Bwana Asifewe! Praise the Lord! I write to you being offically half way over
with our trip. Hard to believe! Before I get started, I would like
to give some definitions on some lingo. Both for the blogs and also
for when we arrive home, so you can understand us a little better!
Debrief : Nightly meetings on ministry
days where we discus the day, do feedback and plan for the future.
Feedback: A time of encouraging our
fellow team members. Asking the question, “Where did you see Jesus
in others today?” and then sharing it with the team.
Mid Debrief : After six weeks of
ministry. A time of refreshing, working out any team issues and
growing focused on Jesus once again.
Final Debrief: The end of our trip
debrief. A time to reflect, relax and process all we did before going
home.
Matatu : A Fourteen passanger van with
absolutly no leg room or storage. Our main sorce of transportaion.
RLK : Real Life Kenya
Well now that you will understand a
little better whenever we talk, let me fill you in on our mid
debrief! This debrief was especially needed by the team. Two of our
beloved team members, Jon and Cheryl, went home after completing
their 6 week trip. It goes without saying that we will and already do
miss them. Whenever you live in community with others, you grow to be
like family and we miss a part of our family. But just as saying
goodbye to all of you was hard, yet rewarding because we were
stepping into God’s plan, so it will be for Jon and Cheryl!
(We love you two!! Choose In!)
So this time of getting away and
refocusing was greatly needed by the team! We went to Fish Eagle Inn,
on the water of lake Naivasha, and stayed in the camp ground there.
My favorite was all the birds and monkies that constantly hang out in
the camp ground! Another fun wildlife adventure for the team, Hippos!
RLK has a funny way of attracting rather large and potentially
dangerous animals! Our first night, we were enjoying sitting around
a fire for debrief when we heard some wood snapping. Being in the
middle of prayer, we waited before investigating. The inn has an
electric fence that turns on at 6:30 to protect the campground from
the hippos, so when hearing the snapping we asumed it was one
tromping in the brush close to the fence. After praying, we all
headed down to the fence to see what we could see. To our surprise,
we found the hippo very much on our side of the fence, within 50
yards of our tents and fire! Needless to say, we all backed up pretty
quickly and sought the inn staff. The hippo had broken down a section
of fencing and was simply munching away,minding his own business. The
inn staff preceded to shoo us further away so they could chase the
hippo with a matatu! TIA! We all felt safer when the staff informed
us that a guard would be watching the re-built fence so we could rest
easy. Well it happened again the second night and more hippo chasing
with matatus occured, great times!
Besides having fun with the man eating
hippos, this time was great to rekindle our love for Kenya. I know
for myself, ministry was becoming difficult, homesickness was in full
swing and not everyone was on the best of terms. Just so I am clear
though, this is completely normal for most three month missions
trips! Usually the half way marker is when the team has lost the
excitment and newness of Africa and living in constant, close
community begins to wear on you. But that’s why we got away, to spend
some concentrated time with God. Having hours to just sit and talk to
Jesus, relax by the green colored pool, talk through issues with the
team and then just have fun relaxing was just what we needed! After
leaving, we all felt that God had rekindled the love we have for
Kenya, our team and more importantly simply doing the will of our
father. Please pray for the team as we head back into ministry this
week. Pray that our hearts would grow more and more on fire for this
place as we walk out the next six weeks. Thank you all for your
prayers and encouragment!
P.S. Everyone here would love to
receive any little note of encouragment through the mail that you
could! It is very difficult sometimes to have such little access to
the internet so communication through letters would be a great
encouragment to the team! Thanks! -Alyssa
Team members name
C/O Pastor Simon
P.O Box 38
Kijabe, Kenya, 00220
E. Africa
