New Photos June 29
See the captions!

Presenting the crosses from Al Michel to the Pastor of Umoja, in this photo and next photos.

The inside of the church of Umoja, basically one room in a storage building is what it looks like. This was because their old church got burned down in the violence (election).

Sunday School Seminar

Umoja Church.

Umoja Church with Proclaimer Device (audio Bible)

Sunday School kids with crafts

Questions

A friend of mine asked me these questions, so I thought I might post them and their answers since maybe just maybe a few of you might be thinking the same things and the answers are somewhat interesting I think.

1. What are you eating? Are you eating a lot of vegetables and fruits? Are you eating anything out of the ordinary that people in the US might not eat? Do they have any candy ;)

Answer...

In the mornings I eat bananas and yogurt from the grocery store just to have something. Lunch is either out to eat (some decently normal restaurants although the only chain American restaurant Ive seen is Olive Garden. Dinner is normal stuff at the compound or from Pastor Winterle. I have had several homecooked African meals for lunch or dinner, they use a lot of rice, and a lot of low quality meat, they use the whole animal, dark meat, fat, everything, Im not complaining though, and Ive eaten it all. When serving the guests they also give large portions which has been tough finish sometimes. Some of the restaurants weve eaten at have been very nice. Some candy but not a lot, and no where near as much as in the US. A lot of chocolate at the supermarkets and such though.

2. Have you put on any puppet shows yet with those puppets your mom gave you? Are you using the Sunday School supplies you were given? If so, do they enjoy those things?

Answer....
I gave out almost all of the Sunday school supplies at a Sunday school seminar. They liked it, and were very happy to finally have some good resources to use. Many of them used to just teach their classes by just reading straight from the Bible which can be a tough way to teach 3 year olds. I havent had a chance to do puppets and not sure when I will now unfortunately. Im sure they will be put to good use here eventually either before I leave or when I leave them with them.

3. Have you had any interesting experiences with animals or anything (aside from the giraffe kissing you)?

Answer...
I was feet away from a lion, saw a leopard, and saw an interesting giraffe mating fight neck thingy.

4. What time do you go to bed and get up? Do the natives get up really early?

Answer...
Depending on the days schedule I get up anywhere from 7 to 8ish and go to bed at nights anywhere from 9 to 11. The people dont seem to get up all that early as a whole, though I dont know much about that.

5. What's life like there?

Answer...
It depends on who you are. Some still live out in the nature in huts and in tribes. Others live in the different portions of town out of whatever they can find to make a house and wash their clothes in the streams and have small jobs for money. Others are orphans living in the slums trying to survive. Others are normal people with normal jobs living in standards that are decent enough though probably less than most middle class in America though that may depend on what your standards are. Still a few others are doing very well and live quite well which is why you do see some really nice things mixed in with some really bad things in this country. Youll see a really nice building compound, surrounded by trash and dusty bad conditioned roads, and that seems to be the case in a lot of places here.

6. What's the weather been like?

Answer...
The sun shinning directly on you can be hot, but the temperatures dont get all that high, hot but not all that uncomfortable hot except during maybe midday. Nights are very cool (perfect for me for shorts and a tshirt, maybe a long sleeve shirt for you girls or girly men, wink wink) which although I love, I see the native people in full winter coats and bundled all the way up with scarves and everything! All in all, I would much rather have this weather than a scorching humid Missouri summer right now.

7. What have you guys been doing lately?

Answer...
The main group left on Safari, but the Wehmeier family and I stayed and did work with another church one day and did Sunday school stuff another day and went to church on Sunday at the church that Pastor Winterle is Pastor of. The whole group goes back to America tomorrow night and then it is just me as the lone American here! I will have a young man from Hungary coming in a few days and we will probably be going around a lot together. I believe if I am remembering this correctly that we will be doing most of our work with a group of Orphan boys called the Lost Boys at Kibara (not sure on the spelling) which is one of, if not the largest slum in the world.

8. Is there any one experince that stands out in your mind?

Answer...
There are so so so many. I dont even know where I would begin. There is so much here that I view everyday that just makes me say wow. An interesting thing that happened just last night would be that there was a riot at the Muslim bording school right next door to my compound. The students at the school were rioting against it for some reason. They broke almost every window on the compound and had to be broken up by tear gas from the police. I had been planning on leaving my compound right before it started too, who knows what might have happened if I hadnt been sidetracked by poor internet.... so that is probably an experience that stands out from just last night, though it isnt even the experience that stands out most in my mind probably.

Well, those were all the questions sent. I love you and miss you all very very much!

Day 4 Experiences--Sunday, June 21

-We went to a church service at our not-yet-completed church today. The music was beautiful! Everyone here loves to dress up for the occasion. They were singing and dancing, and continued singing and dancing for us after the service. Pastor Winterle finally came over and told us if we didn’t leave then, they would keep singing until we finally did leave.

-We went to the Masai (not sure on spelling) market today. It was a bartering market. My goodness how I hate those! For those of you who have been to Israel, or any other bartering market, this one tops all of those markets. It was in such a confined space, and the people were more aggressive than anything I have ever seen. At least in Israel the people did not grab you! I was grabbed several times. At one point I shook a lady’s hand and then she tried to use that to pull me into her section of parking lot. I literally had to pry my hand out of hers.

-Today Janice was complaining that women seem to take the second status role in this society. Pastor Winterle said that with the Masai this was not so. Janice asked if it was because it was a Matriarch society. Pastor said no, it was because with the Masai it is men first, goats second, women third. That got a chuckle from everyone, but it is sadly true. Its just terrible to see some of the injustices that are still rampant.

-I saw Proverbs 9:10 on Pastor Winterle’s wall in his office and thought it was pretty neat so I wrote it down. What was really great was that it was then one of the Scripture readings today. I love how God works like that!

-We gave out several items called a Proclaimer. Basically it is an audio device that plays the Bible and can run on solar power, winding up the cranker, or with electricity. The people we gave them too were overjoyed to get them, especially since many of them (even the ones that can read, Im not sure what the literacy rate is) have no access to a Bible. One man asked a worried question, what do we do with it when the device gets to the end of the Bible (question mark here). We replied with, you can play the whole thing again! This made him very happy. The device repeats and can play any selected book and chapter of the Bible! He would be able to listen to Gods Word over and over and over and this was something new to him. How many of us have access to the Bible on the internet, or have multiple Bibles in our possession that we arent as excited about to read over and over again (question mark).

-There was almost an assassination of a top government official and overthrow of the government last night, but the US stepped in and stopped it. Things are never dull here in Kenya thats for sure. The election caused all sorts of violence and cutoff travel last year, I can only imagine what that would have done had the government been overthrown...

-We went to an Ethiopian restaurant after church. In Ethiopian restaurants you eat everything with your fingers!

Well thats all for today. I hope I can get a few more days posted tonight, who knows when I will have internet again...

Day 3 Experiences--Saturday, June 20

Well its day 12 here but I have only been able to access the internet once briefly in the last 6 or so days so I had no time to really do anything during that time and havent been on since. Since I am on now I am going to try to add a few posts with the notes I have starting where I left off, day 3. Day 3 is the day we began building the church which is what we did all day.

-Began building today. Everything here works on Africa Time. If you plan for a certain time, don’t expect people to show up until much much later than that.

-I met a man whose parents are from Hungary, was born in Zimbabwe, lived in some other African country, and now is here and also going back and forth to Hungary. He is a fascinating young man, a good Lutheran young man. He’s 23 and has a great head on his shoulders. Dad, I think you would really like him, I’m going to send you his email address and some more information about him.

-Africa is an event society, not a time society like America. In the US, an event begins when the time says it begins. In Africa, an event begins when the people all arrive. Many times this can be an hour and a half after it was supposed to “scheduled” to begin.

-A quote I like from David Reynolds today, “The church we are building here is not just the building, that is the easy part, the church we are building here is the work we are doing with the people.”

-We are not even in the very poor section of Nairobi at this point, and already we can see how little some of these people have, and yet most of them do not complain or whine about that. We still haven’t even visited the slum, a million person slum extending through Nairobi, one of, if not the world’s largest slums. Its called Kibara (don’t know about the spelling).

-There is nothing quite like trying to get 30 kids to share a football who have probably never had the chance to play with one. They all keep trying to throw it like it’s a rugby ball. It reminds me of watching kindergarten soccer with the kids just flocking around trying to get the ball.

-There is a fruit down here called Marula, and apparently it’s a very good alcohol, and apparently many animals eat it and become drunk on it which inspires some great youtube videos. I would just youtube Marula and I’m sure there will be some videos of the animals drunk off this stuff.

-I was told the reason that we are white, “God ran out of paint.” We are apparently the first Mzungos (whites) that some of these people have ever seen. We’ve been asked “where is your color?”

-We know that by being here, we are not going to change the world, or even change Nairobi. The difference we make might be hardly noticeable, but we are making a difference in a few of these peoples lives, and that is more than enough, knowing that what we are doing for a few of these people is truly making a difference in their lives, and maybe, just one more soul might be coming to know Jesus and will go to heaven when they die because of the work God is doing through us here.

More Perspective From Janice Reynolds
Brothers & Sisters~~

We had a wonderful "pre-dedication" service on Sunday. The choir was magnificent! As soon as everyone was seated, the choir came in with the pastors singing and swaying in rhythm. When they sang, it was truly the voice of Africa! The length of the service was also African! It was supposed to start at 9:00, started at 10:30 and ended at 1:00!
David presented the cross for the church and I had the privilege of presenting the banner. The people clapped and shouted for joy; you will have to wait until we return for me to make the sound they used to express their appreciation.

Monday, we spent our second day on the job. Some of us had the "privilege" of visiting the hospital in Kiambu (and I use the term privilege loosley). It is hard to find the words to describe it.
They had separate buildings for eye treatment; pediatric; x-ray; physical therapy; mothers of new babies and "botched" abortions. I was struck with how unclean everything seemed to be! The patient rooms opened onto an open courtyard where birds flew overhead. If there was not enough rooms for pediatric patients, they would put 2 in a bed. Adult patients were kept in wards, with only a curtain around their beds for privacy. The rooms appeared so unclean, none of us would even consider spending night, let alone be there if we were sick. I will not complain about my hospital/doctor bills in the future!

Today, we completed our work on the church we came to build. It has been an interesting experience working with the heavier stone.
We then went to two "public" schools. The children wear uniforms so you know to what school they go. Their uniforms are cotton dresses with sweaters for the girls, and the boys wear shorts and the appropriate colored shirt with sweater (it is winter here, even tho it is nearly as hot here as in Spfld). The teachers seem to be as concerned about their students as our teachers are in the US. The children appear to be better mannered. Consider that at the 2nd school, the head master (principal) had a cane and would smack he children if they got too close! They sang some traditional songs in Swahili and did some dances for us. I'm sure you would have enjoyed seeing some of us from RLC and KOK dancing with the children!

The people here are very tribe-conscious~~they are Kikuiu (or Masia) first, then Kenyans, then Africans. On the drive to the job site today, we saw some Masai who had brought their cattle into town to graze on the grass at the side of the road. If the cows are in the road, you have to stop Also remember that they drive on the "wrong" side of the road~it was a day or 2 before I could ride without panicking!

We visited 2 homes today. Again, so much different from we live in the US. Most homes seem to be a room or two in a long building. The front half is the living room, and we assume the back half is the kitchn and/or sleeping quarters. Most of the homes use corrugated tin~I should think that would be very hot, especially in the summer and especially b/c there are few windows.

Please pray for our new friend Jen. She is 22 and still living at home. She has completed "primary" school (grades 1-8) and was going to high school in Uganda. I am told that it is cheaper to go to high school there. Her older brother was helping her with expenses. He was in Somalia, and told their mother he would be coming home to Kenya. They haven't heard from him for 2-3 months. The mother continues to check the hospitals and jails around here. I think she plans onn going to Somalia to see if she can learn anything. Meanwhile, Jen tells me they try not to miss him so much; I think she means they try not to despair.

We are learning so much here, and everyday I appreciate my family, my church, and my country more. Count your blessings every day and pray for those who live with so much less than those of us blessed to live in the United States.

Thank you for your support and continued prayers!

Janice Reynolds

A Few More Photos!

More pics at the school, dancing at the school with the kids, being mobbed as if we were the president having to shake hands and everything. David and Pastor Dan presenting the leaders of the congregation with a bible in Swahili and hymnals.

Preaching the Word at new church!

Below are posted new photos. A picture has to tell a thousand words! Praise God!

Joseph handing out crosses to teachers.

Everyone dancing!

LaDonna and Janice Dancing!

David and Janice dancing with children!

The team with banner at site!



David grilling water buffalo burgers?

Lidia Winterle with choir after service.

Pastor preaching at new church!

Old church on left and new uncompleted church on right.

Pastor preaching.

In the new church!

Old Church.

Team with banner at new church.

Day 2 Experiences

This day was spent mostly allowing the rest of the group to adjust to the new time and buy supplies as well as see the area around us.

-Saw the Karen Blixen house. I guess she did a lot to set up this area and introduced the coffee crop as a cash crop or something like that. If you have ever seen the movie Out of Africa, that is exactly who this is about. Its really cool, I bought a map, and where I am staying and have been is on places that figure into the movie and the historical happenings of Karen Blixen, in fact, the suburb of Niarobi Im staying in is called, Karen. Go check out the movie for the effects of where I am at.

-I can see why Europeans would have come here so much and tried to take over. The weather is beautiful. Yeah the sun can get a little hot midday especially since its direct sunlight from the equator, but the temperature hasnt gotten as high as Missouri summer temperatures. In the shade its fine, or covered from the sun with clothing its fine. The nights and mornings are quite pleasant if not a little cold for some of the people. All in all very nice temperatures here for this time of year, and having seen some of the European places, its as if its a resort hidaway for them. In fact I saw a really old poster from when this was still a British colony advertising this as a winter getaway.

-Saw the elephants, rhino, and giraffes. I got to touch them all. The elephant keepers are much like the wildlife rangers in America, very concerned with conservation. The lady did admit that it is somewhat of a tough sell to convince people here to spend money saving the animals when much of the country is in poverty or starving. I think that speaks for itself and I wont add more to that, take it as you will...

-Drove past one of, if not the, worlds biggest slums. I forget the name, but it is right in the heart of Niarobi. I will get to go inside it at a later date.

-Got my first African kiss... granted it was by a Giraffe....

- Lots of flowers everywhere. You can buy 20 roses for a $1.50

Thats all for today. Work on the church begins day 3.

Day 1 Experiences

Well, this post is long over-due. I have been meaning to make a post chronicalling what happens each day and the observations I make each day. They will be very informal and probably very scattered and bulleted.

My first full day here was spent getting acclimated to the time change and getting some groceries for my stay here as well as welcoming the rest of the building team.

-I have not seen a single American made car here yet, although I am told there have been a few Fords around. Mostly Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, etc.

-It gets dark here earlier than the current time in the states, around 7 oclock local time its dark, and when its dark its best not to leave wherever you are.

-The roads here are scary as well as the driving. Traffic that should be on 4 lane roads with center turn lanes is contained on passable two lane roads with bikers and walkers as well on the non-existent shoulders.

-I havent been sick yet!

-I recently took one of those personality tests (are you introverted or extroverted, etc.) courtesy of a certain Jason Hall. Although there is certainly a lot that goes into my personality, the tagline on my personality type is ``willing to try anything once.`` This should hopefully serve me well here as Im attempting to try anything and everything that I have the opportunity to.

-There are only roundabouts here and its left side of the road only driving. I certainly hate that. That also means steering wheel is on the right side and I have gotten in on the wrong side several times now because of that. I think this is probably another one of those heritages from the times as a British colony, of which there are still many, such as a love of tea and coffee.

-Every building that is worth anything and not in center city (although some there too) and not on a strip shop is surrounded by walls with barbed wire or some other form of keeping people out (like shards of glass sticking out of the top of the concrete wall). All these buildings or compounds have guards controlling the gate (including the compound Im staying at). Many times with residences there are multiple housing spots inside one compound.

-I saw the Luther Rose (the seal of Martin Luther, a rose, with a heart inside it, and a cross inside that) on the windshield of Pastor Winterles car. It made me think about the universality of the gospel. God came for all mankind in the form of Jesus. For everyone! Regardless of culture, color, language, geographical area, age, height, weight, etc. Jesus died for all our sins so we might have life in him! How great that is, and I keep being reminded of it, and I think our presence (many we have met have never seen ``color-less`` people) shows these people that the same is true from the other side because they are meeting fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!

-People like to dress up here. Even when very hot at the work place it was not proper for us to wear shorts. Granted its not as hot for them because on several occasions I would have felt great(and thankful because I know those hot humid Missouri summers!) in shorts and a t-shirt, and the locals around me were bundling up as if for winter, no joke, full winter coats on some of them!

Well, thats it for day 1, Im going to try to start working on day 2 since I have a little time to work tonight.

Day 1 Experiences

Day 4 Here

Greetings in Christ!

There is so much to share with you! I have no time, and the internet is so bad! Ugh! I miss you all, and wish I could come back just to see all your faces and to share all there is for me to share what I have learned and experienced in just 4 short full days! My work here is not yet done though, not even close!

We went to church at 9 this morning, and left at 1:30 and they were still singing and dancing! I promise promise promise within the next couple of days I will make several posts with the titles of the days they come from telling what we did, and the observations and everthing. There is just so much difficulty with everything, and the internet, and using a Portuguese computer, and not on my computer, and having my notes for the days in different places that it would not do it justice for me to write one now.

So far I have been reliant on emailing my father from this computer (which though it may take hours in the outbox is more reliable) and having him make the post with pictures from the U.S. So I will probably compose some messages on my computer back at my compound some night here in the next few days and then email it out.

For now I will just say that I miss you all. I miss date nights with my friends, I miss baseball, I miss going to my home church that is truly my home and the fellowship there with each of you. I miss my shower, and my home, and fast fast fast internet (never thought I would say that about Mediacom wink wink). Despite my longings for these things and many others, I cannot say, and dont want to create the impression that I am down hearted, because I am not! I am completely joyful to be serving my Lord! I have longings, but my longing to do Gods Will is much greater! I know that the work I am doing here is important!

Anyway, blessings to you all. I love you!

New Pictures from the Kenya Mission Team

David and Janice (far left) with Pastor Carlos Winterle (behind David) present the "Proclaimer", a hand-crank and solar powered audio Bible in their native language.

Janice Reynolds' Perspective and Notes

Below are some notes that describe one of my co-travelers, Janice Reynolds', experience of our Africa Mission Trip.

Today was our first day on the African church job site. It was nothing like what we have experienced in Brazil! Because the building stones were so large and heavy (not like the terra cotta bricks we use in Brazil!), the women on our team did other things. We saw the Kenyan women bringing water to make the mud. We were curious from where they were getting the water, so we followed them. We walked up the road, through someone's back yard, and down a very long, steep hill to a small dirty stream (which was across from the city dump). The women would fill the 5 lb. water jugs, seal them with a dried avocado, and either carry them on their heads or on their backs with a piece of rope or fabric. I am filled with a new admiration for African women! It was pointed out to us that the men NEVER carry water! In a typical day, a women will haul water 5 or more times a day for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. Women seem to be no more than an infra-structure in this society.

The wooden crosses that Al Michel made were a big hit. One young man came up to me and said in hallting English, This is bling!

There was a baby crying hard when we first came, so I gave him a teddy bear. Of course, then all the children wanted one, and all through the day, mothers came to me asking for a bear for their baby. (And why was the baby crying so hard? Because there were so many of us mzungus-white people- around and he was scared!)

The children love to sing, and I asked them to sing a song in Swahili; they asked if they could sing in Kikuiu (one of the larger tribes in Kenya). They seem to have so much joy that they cannot contain it, so they dance when they sing. Joseph Highley and I asked them to teach us to dance, which they did enthusiastically.

In the afternoon, Pastor Winterle presented a youth group and a ladies group each with a "Proclaimer" with the New Testament recorded that we had brought from the United States. The program was recommended by Pastor Maas and is to allow people to come to faith through listening. I so wish that all of you could have seen and heard the people when they heard the Gospel in their own language of Swahili! They applauded and said, "Yes, this is what we need!" Praise God !!

The mission field is ripe in Kenya, and we are thankful for this opportunity and privilege of being sent here. We are also very thankful and appreciative of Redeemer's support. We ask your continued prayers for our team and for these beutiful people.

In Christ,
Janice Reynolds

The Work Begins

Greetings Redeemer from Kenya,

We are busy at the Lords work here in Niarobi, Kenya! We have begun building the church and working with the local people. God is truly at work here in so many ways. Here are just a few of the pictures from our experiences.

We appreciate and ask for your continued prayers for Gods Word to be spread amongst these people. Our entire Redeemer team here is joyfully going about our work and loving every minute of it. We miss you all, but we wouldnt trade our experiences and the opportunity to spread the Gospel here for anything!

I wish I could write more, there is so much to share, but the internet is just so slow and I dont have any time to be on it as it is. This very message and photos are being sent out through my mother. Rest assured, I will type when I can, and am keeping a daily journal, so someday I may make several days and topics of posts at once. If only the internet were faster. I love and miss you all though, and wish I could chat and share all I have learned in just my three full days here.

Gods Blessings!

Joseph Highley

Stereotypes

I am interested to hear any stereotypes that you all may have about Kenya or Africa, and I am kind of going to do an experiment observing in my month here and asking questions as to whether or not they are true. I know that I had a few of these stereotypes myself, several of which have proved true so far, and several of which are not even close.

So what are yours (on non-foreign keyboard, a question mark would here be inserted)

Here at Last!

Well everyone, I made it. I am currently typing this from the computer of the Pastor I am staying with currently, and he is Portuguese so certain features like apostrophes are just not going to be able to happen.

Today marks my first full day in Kenya. I arrived last night at 1030 local time (sorry, the colon button doesnt do the colon either but rather makes a Ç whatever that means in Portuguese). I will be going to the grocery store today and moving into where I will be staying for the next month.

A few brief observations...

1) The internet here is painfully slow, think late 90s slow... I am not sure if I will have internet access at my home for the month or not, so this may or may not be the last post for a while. Due to the internet being slow, it will also probably be difficult for me to upload pictures

2) This first house I am at is very nice, much like any house in America would be, though obviously a different style, with stone walls and natural African surroundings, etc. Very nice though, I stayed in a nice room, with a normal shower and toilet and everything, just like home. I am told this is a nicer portion of Niarobi and that some of the places I will visit are very very very poor. Emphasis on the very poor.

Well, I am being called on to go to the market now, so off I go. Sorry to cut short. Love you all! Blesssings!

3 Short Days

Its just 3 short days until I leave. As far as I know, I am completely ready to go. At this point I am very excited, only a little bit nervous, and filled with the knowledge that I will miss you all for the month I will be gone, but joyful that my reasons for missing you very well outweigh my actual missing you. If that wasn't confusing enough, basically I know that I have the chance to do good work for God and His kingdom and that is worth sacrificing everything!

I was talking with a buddy of mine, Jason Hall, and the fact that me going to Africa could be inspiring to some. I then began to wonder where my motivation to go and serve comes from. I quickly deduced the answer. I am motivated to sere by the Holy Spirit working with in me. So any person that is then inspired on my account is also inspired through the Holy Spirit. In this way, we can see God working through my trip, and through all things.

The final thing I would like to say in this post, is that I appreciate all of the support that has been given to me thus far. It has truly been humbling and inspiring (there's that Holy Spirit working again). Thank you all for your gifts and your prayers. One last tidbit, I am not taking a razor to Africa, partially due to luggage space and weight, and partially due to me not wanting to shave while I'm over. A few of my male friends (Dan Schelp, Jason Hall, Dan Rathe) have said that in support of my endeavors they too promise not to shave while I am in Africa. So be on the look out for ZZ Top walking around Springfield in the coming month.

Just a few more days...

Blessings!