Celebrate Today : last night in Kenya

Thursday, July 14, 2016

last night in Kenya

July 14, 2016

We drove over 12 hours today on a bus back from Mombasa to Ngong today and will head to Nairobi tomorrow to get on a plane to fly to NYC. I just tucked Anna and Taylor under their mosquito nets for the last time here in Kenya this summer, and we are ready to continue our journey to come home this weekend. What an amazing gift the last 7 weeks have been!

Before we left Mombasa, we were asked to come up with one word to describe our time as a part of the Kenya Global Project along with a corresponding sentence. Here are the words we came up with:

Taylor: "Life-changing. My faith wasn’t as strong before I came here.

Anna: “Dependence. God used challenging experiences to depend on Him way more than I ever have.”

Emily: “Gratitude. God cultivated deep gratitude in our hearts because of time invested here in Kenya.”

Below are pictures from our last couple of days in Mombasa with our debriefing time and some advice I gathered from our team about going on a short term mission trip:

Stay engaged and be willing to let God mold you – Rachel

God will meet you where you are. Just seek Him.– Cynthia

Say yes to everything. You won’t regret it. –Daylor

Perfection isn’t a thing. Our God is big enough to work through the messes. –Chelsea

No regrets, no shame. –Trevor

Be willing and trust the Lord. He knows what He is doing. – Maddie

Seek after the will of God fearlessly. Stay in the game. You won’t regret it. – Lisa

Be bold. Be willing. Be teachable. Love Jesus. –Jeremy

Perspective is very important. Stay positive always. –Evans

Be open-minded and ready to learn from God and others. –Gladys

Everybody is embarrassing in the beginning. Don’t worry about it! Fix your eyes on God and not on the people around you. – Hayley

Listen deeply enough to be changed by what you hear. Pray for sacred encounters. – Kelsey

Kenya will challenge you in some way. Listen to what God might be trying to speak into you. –Hailey

Let go and Let God mold you in all aspects as you view the mission God’s way representing His image. – Jennifer

Be willing to be laughed at and not take offence… Laugh at yourself, smile, and remember the ultimate goal is to spread the fragrance of Jesus. – Jill

Do hard things! This may not be easy but easy is never life-changing. Be bold. Don’t let fear hold you back. –Flynn

Pray every second. – Sam

There are always rocks in life, but it depends on how you see them as stumbling blocks or stepping stones. – Livingstone

Kenya won’t kill you. Let it heal you. -Nicole

Depend on God. -Anna

Love every minute of it. Soak it in. -Dani

Seek to make each place you go home. Invest in relationships and people. -Nicole

Shape your worries into prayers. -Emily

Bring a little comfort food to keep you going. - Taylor

Everything communicates something. - GP Training

Is what I am doing, thinking or saying building trust or undermining trust? - GP Training

It's not what you do first. It's what you do next. -GP Training