Still Recovering

Yes I still trying to overcome my jetlag. I slept for 14 hours Friday night & was still quite out of it Saturday. Today I feel a lot better, but am still felling tired & not wanting to do much. I am so glad tomorrow is a public holiday & am hoping I will be all adjusted by Tuesday.
It is so great to be home, but I am also missing Kenya. I would so love to go back there again one day.
I know I promised photos, but I cannot find the device to transfer my photos to the computer, so will keep looking for it & will upload the pics as soon as I track it down!
Hope you all have a lovely Australian day tomorrow! I am looking forward to our family bbq & probably playing some classic Aussie pub rock!

Home Sweet Home!

Yes I am now home!
Our flight arrived in Sydney around 7am this morning & we got to the church at 11:45.
I am so wiped! I feel quite sick & very tired. My feet are so swollen from the flight & are quite sore. I want to sleep, but have been advised to wait til a bit later, otherwise I won't overcome the jet lag as quickly. So I will try to stay up for a couple more hours.
So I'm just popping in for a quick message to let you all know that I am now home. I will come back tomorrow & share some of my photos.

Halfway There

At the moment I am sitting at the airport at Thailand. It is about 3pm here & our flight is not until 5:20pm. The flight from Kenya to Thailand was good, I slept for most of it. So now we are all here at the airport with some time to kill. Makena is currently standing next to me watching me type & playing with my hair! Some of the girls have gone to get massages, while a lot of us are just chilling out.
I think we are all really looking forward to going home. I am so excited that this time tomorrow I will be at home. Yay! I'm not really looking foward to another 9 hour plane flight, but hopefully it will go by as quickly as the last one did.
Our last day in Kenya was fun. We did some last minute shopping & went to the markets for one last time. I quite enjoyed these markets, they weren't as pushy.
It was quite sad to leave Kenya, but I am definitely ready for home!

Almost Time To Leave

Wow! I can't believe how the time has flown over here in Kenya! This time tomorrow we will be heading to the airport & saying goodbye to Kenya.
It has been so amazing, I really love it here. Today we got back from our four day Safari. It was so awesome. We saw so many animals, such as Zebras, Giraffes, Rhinos, Hippos, Crocodiles, Flamingos, Wart Hogs, Buffalo & lots more. It was really cool. I took so many pics, so will post them all up when I get home.
I am quite sad to leave but I think I am really ready to go home. I am really starting to miss everything about home. But it will probably take a little while to get used to being back home & get back into my normal routines!
And I am really going to miss the rest of the Kenya team. They are all such awesome people & I am going to miss seeing them & hanging out with them each day. It has been so great getting to know them better. Especially Victoria, who has become my new singing partner! She is such an awesome chick & we will so have to keep in touch. She is from Wollongong, so she is not too far away. I have also become good friends with Laura, who is from Orange, so she is not quite as close, but we will definitely keep in touch.
This trip has been so awesome, I am so glad that I came. I have loved it so much.
By the way, Dad, I was very impressed that you posted your very own message! Well done! Tell Feeny & Ziggy I'll be home sson!

We've Finished!

Yes today, about 2 hours ago, we finally finished the playground! We are so relieved & so proud of ourselves! I will try to get to Rob's laptop to upload some piccies if I can.
It was such hard work, but we are so happy that we have done this for the people of Lifespring church & the community. And it was great to work with some of the Kenyan guys as well.
It is so great how well we have all been working as a team together. We are all so different & all have our own unique gifts & talents, but we have all been able to come together & all work on the playground together, which has been great. And we all feel like we have each accomplished something.
Yesterday while the guys worked on the playground, the girls headed to Amani Yu Juu, a place where women who have been affected by poverty, war, etc. can come & work while being nurtured in their physical & spiritual well being. They make products such as quilts, bags, clothes, toys, homewares, etc. The women weren't there, but we were given the tour & our tour guide Maggie told us all about the project. It was so inspiring to hear all about it & how these women's lives have changed since joining the project. Then we headed to the gift shop, which had such amazing things that the women had made. I think we all may have soent a bit too much!
We had a lovely restful day at Lukenya resort on Saturday, which we all needed so much, to refresh & rejuvenate. It was sooo good.
Then on Sunday we ran kids church at Lifespring. It didn't go as great as we had hoped. The children were very unresponsive as first, but towards the end of the program they connected with us a bit more, so that was good.
After church we had a thankyou lunch for all our host families. My host Grace couldn't make it unfortunately, but it was great to meet all the other host families & spend some time with them.
Then we headed to our next guesthouse, but on the way we stopped at another market. I didn't really enjoy this one, as I was so hot & tired, so I was a bit cranky & the sales people were much more pushy this time, so I just got really annoyed. So I didn't buy much this time, which is probably a good thing!
So I was quite relieved when we left the markets & headed to our destination, Kijiji guesthouse in Karen, which is close to Nairobi. It is quite nice there. It is a very peaceful, secluded place. I am sharing a room with Victoria & Laura. We are there until Saturday, when we head off to our safari. We are all looking forward to that so much, it is going to be so awesome!
So now that we have finished the playground, we will be spending the next two days with Pastor William. I can't remember what we will be doing there, so will have to come back & update with more details at a later date!

We've survived the week!

Well we have survived our first week in Kenya! It has been so amazing so far. It is such a beautiful country. We all feel so blessed to have the opportunity to come here.
I am so surprised by how easily I am finding everything. I haven't really felt too much out of my comfort zone, which is really good. The roads are quite scary, but I am getting used to them!
We have had an amazing week at Lifespring church. The people there are awesome. We were blown away by how friendly & welcoming they are & how passionate they are about the Lord. We have all been so humbled by their faith. We all had a big chat yesterday about how we have all been challenged so far. They are so many things that we have learned from being here that we all really want to take home with us & continue at home.
I've enjoyed getting to know the team at Lifespring this week but have also loved getting to know the rest of the Aussie team. Most of them I don't know very well & have been enjoying spending time with them & getting to know them better this week. They are such an awesome bunch. I feel so blessed to be roomates with Victoria this week. She is awesome & I have loved spending time with her & getting to know her.
We haven't finished the playground yet. We had hoped it would be finished this week, but knew that it might not be, so we are going back there at least monday & tuesday & then hopefully it will be finished.
I have really loved all the food over here. I haven't had anything yet that I haven't liked. Most of the foods I have eaten have been fairly normal to me. I have tried a few new foods. I love chepatis, which are a flat bread, & mandazis, which are like donuts. Yesterday I tried an ostrich burger, which was really nice.
Yesterday we went to the Massai markets. That was quite an experience! I was so overwhelmed by it all! After the first 15 minutes I was getting so stressed out & not coping with how pushy & in your face the sales people were. So I took a bit of a breather & then decided to get back into it, going at my own pace, rather than trying to keep up with the others. I still wasn't feeling too comfortable with it, but I had a go & did some bartering for all the things I wanted to buy. Most of the items I got for about half of what they initially asked, so I was quite happy with that. It is all such a blur though! Afterwards everyone was saying how much everything cost them, & I couldn't remember what any of mine cost! I know I got some good deals though, so I was happy.
Last night & tonight we are staying at Lukenya, which is a resort about half an hour out of Nairobi. It is very nice here. We are having a chilled back day today, after our busy week.

5 Praise Points For The Week

* Praise God that we have had the amazing opportunity to come over to Kenya & experience life in this beautiful country.
* Praise God that He has kept us all safe so far & that none of us have been majorly sick.
* Praise God for the the friendships we have been building amongst our own team and with the team from Lifespring.
* Praise God for the progress on the playground & how everyone has been working so well together as a team.
* Praise God for the amazing ways He provides for us & how even when things have seemed hopeless, He has provided a way for us.

5 Prayer Points For The Week

* Pray that we will all be refreshed & replenished after our day of relaxing today & all ready for another week of work.
* Pray that all will come together with the playground & that it will get finished on time.
* Pray that our children's program will go well tomorrow & that we will be able to reach out to the children at Lifespring Church.
* Pray that we will have safe travels throughout the remainder of our trip.
* Pray that we will be able to take home what we are learning & be able to put it all into practice back at home.

Missing Pics

Here are the pics that disappeared from my last post. I am hoping they will stay this time! This first pic is of how the playground is progressing. We are behind schedule but we had prepared for that, so will spend at least two days working on it next week.



































The second pic is of me riding on a matatu. They are a lot scarier than riding on a normal bus. The other day our matatu got a flat tyre & we all had to evacuate!
The last pic is of some of the guys we met at Lifespring Church. They are all so friendly & welcoming, it has been great spending time with them this week.

Kenya At A Glance

Here are a few pics to show you guys a bit of what we are experiencing. 1).This is Lifespring Church where we are building our playground. It is basically a big tent, but it does have solid foundation. There is a railway track right outside the gates, but trains only come twice a day.
2).This is the site where we are building the playground before we started.
3).I took this photo this morning. We are progressing on the playground, though slightly behind schedule.
4).This is me riding home on the matatu. It was a bit scary at first, but it isn't too bad now.
5).Here are some of the lovely guys helping us out at Lifespring. They are all so friendly & welcoming.


Ok, so blogger isn't behaving & I can't get the words to match up with the pics, so I hope you can work out what is what!


So now some of my pics have disappeared! Sorry! Will try & use Rob's laptop again soon & repost them. For now all I have is the photo of the church & the ground before we started building the playground.

A Hard Days Work

It's day two of our playground project. I've been working hard shovelling & moving rocks. It's hard work & out in the heat, but I am really enjoying it.
This morning we joined in an amazing worship & prayer time at the church. Bethany, Pam, Bec, Curtis, Rob & I helped lead the songs. It was so much fun. The people at Lifespring are so amazing. They are all so friendly & so passionate. Right now I am watching a group doing some dancing. It is really cool.
Kenya is so amazing. I am so loving being here. And am so thankful that I haven't got sick at all yet, in fact most of the team have been pretty well so far, so we are definitely praising the Lord for that. Please keep Laura in your prayers, who is feeling quite unwell at the moment.
Victoria & I feel so blessed to be staying with Grace. She is so lovely & her place is great. I didn't realise how lucky we are to have a working shower, as most of the others don't. Last night we cooked dinner for Grace, which she really appreciated.
I am really just loving this whole experience. It is just so amazing.

Another Quick Update

Habari! We are currently at Lifespring Church working on our playground. We don't get the timber until tomorrow so we are just digging holes. It is so hot & exhausting, so I am taking a net break!

I have put these top two pics here to show you the contrast in Kenya. There is such a contrast in the way different Kenyans live.

I thought this banner of the Kenyan flag was really cool. There is one over either side of the road as we were driving into town.

The internet on this laptop is cutting in & out, so I will keep my update short today & will come back for a more indepth update next time I get to a cyber cafe.

Day 2

Well we have almost come to the end of our second day in Kenya. We went to church at Lifespring this morning. I loved it, it was such an awesome service. The worship in particular was just awesome. They are all so passionate & enthusiastic. And such lovely people. Many of them came to introduce themselves & they were so welcoming & friendly.
Then Grace (the lady who is hosting Victoria & I) took Victoria shopping. The shopping centres are just like Australian ones, except they are all much bigger than Nowra Fair! We have just been to the biggest supermarket I have ever seen!
We start working on our big project tomorrow, a playground at Lifespring church.
Having a blast so far, haven't taken many photos yet, but definitely will, just been taking in all the Kenyan sites so far!
Missing everyone down home a lot. Will try to come back & update again soon.xox.

We've Arrived!

Just a quick post to let you all know that we have arrived In Kenya. It is 10:50 over here & we are out having breakfast. We arrived here at 6:30 this morning, so have only been here a few hours. Haven't seen much yet. We did see a giraffe walking alongside the road as we were driving, so that was pretty exciting! Though I guess it would be the same as someone coming to Australia & seeing Kangaroos jumping alongside the road! But yeah we were all excited! The roads are a bit crazy. We already had one car cut out in front of us & drive on the wrong side of the road! So that was a bit scary! We're all fairly tired from the flight, but definitely excited to be here!

Off To Kenya!!!

Well todays the day! Wow, it's seemed so far away but now it is here! We are meeting at the church at 10am. I'm packed & ready to go, just need to tidy a few things around here.

This is the awesome team that I am going with. They are all such amazing people & I am looking forward to spending the next three weeks with them.

I will try to visit internet cafes as much as I can to keep my blog updated while I am in Kenya.

Better go finish tidying up.

I almost forgot to say,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!