hello !! today has been a whirlwind of fun and funny moments!
this morning we were stuck in the Zanzibar airport ! our layover was extended to 3 hours rather than a quick 10 minutes! so we got to our actual destination @4:30am and then drove to our hotel, getting there @5:30am! it was crazy !!!
so we got up this morning around 10:30am and had a little team meeting! then went to meet up with our fieldworkers! we got to the ministry house around 12 and had lunch! so yum!
we then met the girls! they are so beautiful and kind! the group here is much smaller and there are more babies! so much love and joy! the girls love to dance and are working on their english! it’s so amazing to see the love of God through these girls.
so excited for the next couple of days! please be praying for a great night’s sleep tonight for our team and energy in the morning! and no mosquitos lol!
Wow! We just finished day nine! We are having so much fun serving these precious kids and their moms. Today we added a second location to our “English Immersion” camp. We took public transportation for about an hour to serve at a new sight in the morning. Even though we were meeting these kids for the first time, we bonded quickly. Day One was a huge success!
After completing Day One at the new center, we headed back to our place to rest and regroup for our first day of English Immersion Camp at the center we have been serving at for the last week. Both camps were a huge success!
We have such a committed team. Being fluent in the language of our country, Ely has been a lifesaver. She is our MC, main teacher, and constant translator. Hailey has kept us all organized and on time. Cole is excellent with the older boys, as well as being the only guy on our team! Amanda’s high energy keeps our sports games high energy, and she keeps the team going. Macie’s gentle compassionate spirit ministers God’s love to the little ones. Finally, Liana’s sweet spirit is a ray of sunshine for everyone. The Apostle Paul said it right when he compared the Church to the human body. Each part works together for the good of the whole body. We see this in action everyday!!!
In addition to working together to serve Jesus by serving these refugees, our other highlight today was receiving Kayla B. today! What a treat!!! We get to keep her for our last four days!
Personally, my highlight was playing games with the Moms, seeing them enjoy themselves, and bonding with them as new friends. I look forward to staying in touch with these precious women and building a cross-cultural friendship with them.
As you can see, we can never out serve God! No matter how much you give up or step up, God blesses you double when you love God by serving others. We thank God for this opportunity to serve!
Well this day was packed full with tons of things but I’ll try and keep it short;) Our day started with a very early Safari ride through the Serengeti, where we got the treat of seeing a pride of lions chasing a hyena and a buffalo. Plus, many more elephants, zebras, ostriches, and thankfully, some giraffes (an answer to Lauren’s prayers) The sunrise was gorgeous over the savanna and mountains. After a beautiful beginning of the day, we then spent the rest of the morning hanging out on the patio playing card games and reading until lunch.
After the most delicious lunch, we packed up and started the drive back to the airport. The drive started with lots of singing and talking but quickly turned into a sleep fest. We stopped for dinner at a Coffee Lodge 2 hrs later, where we hung out for a while, stalling time till our flight.
The last leg of the car ride was filled with much more singing and an amazing view of the sunset and the stars. We made it to the airport around 8 and said goodbye to our most amazing driver who somehow put up with us this whole week. Our next flight will take us to the coast of Africa! where we can’t wait to meet so many more amazing girls.
Continue to keep us in your prayers as we meet our new friends tomorrow!
WAHELI!
-Hope
(P.S. Mom, the food here is so much better than home, that I think I’m a changed person 😉)
Yet another incredible day here in Africa! Today looked a little different as we traveled to another location and took on a Safari tour! I know, AMAZING!!! Just wait until you see the pictures below…
We took a long 4 hour drive to our next location but stopped at the most amazing place on the way for coffee but we found so much more. There we watched glass making and blanket making in the most beautiful form. We have constantly been inspired by the way things are created here and love taking it all in it along the way.
We then got back on the road and entered into quite the bush wondering when we might see some wildlife. Sure enough we were not even on our safari yet when Dave spotted the first elephant!! We were of course in awe and yet had no idea what we would encounter next.
As we arrived at our lodging destination we were greeted with the most incredible view full of many elephants across the vast and open land! This was beyond breathtaking and we simply could not believe our eyes. Next, was the safari and let me tell you wow, just wow! Hundreds of zebras, elephants that walked straight up to our jeep (yes this brought tears to some eyes), and giraffes out at a distance. We enjoyed the most beautiful sunset, sweet devotions, and yup you guessed it… another incredible dinner. Some of the team joined back together and ended the night with many rounds of the game Nertz (with Isaac taking the win)!
While this has been an incredible and unforgettable experience, we are preparing and prayerful as we look towards another week of more sharing the love of Jesus in our next location.
We could use some travel prayers as we will be traveling again tomorrow (a drive as well as a short flight). We love you and are so grateful for your prayers!
We have been staying busy over here in Western Europe! Yesterday during camp we played some fun water games with the kids, and today we traveled with to a nearby town for a pool day! We were blessed with beautiful weather and lots of volunteers, which made our field trip run smoothly. The kids have all gotten so comfortable with us and we are having a blast with them! It filled me with so much joy to see the bright smiles on all of their faces today (and to help the little ones who couldn’t swim lol)!
We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the pool, and a few hours later took the train back to the center. The kids were exhausted from a day full of playing and a few even fell asleep on the way back.
It makes me sad that we are halfway through our time here, but I am also in awe of how much God has been working through us in just one week! It has been a blessing to be able to bond with these kids and show them the love of Jesus. Marylin has also been able to bond with some of the moms! We need lots of prayer that God will open doors within these conversations to share about our faith.
We are all so excited to see what is in store during our second week here! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us along the way!
As we come to the end of our trip, the team and I reflect on our impact and growth over the past two weeks; collectively and individually. We have created bonds with the staff and children at HOH that will never be like anything else. Goodbyes are always hard, but Lauren gave an encouraging devotion about how to embrace change and look to a bright future. Before we left HOH, we were celebrated with a ceremony along with lots of hugs, tears, laughter, encouragement and love.
Some other highlights before our last goodbyes were: planting rice in fields (where we all got super muddy), hiking to an amazing waterfall followed by swimming, traveling to an unforgettable viewpoint while gazing at the rolling hills of the island, and overall made the most of loving and sharing time with the kiddos and staff at the House of Hope. I think all of us can say confidently that God is moving in that place and that the island has much to look forward to regarding the next generation of strong, Christ-following leaders.
-Natalie Sexauer
These last 2 weeks have felt like 2 days (it went by SO quick) but also felt like 2 years (friendships that have felt like a lifetime). We are so grateful to the HOH and all of you that helped make this trip possible. We get to see you so soon and we cannot wait! Please pray for us as we start our journeys home and have to say our goodbyes to each other. Bali is beautiful but we are ready for Cali!
Today was, to say the least, full of love and amazing memories. We started the day as we have every morning thus far, at Courage Café. Friends back home, please rate them a 5 star review on Google Maps. We promise it’s amazing. Don’t think twice, just do it 🙂
When we got to the House, the girls greeted us with big smiles. Their joy is a constant reminder of how powerful the Lord is. We started our day with praise/worship and, as usual, it was moving. My favorite part was when Lauren and I started swing dancing to Praise. The girls laughed at us at first, but then everyone began to dance and we all ended up on stage. After praise and worship, Isaac and I shared our testimonies. It inspired one of my best rafikis (friends) to share hers, as well. Her choice to share her testimony proved her to be nguvu (strong) and jasiri (courageous).
We continued our teachings about Joshua 1:9 (shoutout to Grace who is incredible for planning all of our VBS lessons), ate lunch with the girls, played games, and had a spa day. The girls especially loved the nail painting station and the makeup/hair station. pictures below After a surprise fashion show and dance performance put on by the girls we ended our day with our final small group dance performances. We all had so much fun and the girls did great!
I have the privilege and honor of being assigned today’s blog post on one of our hardest days because today was the day we said “See you later!” to our new friends. Many “nakupendas” (I love you) were said, many hugs were given, some tears were shed, and many smiles were shared. I know I speak for everyone when I say that these girls love and joy that they put into the world is infectious. Their love and joy for life, their love and joy for others, their love and joy for God, it is all breathtaking. Although leaving was hard, I know that this experience is something we will never forget. God is so alive here and in these girls, it’s remarkable.
Asante sana (thank you so much) to all of our friends and family following along with us on this journey. Tunakupenda (We love you)
Mom and Dad if you’re reading this, yes I’m alive and yes the food is good here.
These last two days have been a blessing. Wednesday we started the morning with breakfast made by Marilyn and Amanda.
We then walked to the refugee center where we spent the morning learning about the culture of Morocco from a Moroccan young lady while she prepared us traditional Moroccan tea.
We came back home for a cat nap and some card games before heading out to get tacos at Taquería Mi Ciudad, which Cole recommends with a rating of 7/10.
We made our way back to the center, but stopped at Plantate for some more coffee, rated a 6/10 by Cole, but I give the matcha a 9/10.
We got to the center and jumped right in to setting up for camp. This day was particularly special because the assistant director of the camp was bold in sharing her testimony with the kids at the camp, who are mostly Muslim.
We ended our day with a wonderful devotion from Amanda about prayer.
On Thursday, we started the day with breakfast prepared by Cole and Ely.
We then made our way to the neighborhood that the refugee center is in and went on a prayer walk, stopping at another ministry, a school, a park, and the center, as well as walking past several businesses that the refugees have started.
When we got back from the walk, we planned our English Immersion Event for next Monday and Tuesday, picking games and crafts.
After lunch, we made our way back to the refugee center for day 3 of camp. We stopped for coffee at L’Origine, which Cole rated a 7.5/10. His favorite so far.
At camp, Liana and I were working with the first, second, and third grade kids. We painted rocks with the flags of their home countries, did relays, and danced with the kids. It’s been really cool to see the ways in which the connections with the kids have grown over the last three days.
We finished the day with some delicious quesadillas made by chef Macie and sous chef Ely, as well as a devo from Cole.
We are very pumped for the last few days of camp and to see what next week’s events hold.
These past few days have been filled with lots of joy and love with the kids and our team. We went to the soccer team’s practice and played a game where we tied 1-1. While we were playing soccer Winnie, Ashley, and I went to teach the HOH staff how to cook Mexican food. We also were able to worship with the kids during worship night that they held. We have been playing pickle ball tournaments with kids and all the staff. The staff games were intense and all close calls. After a long battle in the championship, Issac and Dianne won the tournament! Almost everyone has gotten sick but collectively we’re feeling so much better. Everyone on our team has also had the opportunity to share their testimony and Isaac and I led worship for a morning devotional! We finished painting one of their offices to make it look brighter and after we had a good time eating some really good homemade pizza for dinner (thanks to Isaac and Garrett).
The guys decided to all get haircuts and try different styles which I thought were very nice. All in all we are very tired but it’s a good tired knowing that we are helping these kids learn about Jesus and having fun.
-Daniel Garcia
The students here at HOH are becoming pickleball stars. It’s been awesome watching them master the game in less than 2 weeks. The joy on their faces when they learn a new trick, hit an overhead kill, or even when they mess up so badly that they hit it out of the netting around the court has been so fun to see. Soccer may still be their favorite but I think pickleball holds a close second in their heart. The bond between us and the staff members at HOH is getting stronger and stronger… so let’s just say there’s already plans in place to come again!
Today was absolutely incredible! We started it off with some of the girls in the transition house who were older. They all shared their testimony of going to Christianity from Islam. We were so moved by their courage and strength in that process.
Afterwards we went to a waterfall hike with the primary girls who are younger and were so fun. The hike was very wet, muddy, slippery, definitely almost died (I’m ok mom). But was totally worth all of it. The hike was beautiful the people were so friendly and we then walked over to where they make arabica coffee grounds and beans. As a coffee lover, I was ecstatic.
Then we came back to the cafe to eat dinner and our team had a touching moment to talk about some of the moments we had with the girls and a lot of emotions were had. By the time we had eaten the team was in the delusional phase of tiredness and could not stop laughing.
Today was amazing, although we’re all super sad to be leaving the girls from the first house tomorrow.
