The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

I've been attending a church lately in Reno and I enjoy it a lot. I'm constantly wanting to dig into relationship with the people at this church. It is the first time I've ever felt this way about an institutional church. It isn't just a feeling of obligation, but I'm excited to serve the people around me and to pray and grow with them. The one thing I have never really understood, though, was tithing. I mean, why should I give just to those people in leadership? If the church is the body of Christ, why can't I give to others around me who I think are more in need? Why should I give to these American pastors that are I think are doing well for themselves, when I could give an African family $30 so they can survive for a month? I just don't see how giving to A church makes sense when the bible says give to the THE church.

God didn't create a world where there isn't enough for people. I see it as He created the right amount, but we became selfish and have too much. You see, when Jesus fed the 4,000, all He had was 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish and they ended up with baskets of leftovers (Matthew 15:32-39). Crazy how God multiplied all of that food to provide for His children. God sets up laws in the Old Testament so the hungry and homeless would have food and that debts would be forgiven after a certain amount of years and land would be given back and slaves become free. What happened? How did we become Christians that lock our doors when we see someone in need on the street?

We should live like the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. We should be saying to each other "You don't have money for gas? We've got you covered". In Acts it says no one claimed anything as their own. They ended poverty there.

An economy rooted in love will have loaves of bread let over.

Africa is one crazy adventure after another. Just today, I walked out of the gate and a man wanted to "drive me into town". Yeah, heck no. And another guy wanted to marry me, but I told him I was married, then he asked about Julia. What a sicko. Julia is a babe and all, but come on, really... so I told him she was married too. So, she is safe. We are safe. I just want to make that clear to everyone out there. We are safe here. I feel safer and more comfortable here in Kitale then I would in my own home.

I've been listening to this song tonight called "Grace" by 1997.
I love it.
Actually, I think I like it a lot because of one single line.

"Grace is where I end and you begin."

I could listen to this song over and over just to hear that. That needs to be my focus. I need to stop controlling my life so much and let it go. I need to let God begin.

That is what is in my head right now.
Much love.
Jennifer

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

I don't even know how to explain what happened today. It was way overwhelming and crazy. God has definitely been working in me big time. He is using me like never before. I don't even know.

Today, I went to the hospital in Kitale. As I walked down to catch a boda with Daniel, I was thinking of what to expect when I get there. I had no idea what to expect. For once, my girl mind had no expectations except for what the front of the place looked like because I've seen it from afar. We walked in waiting for Anne to show up so we could see the first of 2 sisters that came in the night before. She was in the woman's ward so we walked to the back of the hospital and try to get into the ward. After about 8 minutes standing there while Ann talked and with a security man shooing all the Kenyans away and leaving Daniel, Ann, and I alone, we finally got in. When we walked in, I saw that, to my amazement, there were 3-4 people to every bed, and more women waiting to jump on in with the other women.

Ann went to a younger girl and her mother on one of the full beds. She was laying there without much movement. Ann chatted with her and the mother as Daniel and I stood back. I just took everything in. I looked at the price chart that was painted on the wall. Used bed sheet were free. Patient discharge is too, or so it says. Ann and the doctor walked away for a second and Daniel had a phone call, so I introduced myself to the 14 year old girl. Her mom translated. Her name is also Ann. She is beautiful. As Ann and the doctor came back, I stepped back and watched. Appearently she was showing signs of paralisis. They started treating her for malaria. As we walked away, I waved and she raised her eyebrows, sort of saying bye.

We started walking through the grass, up a slight hill, over a water ditch, and up toward the other wards. We walked up to the children's ward with the mother to see her other daughter, but I had no idea what was going on. Neither did Daniel, so he couldn't warn me. As we walked into "Ward X", Daniel whispered "This is the children's ward." I've never been here before, so he explained what was going on. We walked to the last little cubby room on the left and, as I turned in to follow Ann and Daniel, I noticed that there was a person covered with 2 small blankets to the left of me, when everyone was standing. I hestitate for a split second and just continue walking in. Daniel turns to me and asks "Are you ok?" I think I said "Yeah" or I just nodded. I'm not so sure. I, then, stood there, watching as the mother uncovered the head and started rubbing the eyes and mouth. She reminded me of my own mother if the same thing were to happen, trying to keep busy so she wouldn't have to stop and think about things.

We, then, stepped outside of the cubby hole and Ann and Daniel chatted and I stood there and half listened, but the mother was standing off to the side, emotionless. I asked, just to make sure, if the woman was, indeed the mother. Ann said yes, so I thought about what to do. In Kenya, physical touch isn't a common thing, so I was debating whether I shold go over and do what I was thinking about doing, which was hugging her. Then, I realized that, just because this is Kenya, doesn't mean she doesn't need the comfort. So I then continued to walk toward her and then, just put my arm around her. She started to tear up. She wiped her eyes. I told her it is ok to cry as I rubbed her back and she cried some more. For more on what Daniel saw check out this blog.

Then we walked out and Daniel, Ann and I stood there for a second and then Ann started taking care of MORE people. Daniel followed up with me and warned me that I will probably see the body again, but with more confusion and mourning. I said something back, but I don't remember anymore.

So for a couple hours, I helped Ann take care of some people with their medicine and whatnot. They were easy and fun. After everyone was taken care of, Ann called a pick-up truck so they could take the body to her home. Yes, a pick-up truck. We went back to the children's ward and stood around for a while just looking at the girl. Then there was tons of confusion about why they couldn't take the girl to her home. So, when I left, they weren't allowed to take the girl home yet, and it was 12:30 in the afternoon. She had been dead for almost 12 hours already, and she was just lying there in the bed.

Craziness.
Great experience.
I love Kenya.

Jenn

Finally in Kenya

Kenya is a crazy place, in the best way possible. I've been here for a little less than a month and it has been surreal. I've felt like I wasn't even here. Everything was just going on around me. It was like I was living in a dream. I got sick last week and I'd wake up during the day a few times while I was trying to get better and I'd remind myself "I'm sick in Africa." I didn't understand it. It is so hard to make it click.

Today was a normal Tuesday. We went to a baby orphanage called In-Step. Crazy amount of dirty babies everywhere. When we got home I hung out inside and read a lot and listened to some worship music and ate crackers and cheese. I'd set down my book every once in a while and just sing to Jesus.

After we had dinner, I sat in the mud room with Steph and ate some cake with her in the dark while Stephanie joined in and then Andrew and Jared sat in the pantry and cuddled. Then we went into the sitting room and had some community time where Daniel played some guitar for a little while and Jared read some out of the Bible. Then Sandy handed out glowsticks saying "If you ever forget that you are part of the light, crack the glowstick and it will remind you." Sweet lady. Then a bunch of people went on there way with doing dishes or whatever else fit there schedule for the night. A few of us stuck around to worship Jesus. Daniel played on his guitar, Steph and I sat next to him at the window, Andrew was laying down next to the stereo, and Hannah was in front of the fireplace. It was good time at first, then Jared came in and others left, so it was just me, Jared, Hannah, and Daniel. I was sitting on the couch by this time and I heard Hannah crying a little, so, of course, I go to sit by here and give her a little love. Little did I know she was a catalyst to my own tears. As I was rubbing her back, I put my head down on my arms and started to cry in front of people. That isn't something I do. For some reason, Africa became real to me. After a month. I felt like I could finally be here. Then Hannah gave me a little love and Daniel laughed with us. Silliness all around.

Yup. That is the end of the story. Just a little tidbit on how my mind works here.

Jenn

Mercy

Being in Africa has taught me a lot of things, and it has only been a few weeks (imagine what I'll learn after it is all done). One is that I have a lot of pride, no matter how low I think I am, I am prideful. I think I'm the lamest and most annoying people on the planet, but it seems to happen that I still think I'm better than the people I meet on the street and the orphanages and homes. It is so hard, but I'm getting so much better at looking at them and feeling a little more understanding of what is going on in their lives. I actually love them. Amazing right? I care about them and want to take every little street kid home and even a lot of the kids at the orphanages I want to take with me.

I just love going into town. Today Steph and I went into town. It took us about 20-30 minutes. That is a big deal. We were on a mission. The boda ride was 10-15 minutes. We took maybe 5 minutes in the store. Then the piki ride back was about 10 minutes. It was epic. We rocked that trip there.

And I love seeing all the babies around at the baby houses. The one down the street from our compound especially interests me. I like the small amount of kids and how uber cute they are. I want to go there every day. There is another baby house and I love that one too. There are so many kids though. It was the cutest thing ever. I don't know. They are different from american kids. They just appreciate more I think. They aren't as ADD-like. They can focus longer on one thing. If I were to stay here for the rest of my life, that is what I'd be doing, taking care of babies.

I'd also want to take care of girls like this:
We were going into town the other day and Meredith saw a girl on the side of the road. She made the cab driver stop so we could help. She was dirty and smelly and she looked old. We stood her up and found that she was younger. We all thought maybe 16 (She ended up being 23). So we took her back to the compound to take care of her. She was thirsty and hungry. I finally got to see what I came to Africa for. The hurting and the poor and the HUNGRY and THIRSTY. I wanted to take care of her and be with her. God sent this to me. It was my gift I think. :) It was so overwhelming though. I hurt so bad for her. I didn't want her to hurt anymore. We catered to her like she was queen. She probably liked it a lot. After a bath and some new clothes, we got her to a hospital and her aunt found us and told us she was mentally retarded and that she ran away. She is the kind of thing that all those sad commercials make up (and the ones that everyone changes the channel on). That was Africa for me. I finally woke up and realized that I am in Africa. After 3 weeks. Took me long enough.

That's all I have to say about that.
And I miss everyone at home SOOO SO SO SO SO much.
Jenn

Prayer for Adventure

Everyday I've been praying for a new adventure, and everyday, there has been one. From conversations about prayer with good friends to crazy dancing in the rain to creepy piki piki drivers, it is out of control and so much fun. God is so providing like crazy.

The other day, one of my friends from Reno, Stephanie, and I were having some quality time in town and we went out to eat and then walked home and it was so nice. As we were walking, it started to POUR down rain. I mean POURING rain. And just a half hour before, Steph and I were saying how fun it would be to walk home in the rain (at least once anyway). So we did. It was cold toward the end. We got back to the compound and we saw everyone and they said that we looked like we jumping in a pond. I was so proud of us.

The next day, all the girls went to town and I had to get money out of the bank before I went back to the compound. So, again, Steph and I went to the bank. I told her how she and I were going to take a piki piki back because she was going to love it. So we found the area of town where we were told the drivers knew where TI was. We asked them if they knew and they said "50" like it was 50 shillings to get to where that was, and I knew that was the price so I assumed they knew where they were going. So we got on our separate pikis and went off. I was behind Steph and her hat flew off, so my driver stopped so I could get it, but, in doing that, I lost Steph. My piki driver took me to a gas station and turned left and took me down a dirt road and went way too far, so I told him a couple times that I thought he was going the wrong way and he said he was going the right way so I just thought it was a different, less bumpy path. So he stops and turns around and says "Is this it?" I say "No. If you turn back to to town I can tell you where to go." He goes to ask some other man that is on the street. So I start to get a little rougher in my speech with him "TURN AROUND AND I WILL TELL YOU WHERE TO GO" so he does. Appearently I'm tougher than he is. Kenyans... So I begin to point out where to go and as soon as I cross the intersection to go to the compound, I see Steph and 3 or 4 other girls that are part of TI. I was SOOOO happy to see Steph and to know that she was safe. So I gave her he hat and she jumped for joy that I wasn't raped and that she got her hat. All was well.

So TODAY, we went to Hope Bright Future (HBF), an ophanage that TI is in charge of and runs. On our matatu ride over there, I turn to another friend and intern, Hannah, and ask her to pray with me. I pray "God, please give us an adventure today. Amen." So we get to HBF and it starts off slow and normal. Lunch. Then after lunch, it starts raining. Remember, this is Kenya, so this is AFRICAN rain. Like the rain Steph and I got soaked in. So there are puddles everywhere that were screaming to be jumped in and my toes were begging to get in that mud. I watched people get wet for a little bit and all the boys play futbol. Then I decide to follow my companions and jump in the mud and get soaking wet, once again. Then, this boy decides we want to attack us white girls by kicking the dirty water at us. So what do I do? Attack back of course. So he was on my list the rest of the day. Then that rest of the kids decide to attack the 4 of us girls by surrounding us and kicking water at us. It was intense. Then I go under the veranda and chill for a little bit, but then that boy that is still on my list calls me over. I don't trust him so I asked another one of my friends to come with. I turn the corner only to see a GIANT puddle of water. It was more of a pool of water that was probably full of cow and chicken poop. So I chase him down the hill and attack him in this poopy puddle. It was glorious. There ended up being a few other kids joining us, then it turned into a show with the children as the stars. They were so cute.

So God answers prayers in crazy ways. I love adventures, even if I am freezing cold in the end. I still got to shower and eat grilled cheese and half baked brownies AND "paint" my toes (I suck at painting my toes).

Jenn

Africa in All its Glory

So Africa is amazing. I love being here with a few of the closest people I know, plus some that will gain that title in the next few months, no doubt. I can't believe how green it is and how different it is than what I imagined.

I'm really enjoying my time with friends, new and old. I wish I could talk to my friends though. I think the time difference makes it really hard.

The first night we got in, we stayed in a hotel in Nairobi. I was really afraid how dirty the bed was, but I just toughed it out and said "this is Kenya" and went on my lovely way. We caught a bus to go to Kitale the next morning. That was an 8 hour, killer bus ride. I was dieing. So freaking tired. But I saw some baboons and kinda used my first cho. Ew. When we got to the compound it was raining and it was so great and the compound is beautiful. I couldn't choose anything better. The next day, we went into town after breakfast and some family time. We went to the market and got some lunch. It was so cool. I loved the kids and the craziness. The day after that (today), we went to Hope Bright Future (HBF) children's home. The kids were flippin' out of their minds. I enjoyed everything about it even though it was a lot to take in. After I got home, Daniel got my bags (thank you my hero). I love being at least somewhat settled it. I still have a little more to go tomorrow.

That is pretty much all we have done. That is just a simple one. Maybe I'll go a little more in depth int he future, but it is late and I am falling asleep at my computer.

*fin

P.S. Everyone that gave me these expectations, thanks. They were exaggerated and I expected the worst and was happy when it was easier.