Good Evening. We all just finished a great meal of cheeseburgers, guacamole and fruit smoothies and are getting ready for evening devotions. It's about 7pm and we are looking forward to an evening relaxing and taking in the thoughts from today.We went back to see the children at the daycare this morning. It's a long drive to the Ngong slums where the children center is and the countryside here is so pretty. It's so much different from the leafy trees and green grass we have at home. The weather here is very arid and dry. Jessica Tomic mentioned that she wishes she could fill up the river beds with water, as if she had a huge hose. The land here has been so exploited for all it's resources and it's apparent when we take our long drives to do ministry.We made it to the children's center and the children remembered us. They welcomed us with their little voices yelling out in excitement. Again, it's amazing how they enjoy just being with us, being held by us and the little bits of candy we pass out. Jacob did a teaching with them today with using the wordless book colors on bracelets. The group of us put the bracelets together in the car on the way over and we passed out probably 60 bracelets to the children and workers. What was encouraging was the teacher pulled out a Child Evangelism Wordless Book teaching guide where she had been teaching the children the stories. We know the children are consistently hearing the Word of God through stories. Jacob asked them "Who made you? Where did you come from?". The children responded while pointed to the sky, "Mungo" which means God. Then Jacob asked them (all this through a translator since they all speak Swahili), "Where you made by accident?". They yelled at the top of their lungs "NO!". It was beautiful to hear them be so confident of these foundational truths. I hope that they never, ever forget these things.On Tuesday, Jacob and I were touched by a little girl named Mercy. She is obviously neglected and malnourished. Even as I am typing this to you, my heart is heavy for her situation. Tuesday, she was clinging to us like glue. I don't think she knew we were married, but as Jacob held her in his arms and I hugged them both at the same time, she put her little head on our shoulders and wouldn't let go. She has stolen our hearts. Today when we went back, she remembered us and climbed up into my lap and wouldn't let her feet touch the ground during our entire visit. She was the only child there with no shoes and her clothing under her school uniform was filthy and torn. When I asked about her situation to the workers, they told me that she is most likely in the worst situation of all the children. She is one of 5 children. She has an older sister, Doris, an older brother, Kevin and two small twin sisters named Sylvia and Carol. Their mother is mentally ill and her grandmother takes care of them when she can. When asked if she could take us to her home, she led us with her brother to a tiny shack where her older sister was sitting outside with the twins. Their mother had left and locked them out of the house. They had no food or clean water and it was very hot outside today. Jacob and I were scurrying for cereal bars and water to give them. The sister is too old to go to the daycare/preschool and there is no money for her school fees so she stays home to care for the little ones. I really hope that we can make school and daily meals a reality for each of these little ones. That's the great thing about being here and meeting these children, if God put it on our hearts, we can do something to make their lives a little bit better. The frustrating (helpless, heartbreaking) thing is that we have to leave them here. Jacob and I took a picture with all 5 children. We can't wait for you to see the picture. God works in such ways that the child with the greatest need found us and God touched us to help her... how can we say no? Again, we had to peel ourselves from the arms of these little children. I think all of us felt better about it knowing that if we wanted to, we can help them even when we get back and we know that they are hearing the gospel and they know that they are special because God made them and they are not an accident.We did get to some touristy stuff today. We went to the Nairobi Giraffe Centre where we got to closer to these amazing animals than anyone in the states (without being a zoologist) could get. Let's just say that we all got a kiss from these beautiful animals... don't worry... we all wiped off with antibacterial wipes afterward! We are starting to get excited for our Safari that is coming up on Sunday afternoon. The wildlife here is nothing like we have at home and the thought of seeing elephant, lion and zebra is about to be a reality for us.Tomorrow we will be teaching again at the school down the road from our house. It will be fun morning of teaching the middle school students and hanging out with them. Then we'll be going into Nairobi to see some more sights of the city. Saturday we will be teaching Choose to Wait in the Mathare slums all day to teenage kids. It's so great how Dave and Jen push us, but not too much that we can't step back reflect on what God is trying to teach us while we are here. We are all growing so much in the way we look at the American life and it will be interesting when we get back in one week how we will adjust. Kenya is a place that has gotten into our hearts and we are already talking about preparing for a trip in 2009. We are all healthy and doing very well. Thankfully, we have had great sleep, even better food and wonderful fellowship with each other. Our hosts, Dave and Jen will be in the States this summer and I hope that you will get to meet these people with tremendous faith. They have sold out of the American Dream and have dedicated themselves to the Kenyan people. Their lives are such great examples of what could happen when we step out in faith when God calls us. We are all impacted as much by our experiences here as by the choices they have made to be here and let us serve with them in Kenya.Thank you for your emails back to us. It's so great to hear from home and know that all is well. We do miss you very much.
Much Love in Christ, Susan (on behalf of the Africa Team)
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