Katie in Kenya

Home...bittersweet home...

2009-07-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

So I got into Atlanta around 7:30 last night...Its so weird to be back in the states! but good to see my family and talk to everyone! i cant wait to see everyone and share stories from the summer! thanks for all of your prayers!

Love.

P-A-R-T-Y! with the Kenya girls!

2009-07-19T02:40:00.000-07:00

So...Session 5...Last week of camp. I am PUMPED about this week...I have the Kenya girls...which are the 15-17 year olds. (which will be refreshing after 2 weeks of junior camp:)) I have 5 girls in my cabin. There is one more Kenya cabin, and one Kili cabin (the guys group). On Monday, we will set off on an adventure! We will go camping/hiking in the Aberdares, summit Mount Satima, and raft the Tauna...and return to camp on Thursday. I'm so excited!! It's perfect timing...so please pray for safety and fun!

Love.

session 4

2009-07-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

So this week of camp has been very tiring. I only have 4 girls...but they are a handful! I am really hoping that I get to have senior camp next week. I love the little ones, but they require SO much energy. JiMin, one of my favorites, is here though, and she is just precious! Only 8 more days...and it's back to the states for me...

session 3.

2009-07-12T01:44:00.000-07:00

Well, another session of camp has come and gone. I had 5 10 year old girls this past week. They were AMAZING! Today, I will be getting 5 little Suswa girls ranging from 7-9 years old. I am SO excited...one of my favorite campers from an earlier session is coming back...JiMin! I can't wait to see her!
Please be praying for me and the staff...that we don't burn out. This may be our fourth session of camp, but it's the campers first...and we need to let them see that we are just as excited for them as we were week 1!
I love you all! oh...and I will be home in just 2 weeks!

western, the nile....

2009-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

well friends, I was actually ahead of the game and had written on this amazing little post to type up when i got a chance to go to the internet cafe...but i dont have my journal with me...so this is going to be a random one like all the rest!
so here's what ive been up to:
i spent a week in western kenya with a pastor and his family. they live in a mud hut. just picture little house on the prairie...with all black people...and that kind of tells you what it was like. no electricity, no plumbing, etc. they were the sweetest and most compassionate people ever!
then we went to uganda to raft the nile. it was incredible. i have a dvd...so you will get to see that im sure!
now its back to camp for 3 more weeks which im super excited about! i love you all! keep the prayers going!

mzungus.

2009-06-21T03:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to the biggest slum in Nairobi, Kiberi. At first, I hated being there. There are like 300,000 Africans who live there, and I just felt like we were on parade and the people just thought 'money' when they saw us. But the more we walked through, the more comfortable I became. We went with a man named Kip who is the coach of a football (soccer) team for kids. He lives there so he took us to his house. It was very small, but he was SO welcoming. Some of the kids here have never seen white people, so they are scared of us at first.

Today we went to church at International Christian Fellowship at Rosslyn Academy (an amerian school where a bunch of our first week campers attend). I didn't get to hear the message (Louie Giglio on a big screen...oh yeah!!), however, because I helped teach the 2-4 year old Sunday School class...which was like (for you Sardis people) having four Mallorys in one classroom...super fun:)

Now...off to my Sunday afternoon nap:)

Love.

a little update...

2009-06-19T03:41:00.000-07:00

Kenya just keeps getting better and better! After we packed up camp, we headed back to Nairobi and spent the night....the next day we headed out for Ngong. We stayed with the most amazing missionary family ever...the Calvarts. We got a taste of what it is like to work with the Maasai people group. Those are the most precious children ever!! We are headed to western for a week and then to Uganda to raft the Nile...woohoo! Life here is so different, but so amazing. I have to go now to shop in the market! LOVE YOU ALL!

chocolate chip cookies make my heart smile:)

2009-06-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

Camp has been AMAZING this week! I have been so surprised by all of the joy that the little kids bring! I have been working with Suswas (7 year old girls) and they are definitely the cutest kids at camp! One of them is from Korea...she LOVES Hello Kitty. Pretty much every article of clothing she owns is HK...how fitting that she is in mine and Jen's cabin! She also just started learning English in October...so she still doesn't understand everything...like: gold rocks, excited, sink, shoot, and I'm still adding to the list. All of our girls are very excited and interested in the story of Jesus. They are a lot different from the kids last week (missionary kids). These kids don't have as much "Sunday School" knowledge, so it's like getting to teach them for the very first time, which is exciting! Also, one of our girl's moms baked Chocolate Chip cookies for our cabin and brought them the very first day! For all of you Wheeler County people...they tasted JUST LIKE Mrs. Couey's! I was SO excited to have sweets that actually have sugar in them! haha. Kenyans don't really use sugar.
Tomorrow, we are packing up camp and going into Nairobi. We will be working there for a week and then going to Western Kenya and then to Uganda to RAFT THE NILE!! Then we will come back to Lukenya for three more weeks of Camp!!
I love you all! Hope everyone is having an amazing summer!

dust.

2009-06-05T01:26:00.001-07:00

So today is the last full day of camp! We have had so much fun this week! We had a camp out that was almost rained out, but we ended up being able to have it anyways:) Yesterday we had a talent show and the kids were all so cute. Today we are playing a game called sock war...apparently it is a lot of fun; the kids are all stoked about it already! Please continue to pray for the campers and counselors! This morning our devotion was about what it means to follow Jesus...to be covered in the dust of your Rabbi's feet. A lot of our kids have a lot of head knowledge about Jesus, but living it out and having it in there hearts is a different story...well, got to go...but love you all SO much!!

katie:)

more camp!

2009-06-01T01:26:00.000-07:00

So...camp started yesterday!! i have seven girls in my cabin! they are awesome! we are having skill time right now...i taught arts and crafts and then gymnastics. all of the kids are so precious! they are very excited about every little aspect of camp! most of the kids here this week are missionary kids. its awesome to see them soaking up God's love even though they've probably heard every Bible story a million times and could tell it better than us sometimes. They are still hungry for it, and its just inspiring! tomorrow, my mountain group (meru) is going ROCK CLIMBING! i'm really excited about that! well...gotta go to lunch!! Love you all!!

Camp BlueSky!!

2009-05-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

So friends...I am FINALLY here!! Kenya is beautiful! Its really cool to have giraffes, zebras, and such basically in my backyard! So, im going to try to give a quick run down...but just to warn you, its going to be super random!
This entire week has been staff training for camp. We get our first group of campers Sunday! I am a Meru counselor, which means I will have a cabin of 12-14 year old girls. I'm really excited about it! We get to go rock climbing and do high ropes. woohoo!
the facility here is nice! all of the people are really nice and helpful! however, kenyans have a slightly different idea of what "on time" means. haha. the internet is SUPER slow...we have like 2 computers to share between about 20 people. the food is actually pretty good...we camped out last night even though it rained for a bit...which it has rained every day since we got here! which is good, because they really need the rain here.
i know this isn't very much information, but i have to go for now! i love you all, miss you lots and hope you are all doing SO well!! OH! email me!! they will print it out and give it to me...info@campbluesky.org ...just put my name in the subject line!

LOVE:)

Up, up...

2009-05-22T17:53:00.001-07:00

and away.

So friends...it's about that time! Tomorrow, I will be meeting with my fellow staff members in Atlanta, and we will be flying to Kenya on Sunday! Please pray for our team as we travel and get settled into our new "home" for the next few months! I will post my address here as soon as I know it...you know how I love snail mail:)

Love.

fifteen days...

2009-05-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

and I will be on a plane to Kenya! After a week of training, I'll be working five weeks at Camp Blue Skies, run by Brackenhurst Ministries. Kids ages 7-18 will be coming from all kinds of ethnicities and backgrounds and spending their days doing archery, crafts, games, and being love on by a camp staff that is eager to share the love of Christ with them. I'll also spend three weeks of the summer doing ministry in nearby villages--serving by whatever means possible.

I am SO excited about this summer. There has never been a better time for me to leave everything I've ever known and just go on faith. God is going to change me, grow me, and shape me this summer...more than I can even imagine at the moment. I'm ready to go...

So...please, please, please keep me in your prayers!

Katie:)