Welcome Back to the East Bay!

We are back! Come join us this Sunday at Fremont Community Church to hear some stories and see some photos. Hope to see you at 9am or 11am.

What an Adventure We have had!

We were able to see a wide variety of the tapestry that is Kenya. The best and the worst.
Full of color, music, dance, smells, tastes and lots of Chai tea!
On our last day of serving, we went to an amazing orphanage called "Mission In Action"
what a wonderful place to be; the kids are so happy and so loving. We received lots of hugs everywhere we went from these sweet and adorable children.
Actually everywhere we went in Kenya the kids were pretty amazing from those we met that
had been rescued from tragic situations to the ones we met still literally in the mess at a place that no one would think to call home the city dump of Nakuru which is ironically called the Hilton. Weird huh? Eugene and I met two women both grandmothers who have little to nothing in very limited and rough conditions, but so grateful to God to have somewhere to be. They were both healthy, beautiful and so hospitable to welcome us into their homes. We were there to bless them with a bucket of love...we took maize flour, sugar, cooking oil, soap, chai tea, and a few more stable items to get them by. We heard about their stories and then prayed for them.
They both made these colorful hand baskets that look like they have been crocheted, but they
were made from recycled colored plastic grocery bags. I bought a green/clear one... this is a way that they make an income.
On our last night we we visited with Kate, Johnny and all there kids and had spaghetti, meat
balls and fresh made individual french bread rolls and then watched a movie. They have a
great family and it's was so fun spending time with them.

We are now in Dubai waiting for our flight to be announced. Looking forward to being home
and sharing stories about our trip!

take care,

Leilani

Last day...

So after my last blog... It turns out the days got mixed up so Friday we all wen't to Mission In Action a really cool orphanage. All the kids are so loving!! Spent a few hours there just talking with the lady who owns it and after that we went to town got our last supplies and went to the "dump"... It's exactly what I thought it would look like and would smell like... I won't be eating any pork for a good time.
That was our Friday... We came home early because Leilani, Eugene and I set out for Safari really early this morning hoping to find some cats. No luck. We saw lots of other really cool animals. Like.... Rhinos which by the way look really cool behind a big fence at a zoo but really intimidating when spitting distance in a safari car.... Loads of zebras and water buffalo's! It was a lot of fun! That took up most of our morning and then after we met with Kate and Johnny at a really cool spot for lunch near ROHI... We had Doug an intern from Corner Stone Church with us on Safari and we dropped him off at ROHI when finished... it was awesome seeing those smiling faces again!... nothing beats smiling faces and lovely "how are yooooou" coming down the streets.
We got some gifts for loved ones at home at the Curio shops, it started raining pretty hard so we called it quits and came back to the house to get ready for diner... We had one last amazing diner at Kate and Johnny's as well as a movie! I'm really going to miss that big family! Their really the coolest people ever!
Leaving Africa... I feel...I feel like we accomplished something... Tho it may not have been much it was a lot to the families we helped and now that this trip is almost to a closer I can honestly say my heart has planted a seed and I can't wait to come back and visit. God is so good! He's been funny on this trip having us go through some good and bad times...He pushed us to the limit but God will never give you more than you can handle and at times it seemed like He pushed me off a cliff, He lifted me up higher than I was.I can't wait to come home and share all my stories and photos!!!
Kwaheri Nakuru... I will be back.
Asante Sana for everyone who helped send me out here as well as prayer... I couldn't have done this without you
Nakupenda!

I have seen what I have seen, I have felt what I felt and...cried

My heart has been in Africa for many years. My toes have been dusty from the red dirt many times. My eyes have seen countless injustices. But today is first for me. Today I got word a sweet child was lost today.

AIDS is all over this place I call home but yet I have never felt the loss of a life to it until today. Friends of mine have a home for kids here and they lost a little girl. Their hearts are sad and I to find my heart sad because this is a little girl I knew. I hugged her, cooked her spaghetti, and kissed goodnight. Yes I knew her for a short time but I knew her and NEVER on the FCC Kenya team has a child we ministered to died while we were in country.

As I looked at the photos of her I cried...I could not help but cry. I was crying for her mom and dad left to tell other kids but I was also crying because this is the hard cold reality of AFRICA. There are countless of families, couples, and individuals that answer the call to come, love, work, and live in Africa. They see and face this day in and day out. It hurts so bad to think I am not the only one with a broken hart right now. People never forget "first" and I can say I will not forget this feeling. Also it is a feeling I know I will feel over and over........because I to have heard the call to Africa. I just pray that God gives me what I need each and every time I feel this way. Also I pray with all my heart that He is glorified through it all because it is not always pretty and fun but I know God is loving and full of grace. So I hold on to Him and His word because I have seen what I have seen, I have felt what I have felt, and I have cried.

So i havent blogged in a while

Sorry to all the people wanting to hear my thoughts on this trip. Typing is not a fun thing for me i type like one word a min. lol, but any who. Let me tell you whats going on in my head since my last blog. I am very grateful to be here I thank God he called me on this trip. I have seen it all from people dying at a "Hospital" and i put hospital in quotations because it was more like a mortuary then a hospital. Soon as you walk in you could smell death in the air. There were babies burnt from head to toe and had not been really treated for 5 or 6 days. There were people dying from Aids..Even little kids dying from Aids ... See More because out here 1 out of every 4 girls get raped by the age of 10 years old. This building looked horrible. Walls broken, windows broken. Rats, bugs, flies all over. There where 8 beds per room and the room was the size of about 2 American hospital rooms maybe smaller. There where no real doctors only kids who just got out of High school and they are just training and practicing on the dying patients like lab rats. If they cant pay they don't get treated or they get kicked out. There where kids being abandon because the parents couldn't afford the hospital. There was a girl who life or death hung in the balance because she couldn't afford to the surgery which was only $20 US dollars. And i can name about 20-30 stories like that. Thank God we where able to pay for her and others but there were so many and you cant save everyone. It was horrible. And this was the biggest hospital in this big city called Nakuru, Kenya. We went to the Bush Bush, which means went went to stay basically in a remote part of Sub-Saharan Africa in a place called East Pokot where there in no running water and you gotta use the bathroom in a hole in the floor and people like in real mud huts n their major "Town" is like 5 stores that are 10x worst then the worst convenient store u know but it was life changing and i ...felt so bad 4 the girls out there who get forced into marriage and forced 2 do female circumcisions. Then we went and visited 2 orphanages with some orphans who are beginning to put their life back together because some missionaries who moved to Africa doing God's work takes care of all the kids. Its great to see their joy now that they are in a safe place. Then we went to the dump and saw people suffering from Aid's who don't even have enough money to get to the "hospital" and get treated. Its a horrible feeling to see a mother dying, cant even get off her bed which is just a metal rod with a thin blanket on it. She cant get up to use the bathroom so she goes right on her bed. She has nobody to take care of her and her six kids. Her white blood cell count is at 14 when the normal person should be at about 1200. Her 6 kids sleep on chairs in a house as big as a bedroom and when we walked in they were eating popcorn seeds off the floor. It looks like soon their mom will pass and they will be left as orphans to fin for themselves by the way the oldest is 8 yrs old taking care of them all from3-8 yrs old. Its just sad but I thank God for allowing me to witness this so i can come back to the states and not just sit on the sidelines but help out by starting a non profit organization which will be called The Black Diamond Foundation and we are going to help orphanages and Schools and in the long run will build orphanages and schools and hospitals. So i will do my best to do what i can to make Kenya a better place. I have been touched threw this experience and i hope you now are touched by my words giving you a short picture of what it is like out here and hopefully you will partner with me to make Kenya a better place for those who live there. Please Contact me if you want to be apart of the Movement!!!

Red Toes

So today was a day that God had planned! It was clear because I had mixed up the days the team and I would be going to MIA and the dump ministry......all because God had something for us to finish up with Kate and Johnny's girls. We had great morning finishing up the sewing project and then headed to town to get some supplies for tomorrow and have lunch. While we were in town we ran into Molly and Joe who just got a new girl at SOHK. This little one is one they were working on getting when we worked with them last week. She is ONLY 7 years old, has been living on the streets with her "mom" and has been sexually assaulted. As hard as it was to hear her story it was a joy to see her in Joe's arms after knowing how they prayed and worked on getting her into SOHK to be safe and loved! It was like reading the last few pages of the last chapter in a GREAT book.

Heading back to Kate and Johnny's after town we got some supplies to paint all the girls nails. Yes, it is a girly but they are girls. They are also some pretty amazing girls with a Future and a Hope because of Kate and Johnny. That short time we had painting toes may seem so small to many but...for girls who come from places that make your heart break....it means so much. It shows love to girls that early in life did not know what that was. So as I sat on the concrete and Sarah painted my toes, red, I looked around. Yes I was a home in Kenya but I saw more!

I saw a family that gave up so much to love girls that had nothing. I saw a family with white kids and black kids who are colorblind and call each other sister and brother. I saw a mom and a dad that love EACH of their kids biological or not. I saw kids growing in truth and love. I saw a family that places Christ in the center. I saw a kind of family the world could use more of! I saw all of this with red toes.

The Slums of Rhonda..

These last few days we've been visiting Kate and Johnny a few missionaries who have adopted 8 children on top of her 5 children... As you can imagine... they needed some help with organizing and cleaning... One thing the kids really needed was new nets, so Leilani put her sewing skills together and has been making new nets for everyone... Yesterday Leilani and Cassandra stayed behind to help make new nets while Eugene and I went to Rhonda, It's a small town also known as the slums.
Him and I visited 3 "homes" the 1st was a man named William who has HIV/AIDS a 3 month old baby a wife who every morning leaves trying to find work so William can go to the "hospital"... His wish these last 5 days have been just to make it to the hospital... Eugene and I prayed over William and after Eugene gave him a few dollars to make it to the hospital and get an x-ray which totaled out to be about 10 dollars, the medicine here is free.
The 2nd "house" was a women named Constalita, She has a white blood cell count of 2, has 6 children all under 8 and by looking at her you would never suspect she's ever had kids she was so skinny. She slept on a metal bench, all her kids had a wooden chair to sleep on. There was no food. No chai. No one around to help her. I'm sure if we didn't open her door that day, no one would have... Her only wish was that she got a blanket, the man who took us, Ben, Kate and Johnny's helper all he wished for was some Pampers because she can't move.... After we left her we got her a blanket like she wished and this morning Ben will drop it off....
The last house, gave us hope. 3 women all dying of aids earlier this year, some having 0 white blood cells recovering 100% now married.... We bought a few neckalaces from them... Their mission behind makind jewlery is to never forget where they've come from... to always give the Glory to God....
It was hard going from chillin these last few days to getting hit back with what our mission was in the 1st place...
Today we visit the dump. I'm happy I saw the slums yesterday to prepare for today... I pray for the rest of my team...
Asante Sana for all the prayers thus far... we'll be home soon!!