Founders Football Day!
Today was our annual celebration day of all that God has done at Crossroads Vipingo! We invite the community for a soccer tournament, activities, food, entertainment and the gospel. The celebrations was such a success thanks to the support of people at Fox River! We were able to feed and share Gods love with over 3,000 people! The team really enjoyed getting it do activities with the community, let's take a look at some of the fun things they got to do!
Fun in the sun!
We started off this morning with the Director of MANNA Worldwide, Bruce O’Neal, sharing his testimony with the group. Bruce said he came from a non-Christian family with an alcoholic father. It wasn’t until Bruce was 29 years old that God showed him there was more to life then just being a successful businessman. After Bruce gave his life to Christ, he sold everything they had, went to Bible College, and joined the mission field. Bruce and his wife Pam were on the mission field for over 10 years. Then God moved in his life to start MANNA. God brought Fox River and MANNA together in 2006 and started moving in ways we could have never imagined. Bruce challenged us with this, “If you think your ministry is only this week and a half here in Kenya, you’re wrong! Your biggest ministry is to go home after this and share with others what is going on here! To take what happens here and spark a change in your life, to have a fire for what is happening here in Kenya and get others to join in!” After Bruce’s speech, we headed down to the beach for some fun in the sun with our Class 7 students. We learned that 10 am doesn’t really mean 10 am. Kenya time works like this…set up a time to meet…then you should add at least 20 minutes!! =). Consequently, half of the children where late, but it ended up working out. We took what I call a Sea Safari on the beach. We had a guide that picked up all these cool animals or sea things from the water and let us touch or hold them. We ended at our favorite ice cream shop where we treated the children to ice cream. For some children, it was their first time having ice cream. It was a blast sitting on the beach eating ice cream and building relationships with them!
Even though we were running behind all day, we still found time to head to Bomani to hang more mosquito nets. Even with the limited time, God used us in great ways to spread joy all over the village. We were also able to invite several families to the celebration day on Sunday. Along the way, Shannon ran into some of her friends from the school. Shannon was excited to see where they lived and to meet their parents.
We then had to rush back to the Neptune, shower up, and then drive over to Crossroads Church to attend a special dinner our missionaries were hosting for us. It was a night to just relax and get to know some of the staff at Crossroads. It was a great blessing to end the day with such amazing people who give everything they have to serve Jesus!
Please pray that tomorrow’s weather will cooperate for our big soccer tournament. For the last few years it has rained on this day and we have had to cancel the tournament. Let’s pray for good weather!
Heath updates: we are adjusting more to the time but still a few are having a hard time. Please keep the prayers coming!
I'm having trouble with the internet so I can't upload any more pic sorry!
A walk in the park
A Walk in the Park Haller Park that is! Haller Park is a nature park in Mombasa just down the road from where we are staying. It is the transformation of a quarry wasteland into an ecological paradise where they have lots of animals. Today we had the opportunity to take the 6th grade classes from Bomani and Vipingo on a field trip there. Now I don’t know about you but taking 70 kids on a field trip isn’t such a walk it in park to me but we had them in groups of 4-5 and then matched them up with one of us and it was a lot of fun. Before we left we collected digital cameras people didn’t use anymore and brought them with us so the children would learn how to use one and be able to take some pictures from their field trip. I wish you could have seen their eyes light up when we told them we had cameras just for them to learn and use, it was one of the highlights of my day! To me one good picture is far better than any souvenir you could bring home. It reminds me of the people I was with and the good times we had together. So, after familiarizing ourselves with the cameras, we set off into the park. We were assigned a guide who told us about the history of the park and the animals. I absolutely love how our guide started us off. He talked to us about how important it is that the students learn about the animals and how to take care of them because they are the future. One day the children will be the ones that will need to be take care of the animals and they will be the ones who will teach others. That is why we took the kids on the field trip, not to just teach them about animals but to work at being young leaders of tomorrow. We take them to do something fun, build relationships and next week they are going to be helping us lead the activities for the younger students. God has called each one of us to be a light unto the world no matter how old we are! This trip has opened the door for lots of good conversations! Other fun facts we learned along the way: - If you are out in the bush and you get cobra venom in your eye you can put urine on it and it will save you. If you are at home you can use beer or milk (The guide then told the children not to drink the beer, so don’t go home saying he told them to drink beer. Hahaha!). - Crocodiles don’t have a tongue, (needless to say no taste buds neither) so all meat taste the same to them. - They also leave their mouth open because it’s their way of cooling down their body - Antelope will bite you to death but they won’t eat you because they don’t eat meat. Yes, things here are not sugar coated at all =). After the Haller Park visit, we had lunch with the children in Vipingo before starting our next adventure: hanging mosquito nets! We went out into the community to hang the mosquito nets that were provided by Fox River and people like you. We took along men from the bible college that were able to help us translate and share the love of Jesus with the people in the community. When you’re walking around the village and see how little the people have but then God tugs at your heart and reminds you that He is all they need! It is life changing. We can bless a family with a free mosquito net to help prevent malaria but it is just a door to talking about the free gift that Jesus gave each one of us! Just like when we ask them if we can give them a free net, all they have to do is say “yes”, God promises us so much more then just a net IF we will say “yes” to Him! Gina was sharing about what a blessing it was for her to be able to hang a net for a family and then say a prayer as asking God to bless them. I have a few prayer requests: - That God will continue to use us to grow His kingdom as we go into Bomani tomorrow afternoon to hang nets and share His love. - For strong health, we have had some people not feeling 100% and not sleeping through the night yet. Pray for Gods hand on them. - This is a big weekend for outreach. We have our celebrations Saturday at Vipingo and Sunday at Bomani. Pray that God brings people out and that they would be open to hearing the gospel. Note: We have a schedule change for tomorrow. We will be doing Sea Safaris on the beach tomorrow with the 7th great classes. 
Bomani
Today was our first full day and we hit the ground running! After a descent night’s sleep coupled with a belly full of the Neptune’s yummy breakfast, we were off to Bomani for the day. We started at the government school where we were shown the classrooms, offices and around the facility. Image having class sizes ranging anywhere from 50-100 students and not having enough desks for all the students. Fox River has graciously provided new desks in an attempt to create a better learning environment for the students who previously had to sit on the dirt floors. This year we had desks made for the teachers too. We were able to present them to the school this morning at the assembly that had for us. The children also citied poems and sang songs for us; which was very special. The level of talent and the passion for the arts here is incredible. It’s such a blessing to watch! One of our favorite parts of the morning was handing candy out to the children at the gate and to see their faces light up with such happiness. It touched my heart. From there we went down the road to our school in Bomani, you could hear the kids singing at the entrance before we even got to the school. To see the difference between the government school and the Fox River school is incredible. God has blessed us with the ability to give such an amazing experience to the children in our school. They prepared several lovely performances for us and it was great to watch the children pour out their hearts for us. After the performances, we were ready to have some hang out time with the kids and today we got just that! When the performances were over we had the opportunity to serve the kids by helping with hand washing, serving up the food or just hanging out with the ones waiting for their turn to eat. Ann’s kitchen staff prepared an amazing special meal for us. Let me tell you, it’s always my favorite meal of the whole trip!
We spent the afternoon playing games with the staff and hearing the history of the school. After breaking into small groups we had the opportunity to talk to the staff members about their responsibilities at the school. On the way home, we talked about the day and reflected upon what blessed us the most. The consensus was the relationship built between the staff members and the children. The time we spent with them will be remembered for a lifetime!
During our time at Bomani, Pastor Allan gave us some history of the land. Pastor Allen told us that before Fox River bought the land, a child was sacrificed here. What a tragic story. But now, this same land is now where people find life in Jesus! Praise the Lord! Pastor Guy talked about that statement tonight in our meeting when he challenged us to remember Jesus called us to come, serve, follow, obey and go. We are the branches and Jesus is the vine. If we abide in Him we will bear fruit. Pastor Guy challenged us to stay connected with Him as we are on this journey and remember that even when things don’t make sense to us now, Gods plan is perfect and if we abide in Him He will bless us more then we could have ever thought possible!
At the government school
The kids out side the gate at the government school
Handing out sweets!
The desks
Our Bomani kids
We had all the pastors do the slinky game!
My photographer assistant!
Vipingo
This afternoon in Vipingo, we were welcomed by the whole school outside singing! After the amazing welcome song was over we were escorted into the church where the students had prepared a program for us to express their thankfulness to Fox River for providing uniforms, food and a good school. I have to say that the girls’ choir that preformed for us today were amazing; I am very excited to report that they are off to nationals soon! Once the program ended, Pastor Guy brought the Fox River team up on the stage and talked about how each precious child sitting in front of the team was sponsored by someone at Fox River. The sponsor responded to the needs of the children and obyed God's call to give a child a better story and to make a difference in their lives! The Fox River team presented team jerseys to the Kenyan team. We might not all live and work together but without each other we wouldn’t be able to impact so many lives. We like to use the jerseys to show that we are all one team, working together serving the same God on two different sides of the world! Our Kenyan partners recently celebrated the completion of the school building in Vipingo. God is good, all the time.
We spent plenty of time playing crazy American games before each team member partnered up with a Kenyan staff member for a tour around the school. The Kenyan staff members explained to their American guests all about their job at the school to include some life experiences. It was really a blessing to see how God opened hearts for some really great conversations.
The last thing the team had to do today was stay up until 9 pm! I know it sounds funny but this helped them adjust to the eight hour time change difference…I will update you tomorrow on how they all really did =)
Be Great. Serve!
The late start was a great blessing after being up till 5:30am!We were challenged with John 13, when Jesus got up from dinner and washed his disciples feet.
After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples' feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:5 NIRV
We were given a towel that says Be Great. Serve! and challenged to keep them with us and watch for when God opens a door to use it. Along with that Pastor Guy also challenged us to ask ourself 'What was the blessing of the day and journal about it.'
Off for a quick lunch and then to Vipingo!
Safe and sound!
We have the team back at the hotel and they are checking in to there rooms where they will get some good sleep!!!We did have one bag that didn't show up so please pray that it comes in tomorrow.
Landed in Kilimanjaro
Landed in Kilimanjaro, dropping off and loading up One more up down and were to mombasa
On plane on the way to Mombasa
We made it thru the lines, security, broken escalators, and more line but were all on board and ready to get the last 4 up downs complete (we make a pit stop to drop off and pick up some passengers). Teams spirits are all up and looking forward to our arrival into mombasa.