March 8

Today was a blessed day at Point of Grace.  We joined in worship again with the school likes and a few guests.  This last week and this weekend was visiting time for parents.  A few of those came to church this morning.  Here at Point of Grace, they celebrate communion every Sunday.  So it was great to gather around the altar with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

At the end of the service we processed up to the school to officially open and dedicate the library.  There were a lot of happy people: team, teachers, Pastor and Lorna, students, and guests alike.  They said it will benefit no only the school, but the community as well.  

Our second service was at Ararat church, about 5 minutes from here.  The service ran about two hours with communion and 5 baptisms.  It was a really neat full circle for me at this church.  In order to get to the church we had to walk by the house that the team from Emanuel mudded in 2013.  After the service was over, I realized that 4 of the children I baptized were from that house.  

We got back around 2:30 and ate lunch.  Then we invited some of the sponsored children over who had gifts to recieve.  It was fun having them by themselves and getting a little chance to visit.  We watched a little bit of the movie Madagascar and then went to the chapel to Skpye with Dodge Center.  It worked for a while, but then we lost it as more kids came in.  So we recorded a bunch of songs, the kids sang for close to an hour and a half.  At least we can bring that home with us to Dodge Center.

It was a bit of a tough night in the chapel tonight.  We began saying out goodbyes tonight, which are as tough for the kids as it is for the team. We cried, we hugged, and I told the team we will get to do it again tomorrow!

One more sleep here at Point of Grace.  The time went fast but we are all ready to return to our families.  Pray for our safe travels, that the work at Point of Grace would continue, and that God's grace would continue to abound here!  

         

Safari

By 9 AM this morning we had seen the Big 5 (Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Water Buffalo, Lion).  This is a pretty rare feat!  My battery is low, so this post will be short.  We all had a great day and can't wait to share more.

Hut Mudding

Today was the day that we had all waited for anxiously.  We began talking about it when we showed up, we learned about the family, and kept updated on the progress of the frame of the house.  Everything happened according to plan this year!  We headed to the land around 9 A.M. and met with Rosemary in her old house, said a prayer, and got to work.  It was hard to comprehend that someone could live in such conditions with 4 children (3 of which were still at home).  The house had a definite lean and plenty of holes in the roof.

It started out a little slow, we all had a lot of learning to do with rolling and packing the mud and choosing the right rocks for filler.  After a while, more help showed up.  The NEEMA women's group showed up to help fling mud as well, and I will be the first to say they put us all to shame!  They worked quick and were very patient with us.  From beginning to end, the project took 4 hours.  That included a tea break, which we are all in favor of, and downtime waiting for more water to arrive.  After the house was completed, after picture were taken, we entered the new house and joined in song and prayer.  Rosemary, her family, her neighbors, we very appreciative of the new house.  We are all just praying that the house will be finished by the time the rainy season begins, which could be any time.

I was told many times that I won because I had the most mud on me :)  Anyone who knows me is probably not surprised.  The ladies at the Meeker's house sure got a laugh.  We cleaned up, ate lunch, and headed up to the school for some unexpected time with the kids.  We set up the volleyball nets and had some instruction time with a few teachers.  The ladies handed out some beads for necklaces, and they have stories from that, and then met up with Anderson, our safari guide.

Some of us snuck back over to the dorms and handed out some glo-stick brackets.  Jana, this was a great idea!  I have never head giggles like that :)  We closed the night by leading devotions again with the older dorms and said our goodbyes until Saturday.

Tomorrow we head to the Mara!!  I will do a picture blog tomorrow night (3/6) so that you can see a little bit of God's creation that we are experiencing.  

March 3

It isn’t until we sit down for the evenings here at Point of Grace that we realize just how busy we have been.  As the team feverously journals about their days experiences, we all share stories and laughs with each other.  I strongly believe this is a very important time of day for everyone. 

Today was another busy day with lots to accomplish.  We took all our donations to Lorna’s office, first thing this morning.  We had it planned out to distribute the quilts from Trinity, Faribault to students who needed them the most.  Lorna handpicked each one and brought them down to the office.  We all took turns handing them out and a few of us got to children who were special to us.  Karen gave a blanket to her new sponsor child Tobias.  I had the privilege to hand a blanket to my parents new sponsor child Mildred and to a child whose house I helped build in 2013.  Each of the 16 blankets were special moments.  Thank you Trinity ladies!  Pictures will be coming your way when we get home.  

We all spent some time this morning sanding the library bookshelves.  All shelving units are now built and some of us put on the first coat of paint this afternoon.  It looks really nice.  We have been told many times just how great this library will be for the school.  More than once I have been told that it is a dream come true.  The head teacher even told me that there is no other school in the area with a library like this.  Personally, this is very humbling to be told, to be able to have a hand in the project, but most of all to have this library bear the name “Chase”.  I am just glad that it will be a blessing and asset to the school.  With just a few more coats of paint, sweeping, and stacking of book, the “Chase Junior Library” and Point of Grace Academy will be complete! 

This afternoon, the ladies took the time to assemble 220 goodie bags for the boarding children.  They went school at a local store to pick up a few things, and boy did the kids love to get them all.  Thanks to all who donated toys, games, candy, and even whistles.  They will be enjoyed for some time. 

We will end our evening again by leading devotions for the kids.  We all enjoyed it so much last night, we couldn’t imagine not doing it again.  Tonight we must get some good rest, for tomorrow we mud a hut!  We are all excited for this chance to help a family out.  

Monday 3/2

I think I speak for the whole team when I say today was an exhausting day.  We each had a lot of different projects that we worked on today.  The ladies carried more boxes of books to the third floor of the school, where we are storing the books during construction.  Dale and I continued our sanding of bookshelves and were told that tomorrow we will start painting/staining and by Wednesday we can stack books.  Hopefully the room is ready for dedication on Sunday. 

Shirley Deetz, on our way back to the house for lunch we stopped by the house where the sewing machines are!  See the pictures below J  I couldn't believe when I learned that the three workers there make ALL the kids clothes.  They do an amazing job!  I thought about leaving my measurements and getting a pair of pants. 

In the afternoon, we all went separate ways.  The ladies went to see the women’s group that meets and into town to do a little shopping.  I headed back to school to visit with the kids and play a while.  They were all so sweet to ask me to take an afternoon run with them!  But, if I were to go run for thirty minutes, I would probably had collapse about 30 seconds in.  But I met them all for an hour of volleyball when they were done. 

We all took a walk over to see the Meeker’s house that they are building.  It has amazing views.  On one side you have breathtaking views of Lake Victoria, on the other you see the children’s dorms.  What a blessing that house will be for visiting teams when it is done. 

After we ate supper, we all went up and led devotions for the 2 oldest girls dorms and the 2 oldest boys dorms.  It was a very neat experience.  I hope to have the chance to do so each night before we head home.  I am teaching the girls to sing Abide With Me. 

All in all, it was another great day at POGA.  For those wondering, the team is all doing well.  No one has gotten hurt, only one hasn’t felt good to this point.  We are very thankful for our safety! 

A quick note to last year’s team, James is back!!  He says hello to everyone.    

     

A Double Post (Saturday & Sunday)

Saturday

The last day of VBS was great.  All the kids came back to school, and as told, they were in full uniform.  It was definitely more relaxed though.  The kids loved signing the banner, the teacher and the team all signed it too.  We have seen since day one that the kids have a passion for singing, this was especially evident today.  We had a mix of everything, from Jesus Loves Me to This Is The Way We Brush Our Teeth!  We all took turns tying necklaces, which didn’t last long, most have been turned into other things, but enjoyed all the same. 

We had a chance to feed the kids lunch one more time.  Today there was only one line, so most of us had a chance to go around and visit with the kids.  They are always so excited to have their picture taken, especially when they can see the picture right away. 

In the afternoon we headed up to the library to sand some more pieces.  There is one stack complete, with another on it’s way.  Peter, the carpenter, is using the plans drawn up by a member of Grace!  Way to go Rod, you are now an international architect!  We are hoping that once they get to work on Monday, the shelves will be produced quicker, since they have done one. 

We quit a little early this afternoon so that we could all get ready to head into town and treat the Meekers to dinner.  It was a beautiful evening at Kiboko (Swahili for hippo) Bay.  The food was delicious, it was a real treat for us all.  There was not enough time to stop at the Nakumatt tonight, but it is in the works soon. 

We are all looking forward to enjoying Sunday worship with the kids and to travel to an area church.  Your prayers continue to sustain us, thank you! 

Update Two: Sunday

Both of our services today were amazing.  So nice to worship with 200+ children.  I think that the team was impressed by how well they knew Divine Service Setting Three.  8,500 miles away from home, and they are using the same liturgy we are familiar with.  The second service was in a Luo speaking church.  Pastor Meeker can speak it pretty well, but there was a liturgist for us.  I had a chance to preach with Richard, Lorna’s helper in the CMC office, translating.  It was a really neat opportunity for us all. 

One thing that we found interesting was that someone put chicken eggs in the offering plate.  At the end of the service, one church member stood up and basically auctioned them off.  They turned the eggs into money.  But unlike our auctions, if you placed a bid, you paid that money whether you got the eggs or not!  We all thought we could give this a try for our school auction. 

We spent some time with the kids this afternoon, working with those who were going to be speaking during Skype.  They were all excited to speak to their sponsors, and even introduce themselves to potential sponsors.  We heard some heartbreaking stories, so many children orphaned.  But we are glad they have found a home, and friends, and Point of Grace.

I have to apologize to everyone who was at Grace this morning for our Skype.  I am sorry it didn't go better.  However, I am happy were able to get ids and sponsors matched up by the end.  We will have plenty of videos when we get back to share. 

We will see what tomorrow brings for us.  Some will work in the library, some will run errands, the ladies will be visiting the women’s group, and we might all do a few home visits.  We are excited to be able to get out into the community and see God at work.  

VBS Day 2

Today was another fantastic day at Point of Grace.  You could tell from the very beginning that the kids were warming up to us.  They were talkative, super smiley, and attracted to cameras!  I saw a shift in team as well, they really did well in our Jonah skit.  We had the kids involved as the people of Nineveh.  I told them to make the meanest face they could, most of them smiled. 

I think the biggest hit of the day was he fish party blower.  The kids were the first to take a liking to noise makers, but by the end, the teachers were having more fun that everyone else!  I can’t wait to share some videos from that classroom with you. 

The library shelves are officially underway!  The team spent the afternoon sanding the shelves, watching the carpenter prepare the wood.  It was an eye opener and pretty neat to watch.  We were told that by the time we get back to Point of Grace from the safari, the project will be complete.  We have been told by everyone that this will be a great addition, especially for the Form 1 kids. 

I had the chance to teach two classes today, both Pastoral Program of Instruction.  The first was for classes 5-8 (roughly 160 kids) and the afternoon session was Form 1 (32 kids).  They did very well, considering who their teacher was!  Dale and I were invited into the teachers evening meeting, and the general consensus is that VBS is a hit, for both students and teachers.  

  

After supper tonight we headed over to the dorms to have a tour and see a few of the kids.  At the moment they are packed tight!  As of tomorrow though, nearly 100 boys will be moved to the third floor of the school.  They have said that there is a need to separate the boys from the girls.   

All and all a great day, capped off by a Tusker beer.