Brandon A @ Kenya "My Final Days w/ Mission of Hope"

For pics from Brandon, check his personal blog

It is hard to believe that I have already been in Nairobi for two months. My time here has been very fruitful and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to come as an apprentice to Nairobi, Kenya and work with CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship) and MOHI (Missions of Hope International). My flight leaves today at 11:10 PM (4:10 PM EST) and will land on Dulas on Friday afternoon. As I am excited to come home and share with you my experiences and see my friends and family again I can already tell that it is going to be so hard to leave the Kamau family, apprentices (Erin & Bethany), the MOHI staff and students.

Last week I took my favorite photos that the students took with the disposable cameras to be printed as 8"x10" and framed. On monday they I received a large cardboard box that contained about 40 completed photos mounted in the frames ready and to display. I worked all day hanging the frames in the boardroom in Pangani. Everyone that came in to look at the photos while I was hanging seemed shocked when they found out that the students took the photos and not a photographer. I was very pleased with the way the walls turned out. The room has totally been transformed.

I also had the opportunity to design a logo for the Joska boarding school to be made into a sign out front and to be used on their letterhead. It was cool that I was able to use my design abilities to help out MOHI. You can check out their new logo below.

Brandon A @ Kenya: Edwin & Brian's Birthday Party

Last month I was so excited to find out that my sponsored child was going to have his birthday while I was in Kenya. So, I thought it would be fun to throw a party for Edwin and his twin brother Brian. Earlier this week I connected with the Kosovo social worker, Charity, to help me organize the cakes, presents and the visit to their classes.

This afternoon I walked with Charity with the two cakes and presents thru the slums to visit the Kosovo center. Once their I went into Edwin's class to cut the cake, sing happy birthday a gave him his gifts. Then we visited his brothers class to do the same. Both got a new pair of school shoes and socks, and hand knit hats (Thanks Mackenzie and Aunt Marilyn). It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to celebrate their 13th birthday with them and to be able to visit their home. It is always a good day when you are able to give to the less fortunate and know that you have made a difference in their families lives.

Brand ! + Kenya mission team: Joska

This week MCC's short term missions team did VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the Pangani Center for the little kids and also did CHE (Community Health Evangelism) thru home visits. I was asked to help document the festivities thru photography. The kids had so much fun doing crafts, playing games, learning about the lord, how to stay healthy and watching puppet shows.




Before coming to Kenya I had come up with the idea of painting murals on one or more of the centers walls. I recently found out that MOHI only owns a few of their centers (most are rented) which narrowed it down to Pangani and Joska. Pangani already has a lot of murals painted on the exterior of the building so I thought it would be fun to paint the murals in the dorms of the boarding school (classed 5-8).

The middle of last week I went shopping for the paint and left on saturday morning for my hour ride to the Joska center. The staff and students were very excited to hear that they will be helping me paint a picture of an Acacia tree during sunset. I asked the head teacher to find me 4 artistic students to be my helpers. After we painted the sky, ground, and tree trunk, branches and scripture verse we had all the students from classes 7 & 8 come to put their hand prints on the wall to make the leafs. It ended up taking a little 4 days to complete the project but it was well worth it.

While at Joska I was also able to worship with the pupils in their chapel and our MCC short term missions team. It was such a blessing to be able to worship the Lord with them.

If you would like to see more photos check out my facebook photo album.

Kenya team update: Thur - Sat

Greeting from Nairobi. On Thursday, we started the morning off with the puppet skit. Each day we alternate the skit between how and why to pray, and taking care of our physical bodies and community. The rest of the morning continued to be devoted to VBS. The team continued switching roles (and be stretched in the process) between Bible lesson, crafts and games. During the afternoon we split up into two teams and went out into the neighboring slum to do Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Words can not describe the experience on goes thru as they walk thru the neighborhood and see the conditions these people are living in. Then to be welcomed into their "home", typically a 10 ft x 10ft structure built from rusted sheet metal, and to share in their challenges...it's overwhelming. They are so receptive to learn and so appreciative of Americans coming into their neighborhood with the intent to help. The CHE social workers are amazing men and women of God with huge hearts for these people. And home by home they are having an impact.

We finish up tomorrow (Sunday, May 2nd) at the boarding school out at Joska. Today (Saturday) the kids did their presentations to us giving us thanks for the week of VBS. What a touching time for us on the team. It was tough holding back the tears as each group came up and honored us with a songs and memory verses. Wallace Kamau was so gracious in lifting up the role MCC has played in the growth of their mission. He sent his best wishes and love to Ben and the rest of the staff. We ended the time with a large cake that was shared amongst us all...kids included then the team danced with the Mission of Hope staff in a traditional Kenyan dance.

Thanks for your continued prayers. Please keep a member of our team, Susan Kettlewell, in prayer as her father who is fighting cancer has progressively worsened in the last few days and considers returning early to be with her father. Although it's tough leaving these amazing people, we look forward to returning to our families May 6th. Blessings from the Kenya Team!

Brandon A @ Kenya "VBS Week"

This weekend I went to the airport with Wallace to pick up the short term missions team from Mountain. The main purpose of their time in Nairobi is to run a VBS program at MOHI while the students are on break from school. Over the last two days I had the pleasure to take photos of their time with the kids. The team has prepared puppet shows, crafts, bible lessons, games and snack stations for the students to rotate thru. It was really cool to see all of their creative ideas over the past two days. The kids seems like the pupils were learning a lot and having a ton of fun.

Yesterday I dropped off the disposable cameras to the photo store to be developed, digitized and put on CD. I will be picking up the CD's tomorrow morning and can't wait to load them on my computer to see what images they were able to capture. I am really excited to see how they turned out.

Kenya team update - Tue & Wed 27-28 Apr

Having a great time here in Nairobi working with the Mission of Hope staff and kids.

Yesterday Tuesday the 27th we performed our second day of VBS in the morning with over 120 fourth and fifth grade kids. We started with the puppet show which has been a big hit (thanks Renda for the idea and Jim Boyle for the puppet stage) followed by craft time making kraft paper flowers and beaded bracelets; a Bible story period; games and snack time. During lunch several kids who were sponsored by members of our team and other MCC members showed up to greet us. That was a real treat. Plans were made to go visit these kids homes tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we did CHE house visit in the neighboring slum focusing on sanitation practices and evangelism. The story boards we created for our Bible lessons came in handy explaining the role germs play in spreading disease and sickness. During one home visit, the mother asked us to present our story boards to her neighbors. They did not realize germs existed and were responsible for sickness and disease. We ended the day visiting one of the missionaries homes, Doug and Jennifer Kurz, for dinner. They fixed an outstanding mexican meal with all of the gucamole you could eat!

Today, Wed., 28th - Our team switched roles for the VBS classes. Today we had 2nd and 3rd graders. The mornings fly by quickly as they rotate 20-30 kids thru every 30-40 minutes. It got so busy today we skipped morning tea. This afternoon we visited the slums of Bondemi and Kosovo to visit three of the homes of the kids that are sponsored by MCC. No matter how many times you visit these slums you never get use to what you see. The visits were very special and the parents we visited were so grateful....grateful for their childrens education at Mission of Hope and for our visit. Tomorrow we'll resume the VBS morning sessions and go out into the slum to do CHE home visits. Pray for our flexibility that's needed when working with so many kids while trying to cover so much ground in a compact 4 hour period. Thanks for your prayers!

Kenya team update - Mon 26 Apr

Hello from Kenya.
Today was our first day of Vacation Bible School. About 100 children from 4th and 5th grades attended. We performed the puppet skit with James (Matt), James (Susan), Mary (Vivian) and Jesus (Rick). The theme was praying each day along with reading your Bible, getting along with others and cleaning up your neighborhood.

At the intermission, we had the children clean up empty bottle and newspapers and throwing all of it in plastic bags just like basketball. They had a great time as did we.

Then we performed other activities- games (Rick and Matt), the Lesson ( Susan) and crafts (Pat and Vivian). They loved learning the American game "sharks and minnows" and made flowers out of tissue paper and beaded bracelets.

In the afternoon we gave the children fluoride treatments, along with their own toothpaste of toothbrushes. Many adults lined up to receive treatments after the kids had finished.

It has been a fantastic experience. The children are so cute and well behaved.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Looking forward to sharing tomorrow's activities with you. -- Your Kenya 2010 Team