Long time no blog!

I apologize for falling off the face of the blog world! I have been quite busy the past few weeks and have some exciting news to share with you all even if it has nothing to do with my Kenya trip : ) So I am officially taking a time out to share what God has been doing in my life in America this month and then I promise I will continue were I left off on the other side of the world!

August 6-10 Grace Church put on Junior Day Camp for around 50 5th and 6th graders. I grew up going to Junior Day camp and have been a leader for the camp now for four or five years. I was blessed to be able to lead the green team with my dear friend Kayla Enabnit. We had 9 fifth grade girls on our team who were such a delight. I was so lucky to be able to have Sage Theule on my team, as I have had the privilege of babysitting her since the Theule family moved to SLO. I spend a lot of time with the Theule kids and have thoroughly enjoyed watching Sage grow into a beautiful young lady. We had a crazy week of fun (emphasis on the word crazy!) between the water slides, lake, boomers, beach, pool, bowling, and a crazy downtown scavenger hunt. However the neatest part of the week came Thursday morning when we took all of the kids to the Achievement House out by Cuesta College. The Achievement House is a place for mentally handicapped adults to come work and learn new skills. Most of the kids have never met adults with disabilities and it can be slightly uncomfortable for them. Each year we take the kids to do a service project out there. We are normally assigned hard work that the adults there are not capable of completing. Kayla and I talked to the girls ahead of time and told them that the people they would meet aren't 'weird' or even that different from them, but that God had created them to be just like they are and that He loves them just as much. We told the girls that because God had blessed us with strong hands and feet we were going to go bless others. My girls really took this to heart. We heard no complaints the whole day even though they were lifting heavy boxes over and over again. The girls filled the time with singing and encouraging words and genuinely loved all of the people we met at the Achievement House. It was such a neat experience for all of us.

Each morning before we start all of the fun we have a wonderful time of worship and teaching. This year Pastor Tim, Pastor Steve, and Pastor Ken taught the kids. The theme for the week was Jesus is Lord. Each morning the kids learned that Jesus is Lord over sickness, nature, death, and that Jesus is Lord of their lives as well. Two of the girls on my team accepted Christ and a third decided to rededicate her life to Christ! After the teaching time we had wonderful small group times. The week was a huge success and such a blessing to everyone involved. I can't wait to be able to have the same girls in my Mount Hermon cabin later this year for winter camp!

After Junior Day camp all of us leaders would get together and "plan" for the next day. Some days this meant transforming the youth room into an Army base, (The camp was Army themed this year and we literally had a real Army parachute hanging from the ceiling!) Other days our "planning" looked more like sipping hot chocolate while we filled water balloons for the beach day, eating dinner at McClintocks and then having a bonfire, or foolishly going to see Bourne Ultimatum at midnight when we had to be at church a few hours later : ) All this to say, we had a wonderful, busy, EXHAUSTING week!

The Monday after Junior Day Camp we received a phone call from the Foster Agency that my parents are licensed with. They called to ask if we could take in a five month old baby boy! Nancy Villa was over and helped me frantically find and wash any boy clothes we had (we were originally told we were only able to have baby girls because the crib is in my room so we had plenty of pink clothes and not many boy clothes!) My mom and I left to go pick him up and, in true Iunker fashion, took him straight to the church for a nursery through 2's and 3's parent meeting. I told him that if he was going to live with the Iunkers he would practically live at church! We our having a wonderful time with our new little man! He is so happy and fun and is keeping us very busy! I am in heaven and absolutely love having him around!

Monday the 20th I started school at Cuesta. I am taking a few classes this year and God willing will move to San Diego next fall to attend Point Loma's nursing program. I am the only Christian in my entire English class at Cuesta and the teacher asked me to write a paper explaining why if God is good he allows children to suffer. I am so excited to be able to be a witness to the class. We are currently discussing abortion and only one other person in the class is Pro Life. I am stoked to see what God will do this semester.

So that is an overview of what I have been up to and my excuses for not blogging lately : ) Now it's back to Africa... but the baby just woke up so we'll have to wait.

Monday June 25th

Okay, so I wish I could tell you that whatever I was sick with was just some 24 hour bug, and that I woke up on Monday feeling marvelous. However, that would be lying because I was up all Sunday night, and still had a horrible fever and was still very sick on Monday. I was so glad that Monday was our day off. On Tuesday we were leaving to stay with the Massai people, which would be hard work and very uncomfortable, so Monday was time for a little R&R. We were going to go to a Giraffe house and an animal orphanage, but I couldn't even eat or drink without getting sick so I was leaning towards staying home. However, I decided that it would be a relaxing day either way and giraffes are my favorite animal so I might as well go.I remembered when Lance got really sick in Iraq and had to keep going out on missions, so I figured that if he could fight in 142 degrees being that sick, then I could go stare at animals.

We only stayed at the Giraffe house for 2o minutes or so. First we got to feed the giraffes, and by feed I mean kiss. Giraffes eat acacia trees which have huge four inch thorns on them, so their saliva is antibacterial to heal the cuts in their mouths. This being said, we held the giraffe food with our mouths and let them lick away. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Then we listened to a guy talk about the three different kinds of giraffes and where they live and what makes them unique. I wish I could tell you what he actually said, but I could hardly listen and was concentrating too hard on not falling asleep. I did enjoy petting and feeding the giraffes though. God is so creative isn't he? Giraffes are just so....strange.

We were going to spend the rest of the day at an animal orphanage, but we were all pretty exhausted and our matatu drivers knew of an elephant orphanage nearby. We decided to go there instead of the animal orphanage. By the time we got to the elephant orphanage there was only about 10 minutes left before they put the elephants away. We saw quite a few baby elephants there and were able to pet them and watch them play soccer! This was the first time we had seen other white people in Kenya (besides some of the missionaries we had been working with) and we almost felt out of place!

After a couple minutes the elephants left and we decided to go back to Ramsey and Vickey's (a missionary couple's) house and hang out. It turns out that Vicky, the missionary who lives there, was sick with whatever I had and had spent all Monday morning in the hospital! She had just got home before we came over. We started watching the Jonah Veggie Tales movie, but I fell asleep within two minutes, I didn't wake up until the credits were rolling! Up until that point I had not slept for that long of a period of time since we had arrived in Kenya! The rest of my team ate dinner there and we were able to meet one of the missionary's husband, Vincent. Vincent is Kenyan and he married a girl from San Luis Obispo named Andrea. Andrea is from Calvary SLO and has been living in Kenya for a few years. They are the couple whose wedding picture was in the Tribune on New Year's Day this year after they got married in Avila. Vincent is hands down the funniest guy I have ever met. You know those people who don't look like they will be funny, so you don't ever know when they are joking? That's Vincent. I believed whatever he said because he was so serious about it. He enjoyed taking advantage of my gullibility (is that a word?) and was ruthless to me for the rest of the trip, but he was so fun. I loved Andrea and Vincent and would love to go back and stay with them for awhile. We were able to work with Andrea's ministry later on in the trip (which I will eventually get around to blogging about).

We had to leave the Vule's house somewhat early because we weren't really supposed to be out after dark (for safety reasons). Monday night was a particularly bad night for me, but it was a blessing that I had my own little room to be sick in and didn't have to wake people up all night. I was bummed because I wanted to sleep well before we went to the Massai the next day. However, like always, God used my non-sleeping time to teach me what I needed to learn. I was looking up some of the verses that have helped me through all my surgeries and trials the last three years, and was reading in 2 Corinthians (2 Cor. is a must-read when you are suffering. Chapter 12:9&10 especially) but I came across these verses: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had recieved the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8&9) Now of course a fever and throwing up every half hour does not lead to despairing life itself, and I am not saying that that is how I felt, however, it can get rather draining after two days. So as I sat on my bed with a trash can and my Bible, I realized that this was so exciting! Here I was in a third world country, serving the Lord, and there was no way I could possibly rely on my own strength the next few days. At home I have to rely on God to get through the pain caused by my leg each day, but now I would have to rely on God for, well.... everything. The next few days I would not only be in pain, but I would have to eat anything the Massai ladies made for me, no matter how sick I was. I would be without any form of comfort whatsoever; no bed to go lay down in, no shade to rest in, no anything. I would be two and a half hours away from any medical care if I needed it, and I would have to be serving and showing God's love to a group of people that I could not even communicate with (the massai people speak their own tribal language, not Swahili which we had been learning the whole time). The fever had taken every last ounce of energy I had left and I could hardly lift my head I was so sick, so there was absolutely no way I could possibly get through the week on my own strength. And to be quite honest, that is the very best place to be. With that I closed my eyes just in time to hear Deborah walking down the hall to come wake me up for the day.

Sunday June 24th

Abigail, Robbie and Elizabeth's daughter

the boys "making room" for more of Elizabeth's cooking. ^^

Sunday morning we woke up early and went to a Maasai market. These markets are all over Nairobi and are similar to swap meets. You can buy just about anything there. It was so exciting to barter with the vendors! I got some amazing deals on all sorts of Massai weapons for the brothers including spears, knifes, shields, and rungus. Rungus are big ivory clubs that the Massai boys have to kill a lion with to become a man. Can you imagine sending your little son out with nothing but a club and telling them to go find a lion! I also bought some fun African clothes and jewelry for some girls I babysit and some neat African print baby carriers for our foster-baby-to-be. I also bought plenty of earrings and bracelets that the ladies made.

The vendors wanted anything that came from America and would trade things for gum, pens, or anything else we had. The biggest hit was peanut butter. They were so fascinated by it and you could buy anything you wanted for a jar of Skippy! One man wanted 8,000 Schillings for this huge Massai knife but when I told him I wouldn't pay that much he said he would give it to me if I gave him my leather Gap bracelet that I had bought for just a few dollars! Needless to say some man in Kenya is wearing a Gap bracelet and I brought home an enormous knife for my brother!

The most memorable part of our time at the market was getting proposed to! I had been warned ahead of time that this could happen, and that the men aren't joking. They want to marry an American girl so they can come to America. Apparently the blond hair doesn't help either. The man was very forceful and would not take no for an answer. From then on when men started to ask questions I told them I was already married.

After we were done at the market we drove to a church that one of the missionaries, named Robbie, started. I was so excited for the church service, but a few minutes into worship time I got so dizzy I almost passed out. I asked Allysa if she had any food, but by the time she found some I couldn't even see anymore. It felt like I was looking into binoculars from too far away and everything was black except for a little circle. I snuck out of the room with Allysa and as soon as I got out of the doors I collapsed onto the floor. A lady came by and told us that there were couches downstairs that I could lay on. By the time I got to the couches I was shaking and shivering (I was later told that my temperature was over 103 degrees). Apparently I slept for quite a bit of time, but was still shaking in my sleep. I woke up to a lady telling me that I had malaria! Allysa tried to explain to her that we had not been out of Nairobi (Nairobi's elevation is too high for malaria) but the lady was not listening. She said that soon I would start hallucinating and that I needed to go to the hospital. Thankfully church had just ended and my team and the missionaries came down and explained that it wasn't malaria, I didn't even have a mosquito bite.

We left the church and drove to a place called Prestige to eat lunch with all of the missionaries as well as a nurse who lives with a missionary family there. The nurse made me drink a huge bottle of nasty electrolytes. I had to drink an entire liter in 45 minutes, however seeing that I was very sick I would throw it all up and have to start over. It was horrible. Elizabeth, Robbie's wife, decided to take me to her house while the rest of my team went to the Imani boys house (a house for the older boys who are transitioning out of the orphanage). However, to get to her house we had to take a taxi. Driving in Kenya is probably the single most dangerous thing I have ever done. There aren't any rules and people drive wherever they want as fast as they want. So here I am sitting in the front seat of a taxi going over 90 miles an hour on the bumpiest roads in the world, nasty electrolytes in hand, with a driver who doesn't speak English and doesn't understand what "pull over I am going to throw up" means. He finally got the idea when I started to open the door while we were still going. Thankfully we pulled over just in time.

I spent the rest of the day sleeping at Elizabeth's house. Because I could not keep water or electrolytes down, I was very dehydrated and the nurse said I needed to go to the hospital to get IVs put in. I laughed when she said that, on account of even the IV specialists at Standford can't get IVs in me. Thankfully they decided to wait a day to see if I got any better.

Later that evening the rest of the team joined me at Robbie and Elizabeth's to have dinner and fellowship with them. Then we went on their patio and had worship time next to the fire. It was so cold outside (Annie Johnson was using my burning head to keep her warm!) but it was nice to lay out under the stars and worship after such a frustrating day. The day had been a very humbling experience seeing that I hate being the "sick one" or the "weak one" and being the one who needs to be helped.

I was still not doing to well when we got home and was so thankful for my noisy toddler "pee proof" bed!! I was supposed to be drinking the electrolytes all the time but I figured it was getting somewhat pointless seeing that it didn't stay in me for any length of time so I went to bed instead.

More photos from Imani B

the older kids leading worshipthe toddler's eating lunch

the world's largest teeter totter!

the playground at Imani

the Mombassa

Mary

lunchtime

hackysack

Francis

the dancers

Saturday June 23

Saturday was our last day at Imani. Our whole team went to Imani B, the older kids house. We spent the morning just playing with all of the kids on the playground and taught some of the older ones how to play hackysack. Then we gathered all the kids and had worship time. Some of the older kids at Imani led us in Swahili worship. Then a few of the kids did a dance performance for us. I was amazed. I was a dancer on company for a long time and I have seen some of the best dancers in America, but none of the dancers I have seen were as naturally talented as these kids. They did several dances for us while a 7 year old boy played the drums. He was amazing as well. I honestly have never met a more talented group of kids.

After the dancing my team led a VBS program for all the kids. We taught them the story of the prodigal son and did a skit that reenacted the parable. We told them all about their Father in Heaven who loves and cares for them and will forgive them no matter what. We told them that there is nothing that they can do that will make God love them any more or any less. The kids listened really well. The concept of God as Father is very important to these kids as they are being raised without an earthly Dad.

When we were done with the skit and Bible lesson we split the kids into four groups to go to different stations. Each station focused on a different color that represented the gospel message. Blue represented sin, red stood for the blood of Christ, green was for new life in Christ, and yellow was for eternal life in Heaven. I taught at whichever station had one of the toddler/preschooler groups at it. The blue station focused on Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I had the little kids raise their hand if they had ever pushed a friend, they all raised their hands (including me) then I asked if they had ever not listened to Mama Faith or an Auntie or Uncle. Again we all raised our hands. After a few more examples I told them that all of these things were called sin and that doing these things made God sad. Then I had them show me their sad faces. It was soooo cute! Then we talked about how in the prodigal son skit the son sinned when he used all his money for "bad games" and other bad things. After the lesson they covered their hands in blue paint and put their hand prints on a huge white sheet that had Romans 3:23 painted in Swahili on it. At the next station I taught about Romans 10:9 and told them that we didn't need to be sad anymore because Jesus had died for our sins and God has forgiven us just like the dad did in the story. Then they put red hand prints on another sheet. For the green station they learned that they now had new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and at the yellow station they learned Revelation 21:4 "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

After we finished the stations we showed the kids the finished sheets (they hung them up in the orphanage as a reminder of what they learned) and reviewed what all the colors meant. Then we had the kids recite the verses in Swahili.

Later in the day we took the young kids to go play games and took everyone six and up and talked to them about what it meant to have faith and trust in God. We then stacked a chair on top of a table and had the kids climb up one at a time, close their eyes and fall backwards off the chair into Ramsey, Josh, and Jordan's arms. By the time they were done they all had a really good idea of what it means to take a leap of faith. They understood that even though it may be scary to trust God at all times, he is always there for them and won't let go of them. It was definitely a memorable object lesson!

Friday June 22nd

I was beyond ecstatic to find out that I would be able to go back to the baby house on Friday. When I arrived it was cold and overcast outside so the babies were not allowed to go outside. This meant I had my five little ones from the day before and got to help with about 20 more infants under 7 months! We carried the babies two at a time from their beds, bouncers, and swings to a room that had mattresses covering the majority of the floor. I spent the day with three other Aunties sitting on the floor holding babies. Yosef wanted to be held most of the day and didn't nap much unless I was holding him, so he spent the majority of the day in one of my arms. Unless we were feeding we always had two babies in our hands. I don't think I am ever happier than I am when I am holding two infants!

The babies at Imani are so content and happy! Not a single baby screamed for any length of time. They would just fuss a little when they were hungry or if they wanted to be held. They all lay really close together on the mattress so they sooth eachother. It is so precious! If one baby would cry the babies next to him would let him suck on their fingers or hold their hand. They were all younger than 7 months, but they instinctively knew to comfort eachother. I noticed as the kids get older they only get better at comforting eachother. The kids at Imani B (the older kids house) honestly loved and cared for eachother. Everything at Imani belongs to all of the children. They even rotate the clothes around so that none of the kids have a "mine" attitude. The kids don't expect anything and lack the sense of entitelment that so many American children have. I hope I can raise my kids to know that everything they have is the Lord's and that the only things that truly matter are God and people. So all of you mothers who are reading this, how do you practically instill these characteristics into your children?

Anyway, Thursday and Friday were definitely my favorite days (suprise!) and I would love to go back and work at the baby house for a longer period of time. I am trying to see what that would look like seeing that I am planning on spending the next five years at school to be a Neonatal nurse. I trust that God will provide the time and the finances if he wants me at Imani and I will continue to seek his will and his perfect plan for my future. Isn't it encouraging and releiving to know that God is in control and not my silly little self!

The pictures are of the outside of Imani A (the baby house) and two of the Imani B kids who were helping at the baby house. The kids are looking out at Kayole, the area Imani is located in.

Thursday June 21

Thursday we were finally going to Imani Children's Home. The lady who started the home, Mama Faith, was in Europe so we did not get to meet her. When she was 12 years old she saw a prostitute who was pregnant walking the streets everyday. Mama Faith knew that the prostitute would abandon the baby when she gave birth, so she convinced the lady to give her her baby when it was born! She hid the baby with her maid for the first few months until she finally told her own mom! Now she runs an orphanage with over 400 kids! While it is technically an orphanage, the kids always call it a children's home. They all have a Heavenly Father and consider Mama Faith their Mom. Thus they are not orphans. The kids also do not feel sorry for themselves. Imani is the best place that any of these kids could be.

The first day I was fortunate enough to be able to work at Imani A which is the infant house. Imani A is home to 40 infants. The ladies who take care of them are saints!! All 40 infants were lying on little beds outside under a shade tent. When it is warm enough all of the babies get to lay in the sun for a period of time and then nap in the shade. The "Aunties" lotion and massage them several times a day. I was assigned to the five youngest babies all just a few weeks old (they are not completely sure how old some of them are). I WAS IN HEAVEN!! My five were named Yosef, Rose, Esther, Abell, and Effron. Abell had been brought to the orphanage the week before by the police after someone found him somewhere. Esther is without a doubt the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and has the biggest smile and cutest dimples! Effron was the biggest and by that I mean probably 6 or 7 pounds. Rose and Yosef were about 4 pounds. From the moment I saw Yosef I wanted to adopt him! Granted, I wanted to take all 40 of the babies and all 400 kids home, but for some reason I had a special bond with little Yosef. I have never in my entire life felt such a deep love for any child just by looking at them. Don't get me wrong, I was in love with all of the babies there so I am not really sure how to explain it.

I spent the whole morning holding and cooing to the babies : ) and rocking them to sleep. Seeing that they are so tiny I could easily hold two at the same time. Then I fed them with another Auntie from the Philippines named Ann who is staying at Imani A for a year. We were outside with all of the infants so all 40 babies were being fed. It was crazy. After they ate the older infants had their diapers taken off (their diapers are big towels tied around them) and they all fell asleep. It was sad because all of the infants have really swollen stomachs and tiny arms and legs. Most of the babies had diarrhea constantly so when their diapers are off the Aunties are constantly changing the blankets underneath them. Several of the babies were very sick with AIDS (this is why I was not allowed to change diapers). A few were so sick and frail that the skin on their legs and bottom was wrinkled and hanging. They were the definition of 'skin and bones'. It was devastating to watch the babies nap and think about the reasons why they were in the orphanage. My five decided that they weren't going to nap and they just wanted to be held. I didn't mind : )

A few hours later some of the Aunties made us food and Chai and I was forced to leave the babies. I was so bummed, but I ended up having an amazing talk with our interpreter, Sammy, over lunch and tea. Sammy is a student at the Bible college in Nairobi and is one of the most interesting people I have met. We talked about the differences between America and Kenya and about Kenyan politics. Then we discussed abortion (one of my passions) and the lack of sanctity for human life in America. It was very interesting to hear his opinions and I will probably post later about some of the amazing conversations we had throughout the trip.

After we finished eating we met up with the rest of our team over at Imani B. Once the babies can walk and talk they stay at Imani B. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids at Imani. The young ones were really tired so we all had sleeping preschoolers in our arms. We met some amazing children including Castro,who came to Imani with a broken spine and is now walking with a cane,and Emma, a joyful little preschooler living with AIDS. I adore the kids at Imani and can't wait to see them again!!

The pictures above were taken at Imani A by another person who went the last few years. They did not let me take pictures with the babies this year (so no pictures of my precious Yosef) but we were able to take pictures at Imani B the last day we were there. I will post those soon. The picture of the baby Gracie above will give you an idea of how little my five were.