From Lynn Walker

Today was such an awesome experience. We gave Bibles to the children in Ireri. They clapped and squealed with delight. Each child received a Bible in 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th. We talked with them about the greatest book to read and about the greatest gift, Jesus Christ. They dug into the word like crazy. I was with Fonda, Kelsie and Shae. We taught them about how to use their new Bibles(Look up stuff). We asked them to read out loud. They took turns and did not want to stop feasting in God's Word.
Then went to Endana Secondary School talked with a class. They just didn't understand why we couldn't talk about God in public school. I told them they may be missionaries to the USA today. Lots of good questions from them. The funniest thing was us women serving lunch. They couldn't stop laughing at us and told us to speed up. God is so good!!!Love to all.

From Matt Williams

Well we finished up with our part on the construction part of our mission trip today. Our group was digging a foundation for a new school at a place that sounds like E-Rear-Ree... not sure how it's spelled. So I basically spent most of the day getting lessons from the Kenyans in how to use a pick and shovel to dig a 3 foot deep trench around what will be the foundation for the school. Anyway we worked hand in hand with the parents of the children going to the current school. Pretty amazing to see a teacher trying to instruct 48 students in a room that is smaller than the classrooms our teachers at home teach in. It really puts things in perspective. Fortunately the people we were working with wanted to shut down early in the afternoon. That left plenty of time to play soccer (or football everywhere but America) with the kids at this school. So picture a bunch of Kenyan students ranging in age from 9 to 17 out in the middle of a field playing with a few out of place Mezungus (aka Swahili for white boy). I'm definitely not a soccer player at all, but for some reason these kids wanted to keep passing the ball my way. It was an awful performance on my part, but everyone had fun. Tomorrow we will wrap up with a farewell at the Endana schools. I expect to see lots of singing and dancing.

Wednesday / Thursday Schedule

Team Schedule for Wednesday, October 26^th

- Breakfast/morning devotional

- Group 1: Construction of Nursery school at Ireri primary school

- Group 2: Assist in preparation and serving lunch at Endana Secondary School

- Lunch

- Wrap up projects

- Return to the Sportsman’s Arms hotel for dinner and team debriefing

Team Schedule for Thursday, October 27^th

- Breakfast/morning devotional

- Community farewell at Endana Secondary School

- Lunch

- Safari

- Dinner at Sweetwater Tented Camp

Update - Conference

We wrapped up the pastor's conference with some of the pastors from around the area. Everyone did an excellent job presenting material on a variety of subjects ranging from spiritual warfare to conflict in the church to organizing community leadership to developing business plans into a reality. It was great. The pastors seemed so interested in each topic, and the discussions were amazing. Fortunately a few of the pastors spoke English, but the translation wasn't a big issue at all. Greg served the Lord's Supper and we were able to take it as one big group. It was very cool. We only have a couple days left in Endana before heading back to the States. But we will be doing some construction work tomorrow on one of the buildings in the area. It should be nice to sweat a little down here.

Thanks,

Matt Williams

From Shea Massengale

We are having a fantastic time!!
Special moments with the children, ladies and men!!
I'm speaking to our Kenyan ladies, sharing my stroke story...
Jerry wants to move there with my family and the motorcycles!! ;)
We are sooo blessed for every minute in Kenya!!!
God is AWESOME!!!

From Holly Sanders

On my first trip to Kenya in 2008, I befriended a man named James. He is a skilled laborer that has helped us on all of the construction projects so far. James told me about how he became a Christian and what family traditions he had to leave behind to follow God. During the closing ceremonies of that year, James stood up and thanked God for all that we had done. He said he looked forward to seeing his American friends again, whether here or in Heaven. I remember thinking that I would see my friend again.
I returned to Kenya in 2010. James and I reconnected. He told me that his wife was pregnant with their second child. I shared with him how God has provided in supernatural ways for me to return to Kenya. On the last day, he said that if the baby was a boy, he would name him Kirk (after Kirk Willson). And if the baby was a girl, he wanted to name her Holly.
In October of 2010, I received an email from James that he had a baby girl and named her Holly!! I immediately started sobbing and knew that I wanted to return to Kenya. I had no idea how God would provide for my trip, but I knew He would. AND HE DID..IN CRAZY AWESOME WAYS!!!!
On our way to the community the first day, our Kenyan trip leader handed me the phone and said James wants to speak to you. He asked for Aaron and I to come to his house for tea and to meet Baby Holly!
It was some of the most precious moments of my life. Baby Holly is one now, so she wouldn't really let me hold her. She clung to her mommy. We had tea and James shared all that God has done in his life. He shared his triumphs and his trials. He shared with us how he was able to buy an acre of land and how he built his house in 5 days! What an incredible opportunity!
I am so amazed by all that God has done in Endana in the last 3 years!
Today, we spent all day with the women of the community. It was wonderful to sit with them and talk about how good our God is. We laughed, cried, prayed, and sang together. I can't wait for tomorrow! I. LOVE. THIS. PLACE.

Monday / Tuesday Schedule

Team Schedule for Monday, October 24^th

- Breakfast/morning devotional

- Group 1: Pastor’s Conference

- Group 2: Women’s Conference

- Lunch

- Continue with conferences

- Home visits: team will divide into 4 groups to pray with community members and share the Gospel

- Return to the Sportsman’s Arms hotel for dinner and team debriefing

Team Schedule for Tuesday, October 25^th

- Breakfast/morning devotional

- Group 1: Pastor’s Conference

- Group 2: Women’s Conference

- Lunch

- Continue with conferences

- Visit to Ireri Primary School

- Return to the Sportsman’s Arms hotel for dinner and team debriefing

From Matt Williams

It's still hard to believe that I'm actually in Kenya, and it only took a day of traveling to get here. The community at Endona welcomed us in true Kenyan style, and they were as excited to see us as we were them. This is my first trip to Kenya, but from what I've heard and seen, this area has made much progress. It's amazing. We started the secondary school program yesterday, and it is unbelievable how mature some of these kids are in their relationship with Christ. Although this is my first time here in Kenya, you can't help but recognize the great work that God is doing in this community. We will be attending church with the Endona community this morning, and will have a chance to speak with a number of local churches. I can't wait to get out there and how the rest of the week will turn out.

So we had another amazing day in Kenya. We wrapped up the youth seminar, and really had some great discussions with the Kenyan high school boys.

Also I had an opportunity to speak with the secondary school kids at their Sunday church service. The rest of the group was able to speak at the other churches in the area. It was amazing to see an entire church service organized and put together by a group of high school kids. And this is how they do church every week. I was able to speak with them about loving God, and loving themselves as God loves them. I definitely took more away from this church service listening to one of the students, Stephen, speak to his classmates than I could have hoped to give to them. All in all this has been an amazing trip!