letters from kenya...

so i haven't been able to access this blog since being in kenya, but i have been able to send out a few email news letters. so since i now have a chance to get on here i thought i'd just paste in the newsletters so that those not receiving my emails can read. they are long, so i'm sorry for that, feel free to just skim. believe me, if you were here you'd have as much to say as i do! it's hard to cut things down! enjoy. & merry christmas!!! hope it was a joyful day for all.

Hi all, this is Jackie on behalf of Katie. She has had a bit of trouble with internet access and for some reason couldn't update her blog or send a mail out to you all. But she has managed to send me her first update to pass on to you all, enjoy!!

letter one...
Hujambo!
I have now been in Nairobi Kenya for two days, I arrived with most of
the team early yesterday (kenyan time, it's now Monday 10pm here) so
as you can imagine, the jetlag has set in! I'm exhausted, so as much
as I would LOVE to send you a long, detailed email about things so
far, I need to prioritise getting to bed soon, but i really wanted to
get in contact with you all at least briefly before out team jumps in
a big army truck on Wednesday and begins out 15 hour journey to Korr,
in the north of Kenya, where we will be spending three weeks living
with the Rendilie people and having out youth camp etc. it is highly
likely that I wont have internet access the entire time while I'm
there, so you may not hear anything from me until i return to Nairobi
after Christmas. I will have my mobile (+61418402405) which is on
global roaming, but i highly doubt there will be any reception there
either, but if you feel like sending a msg in the next few days I may
get it :)

It's been a bit of a blur the past couple of days, the travel over was
longer than i've experienced in a very long time, 10 hours to
Guangzhou China, then a 7 hour layover, then another 12 hours to
Kenya. I'd love to tell you our hilarious (and kind of worrying)
stories with the Guangzhou airport officials disappearing with our
passports for hours, but i don't have much time and I'm sure you're
more interested in what it's like in kenya. but thank you for your
prayers, we all arrived safely, and the whole thing went very
smoothly, I slept a lot on the flight over and felt completely at
peace (I'm usually a terrible flyer!!), so praise God for that!

Flying in over Kenya was amazing, I had a window seat and just peared
out over the beautiful green land, covered in mountains and even
spotted a few tiny specs of giraffe profiles which got the heart
racing for sure! I was landing in Africa! if i got excited about
seeing little girrafe specs you can imagine how excited i was to see a
whole group of about 7 just hanging out near the airport when we were
being driven to our lodge!

Nairobi is the capital, and there are people everywhere! it even seems
like there might be more cars than people, the streets are insane, i
just get the giggles all the time when we are driving somewhere
because there are no lanes, and everyone just drives where ever they
want to, it's a complete free for all, and if you're not pushy about
it, you get no where! the Matatos are everywhere as well, they are the
main mode of transport for kenyans, like buses but they kind of look
like those crazy 'wicked' vans that you see backpackers use around
Aus, and people just hop on and off, and there doesn't seem to be a
limit to how many people they squeeze in there. We haven't ridden one
yet, but I'm sure we will when we're living in Kibera slum next month.
there are these strange giant white vultures (birds) that sit on top
of most of the trees which is so weird to see when you're in a city,
but it doesn't really feel like a city at all, every building seems
half built, and it the majority of housing is pretty horrible, the
shiny new fancy cars completely contradict the way they live but i
guess that's what a lot of people seem to prioritise.

the people here are beautiful, Kenyans are mainly tall and slim and
just have beautiful smiley faces, we have felt so welcomed by them so
far which makes it much easier to be here away from home. We are
staying currently in Mayfield lodge which is where all the AIM
missionaries stay when they're passing through, so it's been amazing
getting to chat with people from all over the world and hear about the
work that God has called them to do in different parts of Africa. we
thankfully have wonderful toilet/shower facilities here which has been
a nice welcome too, i've been told my shower tonight may be my last
hot, and proper shower in a long while, so I'm going to enjoy every
second! We've basically just been having orientation classes and
languages classes so far, our Kiswahili teacher is fantastic, his name
is Ezekial and we pretty much end up spending 80% of the class
laughing our heads off, he is hilarious, and I'm loving learning the
language, I seem to be picking it up alright because of the bit of
study i did before coming, which has really helped! but I still feel
like an idiot speaking it to Kenyans, they politely just laugh or
smile in response because we sound so Australian.

the team I'm with are lovely and we all seem to be getting along
really well, we are all very different and from different backgrounds
which could have potentially been a tension builder, but it seems to
have worked in our advantage, but please do pray that this bond will
remain, and grow each day, as the next 2 months will be a reall
challenge and we will really need to step up and support and love each
other in ways we never have had to before, especially since we only
met a few days ago.
Tonight I began to realise how tough this trip is actually going to
be, I'm extremely excited to get going, but we're really going to be
roughing it, and in Korr we'll be getting an opportunity to really
live like the rendelie people do, which is great, but also frightening
because they have cultural traditions that are so foreign to me, e.g.
drinking animal blood, working in extreme heat etc, So I do feel a bit
anxious about how I will react to those sorts of things but what's a
mission trip without pushing the boundaries of my comfort? I'm
positive my boundaries are going to be pushed, and that will be a
great learning, growing experience for me. We've also been told that
when we get back to Nairobi, we will actually be living 'in' kibera
slum, for the three weeks that we work with the kids there. that blew
my mind because i've been looking at photos, seeing video etc of the
place and even that is a shock, but to live amongst those people and
experience how they live their life will be just amazing, (but really
really tough).

Ok so I'm going to go enjoy my last beautiful hot shower in a while,
prepare my devotion that I've been asked to give tomorrow at breakfast
(yes, they just come up to you and ask you to prepare something for
all the guests... no pressure or anything, haha) and then hopefully
get some good, deep rest for more language leanring and training
tomorrow. The basic rundown of my coming weeks is - Tuesday night we
stay just outside of nairobi in a German mission camp because it is
their truck that we will be traveling to korr in with two of their
teams, and then we head off on our 15 hour adventure across kenya (to
korr) around 5am on wednesday morning. when we arrive in Korr we will
have a few days to get to know the area, the people and various
ministries that are going on there before heading off to prepare for
our youth camp which will take place about an hour away from korr.
then next week we will have our youth camp, then we go back to Korr,
help build/paint a house for one of the missionary couples how have
just moved there, and spend Christmas there with them before heading
back to Nairobi (i think that in between Korr and coming back to
Nairobi we may do a safari, but we haven't really been told yet). then
when we get back here we will move over to kibera slum for the last
three weeks. so that's a bit of a run down to give you an idea of
where i'll be over the next little while as i won't unfortunately be
in much contact.

please pray for safety as we travel on Wednesday, for good health, for
the rendelie people that they would welcome us and that we would form
great relationships with them, and for the youth camp, that the time
spent with the Kenyan youth there looking through ephesians and just
hanging out will be blessed and fruitful! Please pray for me as I
learn to trust God more, I'm starting to remember how far away I am
from you all, especially my family, and I need to stop dwelling on
that and focus on the adventure to come.

sorry if this has been long & rambly, I'm still jetlagged and I'm very
overwhelmed by all of the sudden changes and overload of information
i'm being fed, so who knows what I've just written. i hope it's
helpful for you to know what i'm up to and where I'm about to head.

I think i've already begun falling in love with this country.

Lots of love, and prayers. Hope all is well in Aus.

Lala salama.

Katie

letter two...

Hi everyone, this is Katie's sister again emailing you a few bits and pieces of Katie's news. Internet access will continue to be rare. Enjoy:

We arrived in Korr late Wednesday
night after spending the entire day travelling in this hilarious
german army truck and everyone has told us how rare it is to arrive in
one day with no break downs of trouble along the way!! so God really
blessed us with that. the trip was AMAZING! i got to see soooo much of
Kenya, it's a beautiful country! and we saw elephants! and antelopes!
And we weren't even in a national park yet! The villages are incredible. We drove out to
visit one of the clans yesterday in Korr (there are 8 clans and 53
little moving villages around Korr) and it blew my mind. Think of the
simplest and toughest way to live and this was it, remember that this
is in the middle of the desert. about 20 kids came to shake our hands
all practically naked and each time we would greet them they would
giggle uncontrollably because seeing a bunch of wazungu's (white
people) is so so rare for them. they followed us everywhere while we
were taken on a tour of the village. the women look about 70 but are
apparently only 30/40 (the sun and hard life ages them) the life
expectancy of a rendilie is about 39! the rendilie warriors stun me to
quiet respect, they look amazing! they are lathered in colourful
beads, and red cloths with feathers on their heads and their hair is
really long done up in tiny tiny braids which is died red and falls
down their back. we gave them a ride back into town and they sat by us
on the back of the trucks, and i felt like i was around royalty. they
rarely get in cars so they were laughing out the sides, but my eye
kind of stuck on their huge gun to make sure it didn't go off, haha,
their guns make them a little scary.
i could talk forever about the Rendilie people, it is such an honor to
be living here with the Swanepools, they are an amazing missionary
family and have really really challanged me about Gods purpose for my
life. The life out here is TOUGH, and that would even be an
understatement, it's super hot, just alll the time, and the water
tastes gross because of the filtering but you have to drink it because
otherwise you get too weak. my health has been good, praise God, I've
only been sick once because i took my malaria tablet on an empty
stomach...

we will attend our first Rendilie church service tomorrow morning, and
then in the afternoon we will make our way to Ngudunit for camp (about
an hour from here), we have to perform a song in church tomorrow and
then next sunday we have to run the entire service!

letter three...

Friends,

So much has happened since I wrote to you last. It's going to be
absolutely impossible to update you on all of the things I so long to
share with you all, so I'll attempt to just pick out a few things. I
actually started writing this email to you 3 days ago and then had to
run off to a team meeting and haven't had time to get back on the
internet since. We've been back in Korr from camp now for about 4
days, I absolutely love it in Korr, in fact I love all of northern
Kenya (at least the places I've been), I'm going to be very reluctant
to leave and go back to Nairobi. The beauty here is to much to explain
in words, every day is so surreal.

I'll start with tell you a bit about camp, especially since a lot of
you helped pay for campers to attend and eat etc (your money & your
prayers were such a blessing for these teens to get to come to camp).
We returned from Ngurunit (about an hour from Korr in between a bunch
of incredibly beautiful giant mountains) where the camp was held. The
first couple of days we stayed with the Knowles family (missionary
family who have been living there for about 13 years, they have 7
really beautiful kids whom we have really befriended here) and helped
get the campsite ready, buidling chos (pit toilets), gathering Kuni
(firewood) etc and then before we knew it the campers arrived.

We slept in a little nursery room with all of the girl campers, on the
floor, that was an experience. It was very crowded, and loud and
uncomfortable - but it was also great to live within a close proximity
to the girls for a week, and show them that we were there for them and
not for ourselves. The girls would get up around 4am each morning to
fill up their buckets and get showers, and i still have bruises from
the cement floor, so not too much sleep was had - but thankfully since
we have been back in Korr we have had some great time to rest!

The camp was such an amazing experience, the campers were from all
around Northern Kenya and at first I really struggled with the culture
gap between us. I felt so different, and the truth was, I was
different. The way I have grown up is so opposite to them, and
connecting with them at first was a real challenge because I felt like
I had nothing to say that would interest them. God really answered my
prayers though and by the end of the week and was able to connect with
a number of the girls in my discussion group and have some great
conversations with the boys too. The girls here are SO shy, they tend
to cover their faces whenever they smile or laugh, and the boys are
opposite, they are hugely outgoing and will come striaght up to you
and ask you immediate questions about your life and what you're doing.

The most encouraging thing about the camp was the amazing teaching
from Gods word. The talks were so faithful, and the gospel was
presented over and over in such a clear way. Remember in your prayers
to praise God for his faithful servants here in Northern Kenya, the
missionaries and Kenyan pastors are so solid in their bible knowledge
and the churches here are getting really top notch teaching. I've
really notcied that here, even the bible translation program here in
Korr is an incredibly long, intricate process to ensure that it is as
accurate as humanly possible!

Each day we would spend a large number of hours in the church singing,
and hearing Ephesians explained, more singing, tesitmonys, more
singing, devotions, more singing... and more singing. Our butts got
really tough by the end of the week, we thought we'd never be able to
sit down every again, the benches were tiny wooden planks and we would
sit for hours on end! It was a real test of my patience!

We would then break into discussion groups, have chai, play soccer,
(we also taught them touch rugby! they didn't seem too impressed,
soccer is pretty much holy here, I said I was a liverpool follower
becuase it was the first team I could think of, and if you don't have
a team, you're basically a nobody!). Everyday we ate beans and corn...
that was a huge challenge, it was horrible, and my body could not
handle it so most days I'd got without, and then everday I would see
my dinner alive before we ate it. That took some getting used to, I
really struggled to find a way to re-fuel each day when the food was
so tough, and there was no time to rest - but God really sustained us
all no matter what. And the the campers the food was maybe three times
more than what they would get at home, so I would feel terrible not to
eat.

The biggest thing the campers were challenged with was the fact that
just because you go to church choir and have Christian parents doesn't
mean you are a Christian - and another huge challenge for the
Christian campers was how to respond biblically to their traditional
rituals which praise other Gods and superstitions which are such a big
part of their life, to not do them is to be shunned by family. And a
number of the pastors got up to share their amazingly couragous
testimonies of how they have dealt with such difficult decisions and
said no to participating in certain rituals. The Christians here
really need prayer for courage, strength and wisdom with these sorts
of stuggles. It's just not something we face in Australia.

Since being back in Korr we have also gone out to one of the villages
about an hour away from here in between a big rock hill with the
Knowles and Swanepools for an outreach and to help build the dam they
have been building for the people there. That was definitely a
highlight of my whole trip so far. The women went into the village and
we all sat under a big tree with all of the Mamas (traditional village
women with their beads and traditional dress etc) and all of their
little naked bubs and Beth Knowles spoke from Matthew about the
Christmas story to the women in Kiswahili, while one of the local
girls translated into Rendilie, and then Loki translated into english
for us. The women there are so eager to hear about Jesus and they just
have no one to explain it to them expect for a couple of times a year
when Beth Knowles goes to visit. When we were leaving one of the women
went up to Beth and said, we need a church here - what a request. Pray
for either some Kenyan pastors to take up that call or some
missionaries to to this village who are so longing to be taught about
Jesus. There are so many remote little villages like this one out in
the desert who have never heard the name of Jesus before, and they are
longing to know.

We camped that night out under the stars next to the big rock hill
which was amazing! I woke in the middle of the night to see a hyena
chasing a camel down the road just next to my bed! We woke up really
early to climb the hill so watch sunrise and it was the most beautiful
view I have possibly ever seen. Just land for miles and miles covered
in those african looking trees and huge big mountains off in the far
distance. I couldn't have been happier to be in that place at that
time. We saw a bunch of baboons running about up there as well.

Back in Korr we have been mainly doing a huge amount of spring
cleaning of the Swanepools home, which is a massive task, because the
reality of being a missionary in a remote and tough tough area is that
things are contstantly breaking and dust is constantly building up
everywhere! So each morning we have been working like crazy to get
this place in shape which is really satisfying to be able to help the
Swanepools in this way, they have been nothing short of wonderful to
us and I feel a bit like they are parents while I'm here for me, it
makes me a lot less homesick than I feel I could have been by this
stage because there is such a lovely family vibe here. We've also been
doing home visits to friends we met on camp and pastors etc -
yesterday I went to visit Laurence who is one of the teachers at the
primary school here and he was the Kenyan leader in my group on camp.
I got to meet his wife and beautiful little baby girl and drink chai
with him in his home while he showed me all of his wedding photos and
stories of how he came to know Christ and the challenges of the school
and living in Korr. He is such an inspiration, just so so thankful to
God for everything, even though things are so hard. I prayed for him
and showed him photos of my family, he asked to keep one of the photos
so he could pray for us, I was so touched by this so I'll be taking a
photo of his family at church on Christmas to take back for my family
& I to pray for him.

I'm going to end this here, because I'll be very suprised if any of
you even make it down this far, it's much more interestesting for me
to write because I've experienced it all, but it may not mean all that
much to you, so I understand if it's a challenge to get through my
babble. Please keep praying for the team and I that we would continue
to be well used, and be a great encouragement to the people here. I've
also got my first tummy bug yesterday, so please pray for health.
Mainly just praise God for how faithful he is, and the amazing things
he is doing for the Rendilie people in Kenya.

Love to you all, and I look forward to hearing your news. I am trying
to pray for you all while I'm here too. In case I don't get back on
here for a while, Merry Merry Christmas!

God bless,

Katie.