Hello!!!

I have been meaning to write an update, but I have been soo busy!  I have been going to bed early, around 9:00 P.M., every night for the last couple weeks.  I get home and I am exhausted... A good kind of exhausted! :) 

I am going to upload some pictures to explain what I've been busy with the last few weeks. :) 

Rachel and I have been doing a VBS with the younger kids every morning (Mon-Thurs).  The kids LOVE this time we spend with them.  Every morning we arrive they ask if we will be doing projects or if we brought "things". :)  Rachel and I alternate teaching a lesson each morning and follow up with a memory verse and art project.  God is really using us to teach and love on the children.  God is also teaching ME that teaching is where He wants me! :)

Last week we brought the older girls over to our guest house to bake!  We made peanut butter cookies and watched a movie.  The girls absolutely loved it!  Before we left, all the girls went and showered and put on a nice pair of clothes.  It was the sweetest thing seeing the girls get so excited to spend the afternoon with us!  We hope to do this again before we head back home. 

This is our good friend, Evans.  He has been such a blessing!  He is one of our pike drivers that Julie recommended for us.  Evans took us around town last Sunday afternoon.  He said, "I want to show you the town. So that way when you meet someone that has been to Kisumu you can know what they are talking about."  :)  It was such a fun afternoon.  He also showed us his house.  I will never forget this and I am so thankful.  His house was about the size of my bathroom at home... no electricity or running water.  He lives in one of the large slum areas in Kisumu called Nyalenda.  Evans also took us back to his house later on to meet his lady, Veronica, and his daughter, Beverly.  It was an honor to meet his beautiful family! :)

Last Saturday we went on an early boat ride at Hippo Point on Lake Victoria!  This was amazing!  We went with a group of other missionaries and it was an eventful morning. Gage always warns me how dangerous hippos are and the night before some missionaries were talking about how hippos have tipped the boats!   Although I was scared when the boat driver started banging on the boat, making hippo noises, and riding over top the hippos... we made it out safe!  Haha.  :)

So there is just a glimpse of my time in Kisumu!  It has been sooo wonderful.  I have too many experiences to fit in a short blog. :)  With only about a week left.... Rachel and I still want to accomplish so much!  This Friday we will hop on a bus and head to Lake Nakuru National Park.  We will be staying inside the park Friday night and going on a safari!!  This is going to be such fun!  Can't wait! :)   Check out the below link if you want to see where we will be. :)  

http://www.sarovahotels.com/lionhill/

Prayer requests:
-Successful last week here in Kisumu
-Safe travels to Nakuru - It has been raining a lot - so the roads are rough
-Easy goodbyes to all the children and new friends :(
-Safe travels back to the States next Thursday

Thank you for all your love and support!  Be seeing some of you very soon. :) 

Love,
Lauren

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - T.S. Eliot

Hello!

I meant to blog much sooner, but we have been very busy and unfortunately the last several days I have been sick!  I started to feel light headed and nauseous Saturday afternoon and did not have much of an appetite.  I knew something was wrong when I didn't want to eat American food at a neat little restaurant that night.  I won't go into details, but let's just say - it wasn't fun!  Now it's Wednesday, and I have been on an antibiotic for 3 days and starting to feel like my normal self again! Yay!!!

This morning Rachel and I headed to ROCK to officially kick off the VBS we are doing.  We talked about how God created each of them unique and in His image.  We had the kids write (or helped them write) "God Created ME!"  Then they dipped their hand in paint so they could put their hand print under the words.  It was precious! :)  Of course, the kids LOVED getting into some paint! :)  After the paint we brought out PlayDoh!  I will load some pictures I took as the kids played....

No matter the place or country :) - KIDS LOVE PLAYDOH! :) 

Now forgive me in advance for the randomness of this blog (and those to come)!  It is honestly hard to sit down and think of what to write about when everyday my experiences could be made into a book!  :)  So, as I write I may bounce around or repeat myself... just warning you. :)

Looking back at the last week, the days start to all blend together, but I want to share some of the highlights.  Starting off the week, Rachel and Julie were still sick, but on Monday I ventured out on my own to ROCK.  Evans, one of our regular pike drivers, picked me up and the dayyyy begannnnnn!  Getting to ROCK was quite the experience, because traffic here is SOOOO much different.  I laugh out loud thinking of some of my friends and family that would just dieeeeeeee if they tried driving a car here in Kisumu.  Haha!  Being on a pike, (Mom, if you're reading this, please skip ahead! haha ;)) is honestly quite dangerous!  Evans really does his best, but it is soo crazy driving around that it is almost impossible to be completely safe... especially since riders and most drivers do not wear helmets.  As people are walking in and out of the street - tuk tuks, boda bodas, pikes, cars, and matatus (privately owned mini vans) are also fighting for the paved roads.  I have honestly never seen anything like the traffic here in Kisumu.  Soooo, when my pike driver races around a car, I am saying a prayer that we make it to our destination! :)  Now in all seriousness, the speeds here are much slower than in the United States, so it's hard to compare the two, but I'm just trying to give you a glimpse of my adventure here in Kenya!  I also promise that Evans and Mark (our two regular pike drivers) are probably the safest pike drivers around! :)  They have begun to be great friends of ours - really, really neat people!

Evans, especially, has really impacted my life.  That Monday when he took me to and from ROCK, he really opened up and told me a little about his story.  Long story short, Evans once lived on the streets at a very young age after his parents died and a ministry here (alot like ROCK) helped him with an education and the skills to stay off the streets.  Evans now has a beautiful wife and daughter! :)  I am so thankful to have met Evans.  I hope to meet his wife and daughter before we leave. 

One experience I must share was that same evening Evans was taking me home.  He had to drop off a little boy at home, so for the first few minutes Evans, the little boy, and I all rode on the pike.  We went to a part of town that I hadn't been before and I soon was at a loss for words.  At the time, I didn't know, but this was considered one of the slums of Kisumu.  It had rained the night before and I almost thought we weren't going to make it out because it was soo muddy there!  I honestly can't explain what I saw, because it was something you have to experience to get the full effect.  One thing I can try and tell you about were the beautiful children!  It was soo fun to see them all, because when they saw me their eyes widened and a huge grin came across their faces. :D  I am not sure, but I'm guessing they do not see a lot of white skinned people come around.  At one point, a group of kids were laughing and yelling, "How are you? How are you? How are you?" as they chased the back of the pike! It was something I will NEVER forget. 

I could go on and on, but I am trying to limit myself here!  Honestly there is so much that goes on it is overwhelming to think about when I start blogging.  I guess whatever I write is what is on my heart at the time. :)

As for the next week or so I should be staying pretty busy now that I am feeling better!  (YaY!)  Tomorrow we will go to ROCK in the AM and have a Bible study with other women missionaries in the area (I will have to share a little about this sometime later!!!).  The weekends are always busy with swimming on Friday, soccer and football on Saturday, and church on Sunday.  Julie leaves for the United States this coming week, so that will leave us on our own for the remaining of the time.  We have met so many wonderful people, so I am not worried one bit!  We are becoming true Kenyans. :) 

I will close with some more pictures. :)  Until next time...  Love you all! 

Lauren

P.S.  Please forgive me for any typos/errors.
 My ABC check isn't working and I'm so extremely tired. :)