"Praise God!" - guest post by Jane Slatton

Following is a guest post by Jane Slatton after her first visit to Africa with a CARE for AIDS vision trip:

“Praise God!”
“Amen!”
“Praise God!”
“Amen!!”
"My name is Jane..."

Though this introduction might never happen in the States - in fact I’m sure it wouldn’t - it was just one of many Kenyan-isms I learned about during my two weeks visiting Nick and participating in a CARE for AIDS vision trip. And while I love the fact that Kenyans switch their l’s and r’s, making “lesson” into “resson” or “coloring” into “coroling,” this Kenyan-ism affected me far more. As Nick and his mom have both mentioned, we spent our first day on the vision trip celebrating with a group of clients as their nine months with CFA came to a close. All of the center workers, all of the Americans, and some of the clients introduced themselves, and as I sat listening I realized the beauty of a Kenyan introduction. Before even stating their own name in front of the group, a Kenyan would shout “Praise God!” to the rousing response of “Amen!” It started to take on a significance of what should come first and who deserves the first recognition. I am so quick to state my name or where I’m from or what I do when someone asks me about myself. But while I was declaring my identity as an American student, I was humbled by others in the room who declared their identity in Christ first and foremost. It was a simple act, and possibly one that is just normal for a group of Christian Kenyans, but for this American it was a lesson about where I’m finding my identity and how I should boldly express that.

Later in the week, the vision trip headed south to the Maasai Mara for a safari! I never quite understood why Nick was still so excited to go on safari, having already been four times, probably because I thought it was like watching the same movie four times in a short period - it gets old. But wow, was I wrong. We saw some amazing things, but one evening in particular stands out...

We drove earlier that day to the Mara River to see Hippos and Crocodiles, which was beautiful, but a pretty far drive. An hour into our drive home, we were all pretty antsy to see another animal, especially since we only had one remaining drive. After our repeated reminders to our driver that while Crowned Cranes are neat, we realllly want to see a rhino, he set off in a new direction. Unfortunately, this direction was pretty wet. Out in huge grasslands, we kept driving down a road, then creeping along only to find that the road was too wet to cross, and we would have to turn around. After playing this game for about an hour, someone spotted an elephant up on a hill. Our drivers took off, and in 5 minutes we found ourselves spending dusk with 12 elephants. Our drivers cut off the vans and we sat listening to the elephants chew and hearing their huge, canvas-like ears scrape against their backs. I doubt any animal has ever been so mesmerizing. The mothers moved slowly, ripping huge chunks of grass up with their trunks and swirling it into their mouths. The babies followed close to the mothers, working just a bit harder to get their food. We all just stared until the light started to disappear.

Now I get it- no safari could be like a movie, and no safari could get old. Encountered that closely with God’s incredible creation, you can’t help but be in awe of our Maker.

Chapati, Laughter, and Jesus

During my time in Kenya thus far, I've gotten accustomed to the "home visit" experience - tagging along with some of our center workers to visit clients in their homes, checking up on how they are doing and encouraging the clients and their families. It's always interesting and exciting to venture out on home visits with first-timers, though, as the experience never ceases to impact and touch people in myriad different ways. Last week during the vision trip, I went with Jane, Mom, and Dad - along with Joseph and Margaret from Banana Hill - on several home visits one afternoon. We ended the day with a visit and dinner in the home of a client named Theresia, a grandmother who lives with her two youngest children, John and Mary.

I have to say that this was one of the most fun, laughter-filled visits that I've ever been on. Theresia is an incredibly joyful woman, and she was absolutely thrilled to have visitors from America joining her for dinner. While her kids and neighbors cooked up a great meal of potatoes, vegetables, and beef stew, Theresia taught us the secrets of making her specialty - chapati. Chapati is a tortilla-like flat bread that Theresia makes during the day to sell to construction workers on nearby job sites, and she is apparently the best chapati-maker in Banana Hill! All of us wazungu watched with rapt attention as Theresia took a ball of dough, sprinkled some flour on it, and quickly flattened it into a perfect circle with a wooden rolling pin. Then she expertly rolled it on to the pin and dropped in onto a small circular pan over a coal-fired jiko, adding cooking fat and turning the chapati at just the right intervals until it was golden brown.

After watching a few balls of dough turn into piping-hot, buttery chapati, it was our turn to step up to the plate and show off our skills! As first Jane and Mom, then Dad and me, took our turns rolling out the dough and cooking it, while all of the Kenyans in the room rolled with laughter - they laughed our un-circular, not-quite-flat sheets of dough, they laughed at our unskilled attempts to roll the dough onto the pan, and they laughed at the flour we sent flying all over the place. We laughed because they were laughing, and before long the whole room was doubled over!

It amazes me how laughter can bring together people from such different places. When we were sitting in that room - four Americans and about eight Kenyans - it felt totally comfortable, like I was sitting around with any of my friends having a good time. That's an unbelievable feeling, and it was magnified tenfold when we started to talk about the biggest thing that we all had in common - Jesus. Theresia shared about how her faith had grown through the counseling of Joseph, and both of her children shared about how they were staying home to love their mother and praying for the means to support her better. We shared about how thankful we were for the chance to see their faith and their love with own eyes, and we talked about how Christ has blessed each one of our lives with family, friends, love, and fellowship. All of us prayed together, bowing our heads in the dark room lit by a single lantern - hearts dwelling on the same place, minds lifted heavenward to the same open arms of the same Savior. At that moment - after all the laughter, the tears, and the prayers - I felt that we were all...the same. No matter how different our lives might look from the outside, we are the same in so many ways. Jane and Mary, Bob and John, Sherry and Theresia...each person prays to the same God, and each one will meet again in the same place for eternity!

Praise God

"Love People" - guest blog by Sherry Gordon

Following is a guest blog by recent CFA Vision-trip participant Sherry Gordon - who also happens to be my wonderful mother! Enjoy...

“Vision Trip” is the perfect name for our visit with Care for Aids in Kenya. I was able to catch the vision of the ministry and see it blossom in the lives of hurting people. For our team’s first day in Limuru, we attended a graduation ceremony for 70+ clients as they completed their nine month CFA experience. The day started with many games, crafts and Bible lessons for the children, continued with a huge picnic for everyone, and concluded with a praise and worship service in the church. The celebration was exhilarating and the joy of the Lord overflowed. Client after client gave testimony about how their lives were radically changed by the diet and medical counseling, the financial teaching, and the spiritual enlightenment they received from the center. All instruction had been bathed in joyful love and friendship. These clients, despite their HIV+ status, had more joy than one can imagine.

Forty-eight hours later our team spent the morning at a center where clients were beginning only their third week. Each was sick, downcast, ashamed, frightened and hopeless. Meeting these "freshmen" clients sealed in our minds the true transformation real individuals are experiencing in their lives through CFA. Resurrection is truly taking place in Kenya where lonely, hopeless people are being miraculously nurtured back to life. Praise God for every worker, donor and administrator who together are making the vision a reality! God bless them richly for the sacrifices being made to redeem the lives of the forgotten.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience in person the ministry of CFA. What a tremendous blessing to leave the comforts of America and till the soil of my heart for others. Even so, after days of seeing hurting, hungry, desperate people everywhere we turned in Africa, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. I wanted to wipe the runny noses of hundreds of toddlers wandering by the roadside. I wanted to take the young children to school to increase their chances of survival. Everything in me wanted to clean them up, get them out, and provide a way of escape from their dirty and discouraging world. On my last night in Africa, unable to sleep, I asked: “God, what do you want me to do about this….what do you expect of me?” The answer came clearly, as if the Lord himself were sitting with me, “LOVE PEOPLE.”

In the US, in Kenya, in the grocery store, in our neighborhood or one across town, wherever we are –“Love People”. The Lord does not expect us to rescue from their circumstances everyone He places in our paths, but we can be Jesus in their lives. We must make sure our investments are paying dividends in eternity.

Give Hope……Spread Joy……Write a Check……Spend Time……Say a Prayer……Take a vision trip……Share Jesus…..Love People.

Celebration with the Vision Trip

After nine months of coming to the CFA center at Banana Hill Baptist Church, meeting with community health workers in their homes, and attending seminars to find ways to support themselves, about 70 clients are ready to graduate from the CARE for AIDS program in Banana. To honor the transformation that they have experienced, we decided to hold a special day at the church on Saturday for the clients, their families, and the visiting team from the States to celebrate together. It turned out to be a fantastic and moving day, and it was a great start to the vision trip for all of our guests.

Saturday was a gorgeous, warm, and sunny day in Kenya, and our team of 11 Americans joined most of the CFA staff from this region at the church around 10am. We arrived to find a group of close to a hundred children, ranging in age from 2 to 12, waiting on us at the church. Most of them were children of the clients, and they were about to burst with excitement and energy! The kids split up into three groups and spent the next couple of hours rotating between several stations - coloring with crayons, hearing Bible stories, making bracelets, and playing outside with jumpropes and soccer balls. The team also brought along a bunch of balloons and little bottles of bubbles, which were a HUGE hit! It's hard not to have a great morning when you are surrounded by dozens of excited African kids, and I think it was a great introduction to Kenya!

While we were playing with the kids, a group of about a dozen clients were helping our staff to prepare lunch for everyone in attendance - about 200 people total! They cooked up a giant meal of rice, potatoes, and vegetables over the course of several hours of chopping, peeling, and cooking over open fires. Around 1 o'clock we all received a heaping plate and sat down to enjoy the meal, thanking the proud women profusely for their hard work!

After lunch the team and all of the clients met together in the church for a few hours. We listened to the center workers and some of the CFA staff encourage the clients and thank God for the way He has touched their lives, and then we joined with everyone for some rousing Kenyan songs - which included all kinds of clapping and dancing around! Finally, we got to hear testimonies from several clients who have experienced a major change in their lives over the past year, which was a touching and inspiring experience. It was such a blessing to share this joyous time with them - Joseph and Margaret spoke about the clients' improvement like proud parents, and all of the clients were beaming with giant smiles while they praised God for the new hope they have received. I remember meeting with this same group of clients 7 months ago, and it's hard to describe the change in their demeanor that has occurred since then - it truly is a case of joy and hope replacing sadness and despair, and for that we all give the glory to God!

Welcome to Africa!

It has been an incredible joy this week to have the privilege of introducing Jane to Africa for the first time, and we have tried to experience as many different sides of this unique place as possible. We've seen the "civilized" side of Nairobi - eating at nice restaurants in Village Market and getting coffee at Java house - and we've also seen the "developing" side of Kenya - visiting a home for mentally-handicapped kids with some of the volunteers from ACTS. We've also gotten a little taste of the beautiful, wild side of Africa with a couple of adventures that are worth describing in a little more detail...

On Monday, Jane and I drove a little south of Nairobi to the headquarters of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a non-profit that tries to help and preserve the wildlife of Kenya. For one hour each day, the facility opens its doors for visitors to come in and see how orphaned elephants are rehabilitated and prepared for reintroduction to the wild. There are currently 20 orphaned elephants between the ages of 3 and 24 months that live in the facility, which borders Nairobi national park, and they have a pretty incredible life. Each baby elephant has a caretaker, who sleeps with them every night in a private stall and prepares milk to feed them from giant bottles every three hours - even during the night. In this way, they live at the center for about two years before being reintroduced to Tsavo National Park, where they will join a wild elephant herd and (hopefully) live out the rest of their long life - up to 80 years - in the wild.

We showed up at the Trust and joined a group of visitors, then waited a few minutes for the caretakers to parade out their baby elephants. The elephants came out in a line, but soon they caught sight of the bottles of milk placed around a small roped-off area and started running for their breakfast. It was so funny to see the caretakers feeding the young (but still very big) elephants with bottles, and the elephants were clearly excited by the food and the attention of all the visitors. We were encouraged to "interact" with the elephants if they wanted, and most of them were quick to push under the rope, testing us out with their trunks and enjoying the back rubs from their human admirers. Just like children, they were quick to get jealous if one wasn't given enough attention, and they surprised us a couple of times by barging into us headfirst of giving a little smack with their trunk!

The next day, we drove about an hour in the opposite direction to Hell's Gate National Park with hopes of finding some animals in a more natural setting. This was my first time to this park, and I was blown away by the beautiful scenery - giant sandstone cliffs and rock pillars jutted from the savannah in every direction, and the grasslands were a vibrant green from all of the rain we've received recently. We started the day by a hike along a river through a massive gorge on the south side of the park. After refusing repeated offers from Kenyan guides, we started following a small creek through the forest. Before too long, though, the creek dropped down and we found ourselves walking through a narrow passage between sandstone cliffs about 150 feet high. The rocks were beautifully sculpted by the water high above our heads, and the warm sun overhead made for an awesome morning and picnic lunch!

In the afternoon, we drove all around the park, stopping to get out every once in a while and hike among zebras, giraffe, buffalo, impala, and gazelle of several different species. There aren't many dangerous or carnivorous animals in Hell's Gate, so it gives a unique opportunity to get out on ground level with these awesome creatures. All in all it was great to get out in the sun and explore the beauty that only Africa can offer!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!"

I'm trying to grow to a place where I can truly rejoice in the Lord ALL the time, but I feel like even when that time comes, there will always be moments that call for a little extra rejoicing. Today has been a day like that, and I'm almost overwhelmed with how much God has put in my life that brings me joy. I want to share a few of those things with you, in no particular order...

1. Visitors - This week alone, I'm going to get to hang out with Justin, Jane, and my parents...IN KENYA! What an incredible blessing to get to share this amazing place with both of my parents, with my girlfriend, and with one of my best friends in the world...praise God for memories that will last a lifetime!

2. Blue CFA polo shirts - More than the shirts themselves, seeing how excited our whole team got about receiving polo shirts today brought me so much joy! They were thrilled, and they all immediately put them on for a picture...

3. Babies that get a chance - This month two clients at the Kamirithu CARE for AIDS center gave birth to HIV-negative babies with the help of our center workers. Praise God that both of those kids can start life without worrying about HIV/AIDS!

4. Eggs and chai - Today I visited a client named Lucia, a worker in the tea plantations who lives in a tiny concrete home in the middle of a giant tea farm. When she heard that Kevin and I were coming, Lucia immediately prepared some Kenyan tea and hard-boiled eggs for us to eat in her house while we visited with her and her son. Her face was bursting with pride and joy as we thanked her for the excellent snack - experiences like this never cease to humble me and point my eyes to God!

5. New friends in heaven - This month 3 clients at KAG gave their lives to Christ, 5 clients at Banana Hill joined a baptism class, and 4 clients at KAG became members of the church. I rejoice in anticipation of meeting these people in heaven - when the discrepancies in culture, health, and prosperity between us have disappeared in the overwhelming light of the Lord!

6. My 'Dores - Though it pains me not to watch them on TV or in Memorial Gym, I'm pumped for my Vanderbilt Commodores basketball team, and I can't wait to read about them ballin' up in the SEC tournament next week. Dolla Beal, JTaylor, AJ, and the freshman phenom John Jenkins are making me proud!

7. Hope - John and Sarah, the center workers at our new Gachie center, just started recruiting clients this week, and one of their first steps was meeting with doctors who test people for HIV at the local hospitals. One doctor told them that many times he is so busy, he will tell a patient, "You are HIV-positive, now go..." without giving them any additional information or advice. Praise God for the opportunity that CFA has - to meet this person at the door and tell them the truth, tell them about the hope they can still hold on to for living a good life, a life with Christ.

In their own words...

This week I have been meeting with quite a few CARE for AIDS clients, asking them If they would like to write thank-you letters to the people who made their time at the centers possible. One client named Fredrick wrote a letter that does an amazing job of sharing what CFA does, from the perspective of a client. I've typed out the letter here, changing some spelling but keeping all of the words so you can hear his description just the way Fredrick puts it:

IMANI SHADE: How it has helped me and THE REST

1. I was introduced at Imani Shade center in the year 2009 by a friend of mine and I was immediately taken in.

2. I was warmly welcomed in the center by those who work there, Mr. Humphrey, Kevin, and Rosemary, who gave me hope and worth of living because I had lost it.

3. I was not recruited to the center along, but there were other clients recruited from other parts of Limuru and that gave me an opportunity to meet new friends.

4. In the center there are three main parts in it.

• The spiritual part, where someone is catered for spiritually by reading the world of God and praying.
• The other section is the medical; in this section we are taught about proper adherence in taking the ARV medication, how to feed well on balanced diet food and to have a good and proper hygiene.
• There is also a section of empowering; whereby the center staff look for professionals in various skills who come to train us their skills so that we can be able to stand on our own, in these section we have been able to learn about farming on green houses, detergent soap making, dairy goat keeping, and rabbit rearing just to mention a few, which all this trainings were facilitated by the Imani Shade center

5. Every time we visited the center, we never went back home empty handed we were given some food supplement, like maize, beans and rice and also women clients were supplied with sanitary towels.

6. Also the center provided bus fare to some clients who lacked, to go back to hospital for refilling of ARVs medicine.

7. The center staff and the friends of the center, paid us some home visits to see how we are faring back home and these visits made us feel loved and recognized, especially where we people living with HIV virus are stigmatized.

8. Through the Imani Shade center we have formed a support group for both men and women, who are living with the HIV virus, of which this support groups are registered by our government under the ministry of Gender and Social Services.

9. The center provided us with the money to register the support groups.

10. Lastly but not least, on behalf of other clients who have benefited a lot by the Imani Shade center, I want to thank all those who have supported the center in order to put a smile on our faces, may God bless them all and give them peace, joy and prosperity.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL

Yours Faithfully,
Fredrick Chege Gichire

The Usual Suspects

There are a few names that keep popping up in my stories, so I wanted to officially introduce some of my best non-Kenyan friends here to all of you. This is quite a group of characters, and I am immensely thankful for the friendship and encouragement that God has blessed me through all of them!

Joe Heritage: Joe grew up in Dayton, Ohio, which makes him a Midwesterner. He really wishes he was a true Southern gentlemen like myself, so we're working on the finer points of that on an ongoing basis! Joe went to college at Furman, graduating in 2007. His best friend in college was a guy named David Whitlow, who went to high school with me - crazy! Since graduating, Joe spent a year in Thailand doing missions and a few months in Mozambique in an intense missionary school. Since late 2008, he has been living here in Kenya working for an organization called Global Connections. Lately, Joe has done a lot of work with an IDP (internally-displaced persons) camp called Jikaze, where he has helped a group of about 150 families build houses, get emergency food relief, and begin receiving loans with a microfinancing organization. Joe likes watching LOST, losing to me at ping-pong, throwing the ole pigskin, chopping wood, using limitless accents, quoting movies, and figuring out how to make development work. He will be going back to the States before too long to pursue a Masters in International Development...then he will save the world.

Adrian Maarschalk: Adrian was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, but has also spent parts of his life living in Cape Town and New Zealand, where his parents immigrated a few years ago. He is 28 years old and works for an organization called ACTS (African Christian Tours and Safaris) which does a lot of safari- and trip-planning for ministry teams and missionaries on holiday. Adrian is an expert on all things safari-related, and he LOVES his job! He has also recently acquired a motorcycle, and is a huge fan of rugby and cricket (as hard as I try, I just can't get excited about cricket...). Adrian has been here in Kenya for a few years now, and he goes back and forth between loving the country and wanting it to explode all at once - a sentiment that is pretty widespread around here! Adrian is a huge fan of country music and especially of the state of North Carolina - one day he will visit the South and will probably never leave!

Phil Smythe: Phil is the most recent addition to Team Tigoni, having moved here for a four-month stint in January. He grew up in Zimbabwe and remains as one of the few white Zimbabweans who haven't fled the country, spending most of his time living in the bush out of his Land Cruiser working as a Professional Hunter. This is perhaps the most interesting profession in the world, and Phil has a limitless stockpile of amazing stories about hunting (not poaching!) elephant, buffalo, lion, and pretty much anything else that moves in Africa. This also means that Phil can look at any animal track or leftover poop and tell you all about that animal, which is really entertaining on long hikes. He is the Zimbabwean equivalent of Jim Carrey and has an amazing ability to burst into a fit of hilarious motion with absolutely no warning! Phil came to Kenya with two pairs of board shorts, one pair of pants, and two shirts...these are also the only clothes that he had at his disposal the night before we climbed Mt. Kenya - but he also has a great talent for borrowing! Phil is another big fan of rugby and cricket, though he is quickly becoming quite the quarterback. He is searching for an eligible, white Zimbabwean girl, but there are almost none of those left over the age of 17. If you know anyone...

Carmen Shadwell: Carmen was born and raised in South Africa, and spent most of her life there before moving to Kenya. She also spent a year in Minnesota, though, nannying for some obnoxious kids, so she's seen the real side of the States (though maybe not the best side). Carmen is a volunteer coordinator for ACTS and African Impact, which means she plans out the lives of a constantly-changing group of volunteers from all over the world, figuring out how to give them the adventure of a lifetime and help them help people all over this area. Carmen has a fantastic servant's heart (a phrase she hates) and is a prolific offerer of hot tea...wonderful. She also likes threatening to "chunder," which is a South African-ism for barf, at the slightest provocation, which ends up being an endless source of amusement. Carmen used to think that I was a horrible driver (thanks Joe) but she has since seen the light and survived several car rides with me! Carmen makes an excellent Thai Green Curry and the South African equivalent of corn bread - awesome!