When we first started our journey to Kenya, Mark and I both prayed that wherever it was we were to serve, that we both would have a peace about it. To be honest, since returning, we had been wrestling between two locations. The first place was where we had pictured ourselves serving, a place we were familiar with, and a place both of us loved and so badly hoped it would soon be our home. The second place was new, different, came with a bit more adventure/challenges, and the need was greater in this small community. We had to let go of our plan and learn to embrace where the Lord was directing us. Once we both finally spoke the words of where we felt called, a peace that surpasses all understanding took place in our no longer confused hearts.
With all of that being said, we are excited to share that we plan on serving in Northern Kenya!
While the work we will be doing is not yet set in stone, there are many areas of ministry that will allow us to serve the community. There is one, possibly two orphanages that we would love to work alongside. The first has many children who have HIV/AIDS. This home has been around since 2006 and it houses around 30 children. While we toured the home, I couldn't help but notice very few beds that actually had mattresses on them. These mattresses looked like the ones we would throw away and let sit in the rain by the dumpster. Other beds just had a blanket on them to help cover the springs. For some reason this really tugged at my heart. Why did these kids not have mattresses? Who can I call so these kids can have mattresses to sleep on? It was then that I asked the director, what their biggest need was. I expected her to list material items...such as mattresses. She explained that they are in desperate need for food. This home had a pretty decent sized garden in the back and even some dairy cows and chickens, but because of the lack of water, it was hard for them to get food to grow in the garden. It was then that I had to put things into perspective. Food is more important than mattresses. The director told us that she is currently not able to take in any more kids because she simply cannot feed them. This broke my heart. We are looking forward to potentially working with this home and seeing how God works in the lives of the children.
The second location is in the early stages of becoming an orphanage. A proposal was written up by a man in the community to get government funding to start an orphanage in a local village. He would like to provide love, care, and empowerment for these beautiful children. God has laid both of these homes on our hearts. Please join us in praying for each of these homes as they grow and develop. Please also pray for the opportunity to partner with one or both of these orphanages.
We stayed with a family that serves a local community in a variety of ways such as by helping to put in water filtration systems and through different health projects. Mark is looking forward to possibly working with surrounding communities to help with the water filtration systems. While we visited the village we had the chance to walk around and see different reservoirs. There is not only great potential in this community for improvements in clean drinking water, but also to help introduce God's Living Water.
The second location is in the early stages of becoming an orphanage. A proposal was written up by a man in the community to get government funding to start an orphanage in a local village. He would like to provide love, care, and empowerment for these beautiful children. God has laid both of these homes on our hearts. Please join us in praying for each of these homes as they grow and develop. Please also pray for the opportunity to partner with one or both of these orphanages.
Mark with one of the kids
Mark and I with the Director
Our friend playing with some of the children
We stayed with a family that serves a local community in a variety of ways such as by helping to put in water filtration systems and through different health projects. Mark is looking forward to possibly working with surrounding communities to help with the water filtration systems. While we visited the village we had the chance to walk around and see different reservoirs. There is not only great potential in this community for improvements in clean drinking water, but also to help introduce God's Living Water.
This reservoir was put in by the British many years ago. They had hoped it would help this community for many years. This is the place that many people and their livestock get water. It is also a place they rinse their cows off after receiving a flea dip. While it looks like a lot of water that can last them a long time, it is loaded with a lot of unsafe bacteria.
This is a spring where some of the community comes to get their water. The women usually do most of the manual labor, such as collecting water. Needless to say, the women had a good laugh when the white men showed up to get their white women water.
A Dam built by the British.
The above is just an introduction to the life in this part of rural Kenya and there is so much more for us to learn. We are both excited about the adventure and are looking forward to seeing how God may use us in this community.
In other news, we are taking our next steps with the sending agency as we are attending a get to know you time with them this coming weekend. It's going to be a great time of getting to know the staff. This should help us learn more about how this next year should look for us as we continue to prepare for cross cultural work in Africa!
Please keep our trip and training, decision making, and the health of Kenzi and baby girl in your prayers. Thank you all for your continued support!
Blessings,
The Foglemans
