Lexi Directs Middle School Play

Lexi was a theater major in college, so volunteering with the drama department at the international school is a great way for her to serve the school and build relationships with both students and staff.  It is awesome to see how the Lord opens the door for each member of our team to use their unique gifts to serve others.

This semester Lexi has been the assistant director for the middle school play.  They performed Cinders (a Cinderella parody) several times last weekend.   It was a traveling show, so they performed at the school for two shows, and then went to the Starehe Girls' School (all high schoolers, from poor Kenyan homes on scholarship) and the Nest (an orphanage for kids' whose mothers are in prison). Lexi says, "It was SO wonderful to see the kids reactions to the silly, light-hearted play and then to see the our kids interacting with the Kenyan kids afterwards. I was so proud of the actors, and touched by the welcome we received from the students/children at each place."

Here are some pictures from their time at Starehe!

Camp BlueSky's Off-Season Happenings

The Camp BlueSky Team, Lexi and Jason, have been hard at work keeping up with the various off-season tasks that need to be done for camp.  One of the huge tasks they are working on is filling counselor roles for the 2012 camp team.  Do you know any college students who love Jesus, enjoy working with kids, and are looking for a summer job on the mission field?  If so send them our way or send them to this link where they can read more about the opportunity and download an application.
Camp BlueSky is also planning to host its first ever December Beach Camp.  This event will be the week before Christmas and will be open to high school students.  Now that we have a larger team in country we have the capacity to pull something like this off.  Sign-ups are open so would you pray that many students will sign up to be a part of this life-changing week?

Plywood

Yes, this is a blog post about plywood.  Today the plywood for the climbing walls in the rock gym arrived, 180 pieces of it.  

This is the view of the plywood truck from our office.  Its high, from the 6th floor to be exact.  Good thing there's an elevator.  Oh wait, it wasn't working today.  That picture looks awfully wet you say?  Yes, it's raining.  So that's going to be 180 pieces of plywood, up 6 flights of stairs, in the rain.

 But it happened, here's the celebration of the last piece coming in 3 hours after they started.

A well earned break and a shot of the guys who helped.

Sure, this is a bit of an over-dramatization about plywood.  But the reality is that once the climbing walls and student space are built, students are going to have a space dedicated to them.  They'll come to this space and they will hear about Jesus, many of them will hear about Him there for the first time.  So that is enough to make 180 pieces of plywood pretty exciting.  Would you begin to pray now that this student space would be a place where truth is proclaimed and Jesus is honored?

The Feeding of the 5000

Just after posting the details of the Garissa trip yesterday, the Preston's sent out this update from Tammy.  For those of you who may not know, David and Tammy have been involved with Brackenhurst Ministries from the very beginning, Tammy was primarily involved through her work with WinShape Wilderness.  When David came on as Director of Operations, it just seemed so natural to have the Preston's on the team.   I thought you would enjoy this story from Tammy.

I must write while it is still fresh! So much was packed into our experience in Garissa. Thank you so much for lifting the trip up in prayer--we could feel it!

Everything went like clockwork, which can be a surprise in Kenya! As we were flying up to Garissa early Saturday morning, I looked down at the desolate land below: no vegetation, dried up river beds, no apparent life anywhere.There was a muddy river that ran nearby, and we were warned by the Kenyans to stay away from the river banks because of the crocodiles and the fact that they prefer "white meat"--haha! I thought to myself 'how can anyone actually live here...and why would they willingly do so?". I am not sure I got an answer to that question...

After we landed we drove about 45 minutes outside of town to the village. People had walked into the main location where the food would be distributed (I use that term loosely-- "main"= about 7-8 mud huts randomly scattered in a random spot in the desert) from a total of 7 different villages. These people were absolutely beautiful. They are Somali refugees whose families have actually been in Kenya for about 19 years...it is because of the time they have been here that they are not "qualified" for aid going to other Somalis...they are not considered current refugees.

Anyways, the elders of the village invited the older guys in our group into one of the huts to talk and share a blessing, so the rest of us just hung out with the people and did our best to communicate and love on them. That was easy. They were very curious about us and had no trouble interacting with us. I was so taken with the contrast of the dry, desolate desert with the vibrant and colorful fabric the women wore--it was amazing!

When the men came out of the hut, everyone gathered around the Convoy of Hope truck which had all the food. We were expecting to distribute a large bag of food containing maize, flour, beans, rice, and some tea that would last 2 weeks per family to a total of 140 families. Right before we got started though, we were informed that another village had heard about the distribution and had walked hours to come and see if they might also receive the food. This group of people were made to sit separate from the others--definitely singled out--so that they wouldn't get in the line and take rations that others had officially gotten themselves on a list for. We were told we would likely run out of food before we could give any to this last village.

I instantly got a lump in my throat: at WinShape Wilderness whenever we would feed a large group and the meal appeared to be not enough to feed them all, we would sincerely pray the "feeding of the 5000"…that God would somehow multiply the food--and the Lord would provide! It almost became a joke…So there we were in the desert, and I was praying that prayer with what seemed like such higher stakes: Chick-fil-A was not right around the corner if we ran out of food! Neither was WinShape Retreat...so we all prayed silently (we could not be overt in the midst of these Muslim people), and I am happy to report that not only did EVERY person who came that day receive food, there were extra bags leftover! I mean, tears!! God is so amazingly faithful in His provision. What a blessing.

We were unable to directly share the Gospel with these people, but hopefully they felt the love of Jesus in and through us as we were able to interact with them. They are SO SO SO precious and my heart is burdened for them. I hope to have the opportunity to return one day. Again, thanks for praying. There is a Christian school that has been started nearby and these Muslim people are gladly sending their children--they know that through education the next generation will have the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty in their people. Some children have become believers as a result...so amazing.


Please continue to pray for these people!

Relief Work in Garissa

Last Saturday, Kim, Tammy, and Wesley, had the opportunity to help with famine relief through the international church in Nairobi.  As you have probably seen on the news, some regions of Kenya are suffering the effects of a terrible drought.  ICF raised funds to distribute food in two villages near Garissa (the Kenyan town closest to the Somali border).  Since most of the international aid is going to Somali refugees, they focused their work on two established villages.  The people from the villages are of Somali descent but have been living in Kenya for quite some time.

Its awesome to see the International church's willingness to serve in the community.  Since many people who attend ICF are aid workers, they really are in a great place to know who is being overlooked and step in and help them.  We are truly thankful that some people from our team were able to partner with ICF to meet this desperate need.

BlueSky Adventures Article Featured in Kenya Business Newspaper

Last Friday, an article was written about BlueSky Adventures in the Business Daily.  The paper is Kenya's best source for business news. Click here to read the article.  You will have to pardon their flare for the dramatic, we don't typically use the word "battlefield" when we describe our teambuilding facility.  Regardless of that, the article was a great way to get the word out about what we offer at BlueSky.

Student Team's Weekend Plans

This weekend the student team is back together after being spread out in 3 places last weekend.  One school had their high school retreat so Jason, Stephen, Andrew, and Daley were all spending time with those students and handling their adventure programming.  Michelle and Kim were in Tanzania participating in a youth worker training with some missionaries in Arusha.  Bryce, Tyler, and Lexi stayed in Nairobi to run the middle and high school events there.

This week everyone is back in town and the student events have shifted into what will be the general format.  They include music, games, door prizes, and skits, which all build on each other and lead into a Gospel centered message.  This week Michelle began by introducing the Character of God.  She answered basic questions like "Does God exist?" and "What is God like?"  The two big takeaways for the kids were 1.  There is only one God.  2.  We are created in His image.

Each week, the message will build on the week before as the team seeks to help the kids to know God.  Our prayer is that the weekly event would be a place where students hear and respond to the Gospel.  Please pray for the student team as they intentionally share with students at the weekly event.

Here are some pictures from the High School retreat!