This day started out with what else?
CHICKENS!!
Oh yeah... and so was the Kenyan Smack-In-The-Face of deliciousness (i.e. tea). Nom. Nom
I was definitely lacking in the sleep department this day because of two reasons. Numero Uno - the kiddo in my belly has me making habitual trips to the toilet to release bodily fluids, even through the night. Numero Dos - the week before leaving for Kenya, I got sick (Shhh! Don't tell my doctor I still went!) and since had a bit of a lingering cough dry heaving tuberculosis. So I was up coughing all night. Which I am sure went over well with my female roommates. (Sorry BFR friends! I tried to surpress it! Mucinex is a crock of ****!) So needless to say, the delish Kenyan crack tea was much needed. :-)
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| Spring Valley School and Church |
Moving on, this day we went to Spring Valley for church and worship. Spring Valley is both a church and a school where BFR has been doing work for a while. When we arrived, each age group was already having its own bible study/Sunday School, we our group broke off into groups as well. I ended up staying with the youngest group until the full service began.
The whole day was absolutely amazing. I've never seen any church service quite like it. The entire atmosphere was overwhelming and hard to comprehend. These kids are so in love with Jesus and you could literally feel His presence there. I mean, literally. That's not an exaggeration. Emotionally and physically, He was in the room with all of us. Words can't even describe it. Don't get me wrong - there wasn't a dramatic gust of blowing Jesus-wind whipping through our hair where we breathed in His Spirit. It was more simple than that.
He was just... there.
Like maybe the person sitting next to you in church would be. Silent and listening.
It was so cool how the kids - even the itty bitty ones, could recite scripture from memory. I mean, I am relatively well-versed in my New International Version, but these kids recited scripture from memory like you or I would perform mundane daily tasks, like brushing our teeth or something. Without even thinking about it. Except there was an air of excitement that came with it. They were SO EAGER about it all. Like to learn what the pastor was saying - scrambling through their notebooks writing down the details of his message. And when they prayed and sang, they did it with no inhibitions - no worrying about being off-key or if the person next to them would see what they looked like while doing it. No worrying if their hands lifted high looked funny or if their knees would hurt when they fell to them. It was just between them and the Lord. Seeing it, I wanted for me so bad.
It was in one word: phenomenal.
What also amazed me was how well behaved the children were. The entire church service time was roughly 5 hours and the kids sat so patiently. I was also astounded at how the children took care of one another. The older ones were so attentive and cared for the young ones, from holding them the entire service to serving their food (which we helped do as well). I can't imagine any group of kids in the USA ever acting like that. You could see they truly loved each other - even if they weren't siblings or related at all. It was pretty cool to watch.
After we left, we went and ate pizza at a local pizza joint (which was actually really good!) and then went to drop off Irene & Mercy back at Pehucci. They are Britney's two orphan girls that she cares for who live at Pehucci. When we left the day before, the girls came home with us and spent the night and went to church with us the next day at Spring Valley. We had to drop them back off at Pehucci so they could be accounted for at school for that week. Though the girls would be coming back with us later in the week as we went elsewhere.
While we were waiting for Britney to say her good-byes at Pehucci, two girls approached our van and handed Adam and I notes. I was so touched one of them, Lilian, felt connection enough with me from the day prior to write me a letter. It was so sweet! I planned on writing her one once we arrived home for the night.
Alright, that's it for now. Below are just a few pics to enjoy.
The whole day was absolutely amazing. I've never seen any church service quite like it. The entire atmosphere was overwhelming and hard to comprehend. These kids are so in love with Jesus and you could literally feel His presence there. I mean, literally. That's not an exaggeration. Emotionally and physically, He was in the room with all of us. Words can't even describe it. Don't get me wrong - there wasn't a dramatic gust of blowing Jesus-wind whipping through our hair where we breathed in His Spirit. It was more simple than that.
He was just... there.
Like maybe the person sitting next to you in church would be. Silent and listening.
 |
Prayer
|
It was in one word: phenomenal.
What also amazed me was how well behaved the children were. The entire church service time was roughly 5 hours and the kids sat so patiently. I was also astounded at how the children took care of one another. The older ones were so attentive and cared for the young ones, from holding them the entire service to serving their food (which we helped do as well). I can't imagine any group of kids in the USA ever acting like that. You could see they truly loved each other - even if they weren't siblings or related at all. It was pretty cool to watch.
After we left, we went and ate pizza at a local pizza joint (which was actually really good!) and then went to drop off Irene & Mercy back at Pehucci. They are Britney's two orphan girls that she cares for who live at Pehucci. When we left the day before, the girls came home with us and spent the night and went to church with us the next day at Spring Valley. We had to drop them back off at Pehucci so they could be accounted for at school for that week. Though the girls would be coming back with us later in the week as we went elsewhere.
While we were waiting for Britney to say her good-byes at Pehucci, two girls approached our van and handed Adam and I notes. I was so touched one of them, Lilian, felt connection enough with me from the day prior to write me a letter. It was so sweet! I planned on writing her one once we arrived home for the night.
Alright, that's it for now. Below are just a few pics to enjoy.
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| The church sang Adam Happy Birthday and offered him traditional birthday cake, which we ended up serving to the kids. |
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| The inside of Spring Valley, singing songs of worship |
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| Sweet Justine, another girl wrote me the sweetest note |
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| We helped serve each child was served a cup of porridge after services |
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