African Safari

Our team had off the first Friday and Saturday and we were able to go on an overnight safari. I was so blessed to be able to go on another safari and especially to experience it with my mom. I didn't think it could get any more amazing than it was when I went 2 years ago. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but let me just tell you that this could not be any further from a zoo experience (and don't get me wrong, I love me some zoos). Seeing these fascinating animals from just feet away in their natural habitat is seriously one of the most incredible experiences I think I will ever have in my entire life. Here are a handful out of the 500 pictures I took.








We were SO excited to see a male lion. We saw a total of 13 lions but this was the only Simba.


















I purposely got someone else in this picture so you could see how close we were to this lion. She walked right in front of our van twice!




This picture is taken at our safari lodge. This was our view sipping hot tea and eating dinner and breakfast!!

3 days down...

Only 177 more days of school to go! Not that I am already counting down or anything. I think this is really going to be a great school year. Last year was definitely my hardest, most stressful year of teaching yet. I have no doubt that this year will be better and even on those hard days, I plan to work on having a much better attitude about it. Philippians 2:14 tells us to "do all things without grumbling or questioning". Not that I won't fail miserably at times, but this verse will be taped to my desk in hopes of a constant reminder.

Happy Friday y'all!

Spectacular night for the Reagan Raiders

Excuse me while I take a brief pause from Kenya posts to brag on my husband.
As most of you know, Paul coaches the Varsity Mens Soccer at Reagan High School. Forsyth County high schools start each soccer season with a big tournament, called the Soccer Spectacular. Almost all of the high schools in the county compete.
Paul's soccer team won the first and second round so they made it to the final game, which was last night against West Forsyth. They were so excited to have even made it to the championship game. Reagan scored first but before half time, West had tied up the game. In non-tournament games, the game is recorded as a tie but last night's game went into overtime. The game was still tied after overtime so from there they did penalty kicks. For the first round of penalty kicks, each team chooses 5 players and they have a straight shot at the goal, alternating one player/one team at a time. The kicker is expected to make it, but it's rare that the goalie can stop a straight on, one-on-one shot. The Reagan goalie stopped two of their goals but our players had missed two goals themselves, so we were still tied and the next round would be sudden death (first to score wins). West had the last kick which would determine if it went to that. I can't imagine the pressure that was on him as he got up for the last shot. Reagan's goalie blocked their last shot and they won the game!!!! It was the most intense, exciting soccer game I have ever watched. It was definitely a battle and both teams played very well. As excited as I was just being Mrs. Coach, I can't imagine how proud Paul and his team all feel. It was a late night for the Hicksters, needless to say. I think Paul could survive off of adrenaline alone for the rest of the week.

What a good way to "kick" off the season!! Hoping for many more wins and a state championship this year.

Take 3

I hope you're not tired of hearing about Kenya already. I'll try to wrap everything else up in another post or two. Or three.

We got to visit an orphanage during our first week. It was a different one than I went to my first time. It was run by a young woman from Holland. She said she came to Kenya several years ago on vacation with her family and was touched by all she had seen. She was back in Holland, was unhappy in her job and felt like she could be doing something much more important with her life. So she quit her job...moved to Kenya...by herself...to start this orphanage. Wow! It reminded me of something Francis Chan said in his book, Crazy Love. He said, "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."
I think starting an orphanage definitely counts as something that matters.

There were about 40 children at the orphanage. They had all drawn us pictures and cards as their appreciation for us coming. I will treasure those torn, wrinkled up pieces of paper forever. We gave them all a soccer jersey and silly bands. They were so grateful and excited.






One of our team members brought a frisbee for them. They acted like they had seen one before but for some reason they didn't know how to use it. Turns out, they had a few frisbees of their own but were having to use them as plates. They were so excited when we showed them the other function frisbees could serve. Bless their sweet hearts. I just hope they don't start slinging their supper.



On our last day with pastor Alfred, my mom and I got to visit a school. It was a private school that has pretty much turned into an orphanage. There are about 200 hundred children that attend the school, and almost half of those are orphans and stay there full time. The students sang several songs and danced traditional African dances, one of which has a tradition of dragging their guest onto the "dance floor" with them. Me and my mama doing African dances together-now that was a hoot y'all!





Then we got to take a tour of the school. Since I teach in a brand new school where every classroom has 21st century technology, this really hit me hard.


This was a lesson that had just been taught the day before. They write their date with the date first, then the month.

Behind the divider is another "classroom"


The man who runs this school said there are sometimes 3 children sleeping in one cot. They are do not have enough money for more beds and even if they did, there is no room for more.


As we were leaving, some of the children followed us to the car. It's not every day that a car comes through the bush so they get pretty excited about it. They noticed their reflection in the car and they were going crazy. It was so precious!


I think this about wraps up our first week. Safari and second week post coming soon!

Kenya Recap...take 2

As I mentioned in the previous post, my mom and I worked with Pastor Alfred and his church the entire first week. In the mornings we would go in the villages near the church evangelizing. This was definitely somewhat out of my comfort zone at first. Being in the middle of the bush in Africa, walking up to perfect strangers at their homes (huts) to tell them about Jesus was something I never imagined myself doing. In America you could get shot for that so needless to say, I was amazed at the reaction we got from almost every person we met. Nearly every single person was eager to hear what we had to say. They would immediately start running from hut to hut so they could bring chairs (or tree stumps) for us to sit on. We met quite a bit of people who were already Christians, which was so encouraging. Almost everyone we met who wasn't already a Christian were saved! It was such a humbling experience. I am ashamed at my lack of boldness to tell people here, even people I know well, about Jesus. So why would God want to use me to spread His Word in the bush of Kenya? Turns out that Scripture in Matthew 28 that tells us to "make disciples of all nations" actually applies to EVERYONE ;) This was the last command Jesus gave his followers before he left the earth. And it wasn't a request, it was and is a command. I hope and pray that my experiences of evangelizing in Kenya will encourage me to be better at fulfilling this command from Jesus.



Several of us from our team bought the book Radical before we left so we could read and talk about it on the trip. Reading that book while in Kenya could not have been better timing. I encourage every Christian to read that book. I will tell you that it is not a "feel good" book but please don't let that keep you from it. The author can seem a little extreme at times, but for the most part I think he is right on with what we have done with Christianity. He talks a lot about God's call for us to "make disciples of all nations". While not everyone is called to move over seas and become a missionary, we are all clearly called to have a part in spreading God's word from here to the ends of the earth.

In the afternoons, children from all around the villages near Jericho Baptist would come to the church. We sang songs, played games and told Bible stories. They amaze me. Children as young as 3 years old would sit on the bench, quietly, and listen to us for an hour straight. The kids are all so well behaved and so easily entertained. We brought bubbles one day and I think it was the first time most of them had ever seen them before. They laughed and chased bubbles until we ran out and you would have thought it was Christmas in America. And even the older children were not too cool for bubbles. I love how simple they live and how happy they are with what they have. There are no TVs, no video games, no computers. No spoiled brats! They play with what they find in the bush-sticks, rocks, grasshoppers, dirt, you name it. While we were waiting for more children to come one day, I gave them paper and pens to draw. Again, it was like Christmas. Paper and pens people. It's that simple with these precious children. And they even take turns on their own-imagine that!

Kenya Recap...take 1

Hello blog, I've missed you! I have been overwhelmed by jet lag and then straight into the fast pace of America since I got back late Friday night. I really don't even know where to start in trying to recap my experience in Kenya. Although I went 2 years ago, it was even more amazing the second time. Words could never be enough to describe it. Since I love pictures so much and I took about 1,000, I will try to tell some stories through them.

We were all put in pairs for the first week. I was with my mom. The church we were assigned to go to that Sunday was the church we spent the whole first week with. But our first full day in Kenya, that Sunday, deserves a post of its own.

Jericho Baptist Church
This is one of the nicer churches we saw in the 2 weeks we were in Kenya. A concrete floor and a tin roof are rare luxuries. This is not even the permanent facility for Jericho. They are renting this building until they have enough money to build their own church.

Pastor Alfred and his wife Faith

As we arrived to church the first Sunday, we could barely make it out of the car before children (as young as 7) were running up to greet us and insist on taking our backpacks. These are the most serving people I have ever met in my life! They will not even let you carry your own things. The children who weren't running over to help us carry our things were running from hut to hut in the village to carry chairs and benches over to the church. In every church we visited, there were no permanent chairs or benches. They are so hard to come by, that they are shared throughout the villages and churches. Can you imagine if you had to carry your own chair half a mile to church every Sunday? And do it without complaining? With joy actually?



These are fancy chairs compared to most of what we saw in the villages. A tree stump is more common for these people.

During the service, I shared my testimony and my mom spoke from John chapter 15. All of the churches there are so excited to have us and we are all expected to have a major part in their service. Church in the middle of the bush of Africa is an experience I could never describe fully. They are all so hungry and eager to hear the sermon. Most people don't own a Bible because they can't afford one, so Sundays might be the only time they have access to the Word. Their worship is so genuine. There are no fancy instruments, no lights, no overhead projector screen. Just their voices along with a stick from the bush and a plastic bucket which make up their drum set. They all have such a natural harmony together and they sing loud, with no shame. I could listen to them sing forever.

When the offering plate went around, I was reminded of how these people truly give sacrificially. I can pretty much guarantee that most of the church members gave up a meal just so they could tithe. Some gave 10 shillings, which would buy NOTHING in America and some gave only an ear of corn, but I can assure you it was because that is all they had. That was convicting for me. I have spent the last year frustrated at having 2 mortgages and considering us to be "broke". I have compared myself to those that have more than me, but rarely compared myself to those that have so much less than I do. In the moment when the offering plate passed by me, all I could think about was the Scripture from Philippians..."everything I once held dear, I count it all as loss". All of the possessions I have and all of the things I desire to have seem so much less important now. I am not saying I will never have nice things, but I will tell you that a flat screen TV was the last thing on my mind that day in church. I pray that will stay fresh on my mind as I am back in a culture that screams "more is better".

Jambo from Kenya

After such a loooooong trip and missing every single flight to get here, we are here safe and are so thankful. Our luggage made it here Sunday night so we didn't even have to wait that long to get it.
We have been doing evangelism in the villages all morning and then working with children in the afternoons. Even though this is my second time here, I am so amazed at how these people live. This is the poorest place I have ever seen and probably ever will see. The thing that breaks my heart more than that is the fact that they have no idea how little they have. And maybe it's not that they have so little but that we have WAY too much. Although they have such little possessions, most of them do not even have a bed to sleep on, they would not hesitate to give you the shirt off of their back. I wish everyone in this world could experience it here. I have so many stories already, so many emotions. I will have to wait until I get home to post pictures and share stories.
Tomorrow they are having a big election for the people to vote on a new referendum so we have the day off. We are going to visit an orphanage-the same one I got to see last time. I am so excited! It will be hard for me not to sneak one into my backpack. I appreciate everyone who is praying for our team. I hope to be able to blog again while I am here but if not, I will have plenty to share when I get back.