coming back

As I write, I am in the Amsterdam airport. I will be in California in less than 24 hours. Amazing.

There are a flurry of emotions. First of all, I realize I have barely written about Vipingo. The last few weeks were intense and each day should really have a blog for itself, but I had no time to write then, so I will sadly have to rely on summaries that don't really do justice. Oh well.. pressing on to what is ahead. :) But mixed emotions also involve the grief of goodbyes, as well as the overwhelming excitement to see everyone.

okay, okay. Vipingo.
I think I said a little about it in the last post. We spent our last three weeks of outreach in Vipingo, which is about an hour north of Mombasa. On one of my free days, I went with Paul and some other people to visit his brother in Kilifi, which was a lot of fun too. (I can't wait to put pictures to all these names I keep mentioning.)
Anyway, Vipingo was pretty intense. We encountered some difficulty with team unity, exhaustion, and a lot of difficult situations with people. We also saw some amazing work of the Lord. Here are some examples:
- One of the people we met was 13 year old Reziki. Reziki has spent her entire life without being able to walk, and only recently has been able to form some comprehendable words. Yet, she has a joyful spirit and definitely responds to people. We went to visit her on 4 different occasions, and were able to pray over her, each time with many tears as the heart of our Father breaks for her. On the third and fourth times, we met with her parents as well, and it was so powerful. To see her dad carry her, bathe her, clean her up, and put her in the wheelchair from off of the ground. To see the faith of her mom, that she has made small improvements, and that God can still heal her fully. One of the things that we noticed is that she never bent her right leg. Her mom said that she would cry anytime they did any therapy with her with that leg. The last time we were there, we moved her leg out as we prayed, and Reziki didn't cry. She even kept it out as we left. It may not sound so exciting with my limited words, but we praised God for His healing work, and left believing that He is still working on her.

- One of the strongholds in this area are problems with pregnancy. Reziki's mom, as well as at least three other women had issues with bleeding abnormally during their pregnancies. We were able to pray with them, as well as over the issue in general. One of the women we met was Silvia, who had lost two children at a young age, as well as a pregnancy that has never brought a baby, but only blood for the past 10 years or so. We mourned with her, and prayed for her. She gave her life to the Lord, and was also healed! For the past 10 years, she had been unable to walk out of the house or even cook because of the pain and blood. But she was able to walk across town to church on Sunday. It was a miracle. (And a sidenote story - we were also particularly impressed with her husband who loved her so much. He came home from work just to cook her lunch because she can't cook. In a society where women are often beat because they are not cooking what their husband prefers, my Kenyan friends were particularly shocked to see this act of love. haha.. and the guys were inspired too.. hah.. GOOD JOB.)

I wish I had time to share more, but those stories I'm sure will come out with time. :) We had ministry right up until the very last minute we were there, including seeing a boy get healed of his hearing loss, a girl able to walk after 16 years, and good work with the kids at church.

We came back to the base last week, and have been doing some debriefing. Friday was full of tears and I was only encouraged by the fact that at least there will be no more goodbyes in heaven. haha. :)
One fun story to share though is that we took my Kenyan friends to the airport and it was a shocker to most of them. It was so fun to explain and show everything from how the wheels go up in the plane, to how to go through the security check, to what happens with the luggage. Some had never seen an airplane that close before (we were behind a fence, but still). Anyway, it was a good break of laughter amidst the pain of leaving.

So much more to share, but that will all be from California!!

back to the coast

We left Eldoret last Monday on an overnight bus ride to Mombasa. Thank you to those of you praying, because it really was the Lord alone who got us there safely, and then to Vipingo okay. Some of our team was in the front of the bus, but I really thank God that I was in the middle, and that I was not on the window seat. I found out later that the bus driver was texting, eating, and driving part of the time with his knees, at very high speeds! And it didn't help that the other person, the "security guard" was chewing miraa, which is a popular local drug!! And all the time swerving along the bumpy road to Mombasa, with no guard rails. Lisa's popular phrase "I choose life!" was a common saying along the way. haha.
Anyway, we got into Mombasa around 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, record time of 13 hours. Tiberius and Wycliffe went to go look for a couple of matatus to take us to Vipingo, about an hour away. We found out later that on the way, they were approached by the police, who searched them, and then let them pass. Then we got the matatus, loaded our luggage on one of them, and the rest of us on the other. We were about ready to go, when, our matatu stopped and we no longer saw the other one. A few of the guys got out to see what the problem was, and we found out that the police were arresting the other matatu with all of our luggage! We had no idea what was happening, but a few of the guys went with it to the police station! All we could do was wait and pray.
We found out later that the police pulled over the matatu driver for not being certified. However, he was, and they were just arresting a lot of people that day. This is a good opportunity to discuss the corruption that is happening in Kenya. Police pull over matatus a lot, and then the matatu driver just gives them a bribe, and then the police let them pass. One of our friends also informed us about the police who "search" people. He said that you have to be careful, because sometimes police will plant drugs on people as they search them, and then "find" it and then arrest the person until a bribe is paid. The corruption is very sad and is very important to pray for.

Anyway, the point is that we got to Vipingo all in one piece. We are staying in a very nice church, in the Bible college building that was finished by the American team (they are from Wisconsin, Carlos Pedro) just 10 days before we came. There are nice tile floors, electricity, beds, and showers (even though cold - but it's okay since is is so hot)!! So we are spoiled yet again. :)
And there are WONDERFUL children who fill the place every day. We love it. We started children's ministry and games, and also taught Sunday School. We also did some home visiting around the nearby village, and saw the landscape of another community. It is a really beautiful place, and though we are back to the heat of the coast, Vipingo has a nice breeze that we love. :) I think that there are a lot of times that we are pretty tired, but we are pressing on, because we have two more weeks left here and a lot of work to do before we leave. There is a school on the campus of the church, and we have already met a few of the teachers there, and some of the kids. :) I'm looking forward to our next two weeks.

And speaking of leaving, I have just 3 weeks left. WOW. I can't believe it. I can't wait to see people, eat Asian food and salad, and take a shower with no sandals on. But mostly it is to see people. And at the same time, I do not want to leave the people I have come to really enjoy here. I love my team. They are a great bunch of people. sigh. One Day, there will be no goodbyes. Praise Jesus.
It's a good thing I can leave too. We just came from the immigration office because I got a text earlier this week from our base leader who said I needed to get an alien registration pass. I don't know why this information was not communicated to me earlier - but I think it was because no one thought I needed it since I have a visa and a pupil's pass. Well apparently I needed to go and get that, or else there was a possibility for a hold up at the airport. YIKES. Anyway, we went to the office today, and they said it was too late for me to get the alien pass, and that my visa expired in June (even though I got a 6 month visa and it said on my passport that it expires next week, in August.. I guess the way things work here is that it expires in 3 months and I need to get it extended.). Anyway, praise the Lord because the guy just extended my visa, and no alien pass was given, but an assurance that the visa will be fine to show the people at the airport when I leave. :)