Water Fun!

So on the hot days in Kenya one way or another we always find something to do with water. One day we took Emma and Avery (Two of the Suel girls) to Safari Park Hotel across the highway. This place in legit! They set out chairs and towels for you, and you can also order anything to eat of drink. The pool was amazing and COLD.

These beautiful flowers were floating everywhere in the water. It looked like the perfect fairy tale lagoon! 

 The big girls under the waterfall.

 Avery sliding down...

 Kasey!

 Me and Emma.. Thank goodness my camera is waterproof!

 Being mermaids..

 Capture this!

 Me and Ms. Emma...

 Fixing our "missionary tans"...

 One hot day while stuck on the compound, me and Ester decided to lay out in the sun for a while. We got hot, so we turned the sprinkler on to cool off... The diameter of the water spray was only about 7 inches...

 We finally ended up holding it upside down like a shower head to get wet.. Amy captured us through the window while laughing...

Just hanging around...

Meanwhile at the ranch (or compound in this case), we find all sorts of ways to entertain ourselves during Sunday afternoons and week nights...

This is on a rainy Sunday afternoon... Movie day with my roomie!

 Speakers, Narnia marathon, and homemade popcorn!

 Playing "Hand and Foot" with The Hunts after HOMEMADE cinnamon rolls, bacon, and smores!

 They are so awesome! This game took 5 hours...

 Tree climbing before dinner... I taught her everything she knows!

 "This is how you do it! One foot here, the other <oof> here. See? It's easy!"

 This one took me a minute or two to get out of... :)

 My sister would be so proud of me for this. Look at all the contrast and shadowing! ;)

 These are always right outside my windows. Simply Beautiful!

Mondays!

                On Monday mornings we walk the 2-ish miles to the Rehema Orphanage. Rehema means "Mercy" in Kiswahili (which I am trying so hard to learn!). When the kids see us at the gate and run to greet us. Totally precious! It is such a blessing to get to love on these kids, help the workers by cutting potatoes and carrots for stew for lunch. Several students from USIU volunteer several times a week for community service hours required for their degrees.
      So after playing with the kids, we help them prepare for lunch. This gives us the opportunity to engage the students in spiritual conversations! Over the last few weeks I have got to share my testimony 4 times, talked about Baptism, Creation to Church, and several Bible stories! It's so cool to get to love on kids and talk to students outside of campus (where we are not allowed to tell bible stories).

 This is Sharon. She is such a sweety and a new believer.

Frank cutting carrots!

 Frank (on the far right), one of the workers, Sharon, and Elvis.

 Kayla and Levi...

 Elijah! When you call his name he replies, "Huh?"

 He is also very ticklish!

 Aww... He hurt his tooth and crawled into her lap and said, "Momma!"

 Amy and Baby Ester!

 They love the slide!

Ryan (pronounced Lion sometimes!) and Ester!

Look at that face!

She is so precious!

Kisses!

Levi!

Swinging!!

They love sitting like that too! In this one Levi was "tickling" Ryan while we were swinging..

Joy and Kristen with one of the workers. They love him!

What is happening?!

I woke up Saturday morning, (my day to sleep in mind you), to shouts, whistles, and air horns outside my house. At 7am! My first though was, what in the world are they doing up so early and what happened?! As my mind began to wake up and explore all possibilities, I remembered something very important... I reached for my ipod, checked my email, and searched Kenyan Election Results. They said they would announce the winner between Friday and Monday, which was already 6 days from voting day!

        Uhuru Kenyatta  won the election by 50.07% or 4,099 votes. That is what I was afraid of. With such a close race, I was sure there was bound to be noise outside, but I did not expect celebrating! Then I get an email from the embassy to avoid certain areas of the cities, large crowds, etc. There were a few "demonstrations" in certain local areas, but none severe. The churches here have all come together with one message: "Let us be ambassadors of peace and show the world!" God has been working in these Kenyans!

           There was so much tension in the air: no one was out and about, shops were closed, school was out, and no traffic anywhere in the city. It seemed everyone was holding there breath. Not because of the voter count, but what was bound to happen after that. No one wanted violence. They did not want to be known for that. Even though Kenyatta started the violence last election (1,000 killed, and 600,000 families forced to move..) , for which he goes to trial for next month, his tribe (the largest in Kenya) stood behind him as best as they could. 

While all of the counting... and waiting... and praying... was going on, we were stuck on the 23-acre compound for the week. But I am not going to lie, it was like a vacation! Movie nights, Bonfires, sunbathing, soccer, running, sleeping, bible study, meetings, prayer meetings, all concluded our stay at our "exotic resort". Plus I got to make new friends with a few of the workers kids. :) 

          The coolest part about this long story: while we were literally sitting her doing nothing, God was at work. Big time! One of the guys from Nairobi University, Tom, accepted Christ! Chad, a crazy member of our team, has been leading a men's bible study on campus. Tom is one of the guys who we would have never thought would make up his mind. He called Chad and told him he was ready! 

            Also, one of the girls from our Bible study accepted Christ over the weekend!! She totally surprised us and I literally CANNOT WAIT until I get to hear all about it! 

           The best part: God is showing me that he is still working at home in my friends lives. Several of them have messaged me and those conversations have lead me to share the gospel with them, which is the farthest I have ever got to go with them! He reminds me that he doesn't need me there to finish the work he has to do in these precious people, and that he can still use me from the other side of the world. It is truly amazing. So Bwana asefiwe! (Praise the Lord!) 

Thank you for all the prayers!! Love you guys! 

Just another day?

      Well today is Kenya's National holiday, where everyone goes out and votes since no one has school or work. There are thousands and thousands of people in all the counties here in Nairobi. We see the lines and lines of people on the news, and status updates from some of our friends who have stood in line ALL DAY to vote. The officials at the poles are checking every one's finger prints for ink to prevent people from voting twice.
          Here at the BMOK (Baptist Mission Of Kenya) compound things are quiet. We all are wondering if this is the calm before the storm. Since everyone is voting today, ballots will be counted overnight and tomorrow. Hopefully we will have a winner tomorrow. In case of a runoff (one candidate has to have at least 51% of the votes) they will push it back until late March or early April. We are praying fervently against this! A runoff can interfere with our plans to go on our mission trips, and also harvest potential violence here. Guess we won't know until tomorrow...
Meanwhile... We are hanging out here at the compound, trying to think of fun things to do. We are planning:

•  a sports day
•  possibly a water day (with sprinklers and water guns..)
• a night of camping to prepare for our trip.
• Movie nights
• Game nights
•  Hide and Seek in the dark 

Or we may just end up baking, cooking, sleeping like most college age students in another country... You never know with us!
Keep praying for peace and for the leadership of this country!

The Great Cost...

     In our team meeting this week, a question was posed. "What does it mean to you to follow Christ?" In the good old days (like I would know..), Jesus called his disciples to sell everything they had to follow him. They were called to take up their crosses, which is today's equivalent to the electric chair, daily and to follow him no matter what the cost.

        I ask myself, What am I willing to give up or do for the sake of Christ? To come to Africa, I had to give up my former life, everything that was familiar to me, jumping in with both feet, and trusting in the one who gave me life. This is nothing on me. I did not do anything worthy or awesome to deserve to be looked up to for coming here. I am just a teenage girl from a little town in Texas. God just asked the question and I said, "Yes, I will serve you not matter what." I am so unworthy to have a personal relationship with such a loving and gracious God! If you have EVER experienced even a glimpse of the presence of God, you will give ANYTHING to be in it again. 

"But whatever was to MY PROFIT, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

 What is more, I consider everything a loss 

compared to the surpassing greatness of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord,

 for whose SAKE I have lost ALL things. I consider them RUBBISH  that I may gain Christ..."

-Philippians 3:7-8-

God has the same calling on our of our lives. he has called us to say yes no matter what the cost. He has called us to tell our stories of His amazing grace shown to us: to every person around us. Wherever that is: sitting in class, at work, home, church, Walmart, Taco Bell, or in another country. Our lives should show how God has changed us. We have to examine ourselves (Me more than anyone) to make sure our actions match our works. That is crucial. Everything we do should point to the one who saved us. Whether it is praying over your cheeseburger, "Lord, thank you for cows..." (After all He is the one who created them!)  or dealing with co-worker who drive you crazy. Is your actions matching your words?

We are only here for a short time: just a blimp in eternity. If you were to stand before God tomorrow and had to give an account of what good you have done while on earth, what would you say? I would be speechless while hanging my head in shame. If we often reflect on the short time we have, how would that change how we live now? How are we going to honor Christ with all that you are here and now? How are YOU going to impact the world around you by your actions and your words? What cost will you give up?