Wed. June 27

Well, we've heard that the group arrived safely in DFW.  Hope everyone is getting settled in.  Jon and I and a few others stayed over in Dubai for a couple of days and will be leaving on tonights 2 a.m. flight back to the states.  Please pray for our group of 10 for safety as we head home.

This was a GREAT trip; a fantastic sweet, cooperative group of kids and wonderful sponsors.  We held babies, painted buildings, planted trees, shoveled dirt, dug holes, fed the hungry, ran four different VBS groups, a 5K race, provided tons of clothes and materials, built buildings for the Masaai, and most importantly preached the gospel.  

I love the sign above Mr. Connolly's desk in the art dept. by St. Francis of Assisi.  It kind of embodies what we try to do through this trip:

"Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words."

Thank you so much to everyone for their great attitudes, hard work and dedication.  We love you all!

Signing off for the 2012 Mission Africa trip

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet

Sunday, June 24

 That is Mount Kilimanjaro in the background

 This is the literal meaning of Amboseli - a dust twister

Well, it's officially our last night here in Kenya.  We have all really enjoyed this time of rest and relaxation here at the Amboseli Game Reserve.  Here are a few photos from the Safari.  Thank you so much to everyone who has entrusted your children to us for this trip, those who have prayed for us and supported us in so many ways.  God has truly done some amazing things through this group.  Please continue to pray for the group as we travel back home to the states.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet for the group

Friday, June 22

So today is the last day we have for ministry here in Kenya.  Tomorrow, all four groups will be leaving their towns to meet up in Amboseli for a mini safari.  We feel this time is invaluable as a group to talk about all we've done and seen and process through some of our thoughts before returning back to the states.  Also, we can't bring all these students all the way to Africa and NOT have them see some of God's most amazing creations.

Please continue to pray for our group as they travel to Amboseli and then back to the states on Monday...arriving Tuesday.  Flight info. attached.  I hope to send updates from the Safari hotel but sometimes wifi is spotty.  Sorry for the skimpy amount of information this year.   All of the groups have been SO busy and barely had time to get online, plus wifi has not worked as well as we would like.  Everyone is still well and looking forward to getting some much-deserved rest!

Jon and I will not be coming back with the group.  We will all be on the same flight to Dubai and will see the group off on their flight from Dubai to Dallas.  A few of us are staying over in Dubai for a couple of days after the trip but the majority of the sponsors will be coming on the plane with the students so they are in good hands.  It has been such a pleasure serving with this group! 

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet for the group

 Monday, June 25:

2:00 pm       Arrive at Jomo Kenyatta Airport, Nairobi, check-in.

4:40 pm       Emirates Airlines flight 720, Nairobi to Dubai arrive at 10:40 pm, Flight time 5:00.

2:45 am       Emirates Airlines flight 221, Dubai to DFW, arrive at 9:45 am, Tuesday, June 26.  Flight time 16:00. DFW Terminal D. 

June 21 from Jenni Millet

 The new instruments for the church in Nakuru

 Orphanage at Thika

 Rurya with the Masaai - Kajiado team

 Springs of Hope Orphanage in Machakos

 Women's bible study in Rurya - near Kajiado

 Kajiado team in front of Masaai home

 Adding concrete floor to church in Rurya - Masaai village near Kajiado

 Painting school bus at school for Mentally disabled in Nakuru

 Nakuru team with donated musical instruments

 Nakuru VBS at School for Mentally Disabled

 "Daniel & Asphenaz" 

 Installing a latrine near church in Rurya - Kajiado team

Donkey whispering in Rurya

Hello everyone!  Finally found a wifi connection since Jon and I just arrived in Thika.  This is the last stop of our touring around visiting each group.  Sorry for the lack of communication but the wifi is not working in either Nakuru or Kajiado.  Everyone is well however and these teams of kids and sponsors are AMAZING!  You would be so proud of all of them.  Everyone has had a great attitude and has worked so hard in some pretty tough circumstances.  Brief updates since we are about to have evening meeting:

Nakuru - We spent the weekend with the Nakuru team.  They are painting the inside of a HUGE church there.  Part of our fundraising was to provide them with some musical equipment for the church since their old stuff was all stolen last year.   Ashley Green and Madison Fields entertained the kids the other day for at least 2 hours straight while the team was painting inside just to keep the kids from coming in and getting into the paint.  They have also been going to a school for Mentally Disabled children every day and doing a VBS and painting a little bus they have buried in the ground as part of their play equipment.  I will try to upload some photos but I'm hearing it's slow and may not work so if there are no pictures you'll know why.  The Nakuru team has also been working at various highschools in the late afternoon giving testimonies and evangelizing, as well as hosting movie nights for the youth.

Kajiado - This team is seriously awesome!  They have put in a concrete floor in the church that we built last year as well as in a house for their matriarch, Mama Ruth.  The ladies had a GREAT time yesterday speaking to the women and sharing various things.  Becky Galvan, Carmen, and Cindy did a great job of speaking about the worth of the women.  Their culture is very different from ours and many of their questions were things like "Do your husbands beat you?" and "What do you do if your husband, who already has several wives, uses a prostitute?"  Heartbreaking to us but very normal for them.  We are beginning to realize the enormous impact this group is having on their culture.  Most of the women have become believers, but most of the men are still not.  They are very wary that we are coming in and trying to change their ways.  The first year we were here, the men were not even in the village.  The second year, they came briefly.  Last year, they helped construct the dirt roadway up to their village so that our group could come in easier.  This year, the men were all there watching as we worked and standing around very curious.  The pastors there are very encouraged and hoping to win these men over time.

Please pray for the Kajiado team as they are dealing with a few things we take for granted in the states.  Most of them have not had hot water, and yesterday, the pump to their well broke and they didn't have ANY water at their hotel.  They supposedly had it fixed when we left this morning so that they should be okay by tonight.

Thika - This team is making progress on the orphanage where they are painting and leading a vbs.  They were adding bricks to the top of their wall to make it more secure and presenting a puppet show to the kids when we showed up this afternoon.

Got to run to the meeting.  The Thika group is doing well and I have heard the Machakos group is as well.  Sorry for the brief update but know that all is well.

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet for the group

Machakos Update

Good morning, Prayer Warriors!! Here we are in Machakos doing God's bidding and loving it.  Today, we should be finishing our work on the new kindergarten building and grounds. It is really looking great - I will try to download a pic or two but so far have not had much luck with that.  The final cleanup is what's on our agenda for today.  Yesterday we completed the great paint job of the Springs of Hope Orphanage playground equipment.  It was satisfying to see this job to fruition.  In between painting at the orphanage, the kids played with the toddlers and babies there and some found little brothers or sisters to bring home - watch out, parents!!   Things to ask your traveler about once they return home:  a cow's placenta, Mrs. Kundysek's burritos, T-Tots, morning chai, samosas, human funnels, shopping at Naivas, pbj's for breakfast...just in case they come home and say, "It was good."  355...does that number mean anything to you?  To us, it is another reason to praise our radical God. That is the number of kids that came to our final VBS today. Many of them prayed the sinner's prayer with us also.  We felt the Holy Spirit in Scott Chapel and God was glorified in a mighty way. Pastor Charles said that it was the most amazing VBS he has been part of at Scott Chapel with the highest attendance. We were all so grateful to our Lord for the 5 days of connecting with these sweet Kenyan children.  It was a bit hard for us after VBS, though, because we knew that it would be the last time to see the special friends we have made while here in Machakos.  Tears were shed from both the locals and the Americans. It's amazing to see how God has bound our hearts in such a short period of time.  We will be leaving this little town on Saturday morning to head for the African safari. Please pray that our goodbyes are meaningful and Spirit-led and that we finish our work projects well. The kids are mostly healthy except for a couple struggling with allergy issues, so you can also pray for continued health.  Grateful to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine,  Melissa PLEASE NOTE:  JON MILLET CALLED LAST NIGHT TO REPORT THAT THE OTHER 3 GROUPS ARE DOING WELL BUT THEIR WI-FI CONNECTIONS ARE NOT WORKING. NO NEED TO WORRY!

Team Thika

Great day in Thika today, we took a break from working to speak at 2 high schools. What a blessing it was! David spoke at one location and Pretlow at the other, they both did an amazing job. God's work is so awesome over here. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few....thankful for the opportunity to serve and thankful to the senders who made it possible for us serve in this capacity. We a different because of this...thank you! Tomorrow is another work day, we have two days left before we move on to the next location, please pray that we can finish all the work needed by this orphanage.


- Janice Connolly

Team Thika

Praise the Lord, we made it to Thika easily with no complications. The
hotel accommodations were above expectations. For out viewing pleasure, we haver a beautiful "chocolate" waterfall outside our dining room.


Once we were situated, we departed for Otto Hoffman Centre. It's an orphanage that cares for approximately 45 orphans, ages 3 to 12. They are precious and beautiful and live in very bleak circumstances. No water source and no electricity. They have a well, but no electricity to pump the water. The building is wired for electricity but there is no connection to the power lines. Despite the conditions, they were so happy to see us and welcomed us with songs of praise and worship. We were able to access their needs for the various work projects that begin this week. We did our first day of VBS and our kids presented Daniel in the lions den, teaching that God is with us when we need help. Parents, you would all be so proud of your children, they have shown great love and attention to the orphans who are so needy.

Tomorrow we paint and start building a wall around the orphanage. Please view
some of the photos from today.