Childrens' Home in Havilla

On Saturday we visited Havilla, Kenya. We were overwhelmed by hospitality and the joy that surrounded us. A married couple started adopting children that had been orphaned because of the AIDS epidemic. These parents give all their time, money and resources to house, educate, love and provide for their blended family. How many kids do they have? 46. We were amazed!

The children, although in torn clothes and mismatched shoes (if they even had a pair on) were genuinely happy and well-mannered. We could just tell they felt loved. The strong Christian parents and children worked along side of all of us as we prepared lunch (a HUGE task), hand-washed clothes in plastic buckets, and helped on the farm.

At the end of the day the kids lined up and performed 7 songs with dancing to say thank you to us and to worship God. Groups within the family travel and go on a choir tour during the year to help raise money for their family and Africa. They are extremely talented and we all cried as we watched them and knew their circumstances.

Tracy being led around the facilities by the children. When we arrived children offered their tiny hands to lead us and "showed off" their mud-floored bedrooms and wood-burning oven.










Annie is being led by these sweet girls to see the cattle, sheep and machinery.

















Janice and her new friends on the farm tour.

Compassion Child Visit

Amy and Jack have been sponsoring Ikote for almost 2 years, and through the grace of God we were given the opportunity to meet him on Friday. We were so grateful for this opportunity and find it hard to describe the overwhelming emotion of meeting him. We think Ikote was very overwhelmed with coming into the city to meet our team and receive so many gifts. It has been a little hard writing Ikote because of the lack of understanding of his culture, but now we know so much about him. Ikote is a Massai, and lives in the Kajaido village. He speaks Massai (still learning English), and dreams one day of becoming a doctor.

This is us exchanging gifts with each other. Ikote's family made the necklaces that I am wearing around my neck. Ikote is holding the soccer ball we gave him while I explained if he eats all the candy he will have dental problems, so he needs to share with his family and friends.

Water project dig completed

Clean water has been the greatest hardship to the village of Ngaamba and the number one priority for the community council. The water project started in August 2007, and we were fortunate to share with the village completion of Phase 1 today.

Covering the water pipe line. You can see Stacia's white hat but she was working too hard to look up and smile :).

Our team and the community after the completion of Phase 1.

Janice and the amazaing, hard working women of Ngaamba.

Day 2 in Ngaamba

Cole, Chase, Kelsey teach a bible lesson to the pre-k class.














The group that dug a 1500 meter ditch, which was the last leg of phase 1 for the water project in Ngaamba. (Of course we had alot of help)

We're there!

Amy, Jack and Nairobi, Kenya

















Team arrives in Ngaamba, and on the road again to see the water project.












Cole, Chase and their new friends in Ngaamba.

We are on our way!

Thanks to everyone's generous donations and prayers, we will be boarding the first leg of our flight for Kenya at 9pm this evening. Not only will we be boarding the plane with a suitcase with our own personal belongings, but we've been able to fill a second bag with stuff just for the Kenyans. We have 2 bags of medical supplies, tons of children shoes and clothes, candy, bubbles, soccer balls, footballs, bookbags, baseball gloves, and so much more. We are very grateful to everyone that was able to contribute to these second bags.

Here is a look at our itinerary.

July 18- Atlanta to Dubai (15 hr flight!)
July 19- Dubai to Nairobi
July 20- Travel to Ngaamba
July 21- Visit Nursery Schools- Ngaamba
July 22- Community Projects- Ngaamba
July 23- Home visits- Ngaamba
July 24- Safari- Amboseli Park
July 25- Construction project- Javilla
July 26- Childrens activities- Javilla
July 27- Nairobi to Dubai
July 28- Dubai to Atlanta




















There was also a slight change in our schedule for Friday, July 25. Let me explain. Almost 2 years ago I went to a 722 at Northpoint and was moved when Louie Giglio talked about Compassion and the children he sponsored and eventually got to visit. He had footage of the visit and I was in tears. I immediately went outside and sponsored a child in Kenya having no idea that two years later I would be visiting the country on a mission trip. Well, on Friday they are going to be bringing Ikote Rokanka (pictured to the left) into Nairobi from his village so that we can meet. I can't describe how excited I am about this visit. Amy and I had a blast in WalMart last night picking stuff out for him that he's probably never seen in his life. We got him a book bag, football, soccer ball, candy, and an LED light so he can read before going to bed. I will be sure to post more about this visit with pictures.


Grateful,
Team Kenya

About the Trip

A group of 12 of us from Buckhead church have felt the urge to pause our busy lives and go almost half way around the globe to serve the people of Kenya. You might be wondering why we chose to travel so far at such an expense, and I think the leader of our group put it best when he said "Big things start to happen in our walk with God when we realize God is not just American". Everyone on this trip has been blessed with so much, including the resources to take a trip this big. If you are reading this, thank you for your support in prayers for our team and trip and the generous financial support we are receiving.

This trip is a partnership between North Point Ministries, Inc. and another non-profit organization called “The 410 Bridge,” www.410bridge.com . North Point Ministries has seen the impact that 410 bridge has been having on the communities in Kenya, and instead of starting over we've decided to partner with them. 410 Bridge believes that a network of committed U.S. churches partnering with communities and villages in a single country in Africa can make a difference. The lasting relationships that form from these trips is the biggest force for change. They are already starting to see the effects of this change. The recent political unrest has caused many people to flee to the communities and villages of the 410 Bridge partnerships. The result is exposure to all of Africa of what can happen when God's people join hands.

We will be leaving the ATL on Friday evening, July 18th on a non-stop flight to Dubai, and then catching a red eye from Dubai to Nairobi. Final destination time is 7am on the 20th of July. Ouch! The first half of the trip we will be helping to build dormitory facilities for children of an orphanage in Javilla, and the second half digging water wells and ditches in Ngaamba. Both of these villages are about 50 miles south of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. I've heard the bus ride from our hotel to the villages is the best part and is better than any six flags ride.

We will know more about our assignment as the trip nears and will be sure to write these in an update.

Our Team

One of the first lessons we talked about as a team was the unity of the Spirit- Understanding the Commitment to Teamwork in Ministry. We learned that a good team is not necessarily a collection of talented people, but that true teamwork challenges us to re-think our identity altogether. A team put together by the unity of the Spirit is not to show our individual performances, but to give glory to God. Our hope on this trip is that we would be emptying ourselves of "self" and be filled by the Spirit.
However to truly understand what this team is made of, it is important to know each of our stories before we came together for this trip.














Rocky Butler, our fearless leader.














Annie Butler, wife of Rocky.














Chase Butler














Kelsey Butler














Janice Rys














Judy Kucko














Stacy (Stacia) Jackson














Tracy Burke














Cole Burke














Amy Younkins














Marquavious Harris (Quai)














Jack Younkins