asante sana is a little swahili i’ve picked up since i’ve been here. it means thank you very much. i feel like that’s all i can really say. God has shown himself to me in so many ways since i have been here. saying thank you to Him in swahili reminds me that he is the God of ALL people. He is here with me, He is here with these children, and He loves them in ways that i could never even imagine. even when i feel like there is no way that anyone could ever love them more than i do now.
God has shown himself in the kenyan worship we experienced sunday (an experience like no other, i must say). He shows himself in the faces of our children here at marindi. in the faces of the children at the schools we visited today. in the words and actions of the teachers that love our children so much and teach them so selflessly. what a gift, Lord. What a reminder of Your love and power.
God has done “immeasurably more” than i could ever have asked or imagined (see ephesians 3:20 for a verse reference…thank you very much d-camp experience for ingraining this verse into my head). and for that i say asante sana lord. asante sana sana sana sana, times one million.
that’s really all i have for today. hope to write more soon. love love to everyone and thanks for the prayers.
grace and peace,
jess
05 July 2010
03 July 2010
short, but ever so sweet....
JAMBO!!! really and truly, straight from kenya :)
so, since my last post (please bear with my ineptitude (word?) at posting blogs in a timely fashion), i have made it to dallas, london, nairobi, and then on to migori. all i can say is that i've never felt more welcome in a place in my entire life. the traditional kenyan welcome for visitors is "karibu nyumbani," which means welcome home. how true that statement rings for me at this moment.
as much as i would love to just gush and gush about all the things i've seen and heard and felt and touched so far, i will refrain for now. as my post is so aptly titled "short, but ever so sweet," that is how i intend to keep it. for now at least.
drove into migori today. there were so many things to see on the drive in. my eyes are full. saw some beautiful things and some absolutely heartbreaking things. also saw a baboon and some zebras. got a beautiful welcome at marindi, and even joined in a kenyan dance :) my rhythm may or may not have been a little lacking, but i had fun, as did my co-dancers. met some precious children. i just want to hug and squeeze every single one of them. if only my arms were big enough.
had a beautiful meal. so far. so good on the health front. keep up the prayers :)
God protects and provides in so many ways. let's just remember that and thank him kindly for it. i have never felt that quite as much as i am feeling it in this place.
plans for tomorrow: teach sunday school to those sweet precious children. go to church at pastor fred's church. have lunch with our dear friend pastor fred at his place.
that's about all i have to say for now friends. promise to be a better blogger at a later date. love you guys all like fireworks.
grace and peace,
jess
so, since my last post (please bear with my ineptitude (word?) at posting blogs in a timely fashion), i have made it to dallas, london, nairobi, and then on to migori. all i can say is that i've never felt more welcome in a place in my entire life. the traditional kenyan welcome for visitors is "karibu nyumbani," which means welcome home. how true that statement rings for me at this moment.
as much as i would love to just gush and gush about all the things i've seen and heard and felt and touched so far, i will refrain for now. as my post is so aptly titled "short, but ever so sweet," that is how i intend to keep it. for now at least.
drove into migori today. there were so many things to see on the drive in. my eyes are full. saw some beautiful things and some absolutely heartbreaking things. also saw a baboon and some zebras. got a beautiful welcome at marindi, and even joined in a kenyan dance :) my rhythm may or may not have been a little lacking, but i had fun, as did my co-dancers. met some precious children. i just want to hug and squeeze every single one of them. if only my arms were big enough.
had a beautiful meal. so far. so good on the health front. keep up the prayers :)
God protects and provides in so many ways. let's just remember that and thank him kindly for it. i have never felt that quite as much as i am feeling it in this place.
plans for tomorrow: teach sunday school to those sweet precious children. go to church at pastor fred's church. have lunch with our dear friend pastor fred at his place.
that's about all i have to say for now friends. promise to be a better blogger at a later date. love you guys all like fireworks.
grace and peace,
jess
29 June 2010
oh, the places you'll go...
so, rewind to about two weeks ago, a very good friend of mine named katie strike left for south america.
as i was thinking about her leaving and me going to see her off at the airport and all of that, my thinking rewound (if that is the correct past tense of rewind?) to about a year ago when katie and i (and sarah, sydney, and julia) were graduating from high school. we all did what i think is a really cool thing....we all got copies of dr. suess's "oh the places you'll go" for our teachers to sign, so that we could keep them forever and have wonderful high school memories and all that jazz. if you have never read that book, its a must-read....def one of my top 5. but anyway, i was thinking about how we all did that together and how, back then, talking about faraway places and all the fantastical things we would do someday in our lives were just far-off dreams and fantasies. now, here we are, just one year later....and, man, are we going places. katie in chile, me in kenya, julia at kaleo. its really surreal that just a year ago we were nothing but dreamers....and look at us now. i know that this blog could be easily written off as cheesy, but i just think that its the coolest thing ever that we are where we are.
i just want to leave off with a couple quotes from the book....
"you'll be on your way up!! you'll be seeing great sights!! you'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
"out there things can happen, and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you."
"and when things start to happen, don't worry. don't stew. just go right along. you'll start happening too."
"KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"
so...... here's to dr. suess.
grace and peace,
jess
as i was thinking about her leaving and me going to see her off at the airport and all of that, my thinking rewound (if that is the correct past tense of rewind?) to about a year ago when katie and i (and sarah, sydney, and julia) were graduating from high school. we all did what i think is a really cool thing....we all got copies of dr. suess's "oh the places you'll go" for our teachers to sign, so that we could keep them forever and have wonderful high school memories and all that jazz. if you have never read that book, its a must-read....def one of my top 5. but anyway, i was thinking about how we all did that together and how, back then, talking about faraway places and all the fantastical things we would do someday in our lives were just far-off dreams and fantasies. now, here we are, just one year later....and, man, are we going places. katie in chile, me in kenya, julia at kaleo. its really surreal that just a year ago we were nothing but dreamers....and look at us now. i know that this blog could be easily written off as cheesy, but i just think that its the coolest thing ever that we are where we are.
i just want to leave off with a couple quotes from the book....
"you'll be on your way up!! you'll be seeing great sights!! you'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
"out there things can happen, and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you."
"and when things start to happen, don't worry. don't stew. just go right along. you'll start happening too."
"KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"
so...... here's to dr. suess.
grace and peace,
jess
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