From Sunday

 

Greetings in the name of the Lord from Kenya. This was our first full day at the Tumaini Children's Children Center and in just this brief time many blessings are flowing. To the Meadows congregation, friends and families please know that we think of you often, we are all well and the experience has already been life-transforming.

The hospitality is beyond compare. The staff has greeted us with open hearts and great meals with some wonderful local dishes. Our sleeping arrangements are adequate but we long for the comfort of our beds and hot showers.

We had the opportunity to spend much time with the kids today. They crave our presence and many have asked if we can stay longer. They have shared with us many stories of what brought them here and we have been overwhelmed in some cases of the tragedies. However, we have seen beautiful faces with bright smiles and that just reminds us of why we are here.

We did not know of what to expect of the worship service. However at the end of the day I think we all felt a strong Christian bond with our Kenyan friends. We started at the 8:30 youth service where the music of the Praise Team was awesome. Tim McConnell, upon arrival was asked to preach. He expressed his anxiety to the team of having limited time to prepare and what to preach on. Well, Tim did a tremendous job at the challenge and delivered just the right message for the kids at Tuimaini and the adults from Meadows.

We then divided into groups and went to some of the other churches in the parish. We traveled bumpy, red clay roads enroute. The services were in Kikuyu and the music consisted of the local Kenyan musical instruments. Such a contrast from Meadows. We did not understand much except we were there to praise and worship the same Lord. Again, an experience of a life time.

We also were joyed with the arrival of all crates (but one) and that one contained many supplies for our Vacation Bible School. However, we did some planning and VBS will go on. Please pray for us as we engage about 80-120 kids in Bible stories, singing, crafts and recreation.

And so I can conclude by saying we all believe we were meant to be here and that God calls us to a purpose here. It is hard to imagine we could have had a more complete experience on our first day.

Please pray for the children and the staff here at Tumaini and our continued ministry here. We are not sure what tomorrow holds but we are confident blessings will continue to flow.

And now on behalf of the entire mission team we say

Peace to all,

Kathy Floyd

(Written around midnight (Kenyan time) on July 6-7)