Day 10: Head to Fiwagoh Orphanage & School!~

We are headed to Fiwagoh to go meet Pastor Benson, his wife and all of his 180+ kids that he has taken in as his own!  We are all sooo excited and can’t wait to go meet these kids.  So, we packed and loaded our entire luggage and we’re headed in the bus ready to go.  Since I’ve been in Africa I have seen so many new and great things as well as learning so much about this beautiful continent…One thing I found out very quickly is that “Africa Time” is very different than “American Time.”  In America, if we say we’ll be there at 5:30, for the most part we’ll be there at 5:30.  And if we’re running a little behind, it’s just by a few minutes—and it’s really not all that big of a deal.  Well, in Africa, one thing that we had to practice was our patience—which was another great part and experience of this trip!  First off, I may have already mentioned this in one of my first blogs—but the driving is CRAZY in Africa.  So many people…are going in SO many different directions…without any traffic signs and safety in mind.  Besides the traffic tending to be quite busy all of the time…we also learned that the places we were going to visit weren’t just 10-15 minutes from each other—there were always at least a few hours!  Although I would have rather loved to spend these hours on the bus with all of the children instead, it was a great time to soak everything in and to reflect on our trip so far.  So really, it wasn’t too bad—it was actually quite enjoyable and what I thought was so great about riding on the bus for such a long time is that I was able to see so much more of Africa.

Well, while we were on our bus ride to Fiwagoh, there were several times where a few of us would ask about animals or hoped that we could see some exciting animals—and ever since we got to Kenya, we had sort of been talking about this—just because, how COOL would that be?  Our bus driver in Kenya, Daniel, said that we would have a pretty good chance of seeing some animals—so we all crossed our fingers and hoped that we would.  So, here we are…driving along the middle of the open fields in Africa—not a whole lot to see besides wild life and random people here and there walking along the street.  …When all of a sudden, someone yield “Wait! Guys, LOOK!  A Giraffe!”  ….And theeeen, we ALL got excited!  Daniel immediately stopped the bus, turned around…and drove down into a little parking area—where we could all get off the bus to get a closer look at the animals.  MY OH MY—We all had a hay day!  Everyone was jumping off the bus with such excitement and joy! Running with their cameras to take pictures…GIRAFFES!!!  And trust me—they weren’t in the Zoo locked up with a fence surrounding them…they were WILD….RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!!  ….It was super exciting, but nonetheless, a little scary at the same time!:)  We seriously were SO close to them! It was such a thrilling experience!!  

After we calmed down we were back on the road and heading for Fiwagoh.  I wasn’t quite sure what happened, but somewhere along the way, we ended up getting lost and had to backtrack quite a ways.  Our bus driver, Daniel, had apparently heard the wrong information and was headed in the wrong direction.  Sooo, this bus ride ended up turning into a way longer ride than we first had expected.  But that’s ok…we saw giraffes and we were on our way to FIWAGOH!:)

We continued to drive and drive and drive…and we still weren’t there yet.  Pastor Benson and his children had been expecting us for such a long time, we all felt so bad we were late…but clearly we had no control over the situation.  It started getting darker and darker out…and so many of us wondered where in the world we were?  Just out in the middle of Kenya, Africa…late at night…while it got darker and darker by the minute.  Something else that is quite different in Africa compared to America is that they don’t really have any lights when it gets dark—and it seriously is a little scary.  It’ll be 6:30 and we’ll be finishing up with supper and by 7:15-7:30 all of a sudden it’s just pitch BLACK out.  …So crazy how dark it seemed to get so fast and how they didn’t have any light…no street lights…no front porch lights…nothing—just darkness.  So, as we were driving, we came up to a gas station and Daniel pulled over to get gas.  As we pulled up it was so easy to sense what the rest of the bus was feeling.  Outside the gas station were quite a few men—hanging out…not sure what they were all doing? …Trying to sell some items to make money I’m sure.  Our team leaders whispered back to keep our windows closed and to not make eye contact with any of them.  So, as we pulled in and came to a stop…Slowly…slowly…they started to surround us.  Coming up to our windows…knocking on them…trying to talk to use and get our attention…I have no idea what they were thinking—but I can about imagine when they saw a bus with 50 suitcases up on top…a bus that was full of 23 American Girls…they obviously knew we had money and valuable items.  It was a little frightening, one of our good friends actually started crying because she got scared...having them all come up and surrounding our bus…One guy even started to climb up the back ladder…heading towards our luggage on the top of the bus….But while this was all going on…I just sat there and really wasn’t one bit nervous or scared.  Yes, the situation could have gone very badly…since it was late at night and we were all women besides our bus driver…but I still felt a peace and strength settle inside me.  I knew God was protecting us…Keeping us safe...He had already planned all of this out for us…and He would continue to protect us—I was sure of it…So as I sat there leaning on Him…Suddenly the owner of the gas station came out and got all the guys to back away from our bus…So, just like that, we finished filling up our gas and we were headed for Fiwagoh…still headed for Fiwagoh.

As we continued, it started to rain…lightly at first, but then the rain seemed to get harder and harder.  The roads that we were traveling on weren’t very safe…at least I didn’t feel like they were…And what continued to spike-up my fear was that every few miles we seemed to drive…we came across car accidents….one at first…then another…and another.  I sat there looking out my window…praying for those in the accidents…hoping they were alright…and praying for their families. …The more accidents we ended up seeing, the more my fear would rise up…I sort of thought we were driving a little too fast on these curvy and narrow roads—especially when it was wet and slippery…and obviously other vehicles were having a hard time too since many of them got into accidents…We saw four different semi-trucks on the side of the road, flipped over onto their side…Goodness, this drive was taking far too long…and all I wanted was to be at Fiwagoh.  The bus was silent…everyone I’m sure feeling the same emotions I was…then our team leader said something about how she thought Daniel was driving a little too fast…I agreed and said I was getting a little nervous…then a few of the other girls said the same thing.  So with that…we decided to sing some songs, to get our minds off of the driving.  We had song sheets printed off that we passed out to everyone…and for the next hour or two…we sat on our bus…in darkness in the middle of Kenya…singing songs about Jesus…and praising our God. ….We sang songs by Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, Michael W. Smith, and so many more—including some favorite bible camp songs…While we sang these songs, I prayed deeply that God’s name would be known in the country if Kenya….and that with this group of 23 women who have a passion for serving God, that we could help spread God’s truth to the many children and people we still had left to visit on this journey.  After singing these songs I was so excited to get there and to meet all of the precious 180 kids at Fiwagoh…Oh how I just wanted to LOVE them.

….Finally…we arrived to Fiwagoh…we were all tired and anxious to get off of the bus and to get into our beds (and to go to the bathroom!)….but as we drove up and our bus came to a stop…we heard the most beautiful sound ever…All 180 of these children…standing in the dark…singing in unison as they welcomed and thanked us for coming to visit them.  Our whole team stood up and looked out our windows…and as I stood there…I had tears stinging at my eyes….How precious was this??? ….Really? I mean, just to stop and think about it.  These kids had been waiting ALL day for us to come…they couldn’t wait!  What?—They were going to have VISITORS??? ….Why??? …To COME and PLAY and SING and SHARE with them!!  They couldn’t understand it or comprehend it I’m sure? …Why? Because they had been left alone SO many times before…they were left alone and abandoned on the streets…they were forgotten…they were left to starve…left to survive by themselves….BUT…because of God’s grace and His perfect plans…He had brought each and every one of those 180 children to come and live with Pastor Benson and his wife…God had a plan for each and every one of those children…and He had a plan for us to come and visit and bring them hope….And here I was…standing in awe of how precious and sweet these children were…They were SO SO SO GRATEFUL and with their welcome song I knew this place was going to touch me deeply to my core…And with that, I held back my tears…put a smile on my face…leaned on God’s strength again…and went to meet all of these children…I knew, God had great plans for us—That God had great plans for me…because I was living them…All my life I have yearned to come and to live out James 1:27 and to visit and love on these lonely and precious children in Africa…and here I was…Living out my heart’s desire…and how I was so thankful to have the children of Fiwagoh to be a part of this great and perfect plan…Thank You, God…For Your direction and Your perfect plans.     

Day 9: First Day In Kenya—Arrive to Hope Community Center!~

Hi All! So sorry for the delay and for taking such a long time to post a new blog!  My school work has seemed to consume my life the last few weeks!  But I just wanted to say thanks for your patience and for still being interested in following my blog! …I appreciate it!  And, because I have been there and experienced this on a firsthand basis I feel it is important to share my experience, so thanks again for wanting to hear and learn more about God’s precious children!:)

We arrived to KENYA! :)  Yay! I was so happy and thankful we had a safe flight, but at the same time, we were all SO tired.  I thought out of all of the days we had so far on our trip—today was one of our longest days and we were all very tired.  However, although I was super tired—I was super HAPPY and EXCITED to be in Kenya!!! We arrived in Nairobi at 1:00 a.m. in the morning…and had to wait and gather all of our luggage… fill out new information since we were arriving to a new country…load our luggage onto a new bus…and head out for a 2-3 hour drive!  Although I was tired and could hardly keep my eyes out, I wanted to stay away so I could soak in all that Kenya had to offer.  It seemed quite different than Uganda—at least where we were.  In Uganda we were in such a busy and almost clustered town—while in Kenya it seemed to have more order and it almost felt a little bit like we were back in the states.  After a very long—and might I add a very BUMPY road—I mean seriously, SO bumpy! I can’t even explain how bumpy this ride was!  …We arrived to our first location in Kenya, Hope Community Center, which is an orphanage and school.  By the time we arrived it was about 5:30/6:00 in the morning. It was still dark out and I was just assuming that all of the children would still be sleeping—but to my surprise when we pulled up, we say bundles of children with their lights on, standing in the window—ready to greet us!  Oh, it was a warm welcome and so very sweet of them!  We could tell right then and there that they were so happy to have us!  Here is a picture of the building/dorms we stayed in.

All of these children were just precious—so sweet and kind and loving and joyful!  They actually seemed a little more quiet and timid maybe then the children in Uganda…But I believe this is mostly because this is the first time Visiting Orphans had ever taken a trip to Kenya before. We were the first team to go love on the orphans in Kenya!  How cool is that?!:)  Visiting Orphans sends teams out to Uganda every few months to go love and serve the children there, so the children are a little more used to it and have experienced it before.  But the children in Kenya have never had a team from VO come there before—and besides us, it’s sad to say, but I really don’t know how often they get visitors?  So, this could quite possibly mean that this was some of the first time many of them had ever been around Mzungos—Aka white people.  Nevertheless, our time spent there was filled with singing songs, playing games, doing arts & crafts, and talking about Jesus with the children.   We had a GREAT time!!! Below are some pictures of how our time was spent…

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35

Below, a pile of rocks our team bought for them to start their new project--to expand their nursery for the little ones!

 

Working on their GreenHouse!

At night and early in the morning it got SO cold—I mean you could see your breathe in the early morning.  We weren’t expecting this at all!! So, we seriously had to snuggle to keep warm! At night I would wear my thick socks, leggings, sweatpants, a tank-top, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece and I was still cold! It was crazy—we weren’t expecting to have to put layers on in the middle of July!:)

Balloon Relays!  They had SO much fun--there was a ton of LAUGHTER! :)

One thing that really amazed me while spending time here was how these children truly spent every single day WORSHIPPING and PRAISING!  They would meet each and every day at 7:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and again at 7:00p.m. before they started getting ready for bed.  During this time they would sing their hearts out to Jesus—and when I say sing, I really mean SING…with all that was in them.  Oh, how I loved just being filled with their sweet voices…This is one of the things I miss most!  …It truly was precious and very comforting to know that although these children may not physically have a lot…and although they have just enough food, water and medicine to get by… I’m not worried about what their lives will look like once they leave this earth…because I KNOW…I SAW…I FELT…how they worshipped and how they truly are IN LOVE with Jesus…and with that I am very grateful.  And because of this personal relationship they have with Jesus and because they devote their time and energy to Him and only Him—He is faithful…He KEEPS His promises to them…And He continues to provide for them.  Each and every day I was in Africa I somehow learned such a great and valuable lesson—and this was one of those days.  God is in control of EVERYTHING—Every single thing…situation…small and big details…He has everything planned for HIS PURPOSE…and while visiting and loving on these children, they reminded me of that…they reminded me of what it is like to have faith like a child—and that with this faith, God will help, provide and move mountains. ♥