The team

One of the many joys about working at a school for missionary kids! God is such a huge part!

I just wanted to be a part, so I had to stretch too!

Here are the girls....all 15 of them. Daylan is also helping me coach! Thank goodness!

Game one down...

My girls' soccer team had their first game yesterday against Rosslyn. Although they did not win we had a lot of fun and I think they learned a lot about soccer, mostly that you really are not allowed to use your hands. After the first half we were down 4-1 and the girls seemed a little discouraged. One of them was because of a hand ball in the box, so they got a penalty kick. Natalie felt so bad ;( We did however manage to score on them, and we are the first team to have done that this season (this was their fourth game and our first). We scored again in the second half and the final score was 6-2. I was so proud of how well they did. They do not lack for enthusiasim that is for sure. They just need a little more experience. They play again next Wednesday against ISK, we will see how that ones goes. The bus ride home got a little crazy as we got stuck in HORRIBLE Nairobi traffic. It should have taken us about a hour to get home and it took three hours. Needless to say we were all really ready to get home when we finally got off the bus at 8. At least Daylan and I got to help them with their homework, well they were excited about that part. Besides the traffic we all had a lot of fun and I am excited about our game next week. I just have A LOT to do before now and then so please keep me in your prayers. I feel like I have not been able to stop since I got back. It is nice to be busy, but I am ready for a day of rest. I will add pictures as soon as I can!

Out for dinner with the teachers

The girls I live with and good friends!

Me and Mama Weeks. This was the woman that I flew over and back with at Christmas time. She has two daughters around my age so, she gave me a good mama hug! :)

It is rare to see a Kenyan sun set. I feel like it is always up or down. But here is a pretty good one. We all went out for dinner together and the building had a good view.

a day at school....

Hwa Ni really didn't want to be in the picture and Soo Yeon was trying to be shy (our school is now at 20% Korean).

I figured it had been awhile since I added new pictures, and Keisa keeps telling me it has been, so here are some new pictures. Nothing special. Just some of the kids that I have learned to love and care so much for over the last few months. There is no real order to the pictures or anything...just kids from the middle school. These girls are all on my soccer team as well.

Driving in Kenya

While I was home for Christmas one of the many things I was able to do was get my international driver's license. So yes, I am sure you can tell where this story is going, today for the first time since I have been here I drove my roommates home from school. Now, in America this may be something very common but here it is a HUGE deal. It is about a 30 minute drive with way too many crazy happenings to even get into. Needless to say I was quite excite, as were my roommates, when we arrived home safely. :) One more blessing!

Thank you!

I just wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that I made it safely "home". It was so good to spend time with family and friends. Sorry to any of you that I was not able to hang out or talk with while I was in Idaho. The time just flew by so fast. Thank you so much for all of your prayers in my travels. God truly blessed me. I told many of you that I really was not looking forward to those long flights alone, and as I was sitting in the Newark airport filled with emotion I happened to see the Weeks walk by. They are one of the couples that have acted as parents for me here. I was so glad to see them. I just went over and gave Mama Weeks a big hug and started to cry. They were on both of my last fligts. What an answer to prayer...so thank you! I will be in touch soon. School starts on Tuesday so tomorrow I need to go in and try and figure out what I am doing in my classes. Semester two begins....or as my parents would always say when we came back from furlough "The adventure begins again!!!"

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Spending time with family for Chrismas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

As it has been said by many others before me, it is so hard to believe that this year is coming to an end. 2006 has brought so many adventures and blessings into my life. As I look back on this year I will remember it as the year I graduated from college, the year I moved to Africa, the year I became a missionary, and most of all the year I really learned what it meant to follow God wherever he leads. I have really felt that this year was a big growing up year for Kayla Carraway, but not so much in the way that I thought I would grow up– but exactly how God wanted me to grow up. Although things have been very unexpected I know that I can look back and smile. I can look back and see God’s hand in every little decision that was made. I have always loved the poem Footprints in the Sand and this was definitely one of those years for me. A year that I did not know where to step next, or if I even had enough strength to take the next step and God said, “I will carry you for now!” And I must say I have enjoyed the ride more than I could have ever imagined!I am very blessed this year to get to spend Christmas with my family in Idaho. With all of us living so far apart these days it was so great to all be together to celebrate Christ’s birth! While I am living in Kenya and away from my family it is hard, but God has blessed me with so many close friends and families of the school to help me feel at home. The four other girls that I live with are so great. We learn more about each other all the time and have really enjoyed living together. As many of you know already our house was broken into and some personal belongings were stolen. I was very blessed that I was not at home when they broke in and nothing of mine was taken. However, it was a pretty traumatic experience, but after the fact, we have been able to look back and see all the good things that have come from it. We have realized that we have grown closer together as sisters’ in Christ. Besides our friendships increasing we have established closer relationships with our neighbors, security guards, and the staff at WNS. We have a joke about one of our guards because he never smiles. We had given him the nick name of “Stone Face”. Well, since the incident he has been so helpful and kind to us. We found out that he is actually missing one of his front teeth, maybe that is why he never smiled before. But...he sure does smile now when he sees us! Little blessings in disguise of a traumatic experience. God is good...always working behind the scenes where we don’t see. We have had families from the school bring us food and cookies, reminding us that they are praying for us. I don’t think that we had to make a meal for the last two weeks of school. We had a lot of invitations from people to stay at their houses and other little encouragements. It is hard to even think of all the ways that we have been blessed and encouraged through this experience. I also want to Thank You all for praying for us. As we moved back into our house after it was all fixed, we could really feel God’s peace. A lot of families kept saying, “You aren’t going to leave are you?” The cool part is that I don’t think it was ever even an option for any of us. God has made it clear that he wants us here, no matter what may happen!Spending time in Idaho with my family has been so good. We had a baby shower for Trish just a few days after I arrived. Although I will not be in the country for when the baby is born, I was thankful to get to be a part of the baby shower. We were also able to spend Christmas Eve with a lot of relatives that we had not seen for a long time. It was so nice to get to spend Christmas with my family. There is just something about having little kids around that makes the day so much fun. I went into to wake up Brandon and Gavin and as soon as I said his name he sat straight up in bed and said, “It’s time to open presents!” I am sure going to have a hard time saying good bye to those boys again! The rest of our Christmas plans include skiing in Sun Valley, sledding, and just spending time all together. Trisha’s house has been a little crazy with all of us living together, but it isn’t often that we get to be together. We are definitely trying to make the most of it. I hope you are all enjoying the Holidays as much as I am and able to spend time with the people that you love and care about. Thank you again for the huge support that you have been to me, especially in the last few months. Please be praying in the new year for safety and good health. Please be praying for me as I fly back to Kenya on January 4th. Not only am I dreading the flights back but also having to say good bye to my family again. No matter how many times we say good bye I just don’t think that it ever gets easier. God bless you and please keep in touch with me when you have time!

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Playing in the snow....

My roommates and I at our staff Christmas party

ME, Jen, Megan, Alison, and Daylan

(from left to right)

I'll be home for Christmas...

4 days and counting and I will be on the plane...so hard to believe. My time has gone by so fast, but they always say that times flies when you are having fun. This weekend we had our staff Christmas party. It was really fun getting to spend time outside of school with our staff. I am very blessed to have the people I have to work with. This week is going to be a fast one. Tuesday we have off for Jamhuri Day (not sure what it is...but I don't mind the day off). Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday is only half day with a Christmas concert. Also a mission team from Judson flies in Thursday night so I will get to hang out with them really quick before I fly out. It will be really fun to get to see friends and share my school with them ;) I wish so much you could all come and see! Well, I will update when I get to Idaho...but until then have a good Christmas! Thanks again for caring about me!

the house...

Here are a few pictures of our window that the men went through. I am still not really sure how they fit through the little hole...but I guess they new what they were doing. We are finishing up today repairing and bars and adding extra ones on the inside that are a bit thicker so they will be harder to cut through. We are also having a new fence put in that is a solid metal wall so they can not get through unless they weld it or something...who knows! We are still talking about getting a dog and other such things. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and encouraing emails. We have felt very loved through this all. Two days ago a family from school brought us over ice cream and other food and gave us hugs and said, "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE!" It was really cute! Thanks again!

Steven's Birthday Party :) yes...that is a dragon

FUN with Middle School at the water park...

He gives and takes away...my heart will CHOOSE to say...blessed be Your name!

WOW...what a weekend we had. After a fun night out with friends on Saturday to celebrate Steven's birthday Jen and Alison went home while Megan, Daylan and I headed out to another house where we have been house sitting. At about 4 am to men broke into our house through our back window. They cut the chain link fence, cut through the two layers of bars on our windows, pulled out the glass and slid through the whole. They went into Alison's room on the first floor and asked for her money. When she started to scream they said, "Shut up or we will kill you". She stopped screaming and they proceeded to take her money, camera, laptop, phone, watch...then went upstairs. Jen was sleeping in our room with the door closed and they left her alone. They went into Daylan's room and took her laptop and i pod. We are not sure about other minor things that could have been stolen as well. We are blessed to say that neither girl was harmed AT ALL. Although it has been a very scary thing for all of us we are holding fast to God's protection. After all it is just stuff..and stuff can be replaced. At this time we are still waiting for a police report. Yesterday we went to the station and had to pick up an officer to come and check it out because they do not have police cars. Thankfully they have been somewhat cooperative but we cannot fix the window until they have written a report and taken pictures of the scene. So, for now we are staying with other missionaries until we can get it fixed. Please just pray for peace and protection for all of us. It is hard being scared in your own home...but we know that God did protect us! Thank you for your payers so far! If you have any questions feel free to email me!

Raining cats and dogs....

It is supposed to be the short rain season here...BUT...we have been getting more rain recently then they have had in the last ten years. Needless to say everything is a beautiful green...but it is beginning to flood (even our school). Nairbo does not have a good drain system at all so all the water is pooling up pretty bad. Thankfully the ground absorbs the rain pretty quickly, but it is really starting to eat away, especially the roads. The pot holes are getting huge making the roads even more dangerous than usual. Here are a few pictures of the flooding at the school and the rains outside. I wish pictures could show how hard it really is raining. It reminds me of when my family lived in Hoskins and after a hour of rain there would be about four inches of rain pooled up. We would run outside with anything flat and slide across the water on the grass. Unfortunately today I have to be the mature example and tell the kids to get out of the rain...but really all I want to do is put on some yucky clothes and run through the field...maybe even play soccer! :) Ok enough dreaming...back to work! Well, the pictures won't load right now so maybe later I will add them!

Poor sister....

My sister Trish is about seven months pregnant right now. She spent yesterday in the hospital with kidney stones. Thankfully the Doctor said that the baby is fine, but it was a horrible experience for Trish. Please be praying for her and her husband and their little girl too. Thank God that they are both Ok, but there may be a second stone so pray that somehow it goes away or maybe it will be less painful!

Crazy Hair Day

Some of the teachers didn't want to join in....but nothing stopped us from being a part! Of course some people took it more seriously than others! It was fun to see the kids. It made it hard to teach them, so I played games in most of my classes. What else are you supposed to do when you have to go to school the day after Thanksgiving?!?come on now!

THANKSGIVING!!!

Although we couldn't be with family Thanksgiving was a really fun day. We got out of school at 12 (so happy for a half day :)) and then headed home to make green bean caserole..my ABSOLUTE favorite! Megan even had some dried onions that she had kept just for Thanksgiving! Then we (the five of us) went to the Eernisses for the big meal. There were eight teachers who also joined us, so it was one big happy family! After stuffing ourselves and eating delicious pie we helped them decorate their Christmas tree (just like at home)! It was so nice to feel a part of a family. We played some games and sat around talking until about 11 pm. It was so fun...but we had to head home to teach the next day. BAH! SCHOOL ON FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING! Needless to say we were a little bitter about that topic, but we went all the same. Thankfully it was crazy hair day so that gave us something to look forward to!

Another Prayer Request...

It seems that as the semester comes to a close we continue to have major issues in our community that need lots of prayer. Over the weekend one of my coworkers was admitted to the hospital for stomach pains. She had surgery today to have her gall bladder removed. Please be praying for Heather as she recovers and for me as I am covering a lot of her classes while she is out. Teaching 9th grade english is an experience I never thought I would have...ha! (Heather is the one in the white shirt left to me.)

so glad I am a MK!!!

Today I had a really cool experience (I know I say that a lot but it is true). One of the girls from the 7th grade class is moving back to the States with her family after this semester. She has attened WNS since the first grade and is really struggeling with moving back. It reminded me a lot of when my best friend in 8th grade (Sara Vinroot now Bunting) moved back to the States. It was so hard for both of us and we just didn't undestand what God was doing. Anyways it was really cool because I got to hang out with her a bit and just get to talk with her. I loved being able to share personal pain and experiences with her. It was cool because she really opened up to me about a lot of things. I was so nervous to go and talk to her or that it would be weird or a lot of silence, but it was really cool. Pray for Katie if you think about it and her sister Karen who is in 6th grade. They are both really having a hard time with it. If you are a MK I am sure you know the feeling!

Kids from New Life Home

Community Development

Another new program that WNS has added this year has been their community development projects. A few weeks ago the Middle School students went to a slum and visited a school and played soccer with the kids. Yesterday I had the privellage to go to New Life Home with the Kindergarten class. It was a pretty unstructured time, but it was for kindergarten students. We simply went to visit and play with the toddlers. When we first got there we paired up the WNS students with one of the toddlers. They were both a little scared at first but after a few minutes they started playing together and it was so cute. When we pulled up to the home the kids were all up at the window waiting for us. As soon as we walked in they all just kept saying "HI!!" They were so excited to have us there. One little boy walked up to me and stuck his arms in the air and said, "UP!" He was so cute. There were two little boys that always wanted to be held and since it has been awhile since I have been around babies I was definately ok with holding them. There were 14 beautiful toddlers running around just wanting to be loved and cared for. Not all of the children were HIV positive but the thing that they did have in common is that they had been abonded by their parents.It was such a good and eye opening experience to spend the little time that we had there. If you know me at all, you know that I love kids so I loved this experience so much. I am definately going to try and make it a more common habit to go and volunteer at New Life Home (in my spare time of course). I asked Mary Beckenham and she said that meal times are difficult with so many kids so I think I will start going to help at dinner time or something. Who knows! But such a cool place! Anyways...just wanted to include you all in another great experience I have had here in Kenya. Keiser the little boys made me miss your boys so much...I can't wait to hold them...or at least G if he will still let me!

New Life Home

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End of the season parties...

We got together for end of the season parties at the Meredith's house. They have a big house so that is why we are over there all the time! But these were the girls from the two teams that came to the party. We ate lots of food and did Dance Dance Revolution. Of course they loved watching all the moms dance...I was in the mom group...I felt old! ;)

This was a cake that was made for the boys' party. I got invited to both as I got to help with both! I felt special to get Coach Carraway on the cake...yep that is me!

Thanks again!

This is Hannah Reed that I asked you to pray for. She just wanted to say thank you so much for your prayers. As you can see she is healing quite well. Just a few minor scrapes healing up but besides that all is well! PRAISE GOD!

Dear Friends and Family,
The month of November is here and I can hardly believe it. My roommates have started to play Christmas music, which seems even more out of place in our 75 degree weather. Not that I am complaining about the warm weather! :) It is one of the many blessings that God has brought my way recently. Some of the other blessings include good health, safety in our travels, our car, a good church and of course making it through the parent-teacher conferences last month. I did enjoy the conferences, as I thought I would and I did have a lot to learn from the parents. I am continually amazed at these families and their commitment to serving Christ with their lives.

I spent this afternoon at the Meredith Family’s house. I wrote about them in one of my last emails. It was a party for the end of the soccer season. I was enjoying sitting in a circle with all of the moms’ of the boys from the team talking about how proud of their sons they were. One mom, a British woman, was talking about how proud she was of her son and how he had grown from the 2 kilo (4 lb) baby she adopted. I was in shock when she went on to tell me that they brought CJ home at three months old when he was only 2 kg and HIV positive. She said that they just did not want him to die alone, but rather in someone’s arms being loved. I felt like crying as she pulled out a photo album of other babies just like CJ, left on the side of the road to die. Mary Beckenham and her husband Clive work with a foundation called New Life Home. Taking in babies off of the street to be loved and cared for, with hopes of being adopted. Their first home was opened here in Nairobi and just this year they have been blessed to open three more houses around Kenya. Mary explained that they feel so blessed to have this opportunity but are very overwhelmed by all the needs in this area. As I was talking to Mary another mom, Ann, went on to brag about what Mary and Clive have done in Kenya.
She said that Mary and Clive adopted CJ being HIV positive at three months. After loving and feeding him and taking care of her for a few months he was tested again and the test came back negative. They are the testimony of what God’s love can do for a child that has not experienced such love. They travel around talking to people about their life with CJ, changing and encouraging people. Since CJ there have been many other cases just like CJ with kids turning from positive to negative. Ann concluded her story by saying that Mary is a walking Angel and I couldn’t help but cry in agreement of what she said. WOW...just one more amazing story about these families.

Last month I asked for prayer as I was hoping to start a Bible study with some of the middle school girls. A few days after I sent out my letter the Principal approached me about some of the girls in the ninth grade class and their social issues. He was wondering if I would be willing to hang out with them and talk to them as a whole, all six of them that is. After praying that God would show me who I should invite to my Bible study and what I should spend time talking about His answer was loud and clear. So, I wanted to say once again thank you for your prayers. I met with the girls for the first time on Friday and we had such a good time. I am really looking forward to this experience.
Our first sports season has finally come to an end. Although it was so much fun, it was a lot of stress and I must say I am glad to have one down. But I am looking forward to girls’ soccer season. Our next sports will be boy’s basketball and girl’s soccer. I am not sure what to expect but as I have said before, these kids never cease to amaze me.
God has also really blessed me recently by helping to find a good church. When I first moved here I was told that it would be hard to find a good church, and I quickly found out that was true. Recently my roommates and I have started attending a church out in Karen, where the school is located. There are a lot of missionaries at this church, and the pastor is excellent. It is so refreshing to hear preaching straight from the Bible. He has been talking a lot about living life with purpose and leaving your mark, a legacy. Such a good reminder of making the most of everyday and living a life of purpose.
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. I wish that you could all come and visit and see the part you are playing in God’s work in Africa.
Serving My King in Kenya,
Kayla Carraway

Prayer Requests:
-Health
-Safety
-Safe flight home for Christmas and travel while I am Idaho (Dec 16-Jan4)
-Bible study with the 9th grade girls
-Finances for the car

Praises
-Health
-Friendships
-Church

the end is here...

Today the boys finished the first WNS soccer season. Today was had a tournament at the International School of Kenya. Although the boys did suffer their first loss of the season they did very well. The played a total of 7 shortened games today. They finished 5th out of 16 teams so although they were kind of discouraged we were very proud of them. I am looking forward to having a few weeks off of sports to let my head rest a bit before the next season. If you would please be praying with me we are really trying to get new uniforms for our teams. Right now we have uniforms that have been donated but say the wrong school and are the wrong colors. The kids and the school on a whole would love to have their unifroms but that just seems a lot to our small school right now. Please pray with me that God would direct us how to go about this. One of those small joys of my job! :)

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Band Concert

Although our school is very small there are three bands. In the past they have not had the opportunity to be involved in sports as much as they have this year, so they focused a lot on band. Today was our BIG band concert! Yea...I can't really say that BIG is a very good word to describe it but the kids did work really hard. They were so cute up there. I really can't say much about music because if any of you knew me when I was in junior high and tried to play the clarient you would know that Mr. Carlson basically asked me to just quit already because I never practiced at all. OOPS! I guess it is safe to say that music was not one of those things that came naturally to me. Although I am afriad there were a few "Kayla types" in the band, who had no one idea where they were and were simply moving their fingers to seem like they know what they were doing. There were quite a few kids with a lot of talent. I was quite surprised by our "advanced" band that included the 7-9 grade students. Anyways...it was fun to listen to them and I just thought I would share a few pictures from the big event! ENJOY! They are so cute! :)

this is why I love living in Kenya so much...

Undefeated CHAMPIONS

Despite a few close games at the end of the season...our boys finished their season undefeated. Needless to say they are all quite proud of themselves, as we are of them. They will play in a 8 aside tournament this weekend so we will see how that goes. It was a big deal yesterday to beat the big rival school Rosslyn on their home field! :)

quick update...

Hannah Reed is doing much better. She didn't not have any major damage just a lot of scrapes and bruises. Thanks for the prayers!