Africa!
So we are back from our mission trip from Africa – our trip went by so quickly!!! As promised though, let me start with our 4th of July weekend, which feels like forever ago!
On Saturday July 3rd, we went to a patriotic celebration on the military base here in Brussels. It’s not very often that civilians are invited on base, so we decided to go check it out and eat a hot dog. It was a nice, big celebration, but we didn’t know anyone there so we only stayed about an hour. It was also very weird to be there, in the middle of Brussels, and hear everyone speak English. It was almost like we had reverse culture shock! We were exhausted that Saturday from a long day of shopping (remember there are only 2 sales/year in Belgium – one in July and one in January!) so we decided to go grab dinner somewhere and call it a night. On Sunday July 4th, we went to a 4th of July party at the huge clubhouse owned by the American Women’s Club of Brussels. It was really fun! They had a huge barbecue and so much food! We actually know a few people from the American Women’s Club, so that was much better. We hung out at the clubhouse for about 2 hours, and then headed off for more shopping! Before we left for Africa, we bought a washer/dryer, couch, and a mattress. Since we’ve returned from Africa, we’ve bought a TV. Eventually we’ll have everything we need! :-)
The week before we left for Africa was crazy! We had to prepare, buy snacks, pack – and we also had to sign our lease, try to get our apartment situation squared away, and finish registering with the city of Brussels as residents. We were both very busy! We finally left on Wednesday, July 7th around 13:00 to fly to London to meet our team. It was quite the ordeal dragging our packs and 2 trunks on the metro, then transferring to the tram, and then transferring again to a bus. Brent and I were in charge of bringing 30 soccer balls and 15 pumps, which filled 2 large trunks.
Here’s a side story about the soccer balls. On our drive back from Breda, we accidently made a wrong turn (boo GPS!) and while we were stopped at a light, I randomly turned around and saw a huge sports store in the middle of Belgium! We had not yet bought the soccer balls/pumps but we had planned on going to various stores around Brussels that weekend. Well, we stumbled upon the largest sports store in Belgium by making that wrong turn and purchased all of the soccer balls/pumps. It was definitely a God thing!
So back to the airport…we arrived at the Brussels airport with plenty of time because we had never flown out of Brussels before and didn’t know how long we’d need. We learned it’s a small airport…so we decided to eat lunch. While eating, a guy was walking around putting flashlights on people’s tables with a note. The note read “I am deaf and poor, please help by buying a flashlight.” Normally Brent and I would politely say “I’m sorry, but no thank you” but we decided we were on a mission trip and an extra flashlight couldn’t hurt on an island with no electricity! So we bought one and the guy was very happy. And of course, somebody on the mission trip’s flashlight broke and she needed that one. God really does have every tiny little detail planned out!
From here on, I am just going to take bits and pieces out of my journal to share in the blog. To give a little background information, Gethsemane Garden Christian Center (GGCC) is a Christian boarding school for children who come from dire situations on Mfangano Island in Lake Victoria. Many are orphans and watched their parents die, some have HIV, and all had essentially no hope before being enrolled at GGCC. Our mission team from Calvary Church in Charlotte, NC is involved with the school. Brent and I went on this mission trip to do HIV/AIDS education with other secondary schools on the island, while other members of our team held a pastors’ conference, built homes for widows, provided medical services, and various other service projects. GGCC is the main organization the church is involved with on Mfangano Island, but we go to witness to the entire island since GGCC is already an established Christian center. If you would like more information about GGCC, check out their website http://www.ggcckenya.com or blog http://ggcckenya.wordpress.com. If you want to donate to GGCC, email me and I’ll let you know the various ways you can help this amazing foundation! So here is my journal…but it is only parts of it because I wrote about 50 pages in total. :-)
July 8th: So here I am again, 2 years later, back on Mfangano Island. Yesterday before we left Belgium, I had this overwhelming joy that I was going “home”, back where I belonged, back where God called me to serve Him. This year there are 12 of us on our mission team, including Brent and I. I went with 6 of the same people 2 years ago, so it was wonderful to see old friends! The excitement I felt when we arrived in Nairobi is indescribable. I could not wait to get to Mfangano Island. We collected 20 boxes, 5 trunks, and our luggage and headed to the smaller airport where we’d catch our Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane. The flight was a little over an hour – and we couldn’t see anything until we flew over Lake Victoria. We did a low fly-over of the landing strip to clear the cows, donkeys, and children off of it, and to make sure it was safe. The landing was incredibly bumpy, just as I remembered. Immediately when I looked out the window, I felt a rush of joy I hadn’t felt in 2 years – seeing hundreds of kids run up to the plane to greet you is the happiest feeling in the world. It’s almost as if I could feel God patting me on the back, saying “thank you for listening to me Rachel – thank you for returning, this is where you belong.” The children just rush up to you right when you hop off: smiling, jumping up and down, and curiously staring. I must have hugged 50 kids in like 5 minutes…and it was hard to not cry out of happiness to see their beautiful faces again. After we made our way through the sea of children, we greeted Napthaly Mattah, the founder and head of Gethsemane Garden Christian Center. He is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and receiving a big hug from him and finally introducing him to my husband was wonderful. We hung out by the school for a bit and eventually made our way over to camp. After awhile, I asked some of the local women around camp where my baby Ashley was. (Ashley was a small baby 2 years ago and her mom used to always give her to me to hold. I held that baby constantly in 2008! In my journal from 2 years ago, I remember constantly praying for that adorable baby, asking God to bless her life.) I was looking forward to seeing Ashley as a toddler and giving her a big hug! The women told me Ashley died. It was like somebody had slapped me back to the reality that I was in Africa. I just kind of stared at the ladies in shock because in the western world, we are not used to babies dying. I didn’t know what to say to the women except “Oh wow - that is so sad.” But the mother said, “We rejoice in everything that God does, it is ok.” I guess now I will wait and give baby Ashley a big hug in heaven. Dinnertime the first night was also a reminder of the millions of lake flies we would be spending time with while on the island. You eat your rice and beans and don’t look at what’s on your fork because you know you are eating flies…but it’s ok because you can’t taste them! There are constantly flies in your nose, eyes, mouth, ears etc at night. It’s hard to get used to, but by the end of the week, you barely notice them! We went to bed at 8:30 pm, because there is no daylight or electricity. We sleep in mosquito nets on thin mattresses, but we still get amazing sleep – except when I find huge spiders in my net! ;-) I am trying to just close my eyes and not look at the bugs and frogs in our cabin. It is so great to be back on the island, reunited with old friends, experiencing this with Brent, and enjoying the peacefulness in Africa. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for this week.
July 9th: It poured down rain last night – like a monsoon! I got up this morning and enjoyed my first icy cold shower. Luckily Brent was showering on the guys’ side at the same time, so we talked to each other through the walls – it somehow made the water feel not as icy. It’s amazing how quickly you can really shower when you’re freezing! Today we did a lot of training and unpacking in preparation for the 2 missions teams time here over the next month. In the afternoon, we walked up to GGCC to meet the child we sponsor – an adorable 12-year-old girl named Mary. She is very shy, but it was so great to meet her. The construction team was able to complete a widow’s hut today as well. We had a long day, but we are all ready and prepared to start work tomorrow!
July 10th: Today was a long day! At 7:30 am, we loaded up the boat with our team plus about 30 students/staff from GGCC to go over to another island to pass out tennis shoes from Samaritan’s Feet. The other island is called Ringiti Island. Ringiti is an incredibly poor island, many people there are infected with HIV, numerous exiles live there, and the people there really need the hope that only Jesus can provide. It’s about an hour boat ride from Mfangano…and it’s not an easy boat ride as you’re in the direct sun, packed in like sardines, sitting on a wooden plank. Everyone always has a positive attitude though and the ride goes fast. When we arrived at the island, we saw numerous young children in tattered, filthy clothes, running around barefoot in garbage. We walked up to the local school to explain what we were doing there today. Brent and I were in charge of sorting shoes. There were 12 stations where we washed the children’s feet and shared the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in the bible. Each child was told about Jesus, was prayed for, and then given a brand new pair of socks and tennis shoes. These kids were ecstatic – they were running around, smiling, and showing off their feet. It took about 2 hours to hand out around 150 pairs of shoes. Afterwards, we all gathered to sing and pray. It was a wonderful celebration on Ringiti Island! We headed back to the boat in the afternoon, exhausted, and ready to head back to Mfangano. After about 40 minutes, the motor stopped! We were out of gas. The wind pushed us into some tall reeds, and the boat driver had to push us out and paddle us to the nearest beach to go buy more gas. At this point, we were all very hot, very tired, and had very sore backs from sitting in the boat for so long. We finally got back to camp and drank a lot of cold water! We spent some time praying, journaling, and enjoying God’s beauty. Brent and I led evening devotion. It’s such an amazing blessing being here, serving the Lord, and seeing how He is working on the island.
July 11th: Today we went to church at GGCC! The GGCC church is mostly student led and when we arrived, the students were all singing, which always sounds so beautiful. There is nothing more amazing than hearing 400+ adorable African children praising the Lord or seeing them cry out to God in prayer. Church lasted about 4 hours, and at the end they invited their American friends to come up and dance and sing with them. It was so much fun! In the afternoon, we did our first educational presentation to the GGCC secondary school kids on HIV/AIDS. It lasted about 2 hours, but the GGCC kids will be the most attentive of any on the island, so it was great practice. In the afternoon, we played with the kids – painted their fingernails, played “duck duck goose”, played soccer, etc. The kids are so much fun - I love being around them! After dinner, a few of us headed to Napthaly’s house to watch the World Cup final! Napthaly actually has a satellite and a TV and put up a huge projector for all of the children to watch in the yard. We were shocked that we would actually get to watch the game on Mfangano Island. There must have been 100 kids just crammed into his small living room and then another 100 kids outside, desperate to catch a glimpse of the game. It was so cool – and such a treat for the kids! By the end of the game, we were drenched in sweat and exhausted from being in such a crowded room, but we were so glad we went and had that experience!
July 12th: This morning we walked to Kakimba Secondary School to educate the students about HIV/AIDS. It was quite a long, hot walk to Kakimba! When we finally got to the school, the younger primary school kids all came running towards us and grabbed our hands – it was adorable. At the school, there were hundreds of students! They did not seem that interested in our presentation, but hopefully we impacted some of them. One boy in particular, a boy named Enoch, came up to Brent and I afterwards to ask us some questions. He really wants to go to university and asked us how he could do that. We tried to give him some helpful advice and then prayed with him. It’s so hard to see a young boy so desperate to go to university, yet he will probably never have that opportunity. I don’t know any other 18 year olds who are so excited to learn – so desperate to further their education. He told us his family laughs at him and doesn’t understand why he wants to go to university – but he told us he has nothing – no parents and no hope except to attend university. I pray he does not give up and I wish we could’ve helped him more – but in Africa, you can’t save everyone, you just give hope. Later in the afternoon, we went to Sena Secondary School to give another presentation. All 8 of us rode in the sole car on the island – an old, beat up SUV. Brent and I sat in the trunk and I now have a bruised tailbone! There are no such things as paved roads in Africa – just big rocks and bumpy rides. We were so grateful to get out of that car – never again will I complain about walking in the equatorial sun! The kids at Sena were much more attentive and it’s a smaller group. Brent’s part of the program is telling the bible story of Joseph and trying to encourage the kids to resist temptation, dream big, and never give up on God. He does such a wonderful job – all of the kids are very interested when he speaks. My part of the program is to review information about HIV/AIDS and field questions, since I am a nurse. They sure do have some interesting and tough questions! I was asked today if HIV came from the USA – if it was a disease Americans created to wipe out Africa. They truly believe that here! Afterwards, another student approached me and asked me “What if I have HIV and I want to get married and have children?” That was tough – I didn’t know what to tell him except to trust that God has a plan for his life and has a perfect wife for him. It’s encouraging talking to the children – yet it’s sad too. It’s so hard to give them hope but we do the best we can. We’re all looking forward to the rest of the week, doing more of God’s work. Even if we only impact and save one child’s life, it will be completely worth it – but I pray we get to party in heaven with these kids one day and that they become a light on this island!
July 13th: Today we went to Mauta Secondary School. Once again, all 8 of us piled into the car for an hour long bumpy ride to the school. The car rides are a bit scary at times – I am surprised at how fast Jacob drives and the size of the rocks we go over! At one point, we drove over a small creek and then up a big hill and I was sure we were going to die. :-) Once again, we were so relieved to get to the school and get out of the car! There were about 40 kids there and they were pretty attentive. When I presented, one of the kids asked me if you become a Christian, would God heal you of HIV? It’s hard to answer their questions! I think the students at Mauta are less informed about HIV and more sexually active…the school is a bit more remote. On the drive back from Mauta, about halfway back, we finally got a flat tire. We waited about 45 minutes in the hot sun for our driver Jacob to fix it. While we were waiting though, we played with some adorable kids that seemed to come out of nowhere when they saw us. These children barely had any clothing, had scabies, worms, and just looked malnourished – but they never stopped smiling. We also had a lot of cows and goats milling around us. We gave the kids some balloons and I’ve never seen a kid’s face light up so much! They squealed in delight and they also loved having their picture taken. We finally piled back into the car and headed back to camp, but not without the realization that God plans every mistake – and this time we had the opportunity to give 10 kids joy on the side of a road.
July 14th: Today our HIV/AIDS education team split up. Three team members went on a very strenuous hike with Napthaly to present at a secondary school on top of the mountain. Brent attended the pastors’ conference, and a few of us worked on service projects at GGCC. I went with Marybeth to talk to speak at the pastors’ conference in the morning. It was so encouraging that the pastors want to learn, but again so discouraging how misinformed the pastors are. We had a long discussion why mosquitoes don’t transmit HIV and if an HIV man should infect his wife. A pastor also came up to me and asked if Kenya made abortion legal if it would eliminate HIV. I had to defer a lot of questions to pastor Jim. It almost seemed like the pastors were making excuses to have sex – and many of them are married men. :-( We eventually left and walked back to camp to get some stuff to take to GGCC. The guards at camp had found a black cobra while we were gone – yikes! Marybeth has been involved in some research with an anti-malaria provector. The provector is a plastic flower-looking device that has an insecticide tab in the middle that attracts and thus kills mosquitoes. It has been proven 90-100% effective in parts of the world where malaria is prevalent. Marybeth obtained about 70 provectors to put up at GGCC and in homes on the island. When we got to GGCC, we gathered all of the dorm parents together and educated them about the provector and why we were hanging them up. In June alone, over 100 students at GGCC got sick with malaria. We’re hoping to reduce that number to zero! I was so excited to get involved with this research project with Marybeth! I love community health evangelism and hope to come back with her in 6 months to replace the insecticide tabs and see if malaria infection is being reduced. I really hope the provectors work because these kids need a break from illness. We hung them up in the dorms and then headed back to camp to sort more shoes for Samaritans’ Feet for next week’s outreach. Later at evening devotion, we found out that the group that hiked up the mountain had a very successful trip and so many children gave their life to Christ! It was so neat to see how God split us all up today to further his kingdom on the island!
July 15th: This morning after breakfast, one of the women who helps prepare our meals asked me to see her son because he was sick. I listened to his heart rate, did an assessment, and felt he was extremely warm – I told her I thought he had malaria and he needed to go to the clinic immediately. I walked away, thinking it would be ok but then when I asked a guard if she would take him, he said she couldn’t afford it. I asked the guard how much it cost to go to the clinic and he said it was the equivalent of $1.80. Brent and I gave her $5.00 to cover all of her expenses – she was so grateful. It’s sad that kids are dying of malaria in Africa because they don’t have $2.00 to go to the clinic. I realize we can’t save everyone, but I hope Brent and I at least helped that family. Today, we traveled to Ouzi Secondary School today by boat – thank God we didn’t have an hour-long bumpy car ride! We took the boat to a small, dirty fishing village where the car picked us up to take us up the hill to the school. The presentation at the school went well – there were about 100 kids and they were definitely listening. Other questions we were asked were if circumcision prevents HIV and how effective condoms are. Such a tough subject! The program went well and I think the students were pleased we traveled so far to speak to them. We had to walk back down the hill because the car broke down and then when we eventually got on the boat, it was caught on a rock. The beauty of being in Africa is that nothing ever goes according to plan and nobody ever stresses about it – people are just so peaceful here. Today was a very long day! I love hearing at evening devotional about the other projects our team is working on – many widows’ huts have been built and pastors are being educated!
July 16th: Today was our last full day on Mfangano Island. We went to 2 secondary schools today: Nyakweri and Wakula. Both were only a short boat ride from camp and we had to do short presentations at both. At every school, we give the kids soccer balls and pumps as well – these 2 schools seemed particularly excited to receive new soccer balls. The programs went well today – I am kind of sad our time is coming to an end! We have educated nearly 1,000 secondary school students – we went to every single secondary school on the island this week! It’s amazing that we reached so many students, but I wish we could reach every student on every island in Lake Victoria…HIV is rampant in this part of the world and lives are at stake! Tonight, we had a big celebration at GGCC. The staff was so grateful to have missionaries here – they made us a big feast of rice, chicken stew, fish, bread, and fruit, which was a nice change of pace from the rice & fish we normally eat. Several groups of kids sung to us as well – they had a whole program prepared! We sat outside in a tent (and battled lake flies!) and watched hundreds of students and staff praising the Lord. It was so fun! I love being with the children at GGCC…and I am so sad to leave them tomorrow.
July 17th: We packed this morning and headed over to the airstrip to wait for the plane that was bringing the second team from Calvary. It was so sad to get on the boat and watch the camp disappear from site…all of our Suba friends from camp waved goodbye to us! We played with the kids at GGCC until the plane arrived and then the emotions set in. I was crying so much I could barely speak while hugging Napthaly, Bill & Debbie, and Marybeth goodbye. We’ve had such a great time and I’ve shared so much with these people on the past 2 mission trips I’ve been on to Mfangano Island. It’s a bond that nobody else can understand and they hold a special place in my heart. Everyone was crying – it was such an emotional day! We finally boarded the plane as the team went back to camp. The kids all went running down the runway back to the school and we just sat there on the plane, trying to compose ourselves. My consolation is I know I’ll be back. I left a part of my heart on this island 2 years ago and I know God has called me here for a reason. I always dreamed when I was younger of becoming a missionary and now I am. God doesn’t call the qualified - He qualifies the called. There’s a reason God called me to be a nurse – he was qualifying me to be a missionary. Brent is so supportive of my heart for missions as well and he has proven himself to be an amazing missionary! I know he’ll be sending me back too, even if he can’t come. :-) We finally took off and watched the island disappear in the distance. Arriving in Nairobi was bittersweet. Of course we appreciate warm showers and food besides fish, but it’s hard being back in civilization. We rested the rest of the day in preparation for a long day in Nairobi tomorrow.
July 18th: We went to Nairobi Baptist Church today and enjoyed a great sermon. NBC is a beautiful big church in Nairobi and I get the feeling there are always a lot of missionaries coming through. It was nice to worship in English. After church, we headed to Nyumbani orphanage. All of the children at Nyumbani are HIV+ and have been cast out by their family or orphaned by their parents dying of AIDS. The kids range in age from 3-24 and there are extensive clinic facilities on site. The kids go to school during the day and live in dorm-like homes. We were there to play with the kids for a few hours and enjoy lunch with them. The children are adorable and outgoing! We split up and we all ate lunch with a different dorm. While I was asking a girl about her favorite movie, she rushed to the bathroom because she was sick – and it all became very real that these innocent children have HIV. I remember thinking how unfair it was that not only do they have HIV, but they have no families. Nyumbani is a wonderful place though – they take care of these kids and make sure they get the proper medications. We had a good time playing with them and encouraging them. I hope they all live long, happy lives!
July 19th: Our last day in Africa was our “free” day! We all decided to pay and go to Nairobi Game Park in the morning to go on a mini-safari! We spent about 4.5 hours driving around the park and saw lions, giraffes, zebras, gazelle, water buffalo, impalas, rhinos, ostriches, monkeys, crocodiles, impalas, etc. It was so cool and very exciting – especially when the rhinos were running at us and when an armed guard had to escort us to see the crocodiles! :-) It’s always nice to have a day of relaxation on the last day with your mission team. We spent the afternoon driving around and did a little shopping, and then we headed to the airport to fly back to London. I think at this point, we’re all exhausted but sad to leave each other. We took an overnight flight to London where Brent and I said goodbye to our team on July 20th. I know we’ll see these amazing people again though! What a wonderful, amazing, life-changing trip we had!
So that’s it! I only took bits and pieces out of my journal, but we had an amazing time. I truly wish everyone could experience Africa – God is doing great things there. We thank you all so much for your love, support, and donations for our trip! Brent and I spent 2 days in London after Africa seeing some sights and relaxing. Wednesday, July 21st was a Belgian holiday so we decided to stay overnight in London. We enjoyed some delicious Indian food, saw Big Ben, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, toured Westminster Abbey, walked a large portion of the city, and enjoyed shopping at some familiar stores with everything in English! We also enjoyed a bug-free hotel room with running water and electricity. :-) We move into our apartment this weekend in Brussels, so we are very excited about that. I’ll blog again later this week, but I think I typed enough for now!
