Hello all. Just wanted to post an official update that we are all back safe and sound. We returned late Friday night and Im sure everyone is trying to adjust to the new time as I am. We want to thank you all for your prayers and support. God did amazing things through this journey. Numbers were added to his Kingdom daily! We are all excited to share every experience with you all.
Thanks again!
Allison

my sweetie doesn't have internet so I am being the sweetest boyfriend ever!

Tenwek Hospital has been a great experience for all of us. We have painted, walked with the chaplains, worked with the community health clinic, organized, babysat and prayed and loved on those who are sick. It is easy to say that each one of us has learned a great deal during our experience here. Each of us has our favorite moments and we look forward to sharing them with you when we return. dlkfgssjgfdskjgs (sorry i was chasing a mosquito). Turns out that malaria mosquitos don't make the buzzing noises like the regular ones, thats a piece of wisdom for you. On Friday Katy, Allison, Sarah and Melissa experienced a lot of things in the wards with the chaplains where they prayed for the sick and hurting and shared the strength they have in Christ. The others of us went to the community health clinic and all of us (Andy, Austin, Cheri and I) gave pregnant woman exams. I can now figure out where the head is. . . . yea I think Austin enjoyed it the most (jk). Cheri and I had a great experience today working with the chaplains and praise God we had 6 people come to Christ. Well that doesn't include the "Chapel" waiting room in which I preached the gospel and people raised there hands. . . . Swahili isn't exactly the easiest language to pick up so I am not exactly sure what happened there but I will tell you what I know that Christ was moving through that place. We have witnessed a great deal of pain and as such we ask you to partner with us in prayer for the people here and for us as we leave these people who are still hurting.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Masi-Mara and experiencing the beautiful wildlife that Christ has created. We are all excited and hope to see all kinds of animals.

After that we head to Nairobi and we are going to work at an orphanage and then go to the market to get goodies for all of our friends back home.
So we will be heading home on Friday so please pray for safe travels for all of us and that we would be able to take these experiences home with us and that they would change us for the rest of our lives.

Thank you for your prayers!
Many blessings
Samm

Arrived In Tenwek

Jambo! We have safely arrived in Tenwek and found out that there was internt access. Thanks so much to Andrew for relaying the message below!

We arrived yesterday and went right to work. We began cleaning out the clothes closet and inventorying donated medicines. We slept well in our beds with no fears of ants or bats! (Ask us about this when we get home!) Today our group split into two groups, one will be shadowing the chaplains and praying with the patients. The other will be serving out in "the bush" with the community health clinic. Pray for both groups as we venture out to glorify God's kingdom.

We are praising God because last week we welcomed two new believers, Edward and Betty, during our home visits in Kisumu. Pray for them as they embark on the greatest adventure of their lives.


From the Crognales (the Tenwek missionaries) gracious home,
Samm and Cheri

An update brought to you from your own backyard...

Just a quick update transcribed for me from a voicemail I left someone back in the states since we have not posted in a few days and we do not know when we will have access to the Internet again.

Everyone here is healthy and doing great! We are moving on to the hospital part of our trip today and are really excited to get busy helping in whatever way we can. Please continue to pray that we are open to be used by God however He deems necessary.

We will post again as soon as we have access to the Internet. Thank you for all of the prayers!

~Allison Peters :)

Mungu Anakupenda-God loves you

Greetings! Just wanted to give a quick update about the team. We are all doing well, life outside the city is great! Today we went to a few places where the Christians here are planting churches. One spot was just a plot of land that a man donated for a church to be bulit. It was a very rural spot-we are talking way out in the bush. Cows and goats are cuttently grazing on the land, but we prayed over it and then when to visit another church plant. They have a big struggle to reach the surrounding people because they are so rural. But we know God is faithful!
We also wanted to mention our time in Kibera. Kibera is a slum in Nairobi. This is the largest in Africa with one million people living in one square mile. We visited a school there and they were very happy to see us. I was blown away by the attitudes of the people living there. They seem so positive and hopful. The children sang to us and listened as we told Bible stories. We brought juice and biscuits for them and they were so excited!! Visiting those beautiful children was great.
For now, we prepare to visit schools here in Ahero, near Kisumu. Today is a Kenyan holiday so there is no school.
Id like to say a special hi to my family! Hey family! I love you all and miss you.
Thank you all for your prayers!

Allison Peters

"We're turning into Kenyans"

Yesterday we traveled, roughly around 6 hours, and saw a whole new side of Africa. We left the busy life of Narobi, and after road side bamboons, zebras, tea farms, and small towns we arrived in Kisumu around 4pm. This guest house is owned by a family. It's very quaint, with white columns and antique deatils.
The children neighboring us are very curious, friendly ones. Samm and I were able to meet many of them.
Today was our first African church service. We were spilt up into two groups, four in each. Melissa, Andy, Samm, and I were in the second group and traveled to Pastor Joseph's church. I must say, I truly could've stayed there all day. The grazing cows, the inquisitive children peeping over the tall grass, yellow butterflies fluttering from flower to flower, it was absolutely beautiful. Normally, the members of the church travel by foot, so it's a gradual process to reach full attendance. We began with song and prayer. Their songs were sung in Swahili, Luo, and even a few in English. Pastor Joseph's brother, Daniel, was the translator for the ones who didn't know English, and served the vice versa purpose if needed (someone spoke in Luo, he would translate to english).
We each gave our testimony, and Melissa 'preached'. The same routine happened at the other group's church (minus Sarah, but that's another can of worms).
It was simple, yet reached beyond any standards I had. What an awesome experience.

On a more current note (meaning in the past two hours), we just finished a boat ride on Lake Victoria. We walked away with about two and a half sitings of hippos, many birds, a nap (for Andy), and an overall relaxing afternoon.
Continue praying for us as we reach out to the people here in Kisumu.

PS. We have a surpise for everyone, but we haven't visited the surprise yet.

I'll leave you hanging with that.
Hope all is well in the States.
Yours Truly,
Katy

Hello All

Hello all, just to update you on how the mission is going I wanted to share about our morning. We went to a local park today and had a big feast with the street kids. This was a huge deal for them- more exciting than a Christmas morning. We played football(soccer) and ate a huge meal. Several of us got the chance to read the Bible with them and share some stories about Jesus. We all have very heavy hearts right now after seeing the way they live. It is very hard to hear their stories. I can say one thing though, there are some amazing people of God living among them. I talked to several who were saved and rely heavily on God to get them though their troubles. Please pray for our team and for the individuals we fed today who are out in the rain right now. Thank you for your continued support! Mungu Anakupenda (God Loves You)

Allison

Feeding the Street Kids

Yesterday morning we went very early, around 5:30, to feed the street kids in Nairobi. There were probably about 100 kids that we fed, which was many more than we had expected. I was in charge of passing out the hot chai to the kids. At the beginning, it seemed as though we would have plenty of food and drinks, but the closer we got the end of the line of children the more children there seemed to be. Even after we started feeding the kids, more and more of them kept coming! As I looked into the container of chai I was afraid that we would not have enough, so at that very moment I began to pray that God would provide and that he would stretch the chai to last until we finished. As we went down the line, the chai never ran out, and we had just enough for all the children! Yet another answer to prayer!

Thank you all for your prayers! We are seeing God everywhere we go!

Sarah :)

London

I'm going to catch us up on London. We spent about 12 hours here on Monday, during our layover. We met up with Michelle, a friend of Samm's. She acted as our guide and showed us around. We walked for many miles and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye (which we got to ride for free, thanks to Michelle, because she worked there). It was very tiring, and we were all about to pass out by the end of the day. I was very, very glad to get on the plane and sleep. As of right now, all is well. We're all healthy. Thank you.

Andy

Jambo!!!

Jambo! We have arrived in Nairobi and we are all doing well! Yesterday was a very long day but we got a lot accomplished. We have met with our local missionaries and began our mission right away. This morning we awoke at about 4:30 am to go feed the kids in the streets. We were blessed to have about 50 children and adults and the food we prepared yesterday was plentiful! The experience this morning was very difficult for our American eyes to witness but we trust that God is using us to speak to these people and feed them physically and spiritually. At dawn the kids scattered and our work was done but fortunately, we will be returning tomorrow morning to feed them again and play some football (soccer!!)
Thats all the time we have for now. Please continue to pray! Thank you all for your support!

Allison Peters

Top Ten Things:::

This morening we got together and discussed the top ten things that could ruin a mission trip.
Here is Sarah's list:

1. Being tied to a schedule
2. Not following God's leading
3. Having a personal agenda
4. Not being a team player
5. Bad attitude/irritability
6. Thinking the trip is for your benefit
7. Not appreciating everything, even the bad stuff
8. Not having a spirit of adventure
9. Not trusting in God's faithfulness
10. Being sick the whole time

And here is my list:

1. Wild animal attacks
2. Vegetarian diets/starvation
3. Parasites
4. Kidnapped by pirates
5. Stranded/lost on the savannah
6. Heat
7. 'skeeters
8. Forget passport
9. Customs taking all of my gummies!
10. Pub fight in London

Thank you for your prayers!

Austin

The Day Before....

Hello from NOVA. (I couldn't spell exactly where we are at so this will do!) We are staying with the William's (Kevin and Nancy) who have opened up their beautiful home to let the 8 of us stay. As you can see they have two energetic and lovable kids who have been keeping all of us, especially Austin, entertained. We have done some training and team building today and just enjoyed relaxing with one another. Tommorrow we will be doing some more training and then leaving here at 3pm to head to Dulles to board the plane to London! As we prepare just please pray that the flight and transitions in time and place would go smoothly. Also pray that God continues to pour into us through one another and that we would mold as a team for this Kenya journey. God is good all the time and I am filled with joy and jubilee as we begin this adventure.

Blessings and Joy sent your way from the Kenya Team

Samm

One more thing.... Just a quick answer to prayer that I wanted to share! One of my biggest prayer concerns about the trip was that I would have the necessary funds. As the trip has been getting closer I have been getting more worried about where the money was going to come from. Several days ago, I had to drive from Roanoke back to Blacksburg and I spent the majority of the trip worrying and praying about the money that I needed to get before we left. A couple of hours later Melissa called me and told me that I was covered and I owed no money to go on the trip! What a blessing! When will I ever learn to just let go and trust? Sometimes it seems like never! This answer to prayer was yet another reminder that God is always in control.. one thing that will be important to remember as we head to Kenya!

~Sarah :)

Hey guys! I cannot believe that it is almost time to leave! I feel like I just decided to go on the trip! I am beyond excited to get to know everyone more... and I cannot wait to see how God works while we are there! This week as I have been praying through Psalm 46 God has been filling me with peace about the trip! I hope that each of you will feel this as well! While I know that there will be rough days and times where we wonder why on earth we are in Africa, I know that God will continue to provide peace and encouragement while we are there!

Counting down the days!!

Sarah
Psalm 46

HA-SHA-BENYA-LALA-MESHA-AMO HENYA NYEA
That is me singing the beginning song of Lion King! I am really excited about our future excursion out into the great unknown but even more I am excited about seeing God knit us together us a group and using us to love the Kenyan people. I am predicting some hard moments away from home but I am constantly encouraged by the support that as been provided and by the constant reassurance Christ has been sending my way, whether through a song on the radio or finding a lost piece of paper.


Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:2-6

Thanks guys
Blessings Samm

from a prayer partner

Thanks for info and the opportunity to pray. Tell your team to expect to be used by the Lord and to look for it and then record it. Have fun!

the Swahili is pretty rusty

I'm getting very excited about our trip...can't believe we leave in less than a week! I've been working on my Swahili and practicing with my husband. Couldn't find my Swahili/English dictionary, so I bought one on line. It will be my constant companion and friend!
I just heard back from old friends in Kenya who run the Tania Rehibilitation Center, not too far from Nairobi. It's a home/school for Maasai children with disabilities of all kinds. In Kenya the disabled have no rights and are basically ignored. We should be able to visit their ministry and love on the kids on our last morning there. It's a good thing that I haven't bought gifts to take yet, because now I can get school supplies for the disadvantaged kids. Dollar Tree, here I come!
Cheri

Church this morning was extremely encouraging.
At the end of the service, my pastor, a missionary himself, asked me to come to the front. After asking several of the church leaders to come up and line beside us, the whole congregation joined hands and prayed for the team and the trip in general. Tears surfaced and the trip's existence became a little more real to me.

Thank you, God, for church family!
Anxiously waiting for Saturday,
Katy

once was lost..

Hey all! Praise God. One of our team member's passport was misplaced when it was sent out for a visa. Word on the street is the passport was found, visa issued, and that both are being mailed back.

Pray that the visa and passport arrive back at his home quickly (like maybe, by Monday) and that we will have no problems while we travel with state officals.

Happy graduation to Samm and Allison! Both of these ladies graduate from VT today! Congrats, ladies.

- Melissa

Hello all! Welcome to our team blog. Well, school has finished up and we are all working out the last few details in preparation to leave! We will be leaving from Dulles airport at about 6:30pm on Sunday May 24th. From there, we will have a stop in London before flying to Nairobi. As the days count down there is a mix of emotions. We are very excited and anxious to start the trip but some nervousness is setting in as well! There is still a lot to get in order and we could use your prayers. God has been amazing through this process and it is truly awesome to see his work in action before we even leave!
One of the important things we will be doing in Kenya is equipping the missionaries we will be working alongside with anything that they may need. A few of us went shopping Wednesday to buy various things that we will be taking to them to aid them in the work they do everyday.
We will be returning to the States on Friday June 12th and we look forward to sharing our experiences with all of you!
Thanks for all of the help and support! Your faithfullness is helping to make this possible.
Please continue to pray for our team, as well as, the missionaries we will be working with!

Stay tuned.....more to come!