| Hey everyone! I’m back from Kenya!!!! I had the most amazing trip ever! I learned so much about God, others, and myself. It was a mission trip that I will never forget and I would like to share with all of you a little bit of what I experienced. I left from Dulles Airport on August 18th in the evening to fly on a 747, (my first time ever flying) and arrived in Nairobi at about 10pm Saturday night. I was so excited that I barely slept, but by then I was very tired. About 12 Kenyan children from the orphanage that we were going to be working at, greeted us. The first couple of days there was a little tough. Satan was deffinatly trying to interfere. I felt really overwhelmed, had some culture shock, and on the second day, I got a touch of the stomach flu. But praise God, I healed very soon and started to really enjoy Kenya. The kids from the orphanage were mostly older kids (from 5-18 years old) and came from some very rough homes. They all had very sad stories. One boy's sister died from cancer; he was only then told that his sister was actually his mother who became pregnant at 17. Another boy ran away from an abusive home and wandered the streets of Nairobi at age 12 until someone finally took him to the orphanage. One child watched his father slit his mothers throat, and kill her. The orphanage is really runned down and old, but it is the only home some of these kids have ever known. Every night, the kids would meet in a small room and sing praise songs and pray for one another. No adults were there. The kids organized everything; they would just start singing any song they wanted, and two boys, one 18 and one 15, would take turns speaking. One night, Steven (18) was speaking and said that God was telling him that there was someone, a boy, there that was not saved. He gave them an opportunity to accept Christ, and one by one, FIVE boys walked up to the alter and accepted Christ that night! The other kids gathered around and prayed for them and then cheered and praised God for the new souls that were added to the book of life that night. They sang out with all they had and their prayers were so real and powerful. One of them even spoke in tongues! (I come from a Mennonite church, and I’ve never seen someone speak in tongues!) I broke down in tears, realizing what tragedies these kids have gone through and how little they have, but how in love with God they are. I thought to myself, “Do I love God that much? Why am I so focused on my life on earth? Why am I not doing more for Jesus and less for myself?” All these humbling thoughts really made me realize how much I need to change. Jesus lived his life, knowing that he would be hated, an outcast, and then die for all of those people that cursed him. What an inspiration! The second week, we took a couple of the older kids for on a trip, climbing up Mt. Kenya (the second biggest mountain in Africa! Over 16,000 feet high!). That was just AWESOME!! It was a five-day hike and very challenging! That was also a very humbling experience, because I came with low expectations and figured that I was in pretty good shape and could climb it fairly easily. Well, it was a lot harder than I expected it to be and I got altitude sickness and had a lot of trouble climbing. But, with God’s help, I kept walking and made it to the top (although, I was the last one!). The sky was beautiful! We were above the clouds, looking down at them! God’s grace is magnificent. I have a ton of other stories, just ask if you want to hear more, but this is getting long, so I’ll wrap it up. Thanks for taking time to read this. I would strongly encourage anyone, if given the opportunity, to go on a mission trip, especially in another country. Experiencing another culture is so amazing! May God bless you! I'll post pictures a little later. In Christ, Audrey |
Finally at the top of Mt. Kenya!! Isn't it beautiful? 
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