Received this email from Wed. Also got to speak with him on thursday! he said they were about to go shop in some villages and then safri for a few days and then home!!! He wanted me to tell you that all is well and everyone is safe! Here's the teams email:

VBS TEAM – 04



Wednesday…



Jambo means Hello, Hello to Jesus every day, HE hears us when we pray.



VBS was great today. We had about 400 children, some that had never been to church or VBS. It was an organized electric filled church full of children. They learned about the armor of God and had a lesson in honesty, which I won’t go into now. We gave away shoes to all the children and a lot of people that came when the word got out that we were giving away shoes.



I came away feeling good about telling children about God and Jesus for the first time.

They were hopping around like little toad frogs. They sang very loud and very pretty. I think everybody in Africa can sing. Of course I cannot carry a tune in a bucket, sol I loved being able to sing at the top of my lung and nobody knew the difference.



I went to the girls dormitory and was able to visit with Vivian. She did not feel good, so

She sat in my lap and I rubbed her back. She said she liked that. I want to cry when I see her because she is one of the ones that does not laugh a lot because she does not feel good all the time.



God is doing wonders for the children in this orphanage. Many prayers are said for them from people in the USA that don’t even know them and all of us with Kenya Relief.

There is power in prayer and I hope you will put the children of Africa on your prayer

list.



To all my family, I love you and miss you. Call my mother and let her know that I am all right and that I will be home next week.



Keeping the faith.



Margaret (Bubbie)





Thursday…



What a week!!! VBS has been different but in a good way. We saw around 1000 kids this year which was incredible for this being the first time we have gone out into different areas. Sometimes though you wish it was a smaller number in order to have more personal contact in order to spread the Gospel, but God has His plans so it is good!



Roy is off on an adventure! He went today with the Ag director here to a town about 5 hours away to look at some milk cows for the orphanage. And of course, nothing here is easy – it hasn’t rained and they are in a drought BUT of course, when they got to the town, the farm is on a bad road. AND it has rained so much they needed a 4 wheel drive which they were not in, so he is spending the night there. I am glad he took a bag of beef jerky with him!! Who knows what kind of bed he is sleeping in!!



It has been a wonderful week so far and I know God is working in this place. There are children that we have seen this week that have never been at a VBS or a church in their life. We visited Teacher Jane’s new school that she built because she felt God was asking her to do that. Her family had to sell their cows (that is a huge deal here!!) to build a 3 room schoolhouse (about 10x10 each room) that holds 70 students and the bathroom is a tarp around some trees. And we think our school funding cuts are bad!



I could go on and on but others would like to write but just please continue to remember Kenya in your prayers. One of the locals told me the problem is that most Kenyans do not have a heart to give, only receive. Please pray that their hearts will be changed and this nation would turn to God.



LOVE YOU GIRLS, FAMILY and FRIENDS!!

Dusty



Hi everyone im loving Kenya and im ok. I love you all and I will be back soon. Sory I haven’t ben writing. But ive written in my journal a lot so u all can read that. Ummmmmmm the forwarding should be as such joe …….mama………deaddy…..granny and papa, aunt penny uncle peyton and them, and aunt lynn and them…… thanks and I love yall!!!!!!!!!



JOSH





Hello to all



Today was a wonderful day! We did the last of the mobile VBS’s at Living Hope, or The Hope Center as it is also called. It is a small orphanage with about 50 resident children, mostly girls. It is only about 10 miles from Marindi but it takes about 45 miles to travel by van. The neighboring children were invited to attend the VBS and the total attendees was about 300. We taught the lessons and did all activities outside. Three of the groups were able to find a smigen of a shade for their class. I taught the age 14 & up and we sat outside on the ground with no shade in sight. Thankfully, there was considerable cloud cover and that helped to make it bearable. The weekly total was about 1000 for all locations.



We also met a couple from Georgia that support Living Hope and do annual short-term missions there. They seemed very happy to have another team of Americans with them today!



This evening Millicent’s mother and younger sisters came to visit and I was able to give them their gifts of clothes, toys candy. They were quiet happy with all of their gifts. The twins put a whole pack of bubble gum in their mouths at once. They were so funny. Velna brought me a beautiful Masaai outfit. She did all the incredible beadwork by hand.



I need to go and let the next person have their turn. It has been a good week. God is good. That is so evident here in Kenya.



Good night to all and lots of love to family and friends from Kenya.



Jane



Jambo! (Hello) to my family and friends,



What a experience these past 4 days have been! We held our last day of VBS at another orphanage, Living Hope. More than half the children had never been to a VBS before. Our team leader, Jane, explained what VBS was in America and introduced the team.



Yesterday we kept all 400 children together in the Maranatha Church. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least. We had ages from not yet toddlers to 16 year olds.



Today we were outside. We had about 300 children today. Same as yesterday, there were all ages! One little girl, about 8 or 9 brought both her little brothers, the baby about 6 months and the toddler about 2.



We broke into four groups. Skip and I had the 11-13 year olds. Our lesson was on the full armor of God. I taught the lesson and as I went over each piece Skip would put the piece on.



Afterwards we passed out crayons and color pages. They love to color. They are supposed to give us back the colors but there are those that hide them. Yesterday our helpers from Mirandi (Orphanage were we are staying, sponsored by Kenya Relief) actually frisked the children as they left. They recovered about 4 boxes of crayons!



The crafts were the making of a Belt of Truth, and the helmet of salvation. We hand out stickers and “jewels” for them to use for decoration. The children are very creative!



We also have a music time and teach them a couple of really cute songs.



After VBS, which was out in the country, about a 45 min trip from Mirandi, we drove about another 45 min to an hour to visit the home of a young widow. She is only 25. Her husband’s first wife died. She had a baby last year, and then her husband died. Now she cares for her child and 2 of her stepchildren. The 3rd step child lives here at Mirandi.

We took her some beans and rice that will last her until more can be delivered.



I’m really thankful for all my support that enabled me to be here. Thank you all!



Love, Allan



SKIP! SKIP! SKIP!

Almost 10:00 PM here, and Emily, Josh, Brittney, Dusty and Margaret are playing Phase 10, a card game that for some reason uses the word “skip”, which is terrible confusing for someone named Skip.



I’ve been reviewing my videos, and it seems like our international flight was such a long time ago!



I have been faithful to the KR instructions, and not shaved. My face is now quite fuzzy. Like my head and the towels.



Tonight I ate Ugali, a Kenya dish. Despite what other’s say that have tried it, it’s not too bad. It is finely ground corn. So imagine ground up grits. I think it would be good with sausage gravy, or with beef stew poured over it.



The other day, we also had chapatti, with beef and carrots. Chapatti is like a rolled up tortilla. I liked those too.



I have also been promised another Kenyan favorite, whole (head and tail) boiled fish, but I doubt we’ll eat that.



Actually, the food here at KR has been great. We are well fed, the food is fresh and hot, and has been agreeable. Tonight we even had a cake decorated “Happy Birthday Pierce Foulk” for Pierce’s birthday.



At VBS this week, we have served beans, rice, biscuits (cookies) and Kool-Aid. Most of this is served around 12:30 to 1:45. After a while, it starts to look really good. But the preparation would probably make it tough on our American stomachs.



Today 300 kids of all ages stood patiently in line, in the sun for beans and rice. None complained. None asked where the toy was. I saw no empty plates. And the five second rule does not apply here.



When we visited the widow’s house, there were two rooms. No windows, electricity, bed, sofa, TV, ac, computer, stove, sink, refrigerator, cupboard of food, boxes of cereal, or McDonalds wrappers.



Pierce says 85 percent of the people in Kenya live in similar conditions everyday.



We really are blessed.



Fun stuff:

One of the workers here has a belt buckle with a picture of President Obama.



Coming in the gate, a girl waiting outside the gate to come into the compound for well water yelled to us, “Howa ara ewe?” in a perfect Southern drawl. Maybe there have been too many Southerners visiting here…



“SKIP! SKIP! SKIP”








Hello



See above for our day lol.

I love yall. We are all healthy and having fun.



I Love yall

Brit