Visitors

Our group arrived yesterday and it has been nonstop for them since. One of their group members got stuck in Amsterdam due to passport issues, another arrived this morning, and it has been a crazy introduction to Kenya for them all. I am so grateful to have them here! They are such a blessing to me and my parents and to all the people they will meet while they are here. I painted their bunkhouse before they arrived :) On to the day!

Kids are kids no matter where in the world they are or what language they speak.

We arrived at Nice View at 9:30 am, quickly organizing ourselves and getting right to the day’s activity and lesson on Spiritual Gifts.

Krystylle and her group taught the kids a verse, a song, and American sign language, which they picked up quickly! We also had a game where the kids would take one step for each word of a verse to see who would make it to the finish first, but it just turned into a race, which was ok too.

We then split the kids into two groups, Kindergarted-3rd grade and 4th-8th grade. I was with the group of older students. We spoke about spiritual gifts and then asked them what they would like to be when they grew up, to get a feel for what gifts they already possess. We then split them up by those groups. I had the group of lawyers, politicians, and presidents (which was a great opportunity to remind the kids about what true politicians should be like, not the corrupt, greedy ones Kenya currently has in power). They came up with three things these professions require: responsibility, fairness, and punctuality. I was so happy they were able to come up with those all on their own. We came up with examples for each one, then they claimed their professions by yelling out, “I am a Lawyer!” (or politician or president, depending on which they wanted).

Then it was dance time! We got out the drum (an orange bucket) and let Josephat bang away while we danced. The kids dance with energy and enthusiasm, knocking their knees together and kind of dancing like a chicken… I decided to match their style. The kids started yelling out, “Competition! Competition!” And they grabbed Moses, a skinny kid with a bright white shirt, and threw him into our circle. He started dancing away and I tried to keep up! All the kids loved watching the white girl try to dance like a Kenyan. Some of the girls also taught me some new games while they played with my hair. My hair is fascinating to them because it's so different than theirs. "It's so slippery!" they'll say. Tamera, one of our group members, played the drums with Josephat.

The school day ended, but kids had to wait for the bus to return from its first trip. (There is only one bus, so it has to make two trips to get all the kids home). The girls taught me some games they play and I taught them some as well. Then two girls pulled me aside and reminded me they wanted to be musicians when they grew up. They wondered if I knew any hip-hop music. I remembered that I had brought my Ipod and my speakers, so I ran to the office and grabbed them out of my pack. Soon enough we had a hip hop circle going, Jay-Z, Beyone, Nelly, and, by request from two of the girls, Justin Bieber. That’s right, the Bieb has made it to Kenya. So we rocked out a bit to “Baby, baby, baby ooooh!” These two girls were a bit more western than the rest. They must have tvs at their homes. The one girl started crumping! I was totally impressed.

Other group members came over and we taught the kids how to do the shuffle and the Cha Cha. They thought it was great! My mom is such a goof, I love her <3
At last it was time to head home and let the kids, those who board at the school, get washed up for bed.
One of our group members did get sick from exhaustion, but I know God will bring her comfort and healing. Tomorrow we go on some home visits and then head to Tala market to buy up some Kenyan goodies!