January 4

Day 2 at the orphanage and we felt a little more prepared for what we could expect with the children. We also decided today was the day to deliver many of the toys and school supplies that we had purchased with some of the money raised from our Sunday school classes grades 4-6.  We brought skipping ropes, crayons, markers, tooth brushes, tooth flossers, toy cars, bouncy balls, pipe cleaners for crafts, scooby doo string, balloons, stacking toys. coloring books, safari animal figurines, and many other things.  We met with Sister Yacinta to give her the gifts and we told her that the rest of the money raised was coming but through their head office.  She reassured us saying that it takes about 2 months to receive the money from the head office but it does arrive and we should not worry.  She went through some of the items we brought and decided that we should bring in the skipping ropes, the animal figurines, and the balloons. The kids were excited to see us return and there are always those who want to claim you theirs before anyone else.  Once they grab hold of you there is no letting them go.  They are like cling ons but really cute cling ons. They spotted that we had blown up some balloons and we suddenly had 50 kids crying at our feet begging for a balloon.  We had chaos and tears for the first while but eventually everyone either received a balloon and an animal figurine or a skipping rope to play with.  We were surprised that only a couple of balloons popped on the concrete walls and floors.

The Balloons were a HIT!

Too Hot to play outdoors so we played in the court yard

They love to play with my hair and so they decided it needed a ribbon.

The animal figures needed some camera time too 

Finding a pair of shoes to fit and an actual pair was a challenge

This is where we saw the need for shoes 

Nap time after lunch, sweet dreams little princess

This is how we would dry our washed laundry

 Fresh Pineapple is sooo good

Don't be shocked that the song "I have a pen..."is about to erupt

"I have an apple..."

Listening to Renzo about his first day back to University

The Sun was setting as we were having dinner 

  

AWE! I think they like each other a little

January 3, 2017

UPENDO HERE WE COME!!!!
These arms are ready to hold, to hug, to love, to comfort, to feed, to wipe away tears, to carry, to wave or welcome.
Lord direct us to go in the right path to bring all glory to you!

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We woke at 6 am and had ordered breakfast the night before to be ready for 7 am.  We were excited to get on the bajaj for our ride to Upendo.  However our bajaj driver that we had made arrangements with didn't show up.  We are fortunate to have good people as the staff at the hotel who quickly made a call for a taxi to pick us up.  Thankfully we were only 5 minutes late.  This wasn't how we wanted to begin but it was what it was.  We met up with Sister Yacinta and she took us to the play room where there were many children 40+ crying, playing, staring at our new faces.  Some came to us easily as they are pretty comfortable with volunteers coming to spend time with them.  

There are children who know that if you fight your way through you get what you want.  You might not make friends but you get what you want.  There are also those kids who will cry until someone gives in to give them what they want...they are all typical kids!

The smiles melt your heart. The communication was difficult even though I thought I had prepared somewhat for this.  It seems like when you are under pressure to deliver what you know it all suddenly disappears.  

We were quite overwhelmed at all the busyness of the morning.  Almost as soon as we arrived in the playroom I was taking the little 2 year olds out to change diapers.  I was feeling the cloth diapers soaking through the kids clothes and transferring to mine.  After playtime from 8 -10 everyone lined up, held hands and of course most wanted to hold our hands and we all sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as we made our way to the bathroom to wash our hands then line up again and proceed to the dining rooms (boys and girls rooms are separate) for hot milk.  We got to the dining room and all the boys needed to line up against the wall to say grace for the milk.  I believe the milk is fresh from the cows they have on the yard and boiled before serving.  Second cups of milk are given to those who want more.  When the milk was finished it was back to the bathroom for a shower.  3-4 kids shower at one time.  The caregivers have set out the clothes to be worn for each child after the shower, drying off and of course vaseline all over the body. Renzo has a funny childhood story about vaseline or the lack thereof!

I helped with the girls bathing and Ray was in the boys bathroom with another volunteer.  Organized chaos happens during this time.  We get everyone dressed and struggled to find a pair of shoes that would possibly come close to a match or at least a right shoe and a left shoe.  Seriously some children wear two left shoes.  When we were fundraising for shoes we had no idea how badly these kids needed new shoes.  Off to watch a movie while lunch is being prepared.  This is a good snuggling time with the littles to have some holding.  The real littles struggle to stay awake for this time.  If they manage to stay awake during this time they struggle not to fall asleep while eating.  The two year olds get to eat first as we feed them and then we put them to bed for a 3 hour nap.  I fed Nama a special needs girl.  She would get so excited that she would almost choke on her food. I put Nama to bed and then we were off to call a taxi to pick us up to head back to our place at Twiga.  We were exhausted the first day.

On our way to Upendo

My sweet little boy 

Our taxi driver by the name of Honest came to pick us up and was curious how our first day had gone with the children.  We were a little unsure how to answer as we hadn't worked at this orphanage before and were a little overwhelmed by all the crying kids, and the treatment that they received from some of the caregivers.  Some caregivers if the children misbehaved would be struck.  We decided to spend time praying that God would soften the hearts of those who needed to respond to the children with gentleness.  We prayed that God would use us to bring all glory to Him.

This was also Renzo's first day back to University after the Christmas break so we were curious how his day had gone as he was about to begin exams for his first term.  I always told him that studying needed to be his first priority otherwise we would have to go home early.  (haha) I wasn't ready to talk about going home but I needed to tell him that we were very okay knowing that he had a lot of exams coming his way and we want him to do well.

It was early to bed  for everyone.  Renzo would wake at 5 am and we would follow suit at 6 am so by 9:30 pm the eyes wanted to close involuntarily.  The heat of the day and the new routine at the orphanage played us out.

December 31, 2016

NEW YEARS EVE!
What more fun can you have than teach someone how to make cookies and bread.
We really did have a lot of fun!  It was an interesting learning experience for me as well.  Using baking products that are different than the usual at home.  I would have to say it was quite successful all things considered.  Renzo was our official cookie taster!  AKA Monster Cookie!

Pilly also prepared lunch for us after all the baking that we did.  It was my first time eating posho or ugali.  She had also prepared a beef dish along with greens.  It was delicious to me however Ray wasn't too sure about his tastebuds enjoying it.  I am always proud of him for trying food that he is unsure about.

The evening was spent enjoying a nice dinner with the newly engaged couple.  We played card games, Brooke and Renzo sang together as Brooke played her ukulele, we gave thanks for the past year even the hardships.  

If I have learned anything this year it would be that in order to grow in Christ you must sometimes face hardships to prepare for better things to come.  This year the Lord spoke the word "ENOUGH" Just when I thought I wasn't enough for Him or for anyone He prompted my niece to send me a text at the perfect moment telling me that she felt the Lord urging her to tell me that I was enough!  WOW! God is so REAL!  He keeps me in complete AWE of Him!  

I say the timing was perfect...well, actually I was having a tough day.  I had just cried in the car as we were on our way to Warehouse One to purchase a t shirt.  I cleaned up my face and before I got out of the car I said to Ray "I am just not enough anymore"  We walked into the store and before I could pick up a t shirt I received a text from Tara with this message.  Needless to say tears poured from my eyes as I showed the message to Ray.  We turned toward the door and went back to the car.  I have no words to Thank my Lord Jesus sufficiently for loving me unconditionally!  I am overwhelmed that He loves me soooo much!  HE LOVES YOU SOOOO MUCH TOO!  He created you just as He planned!

Overwhelmed - Big Daddy Weave

December 30, 2016

So this happened!  We were somewhat expecting this to happen during the time that we were here. We didn't know when this was going to happen.

Our dear daughter and her significant other had gone to see his college dorm at KCMC on their own while we stayed at the hotel to cool down.

They returned a few hours later and Brooklyn showed us that she had been stung by a bee.  She said "I got stung on my hand but thankfully they got the stinger out of my right hand".  As I was looking to see the site where she was stung she whipped her left hand out from behind and said "but I got this on my left hand"  There was this beautiful bling bling shining in my eyes! We were pleasantly surprised once again.  We are very grateful for Renzo.  We give thanks to God for this Godly man in our daughters life.  His love is very evident for her as is hers for him.  We have seen this relationship grow over the past year and we have prayed for God to guide their hearts and their minds.
We are excited for what God has planned for their future!

January 2, 2017

We are on the third day of 2017!  It always amazes me how quickly each day passes.  It is Monday and we have just enjoyed some browsing around the town of Moshi.  It has a feeling of home here.  The people are welcoming, not as stunned to see the mzungu (white person).  The young children still have the deer in the headlight look every now and again.  You hear the quiet whispers of "mzungu" and we smile and greet them with "habari" (Hello, how are you?) We don't generally get a response from these littles because they are still in disbelief that they are seeing what their mind is telling them.
We spent sometime at the home of the Mfikwa family.

After which Mrs. Mfikwa took us down to Upendo Home to meet with Sister Yacinta and arrange for the best time to arrive on Tuesday.   We saw the children playing in the center of the building and enjoyed the sounds of the children while we waited for Sister Yacinta to meet with us.  As we sat and waited for her to show up it seemed to be taking quite a while so our chaperone had a conversation with one of the staff and we could sense that it wasn't compliments being said to the staff.  We felt uncomfortable because it isn't our nature to say something without considering the fact that another need may have come up as she was making her way to see us.  We sat quietly in hopes that things hadn't been spoiled for us to volunteer.  Shortly after a cute little boy possibly 3 years old  entered the room we were waiting in and moved directly to Ray.  He approached Ray and completely rested on Ray's lap and allowed Ray to hold him in a hug.  We were all smiling at him as we expected him to make his rounds to us as well.  Not so!  He gently left the room without even being aware of us in the room.  We all sat looking at each other with confusion about him not even looking at us.  It was only after we returned to our home at Twiga that Ray mentioned that he had felt so uncomfortable after the  conversation that our chaperone had had with the staff that he prayed.  He had asked God to show him that this was where we were to serve.  Well we believe this little boy was a messenger from God.  It is difficult to explain just how this all happened but it cannot be anything but God.  

Well we did meet with Sister Yacinta and it was decided that 8 am to noon was the best time.  This means getting up before 7 am breakfast and catching a ride to the orphanage.  It was exciting to see what God was going to show us and teach us through this.

December 29, 2016

Front yard of Twiga Home

We are in Moshi town!  We arrived when it was dark so of course first thing in the morning I look outside of our window and this is what I saw!  It was more beautiful than the pictures online.

Breakfast was delicious and freshly made from scratch

Happy to be here! It feels very cozy and home like.  The staff
is so friendly and helpful.

I just can't get enough of these incredibly beautiful trees

We do look tired again but in our defense it is because
we were recovering from an almost 18 hour bus ride.
More than anything take note of the fact that we are still smiling!

We visited the Keys Hotel - A popular tourist spot.  We were given a short tour of the town and decided to stop here for water.  A staple when you are living in hot climates!

December 28, 2016

We said "goodbye" to our lovely
hotel in Mbeya
Early in the morning in order to catch
the bus to Moshi

Good Morning SUNSHINE!

6 am  Sunrise
God just paints the sky in the most amazing way

Scenery along the way
Grass homes

The drive to Moshi was painfully long.  We were hot and tired but We give thanks to God for keeping us safe in our travels.  We were also very grateful for the beautiful scenery all around us!  We were speechless at the beautiful landscapes

   

These trees are so beautiful
Pictures don't do them justice

Take a short ride with us!