CA Team - Final Blog

Greetings in the name of the Lord!

It has been a couple of days since our last entry. In the meantime, we have had some great experiences here. Sunday started out with baptisms in the Kipkaren River. Todd was asked to assist the pastors, and did a wonderful job, as over 35 people were baptized!
The worship service that followed was amazing. There were so many people standing outside due to the number of youth from the camp and the normal Sunday worshipers that, in just 20 minutes, we took all the chairs and the sound system to the hillside overlooking the river for worship. It was beautiful! Mark was asked to preach for the service and did an outstanding job speaking about the life of Joseph. The children from the children’s home sang a song as well and it is so fun to see 96 kids singing and dancing in unison. They are such a joy to watch.
Yesterday we had to say goodbye to the youth from the camp and the pastors that translated for us during our classes. And after our goodbyes we had a chance to go into Eldoret and then visit the children’s home in Ilula. They greeted us with songs and flowers much like our greeting in Kipkaren. It was a powerful moment for us. The visit was short, but the children there are just as wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing the work that is going on there.
Today is our last day in Kipkaren and we have so far started the day joining Juli before daybreak to watch the sun rise over the valley. After breakfast we broke up into a few groups to go on some more home visits where we prayed for people, some of whom are HIV positive. We also got to visit a woman named Lidia who did our laundry for us while were staying here. She lost her husband about a month ago and is trying to find work so that she can provide for her two children (2 & 4).
We are praying that the work that is going on here in Kipkaren will continue and be a light for many who, like Lidia, need hope and help in desperate times.
Tomorrow, we leave very early in the morning to go on safari, via Nairobi. We will be there 3 days, and hope to have a chance to blog one more time before we return home. Gratefully, the Kenya Airlines strike is over, so we are thankful for all of your prayers toward that end. God is faithful!

CA Team - Personal Messages

“Jambo” again from Kipkaren, Kenya! We are all well, having just completed a 3-day intense schedule of seminars we were teaching to the local youth (18-35 year-olds). In the coming days, we will join the youth in closing activities, travel to the orphanage in Ilula, spend one final day here helping in any way we can, and then depart to enjoy a safari.
While here, we have been learning a lot about the Kalenjin culture, the dominant tribe in the area. Kenya is comprised of many tribes, and the Kalenjin consider themselves one of the strongest. They are the main source of runners for Kenya, a relatively small country that rules the world of marathons and distance running. They are physically active, walking everywhere, sometimes great distances, as well as working their farms with very little technology and equipment. Needless to say, they are physically strong people, and love athletics such as running, volleyball and soccer. The local area is poor, with few graduating from college or university, as they are needed to work the farm. Most of them are farmers, scratching out a living amidst a drought, and since they depend on rainfall for irrigation, things have been especially difficult lately. But oh, can they worship! They love to dance and sing, songs lasting well over ten minutes each, and worship services regularly running 2-3 hours. Our ideas of “church” have been changed!
We ask you to pray for our travel arrangements as we return. Kenya Airline employees are currently on strike, and since that is one of our connecting airlines for our return trip, I ask you to pray that the strike would be resolved quickly, and if things do not improve, that we would be able to re-schedule our flights easily.
We are so grateful for all of you!

And now, as promised, each of us would like to send a message . . .

Hi, Babe! I sure miss you and the girls! God is doing amazing things in all of us. Can’t wait to see you and tell you all about it. To my support team, thank you ALL for making this trip possible. I feel so humbled to be here on your behalf and look forward to gathering together to show you and tell you everything I have experienced. May God richly bless you all! --Mark

Thank you for your prayers that have helped restore my health. We have received gifts here in Africa beyond what we all imagined. Hopefully we have planted seeds that God will nurture and build upon…. The Helmstedters

Bumblebeetuna! (hope someone gets that haha). Hey there to all who have been keeping up with us and leaving comments of support, keep ‘em comin! It’s so good to hear from home. It’s just been awesome here and I’m sad to think we are almost headed back (ok ok I won’t be sad to see a Starbucks again), but not yet, we are here and going strong! Oh. Happy Birthday to my sister Amber today August 15th! Love you, Bumblebeetuna!.......Amie

Hello from Christy, also known as Jepkigen (which means long awaited which refers to my birth). The trip has been amazing and full of new experiences. I had such a wonderful birthday; it was a great was to start a new year. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support throughout this journey. I can’t wait to be share in detail everything that has happened here we left LAX. Thanks again! Christy

Hey there from Sara, AKA Schom! Hello roommates, friends and family! Mom, I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I love you so much. I am immersed in the most passionate worship music and dance that I could ever have imagined. There have been many times I have smiled until it hurts! So many of the youth at the camp have opened up and shared their lives with us. It will be very hard to leave this beautiful place. Bwana Asifiwe (Praise the Lord).

Jambo or Hello from Kenya, This has been an amazing trip. I thought we knew how to worship being from CA, however they know how to worship in Kenya. I want to say how much I miss my sweetheart Sally and my kids Kali and Kyle. I have prayed for you guys everyday. God is stretching me in unreal ways. I feel so blessed. We have gone on several home visits and the kids at the orphanage are amazing. We have just finished our teaching, 9 seminars. Sally you would have been so proud of Natalie, she was preaching her heart away. I love you all and I love my bride - Todd

Hello everyone from Kenya!!!! Our team has had an amazing time here in Kenya. I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with all of the people here. We just finished our lessons, all 9 of them. Now we get to have fun with everyone here, playing sports and worshiping. Tomorrow we get to see baptisms and my 1st revival service. I miss you all (especially you mom and ka) and I am so grateful for all of the prayers and I can’t wait to show you all the pictures. Love Nat

First of all, thanks again to all of you who have been praying for our team, for the youth camp and for the Kenyan leaders here in Kipkaren. The last 10 days have been great. What fun our team has had. We’ve had a chance to be with the kids from the children’s home. We’ve been able to meet some amazing people and see how God is moving in this community. The stories are too numerous to mention here, but I look forward to being able to share with you all what we have seen. And we’ve been praying that what do here, the little offering that we have, will be used by God. Peace to you all, Eric PS – They have the best chai tea!

What an experience! There is no way that I could have imagined what we would see and do. We have taught 9 lessons each on subjects that were suggested to us by the camp leadership. I taught on forgiveness. Today we were told that a 21 year old male went to one of the pastors after our lesson and said he wanted to be forgiven and gave his life to the Lord. He had also been causing problems with the cooks here at camp. He asked if he could go to the cooks and ask them to forgive him. What a joy to hear a good report. Hey Jimmy, you are missed and wish you were here. Jeannie otherwise known here as Go Go which is Grandmother.

Hey everyone, family, roomies, friends! I miss you but I’m having an incredible time. I finally got my bag back which is a huge relief—thanks for your prayers. My favorite has been singing and dancing with the kids. I can’t imagine leaving… it’s going to be hard. God is humbling me and teaching me so many things. Please continue praying. Don’t worry, I’ll share EVERYTHING when I get home. Love you all, Renee

CA Team - Half-way

Jambo from Kipkaren! Hard as it is to believe, we have reached the halfway point of our trip already. Amie here, and it’s a beautiful morning as we begin our second day teaching at the youth camp. It has been very interesting teaching in entirely different culture! Thankfully we are blessed with interpreters to help us communicate, but we are still learning the best way to word things and encourage participation. It’s a challenge but we are growing and making adjustments and trusting God to help us make an impact.
On a funny note, yesterday a “Girl’s Education” seminar was scheduled in the main hall, so Christy, Sarah and I decided to sit in on the talk to learn more about the culture and to support the Kenyan leaders. The pastor who had been speaking in Swahili the whole intro (so we hadn’t understood a word he said) told us he was leaving and that we could begin the lesson. They were under the impression WE were going to teach the class to over 100 young Kenyan women! Needless to say, we stalled for time until someone could come to save us. It was one of those cross-cultural miscommunication stories you read about, but never think you’ll experience yourself.

The campus in full of hundreds of Kenyan youth from all around and we are thanking God that the electricity has remained on (as the government turns it off 3-4 days a week) which can effect water supplies, communications and other vital functions. But regardless of any obstacles and surprises, we are encouraged and optimistic God will guide us as we serve. It has been so amazing to see how joyful and eager these youth are, considering their lack of luxuries we take for granted.

The Team is feeling MUCH better health-wise but prayers are still needed! I have fully recovered from the stomach bug and Chris is feeling better day by day. Some of the team is having allergy issues as well though, so please continue to pray for our health. We miss you all and thank you for your prayers.

Tomorrow, we will each write a short message, so stay tuned!

CA Team - Youth Camp Time!!!

Camp is About to Begin!

“Jambo” and “Chemge” from Kipkaren! With the exception of Amie and Chris, who have suffered from stomach bugs, we are doing well. God has been teaching us many things about Kenyan culture and ourselves, as we have experience so many life-changing things.
Picking up where our last blog ended, we went on another day of home visits on Tuesday. Again, we saw the daily life of Kenyans and came away amazed at their strength and resilience in the face of obstacles, and their deep commitment to family and community. We also visited the clinic where Juli meets with patients, and heard her share her vision of developing palliative care for the dying.
One aspect of Kenyan life that impresses us is how physically fit they are. They walk or bicycle everywhere, and are so strong that a walk that makes us huff, puff and sweat hardly stresses them at all! You can see why this area of Kenya produces such great long-distance runners.
We also visited a Milk Cooling Station in Kipkaren that ELI helped found. The purpose of the station is to empower local farmers, by preparing their milk for sale on the open market. Each farmer brings in their milk, it is checked for contaminants, measured and pooled into giant coolers, which ready it for distribution to a milk processor, who pays for the milk. It is an amazing story of God’s blessing. They opened in April, to 26 farmers, who gave 178 liters of milk. In just four months, they now have over 500 farmers who come, and give an average of over 3600 liters a day! ELI is truly helping locals become self-sustaining!

Yesterday, we helped prepare for the annual Youth Camp. We built bunkbeds for campers, helped register arrivals, and met with Kenyan pastors. This is the 11th year they have had this camp, and about 300 young adults from neighboring areas, some walking over 5 miles, have assembled here, tucked in every corner imaginable. It is really quite exciting!
Our role in the camp is to lead discussion groups on various topics: Spiritual Growth, Small Business Development, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Dating, Decision-Making, HIV and AIDS awareness, etc. The campers have been divided into 9 groups of about 30 each, and they will rotate through four one-hour sessions each day. We will each have a local pastor who will translate and contextualize the message so it is most effective.
In the afternoons, we will participate in activities with the campers, such as soccer, volleyball, frisbee, tug-of-war and crafts. It will be a wonderful way for us to connect with these youth through play.
As the camp begins, we would ask you to pray for the following:
1. That we would continue to stay healthy and strong. Amie and Chris are not feeling well, so pray they would recover. For the next two days, we each lead four seminars a day, and we want be at our best, so pray we stay healthy.
2. That any Kenyan youth here who does not know Christ will come to faith. This is a generation under great stress. Pray that God would use us to reach them with the gospel.
3. That God would continue teaching us to serve others.

We are SO grateful for your support, in the form of prayers and comments on the blog. They keep us going!

The Kenya Team

p.s. Here are some photos. Enjoy!

The Bridge Team: Greetings from Kenya

We arrived in Kenya on Sunday night and checked into the Mayfield guest house in Nairobi around midnight. The next day we recoverd and took our last flight into Illula late in the afternoon. We arrived in Eldoret early Monday evening. Laban, the director of the Children's Home, was at the airport to meet us and bring us to Illula where we had an amazing reception from the children. They were singing and greeted each one of us with a handshake and roses. We felt very welcomed.
We're 2 days into VBS. It's going very well. We have the younger kids in the morning for about 2-2 1/2 hours and then the older kids in the afternoon. The games in the afternoon were a challenge yesterday because it rained. It's good that it rained because they're going through a drought, but it made it difficult to play kickball. Yesterday we had around 110 children. Today we expect over 200 because of word of mouth from the children in the village. I'm sure the number will continue to grow as the days go on. We're having the VBS celebration service on Sunday during church. They expect a lot of people there, so we'll be having church outside.
The weather has been nice. It's warm (75 degrees) during the day and gets cool at night.
Overall, things are going well. We're staying very busy which helps us sleep well at night. We're enjoying the food and the chai and getting to know everyone.
We'll post another update as soon as we are able.
Thank you for your prayers. God continues to do amazing things in Kenya and we're blessed to be a part of it.

CA Team - Tears, Laughter and Dancing

Monday, August 10, 2009
We were all in for a wonderful treat to worship with our brothers and sisters yesterday. Sara put it well yesterday—“My face hurts from smiling so much!” We were blessed to see the children from the home sing and dance for us, and even invited all of us to join them. We had to laugh a bit at Todd’s moves and the fact that they made Eric sit down after only a few minutes of dancing, but we enjoyed every second of it. We even got to experience the singing and dancing again at the Children’s Home for their nightly devotions. Eric and Sara and the rest of us led a few songs as well and we got to sing Jacob’s song ‘Just Sing’ and the kids caught along and were jumping and dancing and shouting… again more smiling .
After the church service yesterday we had the opportunity to participate in the funeral of one of the community members. They considered it an honor for us to be there even though we were complete strangers. We simply walked to the family’s land, listened to some people share and sing, were greeted by the family, and left. Julie invited us into her home in the afternoon and was so gracious to make chocolate cake so we could celebrate Christy’s birthday together.
After another night of semi-jetlagged sleep, we joined the ELI staff for their weekly devotions. One of the house mothers, Dorcas, led us in some beautiful singing. I think I speak for everyone when I say that it’s been a beautiful experience to hear people worship in Swahili. Immediately after the staff meeting, Julie shared a little bit about her community based ministry to people with HIV. We were all moved to tears by the countless stories she has of how God has healed and how the people in the community have a deep, deep faith despite the hardest of times. Then, three men who work at the Hope and Health Center led us on hikes (from ½ mile to 3 miles away) to visit some of the very people Julie had just shared about. Part of their ministry is to visit and encourage, and we were so privileged to join in. Upon returning to the center, we were overflowing with stories of the people we had met. My team visited a man named David and his wife Ruth, both of whom are HIV positive. They had such an encouraging story about how the Lord had brought them from a point of near death, to now sharing his story and encouraging other people to get tested and be treated. When we stopped to pray for him, he asked us to bring his story back home. And we will. We will all have so many stories to share when we get home.
God is answering many of the prayers of the people here in that it is raining right now. We’re enjoying the beautiful thunder and pounding rain (something we never experience in So Cal!) and looking forward to devotions with the kids followed by our dinner and daily debriefing.
It’s hard to describe all that we’re seeing and experiencing. Today we’re all wondering how we’ve all been so blessed— not only in our time here but also in our lives back at home. The fact that none of us has ever had to wonder where our food is coming from is really blowing us away. All of these people are so grateful and hospitable. Thank you for your prayers and support in allowing us to be here. This experience so far has been life-changing. We’re all healthy, which is a huge blessing! We’re still missing my luggage, and Brian’s wife Kristen arrived today and is missing hers as well.
Greetings from Eric, Sara, Christy, Amie, Chris, Diana, Jeannie, Mark, Todd, Natalie, Renee, and Brian and the family.
--Renee for the CA Kenya Outreach Team

CA Team - We have arrived!

We made it!! The Christian Assembly Kenya arrived safely and we all have so much to be thankful for. It is Sunday morning and a few of us are sitting and singing at the gazebo at the bend of the river at the Kipkaren Training Center enjoying the beauty of God’s amazing creation. This place is a welcome refreshment after what seems like endless flights and waiting in line to get here. We definitely had a way of picking the longest line to check our bags in, to re-check our bags, to go through security, and to go through customs. We flew from LAX to London and then from London to Nairobi. Our first night in Nairobi, we got about 4 hours of sleep at the Mayfield Guesthouse before having to catch another flight to Eldoret.
The last leg of our journey to Kipkaren was a bumpy van ride through the countryside. Our eyes were opened to the vast beauty of the land as well as the poverty we saw along the way. A little groggy and overwhelmed, none of us were prepared for the amazing greeting we would receive at the gate of the children’s home. As we rounded the last curve of the muddy red clay road to the village we heard the amazing sound of children’s voices. There wasn’t a dry eye as we stumbled out of the vans to be welcomed by the smiling faces of 100 children and the Empowering Lives staff. They sang, gave us flowers, and shook all of our hands and echoed “Karibu!” (or “welcome”) as we entered.
Since then we’ve taken a tour of the Children’s Home, met several staff, enjoyed some wonderful hot meals together, and tried to get caught up on sleep. We’ve all been so blessed by the joy and hospitality of our hosts here. It’s been an encouragement for all of us to meet or be reunited with Julie McGowan as well. Right now we’re off to join the village for Sunday worship. Our journey has only just begun and we’re excited to continue to be floored by God’s goodness and provision. Please pray that we will all be over jetlag soon so that we will be able to have open eyes and ready hearts. We’re still missing one piece of personal luggage, so we would love your prayers for that to be found. Everyone says to say hello to parents, siblings, roommates, spouses, and children. We miss you all and will share more soon!
CA Kenya Team

Kokom Team - Final blog

This is our last full day in Kipkaren. The weather has been beautiful, sunny during the day and an afternoon shower most days. The wood for the beds finally arrived today so we’re hoping to get a couple beds finished by the end of the day.
It has not been lost time as we have had a wonderful time everyday with the children. They are really amazing. We’re going to have crafts with them today…what fun! We also spent quality time with the women this week as they each made floral arrangements and place mats. We also made worship banners together for the church. Yesterday we went to home visits to HIV victims. What amazing stories they have to share. How courageous they are. We visited a family who had lost a husband and father just last week. Our hearts were broken as the wife has no source of income and her children are very young.
We had dinner last night at the home of David and Allison Taurus. He was one of founders of ELI here in Kenya. He also oversees the milk collection business in Kipkaren. All is well as we head for Nairobi in the morning and off on Safari on Saturday morning. Pray for our plane rides on the small planes as Diana doesn’t do well on them. We have been blessed on this trip! Praise the Lord!

Kokomo Team - New Village

Catching up from last Saturday. Leaving Ilula today, excited but sad, leaving behind our new family we will miss. Our lives have been greatly changed in one week. We came to give but cannot put into words what we have received. We all wept with joy for the blessings we’ve received. We have also been given beautiful gifts. It was a beautiful drive today. Even though they’re suffering through drought, it is very lovely here. We are all excited about our coming week in Kipkaren and what the Lord has planned for us.
Up early after a good nights rest. Two other girls arrived today to help in the clinic. Ali and Sumy are nursing students here for a month. Church was great today with lots of praise and worship and singing by the children. We introduced ourselves with our new Kenya given names. We toured the training center in the afternoon before joining the children for devotions. We divided up and went to the children’s home for dinner and sharing. Many questions, a desire to know us and our ways and also for us to know them.
Since we’re arrived in Kipkaren it has rained each evening. The rain is really needed. Vickie and Sarah learned to milk the cow yesterday. I don’t think the cow appreciated the new hands. It’s now Monday and we toured the clinic and they really appreciated the medications that we brought to them. Thanks Joe and Dr. Gohil. Today we start building bunk-beds for the dorms. Having a great time but some days really tiring. Mom and Dad, Sarah says hi and that she’s having the time of her life. Keep praying for us that our health holds up…no one has been sick yet. We leave here on Friday and on Safari starting Saturday morning. Be Blessed. We’ll have pictures and stories.

The Kokomo Team

Kingsburg Team- Uganda Report

Greetings from Uganda,

Darol, Alistair and Julius Kemboi left the rest of the Kingsburg team last Saturday, July 25th in KipKaren, Kenya and headed via bus for Uganda. We were met in Kampala by Barnabus with Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) and spent two days in Kampala. On Sunday we worshipped together at a church in one of Kampala's slum areas. SOM primarily focuses on spending time with the "poorest of the poor". One of their platforms is to play soccer (football) with the kids and teaching them skills. It becomes a bridge into the lives of the children and their parents. In time many kids and their families are born again! A Sports Outreach affiliated church is recommended for deepening their new life in Christ. Alistair and Julius had an eye clinic following the church service. Eyecare needs were met and it was good preparation for the eye clinics to follow in Gulu, Uganda. Darol trained the "Glasses for Missions" kit at the Kampala Center for the Physically Disabled. The Glasses for Mission Kit training brought tools such as welding wire, lenses, etc. and skills to make glasses from beginning to end. Reading glasses can be offered to individuals with some simple assessment tools. The process takes about 30 minutes and usually becomes an opportunity to present Christ.

Monday was a travel day. We arrived in Gulu and Alloysius with SOM showed us an area of farm land that was committed to improving the lives of locals by adding empowerment skills on a multitude of levels. The 3 of us agreed that there were many parallels with E.L.I. It was sad to learn how the war with rebels has devastated this region. Families were dislocated and splintered and often rape and murder was witnessed by other family members. SOM also provides ongoing counseling and a church family in simple home settings. The Holy Spirit is moving and convicting many of their needs to be born again. The love and passion they have for Jesus Christ and for serving others is a true witness to the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their lives. Praise God.

The eye clinic served to train others for a simple ongoing eyecare ministry. Skills, glasses and the "Glasses for Missions Kit" was left for their continued eyecare service and ministry. Prayers were offered for several personal needs that surfaced at the clinic. New brothers and sisters in Christ were added to His Kingdom as some came to a new found faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God.


We set up clinic outdoors at a remote village site outside of Gulu

Darol training staff at SOM - Gulu on how to
make glasses from the Glasses For Missions Kit

Alistair assisting a gentleman with reading glasses

Darol training the staff from the Kampala Center
for the Physically Disabled on how to make glasses
from the Glasses for Missions Kit.