Jambo and karibu (Hello and welcome) from Sarah 'Diesel' Denning, Stephanie 'Mama Reb' Rebis, and Jon 'The Bucket' Roberts. We speak on behalf of our ENTIRE team (whose nicknames we cannot all fit in here) as they all lie sleeping after a long day of spontaneous zebra, baboon, warthog, and gazelle encounters. As we are nearing the end of our first week here in Kijabe, we have already seen our mighty Father begin to work in the lives of our team and the village of Kijabe. Before we left for Kenya we were told that there was a great need for rain in Kijabe. There had been a drought for four months leaving food prices high and many people hungry. When we arrived, Pastor Simon, our host here, once again expressed the great need for rain. Our prayers and concerns were so numerous at first that we often forgot about the rain. Wednesday night our group came together with the intention of praying for rain, knowing that God would bless Kijabe when we were faithful in prayer. At the same time adjusting to Kijabe proved difficult for the team and we began to lose our focus and unity that we built at training camp. As we grew more faithful in our prayer we began to feel more aware of the lack of unity within our team. It was Friday night when we came together to discuss all that was building up inside. As the Holy Spirit moved within our group and began to reinforce the bonds of love that form our family, we heard a soft rattle on the tin roof. God proved Himself faithful once again by bringing our team closer together and blessing Kijabe with rain for the first time in four months. We all ran outside and began to praise God in the rain for His constant provision and everlasting love for His children. When we stopped to take it all in, we could hear the children at the nearby school also outside, rejoicing in the rain. It was a night we will not forget as God answered the prayers of our hearts and the cries of His people. God is sooo good...the rain has not stopped and we can hear it right now! Of course this means mosquitoes, but we are willing to deal with it. =)

Yesu Anakupenda, tutaonana!

(Jesus loves you, see ya later!)

Real Life, Kenya, Fall '09