Journal entries from Kenya...
8/4/25
Today was Day 1 of Camp, the main reason we came to Kenya! We ate a quick breakfast and got things ready and met the kids. There were about 55-60 kids and they were so happy to see us. Maybe they had heard about camp from the Grade 3 group. These were one grade older, though hard to tell ages. The Fergusons said sometimes kids can't afford the fees and start late. We definitely had some older girls who seemed more like 12 or 13. It was a great day. They did well with the bookmarks, were so excited doing the parachute (and Paul was so much help with leading that!), and were attentive for the Bible Study. Because Kate and Connor were very sick this day and stayed in bed, I was given Paul as my interpreter to make up for being the only adult leader. He was so helpful in keeping the kids engaged and leading some parts too. There was one girl Deborah (I later found out she is Paul's daughter) who would speak to me in English. Most of the kids are reluctant to speak in English but apparently understand some of it, though really everything we said was translated. We were doing trust falls during the Bible Study and Matt popped his head in to see how it was going, so I made him do one off the bench of the desk, which the kids thought was so funny. We played soccer versus Matt's team and ended up doing two games- boys on one field, girls on another. Some of the girls got a little feisty, so we changed to "see who can make a goal from far off" and they liked that. Then we had lunch (SO good- homemade fries with homemade ketchup, plantain chips with guacamole and pico de gallo with the main dish being "rolex"- Ugandan street food- a rollup of chapati and eggs), cultural exchange (they loved seeing the pics of our families and said "wow!" to the cheer pic of Julia), and assembly. The LORD was very gracious to give us many good ideas on the fly (or in the middle of the night sometimes for me) as we adjusted things to make it better. Doing a final assembly to wrap up what we learned and do singing was one of those ideas and it went so well. It was so sweet to have a couple of the girls lead praise songs that they knew and we had the most fun doing our team chants. The kids got really into it and it was great to see their smiles. This day felt so much more like camp than Friday and we were really pleased with the result. The only downer was Connor and Kate having a fever and bad cough. They slept all day and moved to a different room to try to contain the illness. After camp we had tea (chai- Kenyan tea with milk and sugar and spices) and dawas to try to ward off the sickness and we had some free time before dinner, which was so good- rice, lentils, cabbage, and dawas. After dinner we chatted awhile with the adults and had some laughs with Matt Novak's insect bite burning device, which Shelby and others wanted to try. We played one Round of Dutch Blitz and headed for bed. This day we learned that Barnette had talked with Bill's Iron Shop and our rails still could not be installed and in fact he'd need 2 1/2 more weeks. But being here it doesn't even seem important and I think I'm getting more used to this "Kenya time" that actually is seeming pretty similar to "house construction time". Also the people here have so little and we're living with pretty little too while we are here, but they are happy and we are happy and I think that is due to life lived simply and in community.
Our Group:
Deborah, Jackline, Pauline, Damaris, Silva, Ruth, Vivian (add Lucy on Tuesday)
Daniel, Joseph, Sakimba, Meshack, Sonkoi Tiplit, Nina, Leyan, Melau/Moses (add Sonkale Tuesday)
8/5/25
Today I am very tired, but it was a great day. The kids were so happy to see us. We added two more kids to make 17. We started with the game Nuke 'Em and they loved it! The best part was when we played students vs. teachers and when they won, they gathered up chanting their two names "Twiga and Simba!!" and did a big huddle cheer to celebrate. We also played Capture the Flag. The sun is so hot when it's out and we are covered in dust constantly, plus I spilled tea on myself...a messy day by the end! We made bracelets and had extra time, so I let them use construction paper and markers, then I offered scissors and glue, but they didn't much seem interested until I showed them how to cut out a tree shape and glue it on paper. Then they were climbing over desks to claim their scissors and glue and ended up making lots of trees just like mine. A few kids were using the scissors upside down so I showed them how to use them. One little boy was hovering his scissors over his paper and looking at me and back to his paper like he wasn't sure he was allowed to cut, until I reassured him. Before lunch, I was cleaning up their paper mess and someone stopped in to chat- a friend of the Fergusons, a former camper with Tipaai at the old Sky Ranch camps in Imbirikani that Lance helped with, named Sakimu (I think), who is now a missionary in northern Kenya. He was so encouraging, wanting us to know how happy he was to have us here and to urge us to keep spreading the word- seeds that we are planting, just like the seed that was planted 15/20 years ago when he went to camp. He talked about how restarting these camps was such a blessing and answer to prayer. I felt like it was a blessing to get to speak with and thank this Kenyan missionary doing difficult work to help people know Jesus. We had lunch and then did cultural exchange, where Matt shared about being in the army and being a nurse, and I shared about being a teacher, and the kids went around and shared what they want to be. Many of the boys said doctor or nurse or army and some kids said teacher. Deborah was the first to answer and said, "pilot!" Matt asked their favorite sport and team and they said various sports (mostly "fōōtabōl" but said various soccer teams- mostly Liverpool and Arsenal. It was so cute. We finished with Rock, Paper, Scissors where you get behind the person who won and make a big "conga line". The girl behind me (I think it was Ruth) was playing with my hair instead of putting her hands on my shoulders. Someone pinched the side of my waist on the way around and someone smacked Selah on the rear. We've learned they are a pretty touchy group! We did the closing assembly and Samuel led a sweet song all the kids knew- Who has the final say?- that we loved so much and kept singing for days around camp. We did our chants and the kids seem to really like them. I thought up ours last minute yesterday. We had been saying, "Simba, Simba, Simbasimbasimba" but I added arms for a dance where you do it facing forward once, jump and do it facing backwards, jump and turn forward with a bag roar. Today lots of the kids would say the chants on their own- even for different teams- and at the farm right by our dorm some kids came to the fence and started doing some of the chants. Some of these were too young to have been at camp, so it's clearly spreading at home! At closing ceremony, Tiffany was crying with joy at how above and beyond our camp has been than her expectations/hopes. We ate dinner in the dark due to electricity issues and Lanced surprised us, bringing in delicious fried plantains and bananas for dessert. We ended the night (last night also) in Tiffany and Kelly's room, listening to funny family stories (the more embarrassing the better, according to the little girls) and laughing so much.
8/6/25
Today on the way to breakfast, we heard the kids starting to gather and lot of shouted "THERE-FORE!" (the call that starts our memory verse). They were out leading each other in reciting 2 Corinthians 5:17. We had originally just repeated it plain and simple, but- another thanks to God for inspiration that worked!- we ended up changing it to a call and response chant and it made it so much more fun and memorable to them. At morning assembly, one of the girls led a call and response song of theirs too. We had tag with Kelly's team, then cultural exchange, which was fun to talk about the seasons and weather. They were very interested in tornadoes and snow. We played pin the decoration on the snowman, which they thought was so fun. During Bible Study, I was teaching and it was the day we talked about Jesus' sacrifice for us. In the middle of the night the night before, the idea had come to me to have the kids come out of their desks onto the floor to sit close and hear my testimony when I got to that part. I followed through with that idea and it really made that part of the lesson more personal. They were so attentive as I told about how I would try to fill my heart with many things- pretty things, the approval of others, friends- and it was never enough and how once I understood that following Jesus meant living for him and having a relationship with him, it was okay that those other things let me down or didn't fill me up, because Jesus was enough to give me joy. It was a special moment for me to get to share with them, even though I may never know if they truly understood or thought much about it. I had noticed that Damaris was often pushing others to get the seat she wanted or if she was mad and when she pushed during the Survivor Relay, Paul had to take her aside and tell her if she did it again, she'd be done with camp. The kids often cheated or bent the rules during games, but for the most part, this was the only behavior issue and I was so glad Paul could help with it. For dinner, we went to Jonathan's for a goat roast. First, 16 of us crammed in the vehicle and road a ways towards Imbirikani to take a walk out to a ridge where they often see wild life. We didn't see many big animals, but it was a cool walk. Shelby's skirt got covered with burrs, so we paused outside Jonathan's to de-burr her on the walk back. They had been waiting to slaughter the goat so we could see it, so it was a bit later dinner than planned, but many helped skin it, ate raw kidney, and learned about all the organs, which people enjoyed. I did look at the uterus where they said there were 3 week old twins inside, but mostly sat in the hut and enjoyed the snacks Paul had made- roasted coconut strips and popcorn. Later, I enjoyed sitting by the fire and chatting with Jonathan and Lance and Matt. I asked Jonathan if he wanted his son who is in med school to get a job far away or at home. He said it's good for him to meet people, get to know other cultures, and learn new things, but ultimately, he'd like him to come home and that other kids would admire him and also want to come back home to work. We had a delicious meal and Jonathan thanked us all for coming to Kenya and hoped we'd meet again, if not here then he'd see us in heaven. We didn't get home till 10:30 or so and went to bed.
8/7/25
It was a great day at camp! A little more laid back, with lots more crafting than games. In the morning, we had a surprise when Sonkoi from Twiga brought a wild hedgehog in a bag that he had caught the night before after their group talked about Piper and Lucy's pet hedgehog. The kids went crazy over it! The kids got to make a bead bracelet that tells the story of what we've been learning. They loved the charades with wrong tool to do a job game, which we did during Bible study to show how we were made for a purpose. They loved yarn art. We did a funny 5 item skit where a bus dropped off wild animals and the predators started eating the prey. They were really into the eating part and stayed in character for quite awhile! We ended with rockets and the kids were amazed. They are getting more vocal, more bold, and today some would say my name if they needed something. At closing assembly, we did a "Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky" hand clap game tournament which they loved. Right after camp, we started walking to a manyatta- family homestead with animal pens made of thorn brush and mud and stick huts for families to live in (bomas). It was one family's home, with the leader names Luca who had 3 wives and 16 kids, which he introduced one by one in a line. We did not meet or see the wives. He dressed very traditionally and spoke to us thanking us for coming. Paul shared about their life- how they care for their livestock, how the women make their homes, how if any family is in need, they ask a neighbor for food and the neighbor always says yes, they will share what they have and see how they can feed both families. We went inside a boma, where it was very dark and had a small entry, a room where they cook, and mom/kids sleep, if they are staying with that wife, or kids sleep there otherwise. The kids asked us our favorite (soccer) team, and I started to say I didn't know but Matt said maybe Arsenal so I said that too and they were pleased. I met an older boy who said he was in 9th and would go off to secondary school next. I saw Jackline from my group and Sonkale. I tried to tell Jackline's dad how sweet she was. I think he understood. We gave them 5 Bibles and 5 hymnbooks and they were thankful. We walked back and had a little bit of time before the evening activities, which Tiffany said was a surprise. It was basically a "Maasai Life"night that Tipaai had helped coordinate. It began with spear throwing, which the Maasai guys were crazy good at. There were the guards, kitchen staff, and Tipaai- maybe one other friend- who were showing us all the stuff. Matt was frustrated with not being able to throw as far as he wanted. But he could do the rungu throwing (a Maasai club) pretty far, which was the next activity. They also started a fire using wood, a little zebra dung, and grass. They had to take turns spinning the stick and eventually got a spark and smoke. Somewhere in there, I went back to the dorm to continue to work on packing the kids' take home bags. The Maasai guys did some jumping while I was inside. Matt and Kate and Connor joined me making the bags, which wasn't easy with little light, until we were summoned out to receive gifts from the Fergusons- bracelets made by Tipaai's family I think. Around the fire, there were a few people- Paul, Tipaai, Malcolm- who spoke thanking each other for this experience. Paul or Tipaai said again how we had come so far to see them and that was only because of God's love. We all felt very emotional and there were tears thinking about our time together ending. Also Tipaai had been telling me all week he wanted to give me something his mom made and he gave me a bracelet like some of those from the Fergusons. And then I stopped by the kitchen and they were talking to me about having a nickname (they had given a few teammates a Kenyan name) and before I knew it, Dan was bringing out two arm cuffs and they were trying to put them on me over my sweatshirt. I joked that they were going to pull my arm off and that I was going to have to wear my sweatshirt forever! Later I took off my sweatshirt and got them on better, but still when I saw Dan and then Tipaai, they both kept pointing out that they needed to go higher over my elbows. I ended up having to use soap and water to get one of the off at the end of the night! We finished the night getting the rest of the bags stuffed for the next day.
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