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.

Day 2 on the Hill - Mom's thoughts

1 - Nentaya playing a relay game
2 - the Amazing Joel
3 - Kara brought a Butler shirt for her little sister, Nentaya :)

I apologize for not getting on and writing sooner. Life gets in the way. I miss Kenya so much –the simplicity of life there, the strong sense of community, the beautiful faces and spirits of all of the people there. To say it was a life-changing trip is an understatement. I felt God’s presence in a way I have never felt it before – to see these children who have suffered so much loss being loved and nurtured and having the capacity to experience joy can only be a God thing. Let me try to share what we experienced.

As Kara said, we were so warmly welcomed. I have never experienced a welcome like that – they sang to us, the women made this awesome chanting/shrieking sound, every one said “feel at home,” they hugged us and held our hands…they were so genuinely happy we were there. As Lynda described it, it felt like a little preview of what our welcome into Heaven will be like.

This is what I remember about our first day on the hill (Tuesday, June 15). Nothing in Kenya was rushed or on any kind of schedule. We started our day by waking up to the sounds of donkeys braying (loudly), roosters crowing, and Maasai villagers singing to their cows as they walked them to the fields. After being served an incredible breakfast of pancakes, French toast, hard boiled eggs and fresh fruit, Rick led our team in devotions. We studied the book of Daniel, and Rick encouraged us to be aware of “God moments” throughout the day. After breakfast, we headed up to “The Hill” where the Children’s Home and school are located. The kids were in school, so we used that time to prepare for our after school teaching time. Dan had prepared an awesome teaching for the kids. We decorated the room with inflatable jungle animals and Dan put up a puppet theater. Kara, Joel and Noah practiced their worship songs and I was given the role of “Buba” the vulken (Vulture/Chicken) and Slimy the Worm in the puppet theater J. As we prepared the room, the women who work at the children’s home brought us tea and chickens wandered in and out of the room. The students have a recess/lunch break, so we spent time with them and then headed back down to Joseph’s house for lunch – another feast. We were back at the children’s home in time for school to let out, and we organized the kids into teams (sort of) and played some games with them – soccer, spoon/ping-pong ball relays, etc. Kara and I taught the kids the chicken dance, and Kara taught them the “CYT Shakedown.” It was so fun just being with the children. They loved everything we brought, loved learning songs and dances, and loved just sitting with us and talking.

Once the kids from the village had gone home, we led the kids who live at the children’s home into the teaching room (multi-purpose room?) for Dan’s first teaching. We began with worship and it was amazing. The team taught the kids “Sing, Sing, Sing” and “Glory to God.” Kara had made up hand motions. It was so beautiful to hear their voices singing the songs and see them lifting their hands. Then Dan taught his first lesson: Yesu Penda Mimi. (Jesus Loves Me). Dan shared his testimony with the kids, and then taught from Mark 10:13-16, the story of how Jesus made time to bless the children. All of the kids were given Bibles in comic-book form. The kids loved the games, role-playing and puppet show. Joel became “Amazing Joel” and performed card tricks for the kids. Dan gave each child a little satin heart to remind them that God loves them. They were so cute – some of the girls sewed the hearts onto their sweaters. We also gave them candy necklaces. That was a big hit with the kids!

After the teaching time, the kids went to have their dinner and we went back down to Joseph’s house for our dinner. After dinner, we grabbed our flashlights and headed back up the hill. It is really dark at night, but somehow the Maasai people do not use “torches” – they just know where to go. Lynda, Barb and I managed to get lost even with our flashlights! Once we got to the children’s home, we found the kids gathered around a TV, powered by a generator, watching the World Cup. Many of the kids were doing homework. The kids came in and out from their dorm rooms. We did crafts with them, they signed our journals (we had a page for each of them with their picture on it). It was a beautiful time of just relaxing with the kids. Evenings were the time we really got to know the children. We had many children climbing on our laps, wanting us to come see their rooms, wanting to draw or write with us. They were so precious!!!! As the smaller kids fell asleep, the older ones would take them to their beds. We left around 10 pm to head back to Joseph’s. The worst part of the trip was the nighttime visit to the outhouse. Yeah…that was a little scary.