9th of May, 2012

Prov 17:21 The tongue has the power of life & death, those who love it will eat it's fruit.

Today we started the day Katito IPA (used to be ADP) .  A few folks from CIC - Children in Christ was there today for Worship & Devotional.  We were able to go to their offices & hear how many children helped by thsi organization.  We also went to a school where these amazing teachers work with these kids. They showed us again how they memorize scripture without books & paper to take notes.  Dylan was able to join the group as they showed us how they'd learned Prov 17:21.  This is a program that I wished I could have put my small kids in when they were younger.

Then we went to a community that was having a mobile heath group coming in to assist the mom's in the community.  They brought the young one's in to be weighed & to get any immunizations they need.  There were a few little one's that weighed only 5lbs.  Thank God & World Vision they can get free immunizations for their children.

Matt 5:8 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Today is the 8th of May 2012.

Today we went down some very muddy roads to visit a school & a borehole (well).  It's so awesome to see clean water coming out of that well.  I got to pump a little too.  Some of our group carried water from the pump to the school.  Lluvia even carried water on her head.  One of our jeeps actually got stuck.  It took quiet awhile to get it out.  These kids & parents carry these heavy buckets of water each day.  We are very blessed to live in houses with running water & electricity!!
We got muddy today!!

Our next stop was a Primary school.  The kids stood & told us what they wanted to be when they grew up.  They wanted us to tell them what we wanted to be when we got old!  I told them I was a Grandmother so I was already old!  One of the World Vision guys from Africa said he wanted to be a Mzunga when he grew up (Mzunga is a white person)  Too funny!

After a quick stop with a bank cooperative, we went to another school.  We sat in on science class.  These kids have very few books, no paper to take notes but learn so well with Repeatition.  We also had some of the school kids danced & sang for us.  They have beautiful voices.  I'm hoping to be able to attach a video.  Also there was a little drummer boy (Scott & Dylan's sponsored child).  That was exciting to see him in school, playing music.  Also these poor kids got to see the American's trying to dance.  We had a blast & the kids got a BIG LAUGH!

Meeting Brenda & playing football (soccer) with the kids.

I decided to sponsor a girl after I went to Kenya the first time.  Older kids are harder to get sponsored so I wanted an older girl.  Brenda will be 14 in July.  I had so idea @ the time but Brenda has hearing loss.  The 1st letter I received said because of WV Sponsorship, we was able to go to a school for the deaf.  I was thrilled!

So meeting Brenda for the 1st time I saw she wore a hearing aid.  She can read lips & obviously has some hearing.  She was very shy & only spoke a little.  She is adorable & I feel in love right away. The translators helped us communicate a little more.  We took soccer balls to the kids & they loved playing.  You see a frisbee in Brenda's hand above.  She didn't know what to do with that but Tracy Thurmond (our World Vision Chaperone) showed her how to play.  Even the Mom's got in on the play. 


The Big Game started with Kids vs. Adults.  We knew we were going down! These kids loved to see us old folks trying to play.  I haven't laughed that hard in ages.  Scott Lessard had a good header that then landed him on the ground.  I guess I laughed too hard cause then a ball hit the mudhole & I had a very muddy leg & skirt.  But it was great fun.  The picture below is me going against my sponsor child Tom.  Tom takes his football very serious!!  It rained a little while we were there but we played on!

When we were leaving someone asked if the kids wanted to say anything.  The 1st hand up was Brenda.  She spoke very good English (her shyness was gone) and actually said that today she had met her 2nd Mother.  Oh boy, how awesome was that for me to hear!!

At the end of Day 2 in Kenya, Josh had a devotion for us using Letcio Divina.  We read John 17:13-19.We medicated on this.  I believe God is telling me to Go out & reach those who are not of His world by sharing joy.: 

John 17:13-17¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[a] the truth; your word is truth.

Day 2 - meeting our sponsor kids & much more

A real night's sleep - Yes Lord.  We started the day @ the sub branch of World Vision in Kisumu.  We meet some great folks & had wonderful worship service & devotional.  It's amazing to come many miles away & hear that we all struggle with some of the same issues.

We made it to the Katito ADP offices.  It couldn't figure out what was up, it was all different. I found out the ground underneath their building gave away & their offices were condemned.  There were using other buildings to keep the wonderful work going until a new building can be built again.  It was great to see some of the same smiling faces that I've met before. 

We small little issue come up today.  We found out the old building that had a toilet was gone, the building they were using right now, had no toilet.  So we used the latrene.  For us ladies it's called Squatty Potty.

I can't tell you how special these people are.  They are there to reach the people in the Huge area of Katito.  They could be the only link the family living with Aids, or the child headed household may have.  But once this family has World Vision by their side, things can only get better.   

I borrowed some notes from Scott's blog,  "WV informed us that there are about 4,700 children registered for sponsorship, with approximately 4,200 sponsored by three different churches.  We also learned that sponsorship conveys many indirect benefits to the families of the sponsored and to the community as a whole". 

Now I learned in 2010 that much more that your sponsored child is getting the benefit of that $35 a month.  It's amazing how far WV stretches that money out.  We also learned the other 2 churches that support Katito haven't been there to visit in awhile.  Springcreek Church has been there the most & that makes me so proud. 

Lunch was over & we were on our way to see our sponsored kids.  We all had our back packs, soccer balls & nervous smiles.  We went to the same community building we had visited before.  There was a big gully you had to cross to get there.  There was so rain & mud but thankfully, rocks @ the bottom to help us get through.  When we arrived a few kids came out to meet us.  I reconized Tom & he came up to me.  I was so happy to see him.  I was more happy to see how much he's grown.  When I saw him in 2010 he had been suffering from malaria & was still very small.  He also had to repeat Grade 2. 



This is Brenda's Mom, Brenda & Tom.  Tom wore a Give Different Shirt from my last trip.

I will continue on tomorrow with meeting Brenda.



Trip to Africa

I've got tons & tons of thoughts so have been going through my head.  Today I will finally start writing it all down.  My trip was so amazing & I need to share the wonderful Kenyan people with my friends here in USA.  I'll be back soon.