Back From Muzudzu

We have had a long week in Western Kenya, long but good.
The accommodations left something to be desired, but I had a bed every night so I can't complain too badly. The water at the hotel we stayed at only came on when it wanted to, and that wasn't very often. And for we the water temp was either boiling hot or freezing cold. But it's all good, because we still managed to stay clean, although some of the boys (no names mentioned, but you can probably guess) chose to go without bathing for days. Nice, eh?

We were fed very well in Western, and managed to take in a meal every two hours. Tea times are a priority, like you cannot go any further in the day without tea.

We painted everyday there except the 2 Sundays, and then on Thursday we had a youth rally instead of painting. So, we had a lot of work to do. But, several of us had our paintbrushes taken away on many occasions, so some days we felt like we accomplished nothing, or at least not a lot. We were at a different corps in the Muzudzu division every day, and the salvationists at each corps came out to help in painting, but there were enough brushes for all of us, so we had our brushes taken away a lot. For me, in a period of 20minutes I had my brush taken 3 times. Despite the feeling that nothing was physically accomplished by the team, the corps leaders and members at each corps were so honored to have us there and they appreciated us just for our presence.

Every morning we woke up around 6 am like I predicted, and the country side was also beautiful as I predicted in the last blog. There were times when I just wanted to stay in the car because the hillside and mountains were so gorgeous.

On Saturday we travelled to Lake Victoria. We all really wanted to see it, and so we did! Surprisingly though, it wasn't a big deal. It was large and beautiful, but people were washing their cars and their bodies in the lake water....I suppose water is a precious commodity. Just seeing that distracted the viewer from the beauty of Lake Victoria.
Later in the day on Saturday we went to another corps to do community visitations. We split up into 2's and each group had a local officer as the leader. My (Lindsey's) and Daynes' leader took us to a member of Parliament's house. It was the most beautiful house I have ever seen, at least in Kenya. It was grand and furnished with very nice and modern furniture. We took soda with the mp's wife. the mp (member of Parliament) is up for re-election in December. He's already been in office 15 years, and we are told that he is a well-liked mp.

We led 6 services while in Muzudzu. And Andie preached 2 of the six sermons....both at open airs. She did very well both times, despite only a few hours of preparation. God spoke through her and the other speakers as well.
Here's who spoke and on what:
Andie- Clay jars, God uses simple vessels to fill up with His precious treasures
Lindsey-God's Faithfulness
Andie- God's Faithfulness
Daynes- Being Holy and set apart
Kristin- Not running from God
Jesse- Giving thanks in all things

we met some amazing divisional leaders:
DC- Majors Mboto
PRO- (public relations officer) Major Kaikai
DYO- Captain Wayanbe
They were with us for the whole of the week.

We spent a wonderful time on Western Kenya...praising God with drums and dancing, leading services, experiencing the open and loving hearts of the people, driving on the rocky but beautiful roads, seeing one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! We were all blessed. We are tired now, but blessed, so it is a good tired.

Today we went to the Masaii Market and got taken for all we were worth, but we are happy with our purchases. I won't tell you what we bought, you may receive it as a souvenir!
Tonight we are ordering pizza! A pleasant break from ugali and kuku (chicken).
And tomorrow, we will celebrate the 4th of July at the Pelletier's homes (where we stayed for the first 10 days in Kenya). They are home now and excited to celebrate with us. Pray for Capt. Paul Pelletier. He is an officer from USA East and have been here less than a year with his family. we are told toady that on July 15th he is headed back to the States due to poor health. So pray for his health! We love you all and we thank you for all of your comments! You are all so sweet! And I had a wonderful birthday spent singing in the middle of a sea of children form a school next to the corps we were painting at. So thank you all who wished me a happy birthday!



Joy,
Sheena has a flight to Dallas
Kristin is driving home
Andie (Andrea) is driving home
Daynes is driving home
Jesse is driving
and I believe you have the rest! Comment us if you get this message)