There have been so many people wanting updates from our trip and I've been trying to think of a way to share as many stories and pictures with everyone as possible.... so I decided to create a blog and share as much as I would like without a bunch of mailing costs!
Once they showed us to our guest room, we all just tried to get some rest after our long flight! I thought it was funny (yet very necessary) that mosquito nets were covering all our beds! I felt like an African princess... haha. We spent a lot of time Saturday morning/afternoon relaxing and getting to know everyone since we were still recovering from jet lag.
These are some of the girls living at MITS. On Saturday night, we wanted to get to know the girls and just have fun with them. We had a lot of fun listening to High School Musical, (I was surprised to find out they love this movie and know most of the songs!), just talking with the girls, and being silly.
Sunday morning we had church service at the farm. There is a small covered area by the learning center where we had Bible class and service. The preaching was done in Swahili with an English translator and the singing was done in both English and Swahili. This was one of the most spiritually uplifting services I've been too in a long time! It seemed like everyone was excited to be there, and no one was in a hurry to leave. In America it seems as if everyone is looking at their watch if the preacher goes a little over on time, but here, even when the service was over, no one really left. They stayed
around to talk, fellowship, and enjoy some hot Chai tea and bread. 
To the right is Jackton and Pierce after the limbo contest. Jackton is a staff member there, but he definately fits right in with the kids! I think he's really still 12 at heart.
It is so hard for me to begin to describe to you what a blessing this trip was in my life, but I'm going to try my best to recap our trip and introduce you to some of the people who touched my life in such a huge way. Feel free to read as much or as little as you would like!
Day 1- Saturday Dec 29th
We arrived at the Nairobi airport late Friday night the 28th. Jackton (one of the staff members from Made In the Streets) and about ten of the kids welcomed us there and brought us back to the farm.
Once they showed us to our guest room, we all just tried to get some rest after our long flight! I thought it was funny (yet very necessary) that mosquito nets were covering all our beds! I felt like an African princess... haha. We spent a lot of time Saturday morning/afternoon relaxing and getting to know everyone since we were still recovering from jet lag.
These are some of the girls living at MITS. On Saturday night, we wanted to get to know the girls and just have fun with them. We had a lot of fun listening to High School Musical, (I was surprised to find out they love this movie and know most of the songs!), just talking with the girls, and being silly.Day 2- Sunday Dec 30th
Sunday morning we had church service at the farm. There is a small covered area by the learning center where we had Bible class and service. The preaching was done in Swahili with an English translator and the singing was done in both English and Swahili. This was one of the most spiritually uplifting services I've been too in a long time! It seemed like everyone was excited to be there, and no one was in a hurry to leave. In America it seems as if everyone is looking at their watch if the preacher goes a little over on time, but here, even when the service was over, no one really left. They stayed
around to talk, fellowship, and enjoy some hot Chai tea and bread. 
To the left are some of the neighborhood kids who joined us for service that morning.
To the right is our team after church service with a few of the kids.
Sunday afternoon/evening was definately an experience all of our team members will never forget. This is the day they announced the results of the presidency. Bekah, Kara, and Eric were in Nairobi when it was announced and witnessed the beginning of the rioting that broke out throughout the city. Thankfully Joel and Abraham knew how to react in that situation and got them back safely to the farm later that evening!
One of the questions I've gotten most often since I've been home was if I was concerned for my safety or if I was scared. I'm glad to say that although terrible things were happening in Nairobi, I did feel safe on the farm. There were times when I was scared, but I tried to not think about the reality of the situation because I knew I could not change it. There were times when I was distracted, but I, as well as the rest of the team, tried to keep focused on the mission there. We couldn't have left any sooner than we did (trust me our parents tried) so we tried our best to go on with the camp we had planned.
Day 3- Monday Dec 31st
Hawaiian Day
This was the first day of our camp and it was definately a hit! We made grass skirts, taught them to hula, and had a limbo contest. It was funny to me because the staff really got into the camp as well! 
To the right is Jackton and Pierce after the limbo contest. Jackton is a staff member there, but he definately fits right in with the kids! I think he's really still 12 at heart.
This was also the first day of Bible study with the kids. Each day for about an hour to an hour and a half, the boys taught a bible lesson themed around John 3:16. Apart from this time with the kids, there was also devo in the morning and at night with songs and a scripture with a short lesson.
The main focus for our mission was to show these kids Christ. Since some kids there don't speak English that well, we felt it was more important to show these kids Christ, than to have in depth bible study with them everyday. This also gave us an opportunity to talk with the kids individually throughout the day about Christ while participating in the camp.
Monday night was also New Year's! It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to have a party as planned... but it was still fun playing skip-bo to bring in the new year! Since the rioting in town was going on the staff members thought it would be safest for us to stay in the girls compound and not make too much noise. They didn't want the neighbors to think that we were beginning to riot, so the noisemakers we brought for the kids didn't get too much use.
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