Kenya Mission: Friday 7 am

Good morning, all!

Another full day... It has been an amazing time together.

School devotions were held at Kithoka Youth Polytechnic on Thursday and were led by Eli Kline and Pastor Nancy. Youth that do not qualify for secondary school often attend the Polytechnic to receive vocational training. The school has changed dramatically over the past year with enrollment now at 187 and many improvements to the facilities.

At Gichunge Primary School, porridge is served at 11 am each morning. Porridge is a mixture of corn flour, millet and sorghum, and has the consistency of cream of wheat. The teachers make sure that children who do not have food at home get extra servings. We were even able to help serve the children one morning. This is an important new program that our church is supporting.

Dixie and Al met with the Scouts at BLISS today. They presented them with first aid kits, neckerchiefs, and scouting manuals. Each of the 35 scouts received a letter with a photo from a member of Troop 4 in an letter exchange.

In Biology class, Al, Brad and Jazz dissected an animal heart, lung and kidneys for the students. The students particularly enjoyed the demonstration of lung inflation by a tire pump.

Bishop Imathiu escorted Jeff Punch, Greg Hulbert and Larry Dittmar to Meru University to meet with the Vice Chancellor there. They spent about 3 hours discussing their respective institutions and possible interactions.

This evening we had dinner with Bishop Imathiu, and he shared some of his life story, including the time he traveled to S. Africa to meet with President Botha to demand the release of Nelson Mandela. He did not release Mandela but he release a friend of Mandela's instead. He also shared some of his other experiences of leading the Methodist Church of Kenya during a time of tremendous church growth.

It is hard to believe our week is almost over. Our time has passed quickly.

From all of us here in Kenya representing you,
Gary

Kenya Mission: Thursday 6:30 AM

Jambo! Everyone,

Wednesday was another full and enriching day of being in service to the community here. Our day started with school devotions at BLISS and were greeted by many warm smiles and familiar faces. Our devotions were led by Taylor Erhardt and Pastor Nancy with singing by the Mission Team and Kenyan students as well. They have many strong voices. Our devotions were concluded by distributing backpacks to the 160 new Form I (freshman) at BLISS. This the first year of 3 sections of first year students. There were 400 requests to attend BLISS this year. The enrollment is now an amazing 480.

About 10 of our team went to the Kithoka Amani Children's Home for a day of service, by working in their shamba (garden) by building some raised beds for vegetables. Dr Karambu is the founder and director of this amazing facility that provides a home to children that have been abandoned, neglected or at risk. Her goal is to make the home sustainable without dependence on external resources and hopes to achieve 90% this year. There are 31 children that make their home there. Dr Karambu gave a tour of the facilities to the full team and an overview of all the different ministries she directs, focusing on peace and justice issues for women and children.

Others continued working with children at Gichunge Primary School and interacting with the teachers. They now have electricity at school! The lights went on yesterday after a multiyear journey to implement it by another group. This opens many opportunities.

The Feeding Program for the the 2 primary schools is moving forward and feeding about 700 children 6 days a week. Their corn crop is in poor shape due the bad timing of the rains. As a result, they will not be able to produce their own corn for the coming year and will depend on us to provide the food materials. This is a disappointing setback but in time will become sustainable through new approaches.

Activities in science and agriculture continued at BLISS today.

It's clear that our relationship has matured with the community by the friendly and comfortable interpersonal interactions. We feel quite blessed to spend time with our partners here. There are many challenges to move forward, but have built some resilience by working together.

For everyone here,
Gary

photo by John Kline: Mission Team at nearby project of the Amani Children's Home.

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

Kenya Mission: Tuesday 6am

Good morning from Kenya!

Our first day of service was blessed and full. Our day started with devotions at Gichunge Primary School and were led by Quinn Johns and Pastor Nancy. The children enjoyed the time together and responded with songs of their own and the their national anthem in both English and Kiswahli. We were greeted joyfully with open arms and warm smiles. Some of the team spent time at Gichunge with the children and teachers observing and learning about their progress and challenges.

The rest of the team went to BLISS, where the youth joined their peers in class (see photos) and made many new friends. I'm always amazed how quickly youth connect with each other. There were many smiles and laughs.

In the afternoon, we spent time with Rev Marilyn who gave us history of the missionary movement into Kenya and some of the ministries occurring in this community. We even visited the Kaaga Methodist where the first missionaries arrived in 1863 in the community here.

Larry Dittmar spent time with the new music teacher at BLISS, who started in May 2013. He had the pleasure of observing their practice session, that went well over 1.5 hour. Larry was thrilled what he observed!

We had devotions in the evening after dinner and spent much time getting crafts ready for Gichunge on Tuesday.

We went to bed very tired but very enriched by the hospitality of the whole Kenyan community and their warm welcome.

We are all well.

On behalf of all your family and friends, who have time to write you,
Gary

Kenya Mission: Monday Morning 6:30 am

Good morning,

Sunday was a full day! We started by worshipping at Mwanika Church. This was the first Sunday that their newly appointed pastor preached. It was joyful and spirited worship service with much singing and celebration closing with communion. It was wonderful to connect with old friends and new ones. We stayed for just the 9:30 am English service. Next Sunday we will stay for both services.

We had lunch at Thiiri Center, and met some Rotary Club members who were working on a nutrition project with school children. Sunday afternoon was our time to adjust to jet lag and relax a bit. The youth enjoyed time with local children a game of soccer then swimming in the pool.

Some of the group spent time at the Kithoka Amani Children's Home KACH to plan our weekly activities there. We were inspired to learn of a new approach to make feeding program self sustaining through a comprehensive agricultural program based upon an approach taken at 3 other schools in Africa. We will learn more on Wednesday.

We spent time with Marilyn Brenchley learning about the challenges at the Gichunge Primary School for both children and teachers. Most children come from a disadvantaged and challenging home environment.

In the evening, we had a time of planning and devotions after dinner.

We are eager to get started on our week. Know that we are all well and having a full experience.

Our service adventure begins....

On behalf of your Mission Team,
Gary

Kenya Mission: Sunday 7:30 am

Good morning, Everyone,

It is a quiet Sunday morning as we get ourselves ready this morning. Breakfast will be at 8 am and then we head for Mwanika Church.

Our journey to Meru yesterday went very smoothly. We arrived at Thiiri Center, where we are staying at 5:30 pm. The temperatures were in the mid-70s and partly sunny. We enjoyed our time together in the vans. We left Nairobi about 8:30 am, had a pleasant lunch at Nanyuki, stopping afterwards at the Weavers Shop on the north side of Nanyuki. The Weavers is a women's cooperative for woolen textile goods. The women receive 90% and the coop gets just 10% for overhead.

Mt Kenya was shy yesterday, as they say here, hidden in the clouds. You get a sense of the vast expanse of Kenya on the west side of the mountain. They grow wheat and have greenhouses for growing flowers. The maize crop was noticeably in poor shape. This would normally be harvest time, but it looks sadly underproductive.

As we got nearer to Meru we got to see the busyness of the markets and people conducting business in the open markets. There Re many new building in the area. We look forward to exploring the progress in the community.

Rev Marilyn Brenchley met us at Thiiri on our arrival. Their new housing is open and we are the first guests in some of the rooms. The new facilities allow then to host larger group now and the space is more flexible. Marilyn is doing well herself and will be traveling to her original home church in Washington state mid week to be with them there.

We are greatly blessed in our time together. Hope your day is blessed and joy filled also!

On behalf of the Mission Team,

Gary


The photo below was taken just before departure from the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi. Photo taken by Kathy Macdonald.

Kenya Mission: Update

Greetings everyone, from Nairobi! Jambo sana! It is 6 am Saturday here.

Our flights to Kenya went smoothly. We were on time and there were no weather delays. On arrival in Nairobi, our processing through the airport took about 2 hours though. We had just one tub delayed. Everything else made it fine.

Everyone is in good spirits and we overall had a very manageable experience in our outbound journey.

The first thing everyone noticed when we landed was that we could see the ground. There was no snow! There were some light showers but nothing major.

Our first night's stay at the Methodist Guest Home has been restful. We meet for breakfast at 7am, then meet with our travel agent for a short briefing, and then head toward Meru. We travel around the west side of Mt Kenya, stop for lunch at a trout farm. We should arrive in Meru about 4 pm.

Our adventure begins....

On behalf of the whole Mission Team,
Gary