The missionaries were able to go on wildlife safaris and see all sorts of animals such as zebras, elephants, cheetahs, monkeys, giraffes, warthogs, gazelles, camels, and more! (Lauren Clark photos)

The missionaries taught the children games, such as Duck, Duck, Goose, and everyone had so much fun taking part.

Lauren Clark enjoyed getting to know the children on her mission trip to Africa.

Submitted by Lauren Clark

On Tuesday, June 28, 2022, I got to start off the journey of a lifetime with seven other people. Dr. Andy Braams, Rick Sons, Chad Graves, Jeff Miles, Devon Sons, Melanie Lucas, Shelby Hurst, and I traveled over 20 hours to Kenya, Africa, on a mission trip.

We landed in Nairobi late at night and headed to our rooms at Brackenhurst. There, we were able to rest comfortably (so much more comfortable than being squished on planes for more than eight hours at a time) and woke up refreshed and excited! We then loaded our two vans with all of our luggage, about 18 suitcases, and started the long drive to Nanyuki. Nanyuki is the halfway location between Nairobi and Archer’s Post and it also sits on the equator.

On Friday, July 1, we left Nanyuki and drove to Archer’s Post, but first stopped at a church. We were able to see children and befriend them. Shelby passed out Lifesaver candies while Jeff took selfies. One of the most impactful moments was realizing that these children had never seen themselves before taking selfies because they don’t have mirrors. So, after anyone took pictures, we showed them the pictures on our phones and cameras. Their smiles and giggles after looking at themselves were contagious!

After meeting the children and touring the church, it was time for us to load up again and finish our drive to Archer’s Post. Once in Archer’s Post we checked into our rooms at Camel’s Gate. We had just enough time to drop off our suitcases and then loaded back into the vans to head out into the African bush. It was a long and very bumpy ride into the bush –  and there are no set roads. There were lots of different paths that the vans traveled. We stopped at one village’s church filled with ladies and their children. They kept looking at us and smiling – but also keeping their distance. Shelby was able to tell the Creation story here, with our friend Simon translating for her. We then traveled further into the bush to get to the village of Leshura. We were welcomed by ladies and children singing and dancing! Benson is the pastor of the church here.

This place and Benson are very special because the Fairfax Baptist Church helped them when the church was a sandy area under a tree, beside a dry riverbed. The Fairfax Baptist Church first helped Benson to get a picky-picky, motorbike, so that he wouldn’t have to walk hours to preach to the villages in the bush. Then they helped build a church. They also raised money to build a well for the people of Leshura. Before the well, the people were drinking nearby waste water.

God has worked wonders in Leshura and they have recently built an even bigger church with the help of a Korean missionary.  Melanie was able to tell those gathered a Bible story with the help of Simon translating.

We were able to do a safari on Saturday, July 2. We woke up early and drove to Samburu National Reserve. In our safari vehicle – Andy, Shelby, Melanie, our new friend Ann, and I found ourselves singing songs from and quoting “The Lion King” often! We saw zebras, baboons, elephants, giraffes, birds, monkeys, cheetahs, warthogs, gazelles, and dik-diks.

That night we drove to Lowangila to meet with Alan and Leah Fleming. They showed us their amazing home, shared with our group what they do, and we even got to have a dessert made with Leah’s solar oven. They then showed us their church.

The children’s choir came in to welcome us and sang songs for us. Melanie, Shelby, and I might have gotten up after the children’s choir was finished to return the welcome and sing “The Lord’s Army” for them!

Sunday, July 3, was a wonderful day! Our group got matching outfits made by the ladies of Archer’s Post so that we would fit in at Simon’s Ordination Service held today. The men had shirts and the women had dresses. Tribes and people from everywhere were there. There were hundreds of people here for the service – Simon helped them come to know Jesus and they wanted to celebrate with him. There was a lot of singing and dancing! The service lasted more than four hours and was very special.

Monday, July 4, was our first day doing VBS in Lowangila! Shelby, Chad and I went to Lowangila while the rest of the group went into the bush to spread God’s word. When we first arrived, there were probably around 20 children ready and excited for “Sunday School.” Shelby told the Creation story to the children with Leah Fleming and the pastor’s wife, Pauline both translating. We pulled some children up to act out the story, with one child acting out each day.

Then it was time for us to sing! I taught the children “Jesus Loves Me” and “The Lord’s Army.” After singing those songs a few times, Christian (the choir leader) brought up the children’s choir to sing. Afterwards, we took the children outside to teach them Duck, Duck, Goose. By this time we probably had 80 kids who had joined. Before we left for the day, we reviewed our story, Chad passed out candy, and we reminded them to come back the next day for “Sunday School.”

On Tuesday, July 5, Melanie, Shelby, and I started day two of “Sunday School” in Lowangila. We started with songs to bring the children together in the church. Then Shelby told the story of Noah. We brought items for balloon animals, thanks to Rick, and coloring book kits for the children. Shelby helped me make balloon poodles and hats for the children. I taught the children how to color with colored pencils. The children absolutely loved the balloons and coloring! We had about 100 kids join us. That night we got to see a school for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds that our new friend, Joshua, has opened. His wife is the teacher and he works at a store to pay for the rent, the cooks, and the food for the children. His wife isn’t paid anything and although the students are supposed to pay tuition they rarely do. He said that they have about 33 children and he doesn’t turn the kids away if they don’t pay because they won’t ever go back to school.

Wednesday, July 6, was our third and last day of “Sunday School” at Lowangila. Melanie told the story of Jesus’ birth with our new friend, Cyprian, translating for her. We reviewed the previous Bible stories that we taught and continued to sing the songs that we had all learned. The children got to have bracelets with Bible verses on them and bouncy balls! It was very hard to say goodbye and leave. We even had a group of children running beside our van all the way to the main road!

That night we were able to stay at Sarova Shaba, which is a very nice resort. We had ice cold pops, a cool and refreshing pool, and even had a ceiling fan in our bedrooms! That evening we were able to go to our new friend, Barnabas’ church at Shaba and Devon got to preach.

Thursday, July 7, was the start of our journey back home. We said our “see you laters” to the new friends we had made. On our way back to Nairobi for our flight, we stopped in Nanyuki to shop and experience the magic of the equator. We had a demonstration that if you are north of the equator, when water drains it spins clockwise. If you are south of the equator, the water spins counter clockwise. If you are standing directly on the equator the water doesn’t spin! When we got to Nairobi that evening, we were able to eat at a very cool restaurant called Carnivores. We got to try lots of different meats – including ostrich meatballs and crocodile. Then to the airport we went to board a nine hour overnight flight to London. From London we boarded flights to take us back to the States and bring us home.

While this was an amazing trip and I was excited to go, I will admit that I was also so scared! I was worried about what COVID would do. How would traveling go? Let alone, would the people of Kenya be receptive to our group and the gospel of Jesus that we would share? We had planned this trip for over a year and there were lots of things that almost stood in the way of it happening, but it was God’s plan for us all to go! He paved the way! I want to thank everyone who supported us and prayed for us. One verse that encouraged me for this trip was: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  – Matthew 17:20.