Today is the end of day 3 in Central America. Today was another awesome day of assisting local leaders. Today at the sports camp Jerome and I (Peter) started the day off at a new school and led their PE program. We took 4th graders to play soccer at a park 20 minutes away, running a couple drills and playing soccer games with all the kids. We then returned and worked with 3rd graders. We played various games including monkey in the middle and three flags up to share some American games. Once we concluded, we returned to the school. I started to attempt to talk to the kids with the little Spanish I had when one kid walked up to me and asked me to autograph her hand. Of course I said, “Sí”. Then, simultaneously, all the kids began to swarm me for an autograph, and proceeded to swarm Jerome for his signature. It was just a heartwarming experience for them to show us how much we mean to them. Also, during lunch, God answered my prayer for a PB&J that I was craving. We then transitioned to play baseball with the kids from the two schools and we began to teach English to the kids. After two hours of baseball, we played soccer for an additional two hours. After playing and building relationships with the kids we shared a devotional of David and Goliath. Lastly, we returned to base to listen to the testimonies of some of the site leaders.
Hey! Alina here. Our travels were long with just a few rough patches, but overall it went pretty smoothly. Praise God for safe travels. We are so excited to finally be here and experience this beautiful culture and country.
Our partner organization is absolutely lovely! The library is amazing. It is not a huge library, but it gives a very homey, welcoming and comfortable feeling. There are rooms dedicated to different subjects like fiction, science, family and kids. They even have some of my favorite books that I don’t usually see in libraries. Also, the staff is so kind and knowledgeable. I’ve loved getting to talk to them.
I am so thankful that God has allowed us to be here to impact the people in this country and experience their culture. We’re praying for God to use us to bless them and trusting that he will according to his purpose.
We had a wonderful dinner all together with our field workers and afterwards, we got some delicious ice cream. It was nice walking around the city and spending time with each other.
Hey friends and family, Emmalee here! Thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers, and for checking in here for an update on our trip so far! ❤️ We certainly miss you all, but the excitement of being in the Middle East and altogether is REAL. We can’t wait to see how God moves in our lives and here at the library! He’s been so good to us already by getting us here safely, providing rest and comfort as we settled in after all our travel, and shining his light and love through our new friends at the library.
To kick it off, let me tell ya about our travel. There were many ups and downs, that’s for sure! (Literally ups and downs with 4 flights, HA!) Nonetheless, we made it, after about a day and a half of travel… at least I think; it gets kind of confusing with the time changes and such. It was so sweet once we finally made it into the city and where we’re staying, and got a chance to clean up and get some quality sleep. The library and our rooms are GREAT! We were all happily surprised to see such beautiful floors, art covering the walls, and loads of books and movies all over the library. We can’t wait to get to work and get to know some of the locals that come visit. ☺️
For me, it’s hard to highlight just one thing since pretty much our entire first day here has been awesome. I was able to sleep in (more than I planned, but I think I really needed it), then get up and grab some coffee and get ready for the day. After a bit, we got some info from the library staff about what all we can expect on this trip, and all the things we’ll get to do! A new wave of excitement came over all of us again at that point. Then we went to a local restaurant and had our first authentic meal altogether! It was so yummy, and to top it off, we went to a local ice cream shop for dessert. 😋 Pretty soon here, we’ll all catch some z’s again and kick off our second day. YAY!
Thanks again for checking in, stay tuned for our next update! And please keep praying for our all-around health individually and as a team. There’s a lot more in store for us, and we can’t wait to share about it next time! 🤗
AMAZING views flying over Canada 🤩 This was a great start to our long-haul, 9-hour flight.We finally made it!! Our field worker and the director of the library, met us at the airport with a couple vans and a luggage truck to take us to the library.Beautiful building! This is where we get to stay and connect with the community for the next week and a half or so.Free time = photo opps! The library is gorgeous inside and out, and the weather today was so nice. A great start to our time in-country!Dinner with everyone! We were so ready for this.SELFIE WITH ICE CREAM!!! This was such a sweet treat after our tasty dinner. We just couldn’t resist after multiple locals told us we had to try it. 😋
Hi family and friends! After many, many hours of travel and several flights, we arrived and got through customs in the Middle East! Some of our luggage was not as blessed and we are still waiting on its arrival so please be praying we get that soon! We can’t wait to update again soon about our ministry!
Hi family and friends! After a long night of travel, we arrived, got settled, and began our orientation with our ministry partners! We can’t wait to update about our experience with the ministry soon 🙂
Team East Africa A landed safely in California on Tuesday afternoon! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for this team throughout their journey. It is clear that the Lord was answering prayers throughout their trip and we know they would not have had this experience without your faithful support.
Please continue to be praying for the East Africa A team as they re-enter the US and experience jet lag and reverse culture shock. Pray that they remain encouraged by their time in East Africa and that their faith would be strengthened even as they return to their regular rhythms and routines.
Make sure to ask your team member about their experience and how you can be praying for them and supporting them specifically! We thank you all!
Praise God! The team has made it safely to the airport and is getting ready to embark on their first flight. As they get ready to board the plane and have an overnight flight, please join us in praying for their physical safety and health (and some good rest), and ask that God would be preparing their hearts to experience a new culture and engage in ministry.
We will update again when the team arrives and gets settled in Central America!
Praise the Lord! The team arrived safely at the airport and all has been smooth. As they embark on their first flight and get ready for a very long day of travel ahead of them, please join us in praying for their physical safety and health, and ask that the Lord would reveal himself in new ways to the team and work through them in this new place.
We will update again when the team arrives and gets settled in the Middle East!
Hey all!! As our trip comes to a close, we are making the best of each and every moment that is left. Here is a break down of how our week ended. 😄
Thursday was a full day of serving at the hospice, VBS, and a visit with friends. After breakfast at our outreach host family’s place we walked a couple of miles on the red dirt roads to the hospice. The Gluck family left for a home visit with a pastor friend and the others were there helping out in any way possible ie. cooking, playing with kids, home visits, talking with guests there, and worship. The afternoon we served over 230 kids during VBS at Brook of Faith. We focused on the fruit of the spirit: goodness and told ‘The Good Samaritan’ story. One of our favorite moments was singing the song, “I thank God”- the spirit was electric and hearing kids singing at the top of their lungs gave us chills. After VBS the teachers graciously invited us to stay for chai tea. Later that night we were invited over to a ELI pastor’s home where his wife made the most amazing African food! She must have spent the entire day cooking. In fact the outreach team saw her at the market early that same morning. At dinner the family shared of their long relationship with D.Gluck and appreciation for his heart to serve in any capacity.
Friday was our last day in the village. With our departure upon us, the morning was somber and a bit frantic as we prepared for our last day of VBS & goodbyes. We had created so many memories, friends, and saw into a world we didn’t understand before. And now we feel apart of the village especially with our new names given by the bishop (mentioned in a previous update). The hospice put on a worship filled ceremony which involved singing, special messages from the people we worked alongside, and a ceremonial Eastern African send-off. The ladies were wrapped in a long skirt with beautiful prints on them, bracelets, and a small gift. And the gents were dressed in an off the shoulder gown and were given bracelets and a smalll gift as well. Next was VBS but we had a special time planned for the kiddos. The story for that day was Jesus’ crucifixion to represent LOVE as the fruit of the spirit. After all worshipping together the team split in their groups and stations. Hannah, Deb, Daniel and Titus rotated with their teams that they had bonded with through the week. Ryan at the Games station played soccer, volleyball, frisbee, and hand claps. Music station sang an original Gluck family song J.D. taught them about peace. For craft station with Chloe and Kathleen the kids filled a cross with colorful tissue paper, a prayer, and their names in it. And the snack station with Mama G. had American fruit snacks. The kids’ big surprise was that they each got their photo taken with a Polaroid camera by Kayden and Bella! It was a joy to see when they found out they were able to take the photo home. VBS ended with a heart felt goodbye from the school staff and kids, followed by a big group photos and of course, chai tea. Later that night our field workers and their families (most are village elders and leaders) and the team got together for our last meal their in the village. We shared stories, memories, and lots of laughs together. The time ended with final thank you’s from everyone in the room. The field workers shared how encouraging our team was to them especially after a couple years of COVID isolation. You could feel the love, respect, and honor each of us had for one another. The byes were tough and there were many tears. But as our neighbors here say, tutaonana tena! (See you again!) if not here on earth then in heaven when we all meet again. 🥰
It was difficult to leave Saturday morning but our drivers had arrived to take us to our Safari/ debrief. We drove for 5 hours through the beautiful countryside and watched the landscape change from jungle to mountains, savannahs and cities. We even got to stop for a quick picture at the equator! We arrived safely to our beautiful safari lodge and were blown away by the food and luxury of this place. After a late lunch we loaded our vans with pop top roofs and stood up inside eager to see the animals (it felt like we were in Jurassic park!). Our field workers had encouraged us to now soak up the beauty of the land and African animals after experiencing God’s beauty among the people.
With wide open eyes and big smiles we discovered a pride of lionesses and cubs, awkward but graceful giraffes, mysterious and huge hippos, rare black and white rhinos, entertaining baboons, uniquely striped zebras, and thousands of pink flamingos lining the lake. We took a lot of pictures but we know they won’t quite do it justice. The lyrics from a song we had sung with the hospice chaplain a day before rang truer now, “oh lord my God- when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made…thy power throughout the universe displayed. How Great thou art!”
Sunday (Happy Father’s Day to all our amazing dads!) we took a couple game drives to see more animals and also had some intentional group time to prepare ourselves for going home. We talked about the stories we’ll share and how we’ll try to capture this experience in words. We have learned and experienced so much. THANK YOU in advance for those of you who will listen and provide safe places for us to share! Using our Swahili we had interacted with the staff at our safari lodge and they were so impressed that they invited us to join them for their staff church fellowship time. It was so sweet to worship together as brothers and sisters of God. The “William Jessup choir” sang “people from every nation and tongue- from generation to generation- we worship you!” and the Gluck guys joined a staff member keyboard player as the band. We ended the evening with a delicious dinner and some team time praying and talking about our re-entry to the US in a few days.
We are now on the road on our way to Nairobi and in a few hours or so we’ll be boarding our first flight to come home. Please pray for safe journeys, stable stomachs and peace as we anticipate our long travels home.
We can’t express our thanks enough for how you’ve prayed for us, supported us, and for the ways you’ll help us process as we get home. You are a significant part of this kingdom experience and we are looking forward to returning home with you soon. 🤗
Hello family and friends! Here’s an update from our most recent day. We started our day early for church. We left at 7 to a church that was located at a hospital. They had a special service for father’s day. The choir sang and danced. We danced and sang with them. It was amazing to praise God in such a joyful way as a community. The preacher was a doctor and he taught on biblical fatherhood. We then had lunch with the girls which was delicious. After that we went swimming at a ymca pool and worked on teaching the girls how to swim. They were nervous at first but eventually all of them were excited to try. Some of the team stayed out of the pool and hung out with the babies. We also did water aerobics with the girls which they thought was hilarious.
-Tabitha
We look forward to giving you more updates soon! Please continue to pray for the team and for their spiritual, mental, and physical health!
We have some fun updates for you today!! Our week started out with a big thunder storm where lightening struck a transformer. It ended up knocking out not only our electricity, but most of the village’s as well. Just today the transformer was fix and our power is restored! After cold showers, walking around in the dark and preserving water, we now have a stronger appreciation for the immense hospitality our hosts have shown us! *UPDATE: after we got done writing this update, the power went out again so, we weren’t able to send anything out. The irony!! 😄
Yesterday night and last Wednesday, the team got the chance to go to a Bible study called “Fellowship” with the community. Around 7pm, the people in the village gather at a different house every week to worship and hear a message from the pastor or another church leader under the stars. Our team got the chance to lead the people in a couple of English worship songs as well as participate in Swahili songs. During each devotional time, the people have made us feel so welcomed with their warm smiles, hand shakes, and of course, chai. What stood out to me during this time was the unity I felt in the group. There is no “us” and “them,” there is only the brothers and sisters in Christ, Bwana Sifiwe! (Praise the Lord!)
Overall, VBS has been a huge success, and the number of children in attendance has swelled as more neighbors hear about it. Our VBS theme is Fruit of the Spirit. Our time starts with worship and a Bible story then the students split into four groups of 60+ kids and rotate through stations. The stations are: Craft, Snack, Games, and Music. Yesterday was a challenging day. Many of the children are impoverished, and try to steal extra snacks and crafts. Seeing children steal because they don’t know when their family at home will get another meal was heartbreaking. Today, VBS went much smoother as we purchased additional snacks to adjust for the influx of children. Like most of our ministry, VBS has been bittersweet. We get to witness both he hope and joy that these children have in Christ, but we also see firsthand the pain and trauma that poverty brings. As we prepare for our final day of the program, we are praying for strength and endurance.
On Tuesday morning, some team members (Bella, Hannah, Joshua and Titus) went on a home visit. On the drive there, a lady from the outreach team gave them some information about background of the family. She explained that there was a single mom living with three children with special needs. One had autism, one had Down Syndrome and the last one had dwarfism. Upon arrival, the mom greeted the team with the biggest smile and had some chai ready. The the mom shared of how hard it has been for her to work and provide for the family while still taking care of the children. Also how difficult it is to provide her children with the right treatment… The team had the opportunity to worship and pray over the family. Since Bella works with children that have special needs, she was able to give the mom some advice on how to best support the children and their development. The mom was a great inspiration for the team to continue to trust God even during such hard times!
Again, thank you for your support and prayers during this time. We can’t wait to send more updates about our adventures.
