this is africa

TIA: this is africa. When ridiculous things happen you can throw out this little phrase and it'll cover it. Last week Mollie and I were sitting in our room when water started dripping from the ceiling, then started dripping from our overhead light, then started pouring out of our overhead light. Mollie came running in to save all of our stuff and ended up laying in a puddle, despite the headlamp; TIA. Last week we went camping in Kinangop and I was running to the kitchen to eat (duh), didn't see the tent rope and face-planted, should have had my headlamp, TIA. 

Last weekend we made our way out to Kinangop in the most packed van this world has ever known, the amount of stuff and human beings we crammed in there was unreal (TIA) but we made it. Y'all it was like a three day peak into heaven, couldn't get enough of it. Nature is a reflection of our Creator. We serve a beautiful God, that's all I know.

claustrophobia 

couldn't paint a prettier picture

powerful God 

During the day we went to a school in the village and taught 150 kids that Jesus made them special. That each of them have gifts and they have a mighty calling over their lives to go out and make a difference in their communities using their gifts. That they are infinitely treasured. These kids love Jesus. Their bibles are their most prized possessions. One girl wrote on the cover of her bible, this bible belong to Kim do not stell (steal) it because it is holy. If only we treasured our bibles and the words in it like these kids, if only we daily acknowledged how holy it really is. Lots to learn from these little ones.  

Aaaaaaand back to Nairobi, home sweet home. The past week and a half have been jam-packed with visits to different baby homes. It's easy to get overwhelmed with all that we have to get done, all the red tape we have to get through, all the process we have to learn about. We've seen amazing examples to follow and we've seen some disturbing scenes of failed orphan care. 

    
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, that reaches farther. 

Hebrews 6:19

One home was close to perfect for the style they were going for. There are 40 kids total that are past the age of having a strong chance at adoption so this home's theory is to create a home and start a family right there. On the compound there are 4 different homes with 8-11 kids in each home. Each home has one mom, who has signed on to 15+ years to live there and raise these kids as their own. These women are literal angels. We asked one of the little girls what she loved most about her home and she said 'everything'. That is a miracle. I'm thankful for the glimmers of hope found in homes like these. Thankful for the knowledge that a better way is possible and is in action right now. 

We go to another one of the homes pretty often and it snaps me right back to the heartbreaking reality that millions of kids are living in rancid, loud, lonely homes. I'm pretty unfazed when it comes to gross things, like I can handle it. I was gagging when I walked in, almost had to excuse myself to throw up. Sorry to be graphic but its the sad truth. One baby opened his mouth and a rusty tack fell out. A rusty tack. There was dried poop on the floor, kids were left in their cloth diapers long enough for it to soak through their 5 layers of clothes and onto my arms, the smells coming off the kids had to be from days and days with out a bath. These home are giving the world this illusion that something is being done to care for orphans. A sour mattress, a leaky roof, and a pile of rice for lunch isn't enough for these precious souls. The mommas at the homes we have been to are not malicious, I really do believe most of them have the best intentions. They just lack the resources. They lack money, training, staff, and time. Thankfully our God has plenty of it all and He is calling His people to move in a big way. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you . I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 
John 14:27 

You do not give as the world gives, thank you Jesus. If we choose to seek his face, if we choose to seek his peace, he promises it to us. These babies are promised the same thing. 

we're here!

be confident in this, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion
philippians 1:6

hour number one

Sitting still and quiet and staying sane on a plane for 21 hours is not my thing. It's never going to be my thing. No matter how homesick I've gotten, the memory of those 27 hours of travel keep me happy that I get to stay in Kenya for a long, LONG time. Praise God. Side note: Belgium Airlines do keep the food coming; ice cream bars and free wine are two very happy things on a 12 hour flight. You go Belgian Airlines. 

hour number eighteen

We flew into the Nairobi airport, which was burned to the ground 5 days earlier, so not the most comforting greeting. But props to the airport, we had a relatively easy time getting our visas and our baggage considering the international terminal, immigration and baggage claim are now a massive pile of ashes. We lined up under white tents to get our visas, which was a much less intimidating process than I thought it'd be. It felt more like we were waiting to get into an amusement park than waiting to see if we would be allowed into another country. A couple hundred of us were held under another white tent that I guess was baggage claim until some one yelled GO! and we all rushed out, crawling over each other, into a pitch-dark parking lot full of hundreds of bags, to try and find our own. Once we had our 400 pounds of luggage in one pile, the real adventure began of trying to get all of it from baggage claim to a car we knew nothing about. Top ten biggest struggles and top ten funniest moments of my life. Mollie said "this is the joke of the century" 45 times and she nailed it. Can't tell you how many people asked us if we were okay or if we needed any help. 

 

BUT WE'RE HERE! And we're so happy about it. We live in a gated house with a guard so we're safe everybody! We spent the first few days just getting adjusted, learning about cold showers and dirty feet (always), alarm clocks being replaced with roosters and having lizards in the shower, milk that doesn't have to be refrigerated and lasts for a year (???) and avocados the size of my face, and most of all, seeing the beauty of our Creator in a real and tangible way every single place I look. 

  

the freshest flowers everywhere

our fierce guard dog tucker, keeping all the bad guys away 

 

my shower friend

 

fresh produce for a just few cents; can't beat it. 

Update on Kimbilio: We've got our eye on a house, PRAISE JESUS. It's perfect y'all, and we ask for you to cover this time in prayer with us as we make an offer and hopefully set a move-in date. We have started the long process of getting the Kenyan government's permission to take in babies and we are trusting in God's timing which is much different than our own. My flesh gets frustrated and overwhelmed with the task ahead. The thought of babies suffering and alone in a cold hospital breaks my heart and haunts me. I want to have a home to bring every single one of them into right this second, but the Lord's timing is better than my own and that humbles me daily. He is telling me over and over again that in this waiting time there is so much need and so much of Jesus to share. There are babies that need to be loved. Hundreds of them, thousands of them with in a few miles of me. So in the mean time, while we wait for our own, we will love the ones in homes around us who need it so badly. Visiting these homes to love on the precious little people that have been orphaned or abandoned, and visiting these homes to learn what to do in our own and what we'd like to do differently.

 

it's winter in Kenya right now, so a high of 76 during the day: the mommas at the homes keep the babies in literal snowsuits to protect from the cold 

the toddler's play pin at on of the homes we visit 

 

We walk into a home and the smell of urine is overwhelming. The playroom floors are covered in dirt and the toys in mold. Babies laying in cribs covered in mucus and spit up, some emotionless, some screaming, some sleeping peacefully but all in desperate need of love. If that's not enough to inspire better orphan care not just in Nairobi but across the globe, I don't know what is. This is not to say we haven't visited a home that was full of love and attention, with out a speck of dirt, but just the knowledge that tonight, there are babies in homes all over the world that don't have a mom to rock them to sleep and the hope of Jesus in their heart, keeps us moving to the day we can open Kimbilio's doors.