Four Years

November 8, 2008. 

That is the day I first stepped into Mombasa four years ago. It was also the beginning of possibly the hardest 6 months of my life. 

We were placed in a mansion that was meant for a large Indian family. There were 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a humongous living room, and hallways that you could do endless cartwheels in. And we were only two girls. The house had some pretty major quirks: no water, no airflow, lots of dirt and gecko poop, a tiny kitchen, a noisy neighbourhood, and a few guards with their own personal issues. It was not an easy place to manage. 

I started off pretty excited about what was planned for us but my zeal quickly faded. It just wasn't what I felt called to do but I did it because we were told it was necessary, a spot needed to be filled and we got lots of praise for our courage to be there. Meanwhile, I was fading. We lived in a difficult neighbourhood and got constantly heckled by the men even though we tried as hard as we could to cover our bodies and act respectfully. It didn't matter; our skin colour was enough to make them go crazy. We had little preparation and support for what our work really entailed. No one guided us. We pretty much had to figure it out on our own. It was a huge learning experience and a massive point of growth in my life. But it wasn't easy. 

I eventually fell into depression and needed to get out. I went for counselling, my dad came over to visit, and they moved me to Word of Life. 

That's when things changed. I met Kelvin. I felt alive again in a position I felt I was good at. I was cool, literally, from the sea breezes that flowed through the Word of Life compound. It was a life changing few weeks to say the least. 

I swore I would never come back to Mombasa. Never ever ever! 

But alas, four years later, this city has captured my heart and offered me a wonderful life, an awesome community, and a pretty rad husband. 

I dug up some old pics of my first stint in Mombasa in 2008. 

We hosted a huge Christmas party at our house. To this day it is one of my favourite Christmas'. We had such a blend of cultures and religions there. We ate, played games, and hung out. We talked about the meaning of Christmas and love was shared. Such a memorable moment!

Our house came equipped with this inflatable boat that we had too much fun in. I remember rocking it back and forth singing "Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over..."

I worked in a youth library and we did a lot of youth events. We had a retreat for valentines day and we did some skits. I think this guy was proposing to me during our skit. 

This was new years. Yes, we laid in the driveway in the middle of the night. It was hot.

I spent most of my time trying to make friends. Some of these girls I still see today.

My organization partnered me with another girl named Sheena. I am really not sure how I would have survived without her. She was originally from Hong kong but lived in Canada. Naturally, she attracted every person in Mombasa who was also from Hong Kong so I listened to a lot of Cantonese and ate a lot of chinese food during my 9 months in Kenya. 

We used tuk-tuks a lot. It was easier and cooler. I hated walking around town. 

We purposed to enjoy ourselves since we lived in such a beautiful place. Here we had gone to Malindi, just north of Mombasa, for a day of snorkelling. Sheena was such a water baby. I didn't like the salt water and I didn't find the ocean refreshing as usually it was so warm from the heat.

My bedroom. 

The view from the outside of our mansion. I didn't say it was a pretty mansion. 

In the community we lived in, most the streets were like this. It was cramped and crowded but some of the structures were really beautiful. Some were pretty ugly. It is the old city of Mombasa and it is rich with history.

So Happy Four Year Anniversary to me!

Mombasa, I am glad you showed me that you can be an enjoyable city to live in. Thanks for loving me and caring for me over the past four years!

The first meeting

I remember seeing a dark shadow walking down the dark hallway. My first thought was that he was short and walked with a kink. Rahab (my beloved friend) had just introduced herself to me and welcomed me to Word of Life. Cheery and welcoming as she always is, she offered to take me around and introduce me to people. She was closing the kitchen door when the dark shadow appeared into the light.

"This is Kevin. Or o-pie-o!" she introduced (yes, Rahab was actually the one who introduced us). They all laughed. I didn't get it.

We all sat on some rocks right near the kitchen and told stories. They made the effort to speak in english but I still didn't say much. They replayed the funny parts on their favourite tv show and burst into laughter. I didn't think it was funny. I remember wondering why Kelvin was laughing so much...it wasn't funny. I didn't think much of him. Nice to meet him. That's it.

A half hour later he invited me to watch the tv show they were all talking about. He practically peed himself in the corner while I still struggled to understand why it was funny. It was nice he was making the effort to make me feel welcome.

I forget the rest of the night but it was the start of the most confusing yet wonderful 3 weeks of my life.

I was going through a confusing time in my life and just wanted to hear from God. I just wanted to reconnect with Him. I was so hungry for some direction from my heavenly Father. But over the next week, I developed the strangest attraction to Kevin or Calvin (took me a while to figure out it was Kelvin). I prayed, repented, and begged God to get my focus away from him. I felt like I was in eight grade again and got butterflies every time my crush passed by my locker.

A week and a half later, we found ourselves in the office chatting after a long day of camp. By the morning, we had literally decided to get married.

Yes, we decided to. We had feelings for each other but it was more of an intellectual decision.

When I look back, it was truly crazy. But I am so thankful for that conversation. Because honestly, I think I would have let Kelvin slip away if I hadn't made a crazy commitment of marriage to a man I barely knew.

I had doubts. We both did. But we both drew near to God and He kept urging us to have faith in the way He directs our steps.

That was 3 years ago this week. March 31st was the day we met. April 7th was the day he took me for an innocent scoop of ice cream. April 10th was the day we decided we would get married.

I remember being so uncertain.

But am I ever glad I had an ounce of faith in me. Cause just look at us now.

Church with Girls and Eid ul Hajj

My prayer last week was to go to a girls school. I came home one day a little discouraged, after a game with the boys, and just craving to hang out with a group of girls. I prayed about it and even told Kelvin my desire. I absolutely LOVE hanging out with fiery, sweet, girly girls. It's rather ironic because I am totally not that kind of girl. But I love girls who are. 

On friday, I went to my regular bible study/youth service meeting that Word of Life puts on. At the beginning of the service, I overheard some people talking about how they are going to lead the service at Mama Ngina girls school this sunday. I didn't show it, but I SO wanted to go. Mama Ngina girls are so much fun, full of energy and zeal for God, and have hearts focused on pleasing Him. Anyways, throughout the service, I kept telling God how much I would love to go but only if He allowed it.

At the end of the service, my old boss from Word of Life pulled me aside and mentioned that they needed more girls to go and someone to do a testimony. Not wanting to show my sheer excitement, I said, "Sure. I would love to. Be there at 8am sunday."

The Mama Ngina girls didn't disappoint. 3 hours of song, dance, laughter, encouragement, love, testimonies, the Word of God and so much more. My heart was full that's for sure. After the service, Kelvin and I stayed behind and had some time to chat with a few of the girls. I value sweet conversations with young ladies who are putting God first in their lives. 

 Boy, can they ever sing and dance! I will try upload some videos I took of the service. The choir had come and sang an incredible song that sent goosebumps up my spine.

After the service, we headed for lunch in Kongowea. Sunday was a Muslim holiday which celebrated the end of Hajj, the 10 day pilgrimage every muslim is suppose to make to Mecca. With any Muslim holiday, you know there is going to be GOOD food.

And I was not disappointed. The family we went to eat with made amazing goat biryani, probably the best I have ever eaten before. And I am not usually a big fan of goat meat. 

However, the meal was about the only thing I like about the situation. It was rather uncomfortable for me. After the eating, everyone started pulling  out the alcohol, cigarettes, and miraa. Hmm, not my fancy. Kelvin and I were about the only ones who were participating. However, Kelvin had an advantage as he could speak swahili. He could connect. As for me, I struggled to connect. I don't drink, smoke, chew drugs, or speak swahili so I was a fish out of water. What made it worse was that a cousin of Kelvin's had brought along her much older, european fiance. He was a nice man but, in the midst of all this, the man was handing out money and supplying all the drinks for everyone. Again, not my style. The people were lovin' being showered with cheap pleasures while I sat in the corner, struggling to connect. 

I think was surprised me the most was that we were celebrating a muslim holiday and yet they were doing the most 'unholy' of things. I was chatting with one, who had just come from filling up on the local brew, about how he has to stop drinking, wait 40 days, and then go to a mosque because right now he is 'unclean'. He kept telling me how much work it is to stay 'clean' for allah. I took this opportunity to talk about Jesus and how He can make us 'clean'. The guy insisted he could do it himself. I then decided not to continue trying to reason with him, especially as I smelt the alcohol on his breath. 

It was tough for sure. Kelvin noticed I was struggling and suggested we leave. My heart hurt as these are the people I so desire to reach and yet we are so disconnected. Afterwards, Kelvin and I went to a local resort to listen to a live band. While sitting there, I burst into tears.  The fact is that this week has been hard. More  than usual, I have felt out of place and like I really just don't fit in. I have made various mistakes, had people laugh and mock me, and get heckled wherever I went. After a tough week, the tears overflowed Sunday night. I didn't need to be encouraged. I just needed to cry. 

Kelvin was great and listened to my cries. Soon, we started talking about ministry, work, Jesus, how to really help the poor, how to really follow Jesus, and how, most times, following Jesus means that life will be tough. It turned out to be a pretty awesome evening as we poured our hearts out to each other, listened to the local music, and allowed the breeze from the ocean cool us down. 

This is a brand new mosque that was right next to Mama Ngina girls school. Because it was a holiday, the mosques were full. On our way to church, Muslims were outside praying. Mosques were so full that people were praying on the streets.

Goats lined the streets. 

Everyone is suppose to kill a goat and I think they are suppose to give some of it away to the poor. I am not sure how many actually do that but its good in theory.

It was an overwhelming Sunday. I am thankful for a new week!!

1 more sleep in Kenya

It's almost that time. I am in my final hours here in Kenya. In less than 24hours I will be on a plane back to Canada.

It's bittersweet. I can't describe how I am feeling. I go back and forth between being sad to leave and excited to get home.

I am in Word of Life Kabete. I am actually staying in the room across from the one that I stayed in my first night in Kenya. I woke up this morning and reflected on the last 11 months and all that has happened. I thanked God for the numerous things He has taught me, the good and bad times I have gone through and learned so much from, and for the amazing people I have been blessed to encounter. I reflected on the ministry and the lives I have seen changed because of Christ. I recounted the many laughs and cries that I have had. I am so grateful for the the ways that He has transformed me to become more like Him.

I don't feel like I will be in Canada for too long. I can't stay away from here too long. I am still praying about the path that God is leading me down right now. I am excited for the many dreams and visions He has given me for my future.  My heart beats harder and faster to see Him being glorified.

I am not sure what is waiting for me at home. My mother says that my room is a mess and my closet has no clothes. I know that it is beginning to snow and the Christmas season is starting up. I hope to meet my grandfather in the hospital. I got news today that he has taken a turn for the worst and no one knows what is going to happen. I pray I can see him again. My brother has moved out so it will be the first time I will be at home and he will not be there. I have missed a whole year of tv shows, movies, and music so I will be very much behind. I will have to learn to speak with a canadian accent again. My Kenyan one is embarrassing.

With all these thoughts in my head, I have purposed to enjoy my last day in Kenya. I drank fresh milk from the cow this morning. I am sitting listening to the birdies sing sweet melodies to me. And I am letting my face soak in the warm sun one last time.

I will be back in Castlegar on Sunday so feel free to pass by or call the house if you wish.

Counselors Retreat!

This weekend was such a blast. It was exactly what I needed. I got the news of my Deda right before the retreat started and I was so blessed to have people around me praying and encouraging me. Plus, the craziness of it helped keep my mind off of things. 

We had about 40 counselors come for a weekend retreat here at Word of Life. We arranged for them to stay in some of our nicest cottages, eat some amazing food, and just have a great time getting to know each other better and preparing themselves for camps. 

On friday evenings, we have a fellowship group in town where we train these counselors. Each week we have some train us in counselling youth. We have covered topics such as anger, grief, conflict, self-esteem and many others. This weekend we had some more sessions on ethics and communication. So it was a good mixture of fun and learning. 

Here are our counselors during on of their sessions. This is our main hall where we do pretty much everything. The roof is made of 'makuti' which is essentially grass. It always cracks me up to think I live under a grass roof. During one of our sessions, it started to rain. Our roof is a bit old and is needing repair. So when it started to rain, it started leaking on pretty much everyone. We had to all find spots where water wasn't dripping from the roof. 

This weekend also gave me a chance to see a lot of my friends for the last time since I will be leaving tomorrow. This is Jacky (left) and Betty (right). They are quite the pair. They will chat your ears off and make you laugh till your belly hurts. I will miss these two.

This is Issac or, as we like to call him, Izo. He's another great friend. 

Did I mention we had amazing food?! On Saturday night, we had Coast night. The culture on the coast of Kenya is much different than the rest of Kenya. It has it's own style of dressing, own yummy food, and its own lifestyle. So we cooked a traditional coastal meal. It was delicious. Here is Rahab making chapattis. She is an amazing chef! 

On our last night, we set up a movie screen and watched a movie outside. It was so nice sitting by the ocean, feeling the cool breeze, and watching a nice movie. Although I didn't stay for long. I was pooped and hit the sack.

Good friends. I will miss these peeps. 

Tonight, is my last night at Word of Life. I have pretty much everything packed up. I have shook out all my clothes and found enough cockroaches to make me scream. I just hope I don't bring any home with me. Ha. We are having a little farewell party at my directors house tonight. Then I am outta here in the morning. I am both sad and excited. One great season over, and another one just beginning. 

Teacher Nikole

Just before I was suppose to go to bed last night, my dear friend and work colleague knocked on my door. I invited her in and told her to take a seat. She then proceeded to ask me in this sweet voice whether or not I could teach for her at chapel in the morning. My first thought was "no, I am not prepared so it's not fair. You need to give me more time" but I decided to hear her out. She told me of some things that she was told she must do which was a surprise to her as well and that she couldn't get out of. This is typical here even though it drives me crazy but I have gotten used to it. So I finally gave in and said I would do it. 

Word Of Life has a primary and nursery school. It is a separate entity from our ministry but shares the same name and morals. Every friday morning they have chapel for one hour which we are in charge of. They split the lower primary (gr.1-3) and the upper primary (gr.4-8) in two different sessions. I am often the one speaking in the lower primary with the little munchkins. 

Learning styles and discipline is much different here in Kenya. Their learning style is to get kids to remember as much as they can for their national exams which they do in gr. 8 and gr. 12. The national exam in gr.12 pretty much determines your future. If you don't do well, it is unlikely you can get into a good university. There is a lot of pressure to do well that's why teacher's main focus is to get kids to memorize as much information as possible. Whereas in the West, our philosophy is teaching kids to think, analyze, and learn by their selves. Discipline is also very different. In Kenya they have a lot of threats, embarrassment, and beating. They still do hit kids here when they misbehave (and even when they can't do what the teacher is telling them which I do not approve of at all). If kids are disturbing the teacher, they will also embarrass them in front of the class or threaten them. In the West, if kid are not paying attention in class we are more likely to try and change our teaching styles so they will want to listen and learn. We want to engage them instead of punishing them because we are too boring for them. If we do discipline them, we take away some sort of privilege or call their parents but we never beat them or embarrass them in front of their friends. 

So it's different. And I have struggled teaching these little ones. My teaching style doesn't quite work with them because they are so used to strict Kenyan ways. Also, I don't want to just teach them one bible verse. I want them to understand it and be able to apply it in their lives. It has been a learning experience for me that's for sure. 

We had our class today outside under the tree since some of the other students were doing exams and we didn't want to disturb them. I was unsure how the kids would react to being outside but they did a pretty good job.

Preacher! Ha, I am probably just telling them the bible verse in my slow, kenyan accent so they can be sure to understand me.

We have new visitors from Germany. They will be serving at Word of Life for one year. This is Kathrine. She was taking the photos for me. She is really great with kids!

One thing these kids do that really bugs me is they tell on one another a lot. This little boy walked in front while I was speaking to all the kids and interrupted me just to tell me his friend was disturbing him. I just told him to sit down but 2 minutes later I see him disturbing his friend so I call him up to the front. Our lesson today was "Love your neighbour as yourself" which worked perfectly as I told him that he didn't like being disturbed so he shouldn't disturb others. He just looked down and went quietly back to his seat. 

Ok, then we played Simon Says. It is a good way to pass time and to get them to learn to listen. Hmm, I need to ask my dad if that is a good teaching method or not? I don't think I was meant to be a teacher. But I try. 

Good Morning Nikole!

"Good Morning Nikole! This is God. Please come out of your room and come see the beautiful sunrise that I have created. Enjoy it. It will be the perfect start to your day. Come chat with me and be with me before you do anything else. Feel the cool, crisp breeze. Listen to the waves crash. Let the sun shine on your face. Enjoy the rest of your day! Love you!" 

I woke up early this morning. I didn't really have to but my body woke up at around 6am just as the sun was coming up. I could see the bright orange sun from my window but I convinced myself that I should go back to sleep for another 30 minutes. About 10 minutes later, I just couldn't sleep and was rolling around in my bed so I decided that I should just go and enjoy it. I have been wanting to get up and watch the sunrise but I tend to wake up and chose my bed. This morning was different. I just put a skirt on and some flip flops, grabbed my camera and walked down to the beach. 

It was amazing. It felt like a fresh summer morning. There was a cool, crisp breeze in the air. It was so peaceful. There were a few birds walking in the water and some crabs digging their sand holes. I just rested and was silent knowing that this was a gift from God. 

Although, it was soon disturbed by a beach boy who insisted on bugging me. He kept asking if he could come closer and talk. He called me beautiful like princess  Diana. I was getting so frustrated with him. Couldn't he see I was just wanting a nice peaceful morning? So I turned to him and said, " I came to the beach for a nice peaceful morning and you have just ruined it." I then turned my back and he started yelling, "I am sorry, I am so sorry. Please come back. I will leave now." I just walked up and sat where I took this picture. My morning wasn't ruined. Just a little disturbance but nothing to take away from God's awesomeness. 

Up the mountains, down the valley...

My week away from Mombasa was absolutely fabulous. Although, I am now back at the beach but lying in bed thanks to a wonderful cold that has wiped me out. It was worth it though. I got to spend time in the nice cool weather of Nairobi. It felt like the beginning of fall. It was a lot of driving but this country is so beautiful that I enjoyed all the scenery. I think the coolest thing I saw was a huge heard of about 20 camels on the side of the road! I have only ever seen camels on the beach for the tourists but these ones were in the wild! 

On friday we journeyed to the great rift valley to a girls school with over 850 girls. It was a hoot. Wow, lots of girls all in one place and boy did they ever have energy. We had a weekend challenge with them which involved some preaching, presentations, question and answer time, group discussions, a rally, and just time to hang out with the girls. I encountered girls with ALOT of burning questions. I had a few come and tell me their heartbreaking life stories. I prayed with many concerning family, finances, school, friends, faith, and other things. It was such a blessing to be able to make myself available for these girls. I could see some of them just wanted to talk to someone they could trust and pour their hearts out to. I was happy to be that person for a few of them. 

Yes that is my buddy Peter! He was only 1 of 2 boys who accompanied us for the weekend. He and I were leading group discussion for all the form 1s (gr. 9). There were probably 200 girls involved. They had many questions that were so diverse. We talked about everything from music to boys to Muslims to prophets to family to friends to facebook. Ha. It was a blast. We were all late for lunch because the questions just kept coming. 

We also had a question and answer time with the whole school. Girls wrote down their questions anonymously and placed them into a basket. There were a lot of questions on boy/girl relationships as well as the christian faith. There were also some really funny questions like, "When I go swimming in the ocean, can I get pregnant from the sperm swimming around?" and "Does Deuteronmy 23:1 say that all men are going to hell?" (ha you have to look that up for yourself; it's hilarious). Then there were some heartbreaking ones like, "I was raped as a young girl. Am I still a virgin?" and "My parents are forcing me to marry when I finish school but I don't want to. What should I do?" So we tried to answer as many as we could with the little time we had. However, amongst all the questions, there was one girl who wrote this sweet note to us that really makes everything worth while. 

I don't remember her name but she was cute. She had questions about Canada. She wants to study there along with half of the other girls once they found out I was from Canada. I think they were hoping I could get them a free ticket to Canada's universities. Sorry girls. I told them to search the internet and pray. 

We had a group of about 15 girls host us for the weekend. They did an amazing job of cooking for us, heating water for us to bathe and getting us anything else we needed. They escorted us home one evening and we invited them in for a chat. They know one of our work colleagues who also happens to be a singer. They love him and wanted to talk to him. So we called him on speaker phone so we could chat. The young girl, Maureen, came and sat right next to the phone convincing our friend that once she is finished school she is coming to be his girlfriend so he must tell his current girlfriend and then be ready for her to come to him in a few months. It was hilarious. We all laughed till we almost peed our pants. It was such a sweet moment with these sweet girls. 

"Higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, Jesus, higher" Kenyans have actions to most songs so here are all the girls singing, "cast your burdens  unto Jesus..." 

The highlight of my weekend was running into my sweet friend, Gabriel. He is one of the children from my 'home' in Ilula. He is in a boys boarding school just down the road and his school was invited for the Sunday service. It was such a surprise. I was taking pictures when all of a sudden I heard a voice say, "Nikole?" I turned around and saw this handsome young man that I have been able to watch grow up over the past 5 years. When I first met him, he fit under my armpit but now he is almost taller than me. We got to chat after the service about life. I am so proud him. 

On Sunday, we had 8 other schools join us for the service. It was so cool being surrounded by over 1000 students. It was such a wonderful weekend!!

No purpose of Yours can be withheld...

Things here at Word of life have been a bit slow lately. Schools have been closed since the beginning of August. We weren't able to have many camps as there were just no campers willing to register and the referendum slowed things down for us. We had a few opportunities to do some day camps, help out at some seminars, and speak in a few churches but to be completely honest, life has been a bit boring here for the past few weeks. 

It's hard to not do anything. You come here ready and willing to be used and to serve and then you find there is nothing to do. In July we were crazy busy with various ministries and now, a month later, we are twiddling our thumbs. I know I have been struggling with this a lot lately. I hate being here and not being useful. I hate spending my afternoons just in my room reading or playing on my computer when I know I could be doing something. Although, I am so thankful that I have a good community and friends around me that I can keep myself busy on weekends. Like this past weekend, I didn't even have a moment to rest with all the hustle and bustle with my friends. I love it. I count it as ministry too. 

I think one thing we often do, especially those in ministry, is we trick ourselves into thinking that the busier we are, the better ministry we are having. We must be busy to feel important or successful. 

So this morning the team came together to resume work as we usually do. We all sat in the office and stared at each other wondering what to do. Finally someone piped up and read a verse from Job. Then another piped up and talked about another part from Luke. We all started sharing what we had been learning in our quiet time and it was amazing that we were all on the same page. God had been speaking to all of us about the same things. It's not just me who has been struggling; so has everyone else. They have questioned what their purpose here at Word of Life is, they are frustrated with not doing anything, and they are starting to turn to God and question Him. But God is in the middle of all of this. We haven't chosen to have nothing to do. We are ready and willing to work but these are the circumstances. We tried to organize camps and other things but it just felt like we were hitting a wall. Then our director's brother died which put everything on halt for a week. Ultimately, we have to submit to God and all His purpose to take over. Who are we to question the God who created everything under heaven? Who knows all things? Who has a purpose for the silence at work?

After talking, we had a tender time just chatting with one another hearing what was on our hearts. Even our director joined in on our unofficial meeting and shared his heart and struggles. 

'I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.' Job 42:2

I found a few of these pics on my boss's computer that I loved and wanted to share. 

These are some of the kids we visited in the village a few weeks ago. 

I love having little kids surround me, touch me, giggle with me. It's so nourishing. Although, i love having a shower at the end of the day to wipe all the germs off my body from their grubby little hands. 

I was being silly. These are two boys we work with in various ministries. They are great characters. We had a break to drink Uji which is Kenyan porridge made with millet. 

Lord, I thank you for who You are. Thank you that Your ways are higher than my ways and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I surrender my life to You. Amen. 

Likoni Camp of endless obstacles

On friday and saturday we held day camps in a place called Likoni. Likoni is a difficult area. It's a poverty-stricken area where drugs and prostitution reign. It has a lot of traffic going through it as it is where the ferry docks to take people across to Mombasa. It is a very dangerous area. I have missionary friends who have been robbed, mugged, threatened many times just for living in the area. Let's just say it's not the easiest area to be in. 

We had no end of struggles facilitating this camp. As I mentioned in a previous post, the space that we had booked (and paid for) was given away to another group who came in with a bigger cheque. We started setting up two days before the camp when we were told that we could no longer use the space. So we sat and brainstormed on what to do. Across the street was a guesthouse that has a beautiful hall that would be perfect for our camp. So we went to check it out. We looked around and thought it was perfect. As we went to book it for the two days, they said, "Oops sorry it is already booked for these days." Thanks, alot. We resorted to pitching a tent on another property just hoping that it wouldn't rain. 

The night before camp, we got a phone call from the guesthouse saying that it had suddenly become available! That was a miracle! 

We arrived the next morning to set all our stuff up thanking God for opening up this hall for us to use since it was cold and rainy. Our camp was to start at 9am. However, 10am came around then 11am then 11:30am and still NO campers. Huh? Didn't they know that we were giving a FREE camp with FREE lunch???? We weren't responsible for marketing the camp. We had partnered with a local pastor to do that for us. As the pastor was making phone calls we realized a few things: 1.) Kids were still in school (that would make it hard for them to come) 2.) It wasn't explained well enough who Word of Life was so many people thought we were a new church trying to get members and pastors were advising their youth NOT to come. 3.) They thought they had to pay for our FREE camp. 4.) They wouldn't leave their houses since it was raining. 

After a few phone calls, we finally started our camp at 11:30am with 8 campers. The day turned out surprisingly well. We had few more arrive in the afternoon when we played touch rugby.

We debated whether or not to even continue the camp on Saturday since we were using so many resources. But by faith we continued on and to our surprise, we had 45 campers come on saturday! We had a full day of bible teaching, group discussions, games, music, dancing, food and, to top it off, we had a great bonfire in the evening where we drank chai, sang songs and listened to the Word of God. So after all the obstacles and many temptations to pull our hair out, it all worked out well. 

Alice, one of our counsellors, was helping a camper set up for a new game where we make an elevator of sorts with our ears and pull candy to our mouth. 

Two of my favs: Senior and Joshua. They are apart of my team here at Word of Life. Joshua is full of energy and is a great MC and Senior is our music and sound guy. They are two very talented dudes. 

We always have a session for group discussions where we discuss what we have learned that day. I sat in on one group discussion and loved listening to their thoughts, ideas, personal views, and what they had learnt. We had one character who didn't appreciate women at all and I couldn't help but giggling with everything he said. He pretty much blamed women for all the earth's problems saying, "The Eve's of this generation are bringing the Adam's down." The thing I loved about him was that he was passionate about God and doing what was right. I know his ideas concerning women will soften as he seeks God more. 

These were our youngest campers who presented a few songs for us. It was a hoot!

"And we know that ALL things work together for GOOD to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Crazy Wonderful Weekend

I am officially pooped. This weekend has been the busiest weekend I have had since I arrived here in Kenya. Friday night we had a youth meeting in town. Saturday we had a youth ministry seminar all day and in the evening was our monthly girls sleepover. We were up at 5:30am Sunday morning to be at a girl's school in town by 8am, then to a church service at 11am, and then finally to perform at a christian concert that went all afternoon. I prayed hard for a supernatural energy this whole weekend and God sure delivered. 

Dave Huizing came with a team of 9 teenagers plus his wife to come and be with us for two weeks. He was the main speaker at our youth ministry seminar as he is a missionary in the US with Word of Life. 

We were excited to see over 60 people attend our seminar. We had youth pastors, college students, Christian Union leaders, and even high school students come from all around the area. 

This is my beautiful friend Ruth. She was working at Word of Life just before I arrived. Now that I have gotten to know her, I wish she was still working with us. Luckily, we get to see her as she still comes for our monthly sleepovers.

 More girls. I tell you, they can talk talk talk and never get tired. They are like the energizer bunny; they just keep going and going and going. They are truly lovely. 

We had the privilege of having the girls from the team join us. Shauna has an amazing voice and sang to us sweet praises to our King. Kate Huizing encouraged us to take our thoughts captive to Christ and not think anything else that is contrary to God's Word. 

Finally, the concert had over 1000 people attend it. Our courageous teen team did one of their very powerful skits for us. Although the power went out in the middle of it, they did a fantastic job. 

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend despite the crazy schedule. The best part is that we saw over 25 people accept Christ! After all, that is what it is all about!

WAA

Tis the season of rallies. We are invited to about 5 rallies every weekend. We decided to be apart of yet another rally on Sunday at WAA girls secondary school. We were in charge of the program, worship, sound and music, speakers, MC's and so on. It was a long, tiring but fun day. 

Remember Rahab? Yes, we are still best of friends. We work together here in Mombasa. We are no longer roommates, but now we are neighbours. It's nice to have a good friend around. 

Rallies are often a time for same sex schools to mingle with other schools of the opposite sex. We had this boy come to do a presentation and the girls went wild. They were up dancing and singing along screaming at this young gent. I was laughing. I don't understand what its like to be in a same sex school as I schooled with boys my whole life. I can imagine though. 

This is Mr. Joshua. He is on our ministry team. He preached to the students an amazing message from Hebrews 10.

Ok this wasn't the rally but I am trying to take at least one picture a day so I can remember my days. On weekends, I like to go into to town to stay with friends and we always enjoy a nice breakfast. Most days I eat bread and tea for breakfast so I like to treat myself to something different. This morning we had coffee, sausages, eggs, bananas, and mahambri (a local doughnut type food made with sweet coconut milk). Yummy yummy!