Arrived in Kitale!

Hello from Kitale! WE are here safe and sound. Waiting for the rest of our team to arrive tomorrow morning! Today was spent at the farm with the kids. Some of us worked on preparing things for camp, while others took pictures, and hung out with the kids. We got to dance and sing with the kids which they absolutely love! We are all continually amazed by the blessings we have as "americans". They were very excited to see pictures from home and seem so interested in our lives.

There is so much to say about the happenings of today and yet words do not seem to do justice. Baby Ricky, who is three is the youngest one at the Farm. His mom lived there, ran away and got pregnant with him and then came back and gave birth to him. She stayed around a little while and then ran away to the slum again. Ricky was left behind and is now cared for by all the children. They love him so much and I have to admit that I think the world of him as well. He is so tiny and came into the chapel and started dancing! It was the sweetest thing to watch him interact with all the older children. It is neat to see how they take care of him and love him even though he is not their own child. He sleeps with Freida, one of the older girls. Today she was going to give him and bath and I offered to do it so she could go and eat lunch. I loved it! He stood in a bright yellow bucket and we washed and scrubbed. The water was Freezing cold to say the least. Needless to say I intend to bath the cutie pie daily. He is named after Cheri's husband who helped to start the Challenge Farm.

The kids are excited to have camp and have been asking about the things they will get to do during the week of camp. We ordered fire wood for a bon fire, and prepared the schedule of events which is subject to change! TIA, which stands for This is Africa, has been said quite a bit the last two days.

Today on the way back from the farm we came across a head on collision involving two matatus! I have never seen a wreck in the times that I have been here in Africa! It was sad as someone was trapped in the front seat. There were many men trying to get the man out but when you are dealing with twisted metal, hands do not seem to be sufficient. School children were also involved and were standing along to road in tears of fear and pain. It broke my heart as there is not the fast ambulance service here that we have in the US. In fact, if someone gets hit along the road, you are not to stop and help that person, but rather go straight to the police. If they were to stop to help the person, they would be stoned by the people around the accident. It is a crazy way of thinking that I do not understand. I pray that the man was rescued and that he is going to be ok as well as the other people who were hurt in the accident.

Please continue to pray for the kids and for the team arriving in the morning. Please pray for safety while traveling back and forth from the farm to our lodge. We have been blessed by all yours prayers and again continue to be excited for all that we will learn and all that God is going to do through us.