Kenya Initiative - restore hope. empower change.

Update on What Has Been Happening Here

Tue, 8 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The last few weeks have been busy! We had four people come to visit: Clint (our leader from AIM), Jeff, Bill, and Rebecca. They stayed with us for a week, came to the camp with us, and joined in our everyday life. We had lots of fun and adventure, awesome times of worship, and great time reflecting on the vision of what we’re doing here.

In Tumaini with our visitors!

This mini team was a Godsend. Having lived in Kenya over 8 months, it’s easy for our team to get weary in the day-to-day grind of life here. They brought fresh energy and perspective to us. Clint helped us reevaluate our priorities in ministry, and we spent time asking God to confirm things He wants us to pursue and to show us other things that He wants us to do.

Team worship time and reflection

God confirmed that He wants us to continue to focus on discipleship. But He has broadened our perspective to include the larger IDP camp as well. We have met some young people in the other camps who we feel called to walk alongside and to serve. We want to get behind the pursuit of their dreams and their ideas for ministry to their neighbors.

Kelli and Sylvia, one of our new friends

God also confirmed what He and we both desire for meeting the physical needs of people in Camp Tumaini. We are in the middle of rainy season, and the rain floods the inside of their homes on a daily basis. They desperately need houses. They need real homes, not more tarps to cover up the holes in their tents. Because Habitat for Humanity told us that it is unlikely that they will build houses in Tumaini, we have begun praying about what it looks like to build them homes. We are investigating cost, issues of land, and other details before we move forward in making decisions to build them homes. We will keep you updated about the progress of this!

Bill with Jackson and Jimmy, two of our little ones from Camp Tumaini

Come Minister with Us!

Thu, 5 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Come to Kenya, spend time with our team, and minister with us!

Our organization, Adventures In Missions (AIM), has organized a trip this summer to come visit our team in Kenya!

This trip is for adults. To read more details and to apply for the trip, visit the trip website. Or, go to adventures.org, click on Adult & Family Mission Trips, click on summer, and click on Kenya, Africa.

Trip Details:
-Duration: 9 days
-Date: 7/14/2012 - 7/22/2012
-Cost: $995 not including flight cost
-Deadline for Application: 6/1/2012
-Age Group: Adults

During your time in Kenya, you will partner with our team and join us in our ministry in the Internally Displaced People Camp. You will meet and spend time with this community of people that our team loves and the children we adore and share Christ’s love. You will experience the richness and beauty of the people and their culture here.

If you have questions about this trip or would like more details, you can email our team by clicking here, or find out some faq's by clicking here.

We are excited to host a team and hope and pray that you will be a part of it!

Shosho's Death will Bring Life

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Kenya, Shosho means grandmother. Zipporah was called Shosho by everyone in Camp Tumaini even though she had no grandchildren in the camp. When the election violence occurred in 2009, she came alone to Camp Tumaini. But ever since, the community has surrounded her, taken care of her, and many have adopted her as their Shosho, their grandma.

This blog is difficult for me to write, because along with this community, we also loved Shosho. Shosho passed away on Monday.

Her death came as a surprise. Recently, she had become very sick, and our team took her to the hospital a few different times. We spent time with her this past Saturday, and she was in so much pain. We hired a car to take she and Veronicah from the camp to the hospital, which is where she died.

We and everyone in the camp will greatly miss her and mourn her loss. She had a beautiful, joyful spirit that captivated everyone around her. Her mostly toothless smile, the way she would say hello to us as we approached her home, the way mothers in the camp trusted her with their children and the way she loved them… these are qualities about her that we will miss.

Shosho was a woman who worshipped. During camp meetings when we would sing praise songs, you could always see her with her hands raised. She was a worshipper and lover of Jesus, and this is the legacy she leaves in the camp. Cristianna and I were praying for her and spending time with her in her tent on Saturday, and I sang a song the Lord put on my heart. Even in the pain as much as she could, she raised her hands to the Lord.

So we celebrate the life Shosho lived. We celebrate that she is now forever with Jesus! We celebrate the impact she had on this community and the legacy she left. We celebrate that her life was a life well-lived.

As a team, we pray that her death brings renewed life to Camp Tumaini. We declare that the Spirit of joy and the legacy of hope that Shosho left will bring revival in the camp. Shosho is gone, but His Holy Spirit who lived inside of her remains. We pray that Shosho’s death with awaken people to hope in Christ. We pray for His hope to be stirred in the hearts of people, that those who know Jesus would remember that they serve the Living Hope here on this earth. And we pray that Jesus would reveal Himself to people in the camps who don’t know Him.

Shosho exemplified the life of Christ. Through good and hard times, she worshipped. She drew people nearer to the heart of God. She allowed His nature to be lived through her, and everyone in the camp knows who Jesus is because of the life she lived.

We can imagine Shosho now, worshipping and singing, dancing and raising her hands in the presence of Jesus. What a beautiful picture, what hope we have, now and forever. Thank you, Jesus, for your gift to us in Shosho.

The Willing

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

We are back in Kenya! Our team has been back about a week. We have spent the past week settling back in, overcoming jetlag, and reuniting with people here.

We jumped right back into going to the camp, and it has been wonderful spending time with people again. While it has been great seeing everyone, we have encountered a fresh wave of need there. People are hungry, have to pay school fees, and are still struggling to find work. A lot of people have begun asking us for things again, asking us to intervene, asking us to give them money.

Some people seem hopeless, looking for somebody to meet their needs.

But a lot of people are trusting the Lord knowing that He is going to come through, even though it may not seem like it right now.

And still others are taking action! Peter exemplifies this. We helped him start a rock quarry business, which you can read about here, and he uses his own income to help his community.

Peter loves the children in the camp. He serves as a father figure to many of them. Yesterday he cooked lunch for our team, and he ensured that he had enough to feed all the children in the camp. He is also concerned about children attending school. He networked and put nine children from Camp Vision and about thirty others from the surrounding camps in a secondary boarding school.

Peter wants to host a Harambe, which is a festival that Kenyans hold to raise money for a particular thing: school fees, medical bills, etc. He has faith that he and his community can gather together and raise enough money to pay these children’s school fees since secondary school is so expensive.

We believe that Peter’s ambition and willingness to help his community will catch on. In gathering his community together around the issue of school fees, he is urging them to take their situation into their own hands and do something about each other’s needs. They are supporting one another instead of relying on us or other outsiders to come in and fix their problems. They are becoming the answer to their own prayers. He is taking action, and we pray that his community will follow his example.

We support Peter, and we are behind him. God has really put discipleship on our hearts. We feel like God’s vision for our team and for this camp is to invest in the few, to focus on the willing. God wants us to disciple individuals and spend time with small groups of people who want to know Jesus more deeply, who want to help others, and who want to lead their community.

And we know that by investing in the willing, these individuals will go and impact other individuals (like Peter is doing) and other groups of people in their own community. They will begin to be the agents of change because Jesus will transform them, and as transformed individuals, they will transform individuals and in turn, they will transform the entire community.

God looks for the willing. And that’s who we are looking for too.

First Update of the New Year!

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Our team is currently in the States doing some practical and spiritual training before heading back to Kenya. After coming back to the US to spend Christmas with our families and support raise, we were originally scheduled to head back to Kenya mid January after a few days of debrief. We decided to extend our stay because our leadership and our team both felt that it would be beneficial to remain in the States for a few more weeks. We will now head back to Kenya on February 12.

We are under new leadership who has helped train us in a lot of areas. Our team has been put under a long-term mobilization department at AIM, which means that they are focused on helping and supporting us with more of a long-term mindset than a short-term one. We have been receiving more training in long-term missions, as well as in team building. We feel healthier, better equipped, and more prepared as a team to embrace this next year in Kenya. We are ready for all that God has for His people in Camp Vision, in Kenya, and for us there.

Please pray with our team as we prepare to head back to Kenya in a little less than two weeks. We are excited to get back there and expectant for all that God has in store for us and for the community we are ministering to there.

Merry Christmas (Video)

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It is a very special time of year; a time to celebrate Christ's coming to Earth. In addition, we'd like you to celebrate with us the amazing things God has already done in Camp Tumaini, over the past 4 or 5 months.

We'd like to highlight just a few:

- 10 women are learning to sew at Thread of Hope and earning some money from skirts and purses that they have learned to make.

- 4 businesses have started-up from the micro-loans our supporters have helped provide.

- Every school-aged kid in Camp Tumaini is able to attend school through the bracelets for education that their mothers have made in exchange for school fees.

- We have had 2 big celebrations, feeding the entire camp.

- We have begun a weekly fellowship where the community gathers to worship, pray and share what God is doing.

- We've laid pipes and have gotten water to Camp Tumaini!!!

This is not the end… there is so much more that we dream for these friends of ours! We are praying that they will have stone homes rather than tents and that every person will be self-sustaining. Thank you so much for the very important role you have played in making these dreams become a reality. (There are days that I literally pinch myself, because I'm so in awe that God has brought me back to this place and He is doing such incredible things). Merry Christmas!

Lawrence and Jeremiah

Thu, 8 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We have now given out 4 micro-loans and have started 4 small businesses! You can read about Veronicah’s duka here and Peter’s rock quarry here!

Recently, we have helped Lawrence and Jeremiah start their own businesses.

Before his family was displaced, Lawrence worked as a tailor. Unable to continue in this profession, he has done manual labor for the past few years to support his wife and two young children. But his dream has always been to own his own tailoring business.

We loaned Lawrence $700 to start a tailoring business. He purchased a sewing machine, materials, and shares a shop with Jeremiah. He calls his business “Vision Tailoring.” When we told him he would be receiving a loan, his eyes lit up with such joy. He had already been gaining customers and had been making beautiful clothing. He is living his dream and is now able to support his family with a consistent income, working at something he loves to do.

However, please be praying for Lawrence. Last week as he was headed to his shop, he was in a car accident. The matatu (a van that serves as public transport here) that he was riding in flipped several times. Thankfully, he only broke his collar bone and he and his family are doing fine. Please pray for healing and quick recovery as he will be unable to work for the next five weeks.

Jeremiah is a 27-year-old young man who lives in Camp Vision. Jeremiah has been doing casual labor for the past four years, finding work wherever he can. He worked as a barber before the elections, and has dreamt ever since to open his own barbershop.

We loaned Jeremiah $300 to start a business. He named his shop "Zion Kinyozi." He has purchased most of his supplies and has already gotten a lot of business! He is joyful and thankful that God has given him the opportunity to pursue this dream.

God is transforming lives here, and one of the ways He is doing so is through employment. He is giving men and women choice and opportunity, something they haven't had in four years, something so precious and priceless. No amount of money can buy that.

Thank you for caring. Thank you for praying. Thank you for supporting this. We always want to give you a tangible look into what God is doing here and lives He is impacting.

Four lives have already been changed forever, but there are still so many families who are struggling, so many who need opportunity.

In the next blog, I will be giving some specific ways that you can get more involved in what God is doing here. But as always, we welcome your prayers. Pray for our four friends and that God would bless their businesses incredibly, especially over this holiday season as they get started. We know God moves here in incredible ways because you pray. Thank you!

Microloans, Celebrations, and Feasts!

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We have had a busy couple of weeks!

Our team is reviewing over 30 proposals for small business loans and has helped Veronicah start a successful small business, which we blogged about here.

Since then, we have given out three more loans to Peter, Jeremiah, and Lawrence. I will share about Peter’s loan and will write more about the other two soon.

Matt and Matt recently sat down with Peter and worked through his loan agreement. They have been working with him for a month or so, developing a business plan and creating a network.

We loaned Peter $250 to buy a plot of land in a rock quarry and put 4 men to work cutting out stones. He’ll make enough money to pay back $40/month while bringing in a good income.

This loan will change Peter's life forever.

Before he knew he would receive a loan Matt asked him, “If you were to get a job and make good money, what would you do with it?” He responded with something like this: “I’d help the children, pay for their school, help our community.” Peter doesn’t have any children in the camp. But in his words: “My heart is big. Big like a shamba (a farm).”

We held a celebration luncheon to raise up four leaders in the camp. We surprised the four by inviting them to our favorite restaurant, “Mama Esthers”. She turned an office into a dining room for us so we could have our special day.

It was a great time to announce that we would be moving forward with their business plans. But more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to call out greatness and challenge them in this new role, as well as pray over them.

After the meeting we held a meeting in the camp where we announced the news to everyone. Honestly, it brought mixed emotions and a bit of jealousy. Some people in the camp were upset that we were not giving out all of the loans at one time. We opened and closed the meeting in worship and reminded them to rejoice with those who rejoice.

Then, we feasted! Last Saturday we got everyone together to fellowship and eat. We started preparing the meal at around 9:30am and didn't eat until 4pm! That's what happens when you feed over 120 people! We cooked together, ate together, and celebrated the new businesses starting and what the Lord is doing in the camp!

Thank you for your prayers. We need them and know that God hears them. We appreciate you! Please pray for wisdom as these four develop their businesses. Pray for patience within the camp as they wait for their loans. And pray for wisdom for our team as as we continue following God in what He's up to here!

WATER in Camp Vision!

Thu, 3 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When our team came back to Kenya in July, there still was no water in the camp. Women and children would walk 3 kilometers carrying jugs of water. These jugs of water are used for everything… drinking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, occasional bathing…

The Polish Embassy dug a borehole and installed a pump in the Jikaze IDP camp about 2 kilometers away from Camp Vision. The water was so hot (140 degrees Fahrenheit) that the first pump they installed melted. Months later (and a few headaches with customs), a new $20,000 pump was installed that could handle the heat. On October 5^th, we went to the water pump dedication in the Jikaze camp and rejoiced with them as the water filled the holding tanks. This meant that not only did the Jikaze camp have water, but they would now be able to channel water to Camp Vision and other camps through connected piping!

Our team helped get pipes, and members from the community put them in the ground to connect a tank in Camp Vision to the water source.

Now, nearly 4 years later… Camp Vision has WATER!!!!

We rejoice and praise God for providing! We never cease to be amazed by His provision. We realize that on our own there is no way we would have been able to get water to Camp Vision in a year and a half… God began this process long before we got here and used us as a final step to make it happen!

There is WATER in Camp Vision!!!

Veronicah Opens her Own Duka!

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Our team met with the adults in the camp a few weeks ago and presented the opportunity for micro business loans. We told them that anyone and everyone in Camp Vision could submit a business proposal of ideas of small businesses they would like to start.

Since that meeting, we have reviewed over 30 business proposals. These proposals are ideas for businesses like chicken farming, tailoring, a barber shop, running a small store, etc.

Veronicah is the first woman in the camp to receive a loan. She and her husband have five children. Her husband works in Eldoret, which is about a 5-hour drive from the camp, to make some income to bring back to their family every few weeks. Raising them alone most of the time, she is having difficulty paying the fees to send all of her children to school.

Her story is just one example of a life that God has changed. She shared with us her dream of opening a little duka (store) in the camp to sell fruits, vegetables, and household items. She only needed about $15 to start her business. We gave her a loan, and within weeks, she has already made back the money we loaned her, plus some profit! We pray that God will continue to bless her business so that she will have a consistent income, be able to feed her children and send them to school, and be able to start saving money for the future!

We can’t wait to see what God continues to do in and through Veronicah as she encourages others. As God meets people’s physical needs in the camp, they see his provision in a tangible way and are more and more open to what He wants to do in their lives and in their community.

People in this community are dreaming again. They see that they now have an opportunity to overcome the obstacles that have kept them in poverty and kept them from pursuing ideas and dreams. And this is an exciting thing to walk alongside of them in and see the passion in their eyes and in their voices return. We can’t wait to see what God continues to do as we approve more loans and people are able to work and enjoy the fruit of their labor again!

Habitat for Humanity

Fri, 7 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Last week, Habitat for Humanity came to the main IDP camp to celebrate National Habitat for Humanity Day. A little background: Habitat has been building houses in the main Maai Mahiu IDP camp for over two years. It was a particularly special day, because Habitat was celebrating a milestone and dedicating their 500,000^th house! That’s half a million houses internationally! And that 500,000^th house was built in the main Maai Mahiu IDP Camp, next door to the camp we are serving!

Habitat made a ceremony out of it, setting up big tents, bringing people in leadership, and even had some musical performances! We got to see the ribbon cutting and the dedication of the house.

It was a day of celebration in the main camp. Habitat has resettled over 200 families in three-roomed stone houses, and they are going to finish building houses for the families still remaining in tents. So this is good news for them!

Why is this good news for Camp Vision, the camp we are working alongside?

After they finish building these houses, we are praying that they will begin building in Camp Vision! We are in ongoing conversation with leadership at Habitat in Nairobi. We have been talking to them about Camp Vision and giving them documents, and information about the families in the camp. We are moving forward, preparing the way for Habitat so that this can happen!

We met one of the directors before the celebration began, and we asked him about Habitat’s plans after they finish building in the main camp. Without us prompting him or him knowing what we are doing there, he pointed and told us that he thought that they would begin building in Camp Tumaini (Camp Vision)! Needless to say, we were super excited to hear that!

Please keep praying with us that God would open doors and continue to spur the hearts of directors and employees of Habitat to build next in Camp Vision. Please pray that they keep receiving funding in order to finish in the main camp by Christmas. Please pray that we keep moving forward in this process and that things will go smoothly.

Other updates: Last week, the Polish embassy followed through and had the water pump installed in Jicaze, a nearby camp. Logistics are being worked out in order for water to be pumped to the other camps. Please keep praying that the details of this process get worked out soon so that Camp Vision will have their own water source!

Liz's next season

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the early months of 2010 God brought me to one of the most amazing places on earth. It’s hills were green, the people smiled like I’d never seen before, and the best part was they loved from all that they could love with. I was rocked.

I will never forget sitting on the side of the mountain overlooking the Internally Displaced People camps and hearing God say that He was choosing me to go. When I heard the word go, I immediately knew that although this wasn’t the textbook life, or even the life that I wanted to choose I had to lay myself down in obedience to a God that has never given up on me.

I continued the journey with a three other teammates and in October of 2010 we moved to Gainesville, GA to be under the leadership of Adventures in Missions. It was here that we prepared, prayed, and joined together to fight on behalf of the forgotten people in Kenya. Our team grew from four, to five, to six, and then to seven people. God was surely in this.

For 9 months (Oct ‘10–July ‘11) my heart grew more and more for the people, for the women, for the children that every day lived through the worst conditions. I would be overwhelmed daily by how God continued to remind me that He didn’t need me but He wanted to use me.

So, use me He did. You see God had every right to snap His fingers and make everything in the camps be good and perfect. But instead He likes to choose His sons and daughters to share His love on His behalf, that’s where the Kenya Initiative came in, where I came in. So, love and activate I did and I believe the Lord used me to help birth this vision. He asked me to fight for His people in Kenya and He gave me dreams and inspirations that were of His heart that are taking place in the camps today.

But then God had different plans, my trip was postponed to Kenya when the rest of the team launched in July. It was in these past three months that God has released me from this ministry and made it clear that my time and work is done in regards to the Kenya Initiative team.

The team has gone forward but I fully believe that God has used me just how He wanted to do so according to His purposes. I hold on to the promise that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Today I am full of peace, my spirit has gone forth into Kenya and I just have to keep loving and carry on to the next big plans God has for me to jump into for His Kingdom.

Sometimes I look back and I wonder what the last year of my life was for because the outcome didn’t turn out just how I foresaw it to be. Then I remember all the life lessons, growing up, and spiritual maturity that took place in my life in this time. I remember all the people that I’ve met in the process that I was able to encourage and challenge.
When I look back I realize that everything has happened just how God wanted it to be from the very beginning. His Kingdom come. His will be done. On EARTH as it is in HEAVEN.

Thank you to everyone who has been apart of what God is doing in Kenya either prayerfully or financially. You have made permanent change in the nation of Kenya by your generosity. You have also made change in my own personal life. I have witnessed all of your willingness to join God where He is at work and am extremely humbled by God’s outpour of faithfulness through it. Thank you so much. You’ve changed me forever and I’d love for you to continue to be apart of my journey. Please consider following what God’s up to in my life at liz-martin.tumblr.com.

Love, Love.
Liz Martin

5 Area Update

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

God is moving here in Kenya! Here is an update on each of the five areas and the specific progress in each.

Our paperwork has finally gone through and we are now the owners of a Pajero, which we have already used to aid in our ministry.

This vehicle not only saves us from a 2 hour walk each way to the IDP camp, but it also has allowed us to transport pipes, which will bring water to the camp. We are still waiting on the Polish Embassy to install the pump in the main camp, but the pipe work is ready.

We have been gathering information and documentation in hopes to have Habitat for Humanity partner with us in getting land and homes for these families.

Several of the women in the camp have joined a sewing project called Thread of Hope, which teaches them sewing skills and employs them to make skirts. This is a wonderful way for them to be able to provide for their children. We are in conversation about partnering to start an adjunct business with them.

In regards to the biomass charcoal project, we have collected sawdust and progress is being made toward making a working press.

The local church has been collecting funds to build a community center in the camps that would serve the purposes we also envisioned. They have purchased land, built a fence around it, and have finished the toilets.

Throughout this whole process, we have been intentionally building relationships with the men, women and children in the camp.

Some days it seems things are moving slowly, or “pole pole” as they say here. On those days it is good to take a look at the bigger picture and see the ways in which God is moving and things are progressing. We are depending on God to keep providing and would appreciate your continued prayers in each of these areas!

Faces of Hope

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

These are faces. Faces of children who have been pictures for so long. Now they are faces of children we get to see every week, children who God loves so much, and children for whom God gives us a piece of His heart, more and more each day.

They are faces of beauty.
Faces of joy.
Faces of hardship.
But they are also faces of hope.

There is so much in these children's eyes. Hidden beneath lies pain and hardship and struggle, both from their past and their present. But also therein lies so much love, so much hope.

When we look at their little faces, we see Christ. We see the hand of God upon them. We see how He has covered them, protected them, provided for them, and continued to give them hope.

Thank you for your support. We, all of us together, are helping to bring more and more of that hope to the surface--a hope that may have been hidden, but one that has refused to fade through all that has happened, all the hunger, and all the hardship. And theirs is a hope that refuses to be destroyed.

And that hope is found in Christ. We get to be His hands and feet to these children and our friends here. You get to be the hands and feet of Christ wherever you are.

We live to see the glimmer of hope in this little girl's eye. We are here to serve them and grow with them and their entire community in hope, in joy, and in Christ's redemption.

These are faces of hope.

Processing the Process

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

On August 15, we picked up our friend, Cristianna, from the Nairobi airport. She stayed with us the past month, and she wanted to write a blog for us!

A guest blog, written by the lovely Cristianna Smith:

(For the astericks, see the comments at the bottom. Also at the bottom of this page are pictures!)

We had a team meeting the other evening, and I joked that if we were a family, then I was the random foreign exchange student. I’ve been in Uganda for three months, and I decided to extend my African adventure another month by hopping the border, offering the Kenya Initiative my help and humor* for the month.

If I had to describe the past month in one word, it would be: process. Everything here in Africa is a process. We secured a place and moved in, but it has been quite the process. We’ve been doing this for over a month. No, we aren’t lazy. It’s just that things here take a lot longer to start, a lot longer to happen, and even longer to finish. I can’t quite figure out what it is, but it’s like a miscommunication sandwich**, with a fat slice of language barrier nestled in between some cultural differences. Add a dollop of African time, hold the clarity and there you have it.

It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re forced to choke down said sandwich, especially when everyone disappears around chai time (and it took you hours to track them down in the first place). It’s easy to lose your patience when an errand that was supposed to take an hour turns in to an all-day event (and it doesn’t even get done but in turn, leads to another string of errands). It’s easy to throw in the towel when you oh-so-lightly tap the window pane and it falls two stories to the ground below, even though the putty should have been dry after sitting untouched in the sun and wind for ten days… (sorry ‘bout that!)

There’s nothing easy about living by the Spirit, especially since it goes against everything our flesh wants to do. But there’s a reason why patience is one of the fruits of this. There’s nothing natural about being patient. Patience takes time, it takes life application in order to nurture and grow. And boy, it never stops growing. You can never be too patient. It’s not passive but instead demands our active participation. It takes us saying ‘Yes’ to our Spirit and ‘No’ to our flesh, over and over again.

And, as with everything here, it’s a process***.

So here’s to the process. Here’s to patience and to all of the fruit of the Spirit that has grown during the process. Here’s to the Kenya Initiative, who have shown me what a beautiful thing the process can be. It has been an absolute pleasure to serve alongside of you all.

Much Love,
Cristianna

*Some team members might debate this but don’t listen to them. I’m funny, I promise.

**I think this analogy was birthed out of the fact that we have been talking nonstop about how we miss sandwiches because we can’t get lunch meat here. If you can find a way to send a foot-long Subway our way, we would be extremely grateful. Asante sana.

***Good thing God is all about the process, too.

Update: As you read above, we have moved into a new place! God also has provided a car, we are just working out the last few details. Please pray that we get that all figured out this week!

And let me just say that internet connection and posting blogs is a process here too… Apologies for not posting much the past few weeks. But check back here this week for some more blogs and lovely pictures from the camp!

Matt and our friends, Sammie and Mumo, building bunk beds Lookin' good, Pajero! Our vehicle!

A Day in the Camp (pictures!)

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We wanted to show what a day in the camp looks like and share some pictures!

Last Thursday we walked to the camp. It’s no short journey… It takes about 3 ½ to four hours to walk the ten miles up and down the mountain! We saved time on the way there by hitching a ride on a big truck. Got to love Kenya, people are willing to pick you up on the side of the road!

We visited some people in the main camp and saw some more businesses that our friends, Henry, Nathan, Noah, and John helped start. It was good to gain ideas and see the progress of these projects. A group of about 11 women has started a baking business where they sell cakes to local markets. Another group has a chicken farm, and still another has begun growing peanuts.

Then we spent the rest of our time in Camp Vision, checking on some trenches that have been dug and visiting with people there. I talked and caught up with some women, drinking porridge in their tent to stifle some of the cold (it’s really cold here this time of year!).

The guys spent time with Ann’s family and helped them rake their shamba (their field). Afterward, I joined them and Ann cooked lunch for us. We all ate together in her little tent with she and three of her children. Her generosity and hospitality warmed our hearts. She has hardly enough to feed herself and her children, yet out of the little she has, she shows great love by feeding us…

Ann is a single mother of six children. She is HIV positive along with one of her little boys. We listened as she told us about how people treat her differently because of the ‘stigma’ of her condition. We got to encourage and pray with her, praying physical healing over she and her son and healing for any scars or identity that has been displaced from the way people treat her.

This is Matt with Ann and three of her children and on the right is Kigui, her little boy with HIV

Ultimately, this is what we are about and this is always what we go back to. Yes, we are going to bring physical aid in the form of long-term solutions. But so important too is the spiritual, the life that Christ brings. Ann needs to be reminded of who she is and of whose she is. She has suffered from what has happened to her, and we are here to direct her toward one who restores, not just physically, but the entirety of her being.

By the time we left, Ann was smiling and laughing. We could tell she was uplifted, and so were we, but we also carried from that house a burden and a fueling of God’s passion: to continue to see these people and this community restored.

So there's a glimpse of what a day in the camp / a day in our life looks like... :)

God Goes Before Us, With Us, and After Us

Mon, 8 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

God is crazy wonderful and has been showing us that He goes before us, with us, and after us in all kinds of ways…

GOD GOES BEFORE US: God has things to accomplish not only in Camp Vision but also in the overall IDP camp, and He is choosing to have us partner in what He has already been doing there!

Community Center: The local AIC church already has plans to build a community center in the overall IDP camp! These plans are almost identical to our plans of having a building for: church, rooms for employment, and space for discipleship. We are partnering with them in how to move forward with the construction of this building!

Spiritual Development: The AIC church has committed a pastor named John to be the pastor in the camp! Right now, the church meets every Sunday under the tree, so there is already a church presence there. When the Community Center is built, that will serve as the new church building!

Water: A group of people has already begun a water well project. In one of the nearby camps, someone has already dug a borehole. We are in communication about how to partner with them to possibly run pipes to Camp Vision and provide them with clean water without having to drill another well in their camp!

Land: Like we mentioned, someone has already come and purchased Camp Vision a bit more land. Right now, they have a total of about 5 acres. Each family has more space and is closer to the goal of each owning their own plot!

Henry, Nathan, Noah, and John: The Lord connected us with four guys who have been working in the IDP camp the past few months. We went to the camp with them, and they showed us the different businesses they have helped start with people in the big camp. They shared their wisdom and experience with us, and it has been so helpful!

HE GOES WITH US: God has been faithful in speaking to us, leading us, and connecting us with people who will help us make this vision reality.

Local Pastors: The Lord has given us Pastor Simon and Onesmus who have been helping us. They connect us with people and are helping us with things like purchasing a vehicle. The Lord is definitely providing resources through them.

Leadership: The Lord continues to bless us through AIM, and our leadership has provided guidance, covering, and encouragement as we have been living here in Kenya.

HE GOES AFTER US: This is a long time coming, but the Lord’s plan in all of this is for this community to become sustainable. Meaning, that after we leave, they are thriving and living independent, good lives. And the Lord, I’m sure, is weaving many things now to ensure this happens in the future when His presence remains in this camp long after we leave… But, like I said, that’s a long time coming. :)

The What Will Be

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The what will be is powerful. It is the wind beneath our sail, the motivating force behind all that we are doing, what helps us have the perspective that we share, the thing that has made our team who we are.

It is what has kept us pursuing God’s vision and dreams for these people.

It is why we have remained sane through the tears, the poverty, the burdens, and all the hardship we have seen and now see in the camp.

The what will be is God’s heart and plans for these people that He and we both love.

God sees them and their situation for what it is—He sees their tattered clothing, their poor housing, their lack of food and clean water, and their shattered spiritual identity.

And He has given us prophetic eyes to see what will be…

The what will be is the people of the camp dancing, praising His Name. The what will be is them farming in fields that are growing plentiful crops. The what will be is their enjoyment of the fruits of their labor. The what will be is their children attending school. The what will be is a thriving community. And the what will be is them rejoicing and praising Him, not only for a wellspring of clean drinking water, but also for His wellspring of Living Water in Christ.

The what will be is God’s heart and plans for them. And it is already coming to pass.

Update from the team: The Lord has us in a place of complete dependence on Him. Most days we do not have anything planned and meet in the morning, expecting God to show up and lead us! He has been faithfully providing and showing up in all sorts of ways! He has been connecting us with many different people, expanding our network here, specifically in the area of well drilling and with the water project. Just in the past few days He has been revealing the information we need about land and giving us a good lead on the purchase of a vehicle. It’s amazing to see what God is already doing in the camps, and we are excited to continue to join in with Him toward what will be.

The Day Finally Arrived!

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The day that we have been anticipating for months and months finally arrived: we visited the people we love and for whom we have been raising awareness and funds for almost a year. It was happy, it was blessed, it was hearts reuniting, it was wonderfully divine.

When we arrived we immediately saw that Camp Vision had more space! They had spread out their tents! The people of Camp Vision who once shared less than an acre of land are now much less cramped. The chairman of the camp told us that a well-wisher (a person who does good things) came about three months ago and bought them more land. Now two families share about a 40 x 80 plot of land. It is not enough for them to own a title to their individual plot, but they are closer to that goal!

Apart from that improvement, their situation has remained the same. Families cannot afford to pay school fees so children are not in school, there is still no access to clean water, the little ones are wearing the same tattered clothing we saw them in last year, and a church presence is still needed... There is so much work to be done..

Oh, but there is joy! Joy in seeing us return, but even more so, joy in the Lord and His provision. I don’t know how many women looked me in the eye and said that they thank the Lord for continuing to give them new days and for the land that they had been given. We sang and danced with them just before we left, songs of praise to God who is good!

We have not expressed the details of why we are here just yet. We are praying about having those conversations and seeking the Lord’s wisdom and timing in that. But our friends at Camp Vision know that we are here to stay.

It is good for us to be here. We cannot wait to head to the camp regularly and begin these relationships again. There is so much work to be done and lots of information to gather, but we are patiently waiting on the Lord and His leading in moving forward.

Our team is doing well, and we are continuing to adjust to life here. We are enjoying Kenya, the culture, and the relationships here.

Please pray for us as we intend to purchase a vehicle to drive to and from the camp daily. Pray for the Lord to provide connections with people who can give us the information we need to move forward. And pray for the people of Camp Vision, that they would continue to be resilient and steadfast in their faith.

Jambo! We're Here!

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We are finally here! After leaving on Thursday, we arrived in Kijabe, Kenya monday morning! A delay in takeoff for our flight in Phili caused us to miss our flight to Kenya in Brussels. So we made the most of it, took the train into Brussels, got a hostel, toured the city for a few days, ate some tasty Belgian waffles, and eventually hopped on a plane to London to get to Nairobi. We found our bags, praise God, and we are already enjoying this community and the hospitality of our pastor and his family here. I had forgotten how simple and beautiful life is here and the Lord has already been just having us enjoy it the first few hours we have been here. Thank you for your prayers, as always. This week we are meeting with the pastor, settling in, and seeking the Lord about how to move forward here and His timing in beginning to go down to the camps. Keep praying for health and wisdom as we begin life here and begin making decisions. More updates soon to come!

Dear Team Kenya,

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We would like to introduce you to some more World Changers: Mrs. Angell's 4th graders!

My Aunt Leslie lives in Florida and teaches 4th grade at a Christian academy. She has a classroom full of crazy amazing students who share her passion for learning and for missions! Since we started Kenya Initiative, she has been sharing with her class about our team, shows them our blog, and they have been praying for us! They even collected money and did chores to raise money to give to our team!

I received the best package today! My Aunt Leslie sent me an envelope full of letters her class wrote to our team, a check for our project, and this note:
“My class collected money for Kenya. We watched the video Matt (Patch) made, and they have prayed for your team. God Bless!”

Above are two of their letters. Aren’t they precious? I wish I could share each letter with you, tell you all their names, and show you their beautiful faces (they included their school picture with their notes!). We are extremely blessed to call them friends and to have their prayers and support.

Dear Mrs. Angell's fourth graders,
Thank you! Thank you for praying for our team and for collecting money for Kenya. We are so proud of you, and we know your teacher is too. God most definitely sees your huge hearts, and we think He is pretty proud of you too! :) We are encouraged and inspired by your faith, your compassion, and your willingness to help our team as well as a group of people you have never met. You rock, and you are changing the world!

With Love,
Kenya Initiative

We're Finished!!!

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

After…
About a month and a half
Traveling all across the US
Hosting 4 5ks and an Auction
Driving through 20 states
Visiting 10 of them
Traveling over 6,000 miles in an 8-passenger van
Stopping at countless gas stations
And spending 100 plus hours in a van together…

We’re finished with the road trip!

Many miles and memories later, we are done with the road trip! Each of us is back home with our families for the next week or so before we head back to Georgia. We leave for Kenya July 7, which is in about 16 days! We are excited to head out but thankful to have a few weeks to relax, spend time with our families and friends, and get everything together before we leave.

Thanks again to everyone along our road trip who encouraged us, housed us, fed us, provided for us, came out to the 5k races and auction, and who welcome our team into their lives. We hope to continue the relationships we have formed and built up along the way. We are thankful for all God taught us throughout the road trip, all the finances the Lord has provided through it, and everyone who has partnered with us along the way. Thank you. If you are reading this, you have been and are a part of this, and we could not have done it without you!

5K for Kenya: San Diego Results Saturday, June 04, 2011

Mon, 6 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Race Results:

Thank you to everyone who came out!

Place	Last Name	First Name	Gender	Age	Minutes	Seconds
1	Weber	Justin	M	21	18	:06
2	Hazlett	Steve	M	46	19	:32
3	Muller-Cohn	Aidan	M	15	20	:43
4	Thacher	Andy	M	48	21	:20
5	Phelps	Josh	M	13	23	:19
6	Heinrich	Ariana	F	27	23	:35
7	Budny	Mike	M	26	23	:44
8	Phelps	Jessy	M	17	23	:53
9	Proehl	Ali	F	18	24	:01
10	Worthey	Brenda	F	41	24	:05
11	Towne	Colin	M	20	24	:15
12	Milne	Blake	M	16	24	:20
13	Hillmer	Timothy	M	13	24	:24
14	Milne	Dylan	M	11	24	:38
15	Mauriello	Julia	F	31	24	:46
16	Hazlett	Shinano	F	43	24	:55
17	Bavin	Helen	F	20	25	:31
18	Poon	Yat-Long	M	28	25	:45
19	Armstrong	Paul	M	40	25	:55
20	Morin	Amber	F	21	26	:15
21	Johnson	Sean	M	16	27	:22
22	Boggs	Rick	M	20	27	:48
23	Halsey	AJ	M	21	27	:48
24	Su	Tiffany	F	20	28	:07
25	Weigel	Jason	M	12	28	:42
26	Hashimoto	Shinobu	F	41	29	:00
27	Garcia	Eugene	M	43	29	:01
28	Bush	Candice	F	54	29	:52
29	Phelps	Danny	M	11	30	:30
30	Zieske	Ben	M	12	30	:32
31	Sane	Vrushal	F	31	30	:45
32	Flewellen	Nicole	F	21	31	:30
33	Harris	Megan	F	21	31	:31
34	Griffin	Darlene	F	16	31	:46
35	Muller-Cohn	Stellan	M	13	31	:59
36	Rydahl	Tammy	F	43	32	:09
37	Borer	Laura	F	42	32	:10
38	Kalebjlan	Aline	F	29	32	:23
39	Milne	Matt	M	43	32	:58
40	Hazlett	Monai	F	9	33	:27
41	Ladia	Christian	M	25	33	:39
42	Milne	Chelsea	F	17	33	:59
43	Pantulu	Jhyothi	F	37	34	:05
44	Adams	Erin	F	24	34	:35
45	De Alba	Ingrid	F	30	34	:43
46	Carrasco	Emilio	M	30	34	:44
47	Church	Brittani	F	21	35	:01
48	Dimdimen	Gage	M	17	35	:31
49	Hirsch	Mitchell	M	38	35	:35
50	Hiromi	Sakaino	F	38	35	:39
51	Maples	Karen	F	44	35	:41
52	Latson	Alyssa	F	11	36	:10
53	Bingham	Joel	M	28	36	:15
54	Chalmers	Allison	F	23	36	:16
55	Redding	Taylor	M	12	36	:26
56	Redding	Kirk	M	45	36	:28
57	Peralta	Eric	M	23	36	:37
58	Ha	Henry	M	24	36	:37
59	Morales	Rachel	F	25	36	:59
60	Carreon	RIck	M	28	37	:33
61	Joya	Mark	M	33	37	:35
62	Wameke	Stacy	F	40	37	:50
63	Stroup	Karen	F	49	38	:20
64	Gorman	Bradley	M	22	38	:22
65	Egan	Sherida	F	30	38	:38
66	Milne	Amy	F	40	39	:23
67	Martin	Jonathan	M	22	39	:24
68	Griffin	Jill	F	49	39	:57
69	Lee	Laura	F	48	40	:02
70	Abad	Arthur	M	24	40	:21
71	Schmidt	Ethan	M	23	40	:39
72	D'Augustino	Danielle	F	23	40	:40
73	Colunga-Garcia	Rebecca	F	45	40	:49
74	Navarro	Lalista	F	10	40	:57
75	Navarro	Gabriel	M	8	40	:57
76	Arijona	Dora-Lee	F	35	41	:13
77	Latson	Deanna	F	40	41	:29
78	Hardy	April	F	18	42	:04
79	Cupples	Kiana	F	17	42	:07
80	Vogel	Lindsay	F	16	42	:08
81	Wallace	Shelley	F	48	42	45
82	Plopper	Danielle	F	13	43	15
83	Plopper	Elijah	M	13	43	16
84	Stroup	Ava	F	12	43	53
85	Joya	Josh	M	9	44	8
86	Yoshiko	Aloisio	F	64	44	41
87	Bagalso	Rachel	F	22	45	42
88	Gray	Stephen	M	22	45	45
89	Wallace	Paul	M	51	45	49
90	Navarro	Vanessa	F	5	46	:22
91	Navarro	Olivia	F	35	46	:22
92	Plopper	Zachariah	M	13	47	:17
93	Martin	Maggie	F	51	47	:37
94	Gorman	Mussee	F	22	47	:46
95	Johnson	Emily	F	11	48	:09
96	Stewart	Jonathan	M	23	48	:47
97	Spousta	Allison	F	25	48	:47
98	Nellis	Timothy	M	32	49	:11
99	Shimansky	Marie	F	21	49	:12
100	Campbell	Chris	M	22	49	:13
101	Monahan	Lassie	F	20	49	:13
102	Winn	Julia	F	20	49	:17
103	Inada	Lyne	F	34	50	:52
104	Norton	Edwin	M	26	51	:43
105	Keovoravongsa	Justin	M	21	51	:43
106	Gutierrez	Ernie	M	59	52	:01
107	Muller	Rolf	M	49	52	:30
108	Armstrong	Andreya	F	39	53	:04
109	White	Debbie	F	50	53	:05
110	Maxton	Sharon	F	59	53	:07
111	Maxton	Danielle	M	60	53	:07
112	Joya	Grace	F	32	53	:48
113	Joya	Mary	F	53	53	:48
114	Shimansky	Doug	M	53	53	:58
115	Carreon	Marcela	F	47	55	:33
116	Barnhard	Bailey	F	5	55	:40
117	Barnhard	Brynn	F	8	55	:40
118	Barnhard	Christine	F	40	55	:41
119	Barnhard	Brooks	F	40	55	:41
120	Plopper	Marta	F	49	55	:59
121	Shimansky	Mary	F	52	55	:59
122	Seydel	Ann	F	53	56	:03
123	Larrick	Mary Lynne	F	52	56	:03
124	Berman	Beatrice	F	21	56	:08
125	Lahr	Kathleen	F	47	56	:08
126	Preston	Joe	M	71	56	:41
127	Vogel	Charles	M	60	56	:52
128	Preston	Delores	F	69	57	:04
129	Hess	Fred	M	48	57	:10
130	Sanders	Leah	F	24	59	:38
131	Sanders	Martin	M	51	59	:40
132	Sanders	Beth	F	54	60	:41
133	Vogel	Gail	F	51	61	:31
134	Ho	Brigette	F	43	62	:10
135	Oppenheimer	Angeline	F	50	62	:12
136	Lo	Veronica	F	48	62	:12
137	Cupples	Eunice	F	51	62	::44
138	Brothers	Jerry	M	58	62	:44
139	Ubry	Doug	M	51	62	:46
140	Alarcon	Joey	M	21	63	:16
141	Millsom	Stephanie	F	21	63	:16
142	Hillmer	Andrea	F	7	63	:52
143	Hillmer	Maribel	F	43	63	:54
144	Stroobosscher	Duane	M	41	64	:08
145	Ubry	Susan	F	49	65	:09
146	Hake	Leona	F	50	71	:45
147	Hake	Christine	F	23	71	:45
148	Hillmer	Doug	M	47	71	:45

If you have any further questions about the results and your participations please feel free to contact me at elizabethmartin@adventures.org.

San Diego 5k: Success!

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Thank you to all who participated in and sponsored the San Diego 5K for Kenya! This was our final 5k, and we had such an amazing morning! We are excited that so many people came out to run or walk and to support this project!

The race took place on Saturday, June 4. We expected a beautiful, sunny day, and that was just the weather the Lord provided! We had a total of 178 participants register! With registrations, donations, and sponsorships, we made over $8,000 from this race!

This race marked the fifth and final 5k that our team is hosting this year! We have hosted five 5k races in Georgia, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, and California. We cannot believe we are finished hosting races, but we are relieved and excited with the success of each.

Race-day went smoothly, and we had over 35 people register the day of the race! Again, we appreciate family, friends, volunteers, sponsors, and everyone who came out. 4s Ranch Community Park provided a beautiful race location, and a lot of the runners are excited to come back and run the course again! Most of the participants stayed after for the award ceremony and to hear Liz speak about our vision for the Internally Displaced People we are going to empower in Kenya.

The Auction for Clean Water that we hosted on Sunday at Liz's church, LifeBridge, raised over $7,000! We had just about 150 people attend the auction to bid on items like vacations, restaurant packages, and many more items donated from local businesses. We are so thankful for this community of people that has gathered together to attend both of these fundraising events and have been so supportive of this project!

We have finished hosting races, but we still have more stops on our road-trip! Our team will enjoy staying with Liz’s family for a few more days here in San Diego, and then we head to Texas! We have some speaking engagements in Texas and will spend time with Logan’s family before making the trek back to Georgia.

To check out some pictures from the San Diego race, click HERE. To view race results, click HERE.

So Much More than Just 5ks...

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When God gave us the idea of hosting 5k races all across the country in each of our hometowns, His plans were way bigger than just a fundraising strategy or a fun road trip… And, He is God. Of course they were.

When the Lord gave us this idea right around the time that Matt Patch joined our team in November, we were so caught up in the fundraising aspect. We focused on how these 5ks would provide the funds to get us to Kenya and for the project. We didn’t expect that it would be so much more than that…

We have realized that God had and still has plans for us before Kenya that involve more than just promoting our 5ks, our project, and raising awareness for the people we love in Kenya. Obviously, that is a beautiful thing and the overall goal of the 5k road trip. However, He had additional plans like: wanting to grow our team, causing us to trust Him to provide every step of the way, letting us love and encourage a lot of people, and also being encouraged and blessed through all the people we have encountered along this journey.

We went on this road trip not only for our friends at the IDP camp, but also for George, for Charles, for the churches we have visited, for the middle school student who needs to know his life counts for something, for our families, for the woman in the crowd who needs to know that there is hope.

We also went for our team, to grow in what it means to live in community with one another, what it means to function as a unit, how to enter into deeper trust with one another, and how to support one another through the good, the bad, and the ugly, amongst many many other things we have learned along the way. The Lord has used this trip to prepare us for what life will be like for us living together in Kenya.

Yes, God is raising the money for this initiative. And yes, we are raising awareness for this injustice in Kenya. But we are also here, in the now, taking advantage of the opportunities we have to love on people in our home towns, the communities we were a part of that need to see, hear, and feel Christ’s love- who need to be informed about injustice in the world and increase their knowledge- who need encouragement, that their lives are powerful and that they have the opportunity to involve themselves in something that is changing the world- and that they themselves have the power to change the world.

These people that God loves: they are the reason why this is about so much more than just 5ks…

From Colorado to Cali

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

On our road trip so far, we have logged over 3,000 miles! Over the past few weeks, these are the states we have been to and traveled through:

Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California!

On Sunday night, our team left immediately after our Michigan 5k race to drive straight through to Colorado. The drive… over 26 hours! Needless to say, we arrived in Colorado on Monday night exhausted!

We did not have a plan going into Colorado or places to stay. We just felt like the Lord had told us to go there, at least for a few days. We are thankful for God's provision in people like Stacie, Carmen, and Misty who opened up their homes to our team for the nights we were there.

Nothing huge happened in Colorado, but we learned more about trusting the Lord’s provision and how to function together as a team in uncomfortable, unplanned situations. I think He made us stronger those few days...

But the Lord did connect us with a pastor and a church in Denver. Matt and Matt had the opportunity to attend a men’s prayer breakfast and meet with the pastor. They were uplifted and prayed over, which was such a blessing for them.

We left Colorado and traveled to Bryce Canyon in Utah. It refreshed us to sit in awe of God’s creation and the indescribable beauty of that place. We were filled with His peace, empowered and renewed to continue on in this journey.

What a shift it was for us, though, to go the same day to Las Vegas! We stayed with some of Liz's family and spent a few hours in Vegas that same night. What a stark contrast it was to have experienced so much of God’s beauty in nature and then Vegas in the same day…

Now, we are in San Diego! We are getting ready for Liz’s 5k run/walk this Saturday and the auction this Sunday!

Sign up HERE for 5k for Kenya: San Diego! Come to our Auction for Clean Water on June 5th: read more here.

5K for Kenya: Lexington Results Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Place	Last Name	First Name	Age	Gender	Bib #	Minutes	Seconds	Hundredths
1	Dobson	Cameron	18	Male	211	17	59	0.36
2	O'Connor	George III	17	Male	243	17	59	0.92
3	Shiun	Jeremy	17	male	255	18	32	0.68
4	O'Connor	Andrew	15	Male	242	18	50	0.64
5	O'Connor	Leah	18	Female	244	19	1	0.86
6	Schocttle	Garrison	17	Male	293	19	33	0.41
7	Eckert	Michael	52	Male	276	20	16	0.00
8	Wurfel	John	22	Male	292	20	36	0.35
9	Proctor	Ryan	37	Male	288	20	42	0.90
10	Sechrist	Edwin	18	Male	291	21	13	0.81
11	Kettlewell	Josh	21	Male	239	21	22	0.05
12	Matthews	Alex	17	Male	232	21	27	0.59
13	Hurley	Sean	20	Male	219	21	28	0.31
14	Hages	Robin	29	Male	217	21	48	0.19
15	Herber	Hannah	8	Female	283	21	57	0.34
16	Bringard	Abby	14	Female	207	21	58	0.46
17	Birtles	Kody	13	Male	202	22	30	0.82
18	Latham	Les	46	Male	228	22	53	0.45
19	Squires	Brendan	23	Male	286	23	37	0.49
20	Kettlewell	Matt	13	Male	294	23	55	0.27
21	Tait	Erin	15	Female	280	24	32	0.56
22	Wiley	Jeff	47	Male	274	24	34	0.69
23	Klaas	Courtney	15	Female	223	24	35	0.76
24	North	David	25	Male	241	24	40	0.41
25	Schocttle	Ryan	19	Male	278	25	4	0.95
26	Kosht	Nathan	19	Male	225	26	5	0.40
27	Kellerman	Teresa	34	Female	220	26	6	0.25
28	VanCamp	Kimber	25	Female	262	26	49	0.95
29	Greene	Kayla	22	Female	216	26	51	0.45
30	Kincaid	Alana	25	Female	221	26	52	0.24
31	North	Kristi	25	Female	240	27	3	0.20
32	Guitar	Megan	14	Female	287	27	9	0.60
33	Rule	Mindy	32	Female	252	27	38	0.48
34	Rumble	Lisa	35	Female	253	27	46	0.58
35	Snider	Adam	18	Male	258	27	51	0.70
36	Henderson	Alex	13	Male	218	28	8	0.35
37	Reinowski	Miranda Joy	16	Female	248	28	24	0.92
38	Woodruff	Connor	11	Male	267	28	29	0.28
39	Klaas	Kylie	11	Female	222	28	30	0.11
40	McCaleb	Darryl	41	Male	233	28	45	0.86
41	Wiley	Jenna	20	Female	272	29	8	0.68
42	Atkins	Derald	52	Male	290	29	27	0.21
43	Yankee	Keri	37	Female	268	29	27	0.92
44	Bombard	Sue	50	Female	204	29	41	0.41
45	French	Tia	18	Female	213	29	53	0.08
46	Western	Quinlan	11	Male	265	31	11	0.95
47	Paul	Andrea	34	Female	246	31	19	0.65
48	Coburn	James	17	Male	269	31	29	0.97
49	Mini	Breanna	14	Female	237	31	46	0.57
50	Robison	Taylor	15	Male	250	31	47	0.08
51	Cambell	Brandon	29	Male	208	32	15	0.15
52	Glombowski	Jaime	20	Female	215	32	45	0.26
53	Herber	Isabella	11	Female	284	33	48	0.44
54	Sivecz	Melinda	26	Female	256	34	3	0.67
55	Setter	Alma-Jean	25	Female	254	34	11	0.90
56	Smith	Lucy	34	Female	257	34	15	0.27
57	Reini	Brandon	15	Male	247	35	2	0.26
58	Lemke	Holli-Noelle	21	Female	229	35	38	0.46
59	Witkowski	Halusia	37	Female	266	36	4	0.49
60	Glombowski	Laurie	46	Female	279	36	20	0.43
61	Proctor	Tina	36	Female	289	36	21	0.01
62	Tompkins	Dale	41	Male	260	36	25	0.89
63	McLarty	Jessica	30	Female	235	37	2	0.36
64	Vallee	Maria	14	Female	261	37	24	0.92
65	Bloomfield	Autumn	14	Female	203	37	25	0.44
66	Langolf	Stephanie	24	Female	227	37	39	0.19

Croswell-Lexington 5k: Success!

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Kenya Initiative would like to say a big THANK YOU to all who participated in and sponsored the Croswell-Lexington 5K for Kenya race! God brought many more people to the race than we expected! It was amazing to see so many students from the high school come out, as well as others from the community to come join us.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day for the race. It had been cold and rainy all week in Michigan, and on the day of the race, the weather cooperated with us and was sunny and hot! We had 28 people register the day of the race for a total of 94 particpants! We profited over $3,600 from this race!

This was the second race of our road trip! It is crazy to think that we have hosted 4 5k races so far: Gainesville, GA, Greenville, SC, Cincinnati, OH, and now Croswell-Lexington, MI!

Like we have done with the other two races on our road trip, our team spent the week leading up to the race at the host family’s house, which, in this case, was my house (Kelli Miller). We spent time with my family and friends, spoke at my church, Colonial Woods, and had a wonderful time preparing for the race.

Again, we appreciate everyone who came out: family, friends, volunteers, sponsors, and everyone we had the opportunity to meet for the first time. Thanks for supporting this cause to help the Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Kenya, Africa that Kenya Initiative is working toward empowering.

We cannot wait to move to Kenya in July and take the funds that you helped us raise to live and work alongside our friends at the IDP camp. But first, we have ONE MORE race and a few more stops on our road trip!

Next stop on the road trip: San Diego, California! Our next race is Saturday, June 4! Our team can’t wait to be in sunny San Diego and share with Liz’s community about this injustice going on in Kenya!

To check out some pictures from the Michigan race, click HERE. To view race results, click HERE. To sign up for the San Diego race click HERE.

7th Grade World Changers

Wed, 18 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This past Tuesday, we had the chance to meet some of the youngest world changers...

That's right... they are 13 years old and they are changing the world. We had the opportunity to go to Mrs. Miller's classroom to thank a group of 7th graders for raising over $200 for our project! All the 7th grade classes participated in a contest to see which period could raise the most money for OUR TEAM! All together these 7th graders raised over $400! Isn't that crazy?!

It makes you think a little bit. You don't have to be old to change the world. These kids saved up their allowances to give to kids just like them in Kenya. God can use anyone...even a 7th grader!

Now..meet Manny. He was the one that raised the most money ($163)... we got to interview him and ask him why he would want to give 5 weeks of his allowance to the people in Kenya. He responded by saying, "They need it more than I do."

It's crazy to see God at work in these kids' lives and how He has given them a piece of His heart already for His Kingdom.

5K for Kenya: Cincinnati Results Saturday, May 14, 2011

Sat, 14 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Place	Last Name	First Name	Age	Gender	Bib #	Hours	Minutes	Seconds	Hundredths
1	Burhorst	Jason	23	Male	175	0	17	6	0.13
2	Scurry	Daniel	19	Male	165	0	17	9	0.65
3	Nijakowski	Tim	39	Male	174	0	17	30	0.79
4	Westfall	Ryan	20	Male	164	0	18	18	0.26
5	Kolb	Ryan	14	Male	192	0	20	54	0.34
6	Mancenido	Dion	32	Male	193	0	20	58	0.79
7	Bucher	Mike	49	Male	169	0	21	55	0.01
8	Kolb	Rachel	17	Female	191	0	22	20	0.22
9	Vaughn	Connie	48	Female	154	0	22	24	0.21
10	zwarg	zach	18	Male	162	0	23	15	0.64
11	Traxler	Paul	25	Male	151	0	23	33	0.55
12	Staehling	Erich	18	Male	149	0	23	39	0.72
13	Wimmers	Jim	61	Male	158	0	23	53	0.25
14	Alvarado	Brianna	20	Female	183	0	24	16	0.68
15	Traxler	David	25	Male	150	0	24	25	0.42
16	Lawley	Caroline	17	Female	136	0	24	46	0.56
17	Silva	Megan	51	Female	184	0	24	50	0.55
18	Grevey	Morgan	52	Female	126	0	25	13	0.09
19	Frost	Justin	25	Male	118	0	26	15	0.30
20	Petach	Jeff	29	Male	141	0	26	38	0.85
21	Bossart	Charles	29	Male	104	0	26	43	0.57
22	Choate	David	49	Male	163	0	26	49	0.52
23	Dill	Nick	26	Male	185	0	27	16	0.06
24	Elbrecht	Shana	25	Female	114	0	27	32	0.03
25	Bothe	Katie	25	Female	105	0	27	52	0.34
26	Goodwin	Bill	53	Male	124	0	28	41	0.58
27	Woodward	Caitlin	28	Female	161	0	28	51	0.19
28	Goodwin	Kristine	51	Female	123	0	29	31	0.37
29	Valentine	Mallory	15	Female	153	0	29	36	0.87
30	Jack	Drew	27	Male	131	0	29	45	0.59
31	Jack	Stephanie	22	Female	130	0	29	46	0.42
32	Grant	Jacobs	41	Male	171	0	30	2	0.40
33	Hanisch	Anna	19	Female	173	0	30	39	0.04
34	Bucher	Daniel	9	Male	170	0	31	7	0.46
35	Lane	Jessica	25	Female	132	0	31	26	0.61
36	Weber	Daniel	25	Male	156	0	31	27	0.29
37	Guthman	Bob	43	Male	182	0	31	42	0.46
38	Staehling	Dawn	47	Female	148	0	31	53	0.07
39	Ghizas	Diane	50	Female	120	0	32	13	0.61
40	Fischer	kendall	17	Female	115	0	32	44	0.37
41	Grevey	Suzanne	52	Female	125	0	33	32	0.68
42	Wasnesky	Kristie	37	Female	186	0	34	7	0.34
43	Bucher	Becky	11	Female	167	0	34	38	0.18
44	Bolte	Kathy	56	Female	187	0	36	0	0.62
45	Bucher	Abigail	13	Female	168	0	36	48	0.67
46	Bucher	Mikey	7	Male	166	0	36	52	0.71
47	Woodward	Jill	56	Female	160	0	38	38	0.56
48	Jones	James	39	Male	172	0	40	9	1.00
49	Valentine	Shari	48	Female	152	0	41	5	0.57
50	Clark	Skye	12	Female	178	0	41	21	0.98
51	Clark	Dayna	25	Female	111	0	41	35	0.04
52	Petticrew	Adam	26	Male	143	0	41	35	0.85
53	Huot	Mathew	27	Male	128	0	41	36	0.61
54	Ball	Jamie	41	Female	102	0	42	18	0.43
55	Backer	Kelly	41	Female	101	0	42	19	0.12
56	Fischer	Darian	44	Female	117	0	44	7	0.29
57	Ghizas	Nick	23	Male	122	0	44	16	0.15
58	McCartin	Dennis	66	Male	139	0	49	12	0.51
59	Ruple	Jim	63	Male	190	0	49	18	0.14
60	Lane	Emily	23	Female	133	0	50	0	0.29
61	Lane	Stephen	52	Male	135	0	50	1	0.64
62	Lane	Susanne	52	Female	134	0	50	2	0.83
63	Clark	Christina	51	Female	179	0	50	3	0.57
64	Clark	Steven	52	Male	177	0	50	14	0.02
65	Palmore	Carla	54	Female	194	0	50	15	0.08
66	DeBord	Janis	50	Female	112	0	52	18	0.44
67	Bridgeford	Amy	51	Female	108	0	52	18	0.80
68	Bridgeford	Hannah	22	Female	109	0	52	19	0.16
69	Howes	Stephanie	23	Female	127	0	52	25	0.20
70	Gerber	Miranda	21	Female	119	0	52	25	0.38
71	Clancy	Erin	40	Female	188	0	53	25	0.86
72	Keever	Kathy	50	Female	189	0	53	26	0.11
73	Brewer	Robert	76	Male	107	0	54	46	0.67
74	Brewer	Eva	77	Female	106	0	54	48	0.38
75	McCartin	Amy	35	Female	140	1	7	8	0.02
76	McCartin	Erika	40	Female	138	1	11	28	0.92
77	McCartin	Holly	65	Female	137	1	11	50	0.40
78	Woelk	Karen	54	Female	159	1	11	50	0.69