Kenya Mission: Wednesday 6 AM

Jambo! Family and Friends,

Our day on Tuesday started with school devotions at Kithoka Primary. This is the other public primary school in the immediate area of BLISS. Jazz Johns and Pastor Nancy led the devotions. We sang, had a reflection and prayed together. The school children also sang for us. Even though we did not always sing in key, they enjoyed our visit. We stayed for a short time to visit with the children and teachers. They were most welcome and warm. The children learned (almost) to play Duck Duck Goose. They enjoyed touching our hand, arms and hair. Light skin is a novelty to them.

Part of the team returned to Gichunge Primary School to teach lessons and crafts. A lot of time was spent with the teachers and Celina, school principal, to learn more about the development needs of the children and school. It's clear we have reached a more level of interaction with the school as they were very open about their plans to help the children learn. Their performance on the National Exam in 2013 was poor. Moses, the BLISS principal! serves as a mentor to both of these primary schools. They will definitely do better on the next exam if they hold to their plan. The needs remain quite basic: textbooks, math kit( ruler, compass, protractor ).

Some of the team returned to BLISS, our youth joined the students in their classes and even taught lessons when the teacher needed to leave. They handled the challenge and even taught a lesson on "What is puberty". It is amazing to observe their relationships with the Kenyan students. They are always eager to step up and join in whatever needs to be done.

Others spent time at BLISS with Emmanuel, agricultural teacher, on soiling testing and plant diseases. Al Metz and Brad Stotz have been a valuable resource to the teachers.

Larry Dittmar spent time with the school band and offering guidance to the new music teacher. Timothy has all the right stuff to take the music program far.

Kathy Macdonald spent time with 2 recent BLISS graduates who are developing a business to provide walking ecotours of the community. They provided many cultural insights and much valuable information about the environment here. A small group even took a 2walking tour through the rural community here.

Others of us spent time working out details on the Scholarship and Feeding Programs with Moses and Dickson. These are 2 of the most dynamic leaders in the community here. As always, we had a productive and joyful time together.

Our long day ended with the mission team having devotions together.

God is good all the time! And all the time God I'd good!

For the full Mission Team, and especially for those who have NOT had time to write you,
Gary