Kambe medical

Last year our medical team had the privilege of working with a Kenyan medical team led by Dr. Gome. He is a deacon at Crossroads Church in Nyali. I was introduced to him a few years ago and he told me about his vast experience with putting on medical camps in rural areas around Kenya. We decided to team up last year and provided medical care to 5000 people. His expertise and that of his team was a huge blessing to our team and to all of the people we were able to reach out to. As a thank you to him, we added his hometown to our medical mission schedule this year. We were so happy to see where he calls home, meet his family, provide medical care, and show his hometown the love we have for them.

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By now you can imagine the team is learning so much about the Kenyan culture and health care issues. It has been rewarding to help as many people as have trusted us enough to allow us to provide medical care to them. Also there are difficult struggles, knowing that there is so much need and often times nothing we can do to help. The suffering is sometimes too much and we must take time to recoup. The team has done a great job providing not only great medical care, but also just as important, kindness and compassion. They have worked long hard days without complaint. I am grateful for all their dedication and compassion.

Medical clinic in Majaoni & Bomani

Tuesday we served at Majaoni and Wednesday we were at Bomani. Majaoni, also called Gospel Center, are the kids in the red and blue uniforms. This school is under the missionaries Lisa and Bobby Bechtel who are also missionaries for New Life Center in Bomani (blue and white uniforms). Between the 2 days, over 1700 patients were seen by the medical team, dental team, and eye glasses team. The days were long and exhausting, but so very rewarding. Each day we grow closer to our teammates, Kenyan and American. image_1 (4)

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A word from Abigale: This morning I woke up feeling as though I only slept two hours. I was up sick all night long and wasn't enthusiastic about clinic starting in a few hours. I wasn't sure how my physical condition was going to affect the available opportunities of the day. I only had five minutes before I had to be downstairs-a quick devotional this morning indeed. I flipped open to 2 Corinthians 12:10 - "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." That was it! Praise the Lord I am weak today, because then He will be strong! And that He was today! The more I stripped myself of "me" and the sin I carry, the brighter Christ shone. And today, Christ shined so brightly from the snuggles with my patients, to praying with them, to making sweet eye contact with the sweet girls as I listened to their lung sounds.

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A word from Sue: I began to reflect on writing about the children and then recollected on our team as a whole. Today validated my desire to serve God's children in a 3rd world country. We've seen so many children and so many adults but what really spoke to my heart was the Kenyan team who have taken time away from their regular jobs to also volunteer and help us who do not know their culture and their people. When I asked them why they do this, one reply was "it's humbling." As they volunteer in their country for their people it's humbling for me to work with these passionate people.

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Day 2: Medical Clinic in Vipingo

The medical team headed to Vipingo this morning and spent the day with the kids at our school. We saw all of our students in the medical clinic and in the dental clinic. We also treated members of the surrounding community. Our Fox River Team worked beside the Kenyan translators and medical team, forming friendships and solid teamwork. The collaboration among the team was very encouraging. Our team learned so much and provided quality care for hundreds of people today.1 Abigale

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Maranga A word from Jodie: Today was one of those experiences that I will never forget. Denis is a little six-year-old boy that had his foot run over by a motorbike several weeks ago. He walked up to me with his forearm crutches and his dad requesting we change his bandage in a private area away from the crowd. I picked him up and he clenched onto me as if he would never let go. We walked into the nurses room and I laid him down on the bed. His strength was unbelievable. He never flinched as I gently took his old bandage off, washed the wound, and wrapped his foot in a new gauze. After we were through, as I held Denis, his father, interpreters and I held hands and prayed over the little boy for healing. It's amazing to me how such a little man could have such great strength. image (2)

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A Word from Michelle: What a way to begin this mission! There were precious moments looking out at the church (where we held the clinic) to find familiar faces and smiles looking back at me from VBS the previous week. Many children in Vipingo have become so dear to my heart so I knew it would be challenging to leave. One dear friend was crying...I asked "why the tears?" As tears hit the cement, she grabbed my hand and said "you know why!" It was a beautiful moment for both of us to praise God. We praise Him for the missions within Fox River. Praise Him for creating these relationships. And praise Him through the tears for deepening our love for God and his people. image (3)

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Day 1: Arrival, church & teambuilding

The team arrived safely after 3am. They checked into the hotel, got settled in, and had a few hours to nap before church. We attended Crossroads Fellowship in Nyali where missionary Jim Horne is the pastor. Our own Pastor Guy gave the message today as he finished his 3 week series here on saying yes to God. I believe it was a great message for our team to hear today! The church service was very nice and we enjoyed worshiping with the Kenyan's who call Crossroads their home church. Following church we headed to Kilifi beach to have a teambuilding afternoon with our Kenyan partners. We spent time having a delicious traditional meal and getting to know the wonderful translator team and medical/dental team that we will be serving with all week. God has truly put together a great team dedicated to helping others. We are all looking forward to getting started tomorrow.

More pics to come... name tags