Cypress Meadows Kenya Trip

From Connie

So far the experiences I’ve had here in Kenya, can be described as amazing and heartbreaking.  When we began talking about all the things we were going to accomplish and the places we were to visit to help others, I had a vision of these experiences.  Yesterday, the worship with the 150 kids in the orphanange with Sammy and Moses, was amazing.  To watch how they praise God for 6 hours, was a great feeling in ways of seeing how God is working in all of the children here in the community.  Many of the kids have very painful pasts, but yet you see smiles on their faces, laughter, singing and dancing the entire time they are praising God.  To witness the love and faith they have, brought tears to my eyes.  They don’t have their parents, but they still find peace through their faith in the Lord.

Today, we visitied the families who live at the Landfill in Nakuru.  Tony, who is an employee of SOHK, was gracious enough to be our guide to the landfill where he once grew up as a child.  I was speachless when we arrived.  I first noticed all of the trash piled up everywhere.  Dogs laying in the trash.  Children greeted us with smiles wearing torn clothes, and dirty faces.  The houses were only sticks and pieces of clothes, sheets and towels.  We gave the children bracelets with a cross on them, and they were asking for more after we ran out.  Women were selling  jewelry and handbags made out of the paper and plastic they find in the trash, to sustain their way of living.  Some see no way out.  Some have lost hope.

We went into the home of one woman named Jenny.  Just a short time ago, she didn’t know Jesus.  Now she has accepted Him into her heart.  She has lost hope for herself, but because of Jesus, she still has hope for her children.   We then visited a couple of men, James and Ben.  They do not know Jesus, but have asked us to pray for them.  They believe they done things that would not be worthy of the love of Jesus.  After talking to them for awhile, we all prayed for them and they asked us to send them bibles.  They want to move out of there and have a better life.

As we neared the end of our stay, I wasn’t able to hold back my tears any longer, I was sobbing in witnessing heartbreaking experiences  the life these people were living, knowing they feel there was no hope for themselves.  Yet, it was unusual how all the children were still smiling and appeared to be happy, as if they knew something we didn’t.  Before we got into the van,  we  heard shouts of joy and laughter as the truck with the water tank arrived that we ordered for them.  I know that God has worked in my heart  today and yesterday, in ways I’ve never felt.  The experiences I’ve had so far, were exactly how I had visioned.  However, to actually live out the visions, were a lot different.  I could never have prepared my heart or my emotions for this experience.

From Jennifer

Today we awoke to the sounds of beautiful and heartfelt worship of our God by the children and staff at the orphanage. The children at Springs of Hope are flourishing in this loving and safe environment. You can never tell by looking at them that their pasts are filled with tragic events and great  pain. They are quick to give you a big hug or beautiful smile. I have really been blessed in my time with these children and even though we have traveled here in the hopes of helping and encouraging the people we meet, I have to admit that meeting them, seeing their faithfulness in the midst of challenging circumstances and hearing their prayers and encouraging words to us, have been a bigger blessing and help to me than I’ve probably been able to help them.

Please continue to pray for these wonderful people and children at the orphanage and surrounding community. Tomorrow we will travel to Rhonda, a huge slum here in Nakuru. This area has been devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Please, please pray that the people we visit there will see the hope and salvation of Jesus Christ as some of these people may be in their final days on this earth.

You can see live updates on Facebook and see more pics and updates from the first 5 days on Paul’s blog http://LiveIntentionally.org

It’s hard to believe that this is the 4th day of our trip.  The first two were kind of a blur of travel.  We stayed in Nairobi Friday night and drove to Nakuru the next morning – straight to Springs of Hope.  We had a wonderful time with the kids of SOHK Saturday afternoon and evening. We spent the Saturday night at the orphanage.  Church today (Sunday) was an all-day event.  There’s so much we’d love to tell you about it, but we’re pressed for time. We’re just doing a quick stop at Molly’s house so we could all get online.  Then it’s back to Springs of Hope for the night.  Amir, Korin, and Sandi posted some quick thoughts below…

Amir: This has been a good trip.  Kenya is a beautiful country.  The flights were good although Korin and I almost froze from Wash DC to Zurich, Switzerland – but we had extra legroom at the exit row.  At the orphanage today, we saw God be present for 130 kids (including the 40 from the orphanage). The kids were all engaged in the service (9am – 4pm) without all the “props and entertainment” that we see as common in the US.  So this tells me we can do more with less to reach our youth.  The kids in the orphanage are so loving and “energetic”.  I was really surprised how much they wanted me to hold them and then continue to climb all over me.  Our team is great!  This is such a good group to serve with here in Kenya.  We are learning and growing together while serving.  This team has a heart for God and a heart for people.  I am still not sure what to expect when we go visit with people at the landfill and the AIDS patients but I am open to what God wants me to do.  This experience will definitely give me a new perspective on life and how to serve God.  (And for Miss Donna – the Madea goes to Africa report:  much more rustic than I am used to, the outdoor toilet (cho) was interesting, people drive much faster than I do w/no rules, and I was mistaken for a driver the morning we were leaving the mission house in Nairobi, and I did not have to correct any children on the trip from the US to Africa.)

Korin: I can’t believe I am here in Kenya as I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time.   Today we had church outside of the orphanage with the community kids and it was amazing.   It was amazing to me that Sammy (16 years old) and Moses lead all these kids every Sunday – all day!  They have such passion for these kids to know the Lord.  I just loved to see those kids worship and dance (wished my Isabel could have been here to dance with them:)  They listened intently as we shared with them and it was awesome to hear their testimonies-a highlight for me.   I think the kids like Amir best – he is always a jungle gym with kids climbing all over him:)  Though we haven’t slept much God has blessed me so much through these kids.  The staff at the orphanage are super hard workers and are really blessing the kids too.  We have only been here a few days but we were so welcomed that they all feel like family (though when the kids were wearing their Springs of Hope t-shirts today, I have to admit that it was harder to tell them all apart and remember their names:)  I can’t wait for the rest of this journey…

Sandi: The idea that god sent Jesus for all of humankind and yet would have done the same if it were just for Sandi is overwhelming.  The reason I’m in Kenya is to encourage and share and love on everybody, but I would be here if it were just for Abdulah.  Abdulah is the Kenyan head of security at Springs of Hope Kenya’s orphanage.  He’s Muslim and has worked there since the opening of the orphanage and told me today that he appreciates the Christian environment most about working there.  God is working on his heart, and I got a front-row seat to see how the Father is gently pursuing his lost boy.

You can see live updates on Facebook and see more pics and updates from the first 4 days on Paul’s blog http://LiveIntentionally.org

This is it… in a few short hours we’ll be boarding a plane for Kenya to serve the staff and kids of Springs of Hope Kenya and the people in the surrounding community of Nakuru.

Please pray for us every day.  We’re going to be going into some very difficult situations to help, encourage, and share God’s love with some people who live in some very dire circumstances.  We hope to share with you the stories of what God does in and through us on a daily basis here.  In addition to that, I’m going to try to our story telling to a whole new level with…

Posting photos to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulsteinbrueck/
Posting videos to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/pdstein007 (if we have enough bandwidth)
Tweeting live when possible: http://twitter.com/PaulSteinbrueck
And sharing live to Facebook: http://facebook.com/LiveIntentionally & http://www.facebook.com/CypressKenyaTrip

Thanks to all the kids who were a part of Kids Connection at Cypress Meadows this past Sunday and sang (and motioned) their hearts out for the video we’re taking to Springs of Hope Kenya.  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago…

Our plan is to create a DVD of songs led by the kids of Cypress Meadows. On the Saturday we arrive in Nakuru, we’ll use that DVD to teach the kids at Springs of Hope the songs and motions. Then the next day when we do the outreach, we’ll have the kids at Springs of Hope lead the music. How cool will that be, not just serving these children, but empowering them to lead their friends?!?

We’ll then video tape the children of Springs of Hope leading the music and bring that video back to show the kids at Cypress Meadows.

Nothing fancy.  Just video recorded on my iPhone straight to YouTube.

Only 6 days before we depart for Kenya! Yea!

I am so proud of the 5 people who will be serving with me because of the way they’ve persevered in faith despite adversity.  Every single one of them faced obstacles – financial obstacles, family obstacles, work obstacles.  Every one of them had “good reasons” to bow out, but every one trusted God would help them overcome, and He did.

Connie Roeleven faced what seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. Here’s her story:

A few years ago, I was a member of Airline Ambassadors (non-profit organization, airline employees helping children with needs), since then, I have desired to travel to a place where God really needed me to serve Him. When I came to Cypress Meadows, Springs of Hope in Kenya, was just being spoken of. Soon, it became a reality. I was really impressed with how God opened a door of opportunity to our community and to our church, to help the children in Nakuru. I knew immediately that one day, I would be a part of Gods plan in Kenya.

So last summer I contemplated in traveling to Haiti with our missions team. But I felt that it wasn’t my time. Kenya came to my mind again, so I prayed and started the plan to save for the trip, that wasn’t even planned by our church yet. Months later, I was in church and heard of the missions trip to Kenya. I said to myself, “yeah, God!” My husband and my son were excited and very supportive of my decision to join our SOHK missions team. I attended every meeting, planned, prayed, and even participated in the fund raising.

Then, all of a sudden, we had a few important, unexpected, big financial hurdles to cross all at the same time in April, May and June. I came to my team, and let them know the bad news, I wasn’t going to be able to go to Kenya with them, but I would be faithful in helping them finish their fundraising and praying for them so that they can go. My husband and I wiped out the savings for Kenya, and sold a watch, and my husband worked 3 side jobs to pay 2 attorneys, and the IRS. Which left us with no money for Kenya, and no money in savings.

After a lot of prayer, I felt that God still had plans for me to go. I never let go of my faith, no matter what the outcome was. I was also prepared to accept that this may not be the right time for me to go, and patience was virtue.

A week later, after the chili cook-off, our missions team leader, Paul Steinbrueck, pulled us a side to give us great news. He said, “I need to talk to you. If you still want to go, we raised enough money to cover your plane ticket to Africa. All you need to cover is the other half of the expenses while we are over there. Is it possible?”

I was so happy! God definately showed me that His hand was in all of this. No matter how it seemed impossible, He made it possible.

Two weeks later, my boss gave me an unexpected bonus for the exact amount I needed to cover the other half. He called it, the “special employee recognition” bonus. I feel very blessed that God has shown me He is always there.

In our last post I wrote…

One of the things we hope to do through our trip is to strengthen the connections between Springs of Hope and Cypress Meadows Community Church. We’re asking children at Cypress Meadows to write down in 2-4 sentences their story of how God has impacted their life. We’ll take these stories along with a picture of each child and create a book to bring with us to Kenya. We’ll leave the book their at Springs of Hope so the children there know who some of the children are here who are praying for them.

This past Sunday lots of kids brought in their stories and had their pictures taken.  Thank you kids and parents!  We also got pictures and stories from the 6 of us who will be going to Kenya.  Connie Roeleven did an awesome job of putting together the Cypress Story Book using Shutterfly.  I thought you might like to see a few of the pages.

While at Springs of Hope we’ll do the same thing. We’ll ask the children there to write their story, we’ll take a picture of them, and when we get back to Florida we’ll create a book telling the stories of the children of Springs of Hope. This book will be available for the children and families at Cypress to read so they know who they can who they’re helping and praying for, and how God is writing a great story through their lives.

Connecting SOH and Cypress Through Song

This upcoming Sunday, we’ll be video taping and creating a DVD of songs led by the kids of Cypress Meadows. On the Saturday we arrive in Nakuru, we’ll use that DVD to teach the kids at Springs of Hope the songs and motions. Then the next day when we do the outreach, we’ll have the kids at Springs of Hope lead the music. How cool will that be, not just serving these children, but empowering them to lead their friends?!?

A sample of 2 inside pages of the Cypress Meadows story book (names & stories blurred to keep the kids anonymous)

We are 23 days from departure to Kenya and plans are continuing to come together. One of the things I’m most excited about is the community outreach event we’ll be doing.

Not only is Springs of Hope Kenya home to 30+ orphans, but every Sunday 70-120 other children from the community come out to SOHK for children’s church. That first Sunday we’re in Kenya (July 10) we’ll be leading an outreach event, a mini-vacation bible school.

The theme we sense God leading us to is “Story,” the idea that God wants to write a great story through each and every one of us. We all have past. For many of us and many of the kids at Springs of Hope, that past is full of pain, hardship, and separation from God. But along the way we met Jesus Christ. He has transformed us and given us a story of hope and overcoming.

Our past is history. Our future is a mystery.  And each new day is a blank page, a clean sheet of paper, on which God wants to write a beautiful love story and a daring adventure.

Connecting the Stories of Springs of Hope and Cypress Meadows

One of the things we hope to do through our trip is to strengthen the connections between Springs of Hope and Cypress Meadows Community Church. We’re asking children at Cypress Meadows to write down in 2-4 sentences their story of how God has impacted their life. We’ll take these stories along with a picture of each child and create a book to bring with us to Kenya. We’ll leave the book their at Springs of Hope so the children there know who some of the children are here who are praying for them.

While at Springs of Hope we’ll do the same thing. We’ll ask the children there to write their story, we’ll take a picture of them, and when we get back to Florida we’ll create a book telling the stories of the children of Springs of Hope. This book will be available for the children and families at Cypress to read so they know who they can who they’re helping and praying for, and how God is writing a great story through their lives.

Connecting SOH and Cypress Through Song

If there’s one thing our kids at Cypress love to do is worship God through song… and the energetic motions that go with them. What would a children’s outreach be without music, right?

So, our plan is to create a DVD of songs led by the kids of Cypress Meadows. On the Saturday we arrive in Nakuru, we’ll use that DVD to teach the kids at Springs of Hope the songs and motions. Then the next day when we do the outreach, we’ll have the kids at Springs of Hope lead the music. How cool will that be, not just serving these children, but empowering them to lead their friends?!?

We’ll then video tape the children of Springs of Hope leading the music and bring that video back to show the kids at Cypress Meadows.

How can you help?

• If your child is a part of children or student ministry at Cypress Meadows, you can have your child write a 2-4 sentence story of what God has done in their life and email that along with a picture to paul (at) steinbrueck (dot) org. (Please be careful not to show a lot of affluence in the picture)
• Or this weekend or next (6/19, 6/26), give permission for us to take your child’s picture, have them write their story, and include their story in the book.

Two weeks ago, God helped us overcome a breakdown with the travel agency we had made our airline reservations with and helped us secure our airline tickets to Kenya. At the moment that seemed like the last big hurdle to overcome before our trip. But I should have known better.

With more than 30 kids living at Springs of Hope, they go through a lot of clothes, shoes, books, and backpacks. Thanks to the generous support of many people, Molly and Joe have been given far more than they could ever hope to bring back with them on their return trip. So, they gave us what would not fit in their suitcases – about 200 pounds worth (shown in the pic to the right) – for us to bring with us.

Unfortunately, when I purchased the airline tickets, the person who helped me with the purchase told me we would each be allowed one checked bag and one carry on.

When Jennifer and I went to Kenya 2 years ago we managed to fit all our clothes in our carry-ons and filled 2 checked bags each with things for children. I’m still not sure how that happened. But even if all 6 of us were able to manage that feat again, we could never fit all the stuff we have in 6 suitcases.

I checked the paperwork and the cost for each additional bag: $200.

Ouch!

How would we get all these really important items to Kenya?

We read over the baggage rules, which are very confusing because its an international trip spanning 3 continents on three flights with two different airlines. We talked about it with the team. We prayed about it.

Jennifer called the airlines and somehow instead of the 1 checked bag per person like I was originally told, we’re allowed 2 checked bags. I guess the God who is bigger than the airline reservation system is also God of the airline baggage rules.

Molly + 4 of our team. L-R: Amir Kahn, Molly Bail, Korin Deitch, Jennifer Steinbrueck, Paul Steinbrueck

Community Outreach

This past Monday evening we gathered as a team for dinner with Molly to discuss the specifics of the our trip. While there are 30+ children who live at Springs of Hope, another 70+ children from the surrounding community come to the orphanage every Sunday for children’s church, which is an all day event. Molly told us if she publicize that the Sunday we’ll be there is a special event there could be 150 kids there. Wow!

We’ve started planning something of a mini vacation bible school for that day. One of the ideas that’s most exciting to me is that we’ll be at Springs of Hope the day before to teach the music and motions to the children who live there. We may also be able to show them how to make the craft and do the other activities. Then on Sunday, the children can help to lead their peers, and they’ll be able to sing the songs, do the motions, and play the games long after we’re gone.

How awesome will that be?!?

It seems like nothing has come easy as we have made preparations to serve in Nakuru, Kenya this July, but God has always come through for us.

Last summer’s plans to serve in Kenya fell through because of problems with flight arrangements. I thought we had overcome that problem this time around when I reserved 10 flights with a missions travel agency back in January. But then 2 weeks ago our agent told me the taxes and fees on our tickets had gone up an average of $200 a ticket. Waaa???

On top of that, back in January no one had committed to the trip, so I sent the travel agent the names of the people I thought were most likely to go with assurances from her that we could change the names later. But when I sent her the final list of names, I was informed the price would be nearly $600 higher for those who weren’t on the original list. (We could change a name like Dave Smith to David Smith with no problem, but Dave Smith to Bill Jones would cost us.) Double waaa???

It was frustrating, but like I said, God has come through just in time each step of the way. So, yesterday armed with 3 credit cards, I spent 2 hours on the phone with an agent from CheapTickets.com and when all was said and done, we had great flights on good airlines (Continental & Swiss Air) for about $100 more than our original reservations. We’ll even have an extra day at Springs of Hope, because our return flight doesn’t leave Nairobi until 11:30 PM Monday July 18.

Is God awesome or what?!?

Team Down to 6

On a disappointing note, Jennifer and I decided that this will not be the year for Ainsley to serve with us in Kenya. It was a tough decision, one which is sad for all of us, but we sensed God leading us in that direction.

More Hurdles Ahead

The plane tickets account for $2,000 out of the $3,000 total cost of the trip. Each member of the team paid for their ticket with a combination of money raised through the Chili Cook-off and Auction, donations made by friends and family, and our own savings.

Each of us will need to raise/save about another $1,000 for immunizations, visas, food and lodging, and to help the people we’ll be serving in Kenya.

We’d appreciate any financial support you can provide and we’d appreciate your prayers. Sometimes there’s a tendency to take for granted or make light of the importance of prayer, but our efforts to serve in Kenya this summer would have fallen apart long ago had God not had his hand in this thing.

The Chili Cook-Off and Auction held this past Saturday to raise funds for our trip to serve at the Springs of Hope Kenya orphanage went remarkably well! Yeah!

I have no idea how many people came out for the event but the Studio 4:12 building at Cypress Meadows was packed full of people eagerly sampling 10 tasty, varieties of chili and bidding on more than 80 auction items!

We have sooooo many people to thank for making the cook-off/auction a success…

Thank you!!!

Thank you to our 10 chili chefs who cooked up their awesome recipes. Congrats to Shannon Harrison who won the chili cook-off with her Chili con Burgundy!

Thank you to all the people who donated auction items. We had a ton of awesome stuff to bid on!

Thank you to Joe and Molly Bail for coming spending the evening with us and speaking with us about what’s happening at Springs of Hope.

Thank you Dr. Joe Saturley for doing such a great job as our live auctioneer!

Thank you to Carol Levy who served as our event coordinator for the evening!

Thank you to Cypress Meadows for hosting the event and to Pastor Douglas Poole and Communications Director Deana Kistner for encouraging people to participate!

Thank you to everyone who came to the event to support our team by buying tickets and purchasing auction items.

Most of all, thank you God for doing something really cool through the efforts of our hodge-podge of big-hearted, hard-working, fundraising novices.

How much?

Of course, the thing everyone wants to know is, “How much money did you raise?” The answer…

About $5,000!

Yeah God!

Now, if you do the math… 7 people on the team… times $3,000 per person… $5,000 raised… You can quickly see this one fundraiser isn’t going to cover the entire cost of the trip or supplies and money we want to take with us. This was our one and only team fundraiser, but individually we’re continuing to do extra work, cut back on expenses, and thinks like garage sales (aka Garage Salin’, hotdog grillin’ dance party for Kenya) so we can put money towards the trip.

We’re also continuing to ask for the prayer and financial support of our friends, family, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kenya Trip: All

Kenya Trip: Ainsley

Kenya Trip: Amir

Kenya Trip: Connie

Kenya Trip: Jennifer

Kenya Trip: Korin

Kenya Trip: Paul

Kenya Trip: Sandi

Please also be praying that God would work out our flight arrangements. We’ve had a bit of a hiccup with our original reservations, but God has helped us overcome every barrier so far just in the nick of time and we are trusting he will work this one out too within the next week.

Oh, hey, if you were at the chili cook-off and auction, what’d you think? Post a comment and let us know.