Back-to-School VBS

On Sunday afternoon, we had the pleasure of hosting a Back-to-School VBS for the children that live in the slums located directly behind the church. Christina and I have worked at vacation Bible schools before, but none of us had experience when it came to planning.

We didn’t have any money in our budget for a VBS, so we decided to do a car wash in our neighborhood to raise money for the event. 

Several of the youth from the church helped us with the VBS.  One of the youth named Chris was extremely helpful.  He started the VBS off with a time of singing.  Chris has an amount of energy that I find amazing.  I felt like I was taking an extreme aerobics class just trying to keep up with him and the kids. 

The kids singing and dancing

After a time of singing, the kids broke into groups to learn about what it means to love their neighbor.  We used the story about the Good Samaritan to help them understand that we are to love and help anyone in need, regardless of any differences.

Jackie, Wallace, Chris, and the puppet helping the kids memorize their verse

We had a craft for the kids, which turned out to be what I can only describe as a time of fun chaos for my group.  At one point, I was surrounded by 25 kids all begging for me to put glue on their projects.  One of the teachers walked by and saw that a kid was dropping glue into my hair.  As they were gluing little hearts onto their projects (or my hair),  the kids kept saying, “Teacher, I need a love to put on mine!” 

The kids answering questions about the Good Samaritan story

We ended the day with a snack, a skit and more singing.  We all agreed that the time spent singing and dancing with the kids was one of our favorite parts of the day.  Jackie helped lead the worship time by showing them the dance moves, so she had a perfect view of all the laughing faces.  Christina and I were down dancing alongside the kids.  

Christina and the kids enjoying a giant giant group hug

During one song, Chris would randomly yell a number and we would have to get that many people into a giant group hug. We learned a lot by evaluating the event to see what we can do better next time, but we were all blessed...possibly more than the children.  

Raising up Men of God

Today we served at a men’s luncheon at the church. One of Arie's desires is to raise up strong Godly men in the church. Today’s message was geared towards fathers being the head of the household & raising their children in a Godly manner. To our surprise 22 men showed up & a couple of them even brought their sons with them. We ladies cooked & served them lunch after the teaching. We cooked sukuma wiki (which is like a spinach leaf) with beef & ugali (maize flour). We had a great time cooking with the ladies. We each took turns trying to make ugali while the ladies giggled at our efforts. You pour the ugali flour into a huge pot of water & almost immediately it turns into a play doh like substance. You have to stir it continuously & as you’re stirring it becomes tougher & tougher to stir. We had to put our entire bodies into it…the Kenyan's could stir it with one hand...they are some tough women! We were all so blessed to be able to serve the men & blessed to have a great turn out of man desiring to grow in God.

Christina stirring the ugali

 Pastor Arie teaching

FIC Youth Christmas Party at Calvary Chapel Nairobi

                  
                                                  

    The Wednesday before Christmas, I had the opportunity to attend the Calvary Chapel Nairobi’s youth Christmas Party. The party took place in the sanctuary of the church and went from afternoon till evening. It started off with a time of fellowship and greeting one another. Jackie, Anna Marie and I are just starting to build relationships with the youth, as well as with the other members of the church, so we spent time mingling to get to know them better.

     After the time of meeting and greeting, we played some games to help break the ice for those who did not know everyone there. We played a name game, and Christmas Bible Trivia. Chris, one of the Kenyan youth group leaders, conducted the name game, and by the end of it we all knew each others name as well as what we like to do for fun.

Jackie, Anna Marie and I hosted a game that tested everyone’s knowledge of  the true Christmas story. We asked everyone questions, and eliminated the youth down to three main contestants who competed for the grand prize. The game was a lot of fun, while at the same time giving the opportunity to learn more about the word of God.

     After the games we had a time of more fellowship, eating baked items baked by Jamie, and dancing. Finally, the party ended with a time of testimonies and a recap of the youth mission trip to Garrison, and Katui, Kenya. Those who went on the trip shared their testimonies of  the trip and how God used them to reach some unreached parts of Kenya.

                                                                        Dancing...

   

meeting with a group of Somali ladies

I want to share with you about a meeting that we had with a group of Somali ladies who were Muslims but received Jesus Christ as their personal Savoir. We got together with other believers from another church. Also, our 9 sisters and 1 brother from Somalia joined us. As I said all of them are Christians now… We had a time of worship, small Bible study and then a few of them shared their testimonies…One lady in that group has 11 children and was abandoned by her husband because she became a Christian, she also hosts two more young ladies who became Christians whose families chased them out of their homes…Another lady has two brothers who promised to kill her because of her conversion into Christianity and she prayed for protection from the Lord and one of her brothers moved to Dubai and another brother suddenly died…It’s a tragedy, but she is safe for now. You know, to hear these stories about the lives of these ladies was very challenging and encouraging…to know that God is in control and Muslims are getting saved and challenging because their lives are so hard and their faith is so strong for them it is life and death…We prayed with them and they sang a Somali worship song!!! It was so cool!!! J Also, they received a gift of some food and supplies to study the Bible…It was a sweet time of fellowship…Thank you Jesus!!! 

Updates from Jamie McKinley

So internet has been off and on here, but I just wanted to update you all on the huge blessing God gave me. 

As you know we have been praying for a car that I could drive so that Natasha and I could do more ministry without the added cost of taxi fees.  I am so happy to say that God is faithful and with the great help and shopping expertise of Wes, we here in Nairobi have a new car!  Yes, I am driving quite frequently now, and loving the added freedom and opportunities it has already given Natasha and I to minister more to the church body and others. 

Thank you to all who have supported me in prayers and support for making this possible.  I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am to all of you who were a part of this.  I am also so thankful to Wes and Vicky and the team here who took the time to help me choose the right car that would fit the ministry needs and the security needs.  I am not a big fan of car shopping and all my loving friends and FRM family made it much better.  This is just again another answered prayer!!

The photos are of the car and us having fun in it, it is a 2003 Toyota Noah.  A van that is big enough to help pick people for guesthouse and also will help with the youth girls when we have events.  The fun part is the back seats can move and face each other or just be set up all facing the front, so much fun!

Now all we need is a great name for it, if you have any suggestions please let me know, Natasha and I still have not picked out a name.  Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season and celebrating to true reason for the season!!!