Trip to Kenya with Yellow Rhino Minitries

Sadly, my time on Nairobi has come to an end. In fact, I'm at the airport right now 😭. Somehow my 15 hour flight will take only 6 hours (yay time zones!). But onto the good news! I posted on Facebook the other day that one of our high school students shared that his sister was unable to attend a school last year (they go the calendar year, so start in January) because they couldn't afford the school fees. Well, with your help we got to share the news with her and her mom today that we are covering her fees and welcoming her into the Yellow Rhino family. This was the response when we told her brother at the end of the retreat: Each family we visited insisted they serve us tea or juice and a cake or something similar. No matter how little they have, they always wish to serve us as a way of thanking us for serving them! This family made my last day filled with joy. As I constantly remind the student who went on the trip, they are NEVER a burden and always ...

Ok so just pretend it's still Wednesday, ok? 10 hours of ministry takes a lot out of you and we all needed to crash when we got back. Instead of one big Christmas party where everyone comes to one central spot and we needed to organize transportation and food and decorations, we brought the celebration to the neighborhoods! That meant we could spend time actually talking to the families and seeing the impact we make first hand. Bringing presents of Yellow Rhino T-shirts, food bundles, sweets (candy) and of course KFC we made 6-7 stops around Nairobi. A few to single families, and others to large groups gathered in homes or the local church. We even brought extra sweets to give to the local children who aren't sponsored by YRM. They didn't want us to leave and we had to cut them off for disrespectful behavior (towards us and each other!). In the largest neighborhood gathering we also performed the annual Christmas pa...

Tomorrow is the Yellow Rhino Christmas Celebration! It is also my last full full day in Kenya (taking the red eye Thursday night). Today we went to the mall so the little girls can get some energy out in the playground and to get the materials we need for our Christmas party. The store we went to was kind of like a super Walmart with one "small" exception... A Christmas choir! They even marched around the store! After shopping we got to organizing the goodie bags, treats, and T-shirts for our stops tomorrow. It's been a very long day (and tomorrow will be longer) but a very good one!

Technically, this happened on Saturday during the retreat, but it definitely deserves it's own post! Chris, Doris (yellow rhino intern), and I traveled into the city with our driver Kevin to meet the student I foster and his family! I had brought over children's Bibles for him (Raymond, going into 6th grade) and his little sister (Neema, entering 1st grade) and some small toys for them. Neema was very excited to attach her frog keychain to her backpack! For Raymond I brought a picture Rubik's cube which he finished in about 10 seconds 😂 We got to know each other and they enjoyed seeing pictures of how much snow we get where I live. Mama Raymond served us tea and chapati, she is the chapati master! Chapati are kind of like fried pancakes and they are definitely a delicious staple around here. It was so wonderful to finally meet face to face and both kids and their mom were very appreciative of the Bibles. We promised to bring a solar torch (flashlight) this week...

Technically the last two high school kids go home early tomorrow morning, but most of them went home today making the retreat week officially over. I would say the house is quieter, but with two little girls in residence that isn't true! These students amazed me from day one. I knew they were they brightest students (1 going into 11th, 4 going into 12th and 3 starting college) that are a part of Yellow Rhino, but that doesn't begin to describe them. They created a chore chart for themselves ON THEIR OWN. The adults didn't ask or expect this of them, but they assisted with cooking meals (for 14-15 people!), did the dishes, helped with laundry, helped entertain the littles, even mopped floors. When was the last time a high school kid you barely know made you lunch because you were busy in a planning meeting? My answer.... yesterday. Not to mention, 6 of the 8 were boys, and I was a bit concerned about leading music with a history of having to pull teeth to make boys look even...

Hello! I know I promised a post after the safari retreat...which technically ended on Wednesday (it is now Saturday afternoon for me). BUT after some miscommunication with the driver and trains without seats left, the high school students had to stay until Friday. But the church is putting on a big music service on Sunday, so they should stay at least until then, right? Oh, and then we have the big Christmas party on Wednesday, and it would be very helpful if they could stay until then. At their request and desire, it is kind of becoming the retreat that never ends, but it the best way ever. I'll focus just on the safari part today, and talk more about these amazing high school kids and what we have done as part of the retreat tomorrow. Maasai Mara is a Kenyan nature reserve on the border of Tanzania. In Kenya it is Maasai Mara, in Tanzania the same park is the Serengeti, and the border between the two countries is marked with a clearing of trees, but no physical boundary (it would...

For church this morning we walked to Nairobi Lighthouse Church, which was both very similar and very different to an American mega-church.  The music was very lively and included a very talented music team and dancers. Everyone attending got involved and danced, sang, and clapped along. One of the songs included the line "I give you my run!" at which point a large group started quite literally running laps around the sanctuary building! The joy of the Lord was felt by all and very alive and well at church this morning!  We learned about the gifts of the wisemen and how they showed the royalty (gold), divinity ( frankincense), and future death (myrrh) of Jesus; how we should give Him our obedience, worship, and lives. My cup was certainly filled by the Holy Spirit this morning with renewed energy to praise Him. Our last two teens arrive today, and we leave for safari bright and early in the morning! In order to remain present while there I will be making one big po...

I promise to try not to miss more days! I don't want to combine yesterday (Saturday) and today, mostly because church this morning should get it's own reflection. Saturday was pretty busy and this big house is getting very full! After a quiet breakfast (or tea, as they call it here) we started packing up the bags for the students and getting organized.  Chris and the the two teen boys who were already with us for Satari brought me to the fruit and vegetable market...think farmer's market on steroids! The boys were amazed that I don't have the ability to buy fruits like mango and pineapple fresh where I am from and that we can really only grow a few months out of the year. And this is only a very small view of what is available! We also visited Jacaranda Community , a ministry right next door to our house where women sew many amazing things to sell in order to support themselves and their children. They have bags, animals, aprons....pretty much everything tha...

After a very bumpy and not very comfortable 12+ hour flight, I made it to Nairobi! There were even some musicians there to greet me (and everyone else, I suppose). Some thank yous: To everyone who gave towards my trip. Thanks to you, I not only met but even exceeded my goal! To my parents who graciously agreed to watch Marcie an extra week when I extended my trip, and who drove me (and will pick me up, at 6am no less) to JFK, which if you know NYC airports you understand is the worst to drive to! To the ticket agent who heard the terms "mission trip" and "educational supplies" and waived the overweight fee for the bag full of supplies. To the ladies in the rows behind me who began a prayer circle (in English, Spanish, and Swahili) during the worst of the turbulence. And the pilot who got us around it and here safely! To Chris, Aisha, Salma, and their driver Kevin who picked me up at the airport and pointed out all of the animals we saw on the side of the...