Because my face hurts from smiling so much!

Ahh gotcha! I had you thinking that I didn't like Kenya but I actually think it might be the single greatest place I've ever been!

Here are some logistics for you, since I have had little to no contact with anyone in the USA. I arrived last Thursday evening in Nairobi after many many hours in planes and airports. But thankfully everything went off without a hitch. I couldn't have asked for smoother travels. And my team of Exposure folks was just awesome and I can't wait to here about what God is doing for them in nearly every corner of Kenya. It was sad we had to be split up after bonding so much during our travels.

My fellow Exposure kids and I stayed in a hostel in Nairobi until Saturday morning when Jeanne (one of my 7 team mates on the World Race team called Fullness of One) and I took a six-ish hour bus ride to Kisumu which is in West Kenya, about an hour from the border with Uganda. It was a lovely, lovely bus ride and I basically had my face glued to the window the entire time. The country side is so beautiful and I saw at least five hundred cows, goats, chickens, and of course tons of tiny, beautiful African children along the road.

I arrived in Kisumu and Jeanne and I were greeted by two other team members- Kristen and Leisa, the team leader. They took us to a grocery store (surprisingly modern) and then to our HOUSE. That's right, house. Here I thought I'd be roughing it in a tent and I have a bunk bed and we have a kitchen, living room, yard, gate, two full baths. And a house full of my lovely lady team members- Jeanne, Leisa, Kristen, Hannah, Keet, Casandra, and my roommate Lauren.

This house is amazing and it's rented to us from a really great family at our contact church- Deliverance Church. These absolutely wonderful people from the church come to our home and prepare our meals for us twice a day and just generally work so hard to make sure we are happy and comfrotable! And my team is filled with just the nicest girls I could have ever asked for and I know God brought me into their journey for a reason. Despite joining them after they've already been a team for five months, they never make me feel like the "newbie" or an outcast.  Instead, they've shown me so much love and I feel extremely close to each of them, even though I've known them for mere days. Also, they have taught me a great deal about myself, about Scripture, and about living a life full of God.

So pretty much, I AM SO SPOILED!

But honestly, everything that's occurred so far is so clearly a blessing directly from God and I'm starting to be able to discern that so many things in my life before this trip were a result of God's grace and guidance.

My family at Deliverance church is really the greatest group of people! They are the sort of people that overused words like 'amazing' and 'wonderful' and 'generous' don't even begin to describe. They show us the sort of kindness that makes me feel like the words 'Thank you' can not fully express my gratitude. They always have someone watching over us and protecting us and loving us like our new friends Moses, Eric, Paul, Gilbert, Lytia, and so so many more that I feel terrible for forgetting to list. We never go anywhere alone and I always feel safe.

So I've been incredibly busy and going non-stop lately but I love it! Our ministry is basically anything Deliverance Church and Pastor Elisha throws our way. Sunday was my first real day of ministry ever. We went to both church services and Sunday school. I feel like everyone who ever goes to Africa says this, BUT the children are incredible! They are some of the smartest kids I've ever met. After Sunday school, I had 9 and 12 siblings, Rachel and David, telling me that they were going to cure HIV/AIDS and cancer. And not only that they were going to do it, but exactly HOW they were going to do it. Truthfully, it was way over my head. And that's only one example, but the children I've encountered everywhere are so eager to learn and so intelligent and just loving God in every way they can. We've been traveling to secondary schools around the area, preaching (yeah, I'm preaching. Even I can't believe it.) and I've found that the students really value their education so much more than I ever did. School is not required for children, nor is it free. And the children really want to get everything out of their schooling that they possibly can because of how difficult it is for them to pay their fees. From my perspective, it makes them more engaged, invested, and passionate learners.

After church the first Sunday, we also met with a widows group. It was amazing to see how God enabled us to empower these women. We encouraged them to lean on each other and lean on the Lord, because many of them were in very dark places where they felt that nothing and no one was able to help lift them up and into the light. This was my very first act of ministry and I was so terrified. But I hope the words that God gave me were beneficial to them. I was actually able to suggest a new name for their group, because they no longer wanted to be defined by their status as widows. I suggested Nuru- a Kiswahili word which means light, with a connotation of hope. I'm not sure if they'll use it, but regardless, this is what I see in the strength of these women. I see them as the light of Christ and the promise of His hope for others who have suffered significant loss.

Since I've been here, we've also met with the Youth (18-30), the primary school kids (who ask the greatest questions about America, e.g. Who was the third vice-president? or What is the deepest lake in the US?), high school students for whom we've been able to preach, and many many members of Deliverance's congregation. I've found that the kids challenge me the most. The high school kids ask me "How can I become a politician in America? How did America become a super power?" or most heart-wrenchingly "Why do Americans seem like royalty?" and "How will I ever be able to afford American univeristies?" It's rough sometimes but I welcome the challenge and I hope I'm representing our country and God to them accurately and fairly. We also got to go to an orphanage and just love and feed and play with toddlers and babies who were once abandoned and now just glow in health. That was definitely a morning filled with joy for us.

We've done so much in so few days and I want to share it all but this is really becoming more of a novel than a blog. I'll leave you with some +'s and -'s.

+

• We might meet Obama's grandmother
• My Swahili is improving
• Cold showers make me waste less water
• I've seen so many people come to know Christ
• I'm learning more about the NGO's around here (future career?)
• Receiving a Luo (tribal) name- Atieno (born at night) and a Swahili name- Nakesa (harvest)
• Having a family in my team and church that loved me immediately, no questions asked
• Finding out what it means to really walk with the Lord and listen to Him

-

• Drinking soda for the first time in 6 years (it would have been rude to refuse)
• Mosquitos
• Roosters that wake me up BEFORE the crack of dawn and many times after
  
• Kids cracking up at my funny American accent (kind of a + too)
• Struggling to see and understand the dire poverty
• Not being able to remember all the valuable things that I'm learning from God and from others
• Missing my friends and family

I love you all! I hope this gave you a good glimpse of my life for the past week!

"I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. For I resolved to know nothing when I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Cor 2:1-2

Love always,

Lynsey