Straight Up JOY :)

What up what up my friends :)

The past few days have been so sweet, thank you for all of your prayers and support from the homefront! Day 7 we did a medical clinic. Neil made the kids balloon animals and we tied them around their heads and hung out and chowed on some sugar cane with them. Half the team went to plant some seed in fields, but I stayed back with Emily, Steph, Amy, and Kels. Steph, kels, and i went on a prayer walk through what i would call the "backyard" of samson's church where the clinic was held. we prayed for the land that God would bless it.. it was one of my favorite moments so far. God has already blessed kenya so much especially compared to areas in somalia and surrounding countries. kenya is so green and beautiful.. so we just prayed for the Lord to pour out provision for his children even more. We also got to pray for this lady Rose and her grandson that seemed basically lifeless, the poor little guy had no strength.. but to kneel and pray with Rose and believe God was seriously glorious. we got to pray with another family as well- Francis, Mercy, and their baby. I asked if they went to church to see if they maybe knew Jesus, so we talked about that for a while and then gave him a bible and joined hands and prayed for them. By the medical clinic, we got to pray for one man with a broken leg and another man that was in the hospital with malaria for a week. It has really struck me the past few days how most of what our team does here is pray.. I once got advice from two missionaries- one said that the most important thing to the people you are trying to reach is simply to BE with them. another said the best advice she could give me was to ENTER IN to every situation. so as i sat by some kenyans at the medical clinic i thought to myself, i could easily sit here and keep to myself which would be much more comfortable and i could still write a blog saying "we did a medical clinic!", but being in kenya is not a checklist to me. it's not about doing some good things and then telling all my supporters about it. God loves me no more or no less if i do good things, but man oh man do i want to be a face-to-face encounter with His love to each person i am around.. even at home i see younglife leaders around me checking lists- 'oh i went to the football game or the birthday dinner or the dance, i paid my dues, i did what all the other leaders do' but what i have been learning is that we often do the minimum listlessly.. but man, there's got to be another way. God's ways are higher than our ways. We do ministry like it's a job. But He can give us this inward passion that is just bursting at the seams looking for opportunities to be His love to people. Being in Kenya is hard and i miss a lot of things and people from home, but today during worship after breakfast i had SO much joy. Jesus really is enough.

So we throw tennis balls out our van windows, and we started writing "yesu na kupenda" on them which means jesus loves you. the other day we gave one to this street kid, then ended up seeing him a little bit later. his name is shelton. he is an orphan and has been on the streets for 6 years. ryan and a few of us played with him for a while.. and i cannot explain how beautiful it was to see shelton smile. that was one thing that has been hard to deal with- like where is God's provision in shelton's life? meg meliss and i talked about it for a while, and though this doesn't fix everything, i found comfort in this scripture- matthew 10:29-31. Shelton does not fall to the ground apart from God. The hairs on his head are all numbered. He does not need to fear because he is of more value than many sparrows which the Lord watches over though two are sold for a penny. I'm gonna remember that kid for the rest of my life..

Yesterday we went to an HIV orphanage. The one thing that struck me was just how normal the kids were.. I played volleyball with two of the boys, both of them said that their names were milton (not true, i just couldn't really hear them and it sounded like milton so we just laughed and i called them that for the rest of the time) then brian, steph, aud, and i got to serve the food which was awesome and hilarious. we danced and did a stomp routine with our spoons and bowls at the end. we're getting more comfortable with the people which is fun.. and you know i am not afraid to make a fool out of myself for the sake of the kingdom! haha so we are having a blast. The kids die laughing when we make animal noises.. Things are going well my friends. Keep praying that the name of Jesus would be lifted up in our words and actions. He is joy and peace. He is 'Emmanuel,' - 'God with us,' and for that I am so thankful.

shout out to my parents, to skylar, to wayne, and to taylor neil! i love you and i miss you :D hope you are doing well.