Almost home

Hey guys! Well, thursday was our last day in Kenya...we have been in Amsterdam since then and will be heading home tomorrow morning....I can't believe how fast this trip has flown by! The rest of our time in Kenya went well....We were able to do some screenings for kids at a local school...it wasn't your typical health screening...some of them were so sick that we had to give them shots with antibiotics...I was amazed at how well they did for their shots too...they held still and didn't even squirm! It was amazing....being a pediatric nurse would be a lot easier if all kids were like that :) Anyway, it was neat to do something there to help out the community....we also got to work with a group called Grace and Mercy that works with children who are disabled or who have been affected by AIDS (either they have it, their parents have it, or they are orphans because their parents died from it)...it was hard being there, but it really touched my heart...I couldn't help but cry...I don't know how anyone could neglect these precious children, but the locals there told us that before they found the kids and connected them with Grace and Mercy, the kids would just wander door to door to try to get help and often be chased away....It was such an amazing experience being there with those kids and showing God's love to them...we did a puppet show for them about the Good Samaritan and sang songs and just played with them...That was probably one of my favorite experiences so far....

Anyway, we also got to see the Compassion International office in Kima (a city nearby where we were staying)...It was awesome for me to hear all about the work that Compassion is doing with those kids there and to meet all the people involved...Even though I sponsor a child through Compassion, I never knew all that they really do to advocate for children...It's amazing and God is really using that organization...they also have nurses for each project and one of my Kenya friends who was a nurse for Compassion was with us, but when I asked her who the nurse was for the Kima project, she was like: "Oh, they don't have one right now...So, then, I guess you can stay after all!" It was funny....I told her I'd have to pray about that one...when God leads, I'll go :)

Well, I have to say I have so many amazing experiences from Kenya! God really protected us and blessed us and our work with the people there! It was hard to leave, but I believe that God will take me back there someday if it's His will...

I don't think I've ever experienced culture shock quite like I have this trip...I told Molly that I felt like I went from rags to riches....everything is so poor in Kenya and Amsterdam is the total opposite of Kenya....things are more expensive here than they are in the US! I haven't seen any poverty and my Dutch friend even told me that it's very rare to see a homeless person here...it just doesn't happen! That just blew my mind! It's been fun being here and being able to see my Dutch friend Marieke from NAU but I have to say that even just walking around the shops in Amsterdam makes me feel a little sick...it reminds me a little of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible....there is a lot of immorality and you see swear words and stuff about drugs and sex all over store windows wherever you are in town...It was cool though because yesterday this lady was passing out these papers and I took one and it was a Christian tract...It was in dutch of course, but I could understand a little bit of it and my Dutch friend told me that it was a Christian tract....It encouraged me to see that because I know that God has touched someone's heart to reach the people here for Christ...because just two minutes in Amsterdam and you realize that the city as a whole is very far from God....Anyway, I'm enjoying being here with Molly but excited to see everyone back home....Kwaheri rafiki! That's all for now!