Cooking? Me?

If anyone of you know me, you know I don't cook. It is not that I hate it, but it seems like a daunting task... Well Africa has taught me a few things! If you want something bad enough, you will try everything to find a way how to make it...

     For example, I have been CRAVING Chick-fil-a sauce, which I have not had in 2 whole months! Praise the Lord for Google! Last week we made baked chicken strips, seasoned potatoes wedges, sweet tea, and homemade Chick-fil-a sauce (which we dubbed "the bowl of holy golden goodness"). We also had Fiona, our friend from USIU (United States International University) who also is our softball pitcher, as our dinner guest!

 It sooo GOOOOOOD!!!

I admit it. I like going grocery shopping for stuff I can cook. And I enjoy cooking for my teammates... As long as it isn't every night! I am still praying for a husband who can cook... :)

 If ANYONE wants to send me some recipes for stuff I can make from scratch you can email me! hoops24@live.com 

KU Bible Study!

     So this Thursday was our first Bible study on campus with our KU (Kenyatta University) friends! We woke up that morning with excitement to see what God was going to do through this since He is the one who opened up the opportunity. I had time with my teammates that morning discussing what we were going to study. God just laid Psalm 1 and Matthew 7:13 & 14 on our hearts (which is about the wide and narrow roads), so we prayed and gave the day up to God and set out for campus.....
We got there at 12:06, which the study was to start at 12pm, and everyone showed up around 1pm.

   We spread out blankets in the grass by the common area and waited for our beloved friends to join us. To start off we read the scriptures, and posed the question, "Which road do you think you are on?" To our surprise they answered, "Both" or " I am on this one and need to be on this one." We also shared our Creation to Church stories, which we have been practicing. It was amazing to see all of us (My other 3 teammates and I) add something to the lesson and discuss with them. It all fit together so well!

 Please be praying for Eve, Rhoda, Mwajuma , Susan, and Jacob. Oh! And Anna, Judy, and Elizabeth.

Really cool God-thing: While we were reading a guy came over and asked if that was a Bible and what we were reading. Kasey invited him to join us, and he said, "Ok, briefly!" He stayed the whole time, listened, asked questions, thanked us for coming, asked about next week, and then asked us to pray for God to send him some Christian guy friends.
The other students we have met a KU, who Kasey and Amy have been keeping in contact with, came over and hugged us on their way to class. I pray that they will be able to join us next week!

We thanked them all for coming, prayed over them, and went on our way. We all wore our smiles all the way home. I just kept thinking, God you never cease to amaze me! Thank you for letting me be a part of this! I read this verse the first thing that morning and re-read it when I went to bed...

"Now then, stand still and see what good things the LORD is doing before your eyes!" -1 Sam. 12:16

Giraffe Centre!

So.. I kinda forgot to blog about this.. Friday's are our tourist days so two weeks ago we went to the Giraffe Centre (Yep, spelled that way..) which is like a giraffe sanctuary. We got to feed Daisy (Below) and she in turn gave us very slobbery kisses! We also learned she head butts... And that Giraffe saliva makes your skin very soft!

Me, Emma, and Zephan chilling on the way there! It took about an hour to get there.

 Feeding Ms. Daisy..

 Isn't she beautiful?

 Me getting to feed her..

 I LOVE Kayla's reaction to her looooong tongue!

 How many Giraffes do you see?

 See?!

 There were also warthogs! They crack me up when they get down on their knees to eat off the ground... They praise Jesus before they eat!

 All us girls!

 Emma actually got nibbled on (See her ring finger...). She said, " Daisy bit me!" then 5 minutes later she started crying... Chris said. "Emma now you can say I got bit by a giraffe! Who else can say that?!" She was good after that...

Ten things...

Ten things I miss about America:
1. Chick-fil-a (It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it...)
2. My family, especially my sister who is my best friend!
3. The friends that are too many to list!
4. My job. It is weird that I like grocery shopping at Nakumatt because it reminds me of HEB...
5. My bed. The last few mornings I have woke up sweating since our windows don't open, my pillow is about 1.5 Inches thick, and my bed is sometimes hard. But hey, I still get to sleep!
6. My car... I also miss driving, but everyday continue to thank the Good Lord for not allowing me to drive here! These people are crazy!
7. Fast food. It takes longer to cook (Shocking I know right?! See, I am learning something...) and sometimes we have to walk to the store for stuff to cook!
8. Speed bumps placed only in parking lots! (they have them everywhere here! Even on the highway!)
9. Cereal for breakfast that doesn't cost $10 a box!
10. Being the tan one at the pool.. I have never felt so white in my life...



Ten things I love about Kenya:
1. Everyone is welcoming, nice, and affectionate. (Sometimes too much!)
2. I get plenty of exercise walking to and from schools and the store.
3. I get to eat Guacamole and finger bananas everyday. OH! and coffee every morning!!! :)
4. The kids are gorgeous and steal pieces of my heart every time I see their faces.
5. Going to the different Baptist churches and I feel so at home.
6. Everyone is open to spiritual conversations.. (It is also hard, because everyone claims to be "born again" or a "Christian" but they have no idea what it means to know him personally.)
7. The sunset and the stars! They are beautiful especially when you see the sky scrapers of Nairobi, and the mountains!
8. My roommates... It's like a slumber party every night. We often have late night movie nights with homemade popcorn and cookies. I also love our team time where we share our struggles and pray with each other. They also make me laugh all the time and we have so many adventures together. We like to  make life interesting...
9. I have many opportunities to learn sports like football (soccer), Rugby, and teach them some American sports! I hope to be able to play soccer well before I leave.. We will see..
10. Life here is so simple. Sometimes it reminds me of Bible times, even with the crippled people begging on the streets in town. They always have time to talk to you, and they have time to just sit and watch the world go by.



FIVE Prayer request:
1. The safety of our team.
Elections are coming up March 4th. In the past it has been pretty bad here during that time. (Riots, Crime, accidents, etc.) So basically that week we are going on lock down here on the compound. It is not against us, but we don't want to be in the way. God is our ultimate protector!

2. Our team time and pray.
 The four of us Hands On girls have grown closer to together through "team time". We are trying to be more dedicated to meeting at least once a week. We are also striving to get in the habit of praying before we even step foot outside the compound, for opportunities to share.

3. For God to give us eyes to see the people that he is already working on so we can partner with him.

4. Pray for strength emotionally, spiritually, physically.
I am going to be real here. Emotionally it is hard because sometimes I need something familiar. God has blessed me with an huge amount of peace and comfort when I get those feelings! Physically, the air is filled with pollution and dust (Considering the road construction next door..).

5. Our mission trip to Pokot, Kenya.
It is located in the desert part of Kenya. We will be hiking mountains, camping in tents, eating strange things, peeing in a bush, and more bucket baths, etc. Our supervisor has told us that it will be challenging physically and spiritually. It is a real spiritual world here. People are involved in animism and witchcraft. Please pray that God will go ahead of us and already start preparing hearts for the gospel. Pray that God will prepare our hearts and minds to what we will see. It is going to be rough, but I can't wait to see what God is going to do!

K-west Banquet!

So Valentine's Day was not ONLY celebrated once, not twice, but three times for this girl! Ester invited me to a banquet hosted by her church, Kahawa West Baptist Church. Their youth/ college ministry have welcomed me joyfully into their group. I continue to get to know them better and they continue to bless me! At the banquet they had juice cocktails, chips, and nuts, music, dancing, swimming, formal dinner, photo shoots, a guest speaker, a couple of games, and fellowship. It was held at a resort type place with a pool, outdoor restaurant, a fountain, huge patio, conference rooms, etc. It was beautiful! 

 I had much fun hanging out with these great Kenyan friends! 

 This is Patty, me, and Carol... They are so sweet and we squeal when we see each other!

 Me and Ester! My date and my ride to the banquet. The party started at 5:30pm, we got there at 7:30 and everyone else showed up around 9pm...

Patty with me and Ester. Patty is a loving friend and she cracks me up!

 I love the fountain pictures... no clue why..

 Me and Carol! (Except I call her Cara..) She is a hip hop dancer and is teaching me some moves! :)

 The first arrival girls photo shoot! They LOVE having their pictures taken! :)

What a crazy fun night! We ended up staying until midnight.

Valentine's Day in Africa!

Valentines Day in Kenya! This V-day was filled with laughter, spaghetti with the Suel kids, card making, cookie baking, fancy dinner with the girls, and a slumber party with the kids! We had a blast! Evidence? The smile on our faces maybe?

 Kasey, Zephan, and Emma...

 My cookie I decorated!

Making cards!

 Me and Jaden...

 Me and Avery... Mwaahh!

 Emma!

 After the kids went home for a little while, the seven of us girls went out to eat as our Valentine's Day treat... Ester, Emily Jo, Anna Grace, who are all Journey girls, and my team Kasey, Kayla, and Amy all got dolled up for our dinner. It was awesome to feel pretty for the first time in a couple weeks! (TIA)

 Ester, Kasey, and Amy! Aren't they beautiful ladies?

 My cheese burger, which tasted more like a turkey burger, but still good!

 Anna Grace, Emily Jo, Kayla (who would NOT take a serious photo...) and me!

 All the ladies!

 Me and my roomie! Love her!

  This girl is awesome! We get to do some pretty fun and crazy things together. :)

After we got back the kids came back over, we had a dance-party-tent-making-movie-watching-slumber party! :) All in all it was a great Valentines Day! Also some sweet friends from home sent me pictures of flowers since the couldn't give them to me in person. I also got to Skype with the best people in the world! Until the power went out... But I am so thankful I got to see and talk to my Valentines in America!