Missions

Posted Friday, July 31st, 12:30 p.m. - Newell called to let us know they arrived at 9:30 a.m. (Mombasa time)!! All are doing great and all luggage arrived with them.

Posted Thursday, August 6th, 11:15 a.m. -Update Saturday 8/01/09
Jambo! We made it! Long flight with little sleep, but it was worth it. 4 plane rides brought us into Kenya at about 11 a.m. their time. The first day, Friday, we met a few of the boys, went to the beach, unpacked, had a Swahili Specialty for dinner and played Fruit Basket Upset on the roof, real safe, only one injury to report. We don't have much time and won't go into great detail, but it's beautiful here and we love what we are doing. Today, Saturday, we got a good rest and are recuperating. We went on a tour around the city hitting the focal points and taking pictures. Markets, Temples, and Old Town Mombasa were we were. We then went to HallerPark for a mini safari adventure. We saw tortoises, hippos, giraffes, monkeys, wildebeest, birds, impalas, and crocodiles. Its has been about 80 degrees so far, very humid and we are hot. So far, we are having a great time and can't wait to share our experiences with you all. Oh, by the way, everyone is healthy. Asanti Sana and Hakuna Matata.

With Love,
The Africa Missions Team
P.S. Today's update was brought to you by Tyler Patrick and Zachariah Haske! Bye now!

Posted Monday, August 3rd, 9:02 a.m. - UPDATE Sunday 8/2/09
Well, it's Sunday evening and we are sitting here sweating... again. Obviously we spent most of our morning at church, which as you could expect was a little different than what we are used to. The service was much more laid back and took place in the garage of the boys' house. The worship was led largely by the boys with some specials Christian raps they wrote. There was also a section during the service in which volunteers came up and gave testimonies (they were more like words of wisdom or things laid on their heart). Of course, there was then the sermon given by Pastor Soleto (unsure of spelling). It was an enjoyable service, but did run a little longer than we were used to (10:00am to 1:00pm). Following the service we, the missions trip and the boys, traveled (as in a long walk) to the beach, where we spent the rest of the afternoon strengthening our relationship with the boys. We spent time talking, swimming, and watching them play soccer (because we are awful compared to how they play). Well, six O'clock came and we sat down to dinner, which included some kind of rice with a certain kind of spice, as well as an array of fruits (mangoes, bananas, avocados). As I type the boys and the mission team are playing a game of car lot. Once the game comes to a close we will be moving to the roof for our evening worship and discussion. Written by: Nathan Hartmann and Tyler Cottle

Posted Thursday, August 6th, 11:25 a.m. - Update Tuesday 8/4/09
Hi everyone.This is ashlie and jessica. Sorry for not updating yesterday. We came back to the hotel and the cyber cafe was closed. Yesterday was the first day that we started the circut. There were 4 different sessions that each group went to. (Hospital, the streets, Games, school) The street boys came to the beach so we could teach them some American games. It was kind of confusing to translate all of the directions and they had very short attention spans. The Streets was very tough for the people who went. It is the roughest sites to see with boys sniffing glue and smoking weed. The hospital was very unsanitary and heart breaking. it was bed after bed after bed of sick people. At the school we tried to teach each one how to use verbs and put sentence together. All together the day was very good. Please pray for strenght for the group, the days are very long and it is hard to keep focused and everything that we see is very tough to witness. But we are late for dinner and carly is going to yell so we are going to go but we will continue to update you all...We miss you all. kwaheri (bye) -Ashlie and Jessica

Posted Thursday, August 6th, 2:00 p.m. - This is an update for Wednesday.
As usual it started off as a hot day, we gathered for breakfast in the morning, omelet with sausage and toast!! Mmmm American food!
We gathered in the car park of the house to hold worship, prayer, and our daily learning. We learned about healing through prayer and prophetic teachings. We had lunch, PB&J with fresh fruit and juice!
Our groups then split up to go to our "stations."
One group to the streets, another to the schools, to the hospital, and another also to the streets, but that group went there to play games with the kids!
One of the boys here (Mario) was not feeling good, but he is doing much much better(Praise the Lord!!) The food here is much different then in the U.S, it takes some getting used to but, its ok...

Other than that everyone is healthy and doing well!
Everyone is growing much closer and going much deeper with God every day!!
Keep us in your prayers!
P.S. this update was brought to you by Zach Haske!

Posted Thursday, August 6th, 2:05 p.m. - Update - Thursday 8/06/09 This is Colleen. I am so sorry about the mix up. We thought we were doing so good, we were actually proud of ourselves but you know pride comes before the fall. We had the the wrong email address. We had the kids resend them all so enjoy!!!!

Wow I cant believe that we have been here for over a week. The time has flown by and I am already getting sad about leaving. We have come to love the Rapha House Boys. God has been teaching us so much. You all would be so proud of the students representing our youth group. They are amazing and we will have some pictures to prove it. They are allowing God to work in and thru them. They have also braved the culture. One night we were eating dinner and I heard one boy say "Just keep telling yourself it is mashed potaoes and green beans" They will have lots of stories to share. Continue to pray for us(strength, energy, health, love, wisdom) as we know that it is only thru God that any of this work can be done. Carly and Val are amazing and I couldnt be any prouder as a mom. They have a full schedule for us everyday. Can't wait to share in person. Off to dinner.( I dont mind being a little late as I saw the cook cleaning some fish but she left the head and tail on and told me that we eat the heads!)
Love from Mombasa, Colleen

Posted Friday, August 7th, 12:06 p.m. - Update - Friday 8/07/09 God's amazing abilities were really shown throughout today. Because of his encouragement and assistance to our missions team, five more were accepted into his kingdom. On top of that, many in the hospitals and streets experienced God's incredible power and love for his children. The Holy Spirit has revealed himself in so many ways during this trip.

The games group had a very successful day. Water balloons were a hit along with other games. It was touching to see the kids on the streets acting their age and putting down their glue bottles to just have fun and enjoy the games. At the school a lesson was taught about outlining essays. It is amazing how intelligent the children of

Kenya

are. They were quick to grasp the concepts of american teachings. God has so much in store for the children of Mombasa. Keep praying for us and the rest of our trip.
Kelsey Prince and Mary Osredkar

Posted Monday, August 10th, 10:05 a.m. - Update 8/08/2009 and 8/09/2009 - Hi Everybody,
So yesterday, the day before we had to leave, we got a day to relax. Everybody got to go into town and do some shopping. Almost everybody in our group went to Oldtown, the original Mombasa. It was great. The boys from the house were amazing. They bartered and haggled with all the shop owners to lower the prices because they automatically raise the prices if you are white. Some people then went to one of the markets, while some headed back to the hotel to relax before our bonfire on the beach. The bonfire was fantastic. It was so fun to just hang out with everybody and just relax and have fun.
Today was nice too. It was Sunday, so we had our church service (which was 3 hours long...). We did some traditional Swahili worship songs and then some American worship songs. Its been really cool to learn all the different Swahili songs that they sing here. Right before Newell started his sermon, all the rest of the church got up and prayed for our group from Gaylord as a whole. During this, they gave each of us a traditional African shawl, which really goes to show how much these people care for us. Newells sermon was also great, he really stresed some important things for our group.
After church, almost our entire group went to the beach (3 guys went back into town to do some more shopping). We played some volleyball, some soccer, and swam for one last time in the Indian Ocean.
This week has been one of the most amazing weeks in my life, and i think I speak for the entire group when I say that. We will all miss everyone of these Rapha boys more than they'll ever know.
We're now waiting to head to the airport and start our journey back home. See you all when we get back. God Bless.
Brandon Pendry for The Gaylord E-Free Senior High Youth Group