Team Kenya Reflections of God's Presence

While we experienced so much more every day than what we were able to share, the team wanted to put into words some reflections that stand out in our mind.  We truly saw and felt the goodness of God each day and are very thankful for the prayers, support, and encouragement of so many. Here are some thoughts from the ladies: 

• I’m so glad I said YES to going on this trip to Kenya. I had been concerned about the possibility of having health issues but GOD took care of me. Through this experience I was able to meet GOD in new and fresh ways. I felt the power of his presence in every detail of every event and encounter. I have been impacted in such deep places of my heart. I have left half of my heart in Kenya! Although I wasn’t planning to sponsor another child, GOD had other plans. HE hand selected Moreen to be my child. I’m looking forward to the time I can return. I’m so glad I said YES to this calling. (Moreen is the 3rd from the left).
  
  
• Two years ago Rusty and I sponsored a young boy named James. I had met his mom on a home visit to the slums and she had asked us to pray that one of her children would get sponsored. God told me to sponsor one of her children and I was able to sponsor her son James. James was 13 at the time, he was sporadically attending public school, was very thin and spoke very little English. He was not up to par with his grade level in school. He was actually not happy to be sponsored because this would change his world as he knew it. After sponsoring him, meeting him and finding out that he was sad, I was sad because I thought I was listening to God and doing something good, but with him being sad it did not feel so good. MOHI assured me that for the first time in his life he would attend school every day, be loved, be fed two times a day and he would learn. Within weeks I heard from MOHI that he was doing well and thriving. Then Jill Shuck was visiting MOHI and she sent me a video of him playing soccer at Angaza camp. He was beginning to thrive. On this trip I got to spend the day with him on a field trip with our sponsored students. He is now 15 and in 9^th grade (Form 1). He is doing very well, speaks English well, and has caught up in school. God and MOHI have allowed him to thrive and I am grateful for the opportunity to sponsor him. Witnessing his growth was a highlight of my trip.
   
• My favorite day was when we took almost all of our sponsored kids on a field trip to Paradise Lost. We enjoyed boating on a lake, hiking to a natural waterfall, and playing on a real playground!! It was a park-like setting with large trees, green grass, and animals....all things, most had never experienced before. When we left the park, we all went to the local outdoor mall for lunch at KFC! All the children were so well behaved, and so appreciative of the time we were spending together.  Having those precious hours to connect with one of my sponsored girls, and 3 of my friend’s sponsored kids, was really precious. It was wonderful to be able to bond deeper than letters back and forth allow us to do. These kids are so special. So thankful, thoughtful, polite, appreciative, bright, smiling, and GOD-loving! It truly was my best day of the entire trip. 
• I am glad I said yes because I was able to see the progress firsthand that has been made in God's name for the children of Kenya through MOHI and its' supporters. I saw progress everywhere I turned.  The schools have, and continue to, multiply and expand. New skills centers have started, and new career areas have been introduced. I saw more working mothers and cleaner slum areas.  I saw thriving children, who looked healthy and happy.  My heart was filled with every turn, and I will carry this joy with me for a long time.  Thank you, God, for giving me my charge, clearing my path, easing my fears, and then blessing me so richly!!!
• I am so glad I said yes to going on this mission trip.  I knew going in, that I would be jumping out of the boat and into a slightly uncomfortable comfort situation, from already going to Kenya in 2022, but was so excited to again see God’s work through MOHI.  The work that MOHI is doing in Kenya is amazing and they are giving children and families that are living in the most difficult circumstances an opportunity to go to school, have health and dental care and to better themselves through education so they may possibly someday attend university (college) and support themselves.  You go into this experience excited and know that your goal is to build relationships with people across the world and to bless them with love and to spread the word that God loves them unconditionally because they are is his children.  He created each of us and loves each of us! You leave this experience knowing that even across the world, we all love, worship and have faith in the same God.  After this experience. you end up feeling blessed 100x!  I feel honored that I have been able to experience this twice.  God is good!
• It was amazing to be greeted so enthusiastically, with all the smiles. MOHI is a beautiful mission. 
• Going on this mission trip to Kenya certainly stretched and challenged me in many ways. From going so far away from home and leaving behind some conveniences to seeing extreme poverty and hardships, the experience was sobering yet hope-filled. We felt God in all of it and with us, and we learned to fully trust Him. The team did a great job encouraging one another and embracing a new culture. The people at MOHI were so kind and hospitable, educating us on why they are there, and we could certainly see the impact they were having. One thing we learned is to start small but dream big. Change one life at a time. We serve the same awesome God, and to see in person how God is using the people at MOHI was truly a life changing experience.
• It was beautiful to know that we would do our best to plan and prepare for each day, but then we would release those plans into God's hands and see how things would shift and change and be exactly what they needed to be according to His plans.  Every day we saw and experienced His goodness over and over again.

When we first began to talk about and plan for the trip, we expressed to the team members that it would be so much more than a two-week journey.  Now, we have the blessing, joy, and honor to pray about and discern what it is that God wants us to do with all that we learned and experienced. The journey and the mission have not ended for we are on mission every day WITH Him.