LBF:Greetings from Brenda

Greetings to all of our families and friends in the States!!! We arrived in Ilula as planned on Saturday evening and were welcomed by this wonderful group of children and those who care for them with a ceremony that moved us all to tears as we were greeted with hand shakes, hugs and beautiful roses. It was such a blessing to all of us. We ate dinner, and met many of the Staff here and then enjoyed a good nights rest.

Sunday morning began with breakfast at 7:30 and then joining different Sunday School classes with the children. It was such a blessing to hear them recite memory verses, worship the Lord in Swahili and English, and to participate in their Bible Stories. After Sunday School we headed to church which began at 10:00 and lasted until around noon. We enjoyed the college students sharing songs with us as well as one of the childrens groups. We had a chance to introduce ourselves and share how God brought us to Kenya. We head sharing from various Staff members who had been away and were blessed by all of their stories. The Spirit of God is so alive here and it is so great to feel the unity that we all share in Christ.

After lunch, Samuel, the director here took our team on a tour of the grounds and shared his vision with us. It was great to be able to see all of the things we hear about and to be able to share in his vision for this place. God is truly using ELI to change the lives of people here and empower them to provide for their families and to know God and his love for them and His power to change them. Samuel is an amazing person and has such a heart to help as many people as possible.

We then joined the kids for an afternoon of recreation. We played volleyball, soccer, and a variety of children’s games. It was fun to get a chance to spend some time with the kids and get to know some of their names and their precious little personalities. Mike wrestled and played with some of the boys and they were amazed at the hair all over his body. They thought it was so funny and couldn’t stop touching it. So many of the children already know all of our names and they come up and call us by name and we feel so inadequate. There is a little girl who is also named Brenda and she was so excited when we first met. Since that first night we have had fun greeting each other and share a special bond.

After dinner we had a meeting with Samuel, Brian and the staff to plan out our week. I have to admit that so far I feel we have all received so much more than we have given. In one day we have shared so much and our heart have been united in Christ’s love so I know that after a week here it is going to be very difficult to say goodbye.

Prayer Requests for our team
Pray that Owen will adjust to being here, sleep and eat well and stay healthy.
Continued health and safety for all of us.
That God would use us to encourage and love these people in tangible ways.
Praise God for getting Russ here and allow he and Amy to get some rest as well.

God bless all of you and thank you for your love and support and we can’t wait to share more with you when we get home. Feel free to leave notes/comments on this blog. It gets printed and given to us each morning. We'd love to hear from you!

Love,
Brenda