we're back

hola amigos we are back from our trip to kenya. nairobi, kenya . javier and i got to visit this may , as part of an IMAGINE network vision trip. we got to see the different projects that we are sponsoring over there. we arrived on Saturday and on Sunday we got to visit global worship center. in kiseria. its a small church that serves that community where there is a huge AIDS outbreak(?) it was about a 2 and a half hour service which i hear is short for africa. most go about 3-4 hours. afterwards we got to eat at a wonderful hole in the wall, authentic, mice dancing in the other booth. restaurant. (sorry David i had to tell them) the food was wonderful i compared it to carne guisada and rice(ugali) ( the white stuff you see all the kids eating in the feed the children commercials). , monday we got to visit the maraja slum. it was so ... it was like we were in one of those feed the children commercials. 8x8 cardboard/tin house lined up one next to the other.as many as 12 people living in one. moms selling vegetables on the street , and children ( who should be at school but can't afford the uniform)playing outside. we have partnered with a pastor (benson) who has developed a small church there. we are hoping to help him spread the Good news and teach basic hygiene. they sell food that is swarmed with flies. . we need to send these people info on how to keep the flies away it is unimaginable . Then we got to see all these displaced people living in tents that World vision/ American red cross. etc have set up for people who have no where else to go. the men don't have jobs, the women can't find jobs, it's weird to see lots and lots of families with no where to live so they just live in tents. pastor benson was telling us that some of these people were homeless before so that even a tent is better.

tuesday was a free day , we got to go on a safari, we saw lots of zebras, Giraff's, gazelles, baboons, elephants, but NO LIONS. the grass was to high. our driver insisted we drive long enough to see a lion but, in my Mcdonalds time clock world view i was ready to move on. we were driving for 3 plus hours. (no roads) lots of bumps. they actually sold we love potholes stickers. we got a taste of downtown nairobi, we got to visit the Stanley hotel and had a wonderful thai lunch there, we got to visit a rotary meeting. and exchanged Rotarian flags.

Wed- we drove 7 hours to kitale - this was my favorite part- we got to see the country side we saw military road blocks, the equator!!!!, hotels with mosquito nets (wish we had visited hotels.com before that one) lol, but best of all we got to see the MATTAW children's village.. this is what we have been working on for about a year and we finally got to touch, feel, smell, see it. we got to meet thadeuis - a house parent. he shared about all their plans and there progress. road block$- no pun intended. and such. what a wonderful thing it was to meet him and just love him right from the start , smart, loving christian man. he and the other house parents have been meeting with kim and bud huffman weekly for bible study and fellowship, they just had gotten back from a marriage retreat. the things he said about that were amazing. we are so close to opening up. i cant wait. this fall we will be hosting a fundraiser to get that and other projects off the ground.

friday- we got to visit massailand- i could go on for hours, no days about this crowd. they are so opposite compared to everything i think. (again sorry david) first of all they don't have water they walk about 20 miles 2x a week to take their cows to drink water they bring back the little that they, the men, can carry. their COWS . the children and women don't take baths ( again - no water) never mind - google them if you want- when you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. imagine is helping teach these women how to read and write , the ladies at our church put together some money and built them a place to study they had been meeting under a tree before the building. we got to visit the building.
afterwards we went on some ministry visits back in kiseria, we met with 3 families all afflicted by AIDS , one of the families had just buried their 6 month old son/brother. mom knew she was positive but without any other food she breast fed. what would you do? she is forced into prostitution with no job and children at home dying of starvation, again what would you do? these women look like some of our grandmothers very conservative, they aren't 'pretty women/julia roberts" prostitutes.
its weird. they live on $1.50 a day! i spend more on lattes. coffee.
imagine is trying to open up an aids clinic in this area the government will supply free anti viral medication but kiseria doesn't have a clinic and you need a clinic to receive the medication, nairobi which isn't to far away has them but who Can afford to skip work to go get antiviral medication in nairobi? especially when you know you have children at home starving.
anyhow. our trip was amazing i'm purposely leaving out a lot of stuff to make you want to go visit next summer. it was amazing and encouraging. we saw Gods hand in everything we are doing over there, everything. He is so Good, He is so Good , He is so Good , so good to ME.

As for ben and Gaby we are spending more time together, we are so happy to be back with them. They were disappointed that we didn't bring any one back with us, ben wanted a brother, gaby a sister. please pray for the world, it's definitely Global.