From an Internet Cafe in Nairobi

Thank you all for the prayers which we have felt so much. The trip has been wonderful and 6 of our team are at the airport now headed back home. We have accomplished many things and we have felt the hand of God upon this trip. The second half of our team was scheduled to get on a train and travel to Mombasa tonight, but we have been delayed and will leave tomorrow night. Pray for safety as so many are traveling.

Also, our trip to Ambosili was wonderful. We saw all of Mt. Kilimanjaro and so many animals. Our tents were very comfortable and the visit there was wonderful. I just can't wait to post pics of our trip. We have taken many, but have not had internet long enough to do any posting.

Know we love you all and can't wait to tell you all about the children.

Love,
Beth
for the NC Team

Yes, we're still hanging around.

Hey all, Micah here.

Sorry for the lack of updates since Thursday- internet has been sketchy at best. Since we last spoke, our team has finished the carpentry projects within the MCC grounds, added skylights to the primary school, built a wheelchair for a disabled local child, taught even more computer skills, helped build hundreds of crafts, played soccer and basketball at the students' field day, and have gone on safari at Amboseli national park. All in all, a busy few days.

Our trip to Amboseli was pretty incredible- we stayed two nights at a lodge located at the foot of Mt. Kiliminjaro, which is simply breathtaking in person. We took three trips out into the park and were lucky enough to see zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos, hyenas, gazelle, water buffalo, wildebeast, lions (albiet from a distance), and more. After a week of working in the slums, it was refreshing to have a break in some of the most beautiful land we had ever experienced.

Today (Tuesday) we're wrapping up a few loose threads at MCC, saying our goodbyes to the students and locals, and heading out of Nairobi. About half of our team is headed back to the good old USA, and the other half is headed to Mombasa for a few days' break before going home.

I'll compose a summary post while on the plane, but until then, thanks again to all for the prayers, thoughts, and interest while we've been here. The experience has been nothing short of amazing. Take care, and God bless.

More Photos

Photos

Good Day

Today was a good the carpenters finished work inside the main building, the clinic saw 160 people, lots of children did crafts and learned a song while doing sign language, the choir received 3 places in the choir competition and thus move to Nationals, the carpenters made a wheelchair for a student who has MS and we had many other experiences. The Aussies arrive safely and have now gone with the Brevard group to Amboseli where they will be out of touch for several days. Carroll and the Sydnors have gone to Lake Navashia to visit Ester's (a Kenyan who lives in Lynchburg) family. Dr. Bob and Joan bought 800 eggs which were boiled at the school and served with lunch at school. Some other students ate the eggs with the shells still on. I am meeting the EC Glass people at 12 noon to take them to the guest house.

Have a good day,

Wayne

We are having a wonderful time at the MCC

Dear Friends: The trip was great and now we are having a wonderful time at the Mercy Care Centre. We are feeling your prayers and the children are doing great, not only in their classes, but also at the Clinic and at Competition :0) You all who have been here before would be very proud of your students.

Each Team Member is doing great! Wish you all could be here. We are grateful to Micah and to Breanna who is helping with the blog.

God's blessings to each of you and we will talk again soon.

Love to all,

Beth Greene and the NC Team

Hey all, Micah here again.

I decided a summary of our typical day would be a helpful tool for you to visualize what's happening over here. Here goes:

7am: Breakfast in the cafeteria at the Amani Center. Eggs, bread, and assorted jellies with tea and hot milk have been the staples thus far. While I'm not sure I'm speaking for everyone involved, I've enjoyed it.

7:45am: The first van leaves for Methare Valley. Turning left out of the Amani Center, we merge onto a major Nairobi highway that is full of buses, 14-passenger vans, and tiny cars. Hundreds of Kenyans walk to work, so the highway is lined with pedestrians on both sides. Exiting the highway after only a mile or two, we turn into the valley. Instantly, the road switches from pavement to dirt and is full of potholes, trash, sewage, and washwater. Peddlers selling everything from suitcases to clothing to food line the streets in makeshift tents in front of more tents or the occasional concrete building. It takes about 10 minutes to travel from the entrance of the valley to the Mercy Care Centre; while only a mile or so into the slum, the van never eclipses 10 or 15 mph on the terrible roads. All in all, the trip from Amani to the MCC usually takes about 10 minutes. Once the first load has been dropped off, the van returns to Armani to pick up the remaining 8 people.

8am- 12noon: Work. Team members teach, construct, play, treat, and paint.

12noon: Lunch in Patrick's office. We experiment with some of the local African food, but usually resort to multi-grain bars and fruit.

1230pm- 4pm: More work. The children rotate classes every hour or so, with our group moving in between all morning and afternoon.

430pm: Begin packing up and trips back to Amani.

5pm-7pm: Washing clothes, napping, prepping for the next day, showers, etc.

7pm: Dinner at the Amani Center. Pasta, meat, assorted veggies, and fruit have been staples thus far.

8pm: Team meeting for a short devotion, sharing of thoughts, and announcements for the next day.

9pm: Avacado ball for some, sleep for others, hanging out and conversations for others, and World Cup viewing for those who don't mind staying up late.

Rinse, repeat. Still going strong!

Teacher

MCC

We had a very busy day. The clinic is seeing about 80 patients a day and the general health of the children is much better. The carpenters have done a lot of remodeling to the main building and it looks great. The painters have nearly completed the paintings on the front of the building. Some of the group went to watch the choir competition and thought our students were outstanding. Micah (one of the group ) has been holding computer classes which is a skill much needed here. Several of our girl soccer players were chosen to go to Tanzania to compete in a soccer tournament. Although the days have been very hectic we are enjoying it greatly.

Work Work Work

Hey all, Micah here.

Two full days down at the MCC...what a whirlwind of activity! Our team has stayed uber-busy doing everything from teaching to constructing to treating medical conditions. A quick recap of the action:

Steve, Kim, Betty, Lydia, Casey, Emily, Breanna, and Aaron have all spent considerable time at the medical clinic screening and treating hundreds of the children from the school. Working with the school nurse, they have done a great job talking with children, cleaning them up, applying and dispensing medicine, and, of course, giving the students a bit of candy as they leave. It's amazing how tough and well-behaved the kids are, especially considering the often-painful treatment they receive.

In the building across the courtyard from the clinic, Mark, Luke, Jesse, Jim, Lee Ray, Melissa, and myself have made incredible progress demolishing and constructing just about everything inside the main classroom building. So far, they've managed to create a new office for the staff, expand an existing classroom, add a hallway to the back of the building, and completely renovate the entryway to allow improved foot traffic for the children and teachers.

Beth, Emily, Breanna, Casey, Lydia, Melissa, myself, and several others I'm probably not aware of have taught and worked with the children everything from computer skills to sign language, with a little bit of science, music, and English thrown in. The children are amazingly well-behaved, smart, and eager to learn. It's been a true blessing to see them grow in just two days' time; I can't help but think how much we could accomplish if we had such a passion and willingness to learn and grow too.

Breanna, Emily, Lee Ray, Melissa, and a host of volunteers have also spent time painting the main classroom building inside and out. It seems that Lee Ray hasn't quite figured out how to get more paint on the walls than on his hands and clothes, but we'll keep working with him as the week progresses.

We also had the chance to hand out flip flops and treat bags to the children today. You wouldn't believe how happy they were to get shoes, toothbrushes, and such. A big, big thank you to everyone that donated money and materials for all of the handouts. I'll get pictures of the occasion as soon as I can.

As you can see, the team has been pretty busy. I'd be lying if I said we hadn't been taking time to have fun while working though, and I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that we're all so happy to be here and are having a wonderful time. It's heartbreaking to see the conditions these people live in, but it's equally encouraging to see their wonderful attitudes despite it all. Perspective has been a key phrase in both our work and the situation; we're happy to be a small piece of a much bigger situation.

I'm still working on getting internet going at the Amani Center, and hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures this evening. Keep a look out for them. Thanks to all for the comments, thoughts, and prayers- keep 'em coming.

-Micah

Photos

Above Joan and Carroll tend to a baby while having tea in a Maasai hut. Bob was sitting across from us by a very hot fire.

Check-In

Hey everybody, Micah here with an update from the Greene group.

Since our last update, we've had a full day to settle into African lifestyle and time zone. Our home base, the Amini Centre, has been a good place to call home and very comfortable. Resting on a nice piece of property just off the major Nairobi highway, our quarters are located on a campus that also has classrooms, offices, a cafeteria, and church building with green spaces and a garden tucked in between.

We spent the majority of Saturday visiting the Mercy Care Centre and working out plans for our upcoming teaching, construction, renovation, and medical projects. Despite being on Holiday, there were still several dozen children at the complex to greet us with smiling faces and boundless energy. It's going to be a real blessing to see and work with them on a daily basis while we're here.

The Mercy Care Centre is located in one of the back corners of the Methare Valley slum. Composed of seven (I think) small to medium-sized stone and concrete buildings, the school is a sanctuary for the children living in the slum. Methare Valley has a population of approximately 1,000,000 people, all crammed together in a tiny area in horrible conditions. We're excited about being able to help, but realize we could stay here for years and still have to so much to do.

Between visits to the MCC, our group also spent time at an elephant and giraffe reserve just outside of town. Seeing these animals up close (and personal for a few of us) was quite the experience. It was nice to have a little bit of fun time before we get started with our projects; it doesn't look like there will be much down time in the next 10 days.

This morning we had the privilege of visiting Patrick's home church in Nairobi. For those who haven't read the blog before, Patrick is the headmaster of the MCC and a truly amazing person. Having dedicated his life to helping the people of the Methare Valley and surrounding areas, Patrick has become an influential and highly respected figure of the community. His church, the Nairobi Pentecostal Church, had a beautiful and lively service for over 2,000 people. While quite a change from the typical Southern Baptist fare we're used to, it was quite moving and fun.

Tomorrow will bring our first full day at MCC- stay tuned for updates on how the projects get started. I'm going to try to profile all of our team members and what they're working on as we get going, in addition to getting some pictures on here. Until then, take care!

-Micah

Sunday

Last evening went to MCC to fill bags for the students and finished about 450 out of the 725 but will finish Monday.
Today we went to Patrick's church (3,000 people in 3 services). Joan, Bob and I sat in the balcony. The service was great with a lot of good music which was very loud. We ate out and the others are now shopping at the Maasai market. I will shop some a little later.
Everyone is coping well to the housing and school. Medicine for the clinics will arrive tomorrow along with the rest of the lumber.
We have been keeping up with the World Cup as has everyone else here.
Wayne
Following are a few random photos. I will get some better ones from Aaron and Bob for tomorrow.

Dinner with Oley Kuuney

Swimming

Above as you we enjoyed swimming in the warm springs that we use to swim along time ago. It was near the Maasai village we visited. Here are few photos of things we saw along the way.
Wayne

Nairobi

Everyone is now in Nairobi -Brown's, Greene's group, Swafford and Sydnors. The have been on a short holiday but we have visited school twice and have identified the things we want to do. There were still lots of children around. We go to church tomorrow with Patrick, out to a nice lunch and some shopping.
Wayne

Greene's

The Greene' arrived without incident at customs and checked into their rooms with no problem. We have a room to sort the luggage tonight and can leave it there until we take it to MCC in the morning. The students are out until Monday so they will greet the guests then. Tonight we are exchanging money, using internet, eating out, etc. Everyone is anxious to get to work.
Wayne

We're Here!

Hey everybody, Micah here.

The NC team has made it to Nairobi in one piece. We've settled into our new digs (comfy), have made a trip into the city to exchange some money (schillings), and are about to head out to get some non-airport food (finally).

The trip over was rather trying, but thankfully Beth worked some magic with the airlines to get luggage and people here in one piece. The flights themselves were very long but smooth, and our overnight layover in Ethiopia went without incident. We will post updates and pictures as soon as possible. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers so far- we're ready to get going!

-Micah

MaasaiVillage

Yesterday we left Moshi and went to a Maasai Village to stay the night. Oley Kuney walked 5 hours to meet us. On the way to the village we stopped along the way to view plants that the Maasai use in every life for medicine, toothbrushes, etc. We also stopped to look to a trip of Ndorobo a tribe who wear no clothes, eat locust, honey, etc. We did not see the people but saw a Baobab that they had driven sticks into to get to a bee's hive. They don't seem to fear the stings. Then on to the village where were warmly greeted. We toured the schools and the clinic they have. Later we toured the village and had tea in a very small hut with an open fire (very hot inside). Bob was about 1 foot from the fire. That night we sat outside and talked. That night we were all give traditional Maasai cloths which to say the lest we did not wear well. Later we sat outside and were told about traditional Maasai life and we asked lots of questions about their daily life, religion, history, death, etc. We learned a lot. We are now in Nairobi and internet is better.
Joan, Bob and Carroll are at the game park and will return Saturday.
Wayne

Update from NC Team

Picture by Lydia Greene
After a sticky start, I received a text that they have arrived in Rome on Route to Ethiopia. Beth had to do some fancy talking as they began their trip in NC, but all was successful. The plane was overweight and over booked, but all of the people and bags headed to the precious children of MCC remained on board. God is watching over them and helping at each new challenge they encounter. I will let you know when they arrive in Ethiopia. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

NC Team Heads to Africa

We are coming from different directions, but we are headed to Kenya. Will post when we get there and can. Thank you all for your prayers for our Team. We are all very excited to be joining Patrick and the Children and Staff of the Mercy Care Centre.

God's Blessings to all <><

Beth

Breezeway

This is where we sit and look at Mt. Kili and watch the soccer matches at night. Headmaster Patrick and our driver Kamau have been enjoying the pool but the rest of us have not ventured into it. They have become fast friends.
Wayne

We have enjoyed our time at the YMCA. This year they gave us a suite (that I did not know they) with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room and private bath which is great.
Bob worked in the Orthopaedic Department and did some surgery and enjoyed it. To he is working in the clinic and Carroll and Joan are in the Physical Therapy ward. We plan to drive up part way on Mt. Kilimanjaro for picnic later this afternoon. The have been very good. After dinner we gather in the breezeway at the Y to watch soccer which they take very seriously.
We spent tomorrow night at a Maasai village and the next day Wayne, Patrick and Aaron go back to Nairobi and the others go to the game park for 2 days. We look forward to the Greene's group arriving and will meet them at the airport. Bob and Joan are great to travel with and we have many good experiences. They will post to blog when back in Nairobi.
Wayne

PT School

We met with the Provost who was also an Orthopaedic Surgeon. We received a warm welcome. We then toured the PT School and PT department at the hospital. Bob went to the Orthopaedic Department. He will be there today and tomorrow. The rest of us had nice lunch at a local place that we like. Joan and Carroll also did some shopping (imagine that). Carroll will write more later with a report from Bob.
Wayne

Moshi

We had a grand reunion here in Moshi. Boniface came from the hospital to greet us and he brought his family including “little Carol”. She recited a poem-“All things bright and beautiful” and we all had dinner together here at the YMCA. Tomorrow we are all going to the hospital and Bob will meet the Provost and then go to Orthopedic Surgery. He will be free to join in anything they do. The rest of us will tour the hospital and I will show off the PT school. It is wonderful being here with the lovely people of Moshi. Patrick got to meet Boniface tonight and they are already planning on Boniface coming to the Founder’s Day program as the speaker in November. We are very aware of your prayers and love! Carroll

1st Team Update

Hello everyone! Sorry we have been silent about the blog. Our internet card has not been working well. We have just arrived in Moshi and beautiful Mt. Kilimanjaro greeted us. We arrived in Kenya Friday and after going to the Guest house we went to MCC. The students lined the streets to greet us and my heart felt happy. I thanked God for letting us return to all our beautiful children. They sang and seemed overjoyed to see us. Garbage was piled high near the school and that will be our first priority - to remove the garbage pile.
On Saturday at 6:00 AM we left Nairobi and drove 9 hours to Tarangire. We had a wonderful visit. The highlight was 4 Cheetah. We left after lunch and came to Moshi. Tomorrow Bob goes to KCMC and we hope to return to our internet in a few days and post photos. My camera was stolen out of our luggage but will post pictures provided by Aaron.
Thanks for your prayers and love,
Carroll

Luncheon for the Team at the Greene's House

After the Commissioning Service, we had a time of wonderful fellowship and food at the Greene's house. We are all excited to be going to the Mercy Care Centre and we know God will bless us and those we come into contact.

Commissioning Service at Glady Branch Church - Rev. Lee Ray Greene

We had our Commissioning Service this past Sunday for the 15 Team Members who will be going to the MCC. Rev. Alan Thompson assisted with the Service.

Final packing of bags for the MCC

Glady Branch has collected 750 toothbrushes, 450 pair of flip flops, over 1,800 pair of underwear, teacher's dresses, school supplies, tools to upgrade the Mercy Care Centre, and crafts. We have packed 13 - 50 lb bags and have three more to go.

Glady Branch Church has a Silent Auction to raise $$

Glady Branch provided several fundraisers to raise funds for the team to travel to the Mercy Care Centre. The Silent Auction and Breakfast was a great way to raise funds and include the folks

Stephanie delivers the "Undie Fundie" from Temple Baptist Church

Stephanie Curtis led in collecting underwear for the Mercy Care Centre at Temple Baptist Church, our old church in New Bern, NC. The church collected over 1,600 pair .

1st Wave Departs

Last night the first wave of the 2010 team left for Kenya. They had no problems at the airport and we not charged overage on any of the 12 bags. Please keep Joan, Bob, Aaron, Carroll and Wayne in your thoughts and prayers as they travel to Kenya. It will be an exciting summer for everyone but especially the student's of MCC! More to come!