Wednesday, July 9

Jambo from Tumaini! We send you greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We've had another marvelous day here in Kenya. Our days have been full of activity. Today a few of us rose early in order to see the children as they walked to school. We said good-bye to many who were heading out from Tumaini. Their school day begins at 7 a.m. Primary

school lets out at 3 p.m., and secondary students get out at 4 (grades 9 & 10) and 5 p.m. (grades 11 &12). Kenyans refer to secondary school grades 9- 12 as Forms 1-4. When we went out to watch the kids on their way to school, we were amazed at the numbers of them! It was like watching a parade of green uniforms- the boys in their short green pants, green checked shirts and green sweaters, and the girls in their green checked dresses and sweaters. What an amazing sight to see so many children with beautiful smiling faces, carrying their water bottles as they walked to school. (Their water bottles are old milk or vegetable oil containers - the Kenyans are clever recyclers!) After breakfast and devotions (led by our own Timothy McConnell), our team headed to Huruma Children's Home, which is not more than a mile or so from here. That short trip was made in the Tumaini children's ministry bus, and there were at least 15 of us crammed in the back in very tight quarters....it was a bonding experience! We also had many cans of paint and various goodies for the kids. Huruma is very different from Tumaini -it is much smaller and the facilities are comparable to what Tumaini was like several years ago, we're told. There are more younger children, as well as special needs children Nancy, the wonderful manager of Huruma, greeted us warmly. She was so grateful that we came. Most of the children were in school, but we did get to meet the special needs kids and got to sing, dance and play with Camogo, a wonderful Downs Syndrome boy. We toured the facilities, taking lots of pictures of the new kitchen and dining hall,which serves as a place of worship for the children and staff on Sundays. One of the highlights of our work at Huruma was watching the entire team do "Extreme Hall Makeover" to the dining hall - painting the entire hall (with very high ceilings) in about 2 hours. It was satisfying to get to help complete the project that Meadows had funded. The books we collected were also delivered and organized on shelves. We were fed tea at Huruma before we were driven back to Tumaini for lunch! Surprisingly, one thing we have not gone without on this trip is food - we've eaten lots of fresh veggies at big meals every day. Kenyan hospitality is gracious, generous and humbling. We finished projects after lunch and prepared for Bible School and youth group. The children are enjoying both - they love the music, the crafts, the skits and the talk. Today Griffin had the primary kids (& the rest of us) laughing so hard during the skit when he wrestled a lion.....a small stuffed animal! What a gift it is to bring laughter to these children, who are some of the most remarkable I've ever met. They are so kind to one another, so caring - older ones help out the younger ones, and they are full of joy! The entire team has been amazed at the spiritual depth of these children. They know God intimately. It's indeed a privilege to get to know them and to serve them in some small ways. We've all met and gotten to love on our prayer partners and some of yours. Their prayer partners are very important to them.

Be assured that God is alive in Africa! We're seeing and experiencing Him in so many ways here. We've fallen in love with the children and the staff of Tumaini. I'm afraid we'll leave part of our hearts here when we leave.

We're so thankful for being allowed to be the "traveling team!" We appreciate you so much, our sending team, for all your prayers, love and support!

One final note: one lesson we're all learning is to trust God and His timing and plan. Our bins of supplies showed up one day later than we did, but we all see how important it was for us to arrive without all the distraction of that "stuff." One bin didn't show up with the others - and it contained our craft supplies for today's Bible School. It was delivered today, 2 hours before we needed it! God is good - AND He has a sense of humor!

Your sister in Christ,

Sudie