Sunday 9/16/12 - Adapted from my Journal

Sunday morning we spent some time discussing and paying about what we expected for the day. Knowing that we were launching weekly worship services for RVF in the afternoon, we prayed for the church to be overflowing with people and that the gospel would be proclaimed.

The girls before leaving the ENT house.

We spent the morning visiting Peter & Agnus in Naivasha. Esther & Isaac have been involved with an orphan ministry there for a long time and now Peter & Agnus are in charge of the ministry. We met 12-13 older orphans who live with their relatives, but are supported by the ministry. It was fun getting to know them.

Scenery as we drive to Naivasha

The dirt road leading to Peter & Agnus's house

They took us to a nearby property that Peter & Agnus are hoping to buy in order to take in many more orphans to live with them. We spent some time fellowshiping at this house, and praying. I pray for the Lord to make a way for Peter & Agnus to purchase this property for the ministry.

Margaret (center) and her sister (left) stand with Peter
as Esther and Isaac (and their daughter Rachel)
talk about the orphan ministry. 

As Esther was introducing the kids to us, she got very choked up as she began talking about Margaret, one of the older girls (16-17ish). Esther later told us about the common practice of female genital mutilation. She said it is very common, very painful, and has very long-lasting effects emotionally. This practice is cruel and hateful. Esther is working to help change lives by protecting these girls. She said once a girl has this done, she is then "mature" and ready for marriage. 

So far, Esther and Isaac have been able to protect Margaret and the other girls involved in this ministry. Praise the Lord! During holidays, when the kids are out of school, the girls usually come to stay with Esther & Isaac in order to protect them from family members who may try to force this custom on them. While talking with Margaret, she told us she wants to finish school and go to university. Education is very important to her and if she were forced to become "mature" and get married, she would no longer be able to continue in her education. Pray for these girls.

Jake praying with one of the boys as we walk back
to Peter & Agnus's house from the property they hope to purchase nearby.

The girls chatting on the walk back.

We left Naivasha to head to Maai Mahiu for church, which was to "start" at 2pm. Of course, we were late. This is Kenya - we're on Kenya TIme. We kept joking about that, but I actually liked it. Things run at a much more relaxed pace in Kenya. I can see both positives and negatives of this cultural trait. On one hand it allows them to be more relational, more caring towards people rather than being so focused on productivity. But, on the other hand, it can be frustrating if you're trying to plan a meeting or event. 

We finally made it to the church and there were already tons of people there, both adults and children, some of which we had met over the last 2 days. I was incredibly encouraged. I love when you pray for something specific and the Lord is quick to answer your prayers. As I sat next to Bob and Julie I told them how excited I was and Bob said "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this." I am so thankful the Lord has given them a gospel-speaking church to be a part of. I pray that they are encouraged and restored through this church.

Esther welcomes us as we begin the service.

Agnus and Esther lead worship.
Many more people have come into the service by now. 

After Isaac preached a spirit-breathed, gospel-centered sermon on grace and not casting stones, (the service was overflowing with people, btw) we served a full meal. Everyone ate until they were full and there was still tons of food left over. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous about the amount of food being enough, but the Lord was faithful to provide. I felt like it was similar to Jesus multiplying the food to feed the 5000. Granted, there definitely wasn't 5000 people present, but there was at least a few hundred people.

Serving lunch.

Catherine at lunch.

We all played with the sweet kids and I spotted Matt having a deep conversation with a man, Ellude, who we had met the day before when we met before starting our home visits for the day. He was a part of the core Kenyan team helping us navigate the home visits. Come to find out, Ellude had never actually professed Jesus as his Lord and Savior and had been hiding, living a lie for many years. He told Matt that his testimony on Friday had spoken to him. They talked and Ellude confessed his sins to Matt & Isaac and accepted the Lord as his savior!

I praise God for the work he has done in Ellude's life and for the work He will continue to do in him and through him.

I also saw a few ladies I had met previously during home visits. Zipporah was there as well as Veronica and Beatrace. I talked to Beatrace, told her I was glad to see her and that I hoped she would come back the next week even though we wouldn't be there. I pray that the Lord uses RVF to work in her life in a big way.

The hardest thing I experienced so far this year was leaving the kids on Sunday. I had spent 2+ days loving on Catherine and she just clung to me, but then she began asking me and telling me her brother needed a sponsor. Lots of people, kids and adults, started asking for stuff. Even though they had just stuffed themselves with a huge meal, they were still asking for food. I'm not exactly sure why, but it kinda started to harden my heart. Here we had been, loving on these people for 3 days, and it felt like all they viewed us as was rich Americans. It felt like they didn't care about us personally, but only what we could give them. I understand, if they don't ask they feel like they won't get, but I also feel like begging is a part of the culture there. 

I know the Lord knows the needs of all of these people and that we are not responsible for meeting all of these needs. I have to rest in knowing He will use this to glorify Himself, He has not forgotten these people and He will provide. 

On the way home we witnessed the most incredible sunset. I think it was a present from the Lord to help us remember this landmark day in the life of Rift Valley Fellowship and in the lives of the people of Maai Mahiu.

Lord, I love you and I thank you for the way you have revealed yourself to me in the short time we've been here. I pray that you continue to do so. Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may speak your truth and glorify your name. I love you.

love,

jules

From my journal - Saturday 9/15/12

Beatrace is a woman I met with today as we were doing home visits. She told us she was separated from her husband because she got pregnant when her second son was only a year old and her husband wanted her to abort the baby. She refused and moved in with her mother. She seemed very touched that we came to pray with her. I hope she comes to church tomorrow. I wish I could get to know her more and build a relationship with her. She seems like she just needs a loving friend.

Today I felt more of a language barrier then I've ever felt here. It's difficult to sit while someone has a conversation and Swahili and wait for translation at the end of the conversation. I would love to learn Swahili.

It has been interesting - trying to figure out where my heart is naturally drawn. Is it the women or the children? I absolutely love playing with and loving on the children, but the women need so much love too.

Tomorrow we will get to meet some older orphans that Esther and Isaac help provide for. I am excited to meet them. We will get to see the older Naomi's Village kids tomorrow too, which I am excited about also.

Lord, Help me to keep my focus tomorrow. Keep me present and looking outward and not only inward. Lord, use us tomorrow as you've used us today. I beg that you save souls tomorrow. I long for these people to walk in freedom and to know your love. I praise you for the work you've already done and will do.

love,
jules

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

 

Friday

Sa Sa! (what's up)

We finally have internet access again! Just wanted to give an update of what's been going on over the last few days.

We left Nairobi on Friday, got to Kijabe (where we are staying) to have lunch with Isaac and Esther. Friday afternoon we went down to Maai Mahiu to meet the core team from Rift Valley Fellowship and to go out into the community for house visits.

My team went with Esther, Pastor Isaac's wife. It was Jake, Jesse, Esther and I.

A man we met making Mundazi -
fried bread, kinda like sopapillas, but a little less sweet.

Esther on the left with the women we met on Friday.
Zipporah and Mary with their grandmother.

We ended the afternoon with an open-air fellowship service. Things started out slow, but the crowd began to grow. There was worship and dancing and we could definitely see the Lord's hand when Matt was asked to share his testimony which spoke to the community and went well with Pastor Isaac's sermon.

Hayley and I with some girls we met at the open-air fellowship.
Notice the two girls in the middle both have babies on their backs.
The girl on the left's name is Catherine. You'll be seeing more of her. :-)

We ended our day having dinner at Esther and Isaac's house and when we got ready to go to their guest house we found out they were having a problem with leaks. I found this out when we were on our way walking from Isaac and Esther's house to the guest house and the route seemed very familiar - we were walking to the ENT House, which is where we stayed last year. When I got there Esther told me about the leak and said it just so happened that the ENT House was empty and had room for us. Thank you Lord for providing a place for us to stay. Even though it was a little hick-up in Esther's planning, the team didn't even notice it. 

Although it was our first full day in country, we were excited to hit the ground running. There was no time to waste - we needed to get started right away.

I think most of us were a bit timid to begin with, but by Saturday we were more comfortable being out in the community. We are all so thankful to be a part of the work the Lord is doing here in Maai Mahiu.  We continue to feel your prayers and are so thankful to have you waring for us in prayer.

Continue to check the team YouTube channel. We've posted a few videos!

Keep the prayers coming!

love,

jules

Jambo!

Jambo! We made it safely! I just wanted to post a quick update before we head out for our first day in country. I'm not exactly sure what's on the agenda for today, but all I know is that I couldn't be any more excited to be here!

Here are a few photos from our travel day taken from my iphone. Don't worry, I've got my DSLR out and ready for the day, so hopefully the quality of the photos will improve.

First Flight Seat Buddies!
Sarah, Jake & Julie

Riding our bus train to our second flight.
Julie & Jessica

Finally made it to Nairobi! Baggage claim in the airport.
Hayley, Ashley & Julie

Loading ALLLLL our luggage.
32 checked bags total with the addition of carry-on's.

So for now, that's all I've got. Hopefully I'll be able to post something more substantial over the next day or two.

I'm so excited to see what the Lord is going to do over the next 10 days. I feel so blessed to be a part of the work the Lord is doing here in Kenya. Pray for the Lord to move through us and in us. He is mighty.

love,

jules

Quick Update

Here's my version of a quick update, because I've still got tons to do and it's already 10pm.

I've added a few links in the sidebar over there ---> so check them out.
 • Jambo Kenya - last year's team blog has just turned into this year's team blog! We'll be posting there as well, so follow along!
 • Team YouTube Channel - where we will post videos and slideshows while we're gone.
 • Love Africa Tumblr - where I hope to post photos while I'm gone.

Our flight leaves about 6pm-ish tomorrow evening. I hope I have a better experience trying to sleep on the plane this time around. Last year was horrible - I think I got about 2 hours of sleep within a 36 hour window. Not my idea of a good time. My plan is to get up super early, like 4 am, go in to work for a while (womp womp) to get some last minute things done, and be home to finish packing and getting ready by 10am. I'm hoping getting up so early will make me tired enough to sleep. Wish me luck!

I'm so thankful to have you guys supporting me and praying for me as I make this journey! You're the best!

love,
jules

from my journal - 8/23/12

I am so encouraged this morning.

I received a text from a life-long friend this morning saying that she was in tears as she read my blog. She said, "you are changing the world." The reality is though, that the only thing I am doing is being obedient. God is changing the world. And through the process, He is changing me.

I pray that the story the Lord is writing in my life is somehow changing lives of others for His name's sake.

_________________________________________________________

Every month I have a one-on-one meeting with my boss. We always find ourselves talking about the future, what's next here at Fossil or in life. We actually talk about Kenya and my faith quite a bit. I am so blessed to have a boss who cares about me as a person and not just about what I can do for this company, that he is willing to help me get where I want to go even if it means leaving, and that I can be open and honest with him throughout this whole "figuring out" process.

This morning we were going over the individual development plan that I recently filled out, talking about what steps to take in order to get where I want to go in my career. Honestly, I don't know where it is that I want to go. My boss knows I need more design at work and that I have a passion to create. He has been working diligently trying to get me more design opportunities, but it's been a slow-moving process. Although he isn't a believer, he said, "above all else, your passion is your faith and then your creativity." I am so encouraged to get words of affirmation that what I believe is my ultimate passion, the Lord, is actually coming across in how I live my life. What a sweet blessing from the Lord!

My boss totally gets that I need this time in Kenya to really figure out what's next. He knows I have a desire to move to Africa or to work for an organization that supports Africa in some way. He knows that I don't know exactly what I'm doing or how it will play out. He also knows that I'm trying to figure out how my gift of creativity, my heart for Africa, and my passion for the Lord all fit together. He gets that I need to do something more meaningful - he even said he wants that for himself. But, he also knows that I will work hard to succeed here at Fossil if that's where the Lord keeps me for a while longer.

I pray that the Lord reveals Himself as He softens the heart of my boss as we walk through this process together. I pray that the Lord clearly reveals His plan for me for the next steps of my life through this trip to Kenya. Ultimately, I pray that the Lord is glorified in everything that I do, in all aspects of my life.

love,
jules

Hidden Treasure

I know this is silly, but I was just going through pictures from Kenya last year. I feel like I've literally looked through those pictures a hundred times, but somehow I've always missed seeing a few. Finding these few pictures feels like finding hidden treasure!

Anna, Tim and I gazing upon Lake Nakuru on our Safari Day.

With the sweet children in the IDP camp.

Anna and I in the safari van before beginning our adventure.

crazy hair!

There are so many more great pictures from our trip last year, many are favorites, but these new ones just make me happy.

Looking back through all the pictures makes me incredibly excited for another chance to fall even more in love with Africa and even deeper in love with the Lord. I know this year will be extremely different, but I know the Lord will once again work in mighty ways.

Will you pray for me? Pray that I keep my focus on our specific mission of sharing the gospel and launching the Rift Vally Fellowship church plant. Pray against any expectations that creep into my mind based on my experience last year. The only expectation I want to have is that the Lord will do an incredible work in Kenya and in my heart while we're there. 

I love you all and I'm so thankful you're in my life.

love,

jules

Well, we leave for Kenya in less than a month. Can you believe it's already almost time? I guess the summer flew by without me knowing!

So what's the latest? I'm not really sure! I had to miss 3 consecutive team meetings this summer and have only seen the team, or most of them, once since May. Last Sunday we all met up to go to a Kenyan church here in the Dallas area called Upendo Baptist Church. Apparently Upendo hosts other churches in their building because more than half of our team ended up in a South Sudanese worship service instead of the Kenyan worship service.  I was among the group who was in the wrong place. haha. It didn't matter though, we were all excited to be there. It made me even more excited/ready to get to Africa!

South Sudanese Worship!

After we left the wrong service, we "snuck" in to the Kenyan service to try and catch the last few minutes. Well, as quietly as 15 people can sneek. We came in as they were about to pray for a few church members who would be traveling to Kenya soon. They obviously noticed us come in, so they asked us to share where we were from and why we were there. You have to remember, we're the only white folks in there, and a rather large group at that - very noticeable. We told them we would be traveling to Kenya to help plant a church in the Rift Valley, and that we were excited to share the gospel with the people of this area of Kenya.

After the service, the pastor invited us to chat with him for a few minutes and then we had chai, in typical Kenyan fashion, with the church members. I absolutely loved spending time around these people. They are all so very friendly and welcoming! I'm hoping to go back again soon, and possibly on a more regular basis. 

So there you have it, our first experience going to Kenyan Church!

__________________________________________________________

At the beginning of July I decided to partner with an organization called World Wear Project in hosting a clothing drive as a fundraiser. The plan was for me to gather clothing donations and WWP would pay per pound donated. Initially I was going to host a donation bin, but I couldn't ever find a location to place the bin, so I resorted to Plan B. I collect bags of donations for a few weeks and kept them in my living room until I could get the WWP truck to come and pick everything up. 

This is what your living room looks like when you have
a fantastic group of friends who donate so much!

It didn't hurt that a lot of friends were moving at the time :-)

It ended up taking over the living room...

Although it was a bit cluttered for a while, I was so thankful that everyone was willing to donate their unwanted items to help me raise a little money.

We ended up collecting a total of 1,127 pounds, which equaled $169.05! I was happy with the outcome. Every little bit counts!

Thanks to everyone who donated!

__________________________________________________________

One last thing - We now have a supply list of requested items from Isaac, the pastor we will be working with in Kenya. Would you please take a look at the spread sheet and see if there's anything you'd like to contribute?

If you'd like to donate any items please email me to arrange pick up/drop off/shipping items to me.

julie.a.cosby@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! 

I'm so blessed to have you in my life.

love,

jules

from my journal - 6/27/12

Today my heart is full - full of love, full of excitement and full of anticipation. The Kenya 1 team got back earlier this week and pictures and videos are being posted like crazy! Also, my friend Lindsey is currently in Kenya at Naomi's Village. Seeing pictures and reading posts makes me long to be there with the children. Sometimes I think my heart is so full with love for them that it might burst. Today is one of those days.

I've noticed that my emotions towards Africa are kind of like riding waves. On days like today I find myself so excited that I can hardly stand it,  but I know in a few days or weeks I will find myself distracted, pushing my thought of Africa aside for seemingly more important things. But then, soon after that something will draw my attention back to Africa and I'll be on top of my "wave" again.

This is just a testament to how inconsistent emotions are. I am so thankful that my God is a God of consistency and steadfastness. When I waver He is steady, constantly drawing me to himself.

Lord, Help me to trust in your steadfast and consistent nature. Remind me that even though it may not be at the forefront of my mind, you are calling me to something in Africa. Reveal that calling.

love,
jules