Advertisement
Published: August 7th 2007
The IAA Kids
TOP ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Frances, Simon, Kelvin, Jane holding Ruth, Joseph, Grace, Caren, Sheilah
FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Lydia, Maggie, George, Moses, Johnny, Josephat, and Eunice holding Solomon.
The first day of our travels delivered us a big dose of culture shock and emotion all thrown together and the three days that followed continued to stir our hearts. The first part of the mission itinerary was to spend some time at the IAA orphanage, doing minor repairs, organizing, painting, and just spreading the love. Now, before I proceed, let me introduce you to the team and IAA staff.
The IAA team consisted of Jane Jackson (founder), Annette and Penny (sisters), Tom and Debbie (husband & wife), Beth and Kemble (mother & daughter), Debbie and Lauren (mother & daughter), Tyler, Caleb, Cameron, Billy, and myself. From the beginning the team got along like family. The group was a perfect mixture of different personalities, skill sets, and life experiences, which made for an amazing team.
The
IAA orphanage has several volunteers who keep the site running: locals - Christine, Anne and Daniel; U.S. fulltime volunteers - Donna (works w/ the IAA infants), Jen (the founder of International Treasure House Ministries (ITHM)- spent 8 yrs. in Romania and helped establish three Children’s homes) and Len (who traveled w/ us and is soon to be on-site later this year). There were also
a few short-term volunteers (2 months) present: Myra, Sherri and Margaret (a Christian music group known as
Sackcloth2joy).
Into Abba’s Arms (IAA) orphanage is located in South Kinangop in the Abadare mountain range. It lies at an elevation of around 7,000 feet, which means it can get a bit chilly (but no mosquitoes). This region is predominately inhabited by the Kikuyu tribe, who understood almost none of my Swahili, which I thought was nearly flawless...rrright.
Immediately following breakfast, the team headed to the orphanage to join the children for their Sunday church service. Church in Kenya is an entirely different experience than that of your typical American service. First off, the service lasted nearly three and half hours and not one single person complained about the time or beating the Sunday rush to the local lunch buffet. This small concrete structure (the IAA on-site church) was full of more energy and praise than I’ve seen in the largest of churches. Children and elders alike, danced, clapped, and sang their hearts out in praise (there was even a dancing train that made its way through the building). After two hours of worship, we (the IAA team) introduced ourselves to
the congregation. Cameron (the youngest (18) of our group) preached a little sermon and we gathered in front to pray over those who had accepted Jesus. It was one powerful Sunday morning.
After church, we mingled with the neighborhood locals that attended the service and handed out lollipops to all the kiddies. I had a chance to practice my Kikuyu with a group of children and entertain them with my ensemble of animal noises. One of the kids almost had me stumped when he asked me to imitate a bat, but I dug deep and pulled it off - ha ha! The rest of the day was great. We played with the
IAA kids (Nelson, Francis, Caren, Eunice, Kennedy, Joseph, Grace, George, Sheilah, Lydia, Jehoshaphat, Moses, Simon, Kevin, Maggie, Johnny, Ruth and Solomon) and worked on a few repairs that were needed around the site. My most memorable moment of the evening was when two of the boys (Nelson and Kennedy) assisted me while I was fixing a cabinet door. They sat and asked me many questions about the U.S., the bible, and if I had a wife and children. I informed them that I was single and had no
children. They asked, “Not even a girlfriend?”, “No” I replied “Not even a girlfriend” and the response I received left me in stitches. “It’s OK! You’ll find somebody someday.” …and then one of them patted me on the back for comforting - God love'm.
The following day the team got into work mode. We returned to IAA (kids were in school) and everyone split into groups. Throughout the day the team inventoried, organized and cleaned the storeroom and shipping container, painted the children’s rooms, dug out and poured the concert base for the new basketball goal, fixed swing sets, laid vinyl flooring, and tidied up around the site. It was a very productive day and the team really pulled together and accomplished our goals. Our work wasn’t quite finished though; we continued on the following day right were we left off. Then around noon, we participated in something that Myra had cooked up in her creative, little mind - the village-wide distribution of coca cola by a donkey driven cart (genius!!!). This event turned out to be something that the local Kinangop area will not soon forget. Over 200 cokes were passed out throughout the surrounding area and smiles
graced the faces of every child for miles around - way to go girls!
Cutting the donkey drive short, the team departed for our scheduled visit to the IAA children’s school. Our welcome at the school was much more than we had expected. The children (150+ students) performed skits, songs, dance and even poetry for our entertainment. In return, we put on a little performance of our own - it was like something out of an American Idol concert. The crowd went wild and the dance moves and singing were professionally executed - yeah, we pretty much rocked!
Back at IAA, the group spent our last night with the children before our departure to western Kenya. It was sad saying goodbye to those little rascals - they are all so precious. It is amazing the difference in quality of life that these children have now in comparison to the children we came in contact with at the slums. The stories I’ve heard about the lives of some of the IAA children before they came to live at the orphanage really shocked me. It is a wonderful operation Jane has brought up here and these children are truly blessed.
The IAA church service
The children take turns singing up front The strong Christian values they learn here will one day influence those around them and strengthen their country from within.
Well, that about sums up our time at IAA. The next day we spent 8 hours (which would have taken maybe 3 hrs. on an American roadway) bouncing down a bumpy, dusty road that was eaten up by pot holes. Note that the traffic here flows in the opposite direction of that in the states, since Kenya was once a British colony. This was really weird at first, but soon felt like the norm. By the end of the day we had reached Kisumu and settled into our secluded hide away high above the city. This is where I will leave you, since I’ve carried on for waaay too long, but I do have to tell one more quick story - sorry.
Each night after finishing dinner, the group gathered and talked about the day and how it unfolded. We discussed our favorite moments and the women usually gave us a good cry. But on our final night at the Kijabe guesthouse, we had an unexpected visitor. A Somalian man named Mohammad (w/ a large scar across his
forehead) entered during one of our discussions and asked the group in a stern manner, “Are you all Christians?” He then posed the question, “What religion do you think I am?” Annette spoke up and replied that she believed that he was a Christian as well. The stern look on the man’s face suddenly broke and a smile appeared. Mohammad then told us his story, which is one I’ll never forget. As a young Muslim, they were warned that if they read a Bible, that they would go blind. But curiosity overcame Mohammed and he began attending Christian services in order to prove that Christianity was evil, that we worshiped more than one god (as they were taught) and to simply find flaws in our beliefs; but his efforts back fired. Soon Mohammad’s eyes were opened and the Holy Spirit rushed into his life. It was then that he realized that he and his people had been living under a great lie and he was determined to spread the truth. Although, this did not sit well with his family and they attempted to take his life. Mohammad then explained that's how he received the giant scare across his forehead. He
lost his family, his home and nearly lost his life for what he believes. Mohammad now lives in Kenya and runs a ministry that spreads the Word of God. He professes that the reason he is a Christian and no longer a Muslim is "because Mohammad is in the grave and Jesus has risen." It is stories like these that absolutely amaze me. I can’t even imagine the strength and unwavering faith that it takes for people that live in these situations. May God bless Mohammad and the work that he his doing and May God open the eyes and hearts of his family so that they too will see the truth.
Alright, I promise I’m finished rambling. There was just so much that happen that it is hard to quit writing. Stay tuned for my next entry when the team takes to the rural villages of Kisumu to spread the Gospel. Take care and enjoy the pictures (be sure to check both pages)! Good Day!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.515s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 32; qc: 130; dbt: 0.1963s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.6mb
Debbie Barry
non-member comment
Keep the journal entries coming
Well Jeremy, this journal entry as was the first, is no diappointment. You have an awesome God given talent to write and you are using it in such a way that when anyone reads the entries they can easily visualize the events of the mission trip. Thank you again for reducing to paper what we are feeling in our hearts. I know all of us daily thank God for giving Jane the wisdom and vision to create IAA.