Pictures - finally got some wifi :)

Heading Home

As I write this we’re heading back from Samburu National Park where we spent 18 hours relaxing and enjoying God’s amazing creation.  We serve a God of unbelievable creativity.  We saw dozens of different species of animals with highlights including watching four lions stalk zebra and almost witnessing the birth of a giraffe. It’s about an 8-hour drive back to Nairobi where we’ll catch an airplane home late tonight. On our long layover in Istanbul we’ll try to post many pictures on this blog representative of our past 10-days. Unfortunately our slow internet has not allowed us to do so up to this point.

Besides seeing animals in Samburu and eating great food, three of our team-mates (Allie, Grace, and Tricia) were baptized in the pool next to a river with big crocodiles.  We also studied God’s word with monkeys lurking nearby. We specifically looked at James 1:27 and Acts 1:8.  We’ve been serving orphans in Kenya but that service doesn’t need to end when we get back home.  We are commanded to be ambassadors for Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. The last 10 days we’ve focused on the uttermost parts of the earth, but now we’re headed back to West Michigan, our Jerusalem, to continue being bold for Christ.  Incidentally, while we served orphans in Kenya, the word “orphan” in the Bible is synonymous with the phrase “father-less.”  There are certainly father-less children along with widows we can serve back at home. 

Thanks again for your support and prayers.  You haven't been the only ones praying for us.  While our driver was filling up our bus with diesel a pastor jumped on-board and prayed for our team.  Kenyan believers are big into praying a blessing upon you.  I've personally needed that blessing lately as I've been struggling deeply with the loss of my mother-in-law and my inability to be there for my wife.  

We appreciate you following our journey.  Several of us sponsored Kids Alive children while here.  $39 a month can accomplish so much in the life of a child at-risk.  You can do the same at www.kidsalive.org.  Be careful though – Ruth Henningham sponsored Anomat in 2002, met him in 2007, and began serving with Kids Alive as a missionary in 2008.  She never expected she’d spend her “retirement” as a missionary after being a school teacher but God can use us all in marvelous ways if we’ll let Him.

-Rich  

Last Day in Karundus

Wow. What an amazing trip. This morning our team had the opportunity to view some of the conditions that children of the Karundus school live in. We visited two homes that were very well kept, but very small. The "kitchens" (which is basically a small fire and a pot) were usually located outside of the house. Both homes belonged to single mothers with several children, who fit into single-roomed, tin houses. These houses were about a mile/mile and a half walking distance away from the school, which children as young as 3 years old would travel by themselves sometimes. Quite amazing what these children were capable of. We were so thankful to the mothers to allow us the privilege of visiting their personal space and gave each family a gift of a blanket and various types of food that would last them a while. What a blessing to be a part of that!
In the afternoon, we dedicated the playground at the boys home. The boys (and pastors as well as some church members and staff) used the playground facility for the first time! It was a blast to see their enthusiasm. We were approached by several kids and adults alike saying what a blessing this was to them and they wished God's blessings on us. How special. We then did many similar things with these kids that we did yesterday as we operated a "carnival" of sorts. We had a blast doing relays, painting faces, coloring/drawing, tug-of-war, and puppet skits! The kids really loved it, and said we were welcome back anytime.
I'm exhausted right now, so I'm sorry if this doesn't flow well or make much sense. As a team tonight we talked about spiritual gifts of each member here and how each of us played an important role on this trip. It will be sad to leave here, but we hope to never forget the people, children, places, and experiences. Thank you for your support. Please pray for Kids Alive in Kenya (and around the world) that God may continue to bless the staff and children they support. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Seriously. :)
Sawa! Lala Salama,
Ann Smit

Asante sana rafiki!

Today was quite a day.  We had an early breakfast since we had  a lot of things to accomplish.  The group was split up trying to take care of a lot of loose ends.  Corby and Ann stayed at the Karundus site, getting everything set up for the carnival and dedication for this afternoon. Julie and Allie stayed behind as well; Julie went to teach some music at the Christian School, and Allie helped out at the clinic.  The rest of us went back to the Boys Home to finish up the playground there.  We were able to finish things there and get tools and things left from the site back to Karundus by 12:30.  We had lunch, and then headed for the playground by the Christian School to have the dedication.  It was an amazing time.  We had a program put on by the school kids, they sang us songs, had poems for us, several teachers talked to thank us for our work on the playground, and the computers we brought which Don set up in the computer lab.  There were many parents who came out to take part in the festivities, since alot of the kids that go to the Christian school are from the nearby community along with the orphans that live in the orphanage on the grounds here.  The parents actually sang a thank you song to us, which Rich and Bruce said they had never had before in the different dedications they have been a part of.  It was very touching for all of us.  Then the kids played on the playground (and some of the adults, too).  We also had face painting, made balloon animals, did some crafts with the kids, played games, did a puppet show, and just had a great time playing with the kids.  It was a great day, but quite exhausting, so I'm sure we will all enjoy climbing into our bunks tonight.
Deb

P.S. If you were wondering, the title means "Thank you very much, friend!"

Singing with voices of angels!

Today was Sunday, a day I have been looking forward to since I found out I was able to come on this trip.   The service started at 11:00 with at least a half hour of singing with the boys from the Boy's Home leading us in their songs that they have been preparing.  I was shocked to see a Yamaha electric keyboard set up!  14 year old Joseph has been learning how to play just by listening to the songs programmed on the keyboard and copying the notes.  Incredible!  The singers just start to sing and he hits the transposing feature until he matches the pitch, and then finds the best rhythm selection to match the song.  Love it, love it.  The sermon was awesome - dynamic and loud - with our favorite translator, Isaac, helping everyone out.  We continued our worship until a little after 1:00,  a little disappointing when we were promised a 4 hour service!  (didn't know this included before and after Bible studies/Sunday school) 
After supper tonight we all walked over to the kids' meeting place and had a "surprise" birthday cake for Ann and Bryce with the kids.  They sang "Happy Birthday" and many other songs that we requested, including the one that we taught them just yesterday.  They sang it SO well... "King of kings and Lord of lords, Glory (clap) Hallelujah!"  I can't wait to get the recordings posted - you will be amazed!  Tomorrow comes The Cup Song routine.  How long do you think it will take for them to catch on?   :)  My guess is not long!
Blessing from Kenya!!!
Julie

Great Day!

What an amazing day.  I saw all the children enjoy the playground for the 1st time.  They were laughing and playing and did not want to get off the playground.  They could not stop laughing at sight of their teachers go down the slides and falling on the ground.  FUN WAS THE WORD OF THE DAY!!!!  It was very emotional for me to think that the hard work our team did for the past several days was so appreciated. 

Today was another full day of work at the boys home starting to build our second playground.  When we returned home to eat, we went go the children's chapel next door.  We heard children singing in the evening, however I did not understand that that every evening the children attended a devotional time of worship, singing and learning more about Jesus.  When we arrived the children were singing loud praises to Jesus.  They could not wait to teach us songs in English and they wanted us to teach them songs as well, which we did.  It was so powerful to hear children singing, laughing and praising God for all their blessing.  The children were thankful to be alive, to be around people that love them, and enjoy the day that God has given us. 

Children have so much to teach us if we are willing to listen to them and see their hearts for Jesus and love for others.

God has truly allowed me to participate and share in this experience.  Thank you almight God.

Corby

Best BEST day ever!!

 I have to say that today was the best BEST day ever. After waking up and having some breakfast we finished up all of the final touches to the playground in Karundas. Once all of the bolts were tightened and everything we let the kids enjoy their new playground. I have to say it was one of the best feelings in the world. Even though majority of the kids had never seen or played on a playground before they figured it out very fast. Seeing their eyes sparkle and huge smiles just made all of the hole digging and prep worth it! I couldn't be happier with our team. We've come together and made everything happen in just 4 days! I'm so thankful to be able to experience something like this. Everyone makes you feel so comfortable and at home. Thanks to Mama Winnie and Mama Joy we've had some of the most delicious meals too. We've also been fortunate to work with such hardworking Kenyan men who are so eager to help us and also teach us some Swahili! Tomorrow we're going back to work at the boys home where we started at today. All of the posts have been put into place and it's starting to look like a playground. =) Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers. Lala salama!

                   -Des

Although our team was split, today was full of excitement!  Bruce, Bryce, Josh, Grace and myself went off the compound to the boys home today while the rest of the team stuck around to keep working on the main structure.  The 5 of us pulled up to the very remote Kids Alive boys home ready to layout our 3rd playground!  We were greeted by the staff and a very joyful little boy named Jib.  He has been in KidsAlive care for just a few months and is unable to communicate in traditional ways due to autism and his upbringing.  But I have never seen such a glowing soul.  His eyes shined and he had so much cheer to share with his enormous smile, contagious giggle and clapping.  He was so curious and intrigued with us and you just couldn't help but to stop working for a minute and share in some of his joy!  Once we returned to Karundas, we set our eyes on a shiny new playground ready for new kids to enjoy!  The team at Karundas worked in unity and knocked out a structure larger than any in our Portage parks, plus 2 swing sets a merry-go-round and a 2nd small structure for the little tykes.  Done with no heavy equipment, concrete mixers, augers, and other tools/equipment we consider "necessary" for this type of work.....and it looks amazing =)  It's also Anne's birthday today and the team is currently having a blast playing some cards, laughing and entertaining others with some energetic dance moves.  All this after 3 super hard days of sun up to sun down work.  Thankful for another day of new experiences with a wonderful team from the U.S. and all our new team friends right here in Kenya.  Super duper excited to see the kids enjoy this new playground tomorrow.  It will be such a stimulus boost from watching them roll tires and jump rope with their sweaters as we have watched them do since our arrival.

Tricia

Hello everyone.  Hope all are well back in the states.  We are having a wonderful time in Kenya.  It is Winter here.  Temperature today was probably 80 or so.  The weather has been almost perfect for working.  Our first playground is nearly complete and we are on to the second one tomorrow.  It is a very beautiful place here.  If we look to the North, we could see Mount Kenya, if it weren't covered with fog.  Today, we installed a computer lab in the Christian School.  They are extremely excited to have computers.  It is a blessing to see the joy on the faces of the children and the teachers.  They are so excited to have a playground and a computer lab--both a new experience.

Blessings,

Don

No Worries and a word from Ann

We heard today from the Kids Alive Kenya staff that there was another terrorism attack on the coast near Mombasa since we've arrived.  Please know that we are all safe and well.  Had we not been informed we'd be oblivious.  Mombasa is to us as Detroit is to the UP.  We feel very safe and haven't left the Kids Alive Children's Village or school compound since arriving. 
-Rich

BEST DAY EVER!! (until tomorrow, of course!) Wow, this playground is getting put up way to fast. We have dug so many holes through clay, rocks, and very very very hard "dirt" of some kind. Muscles are sore that I didn't even know I had or could use, and it feels awesome! We are working right next to the school full of children that will be playing on this equipment in a week or so, and that is enough motivation to keep us smiling and pushing harder.
Today a few of us women had the opportunity to set up almost an entire small children's playground from start to finish; how rewarding! We started the morning digging 8 holes to put the poles into the ground and cement them in, but we were still exhausted from yesterday's tough digging! What an encouragement it was to have a few of our Kenyan workers come over to help dig. Wow, can those men dig! We are learning some Swahili with their help and building relationships by hearing their stories.
One thing we have taught some of the Kenyans is the phrase, "Teamwork makes the dream work." I have been amazed at how well our team has been working together. It doesn't matter who you are standing next to, they will have a smile on their face and a positive attitude. I think we are all excited for the end result.
Please continue praying for our leaders Bruce, Rich, Trisha, as well as our whole team to stay energized and encouraged. This is hard work, but fun and rewarding as well. Thank you for your support! I definitely think and pray for my friends and family back home and love and miss you all very much. See you in due time.
With lots of love in Christ,
-Ann

First Full Day!

Today was the first full day we were working on the playground. We made a lot of progress within the couple hours we were working. We got the base of the playground in with help of the Kenyan men eager to help! We also set up some of the swings and railings and unwrapped a lot of the equipment. I worked with Grace for most of the day and we unwrapped the equipment, built one of the tick-tac-toe things. Grace and I did a lot of random jobs throughout the day. We also got the opportunity to play with two little boys there. we gave them a bunch of the leftover saran wrap and foam wrapping. They had a ball with it, they made a pile with all of it and would jump and roll in it. I would go to take a picture of them in it and they would stop and pause. It was adorable! We had amazing food all day and never went hungry. All the people here are so kind and supportive and eager to help (even the teachers in their nice clothes helped dig holes and were happy to do it).
-Allie

Not our will for day one

Hi friends!

We arrived safely in Kenya but short three of our checked bags.  Our morning was rocked as my wife, Kristin, learned her mom died shortly after we arrived in Kenya.  Her mom was 75 and was seemingly in perfect health.  We are in shock.  It doesn't seem real but Kristin is back on a plane flying through Amsterdam and then Seattle before arriving in San Jose, CA to help provide her dad with some support.  I had an amazing mother-in-law.  My family was very blessed and this is so surreal.  Please pray for Kristin as she travels back home and for my children (Bryce and Liz) as this is the first grandparent they have lost.  Please also pray for Bruce who is currently on an airplane between Lusaka - Zambia and Nairobi - Kenya.  Bruce accomplished his mission in Zambia.  He wrote me - "We worked till dark and got the playground 90% done today and I fly out at 12:15 in the morning to head to Kenya. Bart's team will have an easy finish up day Tuesday before they head to Mongu to work there."

Unlike the Zambia project being ahead of schedule, we are behind in Kenya.  We thought we'd have a half day yesterday to work but as the day played out we only had about an hour until dark.  The team rallied and wanted to get some work in before breakfast (Ann's idea) so we'll be on the playground site at 6:50 AM.  I should be asleep but I can't shake the disappointment and severe grief over losing my awesome 2nd mom.  I'm also so sad my wife has to go through this.

On a very positive note, everyone on the team is in good health.  We are being treated well and are getting along wonderfully.  We had a good first night of sharing before people crashed about 9:30 local time.  Hopefully when Bruce arrives here in a few hours we'll find that our missing bags have also arrived.  The bags contain many needed tools which will be difficult to replace.  On our journey here God provided many opportunities to share what we were coming to do.  The shirts we had on that said PLAYGROUND RESCUE TEAM - KENYA 2014 opened many doors.  I've never had so many good discussions on a trip like this.  We hadn't even checked our bags and we were already being asked questions.  We even had one lady from Chicago visiting relatives in Istanbul who wanted to donate cash to one of our team members for the project. This came after a few minute conversation Deb had with her on the bus from the airplane to the terminal in Istanbul..We were pressed to catch our next flight as we had a tight window so we thanked her and gave her a Kids Alive brochure. We trust that seeds were planted for Christ's Kingdom and Kids Alive.

Thanks again for sending us and for praying for us.

-Rich

Mourning

We arrived safely in Kenya but short three of our checked bags.  Our morning was rocked as my wife, Kristin, learned her mom died shortly after we arrived in Kenya.  Her mom was 75 and seemingly in perfect health.  We are in shock.  It doesn't seem real but Kristin is back on a plane flying through Amsterdam and then Seattle before arriving in San Jose, CA to help provide her dad with some support.  I had an amazing mother-in-law.  My family was very blessed.  Please pray for Kristin as she travels back home.  Please also pray for Bruce who gets on an airplane in a few hours to come from Zambia to join us in Kenya.  We're also hopeful our lost bags show up at the airport about the same time as Bruce.  The bags contain many needed tools.  Thanks!

-Rich

More Answered Prayer

In the last post I had asked you to pray for Bruce who was heading out this past Wednesday to get a playground going in Lusaka, Zambia before meeting the rest of the team in Karundas, Kenya.  This is a playground we removed from Grand Rapids, MI and managed to squeeze onto a shipping container of food that went to the Kids Alive ministry in Zambia. 

On Wednesday I walked out of an appointment with the missions pastor at a mega church in Akron, OH to discover a message from Bruce.  His first flight out of Grand Rapids, MI was delayed and United wouldn't ticket him because he would miss his connecting flight in Washington and then would subsequently miss the rest of his flights.  They had told him to go home and come back Thursday. Yikes!  We of course called our travel agent who booked the travel and eventually Bruce was headed our on Delta and KLM instead of United and South African.  Here's what Bruce e-mailed this morning from Zambia.

Just wanted to update you on what's happening. I made it to Lusaka around midnight (here - 6pm there). 27 hours of travel was enough. Glad to have even made it after my first flight being delayed enough to miss all the rest of the connections. Tim the travel agent got me going again on another airline and the rest was a blur. Nice and sunny here and ready to make a dent on the playground this morning.

I rode with a Congo pastor who is also running for president of their country who was very interested in the playground ministry. He is going to visit the site on Monday to see what we are doing and he indicated if elected, he would like to do the same in his country. He asked if it was possible to do 140 playgrounds in the Democratic Republic of Congo and how long it would take. I gave him Rich's contact info and ran away as fast as I could :-). It always amazes me how much bigger God's plans are than mine (and intimidating)  I wouldn't have even met the man had been on  the original flight. 

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR PRAYERS AS THE REST OF THE TEAM HEADS TO KENYA ON SATURDAY! 

-Rich Anderson