headed to Tanzania :)

We arrived back from Kiatine yesterday evening. It was a great week and we had a lot of fun. The people in the church were so welcoming and hospitable in every way. We stayed at a hotel that was right across the street from the church which was nice because we did not have to travel a few hours every morning… we could just walk on over ☺ When we first got to the hotel we were told that we would each have our own room. The rooms were a single room with a full size bed and a mirror… we have had roommate the whole trip so far so we were all kind of sad that we had to be in separate rooms, but then he told us that we could sleep two in a room if we wanted to!! So Devon and I shared a room… the bed was a little crowded, but it was good to have a roommate haha. Each night we went to the pastor’s house for dinner and also in the morning for breakfast. His name was Pastor Augustine Musili and his wife’s name was Carol. Carol would cook for us and did such a wonderful job… we even had our first dish of mashed potatoes in Africa… my favorite!! They have the two sweetest boys named Louis, who is 4 and Chris, who is 2. It was great to get to spend three days with them and get to know their family.

Our days would usually look something like this…
7:45 wake up and get ready
8:00 Morning devotions and prayer
8:15 Leaving to go to the Musili’s for breakfast
9:00 Arrive at the church
9:15-9:45 Praise and worship
9:45-10:00 Morning sermon
10:00-12:30ish Morning service
1:00-2:00 rest time
2:00-2:30 Lunch
2:30-4:00 Afternoon session

The first day there were no children because they were in school so Devon and I just helped out with the Bible quizzing session and in any way that was needed. The morning session was filled with the reasons why it is important to train leaders and how each student needs a positive influence in their life. Lunch was taken at the church and it usually consisted of ugali, sukamawiki and potatoes. This week we were helping the church prepare for children’s bible quizzing so the afternoon session the first day was about the rules of quizzing. This session ended about 3 and we were invited to the mid-week service that started at 4. We went to the hotel and rested for a little while and then went to the church for the service. This service was a lot different than the Luo services we attended in Saiya and Homabay. We got to the church and we were told that the first hour was supposed to be filled with prayers. During the praying there was loud music and it was not silent prayers. Some people were singing, some were praying out loud and some were shouting. It was interesting to see different praying styles during the service. After prayers we worshiped in song for about 30 minutes and then Pastor Musili preached. It was kind of humorous that during the service there was Charles, one of the church members, at the keyboard, which was on the auxiliary setting and he would hit random keys that would play a loud drum, triangle or a crash cymbal … haha. It is always so much fun and also interesting to see how other churches around the world construct their services. This particular service was definitely different than the ones that I am used to back home. After the service we walked to the pastor’s house and ate dinner, had our kiddy mix awards and then called it a night. Kiddy mix awards take place in our team meetings at the end of each day. The awards are pieces of candy and they are given to us by other people on our team for different things that happened throughout the day.
The second day there were children, but we did not have a separate session for them because the session that the adults were doing involved a practice run of children’s quizzing and the afternoon session was about drugs and drug prevention. Some of the people thought it would be a good idea for the children and youth to be present. After the afternoon session we went to a nearby school that had an open field and a volleyball court. I played volleyball for a little while and then Devon and I went and sat with a group of girls to watch them play soccer. While we were sitting with the girls they started asking us our names and where we were from. Then they started playing with our hair and saying, “its so smooth.” I asked them if they wanted to play with it and they all stood up and said yes! So we let our hair down and they loved it. They kept saying that it was so smooth and that it felt so clean. This is some of my favorite times. I love to just have conversations with the children and youth and have a chance to get to know them and form relationships with them. This is why I loved being at the same place and church for those three days.
The third day there were lots of children so Devon and I went to the church’s primary school and taught the children lesson there. I taught the story of Noah and the ark and God’s covenant with him. Then Devon taught the children the “My Father’s House” song and we taught them a couple of games. It was great to be at the school and to teach the students there. The children are wonderful and you can tell that they have so much fun with the different lessons and the games that we play with them… and so do we!! The afternoon session was filled with children’s quizzing so we took them back to the church to participate in that. After quizzing we went back to the school to play soccer. We sat on the sidelines to watch them play and some of the children and even some of the students from that school came to sit with us. There was this one girl that was very interested in our country and just our way of lives. She thought that it was very interesting that we have near shaved our heads since we were born, that is part of their school uniform. It was great to talk to her and answer the different questions that she had. They ended up playing with our hair again and they wanted us to take pictures of them, they love to see them on the LCD screen once the picture had been taken because they love to see what they look like. After the soccer game was over we all met and we gave the church the soccer ball and volleyball that they had been playing with. They loved this gift, because they love to play the different sports but they have to make their own balls to play with out of plastic bags and other trash.
Sunday morning we attended the church service and were asked to lead the children in a lesson. Devon taught them the story of Jonah and then I lead them in a song with motions. It was great to see all the children that we had taught the day before and also all of the new faces. After the lesson for the children we started the adult service. We honestly sang for at least an hour, and whenever there is singing… there must be dancing. It was great to partake in the different types of worship as well and the services. Then the Pastor introduced us to the church and gave us each a Kikamba name. The name that he gave me was Mwende, which means loved. After we were introduced to the church, Jeb gave a sermon with the help of a translator. Then we sang some more and were told to go to the Pastor’s office to have lunch before we left. After lunch we said our goodbyes and gave our blessings and then began our trip back to Nairobi.
This past week was great. I really enjoyed being able to form relationships with the children because we were able to see them for more than just one day. I already miss the people of Kiatine.


These past couple of days in Nairobi have been wonderful as well. It is great to travel around and visit and work in the different churches, but it is also nice to have a couple of days to relax. Yesterday we went to downtown Nairobi and got our tickets to Tanzania and shopped around a bit. Today we are going to try and just relax because tomorrow we are getting on the bus at 645 am to head to Tanzania. We are taking public transportation there, which I am kind of excited about. It is supposed to be a long trip and we have to stop and get our visas for our time in Tanzania.

Thank you all for your prayers, we all really appreciate it. We will be in Tanzania for two weeks and probably wont have internet connection until we get back so be sure to look for an update when we return. Have a great 4th of July!!