So at long last, we’ve come to the 4th and final week of our time in mission in Kenya before we spend 6 weeks in the Philippines.
What a crazy ride it’s been so far with people being saved, getting covered in paint, preaching to churches of 300 and to whole villages, hosting kids and youth camps and a whole load of beans and rice!
This week, Javier Lopez, one of our school leaders came for a pastoral visit and on Thursday, we spent the afternoon together looking back on our time here and getting ready to transition into the next stage of our outreach – the Philippines.
Being in Awasi, things seemed simpler, there were less houses, less shops, and everyone was ready to hear from us. It was amazing making contact with those from the Luo tribe and making such an impact on their communities.
But in Kisumu, even though we wouldn’t be doing any door to door evangelism there, things seemed harder for us. Many of us shared how we struggled to process the children in the hospital suffering with Cancer, or playing with orphaned children who had such joy in their heart.
Following the update I sent out last week, we also spent afternoons with children in an orphanage, leading groups and activities for them and teaching them from the Bible. What I loved is how much they warmed up to us, just like the youth camp, the kids just wanted someone to show them love, to play with them and teach them of their value, and what an opportunity it was to share the love of Jesus with them.
It was so hard to say goodbye to them, and to the children in the hospital after we’d finished all the painting. We knew other groups would be back in the future, but we were left saying “there’s so much more to be done”… with the children, the youth, on the walls in the hospital, with the families we met. But after reminiscing together, and praying over all that had happened, we were able to turn our heads forward now… to the PHILIPPINES!!
Ahead of us is 40 hours of travelling, from Kisumu, back to Nairobi, to Thailand, China and then finally onto Manila where we’ll be spending the first part of our time in Subic.
Though we don’t know much yet of what opportunities, we have been preparing for whatever God places in front of us.