As you may have seen on our Fox River Missions Facebook Page (which you should definitely follow, if you’re not already - many more updates there!), our 2023 Kenya Team had very smooth travels to Kenya. Flights were relatively on time, not much turbulence, and all luggage arrived! Thank God for easy travel!
Sunday was spent in orientation, learning about our mission here, getting our first sights and sounds in this new culture, and preparing our supplies for the rest of the trip. And of course, after 24 hours of travel, and a day of new experiences, we were all in need of some serious sleep.
Our next two days were spent at the two primary schools that Fox River Missions supports — Crossroads Academy in Vipingo on Monday and New Life Academy on Tuesday. Two members of our team, Tyler and Nancy, have offered to share their thoughts and observations from these first two days.
Tyler writes:
Hey Fox River prayer warriors. Thank you for following our trip in prayer and thinking of these wonderful people in the Kenyan communities. Yesterday and today we had the pleasure of going to the primary schools in Vipingo and Bomani. Our focus was to meet the staff of the schools and connect with them as well as to spend time with all the kids and show them the love of Jesus. We arrived at the schools both days and we’re greeted by hundreds of kids shouting, singing, and dancing. I’ve never felt more welcomed than I did visiting these schools.
After the initial arrival we spent time in the chapels where the children gave presentations from their classes to welcome us. Some presentations included dancing and singing, playing instruments, and reciting Bible verses for memory. It was so evident that these kids have the joy of the Lord in their heart and the love Jesus so much.
Following the presentations we got to spend hours just meeting kids, playing games, and asking them about their families and the lives they live. So far, after two days I have heard countless stories from team members about how they have been absolutely touched by kids in these schools.
My favorite and most touching experience so far was meeting the staff at the schools. The first day in Vipingo I met a woman named Miss Nancy, who was in charge of all the support staff (cooks, gardeners, security, etc.) at Crossroads Academy in Vipingo. She told me all about her life and hardships she had endured, but her faithfulness to God was so evident. Not only does she love serving the kids but she is also a great mentor to staff at the school. She regularly holds staff devotions where she translates the Bible into Swahili for staff that have trouble reading English. My wife and I loved talking to her through the afternoon. My favorite Miss Nancy quote was when we mentioned that sometimes it’s hard to handle stress and anxiety in life she responded “Why? God will take care of it!” And it is so true!!! It is a simple truth, but one we need to remember and believe every day. God will take care of his children in different ways!
At New Life Academy in Bomani, I met a teacher named Mr Vincent. All day he wore a huge smile so big that the kids and staff around him couldn’t help but smile just as big. He brings joy to the kids everywhere he goes. He is in charge of teaching Physical Education, Math, Science, and Christian Religious Education (CRE) to children in grades 4-8. He brings a wealth of knowledge as well as a joyful and fun environment to learn. I had a chance to visit his classroom while he was teaching where he showed me how they learn and the whole time the kids were having fun. It touched me to see how invested the staff is in the lives of the kids. To them it is not just a job. It is a ministry every day. They see potential in every one of these kids and work so hard to give them opportunities to be able to take care of themselves and their families in the future. They also equip the children with tools they need to share Jesus with their communities at home outside of school. That is the mission of the ministry here.
I could probably write a book about the first two days of the trip but the blog only has so much space so if you want to hear some great experiences and stories find some of the team members during church sometime and talk to us about this wonderful ministry. We are IN LOVE!
God bless everyone for praying for us and supporting us to be able to be here. We are blessed and I’m so excited for what’s to come.
Nancy (Fox River team member) adds:
I was standing in the yard watching the children blowing bubbles with the bubble wands we brought them. The younger kids were having so much fun chasing the bubbles. I must have had a big smile on my face because a 5th grade girl came up to me and said “Excuse mam, you look like you are so happy!” And I said “This does make me so happy just watching these children having so much fun!”
