Monday, June 22, 2009

We Have FINALLY Arrived!!

After three flights, hours spent with legs shoved under someone else, eating "chicken" or pasta, and sleeping for a few moments here and there, we have finally made it to Nairobi. We arrived last night around 7:30pm, which is 12:30pm Eastern, and had some minor challenges getting through the Kenyan airport process. After paying a small fee for bringing ministry items into the country, we left the airport destined for a good night's sleep.

After staying up for a couple hours, inhaling all of the Kenyan air and culture, we ate pizza and fell asleep. This morning we woke up to the noise of a city busy with life and billowing with hope. We headed to the local coffee shop, Java house, and ate an amazing breakfast, followed by a long wait for the internet access that is too slow to work and too expensive to worry about.

Tomorrow we will leave the hotel at 5:30am destined for Turkana. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and minister to those God places in our path. Thanks for all your support and prayers.

The Kenya Team 09

Friday, June 19, 2009

And the Journey Begins...

In less than 48 hours, theWell's second mission team of the year will be arriving in Nairobi, Kenya. The team consists of 8 females and 6 males, which is the largest team that has ventured into the bush of Kenya from Seacoast. Stay connected to this blog, as we attempt to keep you connected to our team. The journey is long, challenging and difficult, yet rewarding. We know God has called us to travel to this country to share His love with those we will meet. We pray that you will join us on this journey and pray along with us, as we watch God do miracles.

Here are a few details that you may want to do.

Who We Are:

Girls
-Sara Smith (leader)
-Mel Alm (leader)
-Amy Webb
-Laurel Lotterhos
-Jessie Japzon
-Shilo Norris
-Kim Anderson
-Kate Bell

Guys
-Ernest Smith (leader)
-Gary McElveen
-Travis Evans
-John Lotterhos
-Brian Crittenden
-Brian Thompson

Where We Are Going:
We will be heading to the Turkana tribe located in the northern region of Kenya. If you are looking at a map, find Sudan and we are located about 2 hours south of the Sudan border. We will be right outside of a town called Lodwar, in the middle of the bush (a term used to describe the middle of nowhere, not an actual bush). We will in this are for the majority of our trip.

What We Are Going to be Doing:
We will be ministering to the Turkana tribe. There is an estimated 10 million Kenyans that will die of starvation this year. A large percentage of the Turkana tribe will be part of this statistic. We will be bringing food to give to families, including goats, conducting a medical outreach with our two nurses (Sara and Jessie) and a Kenyan doctor and walking many miles each day to tell individuals about the love of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He gave so that we could have eternal life. We will also be conducting children's ministry and teaching the discipleship students.

How You Can Help:
Prayer, prayer, prayer. Please be praying for us. Pray, ultimately, for God's will to be done. Pray that God will bring many Turkanans to know Him personally. Pray that the food we are bringing will sustain these families for many weeks to come. Pray for the travel and food and all the many challenges we will face. Ultimately, we know that God is for us, so who can be against us. We know that God will have His will be done, so just continue to pray for us and may God use your prayers to bring great success.

Itinerary:
We will be leaving Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm from the Charleston airport, traveling to Atl.
From Atlanta, we will be flying to Amsterdam and will arrive at 2:10am Eastern time.
From Amsterdam, we will fly to Nairobi and land in Nairobi at 12:25pm Eastern time on Sunday.

We will stay in Nairobi for 2 nights and then on Tuesday morning, we will fly to Lodwar where we will stay for the majority of our time.

We will try to keep everyone updated on what is happening with our team and what God is doing. Know that once we fly to Lodwar, we will have no computer access for over a week. Please be praying for us and continue to check back to see what God is doing.

Thank you for joining our team. May the Lord use all of us to work His will and bring many Kenyans to know Him personally.

In Christ's Love,
theWell Kenyan Team 09