Here begins the journey of the BLOG...
As many of you know there is a team of 6 women from Christ Community Church in Carmichael, CA, and 1 woman from New York, that are headed to Kisumu in Kenya, Africa. We leave June 4, 2010 and 5 of us will return on June 26th. Here is the team: Laura Anderson, our leader - who went solo on this mission last year, paving the way for the rest of us; Brooke Culverhouse, Tanea DeVriend, Pat Swarm, Pamela McClanahan, Jessica Fuller and Mary Fugate - from New York! Jessica and Mary will be staying in Kisumu for a full 10 weeks.
Recently someone asked me, "So....WHY are you going?" I told him we are going to support the missionaries from Christ's Hope International who are working towards an AIDS Free World. Specifically, we will be providing care and compassion to those who are dying of AIDS, and to the children who are left behind when their parents are gone. (NOTE: It is estimated there are 14 MILLION children orphaned because of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.) We will also be teaching a program called Choose To Wait, which stresses the inherent value of each person and the importance of purity.
After all that, he asked again, "So....WHY are you going?" This time I answered, "I am going to make sure these people know that they are loved and not forgotten."
As our team has gathered together weekly for the last 2+ months, preparing for this trip, we have learned that in the culture we are going to, people with HIV/AIDS are often cast aside. Many times they are shunned by their families and neighbors. I told my friend, "That is no way to live and it is no way to die."
We are honored and privileged to carry the life-giving news of Jesus Christ to those we will meet. God loves each and every one of us and wishes that none would be left behind. That is why we are going.
It is the prayer of our team that those of you following this BLOG would join us, as we join God in this work. There are 3 tangible ways you can join us (and we'll probably think of more as we go on...):
- You can pray for us. Pray for our health and our families. Pray that nothing would interfere with God's plan for us. Pray that we would have strength and courage in all circumstances. Pray that we would SHINE with God's love over every person we meet.
- You can support us financially. Click on the Christ Community Church - Africa Missions link above and you will find all of our photos. Just click on the DONATE tab beneath any of our pictures to make a tax deductible contribution. As a team we still need to raise about $8000.
- You can follow our BLOG and send us notes of encouragement!
You might be wondering where we came up with the name, "STARS over Kisumu". As we pondered a name, one of our members found a passage of scripture in Philippians 2. In verses 15-16 it says, "...shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...". So we will be Serving God and those we meet; Thanking God for the privilege of working beside Him; Abiding in Him continually; Rejoicing in all things; and Shining like STARS in the universe!
This BLOG will have multiple contributors as each of us share our perspective on this journey. Thanks for coming along! (Pamela)
This BLOG will have multiple contributors as each of us share our perspective on this journey. Thanks for coming along! (Pamela)
So Im new to blogging which is a shocker considering how much time I spend on the internet. So I'm hoping that this posting is going to end up in the right place, but if not perhaps one of my team mates will show me how to use this in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteSo being ew to blogging, and considering that these are the first couple posts, I'm not quite sure what to say, but I will try my best.
We've been preparing for a while now. I honestly didn't KNOW I was going to Kenya until we bought our plane tickets back in February. It has been a long journey for me already for me, but a very rewardng one. We started off right off the bat with a 40 day fast during lent. It built on itself where we gave up caffeine and alcohol the 1st week, then added sweets the next, and so on until we were at an all vegan diet for the last week and a half and finished off with a three day liquid fast. The fast effected each of us a little differently, but I know how many times I heard from my team the rewards we were getting back on the things we were giving up. Having a degree in Dietetics mself, the food items we were removing from our diets didn't effect me that much, ut not everything was food. Week three removed electronics. No TV, no radio, no movies, no internet except immediate and urgent email, and no phone except calling (and things related to work - we didn't want anyone fired, you know) I had a very hard time with this. If you know me, you know I live on the internet, my phone never leaves my side, and the radio is always on. Yeah - I learned a lot. What a great gift it was though, spending the extra time with God instead of filling mself with all the pointless entertainment available to the average American. With my schedule as full as it always seems to be, the removal of my electronic conveniences actually proved to give me much more time to fosc on God, and moreover, it was a wonderful way to spread the word about our trip as people asked why I was giving up whatever it was. I found it so very valualbe and I really thank God for these chances to grow with my team; the fast, out team retreat, the ropes course, our assignments, just in all the love that has been poured out. I'll tell you what, I couldn't be happier to travel half way around the word with such a fine group of women!!!!