Kenya 2011

"Dreams come in a size too big so you can grow into them".

I wish I knew the person who I could give credit to this little saying. When I first read it, it sank in me and reassured me that my dreams aren't unreachable.

I was 15 or 16 yrs old. A seed was planted in me when I started seeing commercials of starving children across the world. You know, flies in the eyes, crying and filling their bloated stomachs with porridge while some man begs you to give.

And I did.

I started to want to "have an orphanage in Africa". People thought I was nuts.

While I was home for a summer in college and working in Minneapolis, I worked in a group home with staff members who were from Kenya. I began to taste a piece of African culture. I was invited to one of their homes where I shook hands with everyone in the room (not knowing that it was polite to do so immediately upon greeting a Kenyan), ate some strange food and spoke of a country that I never knew existed.

A year later, I decided to take some money I had received from my grandfather and travel to Africa. So, I googled "African Orphanage Volunteer program" and came upon a program that seemed to fit me well. I communicated with them over the course of several months and made the plunge.

I rode buses that wheels fell off of as I trekked to the border of Tanzania and Kenya-at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and touched baby elephants at an elephant orphanage. I spent 2 1/2 months of my summer playing with street girls that were ages 5-16 and I met my sweet, Kenyan daughter, Priscillah, that I still sponsor to this day.

I never knew how a sweet, orphaned girl would change my life.

I returned to the States and the relationship I had been in for almost 2 years, the "love of my life" dissolved and I resumed my last year of college.

I knew I wanted to return to Kenya one last time before I settled down on a job. I was not excited to enter the world of "9 to 5". I returned to Kenya once more and spent an additional 6 weeks that summer of 2003 where I loved on the same girls I had spent time with the summer before. My (now) husband was also with me on that trip and we fell in love.

Tucked in our hearts, we knew that Kenya had a place in our life, one day, somehow.

Fast forward 7 years to TODAY!

The Lord has been faithful. Not to sound so "Christianeese" or whatever, but it's true. Our marriage has had many twists and turns, joys and heartache as we've mulled over what the Lord wants us to do with our life.

The corporate America journey did not appeal to us, yet going overseas to work in Kenya seemed so impractical, unsafe, insecure for our family.

If you have been reading my blog for some time now, you are familiar with my heart for orphan care. You have been with me through our journey as we were to be moving to Kenya a couple of years ago.

You cannot force God's timing. God has HIS plan in place...what I've learned is that I need to let go and let GOD. Little did I know that I had a TON of heart work that needed to be done before we were ready to go.

To make a long story short, I am excited to let you know that the time has come. OH YES the time has come. It is God's perfect timing. It's been a long wait, however, I truly believe that GOD allows us to dream BIG dreams and if we surrender to HIS will for our life, we grow into our dream...HIS way.

I never thought I would ever have an orphanage in Kenya.

But we are!

In September 2011, our family is moving to Kitale, Kenya full time to work with Mattaw Children's Village. My husband, TJ will be helping with the self sustainability programs and I will be assisting in the operations of Mattaw's baby rescue home, "Sprouts". Sprouts will be built late this year, Lord willing.

We are more than excited-thrilled. Yes, we have lots of loops to work through and a lot of work to be done in the coming months. We have completely surrendered our lives and feel this is the path we are being led down.

Will you pray for us? We need to be bathed in prayer in this year and beyond.

Here is a song that has really spoke to us this year. If God is for us, than WHO can be against us?

Week with the Huffmans

The first week of January my husband and I hosted the Huffman family. They are from Texas but live in Kenya working as the Directors of Mattaw Children's Village. The time they spend in the States is dedicated to raising awareness about orphan care in Kenya and raising support for Mattaw. My husband and I visited them back in 2008 and I lead a team in June 2010. My husband also plans to lead another team from our church sometime this summer.

But it's not all work-there is plenty of time for play.

See, these fellow long horns have not ever experienced the weather that comes with living in Minnesota/North Dakota.

It.Gets.Cold.

People question how individuals like us can live in conditions like this. (Mama always said we make the best Christians...you know, because we have to endure so many hardships and all.....or something).

They had seen snow before, but didn't know that it got so cold that you couldn't form snowballs with the snow.



They played.


They were venturous in their outings.





They sure stayed cozy.


We had a great week with the Huffmans. They are more like family to us than just friends.

This particular week we were working hard towards raising money for Mattaw's baby rescue house that will be called "Sprouts". It's fitting, because after the name was thought of, we realized that in Isaiah 61:11 it says, "For as the soil makes the SPROUT come up and a garden causes the seed to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations"

Cool, eh?


As we said our bitter-sweet goodbyes, we know that it will not be the last time we see them. Surely, we hope to join them soon in Kitale and support Mattaw Children's Village.



Will someone just make sure they returned to Texas with all of their fingers and toes?

Orphan care through sponsorship

I'm sure you are familiar with the many commercials you have seen that show pictures of babies all over the world who are starving, who are becoming blind as a result of the saliva that is spit into their eyes from flies who infest them and are drinking water from pit latrines because they simply do not have the resources for any other choice. . . or worse.



Commercials like these are easy for us to flip the channel to and pretend we didn't see it, because we think "why is it my problem". Don't worry, I've been there before.

When I travelled to Africa for the first time in 2002, I was swept off my feet by the most precious girl, named Priscillah. She is more like a daughter to me now than a random child overseas. She and I have dialogued over the phone and through letters. It's a relationship only God could have made. "Precious" only begins to describe her life.



Rialee found her child to sponsor through the Children's HopeChest weekend we hosted last weekend. Rialee met Mary Charity last April, not thinking sponsorship at the time. We found Mary Charity's photo amongst the hundreds of sponsor-needing kids lined up on her studio walls and then she tracked her personal photos of the trip. Check out today's exciting blog post here. Amazing story. Sponsorship is just one of the ways you can give back to children around the world.

You've been cordially invited to break your heart is another story to read to see how one woman's heart was shattered when she met her sponsored child.

Sponsorship is more about writing a check every month.

It changes lives.

Imagine yourself and a mother or father who has to watch your son or daughter starve because you do not have the food to give to him/her to keep them nurished. Consider Children's HopeChest or Mattaw Children's Village as 2 vessels to pursue in child sponsorship.