TCA Mission Africa 2010

Hello there blog readers

First off I have to say a Happy Birthday to my brother Kelly Green! He and his wife Helen and daughter Grace are brave enough to be living in my house while Jon and I are away and taking care of our three youngest children for us. We are so appreciative of all they are doing to make it possible for us to be here. Happy Birthday Kelly!

Okay, let me see if I can even remember what all we've done today. We started out the day with breakfast at 7 and morning devotions from Peter Bjorkman. The majority of the group went on down to the chapel area and began working again on leveling dirt and moving rocks. They are getting very familiar with the dirt and rocks there and doing a great job and have made a lot of progress.

Jon and I, Amber Marshall, Peter, and Camille all went over to the Springs of Hope Orphanage to visit with their leader Mary and see how things are coming along there. TCA families had generously donated money for them to dig a bore hole at their new land they have purchased. We were able to go and visit the new site and see the borehole, which I will add as a photo attachment in a minute. They will next put a wall and fencing around the property to protect against vandals before they are able to have a pump installed on the well. They were waiting on our okay for this and can now have an architect start making drawings. They will start building their new facilities and will add on as money becomes available. It is a very nice plot of land, about 3 and 1/2 acres, in the middle of a beautiful valley with a view of the foothills on both ends. It is bordering a primary school where most of the children will attend.

Mary is a beautiful woman with a great heart for God, an enormous love for the children, and a keen business sense to keep the whole thing running smoothly. We are excited that we will be able to return tomorrow and start holding babies. We asked her what they could most use us for right now, and she insisted that one on one time holding the children and filling them up with love is the best way we can help. The students are more than happy to oblige with that and are very excited to start visiting tomorrow. We hope to continue our partnership with them through Scott and look forward to seeing what God is doing there. One thing Camille and I took note of is that they REALLY could use an industrial quality Washing Machine since they still do ALL of the laundry by hand right now and many of their helpers quit because the laundry is non-stop and they rub their hands raw and give up. I promise NEVER to complain about my laundry again! :)

We next dropped by the Masaku School for the Disabled to set up a time to come back and visit them. We will be visiting there again on Thursday, to do some skits and bible stories and they will be inviting the parents of the students to come and greet us. Several of the parents have been asking to meet us and are so grateful for the Lords provisions, through many of you, which has provided them with a well and soon a vehicle for their school. I know we always look forward to our time there as well. Their director, Mr. Muli is a wonderful man of integrity and has a great passion for their unique ministry. They are one of the few institutions that can take and educate children with varying special needs. We are so thankful they are here as we know that all children are loved by God and we enjoy seeing their needs being met. Peter Bjorkman had met a young boy of around 13 or 14 while serving in Kisimu the last few months. This story made me sob unexpectedly so please be warned. He is extremely mentally disabled and has been totally abandoned to the street. Peter came along to inquire what the fees would be and how we can possibly get him enrolled in the school here. It turns out it is about 11,202 shillings per year to have this boy attend the school where he would be fed and housed and educated. I'm no mathematician, but if I'm correct, that is only around $1,300 U.S. dollars per year. I really want to see this happen...I'm just sayin'

We next stopped in the local Wal-Mart and bought a few supplies and then went down to our favorite restaurant T.Tots and bought a huge box of Samosas for all the students for lunch. Can I just say how much I love Samosas! It is the one thing I crave that you just cannot find in the U.S. (not like these anyway) :)

So we all thoroughly enjoyed our lunch together and then split off again. The majority of the group went back to the work site. Jon and I took Salem and Frances and went to the local hospital to visit a local church member who had been admitted after burning herself with scalding water last night while cooking. We were able to pray with her and one other man with a broken leg just to encourage them before visiting hours were over. I mentioned the other day that Salem wants to go to medical school and come back to Africa to set up a medical practice and minister to the people here. He said he would love to have stayed there all day every day and was encouraged that his calling seemed very much reaffirmed while here.

We then went back to Scott to meet up and half of our people went out in small groups again doing door to door evangelism. We do realize that not everyone can be saved from one brief encounter hearing about God but are excited to go out and make sure everyone has heard the good news of Jesus. Many we meet are already saved, but want us to share with their children, or they have questions they are confused about, or want to know the difference between us and Jehovah's witnesses, and some are just hearing it for the first time, so we are planting seeds. It is interesting to spend one on one time with them and we have learned alot about how they feel about the upcoming election vote for their country, etc. At our meeting just now, there were too many stories to share from today but all were encouraged and thankful to have had the opportunity. I had Wes, Haley, and Frances with me and they all did a great job sharing with the evangicube and then sharing their personal testimonies of what God has done in their lives.

The other half of our group met on the Soccer field and had a good time playing against another local kids team. This one is run by a guy named Eric, who accompanied us up the Iveti Hills on Sunday as a guide. He runs this team as a ministry and so let a couple of our people get up and give testimonies afterward and invited them all to the new Scott chapel services which will eventually be held in the chapel we are working on this week. Today, our team actually won 4-2, not that anyone cares...it was just fun meeting them on a level they enjoy and finding a "currency" to strike up meaningful conversations.

We had our dinner and then met again tonight for fellowship. Tonight, the headmaster from Scott joined us in our fellowship since this will be the last night our whole team is together here at Scott. Half of our team will be leaving at 6 in the morning tomorrow to head to Kajairdo. Anyway, the headmaster, Jacob gave a speech to our students thanking them for their hard work and service. He encouraged them that their work is so important since many, many people will be attending these services and worshipping here in the future. He reminisced about the building of the dorm we are staying in now and watching another team cart rocks, just as we are doing, not realizing the full impact that the building, and Scott in turn, would have on the community. He reminded them we are not doing this for any man, but for the Lord. He also shared how several community members have been wandering by watching the Americans working so hard and wondering why on earth we would be doing this. He has been able to explain that these are young Christians who are willing and able to serve and want to see the gospel spread in their land. Many of the community are now becoming curious and more aware of the church that will be there to serve their area. So there you go, Miss HANNAH Hardison...there is possibly your millions. :) The community of Christ goes beyond all borders and stretches across all nations.

He also commented on Quincy, who was the guest preacher there at the Scott chapel service on Sunday. He said many people kept asking, "Are you sure that young man is only 17? He speaks like someone who has already been to theological college" They were all very moved by his sermon and said his message was very powerful. We wish we all could have heard it - the only drawback of such a large group is being split up often. I think there is NO question around here that Quincy is truly truly called to be a preacher.

So tomorrow morning the following group will leave at 6 a.m. to travel to Kajairdo. They will be stopping by an orphanage in Nairobi on the way, and some of Jon's art-superstars (led by Frances Russell) will be painting a mural for them in only 2 short hours before moving on to Kajairdo. They will probably not be accessible online for the next 5 days as they will be out more in the rural villages. We will be able to contact them by phone in emergency, so please contact Jon or I through the blog or using the global cell phone number in your packet if you need us. Jon and I will be staying here at Scott with the others to continue working on the chapel, going to the orphanage, and the School for Disabled. We are all honored to do all of these things.

There have been a few minor changes in the roster of who is going where due to MINOR illnesses. MINOR MINOR - nobody worry please! A few of the kids have had mild tummy issues which seem to be resolving in 24 hours or less but nevertheless we felt it was best to keep anyone who is feeling even slightly "questionable" to remain here at Scott and only sending out those who are feeling 100 percent. Please pray for Jon's brother Brian, who will be leading the team. The Kajairdo team will be Roger Azevedo, Amber Marshall, Peter Bjorkman, Camille Millet and Mary Ndungu as sponsors. Lauren Hardison, Mimi, Frances, Ellie, and Eunice will be our five girls going along. Salem, KJ, Max, Drew, Quincy and Will are the boys in the group and have been charged with being the protectors of these girls along with the sponsors. Please pray for them as they travel and serve to minister to the Masaai people over the next five days. We will meet up with them in Nairobi on Monday and drive all together to the Safari.

Okay, that is all I can possibly type tonight. I hope all at home are doing well. Love to my kids and please be nice to Uncle Kelly today and sing him an extra special Happy Birthday song. :)

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet

Hello everyone

Well, I finally got a few photos to load this afternoon. It took almost 2 hours so I may wait a few days before I go through that again. :) But please know that everyone is safe and doing well.

This morning we had an early breakfast at 7 and devotion by Roger Azevedo on being courageous and trusting in God's power. We then headed back down to our favorite worksite and shoveled more dirt and moved more rocks. The kids are really amazing and have just had great attitudes despite being obviously exhausted. They all understand that we are here to serve and we have been discussing how many people will be blessed by this building for many years to come. We worked until lunch at 12:30, had a short break and then went back for about 2 more hours.

This afternoon, after an hour or so break, everyone headed out in different groups to do some door to door evangelizing. Each group had a guide from Scott along with us and all the kids were trained on how to use the Evangicubes. They did a great job and came back with alot of neat stories.

One young man that Quincy talked to accepted Christ and Quincy asked that we all pray for him to continue to grow spiritually. His name was Mutenda. Mr. Azevedo's group of Lauren, Meg and Rachel also had a couple of people come to Christ today. All of the groups met several people who were already believers who thanked them for what they were doing and several had them pray with them. Ellie had an old woman make a bee-line straight to her and ended up talking with her for quite awhile. The old woman had a sick daughter and Ellie's group was able to pray for her in the daughter's room.

We had a quick dinner and meeting and now are about to head to bed. Tomorrow we will be working again at the new chapel, doing more door to door evangelizing in the afternoon and one group of 14 will be meeting another team that has challenged them to soccer - I mean football. It was a great experience the other day being able to have a couple of our guys share testimonies afterward so they are looking forward to it again.

Also, the group is VERY excited that we are going to go pick up some Samosa's from our favorite restaurant T. Tots tomorrow for lunch. Food just makes people happy. :)

Thanks again for the encouraging messages and emails. It really helps the students to hear from home. They are GREAT kids! Sorry if this post is kind of short. I am about to fall asleep at the computer.

To Marshall, Mikayla, and Marie - it was great getting to talk to you for a few minutes on the phone! We miss you and love you!

Jenni Millet