Our First Day in 2009

Hey friends and family!

Well, you never know how the schedule is going to work out....we were flexible this morning and changed things around a bit. Instead of digging today (we would only have gotten to dig for a couple of hours), we decided to delay that until tomorrow when we can give it more of our time. We arrived back at Heart Lodge not long ago from an amazing day on foot, doing more home visits around Joska. Similar to two days ago, we split into teams consisting of both US and Kenyan 410 team members as well as a few people from the community. We went into homes, talked with the families and prayed with them. We also had the pleasure of delivering more gifts of flour, sugar, cooking fat, and when children were a part of the home--backpacks with candy and crackers along with the cooking items. Again, our faiths were challenged and grown through these visits, hearing people speak of their trust in God to provide their needs when they are in such difficult circumstances. One beautiful lady who invited our team into her home almost instantly shouted out that she loves Jesus. I told her it was evident by the look on her face--her joy just couldn't be kept in! We can all definitely take away moments like that back home with us, remembering the joy and smiles on faces of those who don't even have clean water to drink or food to feed their children. They get it. Our joy in Him is never based on circumstance.

After a long day of walking home to home, we came together to visit a new children's home (I believe it was called Mercy Children's Home...). The 410 Bridge had never seen this home until today. We were greeted with open arms! The mother of the home and her daughter gave us a tour of the facility, and then the precious children sang for us and recited scripture. Most of the children were younger, but their ages range from the youngest at a 4 year old little boy, to the oldest which is a 16 year old boy. They have never been visited, and were quite excited to see us. Hopefully today was only the beginning of a growing relationship between the Mercy Center and 410 Bridge.

With pink noses from the hot Kenyan sun, we all were exhausted and ready to get back to Heart Lodge. We only have one more day of work before our Safari and Giraffe park adventure to complete our trip.

We hope each of you have had a wonderful New Year holiday, eating lots of greens and black eyed peas!

With Much Love,
The 410 Bridge Team