Thursday, June 17, 2010

Day 5, by Danika and Amanda!

Today we painted a church. We arrived ready and excited to work, and the Kenyans were happy to welcome us. The Kenyans themselves are such happy, friendly, and loving people that it seems they can always brighten our moods. We painted and splattered and took plenty of pictures, giggling all the way! :) It was hard work and took some time however, we managed to hold a smile the whole day through. In the windows of the church little children were watching us crazy "mzungu" (white people) paint and get it all over ourselves as well as each other. The children gradually became comfortable around us and I have a feeling it was mostly because of the suckers Andrea brought. I, Danika, managed to get some of the youngins to paint with us, which was a cool experience on both parts. As more and more kids joined us inside the church they became obsessed with being in the pictures and seeing how they looked. In no time 50+ kids were attacking us, trying to get in the pictures, or get more suckers than the friend with them. As we pulled away from the church a group, a very large group, of the children chased after the bus waving and yelling excitedly.
The hardest part of today was definitely the bus ride back to the compound. Everyone who didn't want to pee in a cornfield really needed to go and the bumps were not helping at all. As Chance put it, "You know you're in Africa when there's more craters in the road than there are on the moon." Everyone was tired, somewhat stinky, and sticky from the paint.
We finally got back to the house, and sat around in the living room with our Kenyan friends that has been helping us the last couple days. We went around the room sharing our testimonies and thanking everyone for all that they've done. There were incredible stories and so many people that were blessed and are continuing to be blessed by the rest of the group and ultimately, the Lord.
Here are a few things we learned in Kenya today.
  • Taco doesn't mean taco in Swahili. (It means butt!)
  • The Lord can work in incredible ways, even half way around the world
  • Even though we Americans and the Kenyans are thousands of miles away from each other, we all serve and worship the same, all mighty God.

We can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us while we're here and we're looking forward to every second of it.

5 comments:

  1. It was so great to hear from you two - just makes your Mommy's miss you more though! :)
    We are so blessed to hear of your adventures and so very proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zones to serve the Lord.

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  2. of course my mom would say something like that. haha :)

    im eating your ice cream in the fridge danika. :)

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  3. Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly. Psalm 111:1

    So thankful. Vin

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  4. So thankful for your experiences...I cannot wait to see pictures and hear and read of all that is changing in your lives. I love when people ask me if I am nervous that you are there...I always say NO! So proud of you.....miss you....love you, mom

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  5. I am too blessed with the wonderful witnesses that all of you are.Yes I do have tears, tears of joy, tears that I do miss all of you. You all are blessing a lot of people.
    I have been sharing some things on Face Book that know me, some that don't but are truly blessed.
    TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS MY FRIENDS

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