God sent the rain down in Africa!

Yes, that song is for Kevin and Arthur:) Imagining them singing right now brings a smile to my face and already delighted heart. haha.

But yes, we had rain this week! Thanks for praying, and keep praying! It was great! Before, it would rain or maybe just drizzle for like 5 minutes or a short time. But on Friday, it really rained! Like, the ground was soaked (inside and out, since the roof is leaking in the main building, ha). We were so excited, mostly because we had been praying for a lot of rain. With the drought and famine going on, this country really needs it. Also, Martin just planted a whole bunch of new vegetables and was spending a lot of time and money for watering the new plants. The rain was really helpful. Today it is back to the heat, but it was nice to really have that rain this week.

Our fun week began on Sunday with an awesome Easter Sunday. We went to Vipingo, about an hour bus ride north, to the church there. It was wonderful. The church and school were built recently (actually by a church from Wisconsin - everyone wanted to know how close that was to Ohio or California, since those are where Lisa and I are from, and those are the points of reference to America for our friends. I told them that Wisconsin is closer to Ohio than it is to California, and that the distance from CA to Wisconsin is actually longer than the width of Kenya. That was hard for them to believe. ha). Anyway, the school has about 170 children, and they are also in the process of building a bible college. We will be working with this church and school and village in June/July, and they are hoping the building for the college will be ready by then because that is most likely where we will be staying. It was really nice to be there, and to see this wonderful and beautiful place. A lot of the children come to this church as well, so it was fun to see all of their presentations. Great times!

When we came back on Sunday, we also had fun watching a soccer match between our Kenyan guys and the British soccer team that is here. This was their second and last week here, and it was great to see how they really bonded with some of the people here. We had a worship night together that the British led, and it was a lot of fun, and very heartfelt. I think their work with the soccer camp (let's keep in mind that they called it "football camp") for two weeks was really awesome too. I heard that they had 300 kids come out the first day, even though they could only really take 80. They took another 80 the second week, and are looking for ways to continue to reach out through Erick, at our base. They are hoping to come again as well. It was really exciting to hear their stories, as well as to meet some of the kids when we went to the soccer match. The kids were fascinated that I was Japanese, and taught me some Swahili in exchange for some Japanese words. funny. :)

We also went to another orphanage this week. This one is really close to our base, and we actually run past it every morning (we noticed the sign "Happy Rock Center" but never knew what it was). This one has 26 children, ranging from newborn to age 13, but what was really exciting was that some of the older kids come to the program on Saturdays, and they recognized me! We played limbo with the kids last Saturday, and so when we walked in on Tuesday to the orphanage, they immediately got a stick and began chanting "limbo, limbo, limbo!" It was so great. We told our base leaders how much we enjoyed it (one kid fell asleep in Martin's arms), and we're hoping to go back again.

We also went on more house visits this week. Our group (Paul and Lilian and I) keep meeting people whose names start with E (Esther, Edwin, Erica, Evelyn, Ede). It was quite funny when we realized it. Good times. :)

We concluded the week with Duncan's birthday on Friday. It was hilarious because the British guys found out, and decided to pull them out into the pouring rain at one point, and dogpile him. They were all completely soaked. It was hysterical. (Of course, after Duncan was completely drenched, he decided to pull Lisa and I into the rain as well. ha) But most touching of all was that after they all were dry, the British team presented Duncan with a real gift - a pair of soccer shoes. They said they had noticed that when they played on Sunday, that he was barefoot (most of the Kenyans were). The shoes fit perfectly, but it was great because Duncan had been sayign that he needed some new shoes in general. He only has some sandals (he calls them "my opens") and some church shoes that are too small for him. He doesn't have money to buy new shoes, and so this really was a perfect gift - probably more than the guys realized. We celebrated Duncan with a party on Friday night as well, and after we prayed for him, he told us that he had never celebrated his birthday before. This was his 20th birthday, and I am so glad. You would never know it - Duncan is probably one of the most joyful people I know. It was a really blessed night.

The week was great - I am physically fine (no rashes, few bites), and my heart is incredibly blessed. I am learning so much, mostly how to be content in all circumstances. This week was a huge blessing of learning, and I am constantly in awe of our awesome God.

Bwana Safiwe!