Alright guys, this post is gonna be the opposite of the last one...I had a bad day today. Well it started out great, but around1pm ish I started feeling very tired. I was feeding the babies when a thought popped into my head "why am I here, I don't even like this anymore". Now I know in my heart that this is a COMPLETE lie, but I bothered the heck out of me. So I finished feeding the babies and went back to my room. I didn't feel like helping anyone with anything so I popped The Lion King into my laptop, thinking "this will make me feel better for sure". I watched some, and then it was 3:30 feeding time again, so I went downstairs to help. As soon as I got into the room, I got a terrible headache and my body started aching. I blamed it on lack of water today and decided that after the feeding I would go drink some water. I grabbed a baby and started feeding again, and the headache and voice in my head telling me lies wouldn't go away. I fed another baby, and then I decided to go upstairs for a nap. I chatted with Carol for a bit while she was on her way to work and then to Erik before he went to work. And I broke down, I blamed my crying on my headache and homesickness. I just sat on my bed and cried. I told God that I am sick of feeling this way. I told Him that I feel useless and homesick. I hate feeling like this and I want it to change. Then I realized, this only happened when I distanced myself from God. I was reading and praying but it was like I was going through the motions. I am not a doctor, so I have no idea if that is what made me sick, but I know that God used that time to sit me down and get me to talk to Him in a real way. I wish I could tell you that I felt better after, but I still feel sick. I feel better spiritually!! which is awesome, but my body has the flu. I have a fever and chills....something I never thought would happen in Africa!! Who gets cold here?! haha. I tried to have a nap but I was too cold even with the blankets on. I won't feed the babies tonight, as I don't want to get them sick, but hopefully I feel better in the morning.
A wise man once said "Rach, while you are sleeping you have a whole group of people praying for you as they go about their day."
I wanted to share with you my struggles, and ask for prayer for my body as well as my heart and spiritual body. Thank you for reading this, and thank you for praying.
Love: Rachel
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Struggles and Praise Items
Hey Everyone!!
I am safely back from my safari, and I had an amazing time :) I am trying to post pictures which takes a long time, but I will get them up soon hopefully!!
I was trying to think of my favorite part, but I can't...it was all very awesome. I saw rhinos, hippos, flamingos, giraffe, zebra, antelope, gazelle, topi, hyenas, I was about three meters away from five male lions which was awesome, ostrich, elephants (with a baby one!!!), cheetahs, monkeys, lots of birds, and lots of baboons!! I feel very blessed to have seen all of these things in one week. Honestly I thank the Lord for this oppertunity, because without Him I know I wouldn't have seen those things. I was praying quite hard for photo oppertunities, and I sure got them!! God is so Amazing :) I have a couple of stories that prove how amazing the God that I serve is:
On a different note though, when I got back I went in to feed the babies. I noticed that one of the babies, Micah, wasn't in his crib. When I left on the 16th he wasn't eating properly and had an IV in his hand. I found out that they took him into the hospital on the 20th, Wednesday, and he passed away shortly after that. The poor guy was only four months old. It makes me very sad because I was often the one to sit with him when he wasn't eating, trying to make him eat. But I am also at peace about it becuase I know that he is in a much better place, sitting in Jesus' lap, than he ever could be here!! And on a positive note we got another little buddy on Friday!! He doesn't have a name yet, and no one seems to be able to tell me how he got here, but I think he is about one year old and he is a chunky monkey!! Once I get the full story I will try to remember to post it.
Things are going quite well here I would say. About mid way through my safari I missed being at HappyLife, so clearly I am loving it here :)
I specific prayer request that I have at this time would be for the Kenya Elections. They are coming up, March 4th, and this country NEEDS prayer at this time. The last election was five years ago and there was a lot of post election violence; some got injured and others even died. It was a terrible time, and so many of the Kenyan's are afraid for this year's elections. They have actually changed the constitution for this year and so they are better prepared to deal with things this time around, but prayer will only help the situation!! The following are the candidates:
I don't really have any other major prayer requests right now. I do have a cold, which sucks, so prayer for that is appreciated. But all in all, I am loving my time here. I was in church yesterday for the early service with a friend named Olivia, and then after that there was a ladies service. One of the ladies was sharing about seasons of life and how we need to seek God's purpose for us in each season that we are in, weather we enjoy the season or not. I am obviously enjoying this season as well as a specific season in the near future *cough* my wedding *cough*. But even though I am enjoying it, I still need to seek God's purpose every single day!!
Speaking of weddings, I think you all should know that Erik and I picked a date!!! August 17th 2013 Erik Picard and I will be tying the knot :) pretty pumped about picking a date.
I hope all is well with you as you go about your week. I am going to try to make a concious effort to update a little more often, but sometimes I struggle with a topic. Some of the things that I do on a daily basis seem normal to me, but maybe you would be interested in hearing about it. If there are questions that you have, or topics you would like me to share about, please comment below or email me at rachelbergen_13@hotmail.com. I want to share things that you are interested in hearing, so please let me know!!
Love you all, and may God bless you this week and all the weeks to come.
Love: Rach :)
I am safely back from my safari, and I had an amazing time :) I am trying to post pictures which takes a long time, but I will get them up soon hopefully!!
I was trying to think of my favorite part, but I can't...it was all very awesome. I saw rhinos, hippos, flamingos, giraffe, zebra, antelope, gazelle, topi, hyenas, I was about three meters away from five male lions which was awesome, ostrich, elephants (with a baby one!!!), cheetahs, monkeys, lots of birds, and lots of baboons!! I feel very blessed to have seen all of these things in one week. Honestly I thank the Lord for this oppertunity, because without Him I know I wouldn't have seen those things. I was praying quite hard for photo oppertunities, and I sure got them!! God is so Amazing :) I have a couple of stories that prove how amazing the God that I serve is:
- On my safari, there were 14 of us plus our driver; Ben, our cook; Mike and our guide/group leader; Florance. I was the youngest one in the group and the only one who wasn't interested in drinking every evening...the first night I thought "what did I get myself into". As it turned out, God used this past week to show me that I DO have the courage to talk about my faith and stand up for what I believe. For a long time I have struggled with sharing my faith with others. I know we are called to do it, but it is one of the things that is super hard for me. That is part of the reason I am volunteering with babies...they can't talk or question me :) Anyways, nearly every day I had a conversation about religion or what I believe or why I believe it. And it wasn't like they were attacking me, but the conversations were very cool. This one instance, I was talking to a guy and I had mentioned that when speaking in tongues you shouldn't do it aloud unless there is an interpreter (he was very knowlegable about Christianity). He was like "Really?! Where in the Bible does it say THAT?!" and I was like "oh boy, I have no idea!!" But my Bible was right in front of me so I grabbed it and opened it, right to 1 Corinthians 14 and I was like "THANK YOU LORD!!" so I did a quick read through and got to verses 27-28; If anyone speaks in a tongue, two-or at the most three-should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. Usually when I want to find a passage it takes me forever to get there, but in this instance God totally showed up and gave me the passage :)
- Story number two; on Friday morning, the 22nd, I got up and went on a hot air balloon ride, which was pretty sweet, long story short we spotted 5 male lions from the balloon and got to drive over to see them after our balloon landed. **First cool thing, I would not have seen these lions if I wasn't in the balloon.** When I rejoined my group, they were pretty much all complaining, as it was the last day, and they hadn't seen lions yet. To make matters worse, I told them that I had seen the five male lions, and also three female lions at a different place. So they were kinda bumbed out. I sent up a short prayer asking God to let us see lions. Not for me, but for the rest of the group and wouldn't you know it about an hour later..... LIONS!! Three females. It was cool :) It sure helped me to remember that God cares about the small "insignificant" things too!!
On a different note though, when I got back I went in to feed the babies. I noticed that one of the babies, Micah, wasn't in his crib. When I left on the 16th he wasn't eating properly and had an IV in his hand. I found out that they took him into the hospital on the 20th, Wednesday, and he passed away shortly after that. The poor guy was only four months old. It makes me very sad because I was often the one to sit with him when he wasn't eating, trying to make him eat. But I am also at peace about it becuase I know that he is in a much better place, sitting in Jesus' lap, than he ever could be here!! And on a positive note we got another little buddy on Friday!! He doesn't have a name yet, and no one seems to be able to tell me how he got here, but I think he is about one year old and he is a chunky monkey!! Once I get the full story I will try to remember to post it.
Things are going quite well here I would say. About mid way through my safari I missed being at HappyLife, so clearly I am loving it here :)
I specific prayer request that I have at this time would be for the Kenya Elections. They are coming up, March 4th, and this country NEEDS prayer at this time. The last election was five years ago and there was a lot of post election violence; some got injured and others even died. It was a terrible time, and so many of the Kenyan's are afraid for this year's elections. They have actually changed the constitution for this year and so they are better prepared to deal with things this time around, but prayer will only help the situation!! The following are the candidates:
- Mohammed Abduba Dida
- Raila Odinga
- Uhuru Kenyatta
- Musalia Mudavadi
- Martha Karua
- Peter Kenneth
- James ole Kiyiapi
- Paul Muite
I don't really have any other major prayer requests right now. I do have a cold, which sucks, so prayer for that is appreciated. But all in all, I am loving my time here. I was in church yesterday for the early service with a friend named Olivia, and then after that there was a ladies service. One of the ladies was sharing about seasons of life and how we need to seek God's purpose for us in each season that we are in, weather we enjoy the season or not. I am obviously enjoying this season as well as a specific season in the near future *cough* my wedding *cough*. But even though I am enjoying it, I still need to seek God's purpose every single day!!
Speaking of weddings, I think you all should know that Erik and I picked a date!!! August 17th 2013 Erik Picard and I will be tying the knot :) pretty pumped about picking a date.
I hope all is well with you as you go about your week. I am going to try to make a concious effort to update a little more often, but sometimes I struggle with a topic. Some of the things that I do on a daily basis seem normal to me, but maybe you would be interested in hearing about it. If there are questions that you have, or topics you would like me to share about, please comment below or email me at rachelbergen_13@hotmail.com. I want to share things that you are interested in hearing, so please let me know!!
Love you all, and may God bless you this week and all the weeks to come.
Love: Rach :)
Friday, February 15, 2013
Juja Farm/Orphanage/Safari :D
Hello All!! Thanks for stopping by :)
Today we went to Juja Farm, which is owned and run by HappyLife Children's home. It is a small piece of farm land, with goats, chickens and fish, where two "mom"'s and 15 kids live!! (13 boys and 2 girls). The age group is 4-6 and they used to live in Nairobi at HappyLife. Because they hadn't started school yet, they moved out to Juja, and they are being home schooled out there. It is about an hour's drive from Nairobi in a district thingy called Juja. These children have lived there since December 28, 2012, and they seem to love it!!
Leanne, a volunteer, had bought various sizes of soccer balls to bring to them and they loved them!! We were playing soccer (really each kid would kick their own ball at me and I would kick it back to them) and also there were a couple of skipping ropes that we were teaching them to use. It was lots of fun going there and seeing how different life is on the farm for them.
Another thing; on Tuesday I had the chance to visit a different orphanage, which is also a school. They house 40 kids at the orphange, in this TINY three room house. Then the school, which is about three of our "street blocks" at home, has those 40 kids as well as 40 more from the local area. It is kindergarten to grade 8 and these kids are so very thankful for their education. Leanne and I went with a man named Nicholas, who goes to school at USIU a couple blocks from HappyLife, and we got to tour the place and meet the principal, Boaz. When we first arrived, they were having recess outside and they ran down the street to meet us!! They were super pumped to see us and they were shaking our hands and fist bumping us, it was so cute. After recess we went inside and I got out my camera...well NONE of them are camera shy!! It was hilarious because I would try to take a picture of one child, and all of a sudden there were 13 other ones wanting to be in the picture!!!! It was so much fun. Eventually it was time for class and we got to go to each of the classes and see which grade they were in and what they were learning. In the grade 4 class we asked each of them what they want to be when they grow up and everyone knew!! It is so amazing to me how much, even at grade 4, they value their education. Most of them wanted to be nurses or pilots, some journalists and some police officers. It was very cool!! But then we got talking to Boaz, and he said that they don't even have running water at the school. So if a child needs a drink, they have to go the three blocks back to the orphanage and get some water. They have had this school since 2008, I think, and it still isn't finished. It made me realize that here at HappyLife, they are soooooo blessed!! It is definitely one of the more well off orphanages. As we were getting ready to leave I asked them if they needed school supplies and they said yes lots, but mostly textbooks and each textbook costs about 500 KeS. I felt God push me to give to them, so I gave them 3000 Kes ($35 CAD) which was all that I had at the time. I was thinking though, that I might give them part of the donation that I was going to give to HappyLife (which you donated to me) because this place seems to need the help a bit more, and that is what is on my heart :)
AAAAND.....I am going on my safari soon!!!!! Saturday evening I am meeting my group at a hotel and spending the night there, and then early Sunday morning we are heading out!! Here is a short schedule for any of you who are interested in where I am going:
Thank you for praying and for reading!! Hopefully I will be able to post lots of pictures when I get home. I wish you all a great week and I pray God's blessings on you for reading my updates. Chat with you in a week's time!!
Love: Rach :)
Today we went to Juja Farm, which is owned and run by HappyLife Children's home. It is a small piece of farm land, with goats, chickens and fish, where two "mom"'s and 15 kids live!! (13 boys and 2 girls). The age group is 4-6 and they used to live in Nairobi at HappyLife. Because they hadn't started school yet, they moved out to Juja, and they are being home schooled out there. It is about an hour's drive from Nairobi in a district thingy called Juja. These children have lived there since December 28, 2012, and they seem to love it!!
Leanne, a volunteer, had bought various sizes of soccer balls to bring to them and they loved them!! We were playing soccer (really each kid would kick their own ball at me and I would kick it back to them) and also there were a couple of skipping ropes that we were teaching them to use. It was lots of fun going there and seeing how different life is on the farm for them.
Another thing; on Tuesday I had the chance to visit a different orphanage, which is also a school. They house 40 kids at the orphange, in this TINY three room house. Then the school, which is about three of our "street blocks" at home, has those 40 kids as well as 40 more from the local area. It is kindergarten to grade 8 and these kids are so very thankful for their education. Leanne and I went with a man named Nicholas, who goes to school at USIU a couple blocks from HappyLife, and we got to tour the place and meet the principal, Boaz. When we first arrived, they were having recess outside and they ran down the street to meet us!! They were super pumped to see us and they were shaking our hands and fist bumping us, it was so cute. After recess we went inside and I got out my camera...well NONE of them are camera shy!! It was hilarious because I would try to take a picture of one child, and all of a sudden there were 13 other ones wanting to be in the picture!!!! It was so much fun. Eventually it was time for class and we got to go to each of the classes and see which grade they were in and what they were learning. In the grade 4 class we asked each of them what they want to be when they grow up and everyone knew!! It is so amazing to me how much, even at grade 4, they value their education. Most of them wanted to be nurses or pilots, some journalists and some police officers. It was very cool!! But then we got talking to Boaz, and he said that they don't even have running water at the school. So if a child needs a drink, they have to go the three blocks back to the orphanage and get some water. They have had this school since 2008, I think, and it still isn't finished. It made me realize that here at HappyLife, they are soooooo blessed!! It is definitely one of the more well off orphanages. As we were getting ready to leave I asked them if they needed school supplies and they said yes lots, but mostly textbooks and each textbook costs about 500 KeS. I felt God push me to give to them, so I gave them 3000 Kes ($35 CAD) which was all that I had at the time. I was thinking though, that I might give them part of the donation that I was going to give to HappyLife (which you donated to me) because this place seems to need the help a bit more, and that is what is on my heart :)
AAAAND.....I am going on my safari soon!!!!! Saturday evening I am meeting my group at a hotel and spending the night there, and then early Sunday morning we are heading out!! Here is a short schedule for any of you who are interested in where I am going:
- Day 1: Saturday
- meet at hotel and spend the night
- Day 2: Sunday
- Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park
- Visit New Hope Children's Center - an orphanage where we can bring them things (i have coloring books and crayons)
- Hopefully see rhinos and flamingo
- Camp for the night
- Day 3-4: Monday & Tuesday
- Drive to nearby village to interact with locals
- Drive to Lake Naivasha to see hippos and birds
- Day 5: Wednesday
- Drive to Loita Hills, crossing the Great Rift Valley
- Loita Hills is home to the traditional Maasi people (one of 42 tribes in Kenya)
- Learn about the culture of the Maasi people
- Day 6-7: Thursday & Friday
- Drive to Masai Mara National Reserve
- Hopefully see the 'Big 5'!!
- Friday is when I have a hot air balloon ride at sunrise!!! Super excited for this :)
- Go on game drives both days
- Day 8: Saturday
- Leave for Nairobi once again
- Arrive back at the hotel early afternoon
Thank you for praying and for reading!! Hopefully I will be able to post lots of pictures when I get home. I wish you all a great week and I pray God's blessings on you for reading my updates. Chat with you in a week's time!!
Love: Rach :)
Monday, February 11, 2013
Crazy Weekend!!
This may or may not be a long post........don't say I didn't warn you :)
Hey, thank you for continuing to read!! My weekend has been anything but dull. Here is what happened:
Friday:
Woke up at around 6am, because I was supposed to be ready for 7. It was Court Day for 8 of the babies at Happy Lift. Basically what happens is that these babies need to be "committed" to Happy Life which means they can be adopted!!! We had an appointment at 8:30 so we wanted to leave at 7... well African's run on their own time, and Judy, the lady who was in charge of this, only arrived at 8:15. There is NO way we could get into town on time, in fact by the time we got all 8 ladies (each with one baby carseats are not necessary here...) and our driver into the van and got into the City Center through the crazy traffic it was 9:30. We got into the court and we were sitting on benches in the hallway waiting for an open slot because we obviously missed ours by an hour. Judy went and told someone that we had a sick baby (which we did, poor Jayden was feeling aweful) and they actually managed to fit us in earlier than expected!! I was thanking God for that. So it was about 11:30 when we got into the court room and our time in there was maybe 15 minutes. A man read off a baby's name, then the person holding that baby stood up. The judge "committed" each of them seperately and then we were outta there!! By this time though, it is lunchtime, which means lunchtime traffic, which was a nightmare with 8 hungry babies in one van. They did super well though!! Not even crying too much. We got back to HLCH around 1:45 and then I ate lunch and had a nap. After my nap though I was grouchy....which sucked, but I eventually decided to get over it and I wasn't grouchy anymore!!
Saturday:
Woke up at 5am because I was going on a day safari with PACU, which is a Christian university just next door. A man named Peter, who is studying to be a pastor, invited me to go along. I was the only Mzungu (white person) aboard the bus, which held about 60 of us. So any time I heard the word Mzungu, I knew that someone was talking about me.....and since white people are quite rare I suppose, I was the one that EVERYONE wanted to take pictures with, it was terrible. I have so many pictures of me with people that I don't even know!! And personally I am totally fine with being on the back side of a camera, but yesterday I had my fair share of being on the front side. Anyways, so we had breakfast at 5:30am at the University, which was chapati and a smokie and we were supposed to leave at 6, but we were off by 6:30. The drive was 3 1/2 hours, which was long on the bumpy roads and in a huge bus, but it was well worth it!! We went to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy which is a huge area, 9000 acres, of land where wild animal are. There is a fence around the outside and the chimpanzees are in a large fenced in area inside, but mostly the animals are in their natural habitat. The fence is to protect them and to stop poachers as well (which is illigal, but through corrupt systems it still happens). It was one of the coolest things!! We paid at the entrance, and then a guide hopped aboard our bus to tell the driver where to go. We started down the road/path and all of a sudden there are zebras and gazelle right to our left!!!
This picture is taken on the move, and that is why it is not clear :(
And then, to the right is this large giraffe!!!!! They are the coolest animals in the entire world. I freaked out, I was like "Oh my word, it's a giraffe!!!!!!!" in my "not-so-inside" voice...and then the tour guide came over to where I was and started getting upset that we were being so loud, and I'm like "story of my life..." hahahaha it was great!!
So we ended up seeing lots of zebras and gazelle, two elephants, three giraffe, some lions (but they were under a tree so we couldn't really see them), some deer like animals that weren't very interesting :), some really cute monkeys and lots of warthogs!!! Which are another sweet animal, because when they are just chilling and standing still, their tail is curled like a pig but when they start trotting it goes straight up in the air!!!!! It is JUST like Pumba in The Lion King. Cracked me up the first time I saw one. Another cool fact, in Swahili, pumba means worthog, simba means lion and nala means lioness!! Who knew The Lion King could teach me soooo much :)
Also, about their chimpanzees; they are from the Congo and it is the only place in Kenya where you can see them. They are very dangerous animals though!! One of them kept on throwing stones and sticks at us through the fence!! Man did I laugh!! Everyone else ran away from it, but I was too busy laughing at the chimp. One time, I was videotaping it, and I was the only one on the ground, everyone else had went up to the watch platform thing to get away. So I was videoing it, because it was trying to throw stuff up at everyone, when all of a sudden it saw me and realized I was there and it whipped a stick at me!! It missed me by about 5 inches, but it was the coolest experience :) And then one of the bigger ones came out of the bushes to where we were, and he was showing off, so he would run back and forth at the fence pounding his feet one the ground and making chimp noises. Waaaaaay better than then ones at the zoo I can tell you that.
We had some lunch there, and I got to chat with three girls, which was awesome. I met so many new people and they all know my name and are constantly trying to talk to me. It was great fun. I felt very welcome by everyone. We got home around 9:30pm and I was exhausted!!! and I have this feeling that I will have lots more facebook friends by the time I leave here.
Sunday:
Sunday I was up at 8am, like any normal day here. Fed the babies in the morning and then by 10:30 we were with Tim, our taxi driver. We went to the Nairobi National Park today, which was pretty cool, except we didn't see too many things, which was a rip off for $30..but it was fun with Leanne and Sharon (two ladies who are volunteering here as well). After the park we went to a market type place which was really cool and a nice restaraunt where my seafood meal was served inside a crab shell!!!
It was a really tasty meal :) It was nice to have some cheese, as I can't seem to find any to buy here. After lunch, we went to the Nairobi National Museum, which was way more interesting than I thought. We got back to HLCH around 6:30pm so it was a nice day. Fed the babies around 8:15 to 9:40, and got severely puked on!!! That was absolutely nasty.....poor Sophie though, because she is sick. I also got to Skype my momma and Sheila, Zoee, Keenan and Rhiya tonight!! That was super awesome :)
Lots of the babies are sick right now, with the flu I think and when one of them gets the bug, it just seems to pass around to each of the babies. If you could pray for them that would be awesome!! There are 13 babies in Infant A (12 at the moment because one is in the hospital)
I am thanking God for safety this weekend as I was on the road a decent amount of time and he has brought me safely back!!! Also I am sleeping well which is a real blessing.
One more thing, I was chatting with my nephew Keenan earlier and he told me 72 more days until I am home. I think my neices and nephews are looking forward to me coming home a lot more than I am...haha, but I suppose they aren't experiencing what I am either!!
Thank you for reading, and may God bless you and keep you and may He shine His face upon you.
Love: Rach :)
Hey, thank you for continuing to read!! My weekend has been anything but dull. Here is what happened:
Friday:
Woke up at around 6am, because I was supposed to be ready for 7. It was Court Day for 8 of the babies at Happy Lift. Basically what happens is that these babies need to be "committed" to Happy Life which means they can be adopted!!! We had an appointment at 8:30 so we wanted to leave at 7... well African's run on their own time, and Judy, the lady who was in charge of this, only arrived at 8:15. There is NO way we could get into town on time, in fact by the time we got all 8 ladies (each with one baby carseats are not necessary here...) and our driver into the van and got into the City Center through the crazy traffic it was 9:30. We got into the court and we were sitting on benches in the hallway waiting for an open slot because we obviously missed ours by an hour. Judy went and told someone that we had a sick baby (which we did, poor Jayden was feeling aweful) and they actually managed to fit us in earlier than expected!! I was thanking God for that. So it was about 11:30 when we got into the court room and our time in there was maybe 15 minutes. A man read off a baby's name, then the person holding that baby stood up. The judge "committed" each of them seperately and then we were outta there!! By this time though, it is lunchtime, which means lunchtime traffic, which was a nightmare with 8 hungry babies in one van. They did super well though!! Not even crying too much. We got back to HLCH around 1:45 and then I ate lunch and had a nap. After my nap though I was grouchy....which sucked, but I eventually decided to get over it and I wasn't grouchy anymore!!
Saturday:
Woke up at 5am because I was going on a day safari with PACU, which is a Christian university just next door. A man named Peter, who is studying to be a pastor, invited me to go along. I was the only Mzungu (white person) aboard the bus, which held about 60 of us. So any time I heard the word Mzungu, I knew that someone was talking about me.....and since white people are quite rare I suppose, I was the one that EVERYONE wanted to take pictures with, it was terrible. I have so many pictures of me with people that I don't even know!! And personally I am totally fine with being on the back side of a camera, but yesterday I had my fair share of being on the front side. Anyways, so we had breakfast at 5:30am at the University, which was chapati and a smokie and we were supposed to leave at 6, but we were off by 6:30. The drive was 3 1/2 hours, which was long on the bumpy roads and in a huge bus, but it was well worth it!! We went to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy which is a huge area, 9000 acres, of land where wild animal are. There is a fence around the outside and the chimpanzees are in a large fenced in area inside, but mostly the animals are in their natural habitat. The fence is to protect them and to stop poachers as well (which is illigal, but through corrupt systems it still happens). It was one of the coolest things!! We paid at the entrance, and then a guide hopped aboard our bus to tell the driver where to go. We started down the road/path and all of a sudden there are zebras and gazelle right to our left!!!
And then, to the right is this large giraffe!!!!! They are the coolest animals in the entire world. I freaked out, I was like "Oh my word, it's a giraffe!!!!!!!" in my "not-so-inside" voice...and then the tour guide came over to where I was and started getting upset that we were being so loud, and I'm like "story of my life..." hahahaha it was great!!
So we ended up seeing lots of zebras and gazelle, two elephants, three giraffe, some lions (but they were under a tree so we couldn't really see them), some deer like animals that weren't very interesting :), some really cute monkeys and lots of warthogs!!! Which are another sweet animal, because when they are just chilling and standing still, their tail is curled like a pig but when they start trotting it goes straight up in the air!!!!! It is JUST like Pumba in The Lion King. Cracked me up the first time I saw one. Another cool fact, in Swahili, pumba means worthog, simba means lion and nala means lioness!! Who knew The Lion King could teach me soooo much :)
Also, about their chimpanzees; they are from the Congo and it is the only place in Kenya where you can see them. They are very dangerous animals though!! One of them kept on throwing stones and sticks at us through the fence!! Man did I laugh!! Everyone else ran away from it, but I was too busy laughing at the chimp. One time, I was videotaping it, and I was the only one on the ground, everyone else had went up to the watch platform thing to get away. So I was videoing it, because it was trying to throw stuff up at everyone, when all of a sudden it saw me and realized I was there and it whipped a stick at me!! It missed me by about 5 inches, but it was the coolest experience :) And then one of the bigger ones came out of the bushes to where we were, and he was showing off, so he would run back and forth at the fence pounding his feet one the ground and making chimp noises. Waaaaaay better than then ones at the zoo I can tell you that.
We had some lunch there, and I got to chat with three girls, which was awesome. I met so many new people and they all know my name and are constantly trying to talk to me. It was great fun. I felt very welcome by everyone. We got home around 9:30pm and I was exhausted!!! and I have this feeling that I will have lots more facebook friends by the time I leave here.
Sunday:
Sunday I was up at 8am, like any normal day here. Fed the babies in the morning and then by 10:30 we were with Tim, our taxi driver. We went to the Nairobi National Park today, which was pretty cool, except we didn't see too many things, which was a rip off for $30..but it was fun with Leanne and Sharon (two ladies who are volunteering here as well). After the park we went to a market type place which was really cool and a nice restaraunt where my seafood meal was served inside a crab shell!!!
It was a really tasty meal :) It was nice to have some cheese, as I can't seem to find any to buy here. After lunch, we went to the Nairobi National Museum, which was way more interesting than I thought. We got back to HLCH around 6:30pm so it was a nice day. Fed the babies around 8:15 to 9:40, and got severely puked on!!! That was absolutely nasty.....poor Sophie though, because she is sick. I also got to Skype my momma and Sheila, Zoee, Keenan and Rhiya tonight!! That was super awesome :)
Lots of the babies are sick right now, with the flu I think and when one of them gets the bug, it just seems to pass around to each of the babies. If you could pray for them that would be awesome!! There are 13 babies in Infant A (12 at the moment because one is in the hospital)
- Sophie (who puked on me today...)
- Hannah (who is currently in the hospital)
- Jayden (who is in the process of recovering from malnutrition)
- Edward (the youngest baby)
- Jewel
- Trevor
- Precious
- Leanne
- Micah
- Tai
- Reuben (the oldest in this room)
- Tendai
- Cathy
I am thanking God for safety this weekend as I was on the road a decent amount of time and he has brought me safely back!!! Also I am sleeping well which is a real blessing.
One more thing, I was chatting with my nephew Keenan earlier and he told me 72 more days until I am home. I think my neices and nephews are looking forward to me coming home a lot more than I am...haha, but I suppose they aren't experiencing what I am either!!
Thank you for reading, and may God bless you and keep you and may He shine His face upon you.
Love: Rach :)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Amazing Grace
I went to church this past Sunday, to a different church than the one I went to the first Sunday. This church is right next door, at a Christian university. The service was really great. It was a woman pastor and she was speaking on the topic of grace. As she was speaking she told this story to put into perspective what God really did for us. (many of you may have already seen this on facebook)
GRACE: Say you have a son. He is 15 years old and he gets murdered by this other guy, also 15. So your son is dead and the other guy goes to court. You are in the courtroom when they say he is guilty and he is sentenced for life with no chance of bail. This is JUSTICE.
Now what if you, as this boy's parents, plead that this other boy should not go to jail, it was an accident and he will do better next time. This is MERCY.
Now imagine if you told the judge, please let this boy, who has no family, come into our home. So you adopt this boy, and give him EVERYTHING that you were to give your own boy who was murdered. You give him a home, loving parents, an education and a chance at a better life. You love him the same as you would your own son. That is GRACE!!
And that is what Jesus has done for each one of us. This kind of grace is here for everyone every day!! PRAISE THE LORD :)
And that is what Jesus has done for each one of us. This kind of grace is here for everyone every day!! PRAISE THE LORD :)
This story really hit me, as it puts God's sacrifice perfectly into perspective. It is amazing that grace that is here for each of us every single morning and yet most, if not all, of us take is soooo for granted!! I challange you to seek out God's grace in your own life, as I am trying to do in mine.
Love: Rach :)
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Jambo!!
Jambo from Kenya :) That means hello from Kenya!!
Today was a busy day. Slept well last night, except it is super loud here, so falling asleep is a challange. Woke up this morning around 8am, (better than the last two days which were 11:30am...) and started getting ready, but all of a sudden I felt sick to my stomach!! I thought I was maybe hungry, but that wasn't it, so I went and laid down in my bed until the cramping stopped and that was it!! It was weird, but I am glad it didn't result in anything else.
I fed the babies around 9 ish until 10:30, and then Leanne (a volunteer from Australia) suggested that we go into Nairobi city center and I was excited to do so!! We walked down the street a ways and hopped into a Mtutu (taxi like vehicle that holds 14 passengers and the driver, much smaller than you would think.......) which costs 100 KeS (Kenyan Shillings) which is equivalent to about $1.33 CAD one way. Cheapest transportation I will prolly ever ride!! Haha It was quite an experience to say the least because these things are squishy and they have never even seen an air conditioner before.... The trip into city center is about 15 minutes one way.
Once we got into the city center, we were walking along, trying to get to the bank. Leanne has been to Nairobi before and in the city quite a number of times, so she was my guide. I was wearing a necklace, which is not such a hot idea here. A guy that was crossing the sidewalk in front of me actually tried to grab it off of my neck!!! MAN was I scared... and after that I definitely second guessed wearing my engagement ring, so I turned that around so the diamonds were at least on the inside and I took off my necklace as well. After that we finally got to the bank to an ATM, and then we decided to go to this tall building called the Kenyan International Conference Center. If you get the chance to Google it you should. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take a picture of the building from the ground, but if you look at a picture it will make more sense as I explain to you where I was. If you are looking at a picture, it is a tall cylindrical building, and at the top it looks as though there is a UFO chilling up there. Well on top of the UFO it is a Heli-pad for helicopters, and Leanne and I went up there, all the way to the top!! It cost 400Kes (less than $5) to go up to the top. And at the top it is this open space!! There is about a 4 foot fence around the edge, but that is it!! And the view is amazing :)
This is ME!! looking as white as milk at the top of the KICC. These buildings close around me are the city center, it is like that 360 degrees around. But way in the background, where the bushes are, that is what we drive through to get back to Happy Life.
After the building, we went to find some lunch. We stopped at a little diner which was quite nice. We each had steak for 600 KeS!! but honestly it was nothing like the steak at home :( but at least it was something. It was pretty good actually. We made our way to a little cafe called Dormans Coffee, where we each bought a HUGE piece of carrot cake to take home. Actually right now I am enjoying some of it :D mmm.
We found a Mtutu to catch for the way home and now we are resting at Happy Life. The WIFI and power haven't been very reliable lately, and that is the reason for the small amount of posts. Today it seems good though so I am taking advantage of that!!
Also, here are some more pictures of the babies!!
Today was a busy day. Slept well last night, except it is super loud here, so falling asleep is a challange. Woke up this morning around 8am, (better than the last two days which were 11:30am...) and started getting ready, but all of a sudden I felt sick to my stomach!! I thought I was maybe hungry, but that wasn't it, so I went and laid down in my bed until the cramping stopped and that was it!! It was weird, but I am glad it didn't result in anything else.
I fed the babies around 9 ish until 10:30, and then Leanne (a volunteer from Australia) suggested that we go into Nairobi city center and I was excited to do so!! We walked down the street a ways and hopped into a Mtutu (taxi like vehicle that holds 14 passengers and the driver, much smaller than you would think.......) which costs 100 KeS (Kenyan Shillings) which is equivalent to about $1.33 CAD one way. Cheapest transportation I will prolly ever ride!! Haha It was quite an experience to say the least because these things are squishy and they have never even seen an air conditioner before.... The trip into city center is about 15 minutes one way.
Once we got into the city center, we were walking along, trying to get to the bank. Leanne has been to Nairobi before and in the city quite a number of times, so she was my guide. I was wearing a necklace, which is not such a hot idea here. A guy that was crossing the sidewalk in front of me actually tried to grab it off of my neck!!! MAN was I scared... and after that I definitely second guessed wearing my engagement ring, so I turned that around so the diamonds were at least on the inside and I took off my necklace as well. After that we finally got to the bank to an ATM, and then we decided to go to this tall building called the Kenyan International Conference Center. If you get the chance to Google it you should. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take a picture of the building from the ground, but if you look at a picture it will make more sense as I explain to you where I was. If you are looking at a picture, it is a tall cylindrical building, and at the top it looks as though there is a UFO chilling up there. Well on top of the UFO it is a Heli-pad for helicopters, and Leanne and I went up there, all the way to the top!! It cost 400Kes (less than $5) to go up to the top. And at the top it is this open space!! There is about a 4 foot fence around the edge, but that is it!! And the view is amazing :)
This is ME!! looking as white as milk at the top of the KICC. These buildings close around me are the city center, it is like that 360 degrees around. But way in the background, where the bushes are, that is what we drive through to get back to Happy Life.
After the building, we went to find some lunch. We stopped at a little diner which was quite nice. We each had steak for 600 KeS!! but honestly it was nothing like the steak at home :( but at least it was something. It was pretty good actually. We made our way to a little cafe called Dormans Coffee, where we each bought a HUGE piece of carrot cake to take home. Actually right now I am enjoying some of it :D mmm.
We found a Mtutu to catch for the way home and now we are resting at Happy Life. The WIFI and power haven't been very reliable lately, and that is the reason for the small amount of posts. Today it seems good though so I am taking advantage of that!!
Also, here are some more pictures of the babies!!
I LOVE this boy's eyes!! Aren't they captivating?!
This here is Hannah :) she is a delicate little thing
And this baby, whose name I have not yet been told, is absolutely beautiful!!
She just quietly lays in her crib, sucking her two fingers.
I have many more to post, so I will hopefully try a post full of pictures very soon :)
I hope you have enjoyed going through my day with me!! Thank you for your prayers, I can feel them each and every day.
I hope your day goes great today!! And may the Lord bless you :)
Love: Rach :)
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