Sorry again for the lack of posts...It was the first week of school so I have not had much free time for blogging.

Maureen Fletcher was one of the people who came on the trip and she is a very talented photographer. She took some incredible pictures and put together this sweet slideshow of a few of her favorites. I hope you enjoy taking a glimpse at our time in Kenya!

Friday, July 17th

Jambo! So, I am still getting over jet lag and by body is waking up WAY too early since it thinks I am 7 hours ahead of what time it actually is today I have been awake since about 2:30 a.m.) but I will do my best to start from day one just to get going and get some pictures and videos up. For now I will stick to the facts and try not to fall asleep so don't expect anything too witty or deep...

Our flight landed in Nairobi, Kenya early Friday morning the 17th. We loaded up on a big bus with all of our luggage (minus one bag which belonged to Jessica) and headed for the new building. They kids still live in the old orphanage but we were staying in the new building. We all laughed and thought the ride was a little wild and bumpy...that changed once we drove around the area more AND went on safari...little did we know!!! :)

Here it is! Our Home Sweet Home for 2 weeks:

As you can see, the building is not finished. It will eventually have 4 stories plus a useful flat rooftop area. In Kenya, people save up money and buy land, then save up money and lay a foundation, then save up more money and start builing, then as they have the money they do what they can afford until its finished. What a novel concept...only spending the money that you have and patiently waiting...we are not familiar with either of these here in the U.S...

The building is beautiful inside with large tile floors throughout and brightly painted walls. Here are a few pics. more to come:

Jambo! (Hello, in kiswahilli) We made it home safely yesterday afternoon. Filthy, stinky, and exhausted, I could not have been more thrilled to be home! Since I was not able to update my blog as I had hoped while I was in Kenya, I plan to start from the beginning and post info, pictures, and videos now that I am home. This will be a great way for me to process and remember everything while also sharing my experience with the cyber-world. Asante Sana (Thank you so much) for your patience and especially for your prayers. :)

Here are a few pictures my beautiful wife sent from Africa!

chewsday.

today we have a guest blogger!

melanie from live to love

chewsday.

the name of this post could mean so many things.

for instance, I was given the choice of chewing a goat.

but, I learned how to say "vegetarian" in Swahili and it's mla mboga.

the Kenyans look at me with very confused faces saying, "you eat vegetables?"

they can't believe it's a choice!

it's also the way George (the head of our group from Kenya who now lives in NC)

says "Tuesday"

we all had a great laugh at this, and we think he has it down now.

and it's Tuesday!

we have been so blessed while we've been here.

we came to serve, yet we have been served.

we came to give joy, yet we have been given joy.

we came to love, yet we've been given love.

this experience has been extremely overwhelming,

and we aren't even half-way through yet!

saturday was our first day to the orphanage!

and I passed out the mustaches!

it was so much fun to see the kids come in swarms in search of one.

they erupted in laughter upon seeing someone else with one on.

it was incredible to see the joy that these little ones experienced with

something so simple.

best $5 purchase ever

on Sunday, we went to two churches

one that reminded me of church back home!

they had:

life groups

teams for ushering

& amazing praise & worship!

and they sang

"Mighty to Save" as their second song!

we went crazy!

the second service we went to was at the orphanage.

we were greeted as we walked in with choreographed dancing and singing.

there were little Ushers and Chris Browns in the group

it was unbelievable.

I got a video of the kids singing, but it won't upload with the internet here.

I'll have to post it when I get back

we are going on safari in two days and we are all so excited.

it's a 5 hour drive from here to Masai Mara,

so we are scheduled to leave at 6am.

however...time here is not as big of a priority as it is in the US.

which is 100% ok with me.

when we hear "our ride will be here in 15 minutes,"

we know that it could be anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

so we have been saying "our ride will be here soon."

we've heard that we should NOT bring food with us because

the baboons will stampede us!

this is NOT a joke!

they are apparently extremely mean and maniacal, and will grab anything they see

that hangs off your body!

we've had an incredible experience so far,

and we know that our trip has only just begun.

we have been thrown curveballs in this journey so far,

but by the grace of God,

we are blessed to be healthy, safe, and right where He wants us to be.

Love you all!

We have arrived

WE have arrived in Kenya! flights were all safe and on time. We are resting and recovering from jet lag today. :)

It's here

It's midnight Tuesday June 14...we leave tomorrow and I am blogging instead of sleeping!



Too excited and can not wait to see what God has in store over the next 14 days...keep praying and keep reading ;)



~em