the good shepherd

Jambo sana :)

The past few days have been rough at times but looking back, they have brought more freedom than we ever thought we could have. Sunday we went to church by the orphanage which was soooo different from church in america haha.. we sang some songs for them and then they started singing in swahili and passing out instruments. There was so much joy and freedom, I danced with a woman named Cecilia and then got to talk to her later in the day for about 15 minutes, we ended with the promise that we'd see each other in heaven and feast together there haha :) it is good to fellowship with the Kenyan people. One piece of advice that someone gave me before the trip was to "enter in" into every situation and that has been something I am constantly trying to walk out. I don't want to settle! I want our team to be an encounter with God's love for each and every person we come in contact with.

So, at church manna and ryan preached and then people came up for us to pray for them. it was powerful.. the Lord was planting a lot of seed and we were reaping with shouts of joy. one woman's back was healed- she could touch her toes and lift her hands all the way up afterwards. and the Lord restored one woman's sight! haha it was so beautiful... today we went to the hospital to share about jesus and pray for people's needs. we met a lot of people with malaria and typhoid, others who had had operations, and even a newborn baby! we prayed the Father's love over them, and i am positive that He is going to reveal Himself and His grace to them. one thing i have learned through the past two days is that the Father makes the sun rise on the just and the unjust. he loves to pour out love, mercy, blessing, and healing on everyone regardless of who they are or what they've done, regardless of whether they have a relationship with Him or not.. the Lord is really showing me how passionately He loves the lost

one time my roommate steph and i tagteam led a crazy worship party with the kids in the orphanage! it was one of my favorite experiences yet.. we would get low to the ground and whisper the song and then all of the sudden we would jump up and start shouting the song and dancing.. the kids actually followed our lead! which is hard to do with the language barrier.. but it worked! and there was SO much joy as we sang "save your people oh Lord oh Lord, save your people oh Lord, la la la hey hey!" it was very precious.. God is showing me a part of His heart that i've never really seen before.... He loves children. Oh, how he loves them..

so much i could say, but i'll leave you with this.. Being here has been confusing at times, i have experienced legit culture shock for the first time, the team doesn't always understand and agree with each other.. but as we are open with each other and as we focus on jesus, clarity and peace come. John 10:11-15 says that as the wolf comes to try to divide and distract us, Jesus doesn't leave because he is not a hired hand, He is the good shepherd. We are not alone. We are not orphans left by ourselves in the dark. The good shepherd is with us.

"He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, it is written, 'let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." -1 cor. 1:30-31 :) we boast in the freedom and peace that jesus has brought us these past few days