'DIVING' into the New Year!

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Years!

Mine was definitely different then anything I've experienced before. It was awesome experiencing it in a new culture, but it also definitely made me miss home during this time.

I spent Christmas in Kisumu - a big city in western Kenya. I spent a lot of time with an African family ( a fellow base staff's family) and we had a really good time! Kisumu is on a huge lake, so we spent Christmas day on the lake. Christmas eve we had gone to an orphanage in the area, and I met some super amazing kids!! When we went to the lake, we first went and picked up this girl at the orphanage and took her with us. She was thrilled, and we had a lot of fun! While I was in Kisumu, I also got to drive for my first time in Kenya! I was super pumped... I got to drive this cute little pink Toyota. It was a little confusing at first cause of the whole opposite of the road and car and everything, so the windshield wipers definitely went on pretty much every time I wanted to signal haha.

For New Years, I went to Jinja, Uganda which is a town right on the Nile River. New Years eve I went white water rafting on the rapids in the Nile. It was amazing! The Nile is such a beautiful place, and some of those rapids were crazy!! Our raft definitely flipped a few times. We were told to watch out for crocodiles, so in some areas we weren't allowed to swim. I never actually saw any, they just told us about different areas that they had been spotted. That night we camped out at Bujagali Falls at a beautiful camp ground. New Years day I went bungee jumping!!! It was so intense, terrifying, and amazing all at the same time! I had my mind set on doing this on New Years day as a symbol to God saying that 2010 I was letting go of everything and 'jumping' knowing that He'd catch me whenever He asked me to jump. I believe 2010 is gonna be amazing, and God has a lot planned for this year. Lets make the most of each moment and not miss out on anything He's got planned for our lives!!

Thanks for all your prayers, and God bless you in this New Year!!

Ministry, Church, Outreach etc...

It has been quite awhile since I last blogged! Guess I should maybe fill you in on a few things around here!

Church around this area is very different to anything I'm used to! I've been to a few churches; the one I've been attending the most is called Haven for the Weary and its tiny!! It's about a 35 min walk to get there. My first time going there I was a little overwhelmed haha. I made the mistake of wearing 3 inch heels for walking through the fields! Finally I asked if we were almost there, and they said yeah, its right up ahead! I'm like, where?? It ended up being this tiny mud hut about twice the size of my bedroom back home, in the middle of a field. Another thing that really surprised me, is that often you get asked to preach the message when you arrive there! Talk about being flexible! I'm totally pushed out of my comfort zone when I'm there, but its a good thing. The service is truly lead by the Holy Spirit, and its just so awesome to see how everything fits together, even though it wasn't planned in advance.

There's many different places that we as a base go for ministry at. Mainly its just a bunch of different schools that we get involved with. At first when I was put on the ministry schedule, it scared me! I was told I had to prepare a message for grade 7 and 8's lasting close to an hour long! At first I had a bad attitude towards it; I was totally NOT used to anything like that, and the most I'd ever 'preached' was for maybe 10-15 min, and that was pretty much just sharing my testimony! After praying about it, God gave me peace about it, and I felt I should speak on 'Keeping Christ in the Center of Our Lives.' I prepared for it a little bit, had a few notes, and then just prayed I'd have the right words to say. God really came through!! He totally gave me the words to say and the time flew by! Before I knew it, the bell rang, and I hadn't even run out of things to say, which was a huge fear of mine! It was a real encouragement to me, and I really learnt that I need to trust God more - He won't put me in a situation that He won't pull me through.

A very interesting experience I had lately was having tea with the Minister of Justice of Kenya at his mansion this last weekend! The previous weekend I was walking down the road by our base, saw him coming, and held the gate open for him. We got to talking, and he invited me and my friend to his place the next weekend. We had a good talk with him, and even got a copy of the new Kenyan Constitution before it being presented (which happened today). I think that it really gave us as a base, a good opportunity to pray over this Constitution. I hope it gets passed! There's a lot of good changes, and it would really benefit the people of Kenya! After having tea, I also received an invitation to swim in his pool! I was super excited!!

This upcoming weekend, from Thursday-Sunday, I'm going with the DTS (Discipleship Training School) on outreach. We're heading to Rift Valley which is about a 4-5 hour drive from the base. We'll mainly be involved with door to door ministry and revival meetings (which we just prepare a service, and then pray for people afterwards). I'm looking forward to it, and I believe God's going to really use us as a team for His purpose! There's been a lot of vehicle accidents in Kenya lately, so your prayers for protection, team unity, and a focused heart would be much appreciated!

Refreshed

Last night marked my one month of being in Kenya. It was a good month, although it definitely brought its struggles. I feel at times, that I started off on the wrong foot here. I've been comparing things to home a little too much, and feeling a bit upset when people do things differently than what I'm used to. I need to embrace the fact that I'm a far ways from home, and things will be different! That includes many things such as going out all the time. I'm so used to being busy all the time, staying out late, constantly socializing, and stuff like that. Its not like that here though... we're in the middle of the bush! haha. I know God brought me here, so I'd take more time for Him. He took me out of my busy schedule, and is allowing me to see beauty in simplicity. This past weekend was really good for me. I kept to myself for the most part, and spent a lot of quiet time with God. He made a lot of things clear for me, and filled me with so much peace and joy. We had monday morning worship with the entire base earlier today, and it was such a good start to the week. The speaker was talking about how its time for us to mature in our faith. God wants to take us to the next level. I feel thats exactly where I am right now. It's time for me to step out more. Go beyond what I've been doing. So... thats what I've been challenged in, now its time to live it out. I need to stop expecting to be served, and ministered to all the time, but rather do that for others as well!

My First Dose of Kenya

Kenya has been great so far! Many differences, but also many similarities to Thailand. I've been here about 2.5 weeks now, so I'm all settled in and calling it home. It's a way different way of life then I'm used to, although the outreach part of my DTS in Thailand has really prepared me for this. At the YWAM base here, we take bucket showers outside, cook over the fire, get our water from big tanks cause we don't have running water, experience MANY power cuts cause of the drought going on, get our milk from the cows on the base, wash our laundry by hand (during which we usually get visited by the cows and goats that roam around, and they try drinking our laundry water), and I'll also add that we experience beautiful sunsets and are blanketed by bright starry skies! Internet is very different, and wireless hasn't hit here yet. Therefore, I use a modem which carries a sim card that has to be topped up, so it gets quite costly when I try downloading or uploading anything.

I've seen many many animals already while being around the base. For example... giraffe, zebra, gazelle, wildebeests, monkeys, cheetahs, lions (although they were in a cage – still touched them though). The cheetahs were also actually in a cage, but I was allowed inside, and got to pet them for awhile.

The people here are amazing, and are incredibly hospitable. They've definitely made me feel welcome. During the time I've been here, there's also been an outreach team from YWAM New Zealand. Having some more westerners around has really been great during this transition time!

Work in the office has been going really well too. I'm beginning to grasp the big picture of the way the accounting and finances work here, so I'm glad for that.

Today was my first day of kitchen duty, so its been interesting. At least I don't have to cook on my own though... who knows what we'd be eating then with the ingredients I'm given haha. Here we eat a lot of rice, beans, corn and some other vegetables. Meat here at the base is very scarce, so we really don't have it that often at all. When we do, its usually some tough beef thats been minced.

Well, that concludes my nutshell write up of Kenya so far, and off to the Kitchen I go....

Nothing Short of a Nightmare

I was so excited to finally be able to head to Kenya. Things seemed to go smoothly at the airport in Bangkok. My bags weighed 6kg less then what they were the previous time (I packed all my heavy stuff in my carryon, and left a bunch of shampoo and stuff behind), so therefore they ended up only being 6kg over the baggage allowance amount. On top of that, for some reason they charged me less per Kg then they initially quoted me on. So I was pretty happy, cause the initial amount was ridiculous!! My first flight to Mumbai was with Jet Airways, so thats who I was dealing with in Bangkok. My connecting flights to Dubai and then to Nairobi were with Emirates. In Thailand, they printed all my boarding cards, so they were printed on Jet Airways boarding cards. Little did I know this would cause me major grief in the near future. The girl at the counter said I was all set, I had all my boarding cards, and my bags were checked straight through to Nairobi, so I didn't need to worry about anything.

I got to Mumbai, and the first thing I did was make a little bit of a fool of myself. I followed the crowd and went to the Indian Immigration counter... cause I thought that's just where I had to get through to proceed to my next gate. First of all, I hadn't received the right form, so I went back and filled out a form. Went back to the counter, they looked through my passport and asked where my Indian visa was. I told them I wasn't leaving the airport, and was getting a connecting flight. They told me that a different form was required then, and to make a different turn right before the immigration counter. For some reason I was just getting so confused, and couldn't figure out where to go. It was quite humorous actually, and I ended up trying to get through that immigration counter about 3 times. All the guys there started laughing, and finally they directed me and told me exactly where I needed to go. After that was all said and done, I went to the area my gate was at. I had an 11 hour layover though, so it was a long wait. (and there wasn't even wireless internet I could use!!) When those 11 hours finally passed, I was happy to finally get in line to board. They took one look at my boarding pass, and denied me the flight!!! I was at the correct gate and everything, but because of the simple fact that it was printed on a Jet Airways boarding card, and didn't have the Emirates logo on it, I couldn't even get on this flight. I got pretty frustrated, but a guy from Jet Airways came and told me that I could get on the next flight which was in about 4.5 hours, and I'd still make my connecting flight to Nairobi. I was ok with that, but I had to wait forever in one particular spot without my passport and boarding passes while they cleared it up and made arrangements for that flight. Every so often they'd come back with a tiny bit of information, but it always took them forever each time they left. I was really running out of patience!! All of a sudden I looked at the clock, and realized the flight I was supposed to be taking was departing in half an hour and I still hadn't heard back about a finalized flight! This made me really angry!! I had no clue what to do, there was no where I could go cause I didn't know where they were or even where the gate was for this flight I was supposed to be taking. After a long time later, they came back, and said... so you missed this next flight, but we have another option for you. They told me first of all that I'd have to PAY to change my flight!!! None of it was even my fault!! I don't think I've ever been as frustrated as I was then. I was persistent with them though, and told them I wouldn't pay, and they needed to go talk Emirates Airline again. After they left, I just about fell apart. I kept asking God why I was running into so many problems just to get to Nairobi! Right then, all I wanted was a hot shower back home and my own bed... I didn't want to think about the cold bucket shower and accommodations that would greet me at the YWAM base in the bush somewhere in Kenya (whenever it was that I would finally arrive there!) When they returned quite some time later, they told me I had no choice but to pay if I expected to leave. I also found out that I also had to repay my excess baggage , because it was only valid for the flight I 'missed'. I just didn't care anymore, I handed over my MasterCard and told them I just wanted to get there already. They got me on a flight that was 4 hours from then. After that, some other guy came up to me and took me somewhere, but he didn't even tell me what was going on. He took me on some elevators that were only meant for staff, and then I had to go through this security check to get outside the airport. Here I'm thinking where is he taking me??? I realized I was where they pack up all the baggage, but he still hadn't told me why I was there. Finally once we got to a particular baggage belt, he told me to identify my baggage. I told him which were mine, and he said they needed to be retagged and stuff cause of the new flight. It felt weird being there cause everyone was giving me strange looks. I asked him if these workers ever got to see passengers in this area, and he said no, very very few. It was finally time to head to my gate though, so I was happy!! I just hoped I wouldn't encounter anymore problems. I really needed to contact Karin in Kenya though, because I wouldn't be at the airport at the time I'd given her. Alone with there being no wireless, there were also no internet cafe's. I figured I'd worry about that once I got to Dubai. Once I settled into my seat on that plane, it was smooth sailing from there! I loved flying into Dubai, its a pretty cool city! The airport was also extremely nice... and even had free wireless internet so I was able to contact Karin like I needed to. Once I arrived in Kenya, I found Karin waiting for me, and breathed a huge sigh of relief! I had FINALLY made it. Those 40 hours from Bangkok to Nairobi had exhausted me, but needless to say, after my bucket shower, I hit the pillow and pretty much instantly fell asleep.

Stuck in Bangkok for a week

My being 'stuck in Bangkok' is drawing to a close!! Hurray! It's been a good week. Frustrating at times, but tried to stay optimistic as much as possible! It was a nice break for me after such a busy month of travelling. Did a lot of resting, relaxing and spending alone time with God.
I attended a church last sunday which is referred to as the 'Slum Church.' What an amazing church!! They were so real, loving, and you could really tell they loved Jesus with all their heart. I didn't know anyone except Celeste - the girl I came with, and another Columbian girl I had met the previous night. While we were singing, this guy came up to me, and said that God told him to come over here and tell me something. He said how God had not forgotten me, I was not alone, He would never leave me and He loved me very much... I was His precious daughter. This was such an encouragement to me!! A couple days later, I attended a Bible study with Celeste and the couple she works together with in ministry. After we sang a few songs, the Thai lady come to me and said she felt she had a word from God for me. Here I'm thinking, again??? But she said something very similar to what the guy at the church on sunday said to me (this lady doesn't attend that church). Again I was really encouraged, and knew I needed to trust God more... fully place this whole situation into His hands and not worry about it.
Yesterday I received my Work Permit, so that was a huge blessing considering my Thai visa extension is about to run out. Fern was able to work out my flight so that was also great! When I called, they were insistant that it would cost me almost $700 to change!! Rediculous! But of course... Thailand rips off foreigners, so its great to have Thai friends. When Fern called, it miraculous decreased to a fraction of that! Imagine that eh.... I got a little angry with the way foreigners get treated. I'm still worried about having to pay quite a bit to get my bags there, cause it seems like all these airlines around here have a low baggage allowance. We'll see what God works out though, perhaps He'll perform another miracle :)
It's been an educational week for me as well. I was reading a book called 'Sex Slaves' and researching more about the ongoing issue of prostitution in Thailand. We also headed out to Patpong area, where the streets are lined with bars and girls that are waiting to be picked up. It really is just so sad seeing this... especially how so many of them don't think there's a way out. Many of their stories are incredibly devastating and full of pain.
Well, thanks again for praying for me...hopefully I won't hit anymore snags, and my next blog will come to you from the land of Kenya!!

Why why why...???

Hmm, where do I start?? Yesterday definitely didn't turn out the way I had planned it would. If it had, I'd be in Kenya right now. So I got to the Bangkok Airport, went to check in... and then first I ran into issues with my baggage. For my first flight, my baggage was within the baggage allowance (which I had previously checked into and saw it wouldn't be a problem), but then they told me that on my connecting flight, the baggage allowance decreased by 15 kg. So I had to wait there forever while they contacted that airline to see if they could make any exceptions, or see what they could do for me. Finally they came and told me that I'd have to pay $450 to be able to take my bags. Crazy!! So I went through my bags, took out what I could, but I was still 12kg over. They said they'd give me a discount, and I'd only have to pay $200. Ok, fine... I'd do that, and considering I got a pretty good deal on my flight, it really wasn't too bad. So once that was cleared up, they asked me about my Kenyan visa. Well, I was told that I'd be receiving an on arrival visa for the time being, and then once I was there, I'd get my work permit stamped into my passport and it shouldn't be a problem at all. I showed them the document saying the permit was in progress, but apparently that wasn't good enough for them. Man I was frustrated by this point!! They listed my options then which included flying till I reached Dubai and staying there by myself for a week till my work permit was officially approved. Ahh... I didn't want to do that! Especially not in Dubai.. by myself! Ok, so that pretty much left me the option that I had to stay in Thailand, and either apply for an extension on my visa and also pay a fine for being in Thailand with an expired visa, or head to Cambodia where I could get a new tourist visa. So we went to Immigration here in Bangkok this morning, and I found out that I still had to pay for the visa extension even if they denied it! Man, I prayed hard... I really needed that approved, otherwise I'd have to pay for that as well as all the fees of going to Cambodia to get a new visa! Luckily.... we serve a pretty great God, and my extension was approved!! So now I can be in Thailand till Sept 19, so I'm hoping and praying that I will have that Kenyan work permit by then so I can actually fly out by then! As frustrating as this whole situation was, I really feel that God was protecting me. A girl that was at the airport with me was praying about it too, and she continually got the phrase 'it's all for her protection' and I know that God knows best. This was all happening for a reason, and I just need to trust Him. He'll take me through it step by step.

Now, I just need to contact the airlines I'm flying with and make sure its not going to be a huge deal to get my flights changed. So if you could keep my in your prayers over getting those changed, as well as praying for my work permit, that would be super awesome!!! Thanks so much! I truly feel so blessed knowing I have so many people around the world praying for me