3 days of encouragement and joy in Jangwani...

Hello everyone...Its been such a busy week, and I'm beat, but God is so, so good. I have spent the last 3 days in Jangwani spending as much time as possible with the children. What an incredible, incredible blessing it is to be around such children - I just love them, and can't get enough of them.

Monday I spent all day in Jangwani with the teachers, children, Consolata and Pastor Isaiah. It was a real joy to see what the kids had learned and just to have the chance to play with them and see all of the progress made - including 2 new classrooms (5 total now), a new office and a new kitchen area. In the evening I had a meeting with Pastor Bob (my representative on the management committee), Muema, and Bukachi (the LIA Deputy Country Director).

The next day I went in early to spend time with the children, then we had a 7 hour meeting with the management committee to hear reports, then discuss going forward - a bit wearing to say the least, but it was a good time of assessment and looking forward.

Today was definitely one of the highlight days for me, and I am getting a knot in my chest and teary eyed as I sit here typing about it. It was closing day for the school - so there was an end year program for the school and all of the parents were invited. Anne, my Kenyan mother joined me in Jangwani to see the project for the first time and was so excited about it. The kids were presented with their grades for the year, and the top ones in the class received a small gift. Each child recieved a piece of candy and their own personal photograph (which I had taken of each child in May.) They were so excited about it. I sat in that program in awe of what had happened in the past year.

Pastor Isaiah asked me to give a brief speech. As I stood up and began speaking to the parents, I looked down at the children and looked into their eyes, and at their smiles and was thinking to myself what an incredible amount of potential there is in these children. What an incredible amount of hope there is because of each of these children. It was just a beautiful scene. I was looking out at the parents then and saw pride - as each child received their end year marks, the parents were so proud. I saw wide smiles on the parents' faces as I spoke - I have been accepted. After the program was over, the kids were hugging me and wanting me to take their picture - a smaller group of kids stayed for an hour after school was over. I swung them around on my arms, they sat on my knee and we made funny faces at each other. It was very hard to leave Jangwani today - I will be back next week, but the kids are out of school now and I won't see them until next year.

One other thing that I was able to see briefly was a particular aspect of the homebased care program. Those in the homebased care program have taken the initiative to start making beautiful floor mats and jewelry (which I will be bringing home to sell to help them out). It has been a very neat aspect of the project. I am looking forward to seeing what happens through this.

I am so happy, encouraged, extatic - put in any positive word you want. I am so blessed to be involved with this project. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to raise the funds and awareness about this project - to enable others to know about these remarkable children. Praise be to Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfector of all things good!

Back in Kenya...

Hello everyone! I arrived in Kenya yesterday. I left on Friday from Newark, NJ and arrived in London, England Saturday morning. I had a 10 hour layover, so I met a couple of friends, Mercy and Tim, who live in the UK and we spent the day walking around London to all of the various sites. From there I Had a second overnight flight from London to Nairobi. I arrived at 7 am Kenyan time. Bob and Yoland were there to pick me up and when I got to there house I laid down around 9 and didn't wake up until 4:30.

It's really good to be back in Kenya, to see everyone and just be back to my second home. I head into Mathare tomorrow to spend some time with the kids at the project. Then Wednesday we have a committee meeting to assess this past year and look forward at the year to come. So, that's it for now. Will write again soon. Cheers...

Myrtle Beach, SC

Yesterday I spoke at Celebration Presbyterian Church in Myrtle Beach, SC. things went well and I had a good response afterward. A decent number of people took information on the project, so that was good. A highlight for me was getting the chance to be back with Gary Lowe, a former youth pastor at my home church in Grove City. It was great getting to see he and his wife Lisa and their kids, Carter and Sarah Jane.

I head to Atlanta, GA this morning to meet up with "Shack" and his family (one of my dad's friends from Westminster). I will meet with a foundation tomorrow at 4 pm, so for the few of you that read this, please keep me in your prayers at that time. Well, I need to get on the road. Cheers!

Up and coming in the life of Adam...

I figured I would give people an idea of what is going on with me, so you can be praying fo things specifically, but also just have an idea of what I'm up to. So, here it goes...Saturday, November 3 I will be driving down to Myrtle Beach, SC. I am preaching at 2 services Sunday at my old youth pastor's church. Then Monday morning I will be driving to Atlanta, GA. I will be meeting with a foundation in Atlanta either Monday or Tuesday and staying with one of my dad's college buddies.

From experience I am guessing you are ready for a new paragraph...Tuesday night I head to Rome, GA to meet up with the Carvers. I will be staying with them, then speaking at their church Wednesday night. Thursday morning I head to Nashville to stay with my sister, brother in law and niece (oh and Bailey, can't leave him out). Friday morning I drive up to Louisville, KY and will be in a number of meetings. There is a National Medical Missions Conference at Southeast Christian Church, whom we have partnered with on the project. Saturday morning I will drive from Louisville back to my new home of West Chester, PA.

New paragraph - It will be a busy time. I would ask that you pray for God's hand to be upon me as I travel and as I speak - that I would represent the Kenya Children Project well.

So, a few meetings that following week in the Philadelphia area, then I head to Kenya the day after Thanksgiving. I will be meeting with the Management Committee so we can discuss what has gone well, what hasn't and any changes we need to make to the original budget.

By the way things are going incredibly well in Kenya. They are doing an absolutely amazing job! So, that is it for now - I will try to be more regular with my blogging, and pop in some of the kids stories when I can. Cheers!