So here it's been a little over 2 months that I've been home now.

I've been thinking back to that day that I got of the airplane to arrive at my stopover in Toronto and saw gigantic snow flakes falling - when 15 hours before, I had been basking in the 45 *C African sun... wow that seams like forever ago.


I have to laugh when I remember just how confusing that airport was! I arrived in one terminal and had to walk to another to drop off my luggage. The luggage drop-off place was marked with a small faded sign that said "luggage drop off", or something of the sort. There were two shady staff members who looked as if they had no idea what they were doing... I hesitantly gave them my two pieces of luggage while they argued over where to put it.

I am somewhat releaved of being free of that giant backpack of Katherine's (yet still doubtful of if I will ever see it again) as I search for the next terminal. I look for signs but see nothing that makes much sense. As I 'm walking I see a man at the “Info desk”, certain that he'll be able to guide me. I walk up to him and ask him about that terminal I'm looking for . He has no idea. Instead he asks which terminal I'm in now. I stare at him for a minute and then he suggests I may have to go outside of the airport and then come back in at another entrance.

So, after leaving him I decided to walk up the stairs I see close by, instead of going outside. After about an hour I finally manage to find the place I'm looking for! I did have to go outside once (after taking the stairs the info guy didn't actually tell me about) and then up and down a few more escalators, some hallways and a monorail thing.

Even though I'm extactic to see snow falling outside and fell as if it's Christmas, no one else seams to be as thrilled. As I look up at the sign for Air Canada Halifax I see that 2 out of 3 flights to Hali are canceled due to the snow. Fortunately for me, the flights I'm waiting for is the one thats not canceled. I'm very happy that I don't have to sleep in the airport, however – as I mentioned in my last entry – the two hour flight took about five hours because there were not enough staff to load all of the luggage. As you know, the captain proceeds to tell us every 15 minutes that we'll be taking off in 15 minutes as I struggle to keep my eyes open to watch a movie about the Queen.

When I finally arrive in Halifax I am a little out of it, due to being awake for over 24 hours. But I'm so thrilled to be home and see Jordan waiting at the bottom of the escalator, that I wasn't so upset that one of my pieces of luggage didn't arrive with me.
(* Please note... some exaggeration of stories may apply for better effect)

I can't tell you how beautiful it was to me as we drove on the lovely flat, almost pothole-less highway of Nova Scotia! And to see the white calm snow blanketed on the ground. I did eventually get my luggage a few days later, by the way. It was delivered to me and all was well with it.


So theres a little story of my adventurous time on my travels home. Even though I can't say my tales of adventure in Nova Scotia are quite as exciting, they still play a part in the grand adventure that is life.

So just to give you a big update on me since I've been back...

I'm living back at home with mom and dad for the first time since high school. It's so nice. I've had a chance to do quite a few presentations of my time in Kenya and I'll be posting more pictures on Photo Bucket in a few days. I'm working at Online Support as an agent until the end of the summer. Taking incoming calls from Rogers customers and giving them tech support. Its' actually a great place to work. It just requires a lot of training and requires patience. The shifts are also mostly all 5pm-1am, so I can't really do a whole lot with people during the week, but thats okay for now.

We've been doing lots of wedding planning. I'm going to print of the invitations pretty soon and I'm working on the menu for the lunch buffet. Any ideas?

Thats all for now...theres more coming.

So theres an important piece of information that I forgot to write about in my last entry. The fact that in Kenyanya (slum outside of Kampala), every child under the age of 12 was pantless. Yep, pantless. And to tell you the truth, I don't think it was because of lack of pant funds. I guess it was just too hot. I can understand; but it's still kinda shocking every time.

Moving on...

So I'm home! It's a little strange. VERY COLD. But very nice. I think I'm having a little bit of reverse culture shock, but I'm sure that I will adjust in no time. I've really missed you beautiful people and I can't wait until I get to see all of you.

It's amazing how much you appreciate home when you go so far away. I'm sure a lot of you also came to appreciate where we live by reading about my adventures. Most of us have no idea just how blessed we are.

So going back to where I left off...

At the end of that first week back at the base, I was on my way back to my room, running down the path when I felt something prick my foot! More like pierce my foot, actually. Those little paths are full of suprizes, let me tell you. It was a thorn. about an inch long and it went right through my sandle and my foot! I managed to get it out but I think there must have been a piece of dirt that had been pushed into my foot by the thorn because it was limping for a few days. But as most of you know, I am fine now.

It was so hot that week! It's dry season again in Kenya now, and that was defiantly the first thing we noticed when coming back to the base. So brown! But still beautiful. And the tree was still pretty green, of course. One day Missy and I were doing laundry and wow was it ever hot! We must have seriously only been out in the actual sun for 15 minutes that day and our shoulders and faces were bright red. One day it was 47*C. I guess because of the dryness it didn't feel as hot.

It was so nice to have the rest of our team back on Saturday (the 17th). They had a good last week of outreach. It was a pretty relaxed week. They had a few rest/free days, then spent one day at a school and another at an orphanage.

On the way back to Kenya, they saw group of Baboons on the side of the road and decided it would be a good idea to pull over and take some pictures. Then, some thought it would be an even better idea to get out of the vehicles to get closer. Well, I guess it was too close for the Baboons, because my friends had to run for their lives, so they wouldn't get grabbed or eaten! Those animals are powerful... I wish I had been there. But I guess those who decided to stay in the vehicle got pictures of the chase, so I'll have to post them on photo bucket when I get a copy!

After spending the weekend together, we spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday doing evaluations of the course and debriefing. We did a lot of talking and praying together and tried to prepare ourselves for going back home. We had one of our lecturers from the first half of DTS come back to talk to us so that was nice. It was such a strange week. We were so used to seeing one another each day and the thought that in a few days we would say goodbye and maybe never see some people again just couldn't register in our minds.

I'm pretty sure that everyone who had issues with anyone else cleared them up. Praise God for that. I'm so glad there are no bitter hearts. We really were like a family. If there's one thing I've learned from DTS, it's how to have patience with every type of person and to love everyone unconditionally.

We had two or three bonfires through the week. And it seamed like every sunset that week was just for us. Absolutely beautiful. The stars were also as clear as ever.

On Thursday night and all day Friday, we prepared for our graduation feast and celebration. We had a pretty good turn out. Most of the Kenyan students' families came and Kenyans have big families! There were also a lot of people who came from churches and villages we ministered to. We all had a chance to stand up and say something and I think thats when it really hit us that it was almost time to leave.

On Saturday us girls spent one last day in Nairobi at the Masai market doing some gift shopping. Most of my Kenyan friends left on Friday and Saturday because they didn't have to travel too far and there parents had come for the graduation anyway. Candace (Canadian) flew out on Saturday and Missy and I left on Sunday. The rest of the Westerners flew home the next week, except for Emily (Alaska) who flew to South Africa to do some more traveling. As hard as it was to say goodbye to everyone, the fact that I know I'll see many of them again made it easier. I also got to travel as far as London with Melissa so that was nice.

In the Toronto airport some one took a picture of me. I think they were trying to take a picture of the man next to me, but for some reason the guy took 3 or 4 and I'm pretty sure I was in every one of them. I was tempted to make a funny face or wave, but I decided to pretend I didn't notice for a few pictures and then smiled for the rest. Another interesting event at the airport was the discovery of a vending machine filled with books. I think the people walking by enjoyed the fact that I took a picture of it. but hey... at least I wasn't taking a picture of a random girl who didn't know weather to smile wave or pretend not to notice hahaha.

Flying over Newfoundland and Northern Quebec was beautiful. Miles and miles of mountains, trees and whiteness. Seeing the snowflakes falling from the sky from the Toronto airport was so comforting. I was happy to hear that my flight was one out of the 2 flights to Halifax that wasn't canceled due to the weather! However we did have to wait in the plane for three hours before taking off for the two hour flight. I guess the snow made it difficult to load the luggage and they were also understaffed due to the delays.

The captain told us after 15 minutes that we would be taking off in 15 more minutes. Then he proceeded to say the same thing every 15 minutes after that until we took off 3 hours later! Thankfully, I was able to get some sleep, so they time went by quick.

What a joy it was to get off that plane and see a familiar face ;)

And so I'm home! In a way it feels like a dream and at the same time Kenya feels like a dream. It's strange to think that this is my last entry! I would like to thank all of you for reading and posting comments. I've enjoyed telling you about my experiences and I hope you've enjoyed reading about them!

This may be my last entry about Kenya, but I'm sure I'll keep writing anyway, so feel free to continue reading. I apologize for all of the grammatical errors! I've been looking back at my other entries and I had to laugh at the results of my speed typing under time pressure haha. But hey, it's my journal, right?

I love you all and I can't tell you how much I have appreciated your prayers and all your support. Every one of you played a part in my mission to Kenya and without you my time there would not have been the same.

Be blessed...

Ahhhh! I come home in a week. It's quite a bitter-sweet feeling.

So as I said the 4th week of outreach was spent in a slum called Kenyanya just outside the city of Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda. We did ministry with a local church, which had a congregation with 80% of it's members being people in their 20's. Let me give you a mental picture of Kenyanya:

First of all there are green bananas (matokae) EVERYWHERE. I didn't know so many bananas existed. Most people cook them with potatoes and eat it as a meal at least once a day. Seriously, like every second vehicle on the main road was a transport truck with hundreds of banana bunches and about 10 Ugandan men hanging off of the side. The houses in the slum were mostly made from cement with iron roves, but a few with mud walls and thatched roves. They are all really close together with some having scary, barbed-wire fences around the small properties. Since the land is quite swampy and it rains a lot, the squatters (outhouses)- which neighbors share - are built up high with brick stairs. The showers, which are basically a small brick stall are normally right next to the outhouses, but the walls are not very tall!

Fortunately, I'm pretty short, but not everyone shares my advantage. So us girls had to take turns being guards for one another since you could see into the shower room from the top of the stairs of the outhouse! I still wasn't fond of the fact that the people walking by the house could see your head sticking out of the shower room and would often wave, ha ha

The girls and guys each had different rooms and there were 6 girls in my room. There were no mattresses, so we just huddled together on the cement floor. Fortunately, it wasn't cold at all at night, so we didn't mind the floor too much.

Clean water was a rare find, so we had to take long trips to a fresh river and boil all of our water. Because the trip to fetch it was so far we had to buy most of our water instead. There were goats and bulls with huge horns running freely and we often had to dodge them on the path. There weren't really any roads in Kenyanya, but lots of winding footpaths with bridges made from bundled sticks, to cross the rivers of sewage. To tell you the truth, we didn't have much confidence in those bridges!

As I mentioned, it rains a lot in Kampala and one day it rained SO heavily. The area quickly flooded, but our house was okay. Anyways, on the way back from church one evening the "rivers" were rising above the "bridges". One girl lost her flip flop and another one fell in! By the time they got back, most people were soaked up to their knees. Coincidently, that was the day I stayed back from ministry because I was beginning to feel sick, so I never had to wade through the water which would have probably been up to my waist hahaha.

So thats the funny random stuff, now let me tell you about the important stuff! The members of the church were absolutely amazing people! Ugandans in general are very friendly people and these people epically, were so full of the fruit of the spirit. They have a huge worship and praise team and they can all dance like you've never seen. We tried to dance along with them but I'm sure we looked ridicules ha ha. They also had sweet matching jackets that had the name of their church on the back which was called "Holy Goast Fire Center".

We did a lot of door-to-door ministry that week and were amazed at how many Muslims lived in the area. People were a lot less open, so that was a challenge, but seeds were defiantly planted.

Unfortunately we had some cultural issues with-in our team that week. Since there were 24 of us together (including 4 staff) some people really rubbed shoulders. We have a very diverse team when it comes to personalities, so differences were bound to come between us, but it was sad. We had a lot of long talks as a team and I think most people are okay now, but I just hope no one leaves this DTS with bitterness in their heart.

So early in the week I started feeling sick and thought I had caught strep throat or something similar because I lost my voice for 2 days and had a high fever. However, the next week I soon discovered that was not the case...

The fifth week was spent on the other sider of Kampala in a more bush bush area. Even though it was so far away from everything it was absolutely beautiful. We stayed at boarding school and we had mattresses!!!

So anyway, we rested most of Monday and then got up early on Tuesday morning to do some door-to-door and street ministry. I had a really good quiet time that morning and I was determined that I would not be sick at all that week! Well, at least I had good intentions. I was in a group with my Kenyan friend James and a lady from the church for the ministry. We walked for a bit and then stopped to talk to some people at a little fruit stand. We were in the middle of talking to a drunk guy (who was holding a clear package about the size of a ketchup packet that had vodka written on the side of it) and I was about to say something. All of a sudden I felt really weak and I couldn't hear anything. Then I started to lose my balance and everything started spinning so I sat down. When James realized I had almost fainted he quickly got me back to the place we were staying and then someone brought me to the medical clinic.

malaria..

So it turned out I had a fever of 38*C (not sure what that is in F) and I guess that explained the weakness. The malaria medication I was given made me very tired and gave me an upset stomach along with lots of other fun symptoms of which I'll spare you the details. So I basically spent the rest of the week in bed, but fortunately for me, my American friend Melissa was also very sick that week so we suffered together (she doesn't know exactially what was wrong with her, but the doctors said it was some tropical disease).

There were a lot of nice ladies at the school who took good care of us, but it was a tough week because everything they cooked had a thick layer of grease on the top... they were able to boil drinking water for us, but it tasted so smoky that it made us feel more sick. It was a real blessing to be able to spend the week with Melissa because I hadn't really got to know her so well before. There were also different people from our group who stayed back each day to do the cooking for the group so we always had someone to talk to.

After a lot of talking and praying, by the end of the week we decided it would be best to go back to the base early. We'd had enough of the smoky water and there was also a baby in our room who cried all day long (she also wore a loin cloth which I found interesting). It was a hard decision because we were afraid we were being selfish and didn't want to let the team down. But at the same time we felt like we were a burden having to have stay in bed all week. They assured us that we weren't a burden, but were also very understanding about our decision to go back.

So, on Monday we got the last 2 seats available on the bud from Kampala to Nairobi. We felt so much peace on the way back and after the 14 hour bus ride (ask me about that story when I get back!), arriving at the base was like coming home! When we were at the border, the guys scanned my passport and then started trying to pronounce Halifax. He got so distracted that he forgot to stamp my passport and he didn't believe me when I told him. that would never happen back home!

As soon as we got to the base we knew it had been God's will for us to go back. We are both feeling amazing after having a few days of rest and we've had lots of soup. It been so relaxing and quiet here and it was nice to have a little break from the group as much as we love them! We've had so much time to reflect on all we've gone through and think about wheat we'll do when we go home.

It's also been great spending time with the base staff. There is a team from Costa Rica who have been staying at our base during there outreach. They are amazing. It's kinda neat 'cause, before leaving Uganda, Missy and I both had dreams about this Hispanic team. She had met them once before when she was back at the base for the conference a few weeks ago, but I had only just heard of them. I don't remember much from my dream; I just remember meeting them and noticing that most of them were white and not Latino (theres no way I could have known that). We think part of the reason God wanted us to come back early was to meet and spend time with them. They have been such a blessing to us and if we had not comer back we never would have had the connection we have with them. God's got a reason for everything.

We got a chance to minister to the preschool at the base this week too. That was so fun! We made them a kool-aid- type drink and took some pictures with them. They sang some songs for us and I was so touched that they remembered the two songs I taught them back in November!

Agnes, the lady who runs the school has some great dreams for the kids. Most of them walk an hour or two to get there each day and they meal the school provides is sometimes all the get for the whole day. She really wants to get some property and build an orphanage/school. I have no doubt it will happen some day with the determination that woman has!

Wow, I still have tons to say, but I'm out of time so I'll have to tell you about the rest of the week next Saturday. Thanks again for just the wonderful people you are. I can't believe my time here is almost up! Please pray that the last week will go smoothly.

Thanks!

So the Monday after our first week of outreach in Kahowa West, we got up and were ready by 7am to catch our bus to Kakamega (about a 6 hour journey). Our bus didn't come until 10,no surprise! We almost had to wait for another one because we didn't think all of our luggage would fit - but some how we made it work. Halfway through our journey, we met up with the other half of our team who were heading for Elderot. It was so great to be with them again and see what there week was like.

On the way there I saw what I thought was a man sitting on the side of the road, eating garbage! I soon realized it was an ape. It was huge!

I was surprised when we arrived in Kakameaga, because I was expecting it to be Bush Bush, but it's a decent size town. instead of all staying in one place to sleep, we split up and stayed with members of the church for the week. Wow, it was so nice to sleep on a real bed instead of cement floor! There was another group of young people who we worked together with, serving the church. They weren't YWAMers, but were a group of young people from a town near the border of Tanzania.

Kakamega is very beautiful. Very hilly and it has pine trees - a little piece of home ha ha. The town itself is very dirty though. Garbage and sewage everywhere. And goats; Siamese goats actually! Not that they were stuck together, but they looked like my cat Timothy - with black feet and a black tail. So cute! I really wanted to pick one up, but he probably would have tried to eat me. It was a lot cooler at night and in the mornings, and I really liked that because it made it so much easier to sleep.

The family I stayed with were so amazing. The church was providing all of our meals, but even so, every morn the mama at my house insisted that we take breakfast before we left for our morning meeting at the church (where we would eat breakfast). And in the evenings, when we came home after eating dinner at the church, she would have a meal and tea waiting for us. Oh man! I quickly learned to only take small amounts since we had on average, 5 meals per day. Who would of thought you would eat so well in Africa?!

So our schedule was similar to the week in Kahowa West, except we didn't have revival meanings in the evenings, so instead we got to spend time with the families. Door-to-door evangelism was a bit frustrating this week because the other team who we were working with didn't speak English very often and I think they kept forgetting that us Westerners can't understand Swahili. But we survived ha ha

The open air meetings were so lively and entertaining! The other team are also a band and they sing and dance. They had amazing voices and really drew a crowd so they took over the praise and worship.

One challenging thing about that week was that the church seamed to be in competition with another church in the area. They were also having open air meetings the same week and it was almost as if they were trying to see who would get the most people. The sense of pride we felt in our church was discouraging. But we also think that part of the reason God brought us to Kakamega was to pray for and minister to the church and it's pastor - not just the people of the community.

On Saturday, we decide to go to Kisumu for the day, since we were all pretty exhausted. Kisumu is a town next to lake Victoria. We ate some fresh fish and I really didn't think i would like it, but it was amazing! They just fetch it from the lake, clean it and fry it right there in front of you. The lake wasn't what I expected at all! At first glance you would think it was just a big, green field. I guess some weeds floated in overnight and covered the lake so much that you could barely see any water!

The church service on Sunday lasted about 6 hours. I stayed for most of the service, but after a while I went outside to play with the kids. There were lots of people who had interesting things to say, but I don't know how anyone can sit and listen for that long! It's so strange, because at home, some people get antsy if the service goes to an hour and a half!

On Monday morning of the 22nd, we got up at 4am to leave for Elderot, which was only about a 3 hour drive. Half of us were going to go minister in some orphanages for a week and the others went back to the base to help out with the YWAM conference.

It was so nice to have a week of just us girls. One of the orphanages was just for girls, so it was jeni, Rose, Kim (England), Emily (Alaska), Ulla and myself who were a team. 5 of the guys went to minister to a mixed orphanage down the road. Wow, this was defiantly my favorite week so far. Orphanages here are kind-of like foster homes actually - the kids are mostly found on the streets and live with the couple who runs the place, until they grow up.

Wow, Astar and Frances (the mama and dad) were amazing. There are about 25 girls from 5 to 18 and they have one 2-year-old girl of their own. Astar is 23! Can you imagine... 23 with 26 kids. Yet, they were they most clam and patient couple I've ever meet.

We really didn't feel like we did a whole lot in terms of working that week. We helped with all of the cooking and cleaning, but with 6 of us, everything got finished quickly. It was nice, because it was a relaxing week for us and it gave Astar and fracas a nice break. In the evenings we spent time playing with the girls and leading devotions. A few times, we went to the church and lead youth group and we also visited the other orphanage and lead some discussions with them.

Elderot is probably the cleanest place in Kenya. The roads are also very nice and new. the main means for transport are bicycles, which are referred to as "Budda budda's". You ride on the back, it's so fun. There are also 3-wheeled taxis ha ha But it's sooo bumpy to ride in them.

I guess the guys struggled a bit that week. There were 4 Kenyans and 1 Western guy - Charlie. They all have pretty strong personalities and unfortunately, they don't get along so well with Charlie. They even got to the point where they refused to speak English, and so he had a pretty lonely week. But we got to see him a few times throughout the week.

It gets a little tough sometimes, with our DTS being basically half western girls and Kenyan guys. Most of us get along fine, but there are some that just have a hard time. Oh well,we wouldn't learn anything if it wasn't for challenges, right?

It's amazing how content a child can be with so little. Most of the clothes the little girls wore had holes or were too small. They had a ball made from tape and string, yet they are just as happy as any kid back home. You really don't need much.

On our last night with the girls we had a "fun night" and attempted to make them rice crispy squares. We had no success finding marshmallows and it was pretty funny trying to explain to the guys at the grocery store what they are; we used melted chocolate instead.

I'll never forget the slum where the church was located. The ghettos in new York don't even compare, I'm telling you. I've never be able to forget the sight of about 15 children and youth - some as young as maybe 5- holding bottles of glue up to their mouths. I think every person we walked by was on some sort of drug and barely clothed... They looked like zombies, it was the saddest thing in the world.

Overall, it was a great week and I learned a lot even though it was pretty relaxed. I had a lot of time to reflect on my time here and think about home too. I still haven't told you about this week, but I'm afraid I'm about out of time!

We are in a city called Kampala in Uganda and we are ministering to a church in a slum. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this entry next weekend. Wow, I can't believe there is only a week and a half of out reach left and then one week until I'm home. It doesn't feel real!

God bless you all. Thanks for reading and please continue to pray for health and also unity!!

So last week I had "Clinical Malaria". Yep. It pretty much means that that you show all the signs for the illness, but the blood test shows you are negative They say it is negative because of the vaccine But if I have the vaccine in my body wouldn't I have tested positive and therefore they wouldn't be able to diagnose me? When I asked that they just looked and me blankly and tried to prescribe some medicine.

Just so you know I am 100% healthy and Malaria free! A few of the other girls have been sick too and we've all had the same symptoms so we figure it was just a virus or maybe from something we ate. One girl found out she had typhoid though! She's feeling much better this week, we're just glad we found out what it was because she was sick for a few weeks.

The hospitals here are so different! Most windows in Kenya don't have glass because it's just too hot. They normally have either glass or a screen with metal burglar bars on the outside. It was so strange to see that the hospital didn't have glass windows! Yous would think that they would want to keep bugs and rats out, and have the building sealed well to protect the patients, but it's really a different world over here! the waiting room is also very interesting. You get your temperature and blood pressure taken right there in front of everyone.

Last week was mostly preparation for outreach. Our base is hosting a YWAM team from Wyoming (Wyoming?) while we are away. It was great to meet some new people. They have already been on outreach for 2 months and will go home at the end of the month. they spent time in Tanzania and Yemen. It was nice to talk to them and hear their outreach stories. We also had a love feast and got to eat chicken and real hamburgers. Amazing.

And so hear we are, jut about finished our first week of ministry! Our team of 18 divided into two groups and it was so much harder to say goodbye to the others than we thought it would be :( But we will see them in 2 weeks now, as we travel to Uganda together.

Here are the people in my group... Rose and Brenda (Kenyan, Candace and Ulla (Canadian and Finnish), Charlie (American), James, Kheri, Peter (Kenyan) and our staff, Joram and Ifeoma (Kenyan and Nigerian). I just thought I'd give you an idea of who is who so I won't have to explain each time.

This outreach our group is doing something a little different Instead of the staff leading and handling all the big decisions, we are taking care of everything. Charlie and Rose and our "team leaders" and we will have new leaders during the second half of our ministry time. At first we were a little lost ha ha At the beginning of one of our meetings the staff stood up and said, "Well, we have to go somewhere you guys can handle this meeting, tell us how it goes!" We were like "Wait... lead us!" Ha ha, but we soon figured out how to do things and it's nice to have a challenge and some more freedom.

So we are in a place called Kahowa West. It is a slum/sub-urban area outside of Nairobi. It has been an amazing week! God is soooo good. We are being hosted by a local church and they have given us an apartment building to use for the week. It is sooo nice! (Nairobi slum-nice) There is running water and they ladies at the church insist on preparing all of the meals for the week and clean-up, which saves us a lot of time and money.

On the first day we just took it easy and walked around the area. The houses are so close together and there is so much garbage and goats everywhere! But it's much easier to get around then in the bush bush and it's not as busy as Nairobi. As we walked, 4 of us are white (most children in this are rarely see white people)and so we had a trail of about 15 kids following us and wanting to hold our hands and pat the hair on our arms. They really liked me for some reason - it must be the blond hair. By the end of the week all of the local kids had learned my name and everywhere I go I hear "KA-TREE-NAA! Owe are yooou?" It's hilarious but also a little overwhelming!

I was feeling a little nervous at the beginning of the week, because I'm not so big on speaking to big groups of people, but God has given me so much peace. On Tuesday evening, Ulla and I led a bible study for some of the church elders on Identity and Power in Christ. It was so amazing. God put the same message on both of our hearts and once we began speaking all of the fear we had melted away. One lady cried and felt like the message was meant specifically for her. God really taught us a lesson that night. I have always been more inclined to speak to children and young women, but for some reason I never thought God would use me to encourage and minister to someone twice my age - let alone a church leader!

In first Timothy, Paul says to never let anyone think less of you because you are young and that is so true! I feel like we were preaching to ourselves as well, because God was showing us his power in our weakness. With him all things are possible.

So almost every day this week we have been doing door-to-door evangelism, open airs, and revival meetings. At first, the idea of going door-to-door did not appeal to me at all, but I've really enjoyed it. I know at home the only people who do this type of witnessing are the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons and most people are not big fans of them. I was amazing to see how open people are here. Africans just love having visitors, even if they are busy. Of course they were some people who weren't as inviting, but for the most part we were able to talk to a lot of people.

One thing I know is that you can't tell anyone what to believe You can tell them the truth and the things God has done in your life, and how he's changed you, but it's up to them to make that decision. And God is faithful. He is the one who gives understanding and revelation. All we have to do is plant the seed and share the joy, love and peace that he gives.

On Wednesday we spend the evening at an orphanage. Wow, I was so blessed. There were about 60 kids ranging from the ages of 1 to 18. Most were younger, however.
Children here are so responsible. Everywhere there were 7-year-olds carrying babies on their backs and taking care of them. It was also an 11-year-old boy who lead praise songs for the group! He stood up and was like "My name is Simon and I love Jesus as my personal Saviour. Lets pray.." It was so cute and I was astonished by the authority and faith he spoke with. So focused and serious. When I was 11 I would probably have been wandering around the room not paying attention and singing or something. Once again, God is showing me that age is of no importance.

The first open-air was nice. You basically just stand on the street in front of the market and preach as people walk by. We sang some songs and danced, gave some testimonies. The kids loved it, and there were actually a lot of adults who came check out what was going on.

The revival meetings are basically just an evening service in the church. We've been singing a lot of fun songs and doing some skits. The church is very pentecostal so everyone is super energetic and loud ha ha One thing I've found difficult is just understand what the preacher is saying when it's a Kenyan. Most of the time they have a translator, but for some reason they tend to yell everything they say, and the translator yells just as loud so us Mosungues have no idea whats going on! but thats okay, because the Kenyans enjoy it and the service is for them anyway.

On Friday on the way to door-to-door I fell. hahahaha. It was funny at first - epically the fact that almost everyone in the town saw and were all staring at me.... But when i looked down and saw how bloody my knee was I realized how much it hurt and it wasn't so funny anymore ha ha So I went back to the apartment to clean it. It's fine now and I don't think it will get infected; it was actually a blessing in desgise because I got to nap for about 2 hours and got some very much needed rest!

So overall it's been a great week. Lots of challenges, but God has done so many amazing things. Please continue to pray for good health for the team and epically for Candace - the girl who has Typhoid. Also pray for energy, as we haven't got much more than 5 hours of sleep each night this week.

Next week we are off to Kakamega (Near lake Victoria) and after that half of us will got to an orphanage in Elderot and half will come back to the base for a YWAM conference. I'm not sure yet where I will be.

Wow, this is getting long! I'm not sure when I'll next get to update, but this should hold you over until them. I send my love to you all. thanks for the prayers. My God bless you this week.

6 more weeks and I'm home *~

So, I climbed a mountain! It was awesome. I had no idea it would be that hard, but after that, wow I feel like I can do anything. We started Christmas break on a Wednesday and that night we stayed at a little motel in the town beside Mt.Kenya. There were real, hot showers! Amazing. We passed a sign on the highway that said we were crossing the Equator. I thought that was cool.

The next day we started the journey up to the first rest point. It only took about 4 hours, but it's amazing how much the temperature changes after only climbing for that amount of time. We were to stay the night and then start climbing to the next point at 6am the next day. The food was amazing! There were 6 of us (Myself, Jeni, Rose, Willy, Charlie from US, and a paster called Simon who was also our guide). And we had 3 porters who carried all of our water and food. These guys were insane! They carried about 3 times the amount of stuff as us, started the journey after we left and somehow arrived at each point and hour ahead of us, having all of our meals prepared.

So the next day we got up and started the 7 hour hike. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings - Dad, you would have loved it! It was so beautiful. We walked up and down through valleys, across rivers, wow. When we reached the second point we all just collapsed, we were so exhausted! The plan for the next day was to get up at 3am and climb to the peak. I didn't quite make it that far - the elevation got to me, my stomach and a few other people. But thats okay, I'm just happy I made it as far as I did! I guess it was too cloudy anyway, so I didn't miss much - just the snow :(

After the others came back from the peak we started the journey back down and we did it in about 5 and a half hours. My muscles have never been so tired! When we got to the bottom we felt relieved that we would be on our way to Joram's (our DTS leader's home where we would spend Christmas), only to find out that because it had been raining so much in that area, there were no Matatus (buses). So we waited - for about 3 hours. It got dark... We found a truck that looked a lot like a bread truck and they offered us a ride. So we managed to squeeze inside with all of our big back packs. Drove for about 2 kills when the engine decided to flood. So we walked, with all of our stuff... for 2 hours... up hill... with no supper...in the dark... after climbing a mountain... Yep!

A few times I sat down on the road and tried to convince the other to letmesleep there, but they wouldn't allow it ha ha Somehow, we made it! I think God must have been carrying me or something. The next day we got to sleep in and after a good nights sleep we all felt so much better. Even though it was a challenging few days, it was amazing and soooo much fun! When you go through something like that with other people it brings you so much closer. I think it was really good preparation for outreach.

Joram's house was amazing. It was just how I imagined Africa - except for the fact that it's so green! The whole family lives together in their own little village. Everyone has their own house with a bedroom and sitting room and then there are buildings for the kitchen, storage room, outhouse and showers, which they all share. Because it's always warm, there is not need for everything to be in one building. Since it's so muddy in December, no one wears shoes. You just walk barefoot and rinse your feet off once in a while, I loved it! The little village was also on top of a big hill overlooking lots of farmland and more hills. There were roosters, goats and cows running around everywhere and we often had to chance the chickens out of the houses. The roves of the houses were made of straw and the walls of wood and mud.

The family was so welcoming. Africans are soooo hospitable - they wouldn't let us do anything.! It was a little hard being away on Christmas, but they made us feel like family. On Christmas eve they slaughtered a goat for us! I couldn't watch. But I tried it, and it was actually pretty good. But I couldn't get it out of my head that it was a goat and the fact that I could hear other goats bahhing outside didn't help! On
Christmas day we went to Rose's house to spend the next few days. She lives in a jungle! Bandanna trees everywhere.

It was good to get back to the base and the end of the break. I felt like I hadn't seen the others in so long.

This past week we've been preparing for outreach. I'm so excited. I love my team so much. it's hard to believe that my time here is almost 2 thirds over! I've got to go, but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Be sure to check out more pictures on photo bucket.

God Bless, Katrina

We just spent a week in a place called Kisumu next to Lake Victoria. We were helping out with a youth camp, so it was like a mini outreach. Wow, it is so beautiful there. We drove through the rift valley on the way. The camp was on top of a hill that overlooked more valleys and mountains, everywhere. Even though you see it every day it never stops being beautiful. There were also fields kilometers wide, full of sugarcane! As I was sitting outside the first morning, I felt so at peace. If God brought me all the way to this crazy country, just to see another piece of his incredible creation, that would be enough! But I know that is not the only reason.

The youth at the camp were so open. They had a pretty busy schedule, with intense lectures each day. But we got a lot of chances to speak to them and lead some discussions and music.

It was a really neat experience being in Kisumu. I think it helped us to be prepared for outreach as well. We must have ate ugali and sukuma wiki at least twice every day that week! Have I told you about ugali yet? It's made from maize (corn flower), water, salt and kind of has a porridge-like texture. Sukuma wiki is shredded greens, made from spinach, collards, or cassava leaves. Sometimes meat is mixed in also. It's a good meal - but it's not so good anymore when you have it everyday!

The living conditions were even more basic than in Athi River. I was in the kitchen, getting water one day and noticed that there were mattresses on the floor. I soon realized that the women who prepare all the food sleep there the kitchen.

The week before last our lecture topics were worship, holiness and stewardship. Our speakers were a lady from the Philippians and her Kenyan husband. I love hearing women speak. Not that I don't like to hear men, but it's just more inspiring to me I think. There are so many amazing stories of men like Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Brother Andrew and David Livingston. But there are also so many women like Mother Teresa, Corrie Tan Boom, Henrietta Mars and Amy Carmichael who changed the world as we know it.

I feel like in our society we limit ourselves so much. We feel like we'd never be worthy enough for God to change history through us, but by feeling this it's God we're limiting - not just ourselves. He can do miracles though anyone male and female. Young and old. He has created us with so much potential, but so many of us have been so blinded. If we never take any risks how are we going to know what we are capable of?

We as Christians (myself included), so often complain about all the suffering and corruption in the world, forgetting that we are part of the problem. If we're not helping make a change, things will not get any better. Like Paul says in 1st and 2nd Timothy, God had not given us a spirit of fear. If we refuse to discover and develop the gifts and abilities God has freely given us because we are afraid, they will grow dormant and God won't be able to bless people through us. That is so sad.

We need to get up from our comfortable church chairs and stir up the gifts God has given to each of us to benefit both our church brethren and the people of this world.

Okay, thats enough preaching for now, ha ha

For work duties last week we did some grass slashing by hand. They don't have any lawn mowers in the Bush Bush so we use these long sticks with blades on the end. Besides all the blisters it's kind of fun! I'll try and post a picture of my "attempts". It's pretty funny.

The wedding was great. Completely different from a north American wedding. It was scheduled to start at 10am and the bride didn't arrive until 1:30! Someone explained to me that three and a half hours is actually not that bad, and than most times people wait for about five hours. I told them that at home if the bride is a half an hour late back home people get a little anxious and after an hour everyone would assume the wedding has been called off and leave!

There were about eight bridesmaids and 4 flower girls. As we walked up the isle we did a wedding march dance. It was so cool. The service was about two hours long and then the reception only about a half hour. Everyone had a really great time though and Misyoke looked so happy.

Some of you were wanting my mailing address:

Katrina Brittain
c/o Youth with a Mission
Athi River Base
Box 59443, Nairobi
00200 Kenya, East Africa

Thats all for now. I'm leaving on Thursday to climb Mt. Kenya, yay! I hope you all have a wonderful, Merry Christmas!!! Thanks so much for your prayers. I miss you, God Bless!

So now I am back at the Athi River base. The week in Mombasa was so great. but it's good to be back. We're all getting attached to this place! Wow, we had an interesting trip back home from the coast.! Our teams almost filled the bus, except for about 5 others. We were a little suspicios at first because, even though these others all seamed to be friends, they insisted on spreading themselves out in different parts of the bus. They were speaking a langauge other than Swahili, and Marcelious, one of our guys spoke the same tribal language so he understood them. Anways, they kept calling one another from their differnt seats and Marcelious quickly discovered that they were sending text messages to each other, discussing a plan to highjack us!

So, without them realising, he convinced the bus driver to stop at the next police station. So, none of us Mosouengues (Westerners) had any idea what was going on. When the bus stoped halfway through the trip and a policeman came and searched everyone, who were afraid that we were in some kind of trouble! but Instead the policeman searched only the others are got all of their ID's. They were so terrified and they probably had no idea how we discovered their plan. But yeah, by God's grace we arrived back in Athi
River completly unharmed with all of our belongings! What an adventure!

The lectures in Mombasa were on inner healing. Overcoming things like fear, bitterness and rejection. It was so encouraging! And this past week our topic was biblical relationships. It was such a funny weeks. It's amazing how differnt the culture is here when it comes to things like dating and marriage. I think it was a really awkard week for the Kenyans, because they grow up being taught to never talk about such things. Espically not with their parents, which seams so strange.

In Kenya, there isn't something called dating. There are sometimes courtships if people are planning on marrying. But it's usually kept secret and people don't find out until right before the wedding. I guess it's somewhat like how it used to be In Canada, years ago. People interact very differntly with the opposite sex also. In the part of Kenya where our base is (the middle of Bush Bush),if a man and a woman are walking side by side, even if they are out in the open, everyone will assume there is something going on with them. So you have to be very carfull and make sure whan you are having a conversation with a male, you are in a group, otherwise people get ideas.

Everything seams so much different since the week in Mombasa. Somehow our team drew closer and we are more like a big family now. When we got back we also switched roomates. It was kind of sad because I really like my roomates, but now I have a chance to get to know some of the other girls a lot better.

There is a Kenyan staying in my room called Brenda and she has a very interesting story. She is from the Masi tribe, which is a very traditionsal tribe in kenya. They are very wealthy and own a lot of land and livestock. Anyway, they are probably the one tribe in Kenya that has held on to their culture the most. Brenda's father has two wives! Most Masi's have arranged marriages, and I guess her father married her mother against his parent's will and they had Brenda. Then after that he was forced to go through with the arranged marriage, even though he already had one wife. The all live together now and she has a lot of step siblings. It's amazing though, because in most cases like that, there is a lot of jelousy and fighting. But her family gets along so well. I think her parents are all beleivers now too. I was os amazed to hear this. I guess in the past it was normal for Masi's to have 12 wives. But now that people are more learned it dosn't happen as often.

Also, when you are planning to get married in Kenya, the husband and his family have to pay dowery for the girl. They set up meetings between the families and discuss how many cows or goast she is worth!! the negotiate back and forth until they can agree, but I hear it can get a bit ridculas.

So, we've been doing a lot of outreach planning this week. We are splitting up for ministry, so we will be 2 teams of 9. My team will be going back to the prison and to some orphanages. Wow, Im so excited about outreach. kind of scared, becaus I know it's going to be super chanllenging, but I know it will be worth it.

We started construction on the first platform for the treehouse! It's going to be so cool, and I think we might actually have some time to enjoy it. Also, I'm going to climb Mt. Kenya for sure on Christmas break! There will be about 6 of us and I think it will take about 3 days to go up and back down. We also have some guides going with us who will carry our stuff and cook for us! I wasn't planning on going, because it's costly and I'm broke, but my friend Jeni insists on paying for me. What a blessing! I'm climbing a mountain.

So, Misyoke's wedding is next weekend. There is a dance that goes with the wedding march. It's so fun and the music is great.

I've had a cold this past week, I think because of all the rain. So I would appreciate prayer for good health. I still haven't got sick, but I just don't want this cold to turn into something! If you could also pray for unity within our outreach teams that would be great. I love my team, they are great people, but there are always conflicts when you are with the same 8 people everyday for 2 months, so I just want us to always be able to encourage each other and work well as a team.

Thanks again for the comments. it's so good to hear from you. Feel free to e-mail me too. i may not write back right away, but i'll do my best. love you!

So we just put the first piece of wood up in the treehouse. I'm so excited! We put it at the top and it's going to be like a little crows nest. Yay. I think by the time we finish it we'll be going on outreach! Oh well, it will be a nice gift for the next DTS. It's amazing how fast these months have gone by. Wow. We're into the rainny season now and it rains almost every night! Really heavaly too, but the sun manages to come out at least a few hours in the middle of the day. I'm happy that you guys were able to see my pictures. I'll try and post some more soon so you can see how green everything here is now. It looks like a different place!

So the last couple of weeks we've had lectures on the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Warefare and Biblical worldview. It's been so good. I've enjoyed all the lectures, but Biblical world view was really neat. We talked a lot about poverty and how it all starts in your mind. For example, 40 years ago, Kenya and Korea (I think South?)we're about the same in terms of the countries wealth. However today, Korea is doing so well in comparison. But why? They don't have any more natural resorces. In Korea, the unpaved roads which are considered the worst in Korea and used just to dry crops on are in better condition than the best roads in Kenya.

It's all about the mind set. If you beleive you can be successfull, you will become successfull. But if you never bother to try, feeling like you'll only fail, then you will fail. Most of us think that money will solve everything, but no. It's all about what you value and what you think you can do. If a country is to change and become more resorceful and developped, the mind set has to change. I never realized how true it is that we become whatever we think we can become.

So, we've been doing some ministires on the weekends. Last time we went to a prison to minister to youths. Wow, what a cool experience.The prisons here are really something. The ones in Canada are like hotels, seriously. The laws in Kenya are pretty strict too. One of these guys was arrested for cutting dwon a tree from what he though was on his land. Some of the people may have been murderors and rapests yes, but probably half of them would be considered innocent in Canada.

The people were so open, it was amazing. We did a skit on the love of God for them and one of the Kenyans did a sermon also on God's love, emphesizing how God accepts us just as we are. About 90% asked to be prayed for. We were so amazed at how eager they were to learn about God. What a blessing. They had a lot of really good questions too, like about what to do when they get out of prison, because a lot of them were so used to stealing because they couldn't find a job and needed to pay rent. I hope we can go back and talk to them again sometime.

I'm in Mombasa now(the coast)! The bus ride here was an experience I'll never forget... It was about 8 hours long and we left at about 10pm. I don't think I could have imagined a more uncomfortible bus or a bumpier road! wow! But somehow we arrived okay! Wow, Mombasa is absolutly beautiful. The other day I went swimming. there were camels and cows just sitting on the beach next to the people. Hilarious. The water is so clear and so warm. It's not really very refreshing though. it is soooo humide here! You'd think that going for a swim would cool you off but I'm afriad not!We are staying at the YWAM base here for A week of lectures. This is the base I had been planning to go to. I know for sure that God wanted me to be at our Athi River base, but it is so neat that he's given me this chance to see the "what if", you know? and meet everyone I might have done DTS with. The people are really friendly. There are only 7 students. Quite a contrast since our group is 18!

So I'm going to be standing in a Kenyan wedding! Misyoke, the guys who works with the cows is getting married in December. He asked Jeni (the girl from Washington) and I to be bridesmaids. I'm really excited about the dresses we are getting made for it. They have a neat tradition here, where instead of having a maid of honour and a best man, they ahve a best couple. They stand in the wedding and they are like the mentours for the firsat year of the marriage.

Oh yeah, I just found out some really cool news. There are going to be 2 YWAM bases starting up in Nova Scotia. I am so excited because I had been praying that there would be one, but it was so neat to find out it was happening even before I started praying about it! And 2, wow. So I think there is going to be one in the valley, and one in Halifax. The one in Halifax is supposedly starting up in September. I haven't found out any of the details or who is in charge yet. If anyone hears anything, please let me know!

A few weeks ago I discovered passion fruit. I think I am addicted! It is the weirdest fruit, you open it up kind of like an orange, but it's really juicy, so you have to be careful. When you first look at it, you think maybe you got a rotten one or something becasue it lokks so grouse and there are a lot of seeds. but it's the best fruit I've ever tasted.

So, thats all for today. Hopefully I can come back later in the week. I love you all! Thanks for you prayers.

Hey Everyone!

I will be updating soon, but for now, here are some pictures... go to photobucket.com and type KatrinaBraun.

Wow, I can't beleive I've been able to come to an internet cafe two days in a row! Praise God. So we have two new children at the base now. One is a little brown cow and the other is a cute little Kenyan girl that Agnas found homeless in the city. It's amazing. This girls parent's had abondaned her, so Agnas, was just like "Okay, you can come home with me." This little girl probably would have died otherwise. And even though Agnas can barly feed her own family, that never even crossed her mind. People are so generous here.

I'm really enjoying getting to know the other students like I said in my last post. Everyone is so differnt, it's amazing. We've been discussing differnt ideas of how we will spend Christmas since we have a week off. My Kenyan roomate comes from a town right outside Mt. Kenya, so we might just be able to climb it and see real snow! It will aslo be cool to spend Christmas with her family.
In a few weeks we are going to Mombasa (the coast) to have a week of lectures with another base. I'm so excited to see the ocean! It's starting to get so hot here, but it's okay, I'd rather it be hot than cold.

I can't remember if I wrote about my friend who had a paracite. Anyway, she is better now, but it was pretty grouse. She had an ameba living in her stomach, eating the food she ate. You can get them lots of differnt ways like from drinking unfiltered water, walking on a dusty road and not washing your feet or swimming. Thankfully I haven't got sick at all. Which is amazing because if you could see how long the food here sits out uncovered, you would not want to eat it. But God is good.

Thats all fro now. I love you!

Hey Everyone!

It has been so long. Wow, what do I say? So much has been happening. We just finished our first month of DTS and the lectures have been amazing. The first week we had a speaker from the states who spoke about Fear of God and the cost of dicipleship. He challenged me sooo much. I don't think I've ever been so terrified yet so at peace in my life! There's just no way to express all of it. I never realised how self-centered we are as humans. We want so much to be comfortible in every situation and we use God as a crutch. Yes, he is our Heavenly father, but he is also our King. We want so much to obtain from him when we should be allowing ourselves to be obtained by him. May God give you revelation on what that means.

The next speaker taught about the Character and nature of God; and the next, sin/repentance/forgivness. I continue to be amazed each week at the new perspectives I am gaining.

I think in my last post I told you a bit about the other students and where they are from. I'm really enjoying getting to know all of them. It's amazing how fast you can get to know people when you see them everyday like this!

I got my hair put into tiny braids two weeks ago. Wow, did it ever hurt! It's so fun though. I feel like I'm turning into an African. My feet are turning black from being so dirty and I've started to eat more with my hands than with a fork. Haha.

Some of you were asking about bugs and such. Well, I sleep in a bug net, however every once in a while I wake up when some little beetle friends decide to climb in and say hello. They really freaked me out at first, but now I'm so used to them. There are some really big spiders and little scorpians, but thankfully I don't see them very often. The othr day Candace, Emily (a candaian and an American) and I found a little newt and carried it around for a few hours. At one point he got startled for some reason and he threw off half of his tail! I think its a type of defence mechanism they have. It was crazy though, because its tail convulsed around on the ground for like three minutes, unattached to it's body. I managed to record a video for anyone interested!

So, on to the important stuff! Today, our group went into Machakos to visit a group of HIV positive people. They have meetings a few times a month (similar to AA) to talk about their lives and encourage one another. We just came to visit with them and get to know them. Most of them are really struggling because they are pretty much shunned by people who know about them. It was nice to let them know, we realize they are real people and that God loves them.

We've alaso been planning a few ideas for our outreach. We are hoping to meet more HIV positive people in Uganda and we'll also e going to some prisons and orphanages as weel.

Thats all for now. Hopefully I can update more soon! I love you all and thank you for you encouraging comments! Please pray for good heath for our team and for our hearts to be open to what God wants to teach us and to the things he wants us to do.

Jambo!

Our DTS (Dicipleship Training School) started this week. I am so glad that God brought me here early. I think the few weeks that I had here really prepared me for the DTS and made me a lot more culturally aware. Jeni and I have a new roomate named Rose. She is 24, is Kenyan and amazing. The rest of the DTS students arrived and now there are about 40 of us at the base. It's so different! But nice. There is always someone to talk to. We have quite an intesting mixture of students. There are about 10 Kenyan guys, 3 Kenyan girls, and 2 Canadians (me included), 3 American girls, an American guy, an English girl and a Finnish girl. There is also a Koren couple here to help staff the DTS. I'm a little surprised at how young some of the students are. The ages range from 18 to about 45, but for the most part they are younger. At first I felt a little out of place because I didn't really know how to relate to some of them. I think part of it is that in each culture people mature in different ways. It's getting a lot easier now though, I think God wants me to act like a mother to some of these students (ahh! haha)

We kind-of have a little running club in the mornings now. It's fun, because even though we all run at differnt paces, everyone is pretty easy going so you don't feel pressure. We also play soccer in the afternoons and were going to try and make a vollyball net. The sun is so hot in the afternoon though! I have a little thermometer on my clock and they other day it was 40 *C! It's still only early spring here.

I'm really excited for summer to come. I'm told that we will be getting a lot more rain so everything we be getting a lot greener. Speaking of green, I want to tell you about the Raffiki tree. There is this beautiful tree next to the gate of our base that is amazing. I'll have to post of picture of it soon, so you can see what I mean. I'm not sure what it's called but it's like a typical African tree with a thick canopy. It is soooo green and big. All of the other trees around it are smaller and kind of dull in colour. It's roots must run deep into a water source because it just looks so alive. As funny as it sounds, the tree is kind of an encouragment to me and my faith. It's always green. It always shines. Even if it hasn't rained in weeks. It stays strong. It also has lots of good climbing branches for those of you who shared my love of sitting in trees all day long as a child.

So anyway, the other day some of us were talking about how cool it would be to bulid a treehouse. It's one of those amazing ideas you dream about making happen, but you never imagine that you could actually do it. Well, Jarome heard us talking about it and he said he would buy us some wood so we can start next week!

I've really been enjoying our leactures. This week we have a few differnt topics. Hearing God's voice, intersession, prayer and worship. We have a special time set aside each day to have quite time with God and were supposted go go somewhere peacefull. I found this beautiful spot in the middle of the "bush bush" where the ground declines as if there used to be a river bed. I love sitting there each day. I'm just so in awe of this beautiful world we live in. God's been speaking to me in ways he never has before. Often the verses I read in my quiet time and the ones the discussion leaders use in their lectures that day. It's so cool. I feel like even though I feel like I know a lot about the topics in our lectures, I'm learning so many new things.

I've got to cut this entry short, but I will be in Nairobi again tomorrow and i have a lot more to say, so I will finish it soon.

Thanks! Katrina

I can’t believe it’s only been about a week since I last wrote. Things are going great here. I’ve started learning some Swahili; it’s such a pretty language. Everyone speaks English, but it’s fun to say things like “Jambo” (hello) and “asante” (thank you). The kids here love it.

I’ve really been enjoying going to visit students at the high schools in the surrounding villages. I’ve learned that in this type of ministry, you really have to just jump in with both feet and be ready at all times. There’s no time to let yourself get nervous or scared. The first time I went to St. Stephan’s High School with Jarome (one of the DTS leaders who was going to speak to the students) said to me, “Hey, you’ll tell them your testimony, okay?“ The thought of standing in front of 200 hundred teenagers and speaking without having prepared anything before hand would have normally absolutely terrified me, but I just went for it and God gave me the words to say. It turned out great. What a great lesson.

The girls at these schools love to sing. I mean absoluty love it! And they sound amazing. If anyone has ever seen the movie Sister Act 2, when you are there it feels just like that. They sing at the top of their lungs, use buckets and sticks for drums and the dance around with so much joy and somehow it just harmonizes together in the most beautiful way. Sometimes, a service will last an hour or 2 longer because students will just stand up in their seat and say they have a song or a story to tell. Even though we go to these schools to bless the students, we feel like we are the ones being blessed.

Kenyans are such friendly people. When you walk down the street people will smile and say hello and they always want to shake your hand. I don’t even think it’s because we look different, people are just friendly to everyone.

Let me tell you about some of the characters here at the Base. Misyoke is one of my favorite people. His job at the base is to take care of the cows and chickens. This man is hilarious. He’s one of those people who doesen’t realize how funny he is and is always saying the most random things. When he laughs, he sounds exactialy like Rafiki from “The Lion King”. Actually, he kind of reminds me of him! He’ll just look at you and go “Ugh?” He also has a few missing teeth.

Anyway, the other day he showed Jeni and I how to milk a cow. I’ve always wanted to learn. He told us when we try it we’ll have to wear pots on our heads in case we get kicked in the head. Although, he said if we got kicked it wouldn’t matter if we had protection or not, it would all be over. I think I know how he lost his teeth, haha.

Another one of my favorite people is a guy named Willy. He is also a Kenyan and did his DTS last year. He has a neat story. He grew up in an orphanage and lived there until he finished school. Since he was little he has had a sponsor family from Australia. They have kept in touch with him, his whole life and have been to Kenya to visit him a lot. It’s so awesome, because, to him, they are his family, not just a couple who sponsored him. They completely changed his life. It is so amazing to be able to really see how much of a difference a few dollars a month can make.

There is also a lady here named Agnas who is a teacher at the pre-school. I got a chance to help out at the pre-school a few times this week. Agnas loves to sew and is making me a traditional Kenyan dress. I’m excited to learn how to sew on her old fashioned machine. Wow, there are so many wonderful people here, but I’ll have to write about a few more next time I post.

Last time I was in Nairobi we went to the Masi Market. (The Masi are the oldest tribe in Kenya and they sell a lot of their art at the Market). There are so many beautiful things there. Wood carvings, paintings, clothing, dishes, fruit, fabric, jewelry, everything. Anyways, the day I was there, I just wanted to get a bag to hold my wallet and camera. The second the merchants see that you are interested, they start surrounding you, pulling you this way and that, wanting to show you everything. They will start putting stuff into bags, when you haven’t even said that you want it. They also try and sell it to you for 75 percent of the normal price so you have to be wise. It’s so funny but very overwhelming, so I’m glad I was there with some locals. I know it probably sounds insane, but the Masi Market is something that everyone should experience at least once. You can find some really neat things.

It feels so weird that the DTS is going to start on Monday. 6 of the North Americans and Europeans arrived last night and it was so cool to meet them. It was really strange at the same time though, because Jeni and I have gotten so used to being surrounded by Africans all the time. I’m trying to imagine how the Westerners feel arriving in such a different place all of a sudden, but it’s hard because I think I’ve adjusted to the culture without realizing it. Everything feels so normal to me now.

I have to go, but I want to thank you all again for all of your prayers and support. God is so present here and I feel like he has revealed so much to me already. I am so excited to get to know all of the other students here and to learn more new things. Please pray for the leaders of the DTS and for the people we will be ministering to. Thanks!

Love Katrina

Hello everyone!

I’m so happy to finally be able to post on here. I’m so sorry that it has taken so long. I wrote a big long letter a week ago, but the power went out in the internet café I was at. Computers are very different thing in Africa haha.

So I arrived here safely and I’m doing very well! I can’t believe I’ve only been here two weeks. It feels like it’s been months. I almost missed my flight from London to Nairobi. I think I literally had about 5 minutes to run from one terminal to the next, but I got there just in time!

When I got here I soon discovered that my luggage had not arrived with me… wonderful, I thought! But I had most of my valuables in my carry-on and the girls at the base lent me some clothes and a sleeping bag so I was fine and praise the Lord, all my stuff arrived 2 days later!

Wow, it is so beautiful here. The sky is so big and there are mountains and rolling hills everywhere. Our YWAM base is located about 50 km from Nairobi (the capital) and it’s really in the middle of the bush; or as they call it here, the “Bush Bush”. It’s so hard to describe everything because it feels like a completely different world. There are about 20 of us at out base. Most of the staff are Kenyans and live here with their families, so there are about 5 cute little 4 year-old-running around and they are adorable! There are also two girls from the US and 2 Swiss girls. I’m sharing a room with a girl from Washington State and she’s not here to do the DTS but is helping out with the pre-school. She’s such an awesome person and I think she’s going to become a great friend.

We have no electricity here, but you really don’t miss it because we are always outside anyway. It’s kind of like camping. We have a generator for the office, for lights around the base and in our rooms because it’s gets dark around 6pm. Life is so simple and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so at peace. It’s amazing how much work goes into everything here. At home we have instant everything - microwaves, washing machines, minute rice - yet we are always in such a rush and we never seam to have enough time.

In Kenya, everything is done by hand yet no one is ever in a hurry. Somehow there is always tons of time left in the day and no one is stressed. We take turns preparing the meals (Kenyan food is sooo good!) We hand wash clothes and dishes; before cooking rice it has to be sorted, which takes hours and cows are milked twice a day. Experiencing this gives you such a deeper appreciation for so many things.

Jeni (the Washington girl) and I go for a run every morning and we often see gazelles and wildebeests galloping about. The giraffes come out in the evenings. It’s incredible. The fist time I saw one I felt like I was looking at a dinosaur. They are huge! They walk so gracefully but run very fast. The birds are so big and colorful and they sing all day long. At night the sky is always clear and there are SO many stars!

There are a lot of different ministries going on at our base. It’s a lot quieter than usual right now because the DTS hasn’t started yet, but it has been so nice to help out with the other projects going on. There is a pre-school at the base with about 15 kids. Some of these kids walk for 2 hours everyday to come. Africans are very hospitable and they love having visitors, so we go to visit families of the pre-school kids in the surrounding villages a few times a week. Most of these people have 5 to 8 kids and live in houses the same size as my bedroom. Even though they have so little, from their perspective to have enough food for the week is a lot. They are so happy and so thankful.

When ever we go to these places, it’s usually pretty far from the base so we take a “Matatu” . Riding in a Matatu is quite the adventure. It’s a little bus/van that should hold about 14 people but there are usually about 17 people packed inside. There are 2 or 3 main highways in Kenya, which are paved and go to all the big cities and to the other countries. The rest of the roads are all dirt and have rocks and potholes of all shapes and sizes! So you’re bumping around in the little bus, holding on for your life trying to convince yourself that it’s not going to fall apart. Meanwhile, the driver is all over the road passing people on the left, right and the side of the road as well! There aren’t really any bus stops, so you just stand on the side of the road and try and flag one down.

There are a lot of high schools around the area, so we also go and do devotions with the students 3 times a week. (Almost everyone here speaks English, so that makes things a lot easier) There are churches everywhere, so the staff also go and teach there.

Its dry season here and the coldest it gets is probably only 15 C. It’s normally between 30 and 35. It can feel so chili in the morning and you think it might rain because of the clouds, but 10 minutes later, the sun will be shining brightly and it will be very hot. It’s a dry heat, so it’s not too uncomfortable, but you get very thirsty. I think it will start to get even warmer in December.

The people here are so amazing. They are so welcoming and friendly. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself when I first got here, but everyone made me feel like I belonged right away and I’ve been able to help out a lot with the ministries and the DTS preparations. I feel like I’ve already learned so much and the DTS hasn’t even begun yet. It’s going to be so amazing.

I think I will end this post for now, even though I have so much more to say! I love you all and miss you so much. Thanks for the comments, I will try to reply to them and hopefully I will write another update in about a week.

I would love to send some postcards, so if you think I don’t have your address, you can post it as a comment or email it to me at soeur.d.une.etoile@gmail.com


Katrina

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick note to let you know that I am safe. Wow, it is incredible here. I'm really living in the bush! Everyone is so friendly and I feel so welcome already. I can't write anymore because I am pressed for time. I will update you as soon as I can.

thanks for your prayers!

please pray that my luggage will arrive soon :)

Katrina

My passport came today!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!

It was supposed to come on Monday, but it didn't, so I assumed I wouldn't be leaving until a lot later and would have to pay to change my departure date. But it's here!

The day before I'm supposed to leave, can you believe it? It came at about 10 minutes to noon, like that last possible moments it could arrive in time for tomorrow. I can't even count how many different numbers I've called to find out why it wasn't here yet and they were all certain it wouldn't arrive until next Monday. I'll be on my way tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited :)

Thanks so much for your prayers on this matter.

love Katrina *~

Here is the website for the base I will be going to in Athi River


http://www.ywamafrica.org/East/Kenya/Athi/index.html

Ok so, yesterday I got this e-mail from the Mombasa base, telling me that the time has run out and they can't wait any longer for a copy of my passport. They said they would not be able to apply for a pupals pass in time for me to arrive. Well, you can only imagine the feeling in my stomach when I read those words...

But God is awesome and he never abandons us in times of trouble. I'm still going to Kenya!

There is another YWAM base in Kenya called Athi River (located 40km outside Nairobi). I had talked to them a few months ago when I was deciding which base to apply for. So I e-mailed them, asking if there would be a space for me at their base, and they e-mailed back today and said that I can come! The two bases know one another well and since the Athi River base won't start it's DTS until October, there is still plenty of time for them to get all of my paperwork.

More awesomeness... The admin. at Athi River said that if it will cost a lot of money to change the date of my ticket then I can still come this weekend as planned! I guess since I will not be starting my DTS until October, they can apply for the pupils pass while I'm there.

I'm not at all upset about going to a different base, so you don't have to worry. All that matters to me is that I'll be in Kenya. I know that God allowed these complications to happen because he has a plan for me in Athi River. I feel so much peace and an even stronger sense of purpose, it's so amazing!

Tomorrow I'm going to call my travel agent and decide weather I'll be leaving on Saturday or at the end of September. My passport is also supposed to arrive in the mail tomorrow and even though it's not as urgent I still need it! Please pray that it will arrive.

love Katrina

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my little Blog. This is a place where I will be updating you on my adventures in Kenya! I'm not sure yet, exactly what my internet situation will be like in Africa; I am told the connection is quite slow, but that's better than nothing, right? :) I am hoping to be able to connect at least once a week.

I'm also going to try to learn how to post pictures on here and I will also be checking my e-mail, but probably not as often as I check this blog.

I can't believe I leave in 7 days! I am so excited. Everything is falling into place - right at the last minute like it always seams to happen with me... haha! But no really, everything is going great and God has given me so much peace.
I'm just waiting for my passport to come back to me with my visa in it and then I will have no reason to be stressed!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for the support you have given me for this trip. Weather it be emotionally, spiritually, prayerfully, financially, or anyotherlly; I wouldn't be going on this journey without the many ways you have blessed me.

Bisous!
Katrina*~