Week 2 and 3: Missed matatus and Mithini

About a week ago, four of us volunteers decided to go and spend the night at the other WWB orphanage in Mithini. Loaded with supplies, we caught a matatu (a public transport minivan), for the 20 km trip. The roads were dirt and heavily eroded in the mountainous area and after a bone-jarring hour and a half we finally made it to the orphanage. The 8 kids that call this place home were delightful and we spent time helping them haul containers of water from the stagnant water source at the bottom of the hill. A well is under construction but for now the only water that is readily available for cooking and washing is the tiny catchment that most of their neighbours also use.  It was great to be able to spend some time loving and encouraging the kids and staff.

On Friday we came home from the nearby town to find 3 new faces at the orphanage. The kids had been dropped off with very little explanation except that their mother had died a few years ago and they had since been living with their great-grandparents. The great-grandparents were now very sick and so had given the children over to the orphanage for care. The oldest, George, is 10 but has never been to school. Dorcas is a sweet 7 year old who very lovingly looks after her 3 year old brother Issa. The first night was rough on all three kids. Issa wandered around the compound with big scared eyes and when we scrambled for blankets so they could go to sleep he just lay frozen in his new bed, silent tears snaking down his little cheeks. On Saturday we took them for their first medical check-up.  I hope you will join us in praying that the 3 of them are HIV-.

Sean, also Pick a Pocket staff, joined me here a week ago. Together with another volunteer, Robin, we have been planning a trip to the north of Kenya. We are all interested in experiencing a little bit more of Kenyan tribal culture and getting off the beaten track-  reaching the unreached- and doing what we are called to do.

Prayer requests-

Robin is not a Christian, but she is very open to hearing about our beliefs. I imagine that it will be an intense time for her- travelling to the north with 2 missionaries. Please pray for sensitivity and understanding for all of us.

Pray that the 3 new children all receive a clean bill of health and they are able to stay together in the orphanage.

Prayer for health and safety for the 3 of us heading north would be very much appreciated.

Last but not least- finances. Right at the beginning of this year I had a dream that I felt told me that God would provide as I went along the journey. I took a massive step of faith in coming to Kenya with less than half of what I need for the whole time here. I really do trust that God will provide, but as a human I still have sleepless nights worrying about how I'm going to get through the rest of this time. Please pray for an increase in my faith and ability to trust that God will provide.

Thanks so much! When I feel so far away from everything it really does make a difference to know that there are people out there in the world who are praying for and caring about me.


Please check out Sean's blog http://mrseanrogers.blogspot.com/ for a write-up on one of the kids here at the orphanage and some of his awesome photos.

:)

Week 1: Red dirt, piglets and 32 crazy kids.

Well I've been back in Kenya for a week now. The orphanage is still its usual chaos of animals and children. It's been great to see how much the children have changed and grown. The 2 oldest girls are heading off to secondary school in Nairobi this week and there has been a number of little kids start school for the first time this year. I had forgotten how great it is to be woken at dawn by the chatter and laughter of dozens of kids eating breakfast and getting into clean scrubbed uniforms.

The youngest at the orphanage is a little guy who is 3 and a half. Last night he was so tired after a long day of running around that he fell asleep mid-meal and I had to spoon feed him the remainder of his ugali while he dozed off in my lap.  The orphanage itself has changed a lot since the last time I was here. There are 4 new buldings, running water from one tap and electricity! New pathways between the buildings are a huge imrovement too. Nearby trees are laden with green mangos and huge avocados and the red soil is perfet for growing bananas. Last Thursday I spent the morning shovelling manure around all the banana trees on the property. By the time we were finished the sun was high in the sky and I had manure baked onto my skin. I think you could smell me from space.

There are a number of other volunteers currently at the orphanage. I got to share my testimony with one of them the other day which was amazing. Please pray that she continues to ask questions and to be open. And I would really appreciate your prayer for finances as well.

Thanks so much for your support!

Watoto wa Baraka- Children of Blessing

In 2008, I had the tremendous privilege of volunteering at an orphanage in the mountains of Kenya for a few months. The children were truly remarkable; joyful, smart and full of dreams. I lived in a mud house lit only by candle light. The days were spent lugging water from the well, laying the foundation of a new building and loving and caring for the kids. I loved it. 

When I left I felt like my heart was torn out; I knew I would be back at some point. It's been a long-time in coming but I'm going back tomorrow. I'm so excited to see all the kids and to see how things have changed and stayed the same. This time I'm taking my sister, Joanna, along for 2 weeks. Later in the month I will be joined by a number of friends from YWAM Herrnhut for the remaining 4 weeks or so. I'm so looking forward to spending time with God under the African sky and I hope He uses me to be a blessing to the incredible people of Pundamilia. 

I would really appreciate your prayers for finances and health. I've only just recovered from salmonella poisoning and am heading into weeks of drinking well-water. I only have enough money to last me a couple of weeks in Kenya. I'm pretty nervous about this and it's caused me to have many sleepless nights praying about whether I should be going at all, but I feel strongly that this is the right time. So it's a giant leap of faith... It really does make all the difference knowing that there are people praying for me and caring about what I'm up to, so I thank you in advance!

Hope your new year got off to an amazing start!

Love and blessings,

Amy

P.S This is the website Watoto wa Baraka 

Website!

So Pick a Pocket has not had a proper website for ages, and we all know if its not online it doesn't exist... or something like that. Anyway PaP member Stephanie, who is awesome, has organized a little bit of internet presence for us... check it out.

Pick a Pocket


And add Pick a Pocket as a group on facebook. It's an interactive group and we love to hear from people who care about the same things we do...