M4 Turkana Kids Camp: Day Three

It's a good morning here in the desert.  Our team is sleeping well, sickness is staying out of our camp and God is so gracious to give us strength in our weakness. 

Day three. 

Day three started again with rain. It cleared out earlier this time. We were thankful for hot ugii (porridge) to warm us. 

And can you guess who was happy about having puddles to jump in...

Our ugii is made of sourgum, millet, peanuts and maize. And let's not forget the sugar!  Tamu sana (so sweet). Everyone keeps commenting how good it is. It's the little things to bring smiles. 

On day three we saw Jesus continue to love on His kids big. So many of them do not know the most simple things about Gods kingdom. The oldest boys were out on the field playing soccer, then Ian gathered them up to teach them how to pray. It was the first time most of them had ever prayed. They went around in their circle and prayed out loud to Jesus. One said "thank you Jesus that we made it a cross the river this morning and it didn't wash me away". Because when it rains here, it tends to flood. In our little girls class, they opened up to share how many have bad dreams and are so fearful at night. One shared a witch dr visits her in her sleep. It was incredible to see them understand the power of the name of Jesus as we equipped them on how to pray when this happens.  In their language they all practiced saying "leave in Jesus' name and Holy Spirit fill me and my house". We watched them gain confidence in being children of God that are sooooo loved. We continued to speak Gods heart and love for them and watched fear leave. Not even the best ugii or chai is sweeter than that! 

Our team continues to love and serve beautifully.  Yesterday during the opening assembly, our youth boldly worshipped like we've never seen. Sophia stood to share her testimony and we couldn't be more proud of her. She came to Mattaw years ago as a shy and fearful child. It's only Jesus that could have brought such a huge transformation in her life. The first night here she shared in our team meeting that this is a dream come true for her.  Pray for them as the last two days can be a challenge to give it your all. 

Day Two

Day two of the kids camp was full of our Abba's goodness. The morning of, it rained non stop from 4am-10am. We counted it a blessing and we're thankful this dry land had a big drink from the sky. The rains delayed the start of our day but it sure didn't hinder any work Jesus wanted to do. We showed up at the camp grounds around 11 and found maybe 20 children. In our American mindsets, it could have caused some stress but thankfully we are in Turkana where it's not just Kenyan time but even slower. Hakuna matatu --- it means no worries. So we sat up the sound system under a beautiful tree while the children were fed their breakfast. By 12:30 we started with a couple hundred children.  The youth from the local church led worship, then our team led. It was beautiful to watch hearts turn to God and lift up praises to His name. The atmosphere shifted and peace was felt. We had several mamas come as well who danced like no one was watching. They sure know how to dance!  The gospel was shared again as well as what the Father and Jesus is like according to the Word. We watched Jesus harvest souls again for His Kingdom and rejoice with the angels over names written in heaven. The two nights before, I was physically just done.  Let's be real, the struggle was real. Our flesh gets weak when the conditions aren't comfortable. Bucket baths, the heat, being surrounded by people non-stop, oily food, kids crying... I mean I could go on and on but if you can catch where discomfort and complaining are trying to come into your camp and make a choice to rise above it and put your focus where is should be, it gives Holy Spirit opportunity to move in our midst. And then you realize how absolutely blessed we are to GET to do this. We saw little bellies fed, faces with big smiles and Gods Kingdom advanced. The teams had fun in the field playing games and laughing. Beans and rice was eaten with joy and we finished up around 4pm.   

Thank you for praying and journeying with us here this week. On our way to kick off day three and it looks like the heavens want to dump buckets of water on the land again!  

Lokore Turkana Kids Camp 2016... Day One

Today we started our second kids camp to have in Turkana.  We are so thankful for all those that joined in from across the sea through finances and prayers to help make this happen!  I just crawled up into our tent where we are staying under the biggest sky full of stars here in Kakuma town.  We have a team from the Mattaw Children's Village again that has come on a mission trip to help lead and serve this week.  We partner with a local church to help strengthen what they're already doing.  Today was day ONE.  It was a beautiful chaos... to say the least.  There were a lot of pieces that couldn't come together until the morning of but we watched God move in the chaos, bring order and most importantly see lives loved on in big ways.  We are able to feed little tummies porridge for breakfast and then beans and rice for lunch.  We had around 250 children today.  We dived into teams according to ages.  We had 5 teams today and tomorrow will plan on 6.  Each team has a color and name from the tribes of Israel.  Todays lesson was on the gospel of the Kingdom as we are laying a foundation with Jesus so He can build on it.  As crazy as it seemed throughout our first day, Jesus moved and saved souls.  Our team pressed through the challenges and were flexible to love and serve however they could.  I'll let the pictures tell the story of today and share more words tomorrow :),

Our team coming from getting sticks to hang their team flags on 

    

Younger girls group out in the field playing games

It was good to the last drop :)

Turkana M4 Kids Camp 2016

Next week Bud will head back up to Turkana with our older boys.   We are excited for a month there with our family. Our littles always bring so much to missions there. But it's not always easy y'all. But worth it.  The littles and I will meet Bud up there the week after. He will go back to Kakuma to teach and minister. Then we will settle back into our apartment and get ready for the M4 Kids Camp. We usually go with an idea of what we'll do and God fills our schedule as we just trust and follow. He's a good shepherd ya know!  

This week we are at the Mattaw Children's Village. It's always a joy to be back with family here. A few nights ago we went to house 6 for dinner and devotions. So great to get to sit in and see the bond amongst our newest Mattaw family.  For devotions, the teenage boys were on a lesson all about how we should give to those in need. As they read the following scripture, a scripture with such a simple truth, I could see the light bulbs turn on. 

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:14-18 

Sometimes we need to get back to the basics. 

When we meet the physical needs, we so often see the spiritual needs met. All of it is the gospel demonstrated. We often teach that our one calling is to Jesus. He is our first. But if that is there and it is true, it's His nature to pour His perfect love through us to the world. And it always looks like something. A ear to listen, hand to hold, the sick are healed, families restored, a voice to speak for those that can't ... or it's as simple as beans and rice. 

This school break, we will be having a kids camp in a more interior village from 18-22nd. Last time we did the kids camp in an IDP camp where twice a day we were feeding and loving on around 800-1000 children. This time we are going up north, to the the interior or reserve (as Kenyans there call it). We are expecting around 300-400 children. We've been told it will be a tad more calm as oppose to our rough and tough kids last time. But we sure love the little rascals from the IDP camp and plan to go back in August. For this trip, we are still needing to raise funds. When children are on break from school, they can often go days without eating. We want to fill their little bellies again so they have strength to play and the attention to listen.  And so they can simply know how loved they are!

In order to feed the children twice a day, plus supplies for the camp, fuel and getting our team from Mattaw there to help, we are aiming to raise $2,500. Any amount helps!  Around $5 will help send one child to camp. You can go to our website and under the donate tab find information how to donate. The easiest is through PayPal but you can also send in a check. 

www.mattawchildren.com

A kids camp has never been done in this area and surely they are wondering what it is. So we are pretty pumped for the fun ahead! 

And we can't do this alone. We weren't meant to!  So we thank you for those investing through prayer and finances. Thank you for going with us to the ends of the earth to feed little bellies with beans, rice and Gods Word!  

His Mercy

Currently hiding out in the floor of my kitchen as Dr. Pepper pulled pork is in the oven (pioneer woman recipe!), the laundry pile is starting to go down (is that even possible in this family?!) and the kids are distracted by playing card games with their Nene (husbands parents are here for a visit, hooray!). Just keepin it real here -- our life hasn't been all that glamorous of the late but more like doing the "mundane but steady" type of life. Unless of course you consider the glamorous life to involve inspecting praying mantis bugs as an activity for homeschool life with my kindergartener. Ha. It is always SO good to get another round of realizing our identity is not in what we do but whose we are. 

We are relearning eternal truths of marriage and family life as we have moved to a new place. As we continue to be students of this at the feet of Jesus, we have continued to give oversight to Mattaw Children's Village. Bud has also continued to take Turkana trips. Part of us giving oversight to Mattaw has been our monthly trips there, staying a week or longer at a time. We are so thankful for how God continues to grow the Mattaw family. Next week we will head back to our precious fam there. The updates to share with you are endless but I'll do my best to bring you a few. We've stepped away from Mattaw more this year in order for our rockin awesome leadership team runs with the vision. This year, we've watched God bring transition in many many areas. Not just personally but within Mattaw too. It's been incredible ---and it's been incredibly hard. If we are rooted in Jesus, then it's only natural, or supernatural, that we would be in a constant state of pruning and growth. It's Gods nature to grow and expand us in all areas of life.

I read a little blurb recently by Havilah Cunnington on this subject and she had a way of saying it so well...

"God was the very first gardener! In the beginning, we find that He loved to create and watch things grow. Gods nature is built around growth: He can't help Himself , it's just who He is!  As a creator, His purpose is to plant for the purpose of growth. Our ability to surrender to God as the Chief Gardener of our hearts and lives is vital to our personal development. Like the plants on the earth, our purpose is to grow, mature and produce fruit at the hands of the Master Gardener. He nurtures us with the light of knowledge and the water of love, giving us all we need if we want it. God is the gardener at the highest level. He is a master at what He does. The incredible thing is He doesn't just tend to the garden of our lives, He provides the environment and the elements that help us to be fruitful. He is not only the Gardener, but He is the Sun --- the power that gives us the energy to grow and mature."

Our girls home, Kimbilio House, has been in a place of learning, pruning and growing in the last 3 years.  Kimbilio means refuge in Swahili. 

It has been a refuge for over 20 girls so far, some having come for a short period of time and then transitioned into a school or back safely with their mom. Around 12 girls have been permanent residents for the last 3 years. All of them have been rescued out of places where the injustice is flat out unbelievable. And situations we couldnt turn away from. Abuse, hunger, prostitution and literally locked in chains for years -- to name a few of the injustices they've endured. We've sought God constantly for heavenly solutions and He's been faithful to answer, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.  This year we have been in a big transition with several of the girls. This house has been a refuge but we also realize this place for safety and protection is so they can be healed and restored and not a place of staying permanently... otherwise they're refugees for most of their life. Just as our vision at Mattaw is for orphans to find a place to be called sons and daughters and no longer an orphan --- we also have found we want our girls to no longer be refugees but to transition into places they can thrive as young woman with a hope and future.  We have also transitioned two girls from Kimbilio into Mattaw homes where they are now daughters in a family.  It has always been a cases by case on what the best place of transition is. (For security reasons, we can't share names or pictures). Our first girl to successfully transition back to her biological mom was two years ago. She was placed in our care by the court due to abuse by her father. The father was put in prison and his relatives were angry about that and wanted revenge. (This is a common story) Her mom fled for her life and they safely placed the girl in our care. A year later, the mom was able to restart her life with a small plot of farm land. After investigation, the mom was found to be in a safe place and she was stable enough to care for her daughter again. Her mom visited her daughter regularly at Kimbilio and we could see the intense love she had for her. We were able to place the girl in a boarding school and on her breaks, she is now home with her mom and siblings. It's been a beautiful reintegration. This year we had four more girls accepted into a great boarding school for girls. We are so thankful for how they are now thriving in a school that can provide activities such as sports, on a larger scale than we are unable to have at Kimbilio.

This year we also have our first girl, Mercy, to have graduated from Scondary school (high school). She graduated last year and spent a year living at Mattaw again and helping as an intern with the Sprouts babies. 

She spent a few years living at the Mattaw Children's Village when she was in middle school. When Mercy started high school, we had not built up the school at Mattaw yet to that level.  We were able to find her a boarding school instead and she has successfully completed her four years there. Her dream was to be in a field of work where she would be doing hair and beauty.  After several of our leaders spent time searching for the best place for her, they found a school in Eldoret. After waiting for all the right paper work and her I.D. card, she has now started school there. Pray for Mercy as she is in a big transition of life. We pray she would continue to not just learn how to make women beautiful on the outside but to teach them who they are in Christ as a beautiful creation from the inside out. 

These stories are shared with the opportunity on how you can not only pray for them but also sow financial seeds into their life. They are all in need of school fees. Mercy's school fees and personal needs are $1,000 per year. For the other girls, it is around $500 each for a year. Any amount is always a huge help. You can find how to donate on the Mattaw website: mattawchildren.com. You'll find a tab labeled "donate" and on that page is either the option for PayPal or mailing a check to the Mattaw U.S. Address. 

If you made it to this end of this post, oh how thankful I am that you stuck it out!  Thankful for your patience. We'll be sharing more soon about Tukana trips. Bud had some beautiful testimonies annnnnd our family gets to head there next month!