Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

BLOGGING TAKES FOR STINKIN EVER!!!!!!!
I am so sorry that I have done such a terrible job with keeping you guys updated!
Blogging is hard for me, though, because it takes time and well there are just so many
other exciting things to be doing!! haha. I am going to try a lot harder now to keep you
updated! I promise!!

Because I talk a lot about the food to you all, I wanted to show you a few pictures!! The
first picture is Somaki (fish). IT IS SOOOOO GOOOD!!! The second picture (well there was
supposed to be a second picture. Sorry it's not there!) is Kachambaru (avocados,
tomatoes, red onions, carrots, cilantro, lemon juice, and cucumbers).
YUUUUUMMMMMMYYYY!!! These two food have been my favorite! :) If you can't tell,
this next picture is sugarcane! I had my first experience of eating it on the way to Mwingi.
Pastor Wambua and I were driving along and as we entered a town, he stopped on the side
of the road and people began to crowd around the car! They all had different things in their
hands-oranges, bananas, peas, tomatoes, and sugarcane- that they were trying to sell us.
Pastor bought a large amount of sugarcane and we began eating it! I have you know, I only
ate a few pieces, but he ate two whole bags!! haha. :) I had trouble biting it because my teeth
aren't near as strong as a Kenyans. I made more of a mess than anything!

Like I said on facebook, riding motorcycles is the way to go!! Charles, me, and my best

buddy Saul! They are a little scary because of all the bumpy roads, but definitely fun!

Who says

we can't

be father/

daughter?!?

At the

church in

Kumowongo

(not sure if

I spelled

that right),

each team

was asked to

plant a tree.

One from

America,

South Africa,

and Nairobi.

I was so excited when Pastor askedme to plant

the tree

from Nairobi!

This blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't post some pictures of my beautiful children that I get to spend

each day with!!These are all my boys!! Yes, I am claiming ALL OF THEM! These older boys like to make

fun of the way I talk. They continually try and copy my accent! They have learned, though,

that if they make fun of me too much I will chase them down and tickle them! haha.

This picture is my dearest little boy, Bilal.

He is my helper inclass one!

Yes, that is an extremely big beetle. He thought it would be funny

to throw it on me. I didn't laugh. ;)

Well, I hope this blog will allow you to take a step on this jouney that I

have been on. I am truly having an amazing time! I wish I could express

to you just how great it has been!

By the way, the dress making class finished my African dress today!! :) :)

It's SOOOO pretty! I am going to wear it on Sunday, so I will post pictures

then! Maureen took me shopping in the city today for accessories, and boy

was it fun! Maureen says I look more and more Kenyan each day. All I

have to do now is paint my skin with some charcoal! hehe. :) I hope you all

are doing great!! Thank you for the prayers and all the comments you have

beenleaving! They help me not miss you so much!

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Can I please stay?!?!

Hey everyone!

I hope you are all doing well! I know you are all praying for me, and I just
want to say thank you for that! Things on this side of the world are great!
Oh how I love it here........ Well, just so you all know, I cried for the first time
this week. How will I ever leave this place?!? Hmm....

The past few days have been good! The team from North Carolina is here
and have been doing a VBS at the youth centre. I have also been helping them.
To be honest, it is a little weird to have other muzungus around. I was pretty
much getting used to being the only one! haha.

Anyways, we are currently in Mwingi which is about two and a half hours east of
Nairobi. We will be doing ministry here until Sunday!

So... here are the exciting things I have done in the last few days.
1. I have ridden a motorcycle 3 times in the last 2 days!!! SO MUCH FUN!
2. I have been cooking with Mama Joe. We have made ugali (flour and water
mixed together), chipati (kind of like a flour tortilla but better), somaki (fish),
kachambaru (a yummy to my tummy kind of salad dish), and many other Kenyan
dishes! I cannot wait to fix all these dishes for you guys at home!
3. The dress making class is making me an African dress!!!! I got to pick out the
fabric and design, and the class at school is going to make it! :) Sophia is also
going to take me shopping for some shoes and jewelry to wear with it! :) YAYA!
4. I met with Jack Yates on Monday. If you don't know who that is, he is an IMB
missionary here in Kenya. He has been here for 30+ years and helped me to get
my school to sign off on this trip here so that I can use it for school credit! He is
such an amazing man! He gave me the best advice, and has invited me to stay
with him and his wife for a night next week!
5. I have found another kid I want! haha. His name is Nathan!!! I think he makes about
the 100th kid I want! hmm.... how many kids can I fit in my suitcase?!?
6. We have pretty much decided that I am no longer a muzungu, but I am a Kenyan!!
My skin may be of a white person, but my heart is of a Kenyan! I am fitting more and
more into this culture everyday!

I will try and post a few pictures tomorrow! I hope you all understand just how long it
takes to do that! It could be an extra hour just to load pictures.

I hope you all have an amazing rest of the day! I love you to the moon and back!

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Crossing the color barrier...

Okay all you people who have been impatient.... here is your blog :) :)

The last few days have been good! I got sick to my stomach on Friday, and had to leave

the centre early. It did not make me happy, but I needed to rest. And now I have a cold!

Pastor Wambua has said "Bless You" to my sneezes more times than I can count. Satan is

going to do anything he can to keep me from loving on people, but I refuse to give in!

So, I was trying to decide what I wanted this post to be about. I could tell you every little

detail of what's going on, but instead I want to tell you what's on my mind. I am pretty sure

by now you have all figured out that I love this place. It is actually fun to wake up each

morning for a new day. I enjoy going to work because I get to work for my Lord and Savior

doing something I can't get enough of- teach kids who want to be hugged and loved on and

you know I can do that!!

Something that has really been on my mind for the last week is just how much I want to

overcome the barriers of this white/black thing. You know, every day I walk to school and

what happens? I get stared at. Yes, I realize that being white is kind of odd in a predominately

black country, but why else do I get stares? I wonder what goes on in the minds of the people

staring at me. I wonder if all they see is my white skin and the money I spent to come here, or

do they see my God?

I've been pretty overwhelmed with all the kids at the centre. They bring me so much joy! I

have even learned a ton of their names! One thing that I have loved is that most of them no

longer see me as this crazy muzungu, but most of them see me as Chloe- their friend, their

hug and love for the day, and their teacher. They are starting to see "me" not just my skin.

I'm sure

you are

wondering

what the deal

is with the

pictures of

the hands,

but I just want

you to look

closely. I want

you to see

more than

just the hands.

In these pictures you see my white hand and my little girl's black hand, but is that all you see?

For me I don't look at the differences between our skin anymore. Does the difference in our skin

really make us different?Take the picture on the left for example, look at my hand with

the blue bandaids (I'm okay, just rubbed a few blisters on my hand! My skin is not quite as tough as a Kenyan's), do the blue bandaids change what my hand is? No. My hand is still a hand. So, does

the color of my skinmake a difference in what my hand is or does? NO. I'm a precious child of

God just like these Kenyan children are. We are different colors, but really we are the same.

Meet my beautiful sister Melissa! Can't you

see how much we look alike?!? This little girl

and I have soooooo much fun together.

Graceface, being with her makes me not miss

you so much :( Melissa is 10 and full of life!!

She plays with myhair everyday, she chases

little kids to tickle them with me, and she has

the best sense of humor! I love my little sister!

One thing that has meant so much to me the last few days is that Pastor Wambua has

now started introducing me as his second daughter. I am no longer a guest, but I am a

member of their family. :)I am not just a white girl to them, but their daughter. Why does

color matter, right?

This is my little girl...yes I did say that. She is my

little girl at least for a little while. Her name is Jennifer

and she is 3 years old. One day I will have one just like

her! Everyday when I getto the centre she runs to me

and gives me a huge hug! She thenholds my hand until

I have to leave her. Hint Hint... she is the hand in the

pictures above! We play together, she knows my name,

and we even tell each other "I love you." My sweet little

girl :) :) :)

I won't go into lots of details about the last few days, but Saturday Pastor, me, and Joab

went to see my brother, Jeff, at boarding school. It was about 3 hours away and in a completely

different side of Kenya. We drove through the mountains! Mama Joe and Melissa visited my

other brother, Joe, at his boarding school. After a long day of visiting we left to pick up a

group of 7 people from North Carolina at the airport. They will be here for 2 weeks along

with a missionary family from South Africa. They will be doing a lot of the same things we

did last year. Today at church one of the men preached and Bosco translated. All I could

think about was when Daryl preached at Baptist Chapel! Good times :)

Well, it's been quite a long few days. I am going to get some rest! I have a busy week! I will be

teaching at the centre Monday-Thursday. Wednesday Pastor Wambua is letting me take a

motorcycle to school! YIPPEE! Thursday afternoon I will be leaving with this group of Americans

to Mwingi (another part of Kenya) to work at some of Baptist Chapel's mission churches

until Sunday!

I hope you all have a fantastic next few days! I hope to post again maybe mid-week!

My prayer this week is that as I go from place to place here in Kenya, instead of seeing the color

of my skin people would see the glory of my God. I want them to see my Jesus.

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My Kenyan Birthday....and life for the past couple of days

Let me just apologize for not posting the last few days! Not only have things been crazy busy

here, but when I wanted to write a blog either the internet wouldn't work or the power was out;

therefore, I could not post! So I am sorry! This next blog may be a little long, but I want to update

you all on the past few days.

So....here it goes!!! Let's start with my birthday!

I could not have asked for a better 19th birthday!! I don't think there could be anything better

than getting to celebrate my birthday in a place I absolutely love. I missed you all, but thank

you so much for understanding why I need to be here! Also, thank you for all the many birthday

cards :):):) They were sooooo sweet!

So my day started out very early. Joab came to get me around 7:30 a.m. to go to the city. We

decided to volunteer at New Life Christian Home (the orphanage we went to last year) and

volunteer for half of the day. It was so much fun! This orphanage takes in abandoned babies

that have HIV/AIDS. Seeing the sad faces of the kids when they come in and then the happy

faces they have after a few months is amazing! Mama and Daddy, I found a baby girl I would

like to adopt! She is 6 months and her name is Hope. I told her that I could be her mommy :)

Can I have her for my birthday? Please! haha. I know that one day I will have the chance to

adopt a beautiful African child. I will just wait for God's timing, though.

We were able to play with the toddlers and then help feed the babies. Can I just tell you that

I got spit up on, thrown up on, and a bowl of baby food dropped on me. I would say that it was

a successful morning!

When we got done at the orphanage, Joab took me to eat pizza! It was definitely a nice change

of food! It even tasted like American pizza! YUMMY!

After a long day of being in the ciy, we came back to the house for dinner. Melissa (my lovely

little sister), Mama Joe (my Kenyan mother), Mama Grace (my Kenyan Aunt), Sophia (my

friend- she also walks me to the centre every morning), and Joab (my brother and best friend)

all ate supper with me! Afterwards, they surprised me with a cake and sang Happy Birthday

to me!! IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

Kenyan traditions for birthdays are very different. After singing to me, Mama Joe gave

me a knife and let me cut the cake. I then had to get a piece of cake and cut it in many pieces.

I took one bite and then fed each person in the room one bite. It was so neat. I felt united with my

family! Also, no one can have a piece of cake unless I say so!! HAHA..

Ha! My cake was pink :) :) :)

As I was thinking about this coming year as a nineteen year old... all I could think about was

what else I could do for God. How else can I bring glory to His name? As I was reading my Bible

for the night, I came across Psalm 19:4 which says, "May the words of my mouth and the

meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, My Rock, and My Redeemer." I am

making this my prayer for the next year. May everything I do be pleasing to my Lord! I am

praying that this next year be even better than the last! I am thankful for life, and I pray that

God would use me in such BIG ways to better His Kingdom!

So... the next thing I want to tell you about is this picture below....

If you know me, you know that I LOVE CHICKEN!! Any kind

really... I could eat it every single day for 3 meals a day. Well,

I had never seen a chicken die so it didn't hurt my feelings to eat

it, but now I have seen the light! I have seen a poor innocent

chicken be happy and alive for one minute and then get caught

and have its head sawed off. This chicken was my neighbor's pet,

but not for long!!! Hmmm.... it was really sad :( I even teared up!

I feel like this whole trip so far has been a lot about chickens.

Today, I picked up a little chick because remember I said that

no animal is scared of a human here. Not even a muzungu

(white person) Hahaha. So I picked this little chick up and all

I could think about was the hen I saw yesterday that got its head

taken off. I don't think seeing this is enough to make me not eat

chicken again, but it will make me think twice about eating it!

For the past two days (Monday and Tuesday) I have gone to the youth centre to teach.

Monday I was with grade 4 and today I was with grade 1. I LOVE IT!! Monday I got to teach

English and Spelling. It was wonderful. Maybe one day I will end up living here and teaching

at the youth centre! Today in the 1st grade I read them some Bible Stories, played a million

games, and sang many songs! I also sat in on a Swahili class. Since I am not advanced in this

language, I have been invited to sit in everyday with grade 1 so that I can learn the language.

can already say many sentences and many common phrases. The kids love it when I try to

speak Swahili, and they LOVE teaching me new words to say! At the end of both days, Saul (my

best friend at school) and I filled water balloons for both classes. First we had a water balloon toss

which they loved. Then, we filled some extra balloons and threw them at the kids! It was a surprise

attack! Today, Saul threw balloons at the teachers! The kids and teachers both loved it! Miss Kim,

I think they were a hit!!!!

Don't these kids just make you happy?? I get so excited to tell the children tuo nane kesho (see

you tomorrow) at the end of everyday! They have truly stolen my heart!

Well, I LOVE YOU ALL!! I hope that I have not tired you with this long blog, but you know me...

sometimes I just have quite a lot to say! Kwaheri (Goodbye) :)

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So you can see life from my eyes....

Can I just say that I have finally been told that I am eating like a Kenyan! When I got here

Tuesday, I took very small bites, but now I can fill my spoon and put the whole thing in my
mouth!! haha. I am sure you all wanted to know that... I am really starting to enjoy the food!
At first, I didn't know if I would be able to eat 3 meals of heavy food (so many vegetables)
and 4 cups of hot tea a day, but now I know I can do it!! I am actually starting to love it. I
have realized that the reason people eat so much heavy food is because they walk so much
and work so hard. The last two days have made me very hungry! Last night's meal was my
favorite. We had mashed potatoes, rice, stew (meat, carrots, onions, beans, and cabbage),
bananas, and greens! This morning for breakfast I had Kenyan pancakes with my mammaw's
strawberry jam! YUMMY!


My two days at the youth centre have been amazing!! It is a little different being the only
muzungu (white person) around. All the children flock to me! I am surrounded constantly by
at least 50 kids all who want to lay a hand on me. I have been pinched and rubbed more times
that I can count. I have tried to tell them that my skin will not come off and it will not change
colors!! A lot of them do not understand that, though beacause many of the children (especially
the younger ones) do not speak English. Today I let the hair and beauty department at the centre
braid my hair! I have been reminded that Africans pull very hard! OUCH! My head still hurts.


Yesterday, I was a little upset because I was told that the reason everyone stares at me is not just
because I am "white." Yes, I am a different color, but a lot of them stare because they are hurt. They
are hurt because I spent thousands of dollars to come here and many of them cannot even afford to
give their children food each day. I was very emotional yesterday. I cried and was teary eyed all
day long. These people are right. I did spend thousands of dollars to come to this place, but what I
want them to see is that I came FOR THEM! I am here because I love them. I love them so much
I am here because I think that what I have to offer is much better than money. I want to share the
Word of God with them. Oh I pray that before I leave, these people would see that. May they see
that these earthly things will pass (including food), but if they have Jesus Christ they will continue
to live!


OKay.. On to the pictures!!

This is my BESTEST friend Joab! He comes and visits
every night for dinner and to keep me company! This picture
was taken in a very loud, obnoxious, and hot matatu
(public transportation)! Their were about 15 people in this van.
Joab has helped me so much here in Kenya to fit in! If he wasn't
here then, well, I don't know if I could've adjusted so quickly. He
has taught me everything from the proper way to fix tea to being a
confident muzungu among many Kenyans!

My lovely bed and mosquito net :) :) It is so nice that they haven given me my own room! And man, this bed sleeps good!!

Well, Jacob tells me that I attract farm animals! All of you
know how much I want a goat! Since my dad says no, I guess
I will have to keep one while in Kenya!! When I picked this
little guy up, the momma was not very happy with me..... One
thing that I love about the animals here is that none of them
are scared of humans! I have already gotten to randomly pet pigs,
goats, and well.... chickens. They run throughout the streets.

I knew all of you who went last summer would appreciate this
picture :)

I couldn't believe it when I saw the school! It looks like a whole new school from when we came last summer. There are now 3 floors, and an underground level. The underground level has a staff room and a library! Yes, a library!! Hundreds of books were donated to the centre! I have started reading one childrens book to my friend Saul each day. Yesterday I read him Green Eggs and Ham and then today I read him There's a Wocket in my Pocket! He loves Dr. Seuss, but had never read any of those books. The 1st floor has 6 classrooms, and the 2nd floor has 5 class rooms and a huge office for Principal Moses. The 2nd floor also has other administration offices and the youth classrooms. They are down to only 8 youth at the moment, but are hoping to bring more in. The third floor is a HUGE assembly room. Complete with a stage and ceiling fans. It will also have tile floors! The school looks amazing. I was very impressed! I think having a nice school to learn in brings hope to these students.

This..... is why I am here. I love each and
every child. Currently there around 295 kids
at the youth centre. I hope to learn each ones
name. It is a big goal, but I can do it :) I am
also learning swahili by the way. Principal Moses
is teaching me, and he said I could take classes
with the younger children!! He has even given
me homework. He says by the time I leave, I
should at least know simple Swahili.









Well, I am going to say goodnight! I just spent two hours doing this blog! Uploading pictures takes
FOREVER!! I love you all :)

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I AM IN KENYA!! Woohoo!

The flight here wasn't terrible. Long... but not terrible. While at the airport
in Atlanta I was able to meet 4 college students all going to different parts
of Africa to do missions. We all ended up having the same flight, so really
I wasn't alone at all! One of the girls even went all the way to Kenya so we
helped each other at the airport :) I think God knew that I needed friends.
Ya know I did get my mom's mouth so me and not talking don't go well
together. haha. (mama, you are laughing right now reading this-I just know it!)

My bags did make it to Kenya, but were SO DIRTY! Miss Kim, one of your
duffel bags ended up with a hole in it as well. SORRY! I will pay for it!

After getting my bags, the excitement started to really role in! I knew that after
I exited the doors, I would be in a place that I love. A place full of adventure! I
was so happy to see Mama Joe (Jane, Pastor Wambua's wife), Philip
(Wambua's brother), and Joab (my bestest Kenyan friend who came to
surprise me!!). Joab also brought me flowers!!! 15 orange roses :)

After we got my bags loaded in the car, we made our way to Wambua's
house in Lucky Summer. I guess I had forgotten how crazy Kenyans drive!
I thought we were going to die!!!!! ha. Philip laughed at me. He said,
"Klowie no like my driving?" He says my name funny. I tried to spell it the
way he pronounces it!

So, things to note on my first day in Kenya. Well, really only half of a day.
1. It's not smart to go without sleep for two days before making it to Kenya.
2. Fifteen orange roses make things A LOT better (you should all take
note to that! hahaha)
3. Make sure to eat two plate fulls of food or Kenyans get angry!
4. Getting called a muzungu (white person) is really starting to go to
my head! I like feeling like a celebrity!
5. stop for hot coffee or tea at least 4 to 5 times a day or you will be sorry.
6. bathing out of a bucket is really not as bad as it sounds. I kind of liked it :)
7. squatty potty's.... gotta love em'!
8. make sure you plug the right adapter into the wall then plug in the
blow dryer. A small burst of
fire and a whole Kenyan home losing power because of you is no fun!
9. I love my mosquito net that hangs from the ceiling over my bed! It kind
of makes me feel safe
and secure!

Well, this is my first day all summed up! You can just imagine the details!
I'm WAYYY too tired to write them all in.

Today started very early. Although I took a day of rest, rest was not really on
my priority list. I WANTED TO EXPLORE, and explore is what I did. I
needed to go into the city to exchange some money so Joab and I traveled
Kenyan style! We walked about 20 minutes to a place where the matatu's
(vans used for public transportation) pick you up. We then got in a matatu
and rode 15 minutes to the city. Boy, that ride was CRAZY!! Kenyan drivers....
boy oh boy. It is definitely going to take me a little while to get used to them!
When we got into the city we had to walk another 20 minutes to catch a bus
to the other side of town. We rode the bus for 15 minutes and then walked
another 15 minutes to get to our destination. A lot of walking, but I loved it!
Joab took me to exchange some money and then he took me to where he
interns. It is a place called TMA (Transforming ministries Africa- I think that is
what it stands for). I LOVED IT THERE! It is a Christian organization
whose goal is to love on Kenyans and share the Gospel with them. They
want to share the Word with Kenya so that Kenyans will share with the rest
of Africa. Joab says I will be working with them some while I am here. One
thing Sandy and Lee (the Americans who run TMA) told me helped them when
moving to Kenya is that their culture is not wrong, it is just different.

After a very long day of visiting and seeing the city, we finally made our
journey back to Lucky Summer, and then to Baptist Chapel for a service.
It was wonderful!

Funny story: On the way back to Lucky Summer there was a motorcycle
and a chicken (kuku) coming straight at me. Well, Joab is trying to make me
Kenyan so he told me not to be scared because neither would hit me. I basically
played chicken with a real chicken. Needless to say, the chicken got very excited
because of the passing motorcycle. Instead of running across the road, it ran/flew
at me and hit me in my face!!!! I wanted to tell that thing...."Chicken, do you
know that I will eat you!!" Joab and all the rest of the Kenyans around me
died laughing. I was so embarrassed!

I am loving Kenya so far! It is a whole new/different/exciting trip from last
summer. I am definitely seeing a whole new side of the Kenyan culture. I
asked Joab to make me as Kenyan as possible in the next two months! I
want to see life like they do. They are so loving and truly have a servant heart.
Mom and Dad.... I may decide to stay in Kenya :) :) I know you will be okay
with that! hahaha.

I love you all and I am so thankful for all the encouragement! You people who
hid all the cards in my bags- you are very very sneaky! I appreciate each one!
I wish I could go into more detail now but Mama Joe says I need to go to bed!
hahaha. It will be a busy day tomorrow. I will start teaching at the youth centre
which means I will be getting up at 6 a.m. and walking 30 minutes to get to the
school! Thank you so much for the prayers! Pray that every part of me would
display Christ. I want His light to shine from my life!

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