Hello from Thika! It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be our last full day of ministry. Sorry we were out of wifi range the last couple of days while we were in Kajiado but our time there was wonderful.
We got to Kajiado Friday afternoon and then drove in our mega bus up the thorny road to Rurya where Mama Ruth and her tribe live. There was a huge group of people waiting for us when we arrived and we had a huge celebration with the tribe and dedicated the well that was put in last year. They turned on the water for us and let everyone stick their hands in it for a minute. Then we unloaded several huge bags of food we had brought for them, had a quick bite of cooked goat before our journey back down. The students have come to love our security detail that has travelled with us. It was quite funny seeing them standing out in the middle of nowhere in Masaai land looking like the guys from Men in Black. Something you don't see everyday.
Saturday our team visited a school for disabled and an orphanage in Kajiado where the kids sang some of our VBS songs and Jon spoke and encouraged the children there. At the school for disabled, Jon shared a little of our story with our own children that are disabled and our sweet interpreter, Pastor Charles, got so moved that he had to step outside for a moment to compose himself. Saturday afternoon, our group went out to a Masaai shopping market and enjoyed seeing all of the fun stuff there. By the way, if your kid is a boy, he is most likely bringing home either a Masaai knife or spear or weapon of some type. Sorry - they are boys.
This morning we got up and went to church in a new church Pastor Charles has just planted in the middle of Kajiado. Chris and Taylor both shared their testimonies and Jerry Fudge preached. We took turns singing songs between us and their choir. It was a really neat experience. After church, we drove here to Thika and got checked into our hotel. We ate a quick lunch and headed over to the Otto Hoffman home for girls. We didn't have a whole lot of time there today but sang some songs and did all the introductions. We will be going back tomorrow to present a short version of VBS and to present the items we were able to purchase through the generous donations from sales at Big Blue (the TCA school store) and proceeds from the 5th grade Roman Forum. The money from those two things bought each of the girls at Otto Hoffman a new, thicker mattress (the old ones were thin and worn), a new mosquito net, a foot trunk, and a chair. These will be delivered and presented tomorrow afternoon while we are there. Also, we will be dedicating a water purification system that we had been fundraising for as well.
Just a brief history of the Otto Hoffman Center. It is run by a Christian woman named Jane who saw the need to rescue some young girls she saw living on the streets. Some had come from slavery, some had run away from the sex trade, some were just orphans and many other tragic stories. Jane had this passion to help, because she, herself, had been abandoned and lived on the streets as a young child. A kind German man named Otto Hoffman rescued her and a few other girls by taking them into his home with his family. She named the center after him and currently has about 30 girls living there. She also provides feeding to about 30 other kids who live in the nearby slums every day. Please continue to keep her and this ministry in your prayers.
There are clearly SO many opportunities here to meet needs. We are so grateful to have been used in some small part while we are here. Jon and I have a hope that we will instill a passion in our students for missions and that their time here will draw them closer to Christ. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Sincerely,
Jenni for the team
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