Kenya Mission Trip Updates
Aug 08, 2011From: Nicholas Snell
Date: August 10, 2011 12:16:22 AM EDT
Subject: A Day of Many Blessings
It was a special day for my wife and I. It was our 730th day of marriage (also known as a two year anniversary). It’s almost like it was a holy day for our relationship where we pulled away from the rest of the group a tad to focus more on each other. We had some sweet moments at lunch time at a table for two by the pool. A couple of members of the team even served us the samosas (probably the best I’ve ever had) without us asking them. We have an amazing team.
Sadly we lost a dear member of our team today as Rob Lloyd, our Share Him day block manager from Hawaii, left us in Eldoret to rejoin his church group in Chuka where they are finishing up their campaign. Before he left God used him to bless us with a very thought provoking worship called the “buts of the new testament.” It was about how we as Christians shouldn’t have an “if only” mentality that looks back on our lives with regret, rather we should have a “but now” mentality that is filled with hope for every new day. He also helped us to cut down four sermons that are coming up so they wouldn’t be so long or confusing. He worked on these from four o’clock in the morning. He is a great example of a servant leader. We took pictures and had some closing thoughts and hugs and sent him down the bumpy road to Nairobi.
As far as preaching and preparations go it was an interesting day too. We needed to get two sermons ready so we could travel to Kisumu the next day for a safari and still be ready to preach after a long day of fun, sun and travel.
The sermon prepared for the first night was called, “Your Day in Court.” This was the first sermon I’ve ever preached where a person came down to the front during the sermon and started yelling and raising their hands. My site is in a cool location because it is right out in the open air in a field next to a small town with lots of shops which enables anyone in the area to hear the message and see the presentation because of our loud speakers and our big screen where we show a movie about Jesus before the presentation and a slideshow during the sermon. The hope is that many will hear the message and be drawn in and that seems to be exactly what happened with this man. When the yelling man first came and all throughout the sermon and the appeal I didn’t know if he was filled with a spirit because he was raising his hands and speaking a language I didn’t know or what. But I found out as he and many others came down for the appeal that he was filled with a different kind of spirits. He was drunk and yelling “I repent” in the local language.
Pastor Maiyo, who is also my translator helped me to take a picture of the man and informed me that he believed this man would soon be in the church because he had seen many others come that same way.
Praise God that Jesus covers us in the judgment and doesn’t reward us according to our mistakes, but now he claims us as His own when we respond to his invitation for forgiveness. May we renew our commitment to our Lord and savior now and pray that many more will come to Jesus through these campaigns in Kenya and around the world.
Nick Snell
Sent from my iPhone
From: LEANNE LAVENTURE
Date: August 8, 2011 4:35:41 AM EDT
Subject: Aug 4th Entry
August 4
We woke up pretty early because we had to get ready for a six hour bus ride from Nairobi to Eldoret.
Unfortunately Aldavivna and I woke up late,So we had to rush. So we quickly ate breakfast and got on the bus. As
we drove out of Nairobi I couldn’t help but wonder where we were going next. I hoped that the hotel would be clean
and the people very friendly.For some reason I wasn’t expecting the bus ride to be as long as it was but I made it.
As I look back, the bus ride wasn’t half bad. The scenery was beautiful and I got to see all sorts of wild animals.
When we finally pulled into The Sirikwa Hotel in Eldoret From the looks of it I thought I was going to have a bad stay
but when I grabbed my stuff and walked inside was a whole different story.It was a lot cleaner than I previously thought.
I went straight to my rooom and unpacked then I began workingon my first sermon. When it was dinner time the team
went to a neighboring Seventh Day Adventist church and we had dinner together and a breif meeting. Feeling exhausted,
after the meeting I went to bed.
From: gerard St Hilaire
Date: August 8, 2011 4:28:25 AM EDT
Subject: 08-07-11 blog day! “Kenya Rocks!”
Hello Pastor T,
How are you doing?
Hope all is well with you.
Here is the entry for the date of August 7th:
“The beautiful day started out the team meeting up for breakfast at the hotel. While during breakfast Aldavina lead out with our morning worship. Through her the LORD pointed out to us some key aspects of growing with HIM. Aldavina discussed the scripture of PS 51:1-4 and 1 Samuel 16:7. From the study, the LORD revealed through Aldavina to us that sometimes we feel that we have to tell certain people when we have committed a sin and we may feel guilty if we don’t. Since certain people can be a stumbling block in our path with GOD, in PS 51:4 ,GOD shows us that only against HIM we have sinned and in verse 1 that HE will blot out our transgressions,amen.
After breakfast we had a morning session with our ShareHim representative and date block manager,pastor Rob. In this session we discussed issues an news about our sites and our experiences thus far. We went over our sermons for the day and edited them there together with him. Now it was around midday and some people were still editing there sermons,and others were getting in a nap or two. Around 2 pm the team got together to meet up for a scrumptious meal. After lunch, some of the team went to the market to get sweaters and things for the night service and others practiced their sermons.
Around 5:30 to 6pm the team began to depart to there sites to deliver the messages on the topics of “Why is there so much suffering” and “Move your hand”. Also,one of our precious team members was not able to preach because of illness but the LORD is working on her as her health progressed throughout the day. Around 8:30 to 9:30pm most of our members began arriving back to the hotel. Some of our team was fortunate enough to speak with one of our fellow PYC’ers-Micaela Howson along with her sister when we returned via skype! During that time some people ate a late night meal and others prepared to go to bed. Before I went to bed I had a powerful discussion with my roomates Jason and Deleon about the BIBLE and how amazing GOD is! Overall as all of the other days,this one was BLESSED as well! GOD IS TOO GOOD AND IS MORE THAN WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE! AMEN"
Thanks and PRAISE GOD,
Gerard St.Hilaire
From: Deanne Snell
Date: August 7, 2011 7:40:49 AM EDT
Hi PT,
Yesterday was Sabbath, so I was scheduled to speak for church and for the evening meeting. As I was having worship that morning, I wondered what God would have in store for me that day. My driver, Wilson came and picked me up around 10 a.m. so I could preach for church that morning. The ride to my site takes only about 35 minutes without any traffic. However, when we were just about halfway there, all the cars came to a standstill. After a few minutes of contemplation, Wilson drove off the road into the mud and managed to find a way to get passed the road block. We saw that a semi-truck was laying on its side across the entire road. Cars were backed up for about a 1/2 mile going in both directions. Thanks to my skilled driver, I made it to church just in time. The people were happy to see me and respectfully listened to my sermon about the signs of the end times. On our way home, the accident on the road still wasn’t cleared, but Wilson again managed to find a way to get around it.
By 5:15 p.m., Wilson was there to pick me up again for the evening service. When were almost at the site, all the cars came to a standstill again. Although it was more difficult this time, Wilson was again able to squeeze his way through cars on and off the road to take me to my site. The church members were working hard to get all of the setup finished. Pretty soon, the screen, sound system, laptop and projector were all ready to go. I preached on Daniel 2 that night and showed the first chapter of the Jesus DVD. Everyone who attended responded to my appeal of wanting God’s future plans for their life. About 150-200 people were there and it was a mixture of church members and the community.
On the wy home, would you believe that all the cars came to a standstill again? Cars and semi trucks were parked this time and there were people walking through the street trying to figure out what to do. Wilson tried his usual techniques of getting past the traffic by going off roading, but we were disppointed to see that even the parts off the road were blocked up with cars. After a few minutes of sitting in a parked car, Wilson decided to get out of the car to see what was happening. While he was gone, I noticed that the gas light was on and the gauge was pointed on empty. I prayed that God would somehow get us out of this situation with enough gas to make it. Wilson came back and told me that there was another semi laying on its side. The road was blocked really bad and it was the worst that he’d seen all day. He didn’t think it would clear for several hours. Looking over at the gas gauge again, I noticed that it was now up to 1/4 tank! Praise God!
We decided to turn around and figure out a different way to get home. Wilson called several church members to see if they knew a way. There was only one other way to get back to my hotel and it would take 2 hours! Wilson suggested that we contact Aldavina’s driver because they would also have to go the same way home as us. When we got to her site 30 minutes later, they were gone! They had left before we got there and were now stuck in the traffic jam. After a bit, they called us and told us that the jam was starting to move. We made the journey back to the jam and I noticed that the gas gause was almost on empty again. Wilson and I both prayed and we watched the gas gauge go up as we finally made our journey home!! We got back to the hotel at 10:20 p.m. The whole traffic jam problem lasted for almost 2 1/2 hours. Wilson gave a prayer of thanks before I got out of the car and we were both so full of joy that God had taken care of us.
Deanne Snell
From: Twana Ambrose
Date: August 6, 2011 6:04:08 PM EDT
Subject: Blog
Friday morning started off with an 8:15 breakfast and worship with the ShareHiM group from Austria. Delon lead worship; the theme was love. He read John 1:7 and 1cor 13, then gave us an exercise; we had to turn to our neighbor to us and ask, “what can i do to love you more for the next 2 weeks?” My neighbor was Leanne, and she wants a hug everyday.
Then we met with Rob Lloyd, the ShareHim site manager, and our assigned Pastors and Elders. Everyone was very excited. The first contact i was introduces to was Elder and treasure Joshua, who happened to be an accountant too. To my host church’s surprise, i was female. it seem that Ambrose is a common first name for a man and Twana is a common last name in some parts of Africa, like Botswana. Once we settled that, we made our arrangements for my evening pick up. i only had a couple of hour to prepare the heat was on, and just when i got into the swing of things, the group decided to go to the supermarket to get supplies for the Sabbath, and i had to go too. i was disgruntled, to say the least. i went grudgingly. i began to pray for the Lord to take this spirit of discontentment away, and He did. i began to focus on the beauty of God’s creations. the red clay roads, the beautiful smiling faces, and how great it was to walk the streets as a group, but more than just a group, a family. Pastor Nick led the group like the Dad, Jason and Delon stayed in the back to ensure everyone’s safety, big brothers, and Gerard was his usual outgoing self, stopping at every, not so convenient, opportunity, to converse with the locals. it was a great time to bond. then we came back to the hotel and had lunch as a group. it was delicious! one dish had mushrooms and carrots, another had spinach and garlic, string beans and onions, and the most amazing rice, and a sauce that, to quote Delon, “blew our minds.”
After lunch Jason ran around fixing everyone’s computer and projector malfunctions, including mine. then it the time for us to depart came. we were all nervous, feeling as if we weren’t prepared enough. group gathered in the lobby and prayed together before our departure. we then met our translators, my translators name is Paul. Delon and his translator Frederick rode with us. Frederick very much like Delon, personable and outgoing. He speaks italian, Greek, Hebrew, English and Kiswahili. i felt very at home during the ride; my favorite CCM song, “Above all” by Michael W. Smith was playing on the car radio. it made me realize that we had so much more in common than we had differences. During the ride i also realized that if you can drive in Kenya, you can drive anywhere, and that says a lot because i’m from NY. Driving here takes a combination of skill, aggression, finesse and the Grace of God. Delon fell asleep on the ride. the rest of us were all getting along well, taking and laughing, sharing stories and life plans, and then my hosts began to share their thoughts on women’s ordination and roles in the church, and then i wished i had made the wise decision like Delon to take a nap. we continued our ride in awkward silence. i get to my temporary site, and meet the Pastor, who tells me that Ambrose is usually a man’s name. the site is not necessarily set up but we pressed on. we found alternatives to compensate for the screen that wasn’t set up. and i start, my Jesus video didn’t work, so i moved on. it was raining and water began to fall from the whole in the covering onto my projector, so we moved it quickly. then at slide 10 out of 80 a power surge came through, and my projector completely stopped working. after that my small group of 10 dropped to 5 people. i continued on. at the end five people raised their hand after i made the appeal for prayer, i later found out that they were also church members. i was very disheartened that evening. i was assigned a new driver that evening, her name is Nelly. on the ride home she taught me several phrases in Kiswahili, she has such a kind spirit. i got back to the hotel and got to hear about Delon, Sierra and Leanne’s great experience and was uplifted. Mungu Atukuzwe!-Praise God!
So, i find Fridays blog to be sub par. Here’s the vegan version of the Sabbath:
Sabato Mjema- Happy Sabbath
Awesome morning service! hundreds of people came out and stayed.
Powerful evening service on “why so much suffering?” hundred of people came out and stayed till the end even though it was really cold and the mosquitoes were attacking.
Huge motorcycle vs. car accident happens in front of our eyes, right after i start talking about the Great Controversy and the lies of Satan. the whole group got up and went to the accident. we prayed on the loud speaker for the accident- the entire group came back. worked the accident into the rest of sermon. God made that sermon so powerful after that! hundreds stayed until the end and responded to the appeal. and the icing on the cake, is that host Pastor came up to me and said, "that was a powerful sermon!, oh, i mean bible study.“
From: Aldavina
Date: August 8, 2011 3:40:04 PM EDT
Subject: My testimony comes from an experience I had when I preached two days ago on Saturday.
My testimony comes from an experience I had when I preached two days ago on Saturday.
It was Saturday evening, and it was going to be the first time that I would be using my projector since the rain made it hard to use it the previous day. I was also supposed to play a short clip from a Jesus movie right before I preached. We all stood around the laptop and prayed before I started preaching. The sermon was about why suffering existed in the world, and essentially the sermon explained Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden of Eden. As the sermon progressed, we got deeper and deeper into the word, and the material got heavier and heavier.
It came to the point where I was talking about the controversy between God and Satan, when all of a sudden my projector turned off. My interpreter was caught off guard as we stood there in pure darkness, with only the light from my laptop illuminating our faces. I said a quick prayer in my head and continued on with the sermon.
About 3 slides later, my laptop screen turned white. I immediately stopped and said to the congregation, “Clearly Satan does not want you to hear this message tonight”.
As my support group got up and sang a quick song so that I could get everything back in order, I stopped everything to pray with the remaining people.
Finally, everything got put back in order- or so I thought.
The same thing ends up happening again. And at that time I knew that Satan was really working double time.
So I finally manage to finish the sermon, and as I’m putting everything away, a lady from the crowd starts yelling. I began to ask my interpreter what the lady was saying, but she refused to tell me. I later found out that she was criticizing my sermon, and she even kept talking while a member was praying. And here in Kenya, you just don’t do that.
Long story short, everyone kept saying that the lady was drunk, but one thing my interpreter said stuck with me. As I was recounting my testimony to Delon, I realized that the lady was requesting the image of Christ to be put back on the projector screen, and as she said that, she was laughing. We then realized that the woman had to be possessed. Only Satan would ever have so much delight in seeing Christ on the cross.
-hence the woman requesting His image to be projected again.
Though Satan is strong, I know that God is stronger And is able to keep Satan away from getting His work done. So I’m excited to see what else God will deliver us from while here on this spiritual journey in our walk with Him. Keep praying for the team… Pray that Satan stays away, and that God sends His heavenly angels to encamp around us. Amen.
Aldavina Dos Santos
From: gerard St Hilaire
Date: August 19, 2011 3:14:40 AM EDT
Hey Pastor Tara,
Hope all is well.
Here is my blog for 08/17/11:
“Today was a splendid day indeed. The group woke up a little earlier than usual for breakfast because we were going to take a tour today of the University of East Africa,Baraton, a Seventh-day Adventist University. After breakfast our group had a nice and relaxing morning worship which was also very inspirational. Walter, a brother in our group from Austria shared his life story with us and told the group how him and his wife came into the church. Walter and his wife were catholic before they became Seventh-day Adventist and it was just wonderful to see how GOD brings HIS Truths to HIS people. After worship we headed out to the university for our tour and we were at the school for a few hours. While at the school we visited the on campus church,the on campus farm and saw the process for the stages of milk production, the malaria lab which is sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates, the hospital, and the admissions building. After our tour we ate lunch at the school which was very tasty and plentiful and then we headed back to the hotel. It was after 4:30 in the afternoon and most of the group gets picked up to go to there preaching sites around 5:30pm;so it was “crunch time”, in that the time was limited for the members of our group to get ready to head out to their sites. We Praise God because we were able to be ready in a timely manner. When most of us came back from preaching that night,we met up in the cafeteria in the hotel for a nightly meal before we were off to bed. Most of us ate the usual “Chips” (or french fries) and “Somosas”. After our meal that night,we went to our designated rooms and were off to rest for the next day ahead! Praise God and Goodnight"
From: Deanne Snell
Date: August 7, 2011 7:40:49 AM EDT
Subject: My blog/journal :)
Hi PT,
Yesterday was Sabbath, so I was scheduled to speak for church and for the evening meeting. As I was having worship that morning, I wondered what God would have in store for me that day. My driver, Wilson came and picked me up around 10 a.m. so I could preach for church that morning. The ride to my site takes only about 35 minutes without any traffic. However, when we were just about halfway there, all the cars came to a standstill. After a few minutes of contemplation, Wilson drove off the road into the mud and managed to find a way to get passed the road block. We saw that a semi-truck was laying on its side across the entire road. Cars were backed up for about a 1/2 mile going in both directions. Thanks to my skilled driver, I made it to church just in time. The people were happy to see me and respectfully listened to my sermon about the signs of the end times. On our way home, the accident on the road still wasn’t cleared, but Wilson again managed to find a way to get around it.
By 5:15 p.m., Wilson was there to pick me up again for the evening service. When were almost at the site, all the cars came to a standstill again. Although it was more difficult this time, Wilson was again able to squeeze his way through cars on and off the road to take me to my site. The church members were working hard to get all of the setup finished. Pretty soon, the screen, sound system, laptop and projector were all ready to go. I preached on Daniel 2 that night and showed the first chapter of the Jesus DVD. Everyone who attended responded to my appeal of wanting God’s future plans for their life. About 150-200 people were there and it was a mixture of church members and the community.
On the wy home, would you believe that all the cars came to a standstill again? Cars and semi trucks were parked this time and there were people walking through the street trying to figure out what to do. Wilson tried his usual techniques of getting past the traffic by going off roading, but we were disppointed to see that even the parts off the road were blocked up with cars. After a few minutes of sitting in a parked car, Wilson decided to get out of the car to see what was happening. While he was gone, I noticed that the gas light was on and the gauge was pointed on empty. I prayed that God would somehow get us out of this situation with enough gas to make it. Wilson came back and told me that there was another semi laying on its side. The road was blocked really bad and it was the worst that he’d seen all day. He didn’t think it would clear for several hours. Looking over at the gas gauge again, I noticed that it was now up to 1/4 tank! Praise God!
We decided to turn around and figure out a different way to get home. Wilson called several church members to see if they knew a way. There was only one other way to get back to my hotel and it would take 2 hours! Wilson suggested that we contact Aldavina’s driver because they would also have to go the same way home as us. When we got to her site 30 minutes later, they were gone! They had left before we got there and were now stuck in the traffic jam. After a bit, they called us and told us that the jam was starting to move. We made the journey back to the jam and I noticed that the gas gause was almost on empty again. Wilson and I both prayed and we watched the gas gauge go up as we finally made our journey home!! We got back to the hotel at 10:20 p.m. The whole traffic jam problem lasted for almost 2 1/2 hours. Wilson gave a prayer of thanks before I got out of the car and we were both so full of joy that God had taken care of us.
Deanne Snell
From: Twana Ambrose
Date: August 6, 2011 6:04:08 PM EDT
Subject: Blog
Friday morning started off with an 8:15 breakfast and worship with the ShareHiM group from Austria. Delon lead worship; the theme was love. He read John 1:7 and 1cor 13, then gave us an exercise; we had to turn to our neighbor to us and ask, “what can i do to love you more for the next 2 weeks?” My neighbor was Leanne, and she wants a hug everyday.
Then we met with Rob Lloyd, the ShareHim site manager, and our assigned Pastors and Elders. Everyone was very excited. The first contact i was introduces to was Elder and treasure Joshua, who happened to be an accountant too. To my host church’s surprise, i was female. it seem that Ambrose is a common first name for a man and Twana is a common last name in some parts of Africa, like Botswana. Once we settled that, we made our arrangements for my evening pick up. i only had a couple of hour to prepare the heat was on, and just when i got into the swing of things, the group decided to go to the supermarket to get supplies for the Sabbath, and i had to go too. i was disgruntled, to say the least. i went grudgingly. i began to pray for the Lord to take this spirit of discontentment away, and He did. i began to focus on the beauty of God’s creations. the red clay roads, the beautiful smiling faces, and how great it was to walk the streets as a group, but more than just a group, a family. Pastor Nick led the group like the Dad, Jason and Delon stayed in the back to ensure everyone’s safety, big brothers, and Gerard was his usual outgoing self, stopping at every, not so convenient, opportunity, to converse with the locals. it was a great time to bond. then we came back to the hotel and had lunch as a group. it was delicious! one dish had mushrooms and carrots, another had spinach and garlic, string beans and onions, and the most amazing rice, and a sauce that, to quote Delon, “blew our minds.”
After lunch Jason ran around fixing everyone’s computer and projector malfunctions, including mine. then it the time for us to depart came. we were all nervous, feeling as if we weren’t prepared enough. group gathered in the lobby and prayed together before our departure. we then met our translators, my translators name is Paul. Delon and his translator Frederick rode with us. Frederick very much like Delon, personable and outgoing. He speaks italian, Greek, Hebrew, English and Kiswahili. i felt very at home during the ride; my favorite CCM song, “Above all” by Michael W. Smith was playing on the car radio. it made me realize that we had so much more in common than we had differences. During the ride i also realized that if you can drive in Kenya, you can drive anywhere, and that says a lot because i’m from NY. Driving here takes a combination of skill, aggression, finesse and the Grace of God. Delon fell asleep on the ride. the rest of us were all getting along well, taking and laughing, sharing stories and life plans, and then my hosts began to share their thoughts on women’s ordination and roles in the church, and then i wished i had made the wise decision like Delon to take a nap. we continued our ride in awkward silence. i get to my temporary site, and meet the Pastor, who tells me that Ambrose is usually a man’s name. the site is not necessarily set up but we pressed on. we found alternatives to compensate for the screen that wasn’t set up. and i start, my Jesus video didn’t work, so i moved on. it was raining and water began to fall from the whole in the covering onto my projector, so we moved it quickly. then at slide 10 out of 80 a power surge came through, and my projector completely stopped working. after that my small group of 10 dropped to 5 people. i continued on. at the end five people raised their hand after i made the appeal for prayer, i later found out that they were also church members. i was very disheartened that evening. i was assigned a new driver that evening, her name is Nelly. on the ride home she taught me several phrases in Kiswahili, she has such a kind spirit. i got back to the hotel and got to hear about Delon, Sierra and Leanne’s great experience and was uplifted. Mungu Atukuzwe!-Praise God!
So, i find Fridays blog to be sub par. Here’s the vegan version of the Sabbath:
Sabato Mjema- Happy Sabbath
Awesome morning service! hundreds of people came out and stayed.
Powerful evening service on “why so much suffering?” hundred of people came out and stayed till the end even though it was really cold and the mosquitoes were attacking.
Huge motorcycle vs. car accident happens in front of our eyes, right after i start talking about the Great Controversy and the lies of Satan. the whole group got up and went to the accident. we prayed on the loud speaker for the accident- the entire group came back. worked the accident into the rest of sermon. God made that sermon so powerful after that! hundreds stayed until the end and responded to the appeal. and the icing on the cake, is that host Pastor came up to me and said, "that was a powerful sermon!, oh, i mean bible study.“
From: gerard St Hilaire
Date: August 8, 2011 4:28:25 AM EDT
Subject: 08-07-11 blog day! “Kenya Rocks!”
“The beautiful day started out the team meeting up for breakfast at the hotel. While during breakfast Aldavina lead out with our morning worship. Through her the LORD pointed out to us some key aspects of growing with HIM. Aldavina discussed the scripture of PS 51:1-4 and 1 Samuel 16:7. From the study, the LORD revealed through Aldavina to us that sometimes we feel that we have to tell certain people when we have committed a sin and we may feel guilty if we don’t. Since certain people can be a stumbling block in our path with GOD, in PS 51:4 ,GOD shows us that only against HIM we have sinned and in verse 1 that HE will blot out our transgressions,amen.
After breakfast we had a morning session with our ShareHim representative and date block manager,pastor Rob. In this session we discussed issues an news about our sites and our experiences thus far. We went over our sermons for the day and edited them there together with him. Now it was around midday and some people were still editing there sermons,and others were getting in a nap or two. Around 2 pm the team got together to meet up for a scrumptious meal. After lunch, some of the team went to the market to get sweaters and things for the night service and others practiced their sermons.
Around 5:30 to 6pm the team began to depart to there sites to deliver the messages on the topics of “Why is there so much suffering” and “Move your hand”. Also,one of our precious team members was not able to preach because of illness but the LORD is working on her as her health progressed throughout the day. Around 8:30 to 9:30pm most of our members began arriving back to the hotel. Some of our team was fortunate enough to speak with one of our fellow PYC’ers-Micaela Howson along with her sister when we returned via skype! During that time some people ate a late night meal and others prepared to go to bed. Before I went to bed I had a powerful discussion with my roomates Jason and Deleon about the BIBLE and how amazing GOD is! Overall as all of the other days,this one was BLESSED as well! GOD IS TOO GOOD AND IS MORE THAN WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE! AMEN"
Thanks and PRAISE GOD,
Gerard St.Hilaire
From: LEANNE LAVENTURE
Date: August 8, 2011 4:35:41 AM EDT
Subject: Aug 4th Entry
August 4
We woke up pretty early because we had to get ready for a six hour bus ride from Nairobi to Eldoret.
Unfortunately Aldavivna and I woke up late,So we had to rush. So we quickly ate breakfast and got on the bus. As
we drove out of Nairobi I couldn’t help but wonder where we were going next. I hoped that the hotel would be clean
and the people very friendly.For some reason I wasn’t expecting the bus ride to be as long as it was but I made it.
As I look back, the bus ride wasn’t half bad. The scenery was beautiful and I got to see all sorts of wild animals.
When we finally pulled into The Sirikwa Hotel in Eldoret From the looks of it I thought I was going to have a bad stay
but when I grabbed my stuff and walked inside was a whole different story.It was a lot cleaner than I previously thought.
I went straight to my rooom and unpacked then I began workingon my first sermon. When it was dinner time the team
went to a neighboring Seventh Day Adventist church and we had dinner together and a breif meeting. Feeling exhausted,
after the meeting I went to bed.
From: Aldavina
Date: August 8, 2011 3:40:04 PM EDT
Subject: My testimony comes from an experience I had when I preached two days ago on Saturday.
My testimony comes from an experience I had when I preached two days ago on Saturday.
It was Saturday evening, and it was going to be the first time that I would be using my projector since the rain made it hard to use it the previous day. I was also supposed to play a short clip from a Jesus movie right before I preached. We all stood around the laptop and prayed before I started preaching. The sermon was about why suffering existed in the world, and essentially the sermon explained Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden of Eden. As the sermon progressed, we got deeper and deeper into the word, and the material got heavier and heavier.
It came to the point where I was talking about the controversy between God and Satan, when all of a sudden my projector turned off. My interpreter was caught off guard as we stood there in pure darkness, with only the light from my laptop illuminating our faces. I said a quick prayer in my head and continued on with the sermon.
About 3 slides later, my laptop screen turned white. I immediately stopped and said to the congregation, “Clearly Satan does not want you to hear this message tonight”.
As my support group got up and sang a quick song so that I could get everything back in order, I stopped everything to pray with the remaining people.
Finally, everything got put back in order- or so I thought.
The same thing ends up happening again. And at that time I knew that Satan was really working double time.
So I finally manage to finish the sermon, and as I’m putting everything away, a lady from the crowd starts yelling. I began to ask my interpreter what the lady was saying, but she refused to tell me. I later found out that she was criticizing my sermon, and she even kept talking while a member was praying. And here in Kenya, you just don’t do that.
Long story short, everyone kept saying that the lady was drunk, but one thing my interpreter said stuck with me. As I was recounting my testimony to Delon, I realized that the lady was requesting the image of Christ to be put back on the projector screen, and as she said that, she was laughing. We then realized that the woman had to be possessed. Only Satan would ever have so much delight in seeing Christ on the cross.
-hence the woman requesting His image to be projected again.
Though Satan is strong, I know that God is stronger And is able to keep Satan away from getting His work done. So I’m excited to see what else God will deliver us from while here on this spiritual journey in our walk with Him. Keep praying for the team… Pray that Satan stays away, and that God sends His heavenly angels to encamp around us. Amen.
Aldavina Dos Santos
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