I just checked the flight tracker and it looks like their flight will arrive at 3:04 instead of the 3:40 scheduled time. Please make sure you plan to be there to pick up your student a little early. Thanks!
Jenni Millet
Monday, June 29, 2009
Landed safely in London
Jill just texted to let us know they arrived safely in London. They will be at that airport about 5 hours before the flight home. See you all at the airport tomorrow.
- Jenni Millet
- Jenni Millet
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday 6/28 Heading Home
The group is boarding the plane in Nairobi to head home. They will text me when they get to London.
Tomorrows flight info in case you need it:
British Airways flight 193 - London Heathrow to DFW
arriving at 3:40 p.m. Monday June 29
Terminal D
- Jenni Millet
Tomorrows flight info in case you need it:
British Airways flight 193 - London Heathrow to DFW
arriving at 3:40 p.m. Monday June 29
Terminal D
- Jenni Millet
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday 6/27 Update on the day
Just received another text from Jill. They are driving back from the Maasai village right now. (8 pm their time) This morning some of the team went to get food for the relief project. This afternoon all went to the Maasai market and to a village. Some of the team did a vbs and some did evangelizing in the streets.
As soon as they get back to the hotel they will have dinner and then their final meeting/devotional and then back to rooms to pack. Tomorrow morning they will be doing a church service in the same village they were in today and then will leave to head to Nairobi for the trip home!
Jill said to tell you they have been reading your comments on the blog and are very encouraged by them. She also wanted to be sure you knew that ALL are now well and the tummy bug seems to have run its course. They are all exhausted and ready to come home but feel amazed at the opportunities God has given them while there.
I'll post more if I hear anything else.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
As soon as they get back to the hotel they will have dinner and then their final meeting/devotional and then back to rooms to pack. Tomorrow morning they will be doing a church service in the same village they were in today and then will leave to head to Nairobi for the trip home!
Jill said to tell you they have been reading your comments on the blog and are very encouraged by them. She also wanted to be sure you knew that ALL are now well and the tummy bug seems to have run its course. They are all exhausted and ready to come home but feel amazed at the opportunities God has given them while there.
I'll post more if I hear anything else.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Saturday 6/27 Last night was great
Hi everyone,
Just got a few texts from Jill - our ever-faithful tell-all informant. She said the village where they had the open air meeting last night was again remote but that about 150 people came to hear them. They showed the Passion of the Christ and about 15 or 20 people were saved. The group will be returning to this same location today to do a vbs and more door-to-door evangelism. Tomorrow (Sunday) they will be doing food distribution.
By the way, Jill is going to have Michelle look at her high-tech phone so they can read all your comments today. And she said all the Lake Pointe peeps are all doing good - just fyi for you Lake Pointe families.
Sickies Update:
Hamilton and Haley M. were still not feeling well last night (they are just now getting up so she hasn't talked to them yet this morning to check on improvement) but all others are feeling better and everyone attended the meeting last night.
Please keep them in your prayers as they are making use of their last few days in Africa before the trip home.
For the group
Jenni Millet
Just got a few texts from Jill - our ever-faithful tell-all informant. She said the village where they had the open air meeting last night was again remote but that about 150 people came to hear them. They showed the Passion of the Christ and about 15 or 20 people were saved. The group will be returning to this same location today to do a vbs and more door-to-door evangelism. Tomorrow (Sunday) they will be doing food distribution.
By the way, Jill is going to have Michelle look at her high-tech phone so they can read all your comments today. And she said all the Lake Pointe peeps are all doing good - just fyi for you Lake Pointe families.
Sickies Update:
Hamilton and Haley M. were still not feeling well last night (they are just now getting up so she hasn't talked to them yet this morning to check on improvement) but all others are feeling better and everyone attended the meeting last night.
Please keep them in your prayers as they are making use of their last few days in Africa before the trip home.
For the group
Jenni Millet
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday 6/26 -Mountaintop experience
Hi again everyone
I just talked to Jon for awhile and he said that last night was probably one of the neatest things he's ever experienced in Africa. They had been busy all day hiking out to different villages and evangelizing and so finally around sunset, they left to hike to one last remote Masaii village with their guides to meet with a group of Masaii that had been expecting them since around noon. They weren't sure exactly how far it was, but it turns out it was 4 or 5 miles up a very remote mountain - so remote there were zebra and gazelle wandering around everywhere.
They said when they finally got up there, the group was so ecstatic to see them. None of them had ever seen Americans before, and apparently don't get a lot of visitors. It was a typical Masaii village with just a few small huts and a tree as their church. One of the women had become a christian long ago and had spent years praying for a pastor. A former student of James Ndungu has been working in that area and evangelizing and organizing so now they get frequent contact with a pastor. Jon said while many of them now claim to be christians, some are definitely still confused and still make animal sacrifices and pray to the rain god, etc. But they were extremely welcoming and receptive and eager to hear what they came to say.
Anyway, Jon said James Ndungu was on fire and gave a great message to them in their "church" under the tree. They were all invited to go into the huts and look around the village afterward. When it was time to leave, they hiked back down the mountain with a few flashlights, but mostly by starlight and didn't get back until after midnight. They had a late supper and then went to bed. I'm sure I didn't do this story justice so you will want to ask them all about it when they get back.
Today they went to another remote Masaii village (the whole town and surrounding villages are ALL Masaii people) and Jon said Jill did a fantastic job with a VBS program for them. There were about 30 schoolchildren that came. He said that the whole town and villages are almost all women and children right now because all the men (who are farmers) have all taken the livestock into Tanzania looking for grass. And for all you who tend to worry like me - he said they feel extremely safe and welcome in this area.
When I talked to Jon, they were at a gas station because the bus had a flat tire. And our son had just wandered by with a 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola...so I don't think they minded the stop. :) They will be doing another open-air service tonight in the town and they are showing either the Jesus film or the Passion. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they reach the home stretch of the trip.
Sickie updates:
Natalie and Catherine M. are "sort of mostly" better
KJ Johnson and Hamilton L and Haleigh M are now/still sick
He said he's really not sure if it's a virus or just a result of eating strange things and traveling because everyone has had it to varying degrees but it doesn't seem to be too bad.
That's all for now. I will post any new updates as I hear them.
- Jenni Millet
I just talked to Jon for awhile and he said that last night was probably one of the neatest things he's ever experienced in Africa. They had been busy all day hiking out to different villages and evangelizing and so finally around sunset, they left to hike to one last remote Masaii village with their guides to meet with a group of Masaii that had been expecting them since around noon. They weren't sure exactly how far it was, but it turns out it was 4 or 5 miles up a very remote mountain - so remote there were zebra and gazelle wandering around everywhere.
They said when they finally got up there, the group was so ecstatic to see them. None of them had ever seen Americans before, and apparently don't get a lot of visitors. It was a typical Masaii village with just a few small huts and a tree as their church. One of the women had become a christian long ago and had spent years praying for a pastor. A former student of James Ndungu has been working in that area and evangelizing and organizing so now they get frequent contact with a pastor. Jon said while many of them now claim to be christians, some are definitely still confused and still make animal sacrifices and pray to the rain god, etc. But they were extremely welcoming and receptive and eager to hear what they came to say.
Anyway, Jon said James Ndungu was on fire and gave a great message to them in their "church" under the tree. They were all invited to go into the huts and look around the village afterward. When it was time to leave, they hiked back down the mountain with a few flashlights, but mostly by starlight and didn't get back until after midnight. They had a late supper and then went to bed. I'm sure I didn't do this story justice so you will want to ask them all about it when they get back.
Today they went to another remote Masaii village (the whole town and surrounding villages are ALL Masaii people) and Jon said Jill did a fantastic job with a VBS program for them. There were about 30 schoolchildren that came. He said that the whole town and villages are almost all women and children right now because all the men (who are farmers) have all taken the livestock into Tanzania looking for grass. And for all you who tend to worry like me - he said they feel extremely safe and welcome in this area.
When I talked to Jon, they were at a gas station because the bus had a flat tire. And our son had just wandered by with a 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola...so I don't think they minded the stop. :) They will be doing another open-air service tonight in the town and they are showing either the Jesus film or the Passion. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they reach the home stretch of the trip.
Sickie updates:
Natalie and Catherine M. are "sort of mostly" better
KJ Johnson and Hamilton L and Haleigh M are now/still sick
He said he's really not sure if it's a virus or just a result of eating strange things and traveling because everyone has had it to varying degrees but it doesn't seem to be too bad.
That's all for now. I will post any new updates as I hear them.
- Jenni Millet
Friday 6/26
I heard from Jill last night around midnight our time and they were just getting up for the day. She said that they had an awesome experience yesterday. No details other than that yet. She was waiting for the three sickies to get up so she could find out how they were feeling today but they were letting them all sleep in so she said she'd send me another text later with an update.
Today, they should be doing another VBS and more evangelism throughout the area with another open-air service tonight. I'll post another update as soon as I hear more from them.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Today, they should be doing another VBS and more evangelism throughout the area with another open-air service tonight. I'll post another update as soon as I hear more from them.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thursday 6/25 arrived in Kajiado
Hi everyone,
Jill just texted and asked me to let you all know they have arrived safely in Kajiado. They had a great early morning on their last game drive and saw TONS of giraffe and also two lions before they hit the road to leave. They were thankful that God answered their very specific prayer requests of which animals they wanted to see. I know that seems silly but it really does a person good on a trip like this when God answers prayer like that and you can more tangibly feel Him with you and have that extra spurt of faith and trust that He is hearing you. :)
Haley M., Natalie, and Catherine M. are all now sick with the same tummy stuff that the others had. Also, Haleigh L. tripped and fell and hurt her knee. She should be just fine but Jon didn't want her to go on the hike and risk making it worse. Those four are all staying at the hotel in Kajiado with Miss Cox while the rest of the group are on a 3 hour hike to spread the gospel through the village area. She said it is sort of a campground type facility they are at now - it's the best in town. :)
Brief schedule: They will be preaching the next 3 nights at open air services and showing a film similar to the Jesus film. Jon will be preaching tonight. Catherine WAS supposed to give her testimony but can't now since she is sick. James N. said he thinks their time will be too brief for more speakers tonight anyway. Tomorrow they will be doing a VBS, more evangelism door to door, and an evening service.
She asked that we please pray for their health and attitudes as they feel like they are getting a beatdown from the enemy. Thanks for keeping up with the blog and for all your prayers.
For the group
Jenni Millet
Jill just texted and asked me to let you all know they have arrived safely in Kajiado. They had a great early morning on their last game drive and saw TONS of giraffe and also two lions before they hit the road to leave. They were thankful that God answered their very specific prayer requests of which animals they wanted to see. I know that seems silly but it really does a person good on a trip like this when God answers prayer like that and you can more tangibly feel Him with you and have that extra spurt of faith and trust that He is hearing you. :)
Haley M., Natalie, and Catherine M. are all now sick with the same tummy stuff that the others had. Also, Haleigh L. tripped and fell and hurt her knee. She should be just fine but Jon didn't want her to go on the hike and risk making it worse. Those four are all staying at the hotel in Kajiado with Miss Cox while the rest of the group are on a 3 hour hike to spread the gospel through the village area. She said it is sort of a campground type facility they are at now - it's the best in town. :)
Brief schedule: They will be preaching the next 3 nights at open air services and showing a film similar to the Jesus film. Jon will be preaching tonight. Catherine WAS supposed to give her testimony but can't now since she is sick. James N. said he thinks their time will be too brief for more speakers tonight anyway. Tomorrow they will be doing a VBS, more evangelism door to door, and an evening service.
She asked that we please pray for their health and attitudes as they feel like they are getting a beatdown from the enemy. Thanks for keeping up with the blog and for all your prayers.
For the group
Jenni Millet
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Day's End at Amboseli
Well, hello, everyone-
I am going to have to make this quick because a mosquito has decided to make this computer station his hunting grounds and I haven't quite managed to give him the smackdown yet. :)
All in all, we have had a restful day here at the Serena Amboseli Lodge (if you haven't read about our morning game drive, read the post below). We spent the majority of our free time relaxing by the pool, or in the garden area playing cards or reading. Our afternoon game drive was awesome as well. Not as many animal sightings as the morning drive, but you know, it's typically like that. The animals are hot during the day, so they are off resting somewhere (although I still don't know where that mystery location is). This evening's filming of the promotional spot for the lodge fell through, so now we are just waiting for dinner. Then we will have devotionals and head back to our rooms to pack for the trip tomorrow to Kajiado.
Let me go ahead and give you a basic schedule for our next several days (you know, of course, that this could all change and probably will... I mean, you should know that by now if you've been keeping up with our ever-evolving schedule- ha!). This may be my last chance at the computer before we get home so this is likely my final post. But of course, as I said, Jenni will keep you all informed from our phone calls and texts.
Here is the (tenative) schedule for Thursday-Sunday/Monday:
Tomorrow morning, we will do one last game drive. We'd love to see some more lions, and also some giraffes- they have been hiding! Who knows where. Around 10:30-11, we will leave the lodge and head to Kajiado (about 80 miles from here). Then we will check in to our hotel there, get our food supplies for the food relief ministry, and then James says we are hiking an hour and a half into the remote Maasai land to let the people there know we'll be in town for the next few days and to do door-to-door evangelism. So, if you're thinking about us around 6-8 a.m. on Thursday, please pray for strength and endurance for us as we hike 1 1/2 hours each way and that we will be able to reach the people with whom we come in contact. Tomorrow night, we will be having an "open-air" service and we will then show a film (I don't know which one but I think the local pastor has arranged for it, so I imagine it is "Jesus film"-esque).
Friday morning, we will do a VBS at a local primary school- please pray for this ministry as we will be presenting the Gospel to local schoolchildren! Then in the afternoon, more door-to-door evangelism and again in the evening, an open-air service.
Saturday looks to be much the same, except that we will be visiting the local Maasai market in the morning instead of a VBS (although James did tell me we have two VBS days, so I don't know when the second one will be).
Sunday morning, we will attend the local church service, and then we will head back to Nairobi, do a bit of last minute shopping, have dinner, then head to the airport. Our flight is an overnight flight to London, and then Monday morning we begin the final stretch home to Dallas! It is really hard to believe we're at the point of even talking about the flight home, but it is not too many days away...
If this is, in fact, my final post from this side of the Pond, I want to say a HUGE asante sana(thank you very much) to all of you who have been faithful to read and especially to those who have posted comments). Thank you for your prayers and love- we feel covered in prayers right now and I know you will continue to be faithful in asking for our protection, etc. We will see you all soon, and keep those comments coming- you never know when we'll be at a computer on this end. :)
And now, to take down this pesky mosquito...
love to all,
Jill
I am going to have to make this quick because a mosquito has decided to make this computer station his hunting grounds and I haven't quite managed to give him the smackdown yet. :)
All in all, we have had a restful day here at the Serena Amboseli Lodge (if you haven't read about our morning game drive, read the post below). We spent the majority of our free time relaxing by the pool, or in the garden area playing cards or reading. Our afternoon game drive was awesome as well. Not as many animal sightings as the morning drive, but you know, it's typically like that. The animals are hot during the day, so they are off resting somewhere (although I still don't know where that mystery location is). This evening's filming of the promotional spot for the lodge fell through, so now we are just waiting for dinner. Then we will have devotionals and head back to our rooms to pack for the trip tomorrow to Kajiado.
Let me go ahead and give you a basic schedule for our next several days (you know, of course, that this could all change and probably will... I mean, you should know that by now if you've been keeping up with our ever-evolving schedule- ha!). This may be my last chance at the computer before we get home so this is likely my final post. But of course, as I said, Jenni will keep you all informed from our phone calls and texts.
Here is the (tenative) schedule for Thursday-Sunday/Monday:
Tomorrow morning, we will do one last game drive. We'd love to see some more lions, and also some giraffes- they have been hiding! Who knows where. Around 10:30-11, we will leave the lodge and head to Kajiado (about 80 miles from here). Then we will check in to our hotel there, get our food supplies for the food relief ministry, and then James says we are hiking an hour and a half into the remote Maasai land to let the people there know we'll be in town for the next few days and to do door-to-door evangelism. So, if you're thinking about us around 6-8 a.m. on Thursday, please pray for strength and endurance for us as we hike 1 1/2 hours each way and that we will be able to reach the people with whom we come in contact. Tomorrow night, we will be having an "open-air" service and we will then show a film (I don't know which one but I think the local pastor has arranged for it, so I imagine it is "Jesus film"-esque).
Friday morning, we will do a VBS at a local primary school- please pray for this ministry as we will be presenting the Gospel to local schoolchildren! Then in the afternoon, more door-to-door evangelism and again in the evening, an open-air service.
Saturday looks to be much the same, except that we will be visiting the local Maasai market in the morning instead of a VBS (although James did tell me we have two VBS days, so I don't know when the second one will be).
Sunday morning, we will attend the local church service, and then we will head back to Nairobi, do a bit of last minute shopping, have dinner, then head to the airport. Our flight is an overnight flight to London, and then Monday morning we begin the final stretch home to Dallas! It is really hard to believe we're at the point of even talking about the flight home, but it is not too many days away...
If this is, in fact, my final post from this side of the Pond, I want to say a HUGE asante sana(thank you very much) to all of you who have been faithful to read and especially to those who have posted comments). Thank you for your prayers and love- we feel covered in prayers right now and I know you will continue to be faithful in asking for our protection, etc. We will see you all soon, and keep those comments coming- you never know when we'll be at a computer on this end. :)
And now, to take down this pesky mosquito...
love to all,
Jill
Amboseli, Day Two: Breakfast in the Bush
Hi all-
It is 10:00 a.m. here, which means you guys are all sound asleep in your beds. Haleigh L. and Brian M. and I are sitting here at the hotel computers after a full morning of game-viewing and breakfast-eating (we have been on the go since 6 a.m.!). You will be excited to know that we have seen so much this morning, including a PRIDE OF LIONS!!!! Sadly, I do not have my zoom lens with me so I didn't see them up close. But I am looking forward to the official Millet version because the whole encounter was well-documented on video. It was really exciting- one of the female lions crossed the road right in front of our group of jeeps! We also saw lots of families of elephants this morning. You may know that Amboseli is known for its elephant population. In fact, there is a research facility here in the park that is world-renowned. Also seen this morning were hippos, zebras, hyenas (YUCK), gazelles, impalas, ostriches, and we got almost up close and personal with a clan of baboons (Mr. Morrill, if you are reading this, please find out what a group of baboons are called for next year's announcements. We want to know.). We just finished our breakfast-in-the-bush, and now, we have free time until our next game drive at 3:30. It looks like a gorgeous day ahead of us.
Last night in our devotion time, Mr. Millet told us that he views our time in this game park as worship. We are viewing God's creation in all of its glory. And I also like what James N. said to us last night about God being like Mount Kilimanjaro. I can't remember if I wrote this before or not but Mount Kilimanjaro is not always fully in view. For example, this morning it has been overcast, so we can really only see the very bottom of the base of the mountain. I'm fairly certain it is normally cloud-covered to a certain extent. But it is there, and when it finally reveals itself, it is magnificent. And what James said is that God is like that- He is always there, even though we may not always be able to see Him. But we can count on the fact that He is here with us. When we drove in to the park yesterday, those of us who had seen Kilimanjaro before recognized it even though it was completely obstructed from view- to the untrained eye, it just looked like those were storm clouds. But we knew it was there. Just like that, believers can see the hand of God at work in our lives, even though it may not be visible to the untrained eye.
Sorry- I don't mean to ramble (I warned you about the rabbit-trail-y nature of my writing!!). I've just been thinking alot this morning. :)
I will post again this evening after our devotions. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for the next bend in the road: Kajiado. At breakfast this morning, James was telling me what all lies ahead and although I am very excited, I am also VERY aware that we will need the Lord's strength for the coming days. We cannot do it on our own. But in II Corinthians 12: 10, Paul says: "when I am weak, then I am strong." In fact, let me back up a verse. In 12:9 it says that the Lord says to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." I'm hanging on to that right now because I have a sneaky suspicion that there will be a time or two over the next several days that I wonder "what were we thinking?" To which I will tell myself:
HIS POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG.
Love you guys... more later!
In Christ,
Jill
PS- I am adding this a little later from my original posting- I forgot to tell everyone thank you so much for praying for the three girls and Jon and their illnesses! All four are feeling MUCH better. I heard Jon tell someone this morning he feels like he is back to about 90% of his normal self, and they've all got color back in their faces and have been eating well. So, thank you, Lord, for restoring health to these four team members! I think that is the most people at one time we've ever had sick. Ugh.
It is 10:00 a.m. here, which means you guys are all sound asleep in your beds. Haleigh L. and Brian M. and I are sitting here at the hotel computers after a full morning of game-viewing and breakfast-eating (we have been on the go since 6 a.m.!). You will be excited to know that we have seen so much this morning, including a PRIDE OF LIONS!!!! Sadly, I do not have my zoom lens with me so I didn't see them up close. But I am looking forward to the official Millet version because the whole encounter was well-documented on video. It was really exciting- one of the female lions crossed the road right in front of our group of jeeps! We also saw lots of families of elephants this morning. You may know that Amboseli is known for its elephant population. In fact, there is a research facility here in the park that is world-renowned. Also seen this morning were hippos, zebras, hyenas (YUCK), gazelles, impalas, ostriches, and we got almost up close and personal with a clan of baboons (Mr. Morrill, if you are reading this, please find out what a group of baboons are called for next year's announcements. We want to know.). We just finished our breakfast-in-the-bush, and now, we have free time until our next game drive at 3:30. It looks like a gorgeous day ahead of us.
Last night in our devotion time, Mr. Millet told us that he views our time in this game park as worship. We are viewing God's creation in all of its glory. And I also like what James N. said to us last night about God being like Mount Kilimanjaro. I can't remember if I wrote this before or not but Mount Kilimanjaro is not always fully in view. For example, this morning it has been overcast, so we can really only see the very bottom of the base of the mountain. I'm fairly certain it is normally cloud-covered to a certain extent. But it is there, and when it finally reveals itself, it is magnificent. And what James said is that God is like that- He is always there, even though we may not always be able to see Him. But we can count on the fact that He is here with us. When we drove in to the park yesterday, those of us who had seen Kilimanjaro before recognized it even though it was completely obstructed from view- to the untrained eye, it just looked like those were storm clouds. But we knew it was there. Just like that, believers can see the hand of God at work in our lives, even though it may not be visible to the untrained eye.
Sorry- I don't mean to ramble (I warned you about the rabbit-trail-y nature of my writing!!). I've just been thinking alot this morning. :)
I will post again this evening after our devotions. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for the next bend in the road: Kajiado. At breakfast this morning, James was telling me what all lies ahead and although I am very excited, I am also VERY aware that we will need the Lord's strength for the coming days. We cannot do it on our own. But in II Corinthians 12: 10, Paul says: "when I am weak, then I am strong." In fact, let me back up a verse. In 12:9 it says that the Lord says to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." I'm hanging on to that right now because I have a sneaky suspicion that there will be a time or two over the next several days that I wonder "what were we thinking?" To which I will tell myself:
HIS POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG.
Love you guys... more later!
In Christ,
Jill
PS- I am adding this a little later from my original posting- I forgot to tell everyone thank you so much for praying for the three girls and Jon and their illnesses! All four are feeling MUCH better. I heard Jon tell someone this morning he feels like he is back to about 90% of his normal self, and they've all got color back in their faces and have been eating well. So, thank you, Lord, for restoring health to these four team members! I think that is the most people at one time we've ever had sick. Ugh.
photos and video
Hi parents. For those of you who keep asking about the photos - do not worry. Jon and I will gather all the photos we can and put them all on one cd for each of you. Jon also has me edit all the video footage into a 15-20 minute movie and you will each receive a copy. It will be ready sometime in August and we will try to have a little reunion party to show it. We also always show it in one of the first TCA chapels - usually late August or early Sept....whenever the schedule allows.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
In The Shadow Of Kilimanjaro
Hi all-
I'm posting here from the crazy computer station at the Serena Amboseli Lodge. The silly internet is expensive here so I will have to be very quick!
We are finally settled at Amboseli after a long day of traveling. We arrived here about 2:30 this afternoon and we left Scott at 8 a.m. Soooooo, six and a half hours driving on the world's bumpiest road with three sick kiddos and a sick sponsor? Interesting. But we made it. And everyone is really excited because this place is just gorgeous. We just walked in from our first game drive, and we've already seen tons of giraffes, hippos, zebras, cape buffalo, wildebeests and we even saw TWO male lions! AMAZING for a first run! Sadly, I only have my little point and shoot camera with me so my animal pictures are going to have to be poached from El Jefe (Jon M.) and his sweet zoom lens. And oh yeah, he's got that graduate degree in fine arts and all too. Ha ha. But I did get some AWESOME sunset pictures so I will be sure to post those when I get home. You will love them.
On the way to Amboseli, we stopped in Kajiado where we will be serving this Thursday-Sunday. The other day when James was there to finalize our ministries before we arrived, he happened to see a children's home there in town (Kajiado Children's Home). He just stopped in to see if there was anything we could do to help, and it turns out that we were able to bring them about six bins worth of clothing today on our way to Amboseli. We were really excited to help because they do an amazing job at this children's home. Very compassionate ministry.
We also got to see lots of Maasai on our way to the game park today. It made me really excited about this weekend and all of the exciting ministries we have planned for the Kajiado area. As we were driving, I was struck by how dry the region is and how thin the cattle all appeared. I hope that we are able to provide some immediate relief while we are there.
There are many kids here waiting to use this computer so I better sign off, but I did want to let the parents and friends of Ellie, Frances, and Lauren know that the girls are all feeling much better and that they are all taking Cipro. :) And as for our fearless leader, Jon, who we were all really worried about this morning, is feeling 100 times better this evening. So, thank you all for the prayers and for sending your sweet comments! We're hoping to shore up our last bit of energy for Kajiado over the next 36 hours and then ON TO THE NEXT LEG OF OUR JOURNEY!
Oh, and did I mention that we are staying right at the footstep of Kilimanjaro? My goodness, it is majestic. I don't know what else to tell you except that God is evident in His creation!
Love you guys-
Jill
I'm posting here from the crazy computer station at the Serena Amboseli Lodge. The silly internet is expensive here so I will have to be very quick!
We are finally settled at Amboseli after a long day of traveling. We arrived here about 2:30 this afternoon and we left Scott at 8 a.m. Soooooo, six and a half hours driving on the world's bumpiest road with three sick kiddos and a sick sponsor? Interesting. But we made it. And everyone is really excited because this place is just gorgeous. We just walked in from our first game drive, and we've already seen tons of giraffes, hippos, zebras, cape buffalo, wildebeests and we even saw TWO male lions! AMAZING for a first run! Sadly, I only have my little point and shoot camera with me so my animal pictures are going to have to be poached from El Jefe (Jon M.) and his sweet zoom lens. And oh yeah, he's got that graduate degree in fine arts and all too. Ha ha. But I did get some AWESOME sunset pictures so I will be sure to post those when I get home. You will love them.
On the way to Amboseli, we stopped in Kajiado where we will be serving this Thursday-Sunday. The other day when James was there to finalize our ministries before we arrived, he happened to see a children's home there in town (Kajiado Children's Home). He just stopped in to see if there was anything we could do to help, and it turns out that we were able to bring them about six bins worth of clothing today on our way to Amboseli. We were really excited to help because they do an amazing job at this children's home. Very compassionate ministry.
We also got to see lots of Maasai on our way to the game park today. It made me really excited about this weekend and all of the exciting ministries we have planned for the Kajiado area. As we were driving, I was struck by how dry the region is and how thin the cattle all appeared. I hope that we are able to provide some immediate relief while we are there.
There are many kids here waiting to use this computer so I better sign off, but I did want to let the parents and friends of Ellie, Frances, and Lauren know that the girls are all feeling much better and that they are all taking Cipro. :) And as for our fearless leader, Jon, who we were all really worried about this morning, is feeling 100 times better this evening. So, thank you all for the prayers and for sending your sweet comments! We're hoping to shore up our last bit of energy for Kajiado over the next 36 hours and then ON TO THE NEXT LEG OF OUR JOURNEY!
Oh, and did I mention that we are staying right at the footstep of Kilimanjaro? My goodness, it is majestic. I don't know what else to tell you except that God is evident in His creation!
Love you guys-
Jill
update from Jenni
Hi everyone,
I have just been texting with Jill. Well, actually I started texting with my husband but I wasn't getting enough information out of him so I switched to Jill instead. :) They are on the road to the safari camp now. She did say that Lauren is better now but that Ellie and Frances are both sick with mild stomach issues. My husband, Jon, is also reporting slight aches and pains...which is why I texted Jill because he doesn't always admit how sick he actually is. :) Anyway, all are mobile and on the way to the safari. Please pray for rest and restored health to all during this brief respite.
I'll let you know if I hear any more news.
Jenni Millet
I have just been texting with Jill. Well, actually I started texting with my husband but I wasn't getting enough information out of him so I switched to Jill instead. :) They are on the road to the safari camp now. She did say that Lauren is better now but that Ellie and Frances are both sick with mild stomach issues. My husband, Jon, is also reporting slight aches and pains...which is why I texted Jill because he doesn't always admit how sick he actually is. :) Anyway, all are mobile and on the way to the safari. Please pray for rest and restored health to all during this brief respite.
I'll let you know if I hear any more news.
Jenni Millet
Monday, June 22, 2009
Last Day in Machakos...
Hi all,
Sorry- I texted my mom last night and told her I'd post by the time you got up this morning. Unfortunately, this is Kenyan time and our day of "oh, we are ONLY doing the work project" quickly turned into that plus two quote-unquote VBS's, another school visit, and aaaaaaghhhhhhh now it is almost 8 p.m. and I have finally sat down at a computer. I am about to miss our super important group meeting but I got permission from the boss since this may be our last post for awhile... well, in person, that is. Jenni and MJ should be keeping you up to date even if we can't.
In keeping with tradition, I'd like to start by telling you the funny story of the day. At one of my two visits to the Mumbuni school (a nearby primary school, a.k.a. grades 1-8), the teachers were asking questions to make sure that the students had understood us completely. Here is the last interchange:
TEACHER: And if you ask Jesus to be your Savior, WHERE will you go?
STUDENTS: TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Uh, no. :) But funny all the same. I believe the term EPIC FAIL applies here.
Here is a recap of the last 36-48 hours since my last post:
Well, it is only bad if you are me, the blog author. Gentle readers, I had written about two pages past this point, full of great and wonderful information. But, I have decided that the internet is my own personal enemy tonight. To make a long story short, I was using the FACULTY computer lab thinking it would be faster, but I should have known better. The internet shut down in that lab just at the point mentioned above, and everything I wrote was not auto-saving onto Blogger. ARGH. So, being the quick thinker I am, I saved my post to a Word doc. Then I came over to the library, and once I arrived there, I found out that there are VERY few computers who have internet at the moment. The sweet Scott students gave me a spot (seriously, they completely moved over and gave me one of the working ones even though they have exams) because that is the polite type of people they have here.
So I thought I was on the road to being finished when... I opened up the disk and it says my doc has a VIRUS. OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All that work is now gone down the drain..... argh.
Needless to say, I am tiiiiiiiiiiiiired after all this calamity so I am going to leave a much shorter version of what I had before. I apologize in advance... but here are today's activities in retrospect:
Sorry- I texted my mom last night and told her I'd post by the time you got up this morning. Unfortunately, this is Kenyan time and our day of "oh, we are ONLY doing the work project" quickly turned into that plus two quote-unquote VBS's, another school visit, and aaaaaaghhhhhhh now it is almost 8 p.m. and I have finally sat down at a computer. I am about to miss our super important group meeting but I got permission from the boss since this may be our last post for awhile... well, in person, that is. Jenni and MJ should be keeping you up to date even if we can't.
In keeping with tradition, I'd like to start by telling you the funny story of the day. At one of my two visits to the Mumbuni school (a nearby primary school, a.k.a. grades 1-8), the teachers were asking questions to make sure that the students had understood us completely. Here is the last interchange:
TEACHER: And if you ask Jesus to be your Savior, WHERE will you go?
STUDENTS: TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Uh, no. :) But funny all the same. I believe the term EPIC FAIL applies here.
Here is a recap of the last 36-48 hours since my last post:
- Saturday evening: Movie night with Scott community. Prince Caspian was a major hit, as were the Cokes and Cadbury's chocolate. :)
- Sunday morning church services: Wonderful at all three churches- Bomani, Kataloni, and Kitituni... see below for an explanation of why I'm not writing more.
Well, it is only bad if you are me, the blog author. Gentle readers, I had written about two pages past this point, full of great and wonderful information. But, I have decided that the internet is my own personal enemy tonight. To make a long story short, I was using the FACULTY computer lab thinking it would be faster, but I should have known better. The internet shut down in that lab just at the point mentioned above, and everything I wrote was not auto-saving onto Blogger. ARGH. So, being the quick thinker I am, I saved my post to a Word doc. Then I came over to the library, and once I arrived there, I found out that there are VERY few computers who have internet at the moment. The sweet Scott students gave me a spot (seriously, they completely moved over and gave me one of the working ones even though they have exams) because that is the polite type of people they have here.
So I thought I was on the road to being finished when... I opened up the disk and it says my doc has a VIRUS. OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All that work is now gone down the drain..... argh.
Needless to say, I am tiiiiiiiiiiiiired after all this calamity so I am going to leave a much shorter version of what I had before. I apologize in advance... but here are today's activities in retrospect:
- WORK PROJECT: Today, the group almost completed the work project, and the Scott maintenance staff is going to complete what we haven't finished (which is very little). I think they got video of the final product. Way to go team!
- SCHOOL VISITS: There were three today: 2 to the Mumbuni school (where our friends David, Momo, Faith, Panina, and Love all attend), and one to an engineering school. More on the Mumbuni visit below.
- ORPHANAGE: Frances R. and her crew completed the "mural" (which is actually a border around one room with the animals from Noah's Ark). And Jennifer S. shot footage for a video she is planning to put together for the LakePointe Church about the ministry there at Springs of Hope.
- CLOTHING, ETC DONATIONS: Amber M. and Michelle T. organized and sorted the last of the clothing donations into men's/women's/childrens' sections, and we had the most needy of the married faculty/staff/students come to get your donated clothing, toys, shoes, etc. It was greatly appreciated- I have been stopped several times on my way to the library by people wishing to express their gratitude. Thanks so much for all you donated!
About the Mumbuni visits... I will tell you about this morning's visit to the 8th graders. We intended to stay long enough to do our regular Gospel presentation, but instead, we stayed two hours BEYOND THAT answering the students' questions about America and our lives as Americans. It was really interesting, because these young people had VERY thoughtful and specific questions. In fact, they even asked us to sing the National Anthem, and we obliged! And you will be so proud of Natalie N.: she did a cheer for that entire group (about 100ish teenagers) BY HERSELF so that she could demonstrate what "cheerleading" is. It was so great! GO NATALIE!
Oh, goodness... they are closing the library so I need to wrap this up...
In case you weren't aware, we are leaving early in the morning for Amboseli National Park. James N. told me yesterday that we were going to drive there via the Tanzania border so that we can get our passports stamped. I will believe it when I see it but maybe he is not pulling my leg. He likes to do that (maybe because I fall for his shenanigans pretty much every time). We will go on a game drive in the afternoon and hopefully I will be able to write you from our hotel.
By the way, please pray for poor Lauren H. She woke up at 4 a.m. VERY sick. She is doing a lot better now (thanks to little packets of powdered Gatorade... who knew?!) but she is still feeling queasy, and the drive tomorrow won't be much fun for her if she is still ill. At this point, we do not feel like it is a virus or anything contagious, so that is good. But what a trooper she is. She told me today she was planning to read her CRP book while she was resting. I told her she was not allowed! NO HOMEWORK WHILE SICK!!! It's my rule. Okay, not really. But I definitely don't think anyone should be forced to do homework AND be sick.
Sorry this post wasn't more informative... I am falling asleeeeeeeep at this desssssssssssskkkkk.... OH, and one more thing. Thank you a million, billion times for the comments you've left. You would not believe how much we look forward to getting those! Keep 'em coming, don't be shy!
Love to all,
Jill
Correction on Dates
Oops! I am sorry, I had said they would leave for Amboselli today. When I looked at their schedule, I saw that they actually had another work day at Scott today (which is almost over). Obviously, Jill has not had time to post today. I am sure she will later before she goes to bed. They will leave tomorrow at 8:00 AM, their time, for Amboselli.
Mary Jane
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday in Kenya
Because the library is closed on Sunday, Jill has not been able to get to a computer. She will post between 3 and 8 AM our time tomorrow morning. They will leave Scott tomorrow for the game reserve in Amboselli . That will be a nice break after all the hard work. All of the church visits went well and I am sure she will report more on that tomorrow.
Most of the group went to the wood carvers this afternoon except for 4 who went hiking with John McCutcheon in the Iveti hills.
I am sure many of you will receive carved wood gifts. :)
Jenni, Jill said to tell you that Jon hasn't gotten to see the video but did open his present and she filmed it for you.
Please pray for their safety as they travel tomorrow.
Happy Father's Day to all Dads,
Mary Jane
Special Delivery to Jon Millet
Sorry to take up space on the blog, but I want to be SURE Jon sees this message for Fathers Day. We love you Jon and are so thankful for you! Check your facebook page if you can for the bouncier, crazier version number 2. (we did like 4 "takes" before everyone sort of cooperated) Happy Fathers Day!
With Love,
Jenni Millet and the pip-squeaks
p.s. Max has your present. :)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Don't Ask For Diapers
Hi everyone,
Wow, what a response- SIXTEEN COMMENTS?!! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and encouragements, and I really mean that. We read your comments on Michelle's Blackberry while we were driving in the Scott matatu (think VW van, but way smaller) to the orphanage this morning. It was very entertaining. Oddly, most of the people to whom the comments were directed were in the matatu with us. Twelve of 26 team members were with us, after all. You might wonder how that is possible in such a small space. I'll try to post video (because of course I documented it on film).
I don't want to leave you hanging too long about my blog title (it is a little weird sounding, I know). So I will start with a funny story here at the beginning and then get down to the serious stuff:
Yesterday at lunch, James N. told me that the word for napkin here is serviette (French word, thank you very much!). He also told me that the word "napkin" means diaper, so we should not ask for napkins- ask for serviettes instead. I promptly sat down and started telling the people at my table about it. WELL, not surprisingly, one person misheard me... I don't want to name names, but he's head of the art department at TCA (ahem). Anyhow, that person told Michelle T. that napkins were called "diapers" in Kenya. So when Michelle's table ran out of napkins at dinner yesterday, she went to the kitchen door and shouted:
"Hey, do y'all have any more diapers in there?"
That is NOT made up. I am hoping that story is as funny to you as it was to us. I'm sitting here in the super serious Scott library trying to stop my church giggles.
Okay, breathing deeply and moving onward...
I think the last thing I told you was what we would be doing in the afternoon yesterday, so I will start there and tell you about the 30 or so hours that have passed since then.
Yesterday afternoon, we were split into three groups: one group went to a local hospital, and two groups went to schools. The group that went to the hospital visited several different types of patients, from mothers who had just lost their babies in the maternity ward to people with HIV, tuberculosis, and even a few terminally ill patients. They were able to talk with these people and also to present the Gospel. All of the team members who went said it was a deeply moving experience and that they were so grateful to have gone. I was on one of the teams visiting schools, so I will tell you about our experience. We walked from the Scott campus about a mile or so to St. Valentines School (a boarding school with about 160 students). Drew D., Frances R., and Brian M. gave their testimonies- all three were VERY powerful, especially considering both Drew and Brian were giving theirs spontaneously (neither were slated to go yesterday). We also presented the Gospel at this school.
Not long after dinner, we set back out on the road in the trusty old Scott bus up to a private boarding school for girls called Halley's School for Girls, I believe. It was WAY up in the hills behind Machakos in a town called Ndelani. Catherine M. gave her testimony, and she did an amazing job. Some of you may remember David, the son of Stone (groundskeeper at Scott), who we've talked about in years past. When we were here in 2007, David tagged along with us on all of our school visits. He got saved one night while we were at a high school ministry that year. Yesterday, he asked us if he could share his testimony at one of our ministries, and of course we said yes! It was particularly moving for him to be sharing his testimony about getting saved at a high school ministry in a situation that was so similar to the same one he experienced two years before.
And now, TODAY'S LATEST!
This morning, we split up into two groups: one group did a VBS at the Springs Of Hope Orphanage, and the rest of the team members continued on the work project (moving stones into the girls dorm, chiseling them into shape, and creating walls out of them). VBS with toddlers is probably always a challenge and I clearly planned the wrong activities (having never done a VBS for such young children). Egg hunt? Epic fail. Red Rover? What was I thinking?! But I think the most important thing was that we were able to love on those kids and give them hugs. That's all that matters in the end.
Next, while the work team continued to move stones and build walls etc, the VBS team had about an hour before Bible school for the children of Scott students and employees. Lots of those kids have been around since I started coming in 2005, so it was pretty fun to see that they still know the songs we taught them before! When we finished VBS, even those team members pitched in on the last part of today's work project (everyone except for me, since I needed to write the blog before the library closed).
The work team is amazing- they lift those three foot by one foot stones like they weigh only an ounce. Unbelievable. I havent't see how far they'd gotten but someone just told me they are about halfway done. Hopefully, we will be able to complete it on Monday. We do not (at present) have any other conflicting activities going on the whole day, so all 26 of us will be able to work. If you think about it on Monday, please pray for lots of energy and few mistakes. That will help us complete our work before we leave here on Tuesday for the next part of our journey.
Right now, it is nearly six p.m. here, and we are about to have dinner. After dinner, we have our annual social with the Scott students, where we provide the soft drinks and Cadbury chocolates. It is always really fun. Tonight's feature is... Prince Caspian. Yes, again. We can't get enough of that bear that screams "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Ha ha. No wonder those students the other night had strange reactions! :)
I don't know if I will be able to post tomorrow, but I will try. Jon informed me today that there is WiFi in the chapel/cafeteria (who knew?) so I am going to take my IPod Touch tonight and see if I can get it to work in there. If I can, maybe I can at least get something short typed out for you guys tomorrow. But in any case, here is what we are doing:
That's all for today, folks. Hope your eyes aren't too tired.
In Christ,
Jill/Miss Cox
Wow, what a response- SIXTEEN COMMENTS?!! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and encouragements, and I really mean that. We read your comments on Michelle's Blackberry while we were driving in the Scott matatu (think VW van, but way smaller) to the orphanage this morning. It was very entertaining. Oddly, most of the people to whom the comments were directed were in the matatu with us. Twelve of 26 team members were with us, after all. You might wonder how that is possible in such a small space. I'll try to post video (because of course I documented it on film).
I don't want to leave you hanging too long about my blog title (it is a little weird sounding, I know). So I will start with a funny story here at the beginning and then get down to the serious stuff:
Yesterday at lunch, James N. told me that the word for napkin here is serviette (French word, thank you very much!). He also told me that the word "napkin" means diaper, so we should not ask for napkins- ask for serviettes instead. I promptly sat down and started telling the people at my table about it. WELL, not surprisingly, one person misheard me... I don't want to name names, but he's head of the art department at TCA (ahem). Anyhow, that person told Michelle T. that napkins were called "diapers" in Kenya. So when Michelle's table ran out of napkins at dinner yesterday, she went to the kitchen door and shouted:
"Hey, do y'all have any more diapers in there?"
That is NOT made up. I am hoping that story is as funny to you as it was to us. I'm sitting here in the super serious Scott library trying to stop my church giggles.
Okay, breathing deeply and moving onward...
I think the last thing I told you was what we would be doing in the afternoon yesterday, so I will start there and tell you about the 30 or so hours that have passed since then.
Yesterday afternoon, we were split into three groups: one group went to a local hospital, and two groups went to schools. The group that went to the hospital visited several different types of patients, from mothers who had just lost their babies in the maternity ward to people with HIV, tuberculosis, and even a few terminally ill patients. They were able to talk with these people and also to present the Gospel. All of the team members who went said it was a deeply moving experience and that they were so grateful to have gone. I was on one of the teams visiting schools, so I will tell you about our experience. We walked from the Scott campus about a mile or so to St. Valentines School (a boarding school with about 160 students). Drew D., Frances R., and Brian M. gave their testimonies- all three were VERY powerful, especially considering both Drew and Brian were giving theirs spontaneously (neither were slated to go yesterday). We also presented the Gospel at this school.
Not long after dinner, we set back out on the road in the trusty old Scott bus up to a private boarding school for girls called Halley's School for Girls, I believe. It was WAY up in the hills behind Machakos in a town called Ndelani. Catherine M. gave her testimony, and she did an amazing job. Some of you may remember David, the son of Stone (groundskeeper at Scott), who we've talked about in years past. When we were here in 2007, David tagged along with us on all of our school visits. He got saved one night while we were at a high school ministry that year. Yesterday, he asked us if he could share his testimony at one of our ministries, and of course we said yes! It was particularly moving for him to be sharing his testimony about getting saved at a high school ministry in a situation that was so similar to the same one he experienced two years before.
And now, TODAY'S LATEST!
This morning, we split up into two groups: one group did a VBS at the Springs Of Hope Orphanage, and the rest of the team members continued on the work project (moving stones into the girls dorm, chiseling them into shape, and creating walls out of them). VBS with toddlers is probably always a challenge and I clearly planned the wrong activities (having never done a VBS for such young children). Egg hunt? Epic fail. Red Rover? What was I thinking?! But I think the most important thing was that we were able to love on those kids and give them hugs. That's all that matters in the end.
Next, while the work team continued to move stones and build walls etc, the VBS team had about an hour before Bible school for the children of Scott students and employees. Lots of those kids have been around since I started coming in 2005, so it was pretty fun to see that they still know the songs we taught them before! When we finished VBS, even those team members pitched in on the last part of today's work project (everyone except for me, since I needed to write the blog before the library closed).
The work team is amazing- they lift those three foot by one foot stones like they weigh only an ounce. Unbelievable. I havent't see how far they'd gotten but someone just told me they are about halfway done. Hopefully, we will be able to complete it on Monday. We do not (at present) have any other conflicting activities going on the whole day, so all 26 of us will be able to work. If you think about it on Monday, please pray for lots of energy and few mistakes. That will help us complete our work before we leave here on Tuesday for the next part of our journey.
Right now, it is nearly six p.m. here, and we are about to have dinner. After dinner, we have our annual social with the Scott students, where we provide the soft drinks and Cadbury chocolates. It is always really fun. Tonight's feature is... Prince Caspian. Yes, again. We can't get enough of that bear that screams "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Ha ha. No wonder those students the other night had strange reactions! :)
I don't know if I will be able to post tomorrow, but I will try. Jon informed me today that there is WiFi in the chapel/cafeteria (who knew?) so I am going to take my IPod Touch tonight and see if I can get it to work in there. If I can, maybe I can at least get something short typed out for you guys tomorrow. But in any case, here is what we are doing:
- The majority of us will be going to one of three church visits (Bomani, Masii, and... ??? the third one escapes me). James N., Jon M., and Brian M. are preaching. The rest of us will all end up telling our testimonies, too, because that is just the way it is on these visits.
- Drew D. and Tyler M. are each going with a Scott student to preach at one of two nearby boys' schools. They are a little nervous but I've heard them both give their testimonies, and they are both totally cool under pressure and speak with conviction. They will do great!
- When we all get back from our church visits (which will be about 3 p.m., since we are always invited for lunch afterwards), we are hoping to go to the woodcarvers' where we usually go while we are in Machakos. It is about an hour away from here.
- I think tomorrow night we are setting up the tables with clothing, shoes, supplies, etc for the Scott community to peruse and take on Monday during the day.
That's all for today, folks. Hope your eyes aren't too tired.
In Christ,
Jill/Miss Cox
Friday, June 19, 2009
LIVE from Machakos, Kenya... it's JILL!!! :)
Well, hellllloooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Goodness, it does my heart good to finally be able to post. When the library people saw me this morning they rushed me right in to the computer lab... ha ha... I am sure they were thinking, "oh, finally, this girl will leave us ALONE!" I've been sort of a pest. Oh well- bygones.
Those of you who have been on the trip before with us may be thinking, "COMPUTER LAB? WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?" Yes, I am in a huge room in the new wing of the library with about 50-60 computers. This new building is gorgeous and such a wonderful blessing for the Scott students, I am sure. They no longer have to share two computers! Side note: The number one website I saw as I walked from the back of the lab to the front? You'll never guess... Facebook. Ha ha. There were only 4 computers that had it up but I just almost laughed out loud when I saw it. The swine flu hasn't reached Kenya yet, but Facebook has. :)
First of all, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my mom (Mary Jane) and Jenni Millet for posting for us. I know the parents are so glad to be kept in the loop! You guys have done an awesome job! Also, thanks to all of you who left comments- when I told the kids at our meeting this morning that I'd bring back all the messages, they were so excited!
Now, a word of warning... those of you who are not used to reading my blogs will have to forgive the narrative nature of my posts. There's not really any time for me to sit down and compose a post in a proper format (sorry, English teachers!) so I may ramble a bit and go off on rabbit trails. I also abuse the use of parentheses. I am sorry. You've been forewarned. :)
AND NOW... THE LATEST FROM MACHAKOS!
I believe the last post on here from Jenni said that she hadn't heard from us yesterday. That is because it was a marathon day with a crazy amount of activity and we got home very late last night. In a nutshell:
In the last post, Jenni mentioned Jon's brother, Brian- he is a cross-country coach at TCA and a super nice guy. But you know, Brian is also a distance-running, disciplined-to-the-max, Type A personality marathon runner. So when our work project called for the daunting task of chiseling into the floor down to the concrete so we could lay stones, who did Jon put in charge? You got it- his brother. And it is a good thing because, man, we got that project DONE! Brian had everyone except Lauren, Drew, and McCutcheon (who were speaking in chapel) and five others who were at the orphanage on a rotating schedule of chiseling or sweeping, so when you weren't chiseling your heart out, you were "resting" by sweeping up after your teammates. Listen, I'm not gonna lie. I thought I might have to kick Brian in the shins a couple of times, and truthfully, if he says "put some muscle into it, Cox" one more time, I may do just that. Oh, okay, I am only (mostly) kidding. But we are all so grateful to have had Brian "Taskmaster" Millet at the helm yesterday. He was positive and pushed us just the right amount while still making sure that everyone was both working AND getting the proper rest time. We got that work project done so fast that we were done by lunch with the entire building. THE. WHOLE. BUILDING. And, the best result was that there was such a sense of teamwork and camaraderie because of the way Brian organized us. Trying to get 17 people to all stay on task is enormous. And Brian was a genius at it.
And allow me to give a shout out to Quincy T., Haley M., Will P., Paige G., Ellie T., Max M., and Wesley D., who are, in my opinion, the backbone of the chiseling crew. We were all working hard, but those kids were BEASTS. I was afraid for the floor. :)
The orphanage team (Haleigh L., Frances R., Tyler M., Jennifer S. and Amber M.) started the mural yesterday. Jennifer and Amber took care of the babies and toddlers while our students started working. I saw that Jenni posted info about Springs of Hope orphanage. They have an incredible ministry. It is a bittersweet experience to be there.
On the schedule, you might have noticed that yesterday was meant to be the VBS at the orphanage. Hmm. Well, ONE HOUR before we were to leave, Jon comes up to me with a look of fear and trepidation (haha) and says, "ummmm, we need to do VBS at Masaku instead of the orphanage today... is that okay?" But you know, I'm prepared for this kind of change in the schedule, because they always happen. So at 2:30 yesterday, the entire group headed over to the Masaku School for the Physically Disabled and did a short VBS presentation. The Masaku school is an incredibly moving place, and if you asked the team members what motivated them to want to serve on this trip, I guarantee you that most of them would say the video footage of this school in chapel was a huge part of that motivation. We love those kids, and it was so fun to get to spend the afternoon with them. We sang songs and presented the Gospel, and then presented them with some toys and toothbrushes. It was a great afternoon. Special thanks to Ellie T., Paige G., and Lois N. for being my right-hand women front and center on the VBS team. They are amazing young ladies.
Right after the Masaku school, we had to hurry back to Scott for dinner (side note: the food this year is even better than before, with even more variety. I know that you know this, but Kenya is in a drought and food is scarce, so we are especially grateful that despite hard times, the Scott staff really wants to take care of us!). And then right after dinner, we headed immediately to St. Luke's School. Jon told us this morning that that school has many kids with discipline problems, but we did not see a single hint of that last night. Those kids were VERY respectful and listened attentively as McCutcheon presented the Gospel and Tyler M., Lois N., and Quincy T. gave their testimonies. All of them did an incredible job, and I thought that the student testimonies were particularly powerful. We then watched Prince Caspian, which was a pretty funny experience. I'm not sure what the students thought about talking lions and beavers. It was hilarious.
NOW, TODAY'S LATEST NEWS!
At the moment, you are all asleep in your beds, and it is 11:55 here. The work team has been putting the stones in place in the girls' dormitory (on top of the areas we chiseled out for them yesterday), and also stucco-ing the outside walls of the building. The VBS team met and worked out our plans for TWO VBS's tomorrow- one at the orphanage and one for the kids of Scott staff, etc. And this afternoon, we are splitting into 3 teams to do school ministries, with another school ministry tonight as a complete group. It should be interesting, to say the least.
A couple of quick notes:
Love,
Jill
Goodness, it does my heart good to finally be able to post. When the library people saw me this morning they rushed me right in to the computer lab... ha ha... I am sure they were thinking, "oh, finally, this girl will leave us ALONE!" I've been sort of a pest. Oh well- bygones.
Those of you who have been on the trip before with us may be thinking, "COMPUTER LAB? WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?" Yes, I am in a huge room in the new wing of the library with about 50-60 computers. This new building is gorgeous and such a wonderful blessing for the Scott students, I am sure. They no longer have to share two computers! Side note: The number one website I saw as I walked from the back of the lab to the front? You'll never guess... Facebook. Ha ha. There were only 4 computers that had it up but I just almost laughed out loud when I saw it. The swine flu hasn't reached Kenya yet, but Facebook has. :)
First of all, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my mom (Mary Jane) and Jenni Millet for posting for us. I know the parents are so glad to be kept in the loop! You guys have done an awesome job! Also, thanks to all of you who left comments- when I told the kids at our meeting this morning that I'd bring back all the messages, they were so excited!
Now, a word of warning... those of you who are not used to reading my blogs will have to forgive the narrative nature of my posts. There's not really any time for me to sit down and compose a post in a proper format (sorry, English teachers!) so I may ramble a bit and go off on rabbit trails. I also abuse the use of parentheses. I am sorry. You've been forewarned. :)
AND NOW... THE LATEST FROM MACHAKOS!
I believe the last post on here from Jenni said that she hadn't heard from us yesterday. That is because it was a marathon day with a crazy amount of activity and we got home very late last night. In a nutshell:
- EARLY MORNING: breakfast, devotionals
- MID-MORNING to 1:00ish: work project, Lauren/Drew/McCutcheon speak in chapel
- AFTERNOON: VBS/presentation at Masaku School for the Disabled
- EVENING: high school ministry at St. Luke's School in Machakos
In the last post, Jenni mentioned Jon's brother, Brian- he is a cross-country coach at TCA and a super nice guy. But you know, Brian is also a distance-running, disciplined-to-the-max, Type A personality marathon runner. So when our work project called for the daunting task of chiseling into the floor down to the concrete so we could lay stones, who did Jon put in charge? You got it- his brother. And it is a good thing because, man, we got that project DONE! Brian had everyone except Lauren, Drew, and McCutcheon (who were speaking in chapel) and five others who were at the orphanage on a rotating schedule of chiseling or sweeping, so when you weren't chiseling your heart out, you were "resting" by sweeping up after your teammates. Listen, I'm not gonna lie. I thought I might have to kick Brian in the shins a couple of times, and truthfully, if he says "put some muscle into it, Cox" one more time, I may do just that. Oh, okay, I am only (mostly) kidding. But we are all so grateful to have had Brian "Taskmaster" Millet at the helm yesterday. He was positive and pushed us just the right amount while still making sure that everyone was both working AND getting the proper rest time. We got that work project done so fast that we were done by lunch with the entire building. THE. WHOLE. BUILDING. And, the best result was that there was such a sense of teamwork and camaraderie because of the way Brian organized us. Trying to get 17 people to all stay on task is enormous. And Brian was a genius at it.
And allow me to give a shout out to Quincy T., Haley M., Will P., Paige G., Ellie T., Max M., and Wesley D., who are, in my opinion, the backbone of the chiseling crew. We were all working hard, but those kids were BEASTS. I was afraid for the floor. :)
The orphanage team (Haleigh L., Frances R., Tyler M., Jennifer S. and Amber M.) started the mural yesterday. Jennifer and Amber took care of the babies and toddlers while our students started working. I saw that Jenni posted info about Springs of Hope orphanage. They have an incredible ministry. It is a bittersweet experience to be there.
On the schedule, you might have noticed that yesterday was meant to be the VBS at the orphanage. Hmm. Well, ONE HOUR before we were to leave, Jon comes up to me with a look of fear and trepidation (haha) and says, "ummmm, we need to do VBS at Masaku instead of the orphanage today... is that okay?" But you know, I'm prepared for this kind of change in the schedule, because they always happen. So at 2:30 yesterday, the entire group headed over to the Masaku School for the Physically Disabled and did a short VBS presentation. The Masaku school is an incredibly moving place, and if you asked the team members what motivated them to want to serve on this trip, I guarantee you that most of them would say the video footage of this school in chapel was a huge part of that motivation. We love those kids, and it was so fun to get to spend the afternoon with them. We sang songs and presented the Gospel, and then presented them with some toys and toothbrushes. It was a great afternoon. Special thanks to Ellie T., Paige G., and Lois N. for being my right-hand women front and center on the VBS team. They are amazing young ladies.
Right after the Masaku school, we had to hurry back to Scott for dinner (side note: the food this year is even better than before, with even more variety. I know that you know this, but Kenya is in a drought and food is scarce, so we are especially grateful that despite hard times, the Scott staff really wants to take care of us!). And then right after dinner, we headed immediately to St. Luke's School. Jon told us this morning that that school has many kids with discipline problems, but we did not see a single hint of that last night. Those kids were VERY respectful and listened attentively as McCutcheon presented the Gospel and Tyler M., Lois N., and Quincy T. gave their testimonies. All of them did an incredible job, and I thought that the student testimonies were particularly powerful. We then watched Prince Caspian, which was a pretty funny experience. I'm not sure what the students thought about talking lions and beavers. It was hilarious.
NOW, TODAY'S LATEST NEWS!
At the moment, you are all asleep in your beds, and it is 11:55 here. The work team has been putting the stones in place in the girls' dormitory (on top of the areas we chiseled out for them yesterday), and also stucco-ing the outside walls of the building. The VBS team met and worked out our plans for TWO VBS's tomorrow- one at the orphanage and one for the kids of Scott staff, etc. And this afternoon, we are splitting into 3 teams to do school ministries, with another school ministry tonight as a complete group. It should be interesting, to say the least.
A couple of quick notes:
- Please continue to pray for our safety and health. While everyone is currently in good spirits, working hard and enjoying each other's company, we are doing manual labor so we need prayers for safety for that (as well as for the obvious traveling mercies!). Also, everyone has been pretty healthy- we've had a couple of stomach issues, some sleep-deprivedness, some jetlag, etc. But for the most part, we are well.
- The kids on this trip are INCREDIBLE. I mean it, parents, you would be so proud of your kids. No complaining AT ALL- they are a bunch of little worker bees who are taking delight in being in Kenya and in serving the Lord. It is a blessing to the sponsors, and really, I think they are encouraging us more than they even know.
- Please continue to pray over our ministries. There are a lot of things going on, and it would be really easy for us to get distracted, side-tracked, etc. Please pray that the Lord will use us to be His hands and feet here in Kenya. That's what we desire.
- Each day, the person in charge of devotionals has been giving a "word for the day" as well as a scripture. I'm posting them underneath the clocks over there so you can follow along with us as our team grows closer together as a group.
Love,
Jill
prayer list
Well, I didn't hear anything from the group today so I am assuming that means that the internet is still down...no shock to me. :) Anyway, if anyone else received a text from anyone, maybe you could leave a post below as a comment and give a quick update.
In the meantime, I would like to suggest that we all pray specifically today for the Springs of Hope Orphanage in Machakos. They are run by a very kind woman and a small staff with very little provisions. Please pray for the children who are currently there. Many of them have such sad stories of how they came to be in an orphanage. And many will probably stay there for many years with no hope of adoption.
Also, I would like to ask for you to lift up my husband Jon, specifically, today. Many of you know that one of his brothers, Greg, passed away this past February. He may not have told you that Greg was planning to be on this trip with Jon. He was really looking forward to having time with him as Greg and his family have lived in Indiana the past several years and we haven't seen as much of them as we'd like. So, please just remember him in your prayers as he is dealing with so much more than just the typical details of running the trip. Jon's brother, Brian, kindly came along on the trip and so that has been a huge comfort and blessing for them to get to spend some quality time together serving and I am thankful they have each other.
I will let you know if I hear anything more from the group. Tomorrow, they should be going to the School for Disabled...although making a schedule in Africa is kind of like trying to harness the wind. Nothing ever happens as planned.
As always, keep the general health of the group in your prayers...especially those who have not been to Africa before and are trying to process all that they are seeing with very little time to rest.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jenni Millet
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day 1 at Scott
I just heard from Jon that everyone is doing well and they had a good first day there. The internet is down and so Jill was unable to post anything today but they expect it to be working again tomorrow. Today they went to chapel at Scott Theological (where they are staying) and introduced the team and presented them with the 8 laptops they brought.
They were supposed to start on a work project at Scott today, but apparently the guy that was in charge of coordinating their job has malaria and has been sick and nobody else really knew what he had planned. So they had them move furniture out of a building that needs to be renovated into a new girls dorm. The group went to town for supplies and enjoyed a snack at our favorite (and really the only) restaurant called T Tots.
Look for more from Jill tomorrow. Have a great day and keep praying for them. Thanks.
- Jenni Millet
They were supposed to start on a work project at Scott today, but apparently the guy that was in charge of coordinating their job has malaria and has been sick and nobody else really knew what he had planned. So they had them move furniture out of a building that needs to be renovated into a new girls dorm. The group went to town for supplies and enjoyed a snack at our favorite (and really the only) restaurant called T Tots.
Look for more from Jill tomorrow. Have a great day and keep praying for them. Thanks.
- Jenni Millet
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
From Jenni Millet
For those of you who are checking in frequently...do not worry if you don't see any posts from Jill or the group on any particular day. The only place she can access the computer is the library - which is only open between like 1 and 3 and 8 to 10 or something like that. There are only 2 computers in there with internet access and there is sometimes a line to use them and many times there are power outages. OR our group is busy at the orphanage or something during the only time the library is open.
I'm sure Jon may have mentioned this to you parents but just don't want you to worry. If ANYthing unusual happens, he will call me. So no news is good news. :)
For those of you who are checking in frequently...do not worry if you don't see any posts from Jill or the group on any particular day. The only place she can access the computer is the library - which is only open between like 1 and 3 and 8 to 10 or something like that. There are only 2 computers in there with internet access and there is sometimes a line to use them and many times there are power outages. OR our group is busy at the orphanage or something during the only time the library is open.
I'm sure Jon may have mentioned this to you parents but just don't want you to worry. If ANYthing unusual happens, he will call me. So no news is good news. :)
Settling in at Scott
Jill just texted that they are settling in at Scott Seminary. It is 1:30 AM their time, but they get to sleep in until 8 in the morning. Everyone is fine. It is cool with a little misting rain. Jill will try to post tomorrow afternoon their time.
MJC
Safe Arrival
In case you don't already know, the group arrived safely today in Nairobi at 1:35 PM our time.
Mary Jane Cox
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Please note if you need to contact anyone on the trip and cannot reach them at the phone number listed in your packet, call Jenni Millet at
972-412-1617 (home) or
469-867-5382 (cell)
or for emergencies only you can try the secondary mobile phone that Jon will be carrying at all times
Dial 1-254-214-518-9534 (the 254 part is the roaming country code)
I will also make posts anytime I hear news from the group.
Praying with you
- Jenni Millet
972-412-1617 (home) or
469-867-5382 (cell)
or for emergencies only you can try the secondary mobile phone that Jon will be carrying at all times
Dial 1-254-214-518-9534 (the 254 part is the roaming country code)
I will also make posts anytime I hear news from the group.
Praying with you
- Jenni Millet
Monday, June 15, 2009
Shine Your Light And Let The Whole World See...
Hi everyone-
First of all, a big thanks on behalf of our team for coming to read our blog. We are so excited about all the opportunities that God has in store for us in Kenya, and I can't wait to be able to recount them here for you!
As I have been running around today doing last minute errands, I've been listening to Hillsong United's Mighty To Save. I decided that my first post will be the lyrics with a couple of my favorite pictures from Kenya.
Everyone needs compassionA Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The Hope of nations
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find meAll my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
Savior , He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Shine your light and
Let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory
Of the Risen King
Jesus, Jesus
Shine your light and
Let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory
Of the Risen King
If anyone wants to hear the song (and not just read it!), here's a YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
That's all for now... look for our first official post sometime Wednesday! Parents, we will make sure someone posts when we've arrived in London and again once we're safely in Machakos. :)
Oh, and PS- in case anyone is a blog geek like me, I added a little counter to the bottom of this section of the blog (under all the posts) that will let us know how many people are coming to visit. Once you've visited once, I don't think it counts you again as a visitor (it looks like it's only counting visits by IP address, but what do I know? I'm a French teacher!).
In Christ,
Jill (a.k.a. Mademoiselle Cox)
Let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory
Of the Risen King
If anyone wants to hear the song (and not just read it!), here's a YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
That's all for now... look for our first official post sometime Wednesday! Parents, we will make sure someone posts when we've arrived in London and again once we're safely in Machakos. :)
Oh, and PS- in case anyone is a blog geek like me, I added a little counter to the bottom of this section of the blog (under all the posts) that will let us know how many people are coming to visit. Once you've visited once, I don't think it counts you again as a visitor (it looks like it's only counting visits by IP address, but what do I know? I'm a French teacher!).
In Christ,
Jill (a.k.a. Mademoiselle Cox)
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