Twizzlers, Reese's, and Pretzels

We just got back from Kisumu. I figured I would write a blog post considering we haven't written in a while... travelling around makes computer access difficult. But, needless to say, we have returned to Nairobi encouraged and blessed by all that He has done in Kisumu both through us and in us...

Kisumu has to be my favorite trip so far. I could probably type for the next 16.72 hours about how amazing it was and how God moved each day we were there. For most of the trip we were able to have the Post college team from SECC there with us, and it was nice to be able to share the amazingness of Kenya with fellow Americans. I quickly learned that, when around Americans, I shift into super loud fast-talking Lauren again so then the Kenyans can't understand me... so it's been an interesting experience gauging how much I should articulate depending on who I am talking to... but that's beside the point.

Here's the point; Kisumu rocks. The LIA staff there, Oke, Ephantus, and Mary, are pretty much the most amazing people ever. They have such a heart for the Lord and for youth and have been awesome role models on what it looks like to live like Jesus, and they are pretty stinkin' hilarious as well.

As Holly said in the previous post, we have been doing alot of home visits, etc. I will share one experience that particularly impacted me, although I wish I could tell all of them. Probably one of the most impactful gatherings that I was involved in in Kisumu was the feeding of the street children. LIA is just in the beginning stages of it's work in Kisumu, and the churches there are beginning a street children program where they are targeting 50 children who literally live on the streets. We were able to help with one of the first meetings of the children, who were really mostly older boys from 13-18. We had bread and juice for them. It was a really rough looking group. I can't even imagine what some of those kids have seen and experienced at such a young age. They were unorganized, restless, rude, and sometimes rowdy... but I knew that they were only reacting to the way that everyone has treated them their whole lives. The boys all stood up in the front of the church and introduced themselves, and it might have been the first time in a long time that some of them have ever been recognized individually. My heart broke to see their situations, their tattered clothes, their tough-guy attitudes, and their hard struggles. We tried to show them all the love we could in a short time, and some were very receptive and others weren't. However, after a few testimonies and some words from the Pastors, 4 boys accepted Christ and 8 others said they wanted to get off the streets and go back to school. Hopefully, this will be the start of an amazing transformation of the streets of the Kisumu slums... and it was amazing to see the start of such a program. I am excited to hear where the same boys that we saw this week will be in 3 years after going through the program. They will be one step closer to being the next doctors, drivers, lawyers... because the church was doing its job of being Christ to these boys that had little hope before...

That is just one program that we were able to witness. It was hard to leave Kisumu after spending 10 days there. It was our longest trip away from Nairobi, but it was an amazing one. God is good. Prayer for the work that He is doing in Kisumu and in each project that LIA is involved in. Prayer that our last 2 weeks would be productive, joyful, and that we would continue to listen to God in everything we do. Prayer for Dane and Erich in Poland. And prayer for the medical team that is preparing to come.

Thanks again for still reading the blog after all this time. We really appreciate the prayers and support and are so blessed to have you in our lives...

Buana a sifiwe (who knows if that is how you spell it... but it means Praise the Lord.)
Lauren