Please Pray

Last night one of my roommates Alison and her brother were mugged. They were walking at about dusk when ten men jumped them. They made off with money, phones and other such things but thankfully they were both ok. Alison's brother Aaron ended up getting stabbed in the upper leg and also a pretty bad cut on his head, but no major injuries. Please keep them in their prayers as they are really shaken. Alison is the same person who had most of the stuff stolen when our house was broken into. Things like this are just hard to understand. It just does not make sense at all. Please keep us all in your prayers!

Part of this world....

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A day out of the city...Mt. Longonot

Daylan and I. We were really excited to get to the mountain. Too much city makes us crazy!

As may family would say, we had ADD of being in the car. Time to start taking pictures!

This was the couple that we went with. They just got a new four wheel drive the day before we took it out. They were also very eager to get out of the city.

Pretty girl with a pretty flower! :)

The whole group...we had fun! :)

We all made it!

Climbing....

First ones to the top!!!

AMAZING

trying to be strong...before the hard part

being girls...we like to take pictures

She is so strong :)

Just chillin'

Hike...cont'd

Jen and Alison taking a little break, almost to the top!

the first ones to the bottom

our tired and dirty little toes...this was through our shoes

Tired and very dirty...ready to go home!

meet Austin

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trip to the children's home...

Today I had the opportunity to go with the 7th grade class to a children's home in Degoretti. This is a very slum area on the out skirts of Nairobi. It was a good experience for the kids, and myself. As we were driving to the home one of my Kenyan students said, "WOW I have never driven through this part of Nairobi before." That gives you a little bit of an idea what it was like. The students were a little nervous, not really sure what to expect. But that didn't last long. We first had a tour of the home to see all the different things they are involved in. Within the home there is an abondonded baby center (most of the babies have HIV), there is also a school for children with special needs, and a home for older children to be adopted. It is a buge facility, with a large staff and many buildings. After our tour our students split into groups and played with the little kids. There were some of the kids that really touched our hearts. For example: Austin.
Austin walked straight up to me as I was at the front of the group and grabbed my hand. He said, "Hey you come see my house." He pulled us all inside to see the small room with 18 beds squished into it. He was so proud. He introduced us to all his friends. What a cute kid. He just kept saying, "Yo what's up?" We all just died laughing. There were just so many great kids.
Before we left I was talking to Jane who had given us the tour. I asked her about Austin and what his story was. She told me that Austin had been dropped off at the home last April. When he was just young he had meningitis (yea can't spell that). The illness had left him 1/2 paralyzed. I am sure my face looked quite confused because as you can tell from the video you would have no idea. She went on to tell me that since he had been brought to the home he had regained the use of his arms and legs. She said, "God brought him strength again." I just started to cry as she told me how it was about love and caring for these kids. She told me that it was so hard for them because there are so many children in need and so few people to love them. AHHH! I couldn't handle it. I just stood there with tears in my eyes and no words to say. God is so good and we are so blessed. Just thougth I would share that story with you, it really blessed my heart.

field trip with the 7th grade to a children's home

Culture Day

The group picture. Including (Korea,Japan, Australia, USA, PNG, and Kenya)
cute elementary kids

These are two of the boys that I tutor.

My beautiful Korean friends. Their clothes were SOO cool. I felt lame.

more cute kids....

Retoyia and her family come from the Masai line, such cool people.

Game number two...

At 3 O’clock yesterday the buses were full with the total of 30 kids, which make up our three teams this semester. The kids were full of excitement, especially for the boys as it was their first game of the season. With the help of some parents driving, as our new bus has not arrived yet, we all made it out to International School of Kenya. The kids played hard against their competition. The girls came out of the first half a little tired but holding ISK 0-0. The second half both teams picked up the intensity and the girls were able to keep the ball on the other end more. The 50 minutes ended with 0-0. Well done girls! The boys’ B team for basketball did quite well in their first game, especially for only practicing the week before. Although the game was not very high scoring they pulled off the win 11-5. Newman scored the most for the team with 5 points and Chang Hwan close behind at 4 points. The A team had a very intense game. Their first time playing together started a little slow ending the first half down 21-7. After a change in defense the Rhinos came out charging(I couldn't help it, I just had to say it). The soccer team would like to say it was because of their cheering section (good job girls, way to support the boys) but the boys really did pick up their game. The third quarter the Rhinos closed the gap only down by 3 thanks to Kwame’s last second jump shot. They played hard throughout the fourth quarter ending the game down 36-34. Ian Meredith was the high scorer bringing in 16 out of the 34 points. Zam Odongo also added to the teams score bringing in 11 points. Mr.T was quite proud of the boys’ 24 defensive rebounds. The excitement just never ends. We have two games next week so we will see how those ones go. Thankfully we have had not major injuries yet, thank you Jesus!

Mt. Longonot...the story

After a month in the city I was ready to get out and enjoy God’s creation. Daylan and I decided to hike Mt. Longonot, which is actually a dormant volcano. I have no idea when the volcano erupted because the crater is full of huge trees, so it must have been a REALLY long time ago. Although there are still a few spots where you can see steam coming out, and some parts have a nasty sulfur smell. Daylan and I went with our Principal and his family (wife and three girls). It took us about an hour to hike to the rim of the crater. It was so cool to get up there and be able to see for miles and miles. Olivia, the Maxwell’s daughter who is in second grade kept up with Daylan and I the whole time. I don’t know if that means we are really slow or that she is really fast, but either way we were quite proud of her. She is such a cute girl. As we were hiking up we ran into a group of about 8 giraffes, only in Kenya, you gotta love it! We saw some other wild life too but of course I have no idea what they are called. Once we all got to the rim of the crater Daylan and I kept on hiking around the edge. We hiked for about another hour to get to the highest point on the other side. It was a fun hike, but wow parts of it were serious hiking. I definitely was a dirty little girl when I got done. We had so much fun though, and it is just great to be able to say that we did it. The view from the peak was SO great. I just couldn’t help but stand there in awe looking out over the country side. While we were on top Daylan and I read Psalm 19 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Another small blessing that God has brought to my life this week. Wish you could all be here to enjoy His beauty with me.

Hiking Mt. Longonot

We were a little tired at the end. But SO worth it!
The Maxwell family. All three girls made it to the top of the crater. I was quite proud of them!

A view of the inside of the crater.

GORGEOUS view from the top! WE MADE IT!

Some parts got a little tricky.

Olivia and I at the ridge. Daylan and I hiked to the peak that you can see in the background.

We passed about 8 giraffe on our way up

Beginning of the hike...here we go!

Halle is here....

My sister Trish had her first little girl on February 3. Both Trish and Halle are doing well. You can see more pictures on their blog thegreenfields.blogspot.com if you are interested. Trish I am so proud of you and love you so much. Can't wait to see you again and meet your little princess! Love you!

King's Kids

Friday night was a night of bad smells, huge smiles, loud laughs, praise and worship, hearts of gold, and deep wisdom. It was a night of youth group at our house. I arrived to the house a bit late, about 7:10 to find over 35 middle school students in our living room. They were running around crazy covering each other in toilet paper. It is amazing how easy it is to entertain MS kids! J We played a few more games and then it was time to get serious. Daylan reminded the kids what it meant to come before God in singing. She led them in a few songs, which they actually sang and it sounded pretty good. It was one of those moments, standing in between all the kids, that I could feel God smiling down on us. After the singing Daylan spoke to them about living each day for God. She started by asking them four questions 1) Why were you born? 2) What is life all about? 3) What brings you true joy? 4) What is eternal life? After she asked them questions and they were about to write their answers, Sam raised his hand and asked, “Miss Arnold do you want our real answers, or what we are supposed to write?” It was so cool to see him really thinking about it. Some of their answers were really great. They said they were born: to fulfill a purpose, to bring joy to God, to do what God had planned, to fulfill a unique purpose with the gifts God has given them. Scott pointed out that some of us may feel like we have a big purpose, while others feel they only have a small role to play; but the important part was that we were fulfilling our purpose and bringing glory to God. They really stunned with the question about eternal life. I have to admit I was expecting something like “life that goes on forever” or answers like that. Instead they said, “eternal life is too hard to grasp, to hard for us to understand” they went on to say it was something that we had to look forward to without really knowing what it is. They said it was spending forever with God. And although we cannot really understand or explain what it is, we also cannot imagine going through life without the hope of eternal life.
Daylan and I were so encouraged by the kids once the last ones left at about 9:30. And believe me it was not because they were perfect angels who had left our house just as they had come. But it was deeper than that. It was about the hearts of these kids. Their love and passion and knowledge of God at such a young age. One eighth grade girl that I got really close to last semester transferred to the International School of Kenya. I was really sad to see JC leave and was kind of concerned about what it would be like for her not going to a Christian school anymore. I haven’t seen JC for awhile although we have talked on the phone a few times. She came to Kings Kids and right before Daylan got done JC asked if she could share something with the kids. She asked for them to pray for her at her new school. She went on to say how much she missed them all and wished she could still be with them, but she knew what her purpose was. She could feel God telling her that she needed to tell these kids about who He is. So, she has been doing that. She said it is not easy but she really wants to keep sharing about God. I almost started to cry, just seeing how deep her heart was. Her passion at such a young age to be a light in a dark place. God is so good to us! Please continue to pray for my ministry with these kids. Pray that I will be able to challenge them and encourage them as much as they do for me!

Check out my Slide Show!

three hours on the bus....

THIS IS WHAT THREE HOURS ON THE BUS IN NAIROBI TRAFFIC WILL DO TO YOU!

GOOD TIMES!!!