The long safari home

Thank you for sticking with our Kenya blog over the past couple of weeks! We're now just 50 minutes away from touchdown at Heathrow and getting used to the idea that very soon our 'real' lives will be sweeping us up again.

We've had an amazing experience in Kenya with so much to process, memories to think on, situations and people to pray for and new friendships to treasure.

It hasn't all been easy and there have been some frayed tempers and tears. Mostly though, there's been laughter, generosity, kindness, love, more laughter... and lots of singing!

Our last few days have been spent 'glamping' at Sweetwaters. It felt appropriate to end our 'safari' ('journey' in Swahili) with the usual kind of safari, taking rather scary, mud-slidey drives out into the bush to see amazing sights: whole families of elephants, giraffes so close we could almost touch them, a pair of lions lying low, huge rhinos, buffalo, baboons, zebras, impala... and lots more. Incredible!

The views of Mount Kenya swathed in morning mists and beautiful sunsets were breathtakingly beautiful. The vast, panoramic skies were awe inspiring. And the opportunity to share our last few days together in the company of our hosts, Richard, Heidie, Luke, Neve and our firm new friend Lieutenant Patrick has made the perfect wind down to our trip.

Patrick treated us to one last experience of the real Kenya on our journey back to Nairobi. As we pulled into a roadside market, windows tightly shut, our two minibuses were mobbed by banana sellers. Patrick squeezed out of the door and proceeded to barter for the best price, surrounded by women waving bananas, avocado and passion fruit in his face. Apparently having muzungus in the car pushes the price up, but he returned triumphant anyway and we tasted the best bananas ever, fresh from the tree.

We're excited about sharing our photos, stories and experiences with you very soon. We hope that the the things we've learned about ourselves, about the way other people live and the opportunities each of us have to be part of the change we hope to see in the world ripples out into the lives of others. We've been knocked sideways by the faith we've seen in people with so little.

We've realised how very poor we are in so many ways, how our comfort and material wealth often masks our lack of community and trust in God. How dulled our sense of joy in worshipping our amazing God has become.

We're praying that as we share with you and reflect on our journey, our Kenyan 'safari', God's kingdom will come a little closer in your lives and ours.

So huge thanks again for your support, and especially for your prayers - there were some crazily scary moments, particularly on the roads and we have been very conscious of God's hand upon us.

And lastly... special thanks to Richard, Heidie, Moses, Patrick, Carol for stepping in so bravely less than two days before our flight, and the lovely Helen whose vision it was to take this trip and who was, in the event, unable to come. Praying God's most beautiful blessings on each one of you.

Angie x

Last day of painting

Well today was the last day of painting so we woke up nice and early to head off to the blind school. We stopped over the shops I (Goodreach) wanted to get some items to see if I could fix the broken sink in the nursery and we also needed some spare brushes and extra stuff to finish the job .

At the end of the second day we felt a bit clueless - we thought there was far too much to be done and weren't sure wether we could finish the job on time , so at soon as we got to the school we gave each other jobs and a list of all that needed to be done and just got on with it! Beth F, Nyasha and Seb finished painting the windows while Beth Selfe, Angie, Sophie and the rest of the group finished the interior painting .

Whilst everyone was painting I started on the plumbing and with alot of effort we were moving forward very fast . When some people finished painting they started cleaning the windows. Beth f , Angie , Sophie and I did some wonderful
art on the walls and when we finished the class rooms they looked great! The kids now have a newly painted nursery unit which looks 10 times better than it did originally. The plumbing I had done was successful so they had a working hand washing section for the first time in a long time.

We re-arranged the class room to how it was but it just looked so much better at the end of the day we got a vote of thanks from the deputy head teacher and the Captain Leonard who works in the chapel at the school.

We were proud of what we did because the classrooms looked so much better - however, we saw the big difference between their facilities and what we have in England. Even though we worked hard there was that feeling of "umm right we did good but there is still more to be done" . We did a good job I just felt the feeling that I want to come back and do so much more because they are such wonderful children and they deserve so much more than what they have.

Goodreach the Plumber :-)

Just keep painting, just keep painting

Today was another great day in the wonderful place of Kenya! This morning we went to Joy Town which is a school for disabled children.

We were taken to two different classes, first was a class with children who had mild mental or physical disabilities. This class (the sunshine class) were learning life skills such as brushing teeth, simple maths and other skills to prepare them hopefully to be able to attend Variety Village where they would hopefully be equipped with the vocational skills to be able to start their own business. The class presented a song to us which was lovely as they seemed really happy to be joining together in these songs.

The principal of the school then took us to the most severely challenged class of which was tied to the name 'special class' by the sign above the door. 99% of this class had cerebral palsy, and all of them had more than one condition. While some in the class were just entertained with toys or rattles made from water bottles, others were given basic tasks to do such as creating numbers with play dough.

Although I understand these are the lucky children for being able to get into school, I couldn't help but feel these children could have been given so much better quality of life. The children have one building which they eat, sleep and learn in which just doesn't given them any chance for fresh air, new experiences or anything more stimulating. That said, I know that the teachers and volunteers are doing an amazing job with the facilities that they have.

Something that struck me about the teaching and other staff is that their ratio is 10 children to 1 adult, when in the UK it can be 6 children to 1 adult (different depending on their setting and age) and that would be for able bodied children. The people who are caring for these children are amazing, but I can't help but feel like these kids could have more.

After Joy Town we went straight back to Thika School to carry on painting the second cost. The nursery is looking 10 times better than it did, it is clean and is looking more fresh. After we had done our painting slot for the day we went for a meal for lunch, on the way however we saw a car accident so please pray for those people and their families.

It's great to be able to see the things going on with the Salvation Army in Kenya and we have many stories to tell so far, so get ready for it when we get home. Not long now and you will be able to see us again, we know you have missed us.

Love ya all,
God bless
Beth Selfe

April fools!

Today was the feared April fools day, one day in which I was dreading because of a few crafty individuals (or shall I say individual)! After being awake for ten minutes I discovered not only that Mark was very quick at emptying Seb's room but Seb did not take it lightly to say the least! This probably was not aided by the early start before we ventured back to Thika to paint the nursery.

If that were not enough, Mark then decided to have a little switch around, (with the help of Alfred from our Accommodation), of all of the keys to our rooms which resulted in just a little bit of confusion! This is a nightmare of a secret to keep seeing as I cannot keep secrets and when quizzed why Mark was suspiciously talking outside with the staff, I just had to run out of the room!

This was not the last of the adventures we went through that day. After arriving at the blind school for the second time we were confronted with more eggs, this time at a restaurant, when we were served with a full English breakfast (just 30 minutes after we had eaten our own breakfast at the base may I add) followed by huge Kenyan donuts.. We were stuffed!

After this we started scraping and washing two nursery classrooms, all the windows, all the doors and all the walls, and after ten minutes it felt like we needed another English breakfast to keep us fuelled!

This then led to more discoveries. We discovered that Mark cannot paint, Richard was very good at making sandwiches and Beth France was very speedy at painting windows!

The painting went very well and we managed to paint two classrooms and all the windows. Mark and Richard slaved for hours whilst chipping away some 'blackboard' paint whilst good old Captain Moses was stood on a wonky storage unit all day whilst painting those hard to reach places.

After all the painting was over, at Beth's request, we had the joy of listening to the Thika choir again and were utterly blessed by their strong determination to bless others despite of their challenges.

So all in all a good day with lots of laughs (and Seb's distress!)

Happy April fools day!

Sophie

The Heights of Kilome

Apologies for the delay, by the time I had finished this we were experiencing one of our regular power cuts, and consequentially had no WiFi. My bad!

Saturday brought back the demoralising early mornings for some, as we were due to depart at 6.30am. Fortunately for Seb, who happened to also turn 20 that day, Captain Moses was delayed and did not arrive until just gone seven!

The following three hours consisted of first picking up a gentleman called Eric, then (as always) the unique minibus trip towards the heights of Kilome for a fun day with the children there. Most of the guys and girls attend the school because they have suffered from HIV or other issues within their families, resulting in many of them being orphaned at an early age.

There were many things we saw on the outward journey, from good sights such as a herd of Giraffe 15 metres from the side of the road and zebras, to the hard realisation that we were on one of Kenya's most notorious roads for accidents. We passed many incidents that were left on the side of the road, one of which being from early that morning, where three lorries had collided and ignited. Captain explained that this was mainly due to careless driving and over taking - an experience throughout the trip we will probably never forget!

Once we arrived, we were welcomed by Major Mary and Joseph (no joke!), who provided breakfast with yet more eggs and cakes. After breakfast, we headed straight out to meet the children...

We started by playing a game together with all of the children and guardians, in which we had to get into groups of the same number that the Major called out. I don't think that any of us had a clue about how violent grandmothers could be! (More than one of us were left with marks around our arms and necks!). After that, we played a few small ice-breaker games with the children.

Once this ended, we split the group into two, with the younger kids going off into the church for some crafts and games, whilst the older lot stayed outside and played some football with Goodreach and I. The look on the children's face when Major Joseph, (who was translating) told them that I would be giving them the equipment to keep after we had finished I will never forget! Then the match was on...

To see the children enjoy themselves over something as easy to come by in England as a football was very humbling, even though the altitude did make the game interesting for us! It was similar to Thursday evening, when we went to Mathare North SA for their sports project. To see what the guys had previous, and to know that you have given them not only just a day to remember, but a legacy that they can continue to work on with the equipment that they received made me think about just how lucky we are in the UK, and how we take many things for granted.

As always on African time, we left Kilome slightly (two hours) late, resulting in us having to slightly tweak the itinerary, and postpone one trip for 24 hours. Leaving at two pm, we didn't return back to Mt Carmel until just gone five, where the hotly anticipated announcement regarding the President Elect was being unveiled. There was possibility of tension from the supporters of the rival parties, but the decision to not re-count, mixed with the sudden, rather heavy downfall of rain, greatly reduced the amount of people in the city.

Richard popped over in the evening, and brought Luke and Neve over which ended up in an embarrassing defeat in a race for me, and a 'competitive' game of hide and seek! Richard let us know an update about both Captain Moses, whose car was behind a Matatu (Kenyan Taxi) which a tree collapsed on, killing two people; and Lieutenant Patrick, who had to look after many people who fled their homes in fear of violence due to the election result. Our prayers are with them both.

So all in all it was an exciting day, with our work touching more people from around the East of Kenya (not including the sun touching some of the group!).

I was going to say it's nearly Easter, but I was late.... Happy Easter!

Mark

What's your stone?

He has risen!!!!!!! So it's Easter Sunday and it has been quite the day! First we woke up with no electricity because of the heavy rain last night, which meant my army shirt wasn't ironed! Oh well! Lol. We were picked up by Richard to go for breakfast at the officers house at Mathare Corps. When we arrived we were welcomed warmly and with fried eggs! This was exciting for me as we had started expecting hard boiled eggs as a part of the typical Kenyan breakfast.


We went in for the meeting. I didn't really know what to expect as I have learnt that no army corps is like another. The first thing I noticed was how beautifully decorated the church was. It looked like it was bursting with life and joy! I am pretty sure that the meeting was running one hour behind. But that's just the African way I think. We were blessed by presentations from various groups within the corps; the youth dancers, junior gospel dancers, songsters,the home league timbrels and the praise and worship. My favourite of all these by far was the junior gospel dancers. Such an inspiration! Boys and girls genuinely enjoying worshiping God through dance. There was this one little boy at the front who was putting his all into it, bright smile from start to finish. It made me so happy to see these children so into their worship. They are the future of the church!

Carol gave an amazing Easter Sunday sermon. What I took from it was the concept of the stone that covered Jesus' tomb as things in our lives that keep us from moving on in our faith. We all have things that we put before God and we 'put Jesus into the tomb' and we don't include him in our issues. We need to bring our problems to Jesus and roll away the stone that separates us from Him.

After the meeting we had lunch at the officers' house, which was lovely! I also spoke to a lady who had a cute little 5month old baby boy. His name was Peter and he is definitely the most calm baby I have ever met. Bless him! He slept through the meeting and woke up near the end and was just sat in his mothers arms with the most beautiful smile. As i LOVE little babies the mother let me hold him! I will remember him in my prayers as he is growing up in Mathare Slum which isn't the best place for anyone to live,much less a little baby. Praying for blessings on his life.

We left and went to Kabete Children's home for a fun day. We had finger painting, face painting, football, colouring and many other fun activities. The children all got very involved in the activities and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. I was mainly involved with the younger children, we played with building blocks and did a lot of colouring in sheets. There was this one little boy, Mikey, he really enjoyed his colouring! He spent like an hour on just one picture and had this focused smile on his face. When he was finished he showed me his picture with such a proud smile on his face! Beautiful little boy. I felt blessed by the passion this little boy had for his art! I pray that he has a bright future ahead and that God will open many doors for him!

All in all today was an amazing day! Stay blessed and may you have the courage to roll away the stones in your lives!
Much Love, Nyasha

Singing in the rain

Well well well.....! Today was very much a wildlife day. Our main event was to head to lake Naivasha to boat along and spot some hippos. However our journey started at home with a late start of 9AM. (Yes, that's late now!) after heading out of our car park we headed to a guest house around the corner to pick up three patrons from the Kenya trust. They were here for the music school starting on Sunday.

On the way to lake Naivasha we stopped at Rift Valley....a stunning view which must be seen in person to appreciate, however I'm sure that a quick google will substitute a trans-continental flight. Whilst on google you should investigate the significance of Rift Valley.

After leaving Rift Valley we headed towards a lodge on the lakeside for a very tasty lunch. Only one cockroach fell on Annalise's foot, we shan't dwell on that......

After lunch we headed to the resort where we were to find the boats. The boat ride lasted all of 15 minutes before the rain called it off. (If we had been back home I'm sure we would have carried on........) We didn't let it smash our enthusiasm however, we started singing a Capella. First with The popular chorus 'fishers of men,' and after we had finished, an African lady sang us back the chorus but in Swahili. The next 30 minutes of waiting on a roofed lake boat moored to a pontoon was spent singing various choruses...with audience participation!

Anyway, we returned to the Mustard Seed after our shortened boat ride and had a Good Friday service which was led by Major Carol. This service was delayed after the washing line disaster with all the clean clothes falling onto the ground....and even me!

Today, a day without so much which we had become accustomed to: Firstly, no tea with boiled eggs. Every day we have been welcomed into someone's home with tea, snacks, and boiled eggs! Sometimes more than three times!
Secondly we didn't sing, "the song"! In a meeting, however we did on the boat! (Whenever there is a welcome meeting for us, we are always invited to bring a contribution....with a minibus rehearsal on Monday we decided to sing 'the way it's gunna be' and has since been known as, "the song"! :-) Thirdly Major 'Caro' hasn't been asked to pray a blessing on the venue we were visiting, because we had visited no projects. Fourthly, and sadly, we haven't met with our officer guides Lieutenant Patrick and Captain Moses.
Fifthly, we didn't see the usual staff at the mustard seed who join in our evening devotions who we have become friends with.

In summary, we drove for three hours to see hippos for 15 minutes, had a God filled Good Friday and have seen some incredible sights in a wonderful wonderful country! Win!

Kwa herini, tutaonana.
Asante sana!

Seb

God at work

Well I am unsure of where I can start! We have gone to visit 2 slums in Kenya today and it was a massive challenge. In the morning we travelled to Kierbera which is one of the largest slums in the world. We were heading to a Salvation Army compound in the middle of the slum where we would spend some time in the nursery and then go on to do home visitation. As we arrived in the slum, I and a few other members of the group were taken by a sense of evil surrounding the place. However once we arrived and the gates at the compound opened, the over whelming peace and presence of God was all around. We were greeted by the officer who was telling us there was 1000 members with average of 500 attending Sunday morning meetings. Although I can safely say that the smells, heat, and the things I could see were a shock to the system, more so was the quiet, and the recognition of the Salvation Army as work of God among the community. We were invited into one of the corps members homes, she was a single mother of 6 and 2 year old daughters she told us some things about what it is like living in the slum, what she does if her children's call ill. But what hit us most was that she was expected to pay 5 shillings per time she wanted to go to the toilet, and 5 shillings to be able to get water from the stream that was flowing through the slum. With 2 young children to look after this was a massive issue after due to not having a lot over after paying rent.
In the afternoon we went to Mathare slum where we visited a school. We were only aloud to go on the edge of Mathare slum as it was dangerous. Mathare was very vast and due to being on a hill you had opportunity to see just how big the slum is. Once we had been given a tour of the newly built primary school which was previously falling apart we were presented a song from the pupils lead by a little girl whom had an amazing spirit about her! After that we presented some gifts to the school such as pens, pencils, books and footballs. The Major who was at Mathare corps then invited us to walk a little further into the slum as he wanted to show us where illegal beer was made. As we walked down there was a strong smell of apples and we could begin to see the people using sewage water while going through the process of making the illegal beer. There was a lot of tension and as they looked up there was shouting over to us so we quickly walked back to where it was a bit more safe. That I think was something which was hard hitting as we only were 100yards down the road from the primary school. I think this day is something really difficult to explain in writing as there were so many emotions and things happening within one day. But I hope that you have an idea of what happened.
Asante sana (thank you very much)
La la salama (sleep well)

Fluent Swahili!
Beth Selfe

Village community like you've never known!

Today (Wednesday) was a very busy day!!! We were up at 5am for a 3 hour car journey to a village called "Ukalani"

After a quick stop at the DC's house on our way for the traditional egg and tea, our second breakfast, we travelled along the bumpy gravel "road" (yeah ok!!) to Ukalani. We arrived to a warm welcome from the corps officer and his wife with our third breakfast of the day (eggs and tea!). It is Kenyan hospitality to present visitors with a god spread even if they have nothing themselves! Especially eggs!

We then went to the local school that the Salvation Army sponsors. (but does NOT pay for!) they had 200 in the primary school and 150 in the high school but has no running mains water. The village is nearer the equator than Nairobi where we have been staying, therefore their rainfall is less frequent. They rely on water tanks to catch the rare rain, to have clean water. These cost £400 to install- £400 that they don't have. The alternative is getting the sand from the river bed and "filtering" it. The water is still very dirty.

The school also doesn't have a real toilet so when the hole they build gets full they move the toilets to a new location. The children LOVED to see us "muzungos" (white people) and were fascinated by our cameras!

Following that visit and our forth egg and cup of tea we split into three groups for visitation time. We all went to visit people who live in the village and my group went to meet a 90 year old gentleman and his wife. He was the founder of the corps in this remote village and was corps Sargent Major for 37 years!! He has since passed the baton onto his son (one of 12 children!). He is now wheelchair bound but the closest hospital is 7km away. The transfer to the hospital is expensive and then he has to pay for any kind o consultation or treatment once he gets there. But this man is a great man. Through all his ailments he is still fundraising to build a health clinic in his village and the walls are built.

A very special moment for me was when we were talking to this man and his wife about his children. One of his sons is an officer for the Salvation Army posted in Thika's variety village. We has seen him earlier in the week as he showed us around. As I sat in their living room I realised I had taken a video of their son telling us about the program. I was able to show the mother a video of her son. (whom she hardly sees because he lives so far away!) This was the first time we saw that lady smile. She was overjoyed at something, to us, so simple.

We were challenged by Annalise to consider things in our lives that are secular that bless us because they are blessings from God. (Most people agreed tea was a good one) but I realised in that living room that my little video of her son on my camera brought this lady so many blessings that day, a camera I almost took for granted.

We then drove home after a show front the over 60s and some goat lunch, stopping at the sand dam that Richard Bradbury had organised to be built. It was a beautiful dam and whilst Sophie, Seb, Beth s, Goodreach and mark were standing ON the dam, a tribe carrying knives made a be-line for them... Or so we thought. They were actually members of the Salvation Army who had stood and waited for us from 12pm!! That's 5hours in the scorching heat just to great us for 10 minutes. After major Carol (make sure you don't forget the "major" bit!) prayed a blessing over the dam, we made our way home.

What a challenging, shocking yet beautiful day where community became so real to us all. The villagers in Ukalani look after each other in all aspects. In England do we even speak to our neighbours?!?

We hope you are all enjoying the snow! 27 degrees is just right! ;)

Beth F

I'm forever blowing bubbles (and balloons)

Tuesday morning we were, once again, up bright and early (ok, maybe not so bright). We clambered into the bus to head towards THQ to share in prayers and meet the Territorial Leadership Team. We received a warm welcome from each person we met and were privileged to spend some time in the office of the Territorial Commander. After we'd been shown round, we moved on from there to the elephant orphanage.
I have news for you.
Elephants do not sound like elephants.
Well, ok, elephants don't sound like they do in disney films. The orphanage cares for just under 30 elephants who have lost their parents or otherwise been separated from their families. They were very cute and it was a wonderful opportunity to be able to see them up close like that.
After lunch, we travelled to Kabete children's home, where we spent time with the nursery children. We'd planned various group activities for them, some of which totally fell by the wayside when we blew up the first balloon. An afternoon of fun, laughter, parachute games, balloons and bubbles followed. It was amazing to see the faces of those children light up as we shared what we would consider to be very simple things with them. They were so friendly and so happy to greet us - I think we all had a very enjoyable afternoon (apart from, perhaps, a few light-headed balloon-blower-upers).
More of our adventures to be posted soon (likely to include the story of the 4 breakfasts!) so keep watching this space!
Blessings and love to all back home.

The K Team (courtesy of Annalise)

Amazing

Travelling through Nairobi is an experience! Today we set off just after 7.00am for Variety Village, a training centre for young people with disabilities. Many of the young people who arrive here have not been to school and have found difficulty in finding acceptance in their communities. One girl had been shut in one room for years, the assumption being that she could do nothing. However at the centre she produces knitted garments of a professional standard. We visited the many different classes and in every room we were filled with admiration for the incredible work being done here. This is a truly beautiful expression of grace to those who have often, in the past been written off as useless.

If this was not enough to amaze us, we then moved on to Thika School for the Blind. Here we first visited the Nursery, which we will be painting next week. We met the nursery children and watched open mouthed as their teachers, themselves blind, organised the children. At School assembly we met the whole school. The love of the staff for these unwanted children, and the love they have for one another is tangible and all embracing. Then came the moment of the day. It was like a giant wave that knocks you off your feet. The choir stood to sing and suddenly this fantastic sound hit our ears and melted our hearts.

Days like today change you. Fitting that back at our accommodation we sang to Jesus 'Your grace still amazes me'.

Carol

Trouble with uploads!

Sorry for the delay with these posts... We're all well and having a great time! We'll try again each day :-)

Seeing if a photo from today's trip to Kabete Children's home will post!

First day Palm Sunday

Well we arrived in Nairobi at 5:30 in the morning we were so tired from the flight as most of us hasn't slept on the 7hr flight journey but we met Richard Bradbury and his assistant captain Moses who was very lovely to us he helped us on our way to our accommodation which was a very pleasant surprise to for most of us we got changed to get break fast at the heavily recommended by our Helen Schofield JAVA COFFEE HOUSE which was amazing we have a big breakfast we then hurried to the mornin meeting for what turned out to be a big surprise as we were in the mini bus we drove through to local market is it was just so different to what we were used to there were goats in the middle of the street ALOT of people who were so friendly and crazy and I mean CRAZY traffic as we got closer to the church we heard loud drumbeats and people singing we got there and saw the craziest open air meeting we've ever seen there were people on rooftops standing there so eager to hear the word God we got and introduced and soon after they got us marching haha we marched for about a mile to get to the second destination where the church service continued we got there and the meetin was umm very VERY AFRICAN there was dancing joyful singing it was just epic the church was nothing line the ones in England but it defined the old parse that a building doesn't make a church but the people themselves make the church these people were worshipping in what would be considered a shack made out of metal sheets but they couldn't care less they were just ecstatic that we where there as we were worshipping with them they have us gifts which was very nice , after that we went to Lucy and were just spoiled for choice by the amount of food the hospitality was just amazing after that we showed the youth how we worship God by leading a youth meeting which they loved after the meeting we had loads of photos with members of the corps all in all the day was epic for a first day it was just amazing I can't wait to see what God has instore for us for the next couple weeks

Done by Goodreach Gweshe

Take off!

Ten excited travellers arrived at Bath Citadel yesterday with heaps of luggage and gifts bound for Kenya.

After lunch at the cafe (to be recommended!), baggage checking, letter writing, farewell hugs and a prayer from our Divisional Leaders, we piled everything into the minibus and Beth's Dad's car and headed for Heathrow.

Our first adventure was a surprise trip in the lift to 'Arrivals' for half the party before realising they were supposed to be heading for 'Departures' :) Lots of laughter and then we didn't put a foot wrong!

Brownie points were flying around - for wearing shorts in the snow (Mark), working out that Area F was probably in the E-G direction (Beth F) and good maths (Carol).

Ange awarded herself a secret Brownie point for organisational skills as she handed out money for visas and journals to everyone and then we boarded the plane... which is where we all are as I write this. I think everyone else is asleep - it's all quiet anyway.

Once we'd found our seats and settled down, Carol encouraged us to make sure we allow space for the presence of God in that place between expectation and event.

Sound advice that I'm sticking to. I so know we are firmly in his hands.

Angie

Count down to Kenya

A hundred or so young people and adults gathered at Sandy Park yesterday.  Not to watch Exeter Chiefs throwing a rugby ball around, but to spend time with Jesus the 'Chief Cornerstone' at SWE Salvation Army's annual youth councils. 

Illusionist Steve Price entertained, amazed and amused us... and, thankfully, left Goodreach's head firmly on his shoulders!

Steve also encouraged us to trust in God.  We heard the same message, loud and clear, from Ian as he led the worship, and from Helen as she gave the message from the Chief's own words:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30)

To love him from the deepest part of our beings, to give God his worth as we live our "every day, ordinary lives... and place them before God as an offering." To fill our minds with with his word and to use the energies he has given us in acts kindness, doing his will wholeheartedly.

That's what we're hoping to do as we prepare for the amazing adventure before us.  We know it's going to be challenging.  We're going to meet new people in unfamiliar situations, and we're going to make firm friends.  We're going to laugh a lot.  We're going to cry too.  We know we'll be making a difference, and we know we'll be changed. 

Above all, we know the Chief will be ahead of us, leading our journey together. 

Half way there... huzzah!

We've set our fundraising target high.  £7,500.  I think God likes us to think big, to hope for more than we can dare ask for, or even imagine... and we're over half way there!

Financial support has come in from all over the place - little Salvation Army Corps with no young people of their own who want to get behind the mission and cheer us on, a farmer with eggs to sell, a bring and buy sale - all kinds of people, and for all kinds of reasons. 

 On Saturday evening, the lovely seaside town of Sidmouth gave the SW Youth Band a standing ovation... and £720 to give to the projects we'll be visiting and working with :o)  The band were joined by Sidmouth Gospel Choir for a joyful, encouraging and wonderful evening of thankfulness and praise.  

Mark, Sophie and Seb



Seb, Sophie and Mark spoke about the reasons they have for wanting to come on the trip and also about their expectations. 

Sophie spoke about her grandparents' and great grandparents' work as missionaries with The Salvation Army and how she wants to experience something of their heart for coming alongside people from other cultures with very different lives from us.



Our Divisional Youth Officer, Helen, asked us to consider again the privileged lifestyle we all share.  She spoke with us about the overwhelming generosity she has experienced from people who have very little to give and yet share that little so willingly and freely.

We know this is going to be a huge challenge, but we're up for it!







DHQ go on a mud hunt!

The Evangelism Team from DHQ did the 12 mile Exeter Green Circle walk today in the rain... it was an experience, let's say.  Lots of mud, lots of sliding around... but no falling over. 

We all made it back to the office in one piece and - brilliantly - sponsorship money has been coming in all day!  That's what it's all about after all :o)  Thank you friends, keep it coming.

Team meet in Taunton

Our first gathering in Taunton yesterday afternoon raised the temperature a bit!

We're all getting excited and the pressure's on to get our funding in :)

Things are hotting up!

Helen is back in the office and revving up... it's going to be full steam ahead any minute now.  She just needs one more coffee!

We've posted our sponsored walk on The Book of Faces and someone has donated the cash up front, so we're committed.  Thanks Deborah :-)

This is The Salvation Army at Mathare, a slum in Nairobi.  It's the corps that Richard and Heidie (our hosts in Kenya) go to with their young family.

Last Sunday they weren't able to meet with their friends at Mathare though.  They were told it was too dangerous. 

It's going to be an eye opening trip!