i am home

i know lots of you are anxious to hear about my trip. amazingly enough i feel like i don't have much to say. i mean, i do, but.... i am still processing thoughts and making sense of what i experienced. in a sense i feel dumb founded. my experience was amazing and i most likely will not have this same experience again. we took in so many things in so few days. my thoughts seem so random in my brain. our team was amazing.... coming from all over the place too. we had some members from alabama, georgia, texas, south carolina, ny and north carolina. God knew what he was doing when he pulled all the parts together. we did not have any conflicts amoung our group, which to me is amazing. our leader, jennifer was truelly a woman of God. you never really saw her get flustered (well, maybe that time in ny in the airport :))... but she had every good reason to be that way that time! we were joined by her husband once arriving in nairbi and the two of them together make a great pair :)

i will start off by telling you my favorite day of the trip was the day we visited the havilla house. this was our first stop (after showering) once in nairobi. it was about a 45 minute drive. let me tell you that one must be a very offensive driver to drive the streets there. it felt like anything goes there. cars going in all directions at all different speeds. there were cars and people in the road. they drive on the opposite side of the street as us so that was a bit confusing. we would be stopped in a traffic jam and having street vendors coming up to our windows trying to sell us anything and everything under the sun. they were not lazy. we made our way to the havilla house and were greeted by open arms. i was blessed to be able to hug denzel, mercy, rahab and gladys. all four of them were there :) it was so cool to be able to see them all again and to be in their native land... where they live and do life. i was introduced to denzel's mom and sister, cherie and got to talk with them and get to know them a bit. we got to tour the new house that they had just moved into two weeks prior to our arrival and they were all soooo proud of their new place. we got loved on, hair braided, and sung to. they blessed us again... by thier huge smiles and hearts for God. we got to meet moses and silome thier parents that have taken them in. i believe they have 45 children who live there now. we got to help them with some chores... chopping lettuce for dinner and getting some feed together for the cows. we did not partake in this next act, but lucky us got to experience the slaughter of a goat. got pictures/video to prove it! that goat was just given a name by emma... beckett... after her son. she did not realize the fate of that goat. poor beckett!

i continued to reflect on my time at havilla the whole trip i was there. we would listen to the daraja children's choir cd in the bus going on our many many trips to karima. i had been so emotional about a week leading up to the trip and then going into our journey and trying to process everything my eyes were seeing as i looked around. it was really hard for me. i started not feeling well going into the 3rd day there (which was the beginning of the time IN africa). by day 6/7 i was tired of being sick and noticed that i just wasn't being "moved" by anything. with the cancellation of our saturday home flight we added an extra day in karima, so we started off thursday by getting packed up at the hotel. we would be heading to karima to make a home visit or two and visit a clinic that was built in a close community by another 410 team. on the trip there the daraja cd was popped in and i started singing along with the cd and listening to the voices of last years choir (which included denzel, mercy, rahab and gladys) and my emotions came back full force. i was looking out the window and taking in the landscape and the people of kenya as they passed by my window and all i wanted to do was go back to the havilla house and pack each of those kids in my suitcase and tell them they can't breath till we get back to the states.... to what i see as a much better place for them to live. i was trying to make sense of thier faith... the God they were singing about in those songs... and still they had joy that lit up thier whole life despite thier circumstances that life has thrown at them. it is still overwhelming. very overwhelming and i have yet to make sense of it. those of you who have that cd, EVERY thing that jeff foxworthy says is true of that place. no one should have to live in such circumstances. WE are blessed here by soooo much. they have soooo little, but the smiles on thier faces and in thier hearts are genuine, because of the love and faith in God. i cried the whole cd. i will be praying extra hard for denzel and his family, mercy, rahab and gladys! and also for myself, that God will continue to show me things he wants me to see and learn from my time with those precious people.

african soil

just wanted to let you know we are now in africa... ghana. we head out in a couple hours for nairobi. pray for some restful sleep. our flight from nycity ( a new leg of the trip we did not know about) was a long one without much sleep. well.... not sure when and if i can get back on... just wanted to let you know that i landed on african soil safely. love to all!

Extra day in Kenya!!!

We got news on monday nite that our flight from nairobi to dubia on our return was cancelled!!! we are now getting to spend an extra day in kenya. 410 has been working diligently to move things around and find new flights and we are confirmed on the same flight on our return except we return sunday morning instead of saturday morning. this means for us that we will either get to have an extra day in karima or an extra day at the havilla house.... either way, it will be an extra blessing.

have been enjoying my last day before i leave... victor took the afternoon off so we did a few last minute errands and went to micky d with the kids and to tar-jay and now we are home for the rest of the evening. i have to double check my bags... and try to "rest" as much as i can. adrenaline may be my medicine for the next couple days :) we are off to the airport around 3:45 a.m. to be there by the check-in before 5! fun fun. all the kiddos are coming... gotta see momma off and give lots last minutes loves. pumping myself up here... it will all be good, i know. maybe a little rough, but good rough! till i return......

3 more days!

a lot of emotions are happening right now in me.  i am so very excited to do some traveling! some friendships with some team members have become stronger because of it and i am glad :)  i am excited to meet new people and see new things.  i know my eyes will be opened up to A LOT!!!  i have been on a few missions trips before in the past, the last one being to romania.  we saw quite a bit there on our journey.  u definitely come back changed.  i am expecting to come back different.  my husband nows i will come back different. my kids might be in for a rude awakening but they will soon see that momma has come back changed... and hopefully for the better! i hope that one day i can share such an experience WITH them and my husband. i have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a new and good thing in my life.

while we are there we will get a lot of time with the people of karima.  we will get some one on one time and group time and hopefully a lot of time with the kids there.  i will want to see how many i can cram into my suitcase, i am sure.  not sure if that will work, but if it did i would do it in a heart beat!!!  "hey baby... i brought home some living and breathing souvenirs :)"

they have asked us to have a verse to share when we introduce ourselves to the community.  so, i have thought about it and decided to use my "life verse" that i have fallen back on more times than not.  it is a powerful truth and sometimes i forget to tap into that strength that is always at my fingertips to use.  crazy why i don't, but anyway here it is:

Isaiah 40:28-31 

       Do you not know? 
       Have you not heard? 
       The LORD is the everlasting God, 
       the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
       He will not grow tired or weary, 
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

    He gives strength to the weary 
       and increases the power of the weak.

   Even youths grow tired and weary, 
       and young men stumble and fall;

    but those who hope in the LORD 
       will renew their strength. 
       They will soar on wings like eagles; 
       they will run and not grow weary, 
       they will walk and not be faint.

i know i will be tapping into it while i am away. i am going to try my hardest to make it daily!  why don't you do that too?

please pray for me while i am on my journey.  our itinerary has changed a bit as far as the travel goes.  i will be leaving charlotte on thursday morning at 7 and getting into atlanta alittle after 8.  we leave around 12:30 p.m. from atlanta for ghana.  we will be there at 8:30 a.m. on friday morning(they are 4 hours ahead of us... so that would be at 4:30 a.m. our time).  how many hours in the air is that???  14... WOW!  we then have a 12 hour layover there in ghana... flight leaving at 8:50 p.m. (4:50 p.m. here in charlotte).  we arrive in nairobi at 5:30 a.m. which is on saturday morning.  nairobi is 7 hours ahead of us here in charlotte( 10:30 p.m. friday nite).  i have a feeling we will be running on adrenaline at this point :)  

also, please keep me in mind and in your prayers personally.  i have been to other countries before, but at that time i was neither married nor had children.  i have been dealing with some separation anxiety for well over a week now and it is exhausting and i haven't even left yet!  i need to tap into that power that God has for me, right? :)  i know i will be balling when i say good-bye.  probably will ball when i return too!  pray that my kids are comforted as well as victor while i am gone.  thankfully, his parents will be coming in on thursday afternoon.  my parents and brothers family are in town too, so i am sure he will have all the help he needs. he has been so good to me with letting me go.  it wasn't even a question in his mind at all as to whether or not i should go.  i would have loved for both of us to go, but knowing that he will be home with our children while i am away is comfort in itself.  i love you, victor!  i love you eden, shea and abel too :)

i am not sure if i will get to write anymore before i go, but please take a look at the itinerary for each day and if you would like specifics to pray for me on a certain day that should help you out.  thanks to each of you for making this possible!  i told the girls that i had staying with us back in november that i would come and see them "one day".... and who knew i would be just days away from that.  i will be sure to post some pics and stories when i return.  we do not have internet access while we are there so i am leaving my computer at home.  i am taking a journal with me, so i am sure you will get to hear excerpts from that.   love you all~ beth

15 more days!!

the count down continues!  i cannot believe we leave week after next.  crazy how quick it is going to come too.  i am praying that i can savor every minute that i am there without it flying by.  i just posted the itinerary that i just received on sunday nite.  it is awesome that we will get to visit the havilla house for our FIRST stop.  we had a group of girls from there that stayed with us back in november that i have been anxiously awaiting to give big hugs to again.  and i am also looking forward to maybe seeing another boy who was also with the choir that we have been blessed to be able to help him out with his schooling, denzel.  i would love to give him a hug as well!  

i posted the itinerary so that you can pray day by day specifically for the different projects/travels that we will be doing.  it is 7 hours ahead over there, i believe.  so, if you are eating breakfast around 8, we have already had breakfast and most likely lunch!  it would be mid afternoon in karima!  

our family is headed off to a mini beach vacation tomorrow morning, so come monday i will be busily getting together everything i will need to make my travels to nairobi on the 9th.  i am hoping that i can get everything i need in the baggage limit that we have.  i am not worried for my trip home because i hope to leave a majority of my clothes over there for 410 to pass out for the needs in the communities they work in.

our itinerary!!!

THURSDAY JULY 9

                 DEPART: TBD

FRIDAY JULY 10

                 ARRIVE: TBD

                 HOTEL: SAMRA OR PCEA

SATURDAY JULY 11

                MORNING:  Depart for Havilla Children’s Home ( i am personally VERY VERY excited about this visit!!!!  i will get to hopefully see the girls mercy, rahab and gladys who stayed with us in november from the daraja children's choir as well as the young man, denzel, that we pray for and support from last yrs daraja choir :) !)

    LUNCH: Takeaway from PCEA

   AFTERNOON:  Depart for Karima:

               EVENING:  Lake Naivasha Resort 

SUNDAY JULY 12

              MORNING:  Church in Karima

                  - team divide into groups

           LUNCH: Takeaway from Lake Naivasha Resort

           AFTERNOON: COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP/ ACTIVITIES/ HOME VISITS

             EVENING: Lake Naivasha Resort

MONDAY JULY 13

             MORNING:  Depart for Karima

     Service Projects:

     Group 1: Work on water project

     Group 2: Work in schools

             LUNCH: Takeaway from Garden Hotel

          AFTERNOON:

     Service Projects:

     Group 1: Work on water project

     Group 2: Work in schools

            EVENING: Lake Naivasha Resort

 TUESDAY JULY 14

            MORNING:  Depart for Karima

     Service Projects:

     Group 1: Work on water project

     Group 2: Work in schools

            LUNCH: Takeaway from Lake Naivasha  

           AFTERNOON:

     Service Projects:

     Group 1: Work on water project

     Group 2: Work in schools

           EVENING: GARDEN HOTEL

WEDNESDAY JULY 15

           MORNING:  Depart for Karima

                 Finish service projects

           LUNCH: Takeaway from Lake Naivasha

         AFTERNOON: HOME VISITS AND GOODBYES

           EVENING:  GARDEN HOTEL

THURSDAY JULY 16

           MORNING:  Drive to Lake Nakuru

           LUNCH: Takeaway from Lake Naivasha

         AFTERNOON: SAFARI

           EVENING: Lake Nakuru Lodge

 FRIDAY JULY 17

            MORNING:  DRIVE TO NAIROBI

            LUNCH: Takeaway from Lake Nakuru Lodge

         AFTERNOON: GIRAFFE PARK, DAY ROOMS, PIZZA

           DEPART: Nairobi TBD

 SATURDAY JULY 18

           ARRIVE: ATLANTA  TBD

 

 

take a look at this video:

http://www.410bridge.com/tripsvideo.php

Check out my ticker!!!

it is me again!  did you see my ticker???  i have reached my goal :)  yah for God!  we had that huge yard sale yesterday and it was a great success!  we are still figuring out the final numbers but it will be around the $1700 mark... and that will be divided among the kenya team members who helped with the sale as well as a few youth who are going on a trip to mexico this summer.  those monies will help me with a visa and a few other things i will need to get for my trip.  thanks again for your continued support and prayers.  i cannot believe how close the trip is coming!!!  

a few of us may be headed out to atlanta for a day trip for a meeting with the leader from 410 bridge who will be going along with us to karima.  what a whirlwind trip that will be!!  i will update you on more things in the days to come.  i am a bit hungry so i am gonna go grab some lunch!

I just copied and pasted an article i found on 410 bridge about Karima... read it... it gives you a glimpse into where we will be ministering!

"A few steps to the kitchen and a turn of the faucet are all it takes for most of us to get a clean drink of water. It’s something that, even in impoverished areas of American culture, is taken for granted. In the rural Kenyan community of Karima, it’s anything but—in fact, it’s often a dangerous, all-day affair, one that involves a three-kilometer hike and treacherous climb down an incredibly steep embankment to a river at the base of the Aberdare mountains. Women of the community will make this journey four times each day, yielding five to eight gallons of unfiltered water at best with each trip.

Karima’s homes and schools have no means of purified or filtered water. Even the slightest change in the water situation for these agricultural-based people would bring an incredible amount of hope. Thankfully, The 410 Bridge is thrilled to announce that gap is being bridged through the help of many people in Karima and organizations like Karima’s Community Partners – First Baptist of Clinton, SC and Mile 157 in Baton Rouge, LA.

For the past eight months, The 410 Bridge has been working on a borehole project in Karima that would tap natural water deposits underground within the community’s borders, preventing the need for its people to travel so far for so little water in return.

The approval and permitting process can be quite a treacherous journey itself, but we are praising God that after six months, we received our approval. After waiting on a rig to arrive at the community, the digging finally began. Within two short days of drilling deep into the Kenyan earth, we hit pay dirt—or water, rather!

“At 160 meters deep we accessed a wonderful supply that is yielding 105 gallons per minute,” James Ward, director of The 410 Bridge U.S. Operations explains. “Within the next few months, Karima will have direct access to clean water.”

What follows will be a testing of water samples to ensure safe consumption, and then the construction of a pump, small facility, storage tanks and four different access points spread throughout the community.

Projects and successes like this are what The 410 Bridge is all about—bridging cultures and bringing hope to the Kenyan people through clean drinking water, and the living water that only comes from knowing Christ."

Destination : Karima

YEAH! we now know where we are headed and that is so cool to be able to "picture it" in your mind :) our team will be going to serve in the 410 Bridge community of Karima and it looks like will be working on a water project there. our team will also have the opportunity to do more relational things like home visits and working with the children in the community.

Karima is two and a half hours northeast of Nairobi just outside the Abedare National Park, near the town of Naivasha. the area is predominately rural farmland and the people depend on agricultural activities to support themselves. the land is very good for farming but finances are very limited. there are a large number of widows and single mothers trying to provide for the needs of their children and grandchildren. Karima is home to the Karima Girl's High School, a provincial girl's boarding school. there are two churches in the area, Glory Outreach Assembly and ACK St. James. the community of Karima is close knit and very welcoming to visitors.

Needs in Karima:

• Water is the largest need; currently it has to be retrieved by hand from the river (many miles away)
• Education programs and school renovation
• Micro-enterprise initiatives

Projects:

• phase 1 water project: the borehole is now COMPLETE... i believe we will be helping them with the tank that will provide water to this community.
• phase 2 water project: will begin upon completion of phase 1 which will include distribution of clean water throughout the community to various access points

• outreach and descipleship programs within the community

Impact:

• Karima is one of the newer 410 Bridge communities and 410 has great hopes for the partnership with the community of Karima
• visiting teams in 2008 worked on school renovation and community outreach programs
• the community raised money and purchased a plot of land for a large water tank as part of their contribution on the water project

i want to share with you something that i was made aware of just recently and it shows how God is really orchestrating everything about our trip. it has made it even a bigger blessing that our team will be heading out to Karima. a family in our church recently lost their son Grant just a couple weeks before his due date. it was and still is a heart wrenching loss. his parents wanted to do something to bring change and a lasting impact in Grant's name. they contacted 410 Bridge to see if it was possible to fund a project. at the time of the call 410 had no correlation to our church sending a team to kenya this summer. 410 soon returned a call to them and planned out the Grant Barrett project in KARIMA! :) we will be working on the project that is in Grant's name!!!!!! for me, that is an extra special blessing. not that going to kenya wasn't going to be a blessing for me in itself, but to have this added in makes it even better! God is working behind the scenes and bringing it all together.

well, our yard sale is THIS saturday. Come on out! we are having it at the club house in the Brandon Oaks subdivision in Indian Trail from 7-11. we will then be serving a hotdog lunch and have a bouse house 4 the kids to play in. we would love to see u!! i will be doing some baking so u don't want to miss out :) we are still collecting donations for the yard sale... so if you have something let me know.

the countdown is on!

so, i just got an email with the countdown on the days till we are in kenya.... 43 days, just 43 days away :) i guess i better get boogying on getting my shots, eh?! i am such a procrastinator! i will make that call today to get them scheduled. i am hoping to get the least amount of shots as possible. my friend just had over $400 worth of shots for our trip. a big ugh!

i was just gone for a girls weekend away with my sisters and a couple friends and it was only 4 days away. i was tucking shea in that nite i got back and she told me, " you were gone for a long time, mommy... but you will be gone even longer when you go to africa. right mommy?" she was almost about to cry :( that right there is going to be the hard part for me. i know they will be in great hands though while i am gone. victor will be with them as well as his parents. they are coming in from birmingham to help out while victor will be working that week. the kids absolutely love them ( & visa versa, of course!)

we will be having a meeting this week to discuss our big yard sale on june 6th. we are asking our neighbors, friends and family to do some spring cleaning .... any donations will be greatly appreciated!! we are hoping this will be a huge success. if you are reading this... you should come on out for it. it is june 6th at the brandon oaks clubhouse from 7-11 a.m. and then lunch and bounce house afterwards. all profits will be divided amoung the kenya team for our trip.
come on out! let me know too if you have any "junk" you want to get off your hands to donate to our cause :)

my passport arrived today!

i know, it's been a bit since you heard from me.  to be honest, last week was not spent thinking about kenya... a bit of a busy week on the home front.  today, i went out to my mailbox to find my passport :)  now, i am thinking about kenya again!!!

we had our meeting week b4 last with our team... 7 out of the 9 of us were there.  we got to see a more extended version of a video they have on 410's website, so that was nice.  crazy to think we could be in that video 66 days from now.  woo hoo!  we have a great team of us going.  we are actually meeting again this week and hopefully will be getting a bit more info to take home with us to read.  we still do not know exactly what we will be doing and won't until june.  they say that each 410 bridge mission trip will have its own unique schedule of work, events and activities as the needs of the 410 bridge communities vary from village to village.  one thing they do have in common though is building a bridge ~ not in the physical sense~ but a personal one through establishing relationships between our team and the kenyans we will be serving.  

i have been on several missions trips in the past.  the last one was in 1999 to romania.  i went with our local christian radio station, 91.9.  i do remember that flight being long... but not quite sure if it was around 18 hours in the air!!!!  that is what they say our flight will be.  almost a whole day there in the air and on the way back.  airplanes are not my favorite things... especially for that long!!  that could definitely be a prayer request for me.

we have come up with several fundraisers.... 

* our biggest one will be on saturday, june 6th.  we will be holding a huge yard sale... with food.  it will be a church wide missions event.  we have several teams departing this summer so the proceeds will be pooled together and split up.  we have a youth team headed out somewhere's (i say that because it was supposed to be to mexico... but i believe they are in the process of changing that one) and one to india and then ours to kenya.  so, if any of you readers have things you would like to depart with... keep hold on them and i will tell you what you can do with them soon.  ask friends and neighbors for their "junk" too :)  it will all be going to a great cause!!!!  

* we are also selling bruster's coupon books!  for just $10 you get $40 dollars worth of coupons.  just ask me if you would like one or two of them :)  we will also have them at the garage sale.

* photo shoot~  emma (one of my team members) takes family and children's portraits.  if you and your family need some awesome family or individual pictures taken... tell me and i can help you book a photo shoot with emma.  she charges $100~ with a 50/50 cut.  she gets half and i would get half for finding someone as well as helping her during the shoot.  since all of the money will go directly to sponsor us towards africa, it can be made out to Weddington Community Church!!!  

let me know if you can help us out with any of the above fundraisers :)  that would be awesome!

Flight details

Monday nite i got an email with our flight details :) we were thinking we would have to drive to atlanta and fly out of there, but we are blessed that we can leave right out of charlotte. that will be very nice, especially upon our return :) as i was looking at the below times, i must say my eyes started tearing a little bit due to some separation anxiety for my family. i kinda chuckled to myself cause it is still a little over 2 months away! :) i have a feeling there will be tears... many tears.... definitely a prayer request!


DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL CHARLOTTE NC ATLANTA GA 1150A 113P
DL 1737 THURSDAY DOUGLAS HARTSFIELD JAC
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88

DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL ATLANTA GA NAIROBI 410P 525P
DL 34 THURSDAY HARTSFIELD JAC JOMO KENYATTA 10JUL
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300

DELTA AIR LINES 17JUL NAIROBI ATLANTA GA 810P 800A
DL 35 FRIDAY JOMO KENYATTA HARTSFIELD JAC 18JUL
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300

DELTA AIR LINES 18JUL ATLANTA GA CHARLOTTE NC 950A 1110A
DL 1638 SATURDAY HARTSFIELD JAC DOUGLAS
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88

I am getting excited! This week we have our first team meeting. We have 9 members headed out on July 9th. I will post the details as I get them. I have been so anxious to know more about our trip and what we will be doing. Hopefully, Angie (our pastor's wife and leader of our team) will be able to give us something to nibble on :) I have applied for my passport two weeks ago. My new passport should be headed my way end of next month :) I had applied for my first passport over 17 yrs ago, so it was a bit outdated. Makes me feel old. Part of my excitement is due to the fact that I will get to see and hug and spend some time with our girls, Mercy, Rahab and Gladys. They stayed with us in our home in November while they were here in Weddington ... 3 of the 2008 Daraja Choir members. I will also get to see Denzel, the boy we are sponsoring. He was also with the Daraja Choir. I didn't have to think twice when this opportunity came up. Immediately I knew I was supposed to go. I am leaving the money part up to God to provide!! He has provided in the past and I know he will now. Once I can figure out how to get a ticker on this post, I will add it so you can watch God at work. Well, that is all for now. Emma and I are working on some fundraising ideas. Any from you out there?