God's work. God's way. Never lacking God's supply.

Hello, everyone! For those who don’t know, I am home. I arrived stateside on Wednesday, August 1st and spent a few days in Indianapolis for debrief before I arrived home in Maryland on Saturday, August 4th. It’s hard to believe this experience is complete!

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to post this- I was unable to visit the cyber cafe my last Saturday in Nairobi and debrief was pretty busy so this is the first chance I’ve really gotten to sit down and update you all.

During my last week of work, I spent every day at Kiamaiko, except for Wednesday, with Stella (my CHE trainer), Ethan, and his trainer, Frederick, making many home visits. We made some visits with people we’d visited earlier in the summer, and even made some visits with people who weren’t born-again Christians. Frederick is very “go in and get down to business” so we witnessed two people surrendering their lives to Christ! It was a very neat experience and I’m very happy that both of them have many people who can keep up with them and help them grow in their faith. On Wednesday, 9 out of 10 girls went to Joska and 3 out of 4 boys went to Ndivonia. Some of my teammates had the opportunity to go to Joska and Ndivonia the Wednesdays before and talk to the girls and boys about sex and homosexuality. This Wednesday, my girl teammates and I taught the girls at Joska some self defense! It was so much fun and a huge blessing to equip the girls with these simple yet effective skills and spend one last day with them. My last three days in Kenya were spent on a safari in Maasai Mara where I was able to see God’s beautiful creation and start to process things. If God’s kingdom is anything like safari, I wouldn’t mind. :) 

Now that I’m home, everything feels foreign. I am a different person than I was when I left two months ago, but everything about home is the same. Sure, people have changed along with me, but many things about home have remained the same. I’ve begun processing things about this journey and even hit a little bit of reverse culture shock. It’s very hard to voice my experiences right now and it gets to be kind of overwhelming at home sometimes. As hard as it is, I’m ready for the many things God is going to reveal to me and work through me as I’m back.

As for the future, I’m not sure what is in store. My passions for orphans and human trafficking/rape victims were really brought into light this summer. MoHI has some orphans in their schools, but what about the orphans that can’t get into school because the waiting list is too long? What about the orphans that are toddlers and not even school-age yet? What about the orphans that know nothing else except to turn to glue and other things street life “has to offer?” MoHI takes girls away from their homes for the day but what about when they go back at night? There are so many rape cases in Mathare, and what can be done to help that? The girls at Joska get away from their homes when they’re at school, but what about when they’re home for one month in between terms? And what about all of the human trafficking that occurs in Nairobi? If I know anything for certain so far from this summer, it’s that God is calling me back to Nairobi. He’s calling me back to Mathare. And this time for longer. How long? I don’t know. When? I don’t know. What I’ll be doing? I don’t know. Something with orphans, something with rape in Mathare, something with human trafficking in Nairobi…working with MoHI, working somewhere else, starting my own place, working with International Justice Mission…I don’t know. But whatever His plans are for me, I know that He will get the glory and that His kingdom will be furthered. So for now, I am praying. And I hope that you will continue to join with me in praying for all of these things.

Thank you so much for supporting me, encouraging me, following my blog, staying updated, and taking interest in this crazy journey that God has taken me on. Thank you for sharing in my experience and for allowing God to move in you just as He has moved in me. I pray that God continues to show Himself to all of you. God bless. 

Hello, everyone! This weekend, most of my teammates and I went to a baby elephant orphanage and the Giraffe Center on Saturday, so I was not able to visit the cyber cafe and update my blog. The rest of the weekend was fairly busy as well- going to two different houses for dinner between Saturday and Sunday, plus going out to the boy’s side of Joska (Ndivonia, or something like that) for church on Sunday morning. I’m sorry that updating my blog hasn’t been too regular, but I’m trying my hardest to keep you all updated as best I can!

I don’t have much to report from this week because I was sick Tuesday through Thursday. On Monday, I went to Kiamaiko and as I prayed, “Father, help me to see with Your eyes and feel with Your heart” in the morning, He definitely did that for me throughout the course of the day. The best day of the week though, was Friday.

I don’t know what the fast was like for you, but for me, it wasawesome.I woke up Friday morning feeling 100% refreshed and like a totally new person. I’d been sick with a stomach bug for three days, and dealing with a constant migraine for two. Feeling like a whole new person was definitely a gift from God. I wasn’t too sure about not eating for most of the day since I hadn’t been able to eat much the last three days, but I simply trusted in God that I would be okay, drank a lot of water, and stayed in constant prayer. All through the day, and even into the weekend, God really revealed more of Himself and His characteristics to me. Before I share those with you though, I want to take the time to share a little story that I think is pretty incredible.

A short-term team was in Kiamaiko all week doing VBS, Bring the Light (putting a square of fiber-glass in the tin roofs of homes for natural light and sharing the Gospel), and a medical camp. When I reported to Kiamaiko on Friday morning, my CHE trainer was no where in sight so I stayed in the “pharmacy” and helped some of my nursing major teammates with packaging medicine. All I did was place nine pills of PCM (whatever that is) into tiny ziplock baggies, but because I was fasting, prayer was not easily overlooked on this day and I was very intentional about praying for each bag of medicine. It was a short and simple prayer, “Father, I lift up the person who will receive this medicine. Heal them in Your name.” But, I came to find out at the end of the day, that every bag I packed was given out! Can you imagine the mighty ways our God is going to heal each person?

God showed me more of Himself this past week in four specific people, groups of people, or specific things.

1. Mombe. The beautiful little girl that I play with almost every day while waiting to leave Pangani. Through her, God has more powerfully displayed His unfathomable love for me- for all of us. Despite the age difference, different skin colors, and a language barrier, I see in her eyes and in the glow of her face that she has fallen in love with me, just as I have fallen in love with her. Despite complacency, stubbornness, and the mere fact that I am human, God fell in love with me and daily invites me to fall even more in love with Him.
2. Lucy. Way back when on our first morning here in Nairobi, I met a woman named Lucy in the cafeteria of our hostel. I simply said, “Habari asabui,” to her, which means good morning in Swahili. From that, we got to talking, I found out that she is born-again, and now most of the interns and I are friends! As I was sick on Wednesday night, she ran into my roommate, Alicia, in the hallway of our hostel and asked how I was. Alicia told her I wasn’t feeling well, and so Lucy came and visited me. She told me she would be praying for me. On Thursday morning, she visited me again, and was very upset to hear that I was not well. She arranged for a thermos of hot water to be brought for me, and some toast. She even brought me some fruit salad from her work that evening. Through Lucy, Christ really showed me how caring and nurturing He is to each and every one of His children.
3. Jamal and the rest of the young men in the Kiamaiko prayer sesh. Before lunch on Friday, the short-term team baptised some people. That was really awesome to see! After that and during lunch, my friend Jamal (he lives in Kiamaiko) and about 10-15 other young men, invited Ethan and me in for a time of prayer. I was starting to feel very hungry and exhausted, so this was just the “food” I needed to refresh my spirit and re-energize me for the day. Christ showed me just how marvelous He is, just by the way the Holy Spirit was working in that room and even in their lives. (PS- Jamal is from Ethiopia and he gave me an Ethiopian name: Konjo. It means beautiful. :) )
4. The giraffes and elephants. He showed me His extravagant beauty through the creation of these animals and just how beautiful, elegant, and intricate they are. It’s really incredible that I serve- we serve- the same God that created these amazing creatures and spoke them into being.

I’m very thankful of the ways that Christ has showed Himself to me and worked in my life over these last six weeks. It’s hard to believe that in just two weeks, I will be leaving Africa and heading back to Indianapolis. Time is flying, folks! I pray that each of you experienced God in amazing ways this past Friday, and all summer. God bless!

Here are the prayer requests from my team for the fast this Friday- it’s about one per hour, or simply one per teammate. Thank you for your prayers!

1. The need for children to be cherished and nurtured, not a burden

2. Recruitment of new sponsors and students

3. For more Big Dent micro finance donors and the clients who receive the loans

4. For the glue boys, beggars, drunks, street dwellers, etc.

5. Our team continues to glorify God in all we do and push each other to grow spiritually

6. That God will renew and refresh the MoHI staff daily to be the hands and feet of Jesus

7. For sexually assaulted women and children

8. That access to college/university would become more available for students and jobs would be created

9. That in all we do, we make an effort to plant spiritually significant seeds that continue to grow even as we leave

10. That we let these beautiful people root their stories in our hearts, never to complacent again

11. That God would put His words in our mouths and we would strive only to do His will

12. That hope would be implanted in the hopeless in Mathare through Christ

13. Pray that the staff would be encouraged to keep on striving to bring the light of Christ

14. That MoHI will continue doing the right things as it continues to grow and get bigger

Habari, rafikis! In Swahili, that translates to something like, “how’s it going, friends?”

All is well on this side of the world. Each and every day I love life in Nairobi a little bit more! I miss everyone back home, and I miss some things America offers (selfishly, my Mac, and CHICK-FIL-A of course!), but I wouldn’t trade anything for my time here and hopefully more time at some point!

This was another weird week. CHE trainers and Social Workers had training again, so I didn’t get the opportunity to go to Kiamaiko until Friday. Monday through Thursday were days filled with taking medicine inventory in the clinic, writing more lesson plans for the health clubs, going to soccer practice with some guys from Mathare and playing with monkeys, and even a day of sitting on the floor waiting to find something to do! During these times where I was doing nothing and I felt like my time here was being wasted, God did some pretty incredible things.

Our team has been blessed with a teammate studying to be a pastor. His name is Ethan McCook and he’s 20 years old studying at Manhattan Christian College in Kansas. I’ll just get it out of the way now and say he’s awesome. Ethan has been through some crazy stuff in his short life, but through everything, God reached out His hand, picked him up, and continues to hold on to him and never let him go. Ethan has such a fire for God- one that is certainly hard to come across- and God has given him an incredible gift of preaching the Good News! In the weeks that we’ve been here, Ethan and his CHE trainer have started a church in an area of the slum called Madoya, where he’s had the opportunity to preach in front of 30 or so women and children. He preached for 30 minutes about faith at the girl’s side of Joska on Sunday in front of 300 or so middle and high school aged girls with 10 minutes or less of preparation. And on Wednesday when both of us had nothing to do, he delved into God’s Word, listened to what He needed him to hear, and preached to me for an hour or more on the floor of the library! Talk about conviction, guys. God needed Ethan to hear some stuff so He gave him nothing to do all day, and then God needed me to hear the same stuff so He gave me nothing to do and time with Ethan.

Faith without deeds is nothing. They go hand-in-hand. God’s will is the narrow path, the hardest route to take, and if we don’t take it, what is our life worth? We don’t have abundant life without Christ. We’re called to be in a relationship with Him and as followers, we’re instructed to “go and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19),” to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22: 37-39),” and to “look after orphans and widows and stay unpolluted from the world (James 1: 27).” They’re simple demands, but daunting tasks. Without doing such things, how can one be in a relationship with Christ? And without being in a relationship with Christ and doing such things, how can one be a follower of Christ? It simply doesn’t work. If we live comfortably, if we’re merely fans of Christ, we’re going to approach the gates of heaven and Jesus is going to say, “I never knew you.” I don’t want that for my life.

Love costs everything. God loved me so much that it cost Him his son. He has so much unfathomable, never-ending, beautiful love for me- ME, a lost, broken, complacent, unworthy sinner- the He sent His one and only sonout of perfect heaven into a path of life resulting in death. But not only that, He resurrected so that I may believe in Him, so that I may have a personal relationship with Him, so that I may have eternal life with Him in perfect heaven. How could I not love him backwith my lifefor that? He deserves my love, my time, my energy, my every thought, my every move, my LIFE. And yet, I get distracted. I get confused. I take control. I get knocked down. But Christ, He keeps pulling me back. He reaches His mighty hand down one more time- one more time that won’t be the last- and He pulls me up, embraces me, tells me He loves me and will never let me go. How much will I let my love for Christ cost? Itshould be everything, Ipray it’s everything, Iwant it to be everything.

So, this is the insight that God has helped me come across this week. I’ve learned it before, and as a lost, broken, complacent, unworthy sinner, I’m sure I’ll have to learn it again. But by God’s amazing grace, each time it’s learned provides a time to be shaped and molded more into the woman that He wants me to be. I’m so thankful for the love and grace that He always pours out on me.

As for Kiamaiko- I love it. Every look of “what is she doing here?” or glare of hatred is made worth it because of why I’m there and also by the comments from guys saying, “mzungu! I love you!” There’s never a time walking down the street where I can’t help but laugh because I’m either being told that I’m loved, that they want to marry me, or that I’m their color and size of preference. God surely knows how to turn a street once associated with fear around to a street associated with humor. God is going to continue doing amazing works in these last three weeks of work. I look forward to the many lessons He still has for me to learn, and the many stories I will be able to share with you next weekend.

I love you all! God bless!

PS- The fast is on FRIDAY! :)

Greetings dwellers of ‘Murrica!

I had a post written up on Saturday, and then it got erased, so that’s why this is a couple days late. My apologies!

Last week and this week, the CHE trainers and social workers have been attending a training conference so our assignments have kind of been a free-for-all. I’ve brainstormed and written lesson plans for health clubs that will be started in centers, sorted through gifts and letters from the sponsors of the kids, and went to an area called Mabatini with a short-term team to do VBS. Since I switched departments, I’ve gotten the chance to go to Kiamaiko once (Thursday) and it was incredible! God did some mighty things and definitely blessed my first day serving there.

We took our normal, chaotic matatu ride to Pangani, and I hung out in the CHE office until my trainer, Stella, came to pick me. I took my first cup of chai for the day, obviously overflowing with joy over the beverage before me and the fact that I’d finally be going to Kiamaiko. Stella picked me, and once we got to the center, we had more chai! What a fabulous start to the day. Once tea was finished, I toured the center and left for our first house visit.

We visited a grandma named Lucy and her daughter named Purity. Lucy is a stomach cancer survivor who, unfortunately, is having health problems again. She can’t pay for medicine so she has to suffer through the pain. Purity has two children, on top of caring for Lucy, and working as much as possible to provide for everyone. They’re born again, but things are still hard for them. I got the opportunity to encourage them and pray with them. They were so thankful. Our next home visit was with a grandma whose name I don’t think I was ever told. The entire conversation was in Swahili, but I asked Stella what it was about when we left. Basically, this lady’s daughter is a street dweller and gave up her son, so this woman is in charge of taking care of him and paying for his school fees. She has come very close to giving up the child, but Stella continues to encourage her that he won’t survive if she does. This woman also has to take care of another girl who was pretty much just left with her. A woman asked her to hold her baby while she went to go to the bathroom and disappeared. I couldn’t even imagine. Our next home visit was with another grandma named Lea and her husband, Joseph. Joseph was just recently diagnosed with TB. They have two grandchildren going to school. Lea was so precious- she told me I’m not allowed to go back to America and that I can come live in her house! I prayed for them before we left, beaming because of how sweet and welcoming they were. Our last home visit was with a woman named Mary. She was an African albino living HIV+ and possibly suffering from cervix cancer now. She has two kids in school and she was so proud of all of their accomplishments. We mostly talked about her health, but even through that, you could hear the joy in her voice because of Jesus. 

It’s visits like these, and staff like the people at the Kiamaiko center, that God placed in my life to show me that switching to CHE in Kiamaiko is right where He wants me. I couldn’t have asked for a better first day, and I’m so thankful for the ways God opened up my eyes on that day.

Another highlight thus far started off with receiving a letter from a girl I met last year in Joska, Lucy, and then seeing her again on Sunday! It was so beautiful spending the day with her, hearing that she received my letter once I returned home last summer, and being prepared with another one to give her. She’s such a beautiful young woman of God, and I’m so blessed to know her.

This first month here in Kenya has been so fulfilling and enriching- I can’t wait to see what other things God will surprise me with in this last month!

Thank you for reading! Have a fantastic week, and God bless! Happy 4th!

PS- Don’t forget about the fast on July 13th!

Well friends, I’m at this again! This week has been…interesting. :)

Monday was my second day in the Education department, and Satan was really attacking me. As I said in my last post, the teaching methods here are much different than the teaching methods in America. I was feeling very discouraged, very inadequate, and as if I wasn’t going to get any better and this summer would be a waste. Quite obviously, thoughts as evil as those would only come from the devil, but that doesn’t go to say that they didn’t affect me. They did. But I had some good debrief time with a few of my teammates, prayeda lot, and really gave everything up to God.

On Tuesday, we had a team meeting that took up most of the morning, so I ended up just spending the day in the library with the librarian, Humpfree. My day pretty much consisted of Humpfree stalking a lot of my friends back home on Facebook (yes, Colin and Jasmyn, that would be you), eating lunch, organizing shelves of exercise books (the work books the kids use in class, basically like composition books), drawing pictures, and learning to dance. Even though I didn’t really do much, it was a great day and one that I definitely needed. It reminded me that not every day is going to be easy but every day can still be fun. I am in Africa after all! That’s pretty cool in and of itself. My mindset got shifted back to where it needed to be and I’m very thankful for that.

On Wednesday, I had to stay back at our hostel because I was sick. I had some sort of stomach bug and honestly felt awful. This gave me a good opportunity to spend a lot of time with God, read my bible, pray, read Kisses from Katie, and listen to music. As I was reading Kisses from Katie, one part really stuck out at me. The easiest thing to do here is write out my journal entry, so here goes.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

In John 9, the disciples encounter a man who has been blind since birth, and they ask Jesus what he did to deserve his condition. Jesus responds in verse 3, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Poverty, sickness, abandonment, injustice. None of these are sins. They’re merely conditions, situations, circumstances. All so that the work of God might be displayed. I’m not here to end poverty. I’m not here to cure and prevent all sickness and disease. I’m not here to stop child abandonment. I’m not here to end all injustice. But I am here to love those who don’t know or receive love. I’m here to be the open arms to those who are always pushed away. I’m here to be a light of hope- the hope that they need and the hope that they so desperately want. I am here because God has poured enough love, mercy, and grace into my life that I have no reason notto share it and glorify Him. I am here because I’m so in love with God that I desire to be a vessel in which His will is done, in which His kingdom is glorified. My life is not my own. My life is His and He knows what is to be done with me. He has plans to prosper me, not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. His will is good, pleasing, and perfect. And His will willbe done. Throughout the rest of this journey and throughout the rest of my time on earth. I’m not here to be the perfect teacher and imitate the methods of the Kenyan teachers exactly. And that does not make me inadequate. In fact, it makes me quite adequate because God called me here and I have His guidance and provision. God’s plans herewill be accomplished, and His named will be praised and exalted, and that is all I could ever ask for from this experience.

So on Thursday, I still wasn’t feeling all that great, but I still went in ready to teach and even learn, to let God use me, and to simply have a positive attitude. I taught my English lesson, marked their work, and got my schedule for next week. The teacher I’d been with would be away for the next two weeks on a conference, so teaching would be up to me. I was open-minded and learning the layout of the lessons, when God spoke to me. It was in this moment that God told me I’m not supposed to be in the Education department. Kind of weird, right? That’s what I came here for, isn’t it? Well, looks like God is switching things up. He made it clear that He doesn’t need me in Education anymore, that Heneedsandwantsme elsewhere, and it was all I could do just to obey. So, supporters, I am no longer in the Education department, but I am now in Community Health Evangelism (CHE).

Not being in the Education department anymore doesn’t close the door on the possibility of missionary teaching. Not being in the Education departmentmost certainlydoes not close the door on this internship. If anything, it opens the door even wider! I will still be giving love, being open arms, and showing hope, just in a different way than originally planned. On Friday, I woke up feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for a new day! It was only by following God’s call and by His power and strength that I could feel this way. I got the opportunity to visit a woman’s house and pray for her after she poured her heart out for a half hour. I got the opportunity to see 25 beautiful women graduate from the sewing class and get their new life started. And come Monday, I will be in Kiamaiko, an area of the Mathare Valley slum that has more men than women, more Muslims than Christians, and honestly makes me a little nervous. But regardless, God is placing me there for a reason and that reason will begin to be unveiled over the next five weeks of work.

1 Peter 4:11 says, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” And that is what I’m doing. I’m serving so God may be praised.

I’m beyond thrilled for what God is going to do over these next weeks, and I hope you all are excited with me. Thank you for following in my journey here in Kenya and with God!

A new post will be coming next Saturday. Have a lovely week! :)

P.S. For those who don’t know, the fast was changed to July 13 so any weekend 4th of July festivities may still be enjoyed and those returning from mission trips are able to participate. You can fast from anything- food, cell phone, TV, music, work ;)- or nothing at all! Pray is all we ask for, and I hope you all will consider participating!

HELLO family, friends, and supporters!

It is 11:55 AM on Saturday, June 16 and my team and I have officially been in Nairobi for one week and three days, with one full week of work under our belt. I’m going to try and fill you in on as much as possible, but I’m at a cyber cafe where I’m charged 1 shilling per minute so I have to pace and limit myself. For those of you that don’t know, 90 minutes on the computer, for example, would cost 90 shillings, which is basically a dollar, give or take some. Not too shabby.

We arrived in Nairobi around 9 PM on Wednesday the 6th and got to our hostel, the Ufungumano (have fun with that one!) House around midnight. Thursday was orientation at Missions of Hope International (MoHI), the school(s) we’re working at, and a tour of Area 1 of Mathare Valley. Missions of Hope started in 2001 with 50 children in a rented out apartment area. Since then, they’ve grown to having 14 different centers, including a boarding school for secondary aged children called Joska, 6,846 students, 8 churches, lifeskills classes for mothers of students (like sewing, beading, and soon to come- a hair salon), microfinance loans to people that need help starting a business, and now they’re starting a center in Turkana, Kenya that will start out with 301 students. It’s a great honor to work along side Mary and Wallace Kamau, the founders of MoHI, and the rest of the MoHI staff. They’re all such strong believers in Christ and are a total inspiration for all of us interns. Being back in Area 1 felt almost like a second home. I’ve seen it before, so I knew what to expect, and this time, I could concentrate more on the people than the poverty surrounding my walk.

In just the last week though, my world has already begun to be flipped and turned upside down. Friday, and Monday through Thursday, we had orientation of each department in MoHI. These include: Community Health Evangelism (CHE), Spiritual Development & Counseling (two different departments, but combined into one day), Social Work, Education, and Business Development Services (BDS). There are ten official areas of the Mathare Valley slum, and in a matter of 6 days, I’ve already visited 8 of them. Each area of the slum has a totally different feel to it, and people respond differently to a mzungu (white person) in each area.

The home visits that I’ve made over the course of orientation have all been very encouraging, with almost every person being a born-again christian and holding onto the hope that Jesus Christ offers them. There have been a few things though, that have just rocked my world amidst these encouragements. I saw a little girl eating a big block of styrofoam, I saw a little girl sitting in the dirt with her bare butt, I saw three children eating plastic bags, I saw kids in my classrooms eating the graphite from their pencils after they sharpened them, I heard about a six year old girl that has already been through so much incest that she’s totally brainwashed and can’t even think for herself, and most recently, I saw a man getting beaten in the street on my way to Pangani (the main center of MoHI), and later found out that he bled to death from both sides and they burned him to a tire. He supposedly may have been part of a “band of thieves,” but he wouldn’t confess and that’s why they killed him. All of these horrible moments were times when I would question why I was here or what I could do, but every time after, God has assured me that He doesn’t need me here, but Hewantsme here, and I can’t change the whole world, but through Christ, I can change the world of many individuals. The desire of my heart is to love God wholeheartedly, to love His people wholeheartedly, and to serve in the way He came to serve and to give him all the glory, honor, and praise.

On Friday, we started in our departments and my hopeful schedule was made in regards to Education. Our motto here is “be flexible,” but if all goes well, I will be teaching four classes a day with 4th graders. I got to meet a lot of the students and I’m very excited for this opportunity. The light in their eyes and the love on their faces is all the reminder I need of God’s love, and the love that they deserve back from me. Teaching here is much different than it is in America, but that certainly does not constitute our way as right and their way as wrong, or vice versa. I’m so excited and grateful to have the strength and the guidance of the Lord in this experience.

Last Saturday, we had a town orientation and became familiar with the city of Nairobi. We learned how to cross the street- extreme jaywalking should be a sport- and learned where different markets, cyber cafes, restaurants, and matatu stops are. Taking the matatu (public transportation) to and from work every day is an experience in and of itself that I wish everyone could experience, along with crossing the street. It’s so much fun having the freedom to go around the city and enjoy free time around there though.

One last thing- Kenyans (and many other countries in Africa, I believe) have a thing called “tea time.” They have this time twice a day, every day, around 10 and 4. They serve Chai, which is much, much different from American Chai. Their Chai is tea leaves, water, and a lot of goat’s milk. It’s one of the best hot beverages I’ve ever had though. Drinking Chai here last year was the first time I’d ever had hot tea. It took me a while to get used to it, but I eventually fell in love, and even had my own “tea times” back in America over the course of the year. The tea times here have been amazing! It’s so great to be drinking their tea again. I can’t get enough of it. Earlier this morning, I was thinking and praying, and really craving some tea. It was while I was reading 1 Peter 2 that something dawned on me. Verses 2 and 3 say, “cravepure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord isgood.” The spiritual milk here is of course, the Word, prayer, serving, and fellowship (among others I’m sure). But my other source of pure spiritual milk is Chai. Sounds crazy, right? Let me explain. At 10 in the morning, we’ve barely started our work. We’ve probably done a little, but not much. When we take Chai, it warms our body just like Christ and it provides us with a time of fellowship with each other and with God. At 4 in the afternoon, our work days are mostly complete and again, it warms our body and gives us fellowship. It helps us rejuvenate from things we may have seen or heard, and gives us a time to lean on God and cry out to Him. The taste of Chai is good, and the times for Chai are good, just like the Lord is good. I think that’s pretty cool.

Well, I think that’s about it. This journey so far has been amazing, heartbreaking, convicting, and so much more, and I’m so excited for everything else that is in store. Thank you all so much for your prayers, your thoughts, and your continuous support. God is good, and I’m so thankful for the blessing you all are in my life!

More to come next weekend! Have a blessed week! :)

P.S. On July 6, my team and I will be fasting from sunrise to sundown to dwell on the things God has done during our first month here, to pray for the things to come in the last month, and to be in constant prayer for the Mathare Valley and the interns in other countries. I would love it if you fasted from your sunrise to sundown with us! It works out so that if we all do it, it’d be almost a full 24 hour fast. If you don’t want to fast entirely, just pray!