Hill Day 3 [blog by Kara]

Wednesday June 16 was our 2nd full day on the Hill. Mom and I went to visit the school. We went to the Class 1 room (first grade) and delivered a sign from Mom’s first graders at Washington. We also dropped by Nentaya’s class and then visited the preschoolers and kindergarteners. They’re usually two separate classes, but one of the teachers was sick so they combined into one huge group. There were probably about 40 kids between the ages of 2 and 8. They were absolutely precious. As we were approaching the building, the kids swarmed around us, grabbing our hands and clinging to us. I literally had 4 or 5 kids on each arm. They would rub our arms - trying to get the white off, haha - and just look up at us with their cute little faces. Then we went into their classroom, where they sang two songs for us - kids in Kenya LOVE to sing. Beatrice led the first song (and the rest of the kids echoed), and Boke led the second one. When they finished, we taught them an American song - the Itsy Bitsy Spider. The kids loved it. When it was time for them to go out for PE, we went out with them and Mom taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. The kids got really into it, but their English wasn’t great so sometimes they’d point to the wrong body parts - it was adorable.





The little kids had PE outside near the clinic where the medical team was working, and there were a few kids sitting outside waiting to be seen. I sat with them for a while, letting them play with my hair and looking through pictures on my camera with them. They don’t have cameras there, so they all get so excited when they see pictures of themselves or their friends on the camera screen. One “God moment” that happened while I was sitting outside the clinic was when I got to see Noah run. Noah was born with a deformed foot, and up until a year ago, he was crippled and had to use crutches to walk. A family from Oasis paid for him to have surgery last year, and now, not only can he walk, but he can RUN. Dr. Mike kept telling him, “You’re a miracle, do you know that?” It was so cool to witness that.

Later, Mom and Dan and I were in the multi-purpose room relaxing and getting organized for teaching that evening, and some women came in and brought us tea. I never really drank tea before this trip, but I love it now! Kenya’s number 1 export is tea, and it’s delicious! While we were drinking our tea, little smiley Beatrice came in. She is such a cutie! She sat with Dan and went through his journal with him, helping him pronounce all the kids’ names (something Dan struggled with a lot on this trip… hehe).
When school ended, it was raining so a lot of the kids came into the multi-purpose room and hung out with us. They signed our journals, colored, played with Buba the Vulken puppet and some finger puppets, and played the “keep the balloon off the ground” game. Dan got out his iPad and showed some Pixar shorts on it - he had a huge crowd of kids gathered around him. Most of the shorts had no speaking, so the language barrier wasn’t an issue, which was great.






After playing for a while, we did our 2nd teaching: Jesus Forgives Me (Yesu Samehe Mimi). During worship, we added a new song. Some of the older girls translated the chorus of Sing, Sing, Sing into Maasai. Then they made up their own melody for it, and taught it to me so I could sing it with them and teach the other kids. Joel and Noah figured out the chords, and lo and behold, we had written a brand new Maasai worship song! How cool is that?!?

After dinner, we went back up to the Hill and the kids sang songs. Then Emily, one of the older girls, led the group in a Maasai worship song and then prayed. It was another God moment. Even though I don’t speak Maasai, I could feel their passion and love for God in the way they sang. I didn’t need to know what words they were singing to know what they meant. After worship and prayer, we watched the World Cup on TV and hung out with the kids. Some of the older kids signed my journal, and they wrote the sweetest things! Emily and Esther signed for themselves and for their babies, which I thought was adorable. Boke laid in my lap for a while, and then I went over and sat with Emily and Rosalyn, two of the older girls. I loved talking with them. They’re sweethearts, and their English is pretty good so we were able to have actual conversations. We really became friends throughout the course of the week, and I miss them SO much.