Saturday

Saturday morning started out with some time to fellowship with the Kenyan core team and a few street boys who showed up to hang out. We sang a few songs and then broke up into groups to discuss the day before and pray. I was in a group with Sarah and Catherine as well as James, Phillomina and Agnus.

After our group time we hung out, played games with the boys and then walked to a local restaurant and had a traditional Kenyan meal. Some of the street boys joined us for lunch and I could tell how thankful they were to have a meal.

Hannah, James & Jake playing games with the boys.

Walking to lunch.

mmm Kenyan food.

Ashley and I with our Coca-Cola's.

Peter, a street boy who spent a lot of time with us.

Esther told us later that she had a chance to talk to Peter. He told her he didn't expect to eat dinner that night and that sometimes men hurt his mother, but he and his brother try to stop them. We assume his mother is a prostitute and Peter is abused. It breaks my heart to hear stories like this, but it gives me great hope that Rift Valley Fellowship can be a safe place for people like this, even and especially the children.

After lunch we broke into groups to head out for house visits. I was in a group of 6, but Agnus and I partnered up and visited with people. The first woman we talked with was Beatrace. She is pregnant, has a young son around 3 or 4 years old whose name was Felix, and a toddler who was sleeping whose name was Alex. She told us that she was separated from her husband because he was angry with her for getting pregnant too soon after she had Alex. Her husband wanted her to have an abortion, but she refused and moved in with her mother. Beatrace was very emotional as she told us her story. Although abortion is illegal in Kenya, I'm so thankful she had the strength to stand up for herself and do the right thing even with the pressure from her husband. I prayed for her, invited her to church on Sunday and we went on our way to talk with other people.

Beatrace and I with her sons - Felix (left) and Alex (center).
Francis (in the hat) was a street boy who had joined us for the day.

Agnus and I talked with a few more ladies and then met back up with our larger group and continued walking. We met with one more family. A woman who was walking by stopped and said she'd love for us to pray for her too. Her name was Veronica. She told us she was HIV positive and had problems with her spleen. Esther gave this group an audio bible that spoke in 3 languages - English, Swahili & French.

Esther explaining the audio bible

Veronica

After that we made our way to the open-air fellowship. There was singing, dancing, playing, and gospel sharing. Lauren gave her testimony and Isaac preached. After Friday we decided it would be better not to translate the sermon because this fellowship meeting wasn't for us, it was for the Kenyans. It is more beneficial to preach in their language than ours. The only translation necessary was for Lauren's testimony. This helped cut down on the time spent there and made it more about the Kenyans than about us.

The ladies singing

Catherine came to visit again

The girls danced with the children

The guys hung out with men from the community

To top off an already great day, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way home. I love a good sunset. It always reminds me how creative our God is. For me, being a creative person, it stirs my heart for the Lord.

love,

jules