sticker that states, "Live simply so that others may simply live." The discipline of simplicity is often a stretch for most Americans. We never are without. We have anything we want at our fingertips at a moments notice. Stores on every corner hold goods to satiate our desires for food, electronics, media, and anything else we want. I often am convicted to ask myself, "How much is enough." Do I really need the newest and best there is for myself and my family while others go without basic needs being met. I daily struggle with these questions and am seeking God for wisdeom and discernment as to how he desires us to specifically live.
    The Kenya 40 team in desiring to have God use this time in their lives to inwardly form their inward beings into the image of Christ have committed to a number of things to help facilitate living simply. They decided to only bring over $70 for the totality of their stay in country. This took discussion to decide as a team, as it meant foregoing being able to enjoy certain aspects that Kenya is known for, like safaris. It has required them to budget their money wisely while they are here. I respect this as a couple of them are still praying that their funding for this trip will come in while they are here in Kenya. They also decided to travel with only a minimal amount of baggage. They only brought over whatever they could fit inside of a back pack to carry on the plane. This has amounted to teach of them bringing only 2-3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, one pair of shoes, a Bible, pen, toiletries and other necessary items for traveling. Although laundry services are available they are doing their own wash in sinks. Every day they are learning, as they live simply and serve alongside of the local church here, how much we truly live in excess in America.
     It's exciting to see already, after only being with them in country for 5 days how God is continually using this experience to shape and form their hearts for the fatherless. Please continue to pray for the team.

Kenya 40 Update: The first few days

    We arrived safely, but tired Monday night in Nairobi. Tuesday we had a day of acclimating, resting, praying and further training. We have had some significant times of praying in the mornings and settling into a rhythm of "breathing in" and focusing on how God desires to inwardly transform us, while in the afternoons there have been ample opportunities to serve.
    On Wednesday the team headed out to Fountain of Life church in Juja, about 45 minutes outside of Nairobi. The team was blessed by hearing the pastor's heart and spending time with the 12 girls who live in the home. They all seemed to enjoy the art and craft project we had brought over with us to do with them. Today the team headed out to spend time with the boys at Fountain of Life, Nairobi. It was a full day of kickball, soccer and hearing more about Fountain of Life's story. Over all the team is settling in well and is enthusiastic about the variety of ministry opportunities they will have over the next 35 days.  

Kenya 40 Team: Atlanta

We have arrived in Atlanta. As soon as we stepped off the plane the first words I hear are, "Are we there yet?" Laughing soon follows as the team knows we still have a long venture before us to get to Nairobi to serve alongside of the church. The team is bonding well and it is evident God is at work in building unity.