With our second flight running a little behind as well we had time to make a quick bathroom stop and get to our next gate! Our first flight went really good, lots of sleeping going on. EvenMelody had a great flight :)
Nicaragua: Take off!
Our plane was late but our seat belts are bucked and we are ready for take off! Please pray that we are able to make our connection. We now only have 25min so it's going to be tight.
Good morning!!!!!
We are up and off to a rocking start!!! Can't wait to see how God is going to use us this week!
Medical clinic in Tiwi
Today (Friday) we spent the day at missionary Jim Horne's school in Tiwi. It is a nice campus with classes up to 8th grade. Recently there was a medical clinic added to the campus that serves the area. Last month they served over 600 people. It seems to me that since the clinic has been operating, the health of the people has improved. We saw 659 patients today and the overall health seems to be improved based on fewer medicines prescribed and a smaller number of patients compared to the last few years. Many vitamins were given out and quality patient interaction! And yes, there were some really cute babies!
Again it was our pleasure working beside the Kenyan team. As a thank you to them for their time and dedication, we presented them with a small gift of a sports towel. As you can see they loved it!
A word from Cheryl: Coastal Kenya is a beautiful tropical land with the most beautiful, kind hearted people anywhere. Mixed in with the palm trees and flowering tropical bushes along the streets are horrible slums with ragged clothed adults and children walking along uneven dirt paths or sitting outside of their tin or straw roofed shacks, sometimes with only half walls of sticks. I am blessed and changed for saying a "yes" to Jesus when I turned in the card Biblically challenging us to do so. I needed to do something that was out of my comfort zone, for His people I knew nothing about that would make me just trust in Him. Tuesday we went to another of the Christian supported school complexes to be hands and feet of Jesus. I will remember this picture of the day and of Kenya in General. From one side of the building we worked in you could see the children playing outside, eating a prepared meal together, coming by us for high fives and while waiting in line patiently, they sang for us. On the other side of the building out of view of this I saw 2 of our workers praying with mom and her 8yr old boy with a badly crippled foot turned on its side and bent 45 degrees inward. He had never been to school and they had no food that day as they had no means for either. They just stared ahead meekly as they ate the peanut butter on a few crackers we gave them. Our Kenyan helper passionately shared the truths of God's love for us in Jesus' saving grace with them and Mom said "yes" to accepting Jesus. The local church will follow up with her. I will go back home . My beloved Kenyan friends will stay to continually serve here. They are passionate, humble servants who have taught me much.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
Medical Team has arrived!
The medical team is here without any problems or delays!
We're on the bus heading to church
All luggage and people accounted for we should arrive 7:45pm at Fox River