First day in Nandi

What a whirlwind it has been, filled with friends and fellowship! On Monday, we flew from Nairobi to Kisumu. The flight was Hope and Wise’s first time on an airplane. Hope and Wise are Jackie and Enock Matte’s two children. Jackie, Hope, Wise, Martin and Phoebe from Nairobi Gospel Centre have accompanied our team to Kisumu to help put on our training. After a short flight, we were greeted at the Kisumu airport by Pastor Beatrice. We all hopped into a matatu for the bumpy journey to Nandi and our training site. We were all tired and some of us more jetlagged than other, but we got to the beautiful village of Nandi and our wonderful accommodations. After a short rest, we got to work, preparing for our training!

FROM JEFF 

It’s Jeff Bechtle here. I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep because the training was starting on the next day. I had worked hard to put the finishing touches on my presentation on learning styles and hit the rack. I was extremely nervous because my expertise is children, not Kenyans! And after a restless night of zero sleep, my confidence was low. But a voice echoed in my head that sounded a lot like my wife, Ellie. It said, “Jeff, pray about it.” I grabbed my 365 day devotional and picked a random page. But God must have had His hand on the page and it went like this: 

Come to me, and rest in My loving Presence. You know that this day will bring difficulties, and you are trying to think your way through those trials. As you anticipate what is ahead of you, you forget that I am with you – now and always. Rehearsing your troubles results in experiencing them many times, whereas you are meant to go through them only when they actually occur. Do not multiply your suffering in this way! Instead, come to Me, and relax in My Peace. I will strengthen you and prepare you for the day, transforming your fear into confident trust.

It’s nice to know I have God and my wife to ease my difficulties! Please continue to pray for us; we feel your prayers!

ONE MORE REPORT

Our first day of training was fantastic! Knowing we needed to get to the church early to set up, we started the trek down the orange clay road, past the tea farm and beautiful hills to our destination, Nandi Pentacostal Church. For Virgil, Carolyn, Regina and Jeff, memories flooded back of UW sports camp, teacher training and 600+ children, while Melissa absorbed Nandi’s beautiful countryside. Training started at 9:00 and, in true African form, everyone showed up at 9:30. The Swiss may have invented the watch but the Africans have the time! 

The addition of our Kenyan team members, Martin, Jackie, Phoebe, Hope and Wise, have allowed us to connect and impact our Kenyan students greater than we could have imagined. This verse came to mind: There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – by one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

The whole training was great but here are a few highlights - Melissa introducing icebreakers, Regina teaching about how Jesus taught, Jeff bringing the knowledge on learning styles and Virgil getting kicked out of every group he tried to join! Carolyn led an exercise on making up songs to memorize verses. Every group absolutely blew us away! It was like listening to sunshine. We can’t wait to share some of them with you! 

Thank you for your prayers and support! Please continue to pray for the team, our students and the impact they will have on the many, many children they will teach!