Thursday in Vipingo

Today we began bright and early. Breakfast was at 7:30 and we loaded the bus at 8 am to begin our busy day. Our bus rides have been good. We take time to pray together and then have one of the missionaries tell us their story and the story of the center we support. Today we heard from Bruce O'Neal about the story of MANNA Worldwide. It is a joy to partner with them in Kenya and Nicaragua.

When we arrived in Vipingo the children were waiting to for us. They had a sign that welcomed us and they sang a song just for us. We went into the church building for a short presentation from the kids. They sang and recited their gratitude to God and to us. There were a lot of tears in the audience during this very special time!

We planted a tree and grabbed our supplies for the fun with the kids. I'll do my best to post some pictures later that include some of the fun things we did.

During this time we were privileged to have our first medical and dental clinic. A dentist and her assistant came from MANNA and a nurse who has a lot of mission field medicine experience. They partnered with Art, Rosie, Tracy and Lynn to run a medical and dental clinic. It was amazing! We are asking God to help us expand this ministry in the future.

After feeding the kids and eating the lunch of ugali and delicious cabbage we played with the kids during their recess time while Donna met with the teachers. She loves them and they love her. She brings supplies for them and loves on them in a way that touches my heart deeply.

In the afternoon the team went into the village to invite people to the celebration on Saturday. One of the groups brought the MANNA shoes they sold and gave them away in the village near Vipingo. It was very impactful for them. I'll do my best to get some of those pictures on too. A special thank you to all those who purchased the shoes. What a blessing they are to all who received them!!

We enjoyed some relaxing time in the center before we had to get ready to go. The medical/dental clinic was still seeing children. We had another pick up volleyball game and many just spent time with the kids.

Before we left the center presented us with gifts. The had a beautiful elephant carving made for Guy and congas for the women. They had a gift made for the men, but it wasn't ready so we will have to find out about that on Saturday.

We arrived back at our hotel around 6:30, cleaned up, had dinner and have enjoyed a quiet evening.

Our last piece of missing luggage finally arrived tonight. What a blessing! It contained some supplies we really needed for tomorrow and the weekend.

Tomorrow we head to Bomani to have fun with the kids.

Denise