lately...

my new hobby: bird watching (:

Silvery Cheeked Hornbills

These new little friends were sitting right outside my window a few days ago!

Michelle, Tyler and I went to the Giraffe Park this week to make funny videos for BlueSky. My sunglasses fell into the giraffe cage, so the safari guide helped us get them back! haha

I got my first kiss from a giraffe (:

I have been blessed with the opportunity to lead 3 different "Covenant Groups," or small group Bible studies. It has been a blast getting to study the Word with girls each week!!! I meet with about 7 freshmen girls from Rosslyn Academy each Wednesday morning at Java House Coffee Shop to spend time together, eat breakfast, and study the book of Ruth.

Michelle and I are going through the Book of Mark with about 8 Middle School girls on Tuesday mornings. We also carpool the group to school in the mornings, listening to Taylor Swift the whole way! (: These girls are full of energy and love learning more about the Word.

Tuesday evenings I get to hang out with about 4 girls from Braeburn Garden Estates and Hillcrest High School. I met them at camp last summer and this summer. It’s been a blessing to get to continue relationships built in the summer through camp, and meet all their friends at school. They bring friends to our Covenant Groups, where we usually eat dinner at Art Caffe, talk about life, and scripture.

Yesterday, since they are out of school for half-term, we went on a little adventure to Toi Market, an outside market where venders sell vegetables, fruit, material, lots of second hand clothes, old purses, shoes, and various other things. I had SO MUCH FUN with the girls watching them bargaining with venders, shopping and talking about life together in the car.

Sometimes, I really miss Texas food, well really all things Texan...haha

This picture is funny because:

A) They didn't spell "Texas" right.

B) This butchery sold more hats than it did BBQ! haha

I got a little taste of Texas this past week—Marsha Martin, missionary from Oak Hills Church to Southern Sudan, was in Nairobi. I was thrilled to spend some time with her! It was such a sweet day of sharing stories, encouragement, and a great reminder from Marsha that, “the only safe place in the world is when we are where God wants us to be.” We got to eat lunch together, and even had a little adventure. She was in need of a light jacket for the plane flight home, so we went to the local market where venders sell fruits, vegetables, and sometimes second hand clothes. It had been raining the day before so the narrow pathway in the marketplace was really muddy. Hopping from rock to rock, focusing hard on each step, and desperately trying not to fall! Marsha was a trooper—even in shoes that had a heel on them, she managed to not fall the whole time as Kenyans were greeting us and shaking our hand at each leap on the pathway. But, we found a jacket for her flight and ended up laughing for a long time about the crowded narrow muddy pathway we had just ventured through.

Covenant group girls took a trip with me to Toi Market. Fun day with the girls!

My lovely roommates: Michelle, Kim, me and Lexi

Several weeks ago our Executive Director, Kim Pace, was nominated for an award at the Epoch Missions Gala on October 24, an event that is dedicated to celebrating what the Lord is doing throughout the world by honoring those who are creatively engaging and changing the world. She will be traveling home to America for a few weeks, and is leaving tomorrow morning. Kim is one of 18 finalists selected from 438 nominees. As an organization, we are so excited for Kim- It is obvious that the Lord has gifted her and is using her in powerful ways here in Kenya!

Since Kim is leaving, our house had a little "Punjabi Party" where we all tried on punjabis and took pictures. I love my roommates, and teammates.

This weekend our team is taking a group of 30 high school students to go white water rafting on the Tana River, go camping, and enjoy each other's company! Please be praying for safety on the river, and for the Lord to be working in the hearts of the students who will be coming with us!

Mathare Valley & Sweet 16 Birthday Parties

Krystal, one of my best friends from ACU, moved to Nairobi this summer. She is an amazing woman of God, and an inspiration to me by the way she is serving children in Kenya! Even though we are both working here in Nairobi with similar jobs, we live very different lives, and minister to very different people groups. She is working for an organization called Missions Of Hope International in a slum called Mathare Valley.

Houses walking through Mathare

Kids working hard in school

Last Monday I had the opportunity to go to work with Krystal and see how God is using this organization to impact the community in Mathare Valley for His Kingdom in incredible ways. I got to meet all the kids that Krystal is showing Christ's love to each day as she goes to the school! It brought joy to my heart to see how all the children love Krystal so much- It is because they are drawn to her because Christ is so evident in her life!

"No dumping" - walking through the Valley opened up my eyes, once again, to the harsh living conditions and realities facing so many children and families in Nairobi.

My new friend Esther sells bananas and fruit each day next to the school.

While Krystal's primary responsibility is focusing on Social Work in Mathare Valley, she also finds time to love on and minister to 6 of the high school girls from the school. Many of the girls have been sexually abused, physically abused, and have grown up in the streets, among drugs, pain, hunger, suffering, and just trying to make it through. Yet, God is providing hope and redeeming his children through Missions of Hope International, and through Krystal. It was such a blessing to get to go and love on these children for the day! We got to eat lunch with them, play games and talk with them at lunch, and go to a couple of the classrooms and even do a home visit with one of the students!

Fun games at recess!

I am always amazed at the joy of the children, and the Kenyans here.

God is the ONLY sustainer and satisfaction for our souls.

While I am not working with students who live in the slums, I am privileged to serve and love on high school students who are in desperate need of God's love as well. Two weekends ago, I was invited to a friend's Sweet 16th Birthday Party! It was a blast- we danced, played hide-n-go-seek in the dark with glow sticks, had birthday cake and dinner, there was even a station to decorate your own cupcake, paint your nails, play darts, and play card games! (This was very very different from the students I met in Mathare...)

God has taught me in a new way through these very different experiences of walking through the slums of Nairobi, and going to a birthday party of a 16 year old girl, that everyone needs Christ. No matter who you are, where you come from, what your socioeconomic status is- we ALL are in a desperate state and need of a savior.

Paul's words to the church in Ephesus resonate with me loudly after processing these two experiences:

"The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board. This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities." (Ephesians 3: 6-8)