Monday, June 24

Well - today was our last official day of ministry here in Africa. Tomorrow morning everyone leaves to head to the Masaai Mara to relax and reflect on all that we have seen and done. We love for our students to see this incredible place that God made. Our team here in Thika spent our last day at the Otto Hoffman Center, which is a combination orphanage and rescue center for girls, and a free feeding shelter for some of the kids who live in a nearby slum. We were all very humbled to hear some of their stories and see the conditions they lived in. Dr. Wien did a fabulous job again of checking each of the children while we ran a VBS program for them. He patiently spent time with each child and took several minutes to pray for them...that they would come to know Christ, someday find a kind and loving spouse, and be able to serve the Lord. The team in Kajaido finished the church they've been building and also visited an orphanage and School for Disabled that they found there. We can't wait to see them tomorrow and hear all about their time there. Thank you again for all the prayers. It's so impossible to sum up all that happens here in a day into a short paragraph. But we have felt your prayers, and God showed up on this trip in big ways. We will try to update more from the Safari lodge tomorrow night! Sincerely Jenni Millet for the group

Saturday, June 22

Today our group in Thika broke into 3 smaller groups. Dr. Wien and Dr. Fudge (who is a doctor of Nuclear Physics or something else I can't spell) took Lauren Wright, Brad Holder, and Will Whitmire and ran another medical clinic at the same church where he was yesterday. Today was a huge blessing as he was able to see every single patient that came (about 75 people). The students did a great job of helping him count out medicines and assist in many ways. Molly Breitenfeld ran another large women's ministry group with the help of Waverly, Gracie and Allison Lee. They came and joined our group for the afternoon when they were done. Jon and I took the remaining team to AIC Kachika church where we simultaneously hosted a VBS for about 140 younger children in one building, and a youth rally for older teens in the next building. Alexis Wien and Brittany Wright did a fabulous job leading the music for VBS, Valerie Lee told the story of Christ's death and resurrection, and Mikayla, Christopher Fox, Hilary Woodard, and Samantha Peoples and I were able to do 3 different crafts and play games with them. We got back just in time for dinner and our evening devotional. Jon just talked to Brian and found that all are healthy and well...with the exception of Ty Westfall, who has a really bad case of craving ice cream. They are just about finished with the church they are building there in Kajiado and did evangelism in an open market there today. There is some confusion among these new believers as they seem to be leaning toward a prosperity gospel now. Please pray that our team will be able to discern any bad theology and correct it lovingly before they leave. Thanks to our cousins, Steve and Debbie Wolcott, who speak fluent Swahili, and were able to catch this. With the language barrier, it is hard to know if they are truly understanding the gospel, and they are new believers so they cannot really decipher truth from untruth yet. I am heading to bed so we can get ready for church tomorrow morning. Thank you for the continued prayers!

Friday, June 21

Hi everyone So today the Machakos team made it safely to Thika. We had a late breakfast and then headed out to two locations. Dr. Wien, accompanied by Dee Ann Kundysek, and his daughter Alexis ran a medical clinic today. He saw about 35 patients in just a couple of hours, including his own daughter who cut her finger trying to cut pills in half for him. Molly Breitenfeld ran another women's ministry with Allison Lee and the rest of the group spoke at a high school and then visited the Otto Hoffman orphanage. Tomorrow, we will be running a VBS and a youth rally, as well as another women's ministry group and a second free clinic. Jon just talked to Brian and Steve up in Kajiado. They are doing well and have almost completed putting up a church building in a nearby area. They did not hit water in the well project so are trying to determine the next steps there. Sorry I don't have more information from them. Jon has been on the phone coordinating for almost an hour and I am too tired to wait up and ask all the details. Thank you for the prayers. Please keep them up.

Thursday, June 20

Hello again from Africa! We had a wonderful last day here in Machakos. We finished the murals at the School for Disabled, said goodbye to the babies at Springs of Hope, and wrapped up our final day of VBS. Thank you for the prayers for all of these projects. We estimated about 350 at VBS and invited them to trust Christ at the end. Tomorrow morning we leave around 6 am to head to Thika. The last we heard from the Kajiado group, they had not hit water in the well. Not sure if that means they will try again in a different spot or not. The team is busy building another church in that same area in a 3rd location. Please pray for safety in travels for our group that is leaving tomorrow and continued blessing of our ministry here.

Wednesday morning, June 19

Sorry I didn't get to update the blog last night like normal. I chose to collapse in bed instead. I hope you understand. :) Lots of things going on to pray for: 1. Brian Millet, Ron Crosby, and Steve Wolcott (Jon's missionary cousin who is with us) left yesterday (Tues. morning) to go out to Kajiado and prepare everything for the rest of our team to come. We are drilling a water well for them and we desperately need prayer for this. Water is obviously a precious and needed commodity and you are not always guaranteed to hit water when you drill. Apparently, they dug yesterday up to 120 meters with no luck. They quit when it got dark. Today, they are starting again but the limit is 150 meters. If they don't hit water by then, it will be an unsuccessful venture. Please pray that if it is the Lord's will, they will hit water by 149 meters or before!. The rest of our team members going to Kajiado are on the bus heading out to join them right now. 17 of our team total will be in Kajiado. Adults there are Brian Millet, Ron Crosby, Steve Wolcott, Ty Westfall, Marny Waters, Kim Morton, and Sylvia Thornton. Please pray for safety as they travel, water for the well, and for the men in the Masaai tribe to come to know Christ in a personal way. 2. We have a few stragglers not feeling well but it seems minor so I'm not going to worry anyone. One of them is my daughter, Mikayla, but it seems to be more just fatigue and exhaustion, some minor allergy/drainage issues, and mild tummy trouble. There are 26 of us here in Machakos still. 3. Thank you for praying for our VBS and let me tell you, your prayers are being answered. Yesterday we lost count at 300 kids. It was kind of a controlled chaos situation but the TCA students are doing an AWESOME job with the music, skits, games, and crafts. It has been so much fun and we are praying that many will come to know Christ through this ministry. 4. Springs of Hope Orphanage - We have a small team over there each morning and afternoon holding babies. Please continue praying for Dennis, the boy we told you about with all the bedsores. We are looking into finding him a medical mattress locally to alleviate some of the pressure points so he can recover. They are giving him the Pedialyte we brought (THANK YOU to whoever donated that) and antibiotics that Doc brought along. We love this Orphanage so much! 5. Masaku School for Disabled - Our whole team went yesterday afternoon for our annual get together and enjoyed a time of singing and fellowship with them. Max and Jon shared God's love for them and we all got to just hang around and play with them for awhile, and shop at their little store. Jon has his art students working on a new mural this year, as well as refurbishing the beautiful mural we did years ago with the hands and water. It has gotten really weathered so they are restoring it. 6. The Work Project here at Scott is almost complete. Our kids did an awesome job of serving joyfully and clearing an entire field for landscaping. It might sound easy but if you've ever been before you know that just to cut the grass, you have to use a hand tool called a Slasher (similar to a machete). Then there are tons of rocks that have to be carried off and the soil has to be broken up with hand tools. It's quite a task. Today they are adding a stone road driveway across the bottom. Luckily, Jon and I have a friend that came with us, Jerry Fudge, that is a brilliant engineer and a very hard worker so he has that whole crew under control. It's amazing how God sends people with the exact right gifts along with us each year for what we need! 7. The 26 of us here in Machakos will be leaving Scott Friday morning to head to Thika. It's about a 2 hour drive and we should have internet while there but if you don't hear from us for awhile you will know why. Dr. Wien will be holding a free clinic and I've been told I'm going to be his Triage nurse. Go ahead and laugh but I think I've got this. I just have to try not to cry in front of the patients! That's gonna' be hard for me. :) Molly Breitenfeld will be hosting a women's ministry to what sounds like 3 huge groups of women (100+) and the rest of the crew will be assisting them or working at the Orphanage there. 8. HUGE PRAISE - We are going to eat samosas at T. Tots restaurant tomorrow. No explanation necessary! Thank you for sharing your kids/family members with us! This is a GREAT team! Sincerely, Jenni for the team

Monday June 17

Today was another busy day. The girls that were feeling sick last night are feeling much better today and praise God nobody else seems to be sick now. This morning we started by devotions and then breaking into 3 teams going to the Orphanage, the School for Disabled, and working on the landscaping project here at Scott. This afternoon, we had day 2 of VBS and counted over 200 kids. We lost count because they kept moving. But it was alot! Our TCA students are doing a fantastic job. I seriously love these kids. You would all be so proud of them if you were here to see them in action. I'm trying to upload some more photos. Be patient with me, please because almost every night I get about 1/2 way through and then it just quits working or the power goes out or something. Please be in prayer for our little friend Dennis at the Orphanage. Dennis is the one child there who is handicapped and goes between his wheelchair and his bed. He was put in the hospital about 3 months ago for Pneumonia and when he got out a few weeks later, he had developed some terrible bedsores. These can be very dangerous and life threatening to a handicapped person. Dr. Wien did a great job cleaning and dressing the wounds and teaching the staff at the orphanage how to dispense the medicine he gave them. There is enough antibiotic for a month. Please pray that these heal up quickly as he is in a lot of pain and if they do not start to heal we are afraid he might not make it. The team is in good spirits and we are really enjoying each others company and serving together. Tomorrow we will be going to the School for Disabled again as well as the Orphanage and running our 3rd day of VBS. Thank your for your prayers and continued support. Sincerely, Jenni Millet for the team

Sunday - Happy Father's Day to all the dads!

Jambo from Africa. I am sorry that I don't have photos from today up yet. I have not had time to upload them from people yet today as we have been busy again. This morning, we had an early breakfast and then left in groups to go to about 9 different churches. Each group had a unique experience in an Africa church service. I will try to put some of the photos up tomorrow. We all got back before 3 p.m. and loaded up on the Scott bus to take a trip out to the Woodcarvers Village about an hour's drive away. It is a neat little village where the men sit and make a lot of hand crafted things and they have a big shop where you can buy goodies. We came back for dinner and surprised the dads with a vanilla cake for Fathers Day. The kids had all made cards for each of them and passed them around and signed them. Very sweet! Came back for our evening worship service and are now heading to bed. We have had a couple of people sick with tummy issues this evening. Please keep those not feeling well in your prayers. It's never fun to be sick...but being sick so far away from home is very disconcerting. They all seem to be on the mend thanks to Dr. Wien and our cousin, Debbie, who has been a missionary here for over 30 years and knows all the tricks to feel better more quickly. We are so happy to have Steve and Debbie along this year for so many reasons! I am trying to add more photos to the blog as we go. Please be patient. The electricity and water have been kind of hit and miss since we've been here. Tomorrow we will be working again in the morning on the landscaping site. After lunch, we are taking turns visiting the Orphanage and the School for Disabled. At 4 we will be doing Day 2 of our VBS here at Scott and are excited to see how many children will attend. Thank you so much for your prayers. We can feel them and know that God has His hands on this trip!

Saturday was a busy day!

Okay, sorry I haven't been great about posting on this blog yet.  We haven't had much time to sit down between events, and right now there is a cat in my lap as I type.  My daughter and Maddie named her Jessica and we have adopted her even though I am so not a cat person and my own husband has forbidden all of us to touch any animals.  Don't tell him!

So today was a busy day.  We started out the morning with our 3rd annual 5K race.  I haven't downloaded everyone's pictures yet, so I don't have many from the race.  We had a good turnout and a lot of fun.  It served as an outreach from Scott Christian University to the community and gave us an opportunity to evangelize a large crowd.

This morning, Molly Breitenfeld led a Women's Ministry outreach down in the chapel.  She had about 22 women come and they all loved her presentation.  After the race and the Women's meeting wrapped up, we had a quick lunch and said goodbye to Max and Dylan who headed out to Nakuru to visit a boy we met last year named Collins.  Collins was very sick and Max has been raising money and working with Pastor Charles Macharia in Nakuru to get medical care for him.  Praise God, this boy is doing much better and Max is looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.  Max and Dylan will be greeting the church in Rongai (where some of our group went last year) tomorrow and preaching there so please keep them in your prayers.

This afternoon, we held the first of our Vacation Bible School days.  We normally have a very small group the first day, building each day to about 300 toward the end.  Today, we lost count at 181...a very large group for the first day of an event.  Madison Miller and Brittany Wright did a fabulous job leading the music with Alexis Wien on the drums.  Alex Waters did a great job leading the overall group and keeping everything moving.  David Crosby and Gracie Breitenfeld did a wonderful skit to introduce the day's topic and Michael Morton and Valerie Lee acted out the days story as King David and his helper.   The other students helped lead crafts and games and everyone did a fabulous job loving on the kids that came.  We will continue the VBS Monday, Tuesday and Wed. afternoons at 4 p.m. so please continue to pray that many will come and hear the gospel message.

There was a late afternoon soccer (futbol) game, dinner, evening worship and now we are heading to bed.  Everyone is doing fine.  We have had a couple of kids with a slight tummy issue (kind of inevitable) but Dr. Wien is doing a fabulous job of quickly looking at any type of illness and getting them medicine and back up on their feet.  We are so fortunate to have him along this year, not only because he's a dr. but also because he's just funny and entertaining.

Tomorrow, we will be heading out to about 8 different churches and then in the late afternoon are taking a trip to the Woodcarvers village to buy stuff.  A few of the boys are choosing to hike with one of our guides instead so sorry parents of those boys...but you probably won't be getting any African knick knacks from them.  :)

Well, I'd better quit writing now so I can TRY to upload some photos to post on here.   I also need to get rid of this cat before Jon catches me!  Thank you for sharing your kids and loved ones with us on this trip.  We have a GREAT group again this year!

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet for the team

Group 2 has arrived. This trip is officially underway!

Group 2 arrived safely last night.   The good news is that all of the luggage from the first group did arrive yesterday on the plane.  The bad news is that some of the luggage from the second group did not arrive...but I'm sure it will come tomorrow.

It is currently 10:30 am here in Machakos.  The weather is beautiful (around 75) and we are all heading down to begin our work project for the year.  This year we will be landscaping an area in front of a new building, which will most likely involve moving rocks (for those of you who have been before).

I will try to post some photos later but know that everyone is doing well.  No real illnesses other than jetlag so we are off to a good start.

Group 1 has made it to Scott safe and sound

Group 1 has made it to Scott safely. Lost a few pieces of luggage but all is well and we are heading to bed.  Group 2 should be boarding the plane as I am typing this blog. 

Departure Day!

Leaving today with half our group to head to Kenya!  The second half of the group leaves tomorrow with Brian Millet.  Please pray for safety as we travel.  Check back for updates often.