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