I'm ready!

People of my generation: do you remember watching Spongebob and his infamous saying, "I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready!"? Well, let me tell you, "I'M READY!!!"

After spending last night in a hotel (thanks mom & dad!) where I could have some space, peace and quiet, and listening to what the Lord has been whispering into my heart, I have come to a conclusion. 

I am ready to face the world. 

I am ready to put back on the armor of God. (Ephesians 6)

I am ready to stand up for what I believe in, if if that means being persecuted for it.

Why? Because God, the Lord Almighty, the Creator of the universe, Justifier of all, Supreme Commander, All Knowing, and the Looker-Outer for my needs is on my side, and as Romans 8:31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"  (yes- I know Looker-Outer is not a real word)

So, I am ready to place each one of these essentials on my body. Because I know that I am not able to handle this on my own. So I am going to "take all the help [I] can get, every weapon God has issued, so when it's all over but the shouting, [I] will still be on my feet" (Ephesians 6:13 The Message)

I have the belt of truth firmly fastened around my waist. This belt was used to hold up his armor and keep the soldier's breastplate in place. Without this belt, everything would be dismantled.

The armor protecting my heart, and sensitive "underbelly" (if you will) is the breastplate of righteousness. The breast plate was used to cover the soldier from his neck to his thighs. This breastplate is lived out by living righteously, a constant struggle everyday. Thank you Lord for GRACE!!

My feet are ready to walk into battle with the gospel of peace fitting just perfectly on my two feet. Back in the Bible times, the soldiers had nails on the bottom of their shoes (like softball or golf or soccer cleats) which helped them stay firmly planted while they were in face to face combat. These shoes give me the peace and stability to stay in peace between God and myself.

And to block the blows, I have the shield of faith. What a promise!! The soldiers with the shields were on the front lines. They placed their shields together to form a protection for those who fired behind them. My faith and belief is something that I can turn in any direction, which will absorb and put out that fiery arrow.   

My head has been covered with a helmet of Salvation. And because of that salvation, my thoughts are based off the Lord and the Truth the Bible teaches me each and every day. Therefore, it protects against Satan's attacks of discouragement and doubt. I can reJOYce in the assurance I have in the Lord and that He is REAL, ALIVE, and Heaven is where I will spend eternity with my Best Friend.

Best of all, the ONLY weapon is my double edged sword-- the Bible! Through knowledge and keeping these words firmly planted in my heart, I have ultimate confidence in battle. 

I am praying, have been praying, and won't stop praying- not only for myself, but for those around me. "Pray hard and pray long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open and each other's spirits up so no one falls behind or drops out." (Ephesians 6:18 The Message) Just as Paul asked, I also ask of you: pray that any time I open my mouth, I am able to FEARLESSLY make known the mystery of the Bible.  I pray this same thing for each and every one of you. 

I am READY.

I am fully equipped.

Eucharisto

I have just finished reading 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I strongly recommend it for a good read that brings about a new way of understanding joy and thanksgiving. Refer back to my post: "Kadzo" from March 26th. This thanks giving, yes, giving of thanks is what keeps me kicking and what keeps my heart on fire for the Lord. It's biblical. I am to give thanks in all time, all situations.  (1 Thes 5:18). I encourage you to do this. I encourage you to go as far as to write down the small things each day that you are thankful for, the things that bring Eucharisto.

A few of the things I am thankful for:

1. red dirt / red muddy rivers
2. elephants and giraffes on the road to Mombasa
3. savoring each and every single Goldfish I eat, no more shoving 5 of them in my mouth at one time. (goldfish the snack cracker--not the fish)
4. reusing plastic baggies as they are hard to come by
5. thanks giving bringing joy
6. support back home 
7. friends who open homes and hearts in Kenya
8. crickets chirping outside my window
9. Mercy's sweet smile when she first sees me --this is such a blessing to me because two years ago she was so afraid of my mzungu skin.
10. Anna Coupo's hand that never lets go and always want to be holding on to me
11. community
12. independence

I had the opportunity to return to Mombasa again on Thursday, just 3 days after I returned to Arusha. This time, I took 4 of my fellow classmates with me and it became more of a vacation than a weekend of working. I had the great  opportunity to take them to Mbewau and around the village of Mtepani. It brought me such joy to share something I am so passionate about with these new friends. I wish I could bring all of you here to meet these people I keep talking about and see their lives first hand.

sisters! Anna and Mercy

Chris and Lisa were absolutely wonderful and took us out to the village, showed us around, and took us to lunch. They even left a welcoming basket of fruit and goodies in our hotel (Milele Beach Hotel--nice, cheap, and on the North coast beach) when we arrived. I am so thankful for the homeliness they bring to my time here. I realized I explained all about REAL4Christ, but did not give the website--if you are interested in helping out (which I encourage). So click it: real4christ.com

HUGE PRAISE: do you remember the man who was attacked with a machete and stabbed? The Lord has been healing him, which I think is a huge miracle. He is saying words and back home. The doctor says "his brain still needs to be healed."

We spent an afternoon on the beach with the lowest tide I have ever seen. We met some men who had just come back from fishing and had an octopus they speared. It felt very slimy, squishy, and was very fluid like. We later went on a short glass bottom boat ride which we were able to see some coral and fish. The assisant captain dissappeared and came back with a sea anemone. I was a bit nervous as I held it in my hand and it crawled across my hand and his.

octopus....

They were able to meet many of my friends there including Kristen, Chris & Lisa, and Simone. Megan's friend she worked with at camp, lives in Nairobi, came down to spend Saturday with us. He was a hoot, his name was Simba. Richard drove us all weekend and took us to his house to share coke with his family twice. I love his family dearly.

We also had another first time experience as we went to a movie theater in Mombasa. This was our first movie in Africa. The theater was NICE. Air conditioned, cushioned seats, huge screen, no power outages, and assigned seats. Yes, they assign seats as you purchase your ticket and have been known to come and check ticket stubs and seat numbers during the movie. It was an American drama movie, and we don't know if the movie itself was hilarious or the fact that it was our first major American influence in the last two months.

Being back in Arusha has been rough. While I have been in Kenya, I have been at total ease, I remember why I feel as though I could stay there forever. I am in a more comfortable environment, that is the bottom line. When I am there, I am surrounded by fellow believers and like minded people. I am being poured into and able to have in depth talks with people who understand where I am coming from and what I am saying because of my religious beliefs. I am in a completely different world here in Arusha. I am the only one from the southern US, the only one from Texas, the only Republican, the only supporter of Bush, the only one against Obama, and one of the only Christians. This has put a strain on my relationship with a lot of the people here because of our completely opposite views of life. I would greatly appreciate prayers for strength, endurance, and Christ like reactions. Through all of this, I am very thankful that God has put me into this position so that I can grow and forced to rely on Him for my daily joy if want to have peace.

I have a love-hate relationship with politics. Here is a very, very brief insight into my mind. I am truly afraid for our country and wish the government wasn't taking away the power of the people to make the country run off the government. Our founding fathers created this country to be run by the people and allow the people to make the choices. That ability sets America apart from all the other countries is slowly fading. I fear for the future of my family that is yet to come and the world in which they will grow up in... if Jesus doesn't come back by then! We are supposed to give the government the power, not the government giving us the power. We, as American citizens, are sovereign. Yes, we are the ultimate power. 10th Amendment states: 

The powers not delegated to the US by the Constituion, nor prohibited by the States are reserved to the States respectively, or to the PEOPLE.

On that note, I fully believe people are responsible to work in order to provide for themselves. Not sit back and let other people do the work for them or allow our nation to go into more and more debt for their lack of work. God blesses work and encourages work. He encourages and blesses Job's work even though Job went through MAJOR hardships and setbacks (that's an understatement) but he still worked.
For He repays man according to his work, 
And makes man to find a reward according to his way. Job 34:11 (NKJV)
I would love to hear your opinion of my take on the future of America.

I am counting down the days till Mom and Dad arrive in Arusha. Only 8 days left!!! I am so incredibly excited and thankful. I will have about two full weeks to spend with them. This will be Dad's first true trip out of the country (not counting the a Caribbean cruise and Mexico mission trip)

sharing chai and bread in Jackson's family area

sweet mercy

typical home in this area (no windows)

Baby Lisa--Richard's daughter: she turned one on saturday. You wouldn't guess it but she was in the middle of crying

meet Winnie: She is 5 and in charge of her baby brother, ALL day long. She is one of our students.

LOW tide

Typical beach goods. These are laid out and put up each morning and night

Some ladies from Nairobi who wanted to be our friends

"Half fish -Half man" boat guide

Sushi girls night dinner!!

Old Town door

Simba

Richard and I

our lovely bus--what a ride! ($20 round trip)

Spring Break

Spring break, the mid point, the marker of the middle. I can't believe it already came and is about to leave. Two more months of school then a few weeks of service, it will all be over so soon. 

This week has been such a blessing to me, such a refreshment, such a much needed break while getting my hands dirty, and being in community with fellow Christians. 

Tuesday we travelled down to "south coast" where R4C is in the process of planting a new church then school. This area is very heavily populated by a tribe who believes they are born muslim. This area is very poor. Church is currently being held under the mango tree and water is fetched by bucket daily. Due to the severe drought going on right now, the bore hole has been dried up. Therefore, the community walks 10 minutes (from the church to the pond) to a pond in the middle of a field where they fetch their water, do their laundry, and then walk 10 minutes back. I was able to make this walk and see this water for myself. It is so hard to see this and think that never once growing up was I concerned about having to find clean water or carry water for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing. 

Beautiful! You can see the ocean in the distance

Church under the mango tree

Wednesday was teacher fun day! We woke up to a beautiful rainbow, which means it had rained the night before!! We arrived at the school and I found all the ladies in one of the rooms using face paint as make up and painting their nails to ensure they looked their best for their special visit. Everyone was dressed to impress. We all traveled to Vpingo, another school which is run by Crossroads Church (here in Mombasa). The teachers spent the morning talking and exchanging ideas with each other. We then stopped to kill some time at the super market.  Can you believe this was some of the teacher's first time to ever be inside a supermarket??? I could not believe it. I was buying candy for the staff and asked Lucy, one of the teacher assistants, to help me pick out what they would like. She had no idea where to begin or where to end. After we picked out all the candy, she was still searching for something. I asked her what she was looking for and she asked me where the biscuits (crackers) are. She thought everything was on that one isle. We found the biscuits and then she was overwhelmed with the selection she had to choose from. Let's just say this was an eye opening experience for both of us.

God's promise

Immanuel, the music teacher, dressed in his best

house across from the school

Grandmother of the house and 3 of her grandchildren she wanted me to take all sorts of pictures with her and the kids

she moved nextdoor and had me take pictures of all of these kids. 

They make their own cars out of cardboard and sticks and use the wheel and a stick to drive it. Super cool invention.

Mbewau staff!

Jackson, Chris, and Rama wanted some MBEWAU pride and had their thumbs painted with blue nail polish

 We then took the staff to the animal and environment reserve park. The excitement they had about seeing these animals was childlike and beautiful. It was everyone's first time to see giraffes, crocodiles, hippos, turtles, and water buffalo in real life. They even were able to feed the giraffes. They were at first very afraid of getting close to the giraffes but then became very excited and all took pictures in front of them and were yelling and calling each other and oh, what a sight! There were a good amount of Europeans in the park with us. Everytime we passed one, one of the staff members would come up to me and ask me if I knew them because they are mzungu. They figured we all come from the same place and all know each other. They were quite shocked when I told them that some of the mzungus didn't even speak English.

beautifully colored birds

Mbewau staff: changing lives

HUGE, real turtle

 Thursday morning was game day for the staff. The church youth volleyball team came out to play against the staff and beat them pretty well, in all three games. However the games were very intense and very entertaining to watch.

Preparing the chicken for lunch

Immanuel, always dressed ready to go

Jackson, going up for a block

 Friday we set up for the sale we were having to raise money to buy reading books for the school and today we had the sale. The sale was similar to a garage sale. There was an overwhelming amount of children's clothes. Everything had been donated by Americans, mostly from mission teams that came over and a children's resale shop. Everything was sold for under $2. Most items ranging under $1. The most bought items were the travel sized soaps you get at hotels which were sold for about 8 cents. We raised almost $200!! Praise the LORD!

Gymboree from the 90s

Some awesome overalls for a little boy

HUGE millipede/centipede 

look at all those babies on the backs!

shop till you drop

this poor boy had no idea he was wearing women's heels. He knew he needed shoes and he found himself some shoes. 

Simon the gardener who served today as Security and crowd control. I LOVED his hat!

acrobats came to perform

My namesake, Kadzo. She came and sat with me and told me how her kids were doing and how much they had grown and asked all about how I have been. I feel so blessed by these loving people. She later told Jackson I need to hurry up and get married and come live in their village because "we want to see Kadzo every day!"

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to get dinner with my friend Kristen. We both were in Mombasa in 2008, 2009, and now. She has been here for the last year as a missionary and is getting married in July to a missionary in Mozambique. I am so incredibly excited for her and know that the Lord will bless their marriage. It was so nice to sit down and share our hearts and talk about the problems we are facing and the grace and mercy of the Lord and how he provides. We are very similar and both share a deep passion for this wonderful country. This was the first time I could truly talk to someone who shares and understands what I feel for these people. If you are looking for a way to give, she has set up a sponsorship program for the children at the schools around Mombasa. I strongly encourage you to get involved if you have the means. Her organization is called Operation Give Hope. She is also in the process of trying to help the water situation in some of the villages to get more info on what Kristen is doing, click here: operationgivehope.org

Feeling blessed,

Cathy