Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Dr. Stan Ballard Crusade Volleyball Tournament

Two of our days in Mwingi were spent helping at a volleyball tournament. We had sent money ahead to set up the volleyball field and to prepare food for the students who would be playing in the tournament. While we were there, we got to spend some time with the volleyball players and people in the community who had gathered to watch the games. We shared some gospel tracts with some of the older ones and gave salvation bracelets to the young children. They also asked us to say a few words to each of the teams who made it to the final round in each division.

Cheryl Hoke takes everything in at the volleyball field.


This is the final game of the girls' division. The team on the right won. Notice the team on the left is wearing Williams jerseys. Those were donated by Williams Baptist College and delivered by another mission group last year.

These guys were some seriously good volleyball players!

All the weird Americans trying to document the crazy Kenyan volleyball talent.

Amazing how high they could jump wearing just flip-flops! Some of them were even barefoot or only wearing socks and they could still spike it.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Unforgettable Little Faces

A child in her mother's arms at the pastor's crusade.

This is another unforgettable kid. He walked from one person to the next looking up at us with this grin on his face like he was so curious about these strange light-skinned people. He sat in my lap for a while and played with my camera. That's a Kenya moment I'll never forget.


Sheryl Hoke bonding with some kids at the crusade.



Children of Kenya


This little girl was adorable. She followed me around and posed because I had my camera out. I know everyone always talks about how they wish they could bring one of these adorable kids home with them, but that's really how I felt about this little girl! I wanted to put her in my suitcase and keep her!

More kids at the volleyball tournament. They loved having their picture taken!

They just couldn't get enough of my camera! The tallest boy in this photo would always mysteriously appear every time I got my camera out.

What a face! He reminds me of one of the kids from Little Rascals.

These boys were enjoying the music at the street crusade.




Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Hotel at Mwingi

These are some of the people who went on the trip. Great folks. And that's the van we rode in the whole time.

Ron and Jan Langston are missionaries from Arkansas have lived in Africa about 20 years. They are now living in Kenya and teaching at a seminary. I really enjoyed being around them all week. They amazed me.

This is the beautiful courtyard where we enjoyed the shade from that Kenyan sunshine. We had our debriefing here each day and talked about everything that had happened during the day. Even though Mwingi is in a severe drought, those pink flowers were blooming beautifully in the midst of all the dry ground and withered plants.

This is the hotel at Mwingi. Lori and I stayed in the room on the right and the Langstons on the left.

This is the tiny shower we had to use. I had to get on my knees to wash my hair!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Streets of Kenya

In September, I went to Kenya with a group of 11 people from my church. We went to several places in Kenya sharing with people about Christ. It was an amazing trip, and God showed me so much. Here are a few photos I took on the road between Nairobi and Mwingi.

Very few people own a vehicle, so people were walking everywhere we looked.

The donkey is wearing a baseball cap! I didn't even notice it until Chad pointed it out to me.

These ladies were taking firewood home to prepare food.


The cattle were the skinniest I've ever seen. This area has been in a severe drought for a few years now. However, I heard Mwingi got some rain this week! An answered prayer!