Jambo! Melissa here. Our time here is wrapping up but God has increasingly demonstrated his love and mercy with each passing day. We kicked off our Saturday morning with a trip to the local market with some of the CLA (the 18+ leadership academy) girls. After bargaining our way through, we rode back to the cafe in bajajis (that’s what they call taxis here). The day’s main adventure took us to a local mountain village to start our hike up a side of Kilimanjaro. Many of our team members took some slips and falls down the muddy landscape. Thankfully, we had some amazing guides lead and help us along the way. After the arduous trek snaking around narrow and muddy trails, we finally made it to our destination: the amazing Materuni waterfall! The view was definitely worth the hike! While some of us ate lunch sitting on the rocks, a couple of us decided to take a chance in swim in the freezing cold water. Definitely an experience for the books! On our way back, we joined the Coffee Boys (the local coffee makers!) and regained our strength with a freshly brewed cup of Arabica coffee. After a night’s rest, we met some of the girls from our organization for a Sunday church service. After a beautiful worship session, the pastor started preaching from Matthew 16:13-19. He explored the question of “Who is Jesus to you?” and explained how important it is to have a genuine, personal relationship with Christ. After church, we had time to go back to the hotel and rest until dinner time. We had a pizza dinner at the cafe and spent some time with the CLA girls and their babies. We ended the night with a powerful worship and testimony session with our very own musician, PJ, joined by pastors J and B. To top it off, we circled around some bonfires and treated the girls with good ole fashioned s’mores (with a sweet African flair of course!) The Lord has been more than good and His faithfulness has never been clearer. Our time spent with the girls and staff has truly been a gift to us! We can’t wait to share what happens over the next couple of days as we wrap up and prepare for our return to the States. Please continue to pray, first and foremost for the what God is doing at this organization and in all of our hearts. We love and miss you all! Tutaonana baadye rafiki! (See you soon friend!)
Hello, this is Sharon! This organization has been a pleasant experience and the owners of the establishment have been very welcoming. What I’ve been doing at the organization is mostly behind-the-scenes like cleaning, organizing, shelving books, etc. Because I don’t consider myself as social as the others, these activities are amazing and I’m so happy to do them since I love organizing and doing things in the background. However, I did play with the kids in the Chess Club and Blackout Poetry. Since I don’t know how to play chess, I had to be taught by Shaynna and a sweet little girl named S (we shorten names to initials for the blogs). I was playing a match with S but in the end we didn’t finish our game since we both kept getting distracted and I’m very slow. But she was very funny and I was happy to meet her.
Blackout Poetry was incredibly fun since I was not expecting it to be that fun. For blackout poetry, you rip a page out of a book and circle specific words on the page to keep in the poem, and you cross out the rest of the words. Get all the circled words together and make a story or poem. You can draw on it and everything. All the kids were very engaging and I was very impressed with all the kids’ creations. I’ve never done blackout poetry before so I wasn’t confident in my abilities, but honestly it doesn’t need to make sense or have to be super intelligent. I just made a poem about animals and drew animals on the page. All the kids made super cute and engaging poems and I was so happy they had so much fun. Jo, M, and S all had such funny and cute poems. S even made pages of poems that connected like a cinematic universe. Mind blowing. Also, one girl named Je made one that hit pretty deep. I think it went like this, “Cash makes men go in rough ways.” Wow.
The day after that, we went on a trip to Jerash and I can say that the view was so amazing. Just walking through all the pillars, colosseums, rocks, and the ancient sights are just surreal. Walking through the parts where people in the Bible times walked is just honestly unbelievable. My favorite part was definitely the amphitheater where men with bagpipes and drums let us dance in the middle of the theater. We were all clapping, singing, and just having the best time. Also the shopping experience was very cool. Bartering was also an option too which is crazy to think about since I never bartered. Yet I still have not, because I didn’t barter any of my items because I’m too shy. But I’m very satisfied with what I bought (a tree of life necklace, a cute stuffed ram, and a white chemise). The shop keepers also gave us many gifts and freebies which was a huge plus. Very welcoming people.
The food was very good where we ate. We ate at a buffet, and I got rice, chicken, noodles, and pita bread. Not going to lie, I’m one of the pickiest people on the planet, so I basically had the most boring and basic dish but others had so much delicious looking food. I hope others do and write the food justice unlike me. But in the end, we all had such a good time and had a very pleasing lunch. The owners of the restaurant were very welcoming (as always).
Jerash was such a fun experience and I’m looking forward to what happens next!
Marhaba friends and family! This is Shaynna popping in for an update!
Please read this in the voice of a lost astronaut recording daily logs in the hopes that someone will find and hear his recordings, complete with static in the background: Day 4, 2100 hours, Saturday, June 25, 2022. We’ve completely run out of running water. (End astronaut recording). As Californians, many of us were confident we knew how to conserve and ration water – but we were wrong (insert nervous laughter). Thankfully, James and Momi helped us out and there is running water in the library that we can use, although it definitely surprised me just how much we rely on and use water. We weren’t at “home” all day today (Sunday, June 26) and we’ll be getting a water delivery tomorrow (Monday, June 27), so we’re all doing just fine, it was just an interesting experience I didn’t think about possibly happening! (And we have plenty of drinking water by the way; staying hydrated is not a problem, so no worries everyone!). 🙂
As one of the “free floaters” (unassigned to a specific job) in the group, I have been doing all sorts of odd jobs at the organization – just the way I like it! 🙂 I cleaned out some of the kitchen cupboards and reorganized a few things (“like things together!”), reshelved some books (new favorite job), helped construct some bird feeders (the only one who hit their thumb with a hammer was me, thankfully), and watched some very intense chess matches involving Sharon and a very snack-distracted 6-year old (relatable). The kids speak English very well and have been teaching us new words – for which I am very grateful. We still can’t read letters/words but we are starting to be able to pick out certain words and phrases in songs and in overheard conversations.
We visited the Ajlun Castle and Jerash today (Sunday, June 26)! Before we even got to the location, I was awed by the stunningly beautiful landscape we saw on the drive there. Although there is a great deal of trash littering most of the Jordanian landscape, the hills and plateaus on the drive were covered with beautiful rows of flourishing olive trees and a variety of other lush vegetation as well as clusters of sharply square sand-colored buildings (sorry, no circles Lee!). One of my favorite parts about visiting these sites is how friendly the tour guides are. At the end of the castle tour, our tour guide talked about his family, pointed out where his house was, and invited us to have lunch later in the day – just as the tour guide at Petra did and just as many other native Jordanians have done during our stay. After the castle tour, we headed to Jerash – I have to say the amphitheater seemed to be a crowd favorite. The stairs were so steep! At least 2-3 times the height of our American steps with no handrails or safeguards. Though tall and huge, it was easy to hear those “on stage” in the amphitheater while the rest of us sat in various seats. We got a lovely rendition of “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Emmalee and later got to hear “Amazing Grace” and other melodies on bagpipes and drums by three Jordanians. I was talking to Audrey and Eliza about how crazy it is to think that the places we were walking to and sitting at and touching and taking pictures of today were places where people did daily life thousands of years ago. And so much of Jerash is still underground yet to be discovered! Wild! Our fieldworker has great connections and friendships with many of the people at Jerash, so for lunch, we headed to a buffet that his friends’ owned. After a great meal with a variety of side dishes and plenty of pita bread, we went back to the stores at Jerash to do some shopping. There were so many vibrant colors and various trinkets to look at and many of the store vendors invited us to look at their wares. I was surprised by the gifts many of the vendors gave – little souvenirs were insisted upon us and put into our bags or handed to us as we passed by (it was an effective sales tactic – we made sure to shop at their stalls to say our thanks). Eliza and I were invited into the stall of D and his younger brother “Short Man” (who was at least 7 feet tall – Squid don’t get any ideas). We were given some deliciously sweet black tea and encouraged to look around and add to the shopping pile they insisted on starting for us. Bartering was…interesting. Some of us thrived and seemed to be quite successful (for example, Audrey and Rose), while others of us were pulling out calculators and hoping for the best (for example, me). Thankfully, we had some help from our fieldworkers and we all made it out and back home, tired from the day, but happy, healthy, and safe.
The food is *chef’s kiss* – the pita bread and hummus have been everything I hoped for and dreamed of. I don’t think it’ll ever be the same again back in the States. We’ve had chicken and meat shawarma (“meat” seems to mean a mixture of beef and lamb or some other sort of red meat combo) and a dessert loaf made of tahini, pistachios, and other things (it’s sweet, dry/crumbly, and…interesting). And I’ve discovered that my old favorite, Nutella, is here and here in abundance (I have taken to calling it chocolate hummus, sounds kind of healthy, right?).
Good news! I haven’t seen a scorpion yet! Or a camel spider! We did see some millipedes and fruit bats though (super cool!)!!! And the cooling rags have been a huge help to the team and I (thank you Ellie!!).
Hi Mom!!! Hi Sam and Squid and Micah and Faith!!!! Hi and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOCELYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi to Kaeleigh, Joshua, and Shaynna too!!!! Hi to all my friends and family and to the friends and family of the team!!!!! Thank you for your support and continued prayers!!! We love and miss you all!!! Shaynna out! 🙂
Chess club (very serious) Ajlun CastleOne of many beautiful views from the top of Ajlun CastleFan-favorite amphitheater at Jerash “Elias” wearing a headscarf from one of the vendors. Many of the shopkeepers were quick to have us try on headscarves and were kind enough to teach us multiple ways to wear them.Group picture in breezy Jerash! “Short Man” and Kit (for height reference) at one of the Jerash stalls
I’m definitely not a morning person but somehow I’ve been able to wake up in time for our team’s 6:40am morning devotional. Praise God for that!
At our trade school site, Will and I got to help transport and piece together bed frames at the base. Every time I thought the truck was full, the locals proved me wrong. All the students at the trade school are very welcoming. I’m very surprised about much Spanish I know, but I’m not mad about it. I think my favorite part about today’s project was riding in the back of the pick up truck and getting to hear Holman, our agriculture site leader, share his testimony.
After work, we went to the micro finance fair to support the women who are starting their own businesses. It was really fun trying to compete with my friends for some really cool items. Following the fair, we drove to a park to play volleyball. My team and I played really well while Jerome went to bed without a win. However, in the last game, the ball hit me in the face twice so I saw that as God humbling me.
When we got back to hotel, we ended the night with a late night pool swim and recapped our day together as a team. It was a really good day.
Hello! Audrey reporting for duty. This trip has been such an enriching experience already so I can’t imagine what else is in store. As the person arguably the most stoked about the experience, I have been given the privilege of updating you all on our trip to Petra yesterday.
My morning started at 4:00am with my roommate (@Emmalee) and fearless leader (@Cason), flashlights in hand, hunting the largest cockroach we have ever seen. Chaos ensued and it’s safe to say we were all fully awake after the monster was finally eliminated.
At 6am (8pm CA Time) our van drivers rolled up and we all began our three hour trip to Petra. Petra is located in a valley so after a windy drive that looked like it was straight out of Dune, we arrived at our destination, applied sunscreen, and bought our tickets. Petra is the home to many Bedouin families, one local we spoke to said his family had lived in the hills of Petra for over 700 years. We were assigned a tour guide who we will call A. At the end of the tour, A said he also lived in the caves surrounding Petra and we were welcome to stay with his family any time, just one example of the presence of hospitality in this country.
The tour of Petra begins at the visitor center and works its way down farther into the valley through a series of canyons. This single point of entry was a benefit of this location for the safety of those who resided there through the centuries. As you walk through the canyons you can begin to see the carvings and infrastructure put in place by the Nabateans, the earliest known residents of the region. The canyon walls have a series of aqueducts carved into the limestone to collect water from the flash floods of this region. Half an hour into the walk, seeing (truly) amazing carvings, structures, original pavestones, and naturally occurring rock formations, we hit the most well known location of this entire site: The Treasury. The Treasury is the location that is shown in Raiders of the Lost Ark and is what many come to see when they visit Petra. I’m going to be honest with you all, I cried a little, but that’s probably not too surprising if you know me. We turned the corner and light was shining on the imposing, famous, and incredibly intricate facade of The Treasury. This location is called The Treasury because for years tradition said that the treasures of a pharaoh were kept behind its high walls.
After this moment of shock and awe we continued our tour, seeing the ancient court of law, countless tombs, some much more intricate than others, and eventually stopping for lunch at a shop owned by a friend of our guide. This shop was located near the colonnade and main cross street of the city. In a full sun area, surrounded by hills dotted by tombs and residential caves, we were able to get to know M, the shop owner, and enjoy some shade while letting what we had all seen sink in.
At first the Bedouin groups selling transportation, food, or trinkets seemed pushy, but then after talking to A, we realized the tourism into Petra is the lone source of income for many of the local residents. Whereas to us we could see a souvenir or “overpriced” drink as non essential and a waste of money, it is the livelihood of those living here and holds much more significance than many are willing to give it.
A finished our tour and recommended that whoever wanted to should visit the “monastery” at the top of the hill, his favorite location at this whole site. Those in our group who were interested, began the trek up the mountain. This was hard. It was so hot, and so steep. All the way up and down the mountain we were stopped by shopkeepers in hopes we would buy a souvenir, and sidestepping donkeys carrying folks up the mountain, and all that the donkeys left behind (you know what I mean).
After what A said would take 30 minutes (around 1.5 hours and 900 steps) we arrived at the top of the hill. Shock and awe again, I’m telling you. A building larger than even the treasury and almost as intricate sat at the top of the hill, facing the country’s border. Totally uncrowded we were able to take in this building and see all the remains surrounding it yet to be studied. The face of this structure also showed signs of the interaction of other cultures at this site. Roman influence echoed from this and many other carvings at Petra begging to tell the stories of anyone who has made it their home. After a while, back down the mountain we went. much faster this time.
We rejoined the rest of our group and began the hour long trek out of the city of Petra. Pizza was consumed, and after another 3 hour drive back home, we all got to reflect what we had seen that day. A great night’s sleep was had, and no more cockroach intruders have been seen since.
Canyons leading to the treasury-check out the water channel on the left!The group with tour guide A! We’re you’re biggest fan <3The shops and steps leading up to the monastery.The monastery-Shaynna for scale.Me after 10 miles of hiking, feeling no pain, only the joy of history.
Hi family and friends! We were incredibly blessed by a family from the states to be able to experience a three-day safari sabbath in the middle of our time here in East Africa. After a 4 hour commute we arrived at the National Park. Immediately after entering the park we encountered a giraffe on our way to the Safari Lodge. The lodge was incredible, and the view on top of the ridge overlooking the nearly dried up river was breathtaking. It was not long before we saw monkeys running around the lodge and swinging in the trees.
After lunch we went swimming, and a snake slithered its way out of a nearby water drain. One of the workers ran to a man nearby, whom quickly grabbed a broomstick and chased the snake up a tree. The man who came to the rescue was B, the owner of the lodge and our tour guide during our stay. He told us the snake was known as an African Tree snake and it was extremely poisonous. B personally had never seen one as large as the one we encountered.
After settling in we went on our first three hour safari tour around the park. We were amazed at the vast number of wild animals, including wildebeests, zebras, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, vultures, mongeese, and a variety of others. The first day was capped off by seeing a leopard hanging out in a tree right next to the road and overlooking the land nearby.
Over the next two days we toured the park three more times, and we were blessed to see the three main cats, including the lions, a leopard, and a cheetah. Arguably, the pinnacle of the trip was witnessing a family of lion cubs wrestling and a family of elephants that made their way through the lodge as the scanvanged the trees for food.
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.
It’s the end of day 2 here in Central America serving alongside amazing people. This morning we all woke up bright and early and enjoyed worship and a devotional time led by Hazel, Cassidy, and a wonderful intern we’ll call C. After eating breakfast and taking in the breathtaking views of the Laguna and nearby Volcano we all headed out to our work site for the first time in the community.
Hector and Will worked on their handyman skills at the trade school.
Jerome and Peter taught PE and played soccer with kids at a local elementary school.
Jill and Jessica got a haircut today at the social work site as they ministered to young women.
Hailey and Sandia taught children how to speak English at the education site
Roosmarie and Hazel helped minister to locals at the health clinic.
And Cassidy, helped women start small businesses at the micro-finance site.
Today was truly an eye-opening experience for all of us and I can say that we all feel like the Lord is moving through us and around us.
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 🙂
