Sisters On A Mission

Mint tea....literally! It was about 7pm, when the torrential rains thundered down in Nairobi on Sunday.  I was tucked away safely in my room, or so I thought.  I ran to the window to tie back the curtain so I wouldn't miss the show and then sat in a chair.  I was really enjoying the coziness of the chair, watching the rain pour and listening to the crackling thunder, when to my surprise, a felt a drip on my face.  I remember thinking, am I dreaming or did I just feel water?  It was no dream.  Within minutes there was a tropical rain forest in my room!  I quickly got my computer out of the way and jumped up onto the bed.  I thought, surely the rain will let up, but when I stepped off my bed on the other side, my feet got soaked.  So my entire room was flooding from the roof down! Suddenly it struck me as hilarious.  What else could I do but laugh my head off?! Ahh yes, such is the experience of life in Africa.  I remember years ago at my first missionary training, "Expec

..The Story Continues! Karibu  Kenya ! (Welcome to Kenya) That's what everyone keeps telling me when I meet them.   I have had a whirlwind of activity and many things to trust God with already. Five days before departing, I found out that my housing had fallen through.   As you know, I am working on starting a business that will support my sister and I with our non-profit work among  widows and orphans . Our non-profit, Streams of Mercy Africa, is already working in partnership with  Fountain of Hope  Kenya.   When my housing fell through I prayed and asked if God wanted me to still go or cancel my ticket. The Lord encouraged me that He had already gone before me and prepared the way. I sent a quick email and James Waruiru, director of FOH responded right away. He found me a couple nights at a guest house and met me at the airport with an auntorage of family and friends...a VERY Kenyan greeting! After staying at the guest house, I realized my limited funding would quickly run out a

One canceled flight, teaching a young Tanzanian boy to swim, and 48 hours later I was in Kenya!!  And what a welcome (karibu) I had!  Friends met me at the airport a day later than expected and having waited for me for three hours.  God has so many ways of telling me He loves me and my Kenyan brothers and sisters are one way He does this. After leaving Ohio, I got to Detroit only to find our flight was delayed.  As we were waiting hour by hour I got to know a young boy named Grant and his mother Reynalda from Tanzania.  I got to entertain Grant through the long hours of waiting & heard the dream of Reynalda to start children’s homes to educate orphans. Finally our flight was cancelled and we spent the night in a Detroit hotel.  I got to teach Grant to swim the following morning!  We got to the airport, took a long lunch, and boarded the plane at 7pm.  Exactly 24 hours beyond our original departure time. Two plane rides and 24 hours later, I was finally home! Thanks to all of you fo

... So That We Could Leave It All Behind With only 6 days until I leave for Kenya, Jody and I were recalling all the things that had to be given up in order to be obedient to God's call.   Giving up possessions, jobs, reputations, and even friends and family was necessary so that when God said "go" we would be willing to leave it all behind. We found it wasn't about a one time event of sacrifice, but at it's core, was an issue of the heart.  We had to be detached from the things of this world so that Christ could be Lord of everything in our lives. St. Augustine once said, "Christ is not Lord at all unless He is Lord of All ." Our hearts had be be cleaned out so that nothing could take Christ's rightful place. "Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts." As God asked me to surrender certain things,  I found it made more and more room to experience a greater intimacy w

Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NLT I felt mortified when the register came up short for a cup of coffee.  I searched in vain through the various pockets and zippers of my purse.  Penny told me not to worry about it,  but I could hardly thank her because of the shame I felt. When God called me to Kenya in 2009, I never knew that to totally follow Jesus, I would need two years of giving things away.    First, God told me that I couldn’t love my family more than Him.  He asked me if I was willing to leave them and go, even if they didn't understand. The thought of leaving them was painful,  but I knew Jesus was saying to me, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life,...  he cannot be My disciple . ” 1 Secondly, God asked me if I wa

With only 12 days before I traverse the globe to my new home in Kenya, Africa, I find myself in the roller coaster of transition;   ecstatic   about the new and   grieving   leaving the old and   familiar.  It is ironic to think that as a life-time  "Global Nomad" I would still experience the ups and downs of cross-cultural transition. But I find that no "professional" GN could ever escape the often uncomfortable phase of  "Good Bye Old World". This past year, my sister Jody and I poured our heart and soul into developing Streams of Mercy Africa, after time spent listening to the young women who had lost everything after their husbands died of HIV/AIDS . We found that our mission together became so much a part of us that an approaching separation, though temporary, was difficult.  (Jody will join me after 6 months.)   And of course, saying good-bye to family & friends, mom, dad, Tim, Jeremy, Lynn and Erica.  All true friends who never let me give up th