What the Heck are You Doing?!

Is a question I'm sure a lot of you are asking because, unless you are on facebook or follow me on twitter, you probably haven't heard from me in a while. And even twitter has been neglected lately.

I'm not going to start off with a bunch of excuses but I WILL tell you what I've been up to and the work that I've been so privileged to join in.

Let's start with the small stuff...

Relationships:

It might not seem like a big consumption of time but building relationships is part of the reason I'm here. And it actually takes quite a lot of my time because, as I mentioned in a previous post 'Slower Than You'd Like Me To Be', I explained how knowing people can derail an entire day of  tasks. For instance, my neighbor just had a baby and I've been spending time with her as she goes crazy staying home instead of going to work.

 Community: (aka: more relationships)

God has really blessed me with an amazing community of good friends here. Some are other missionaries, some are Kenyans, all of them are fun! It seems that I've been having people over or going over to someones at least 4 times a week lately. Not to mention my small group (16 members) from church just had a retreat which was entirely too short. And in a couple of weeks we will be meeting at my place on Wednesday nights to continue learning biblical principles  together.

Church:

Speaking of my small group. 2 weeks ago I finished a 10 week mizizi (roots) course at my church called Plug-in. The retreat was our final step to graduation and now all of us graduates enter into a 6 month ministry internship in our church. My ministry has already started, somehow I am often the exception in life... So I am now serving as a video director as Nairobi Chapel and loving every second of it. Saturday is our rehearsal day to work out all the kinks and then Sunday is when we have services. In fact, in October we are starting 2 Sunday morning services so our work load just doubled. But I don't mind because I love this work and I love the people I work with.

Video:

I have been asked a couple of times to put together some videos for church. One of them was for a baptism ceremony and the other is to promote a mission to Ethiopia. They are short videos but they have taken a bit of time and that's partly why my vlogs have been neglected.

Vlogs:

Though they haven't been edited yet, I have still been taking the camera out with me so there are some vlogs coming your way including Oliver's big news, checking out my church... oh and the Nairobi Fair is starting next week... just sayin'.

Oliver:

This boy's life is so fun and encouraging to watch. God's been working in his life and I will share all the details with you very soon.

Bible Study:

For the last 2 months I had been leading a bible study in my place for a couple of boys in Kibera. Oliver was among them and it was a highlight of my week to see light bulbs come on and have them ask tough questions. We have taken a break while school is on and most of the boys are gone but we will continue our meetings when they are on break.

Paperwork:

 I am in the process of applying for a resident visa which will be valid for the next 2 years. The only problem is how long it took to get all my documents in order and then how long it takes to process these kinds of applications because I only have 2 months remaining on my visitors visa before I will have to leave the country. I'm praying it won't come to that.

And now some changes...

I think I need to change my weekly vlogs to monthly. At least for now.. while there are still only 7 days in a week. I will upload a vlog on the first Wednesday of every month.

I have actually gained a house mate. Got has answered some of my prayers about help with rent and a girl from the US named Christy is now sharing my place.

I have a cat... I know I know.. but I am just not able to let lost kittens starve to death... it's not my thing. So I have a kitten named Cleo Chizi (like 'cheezy' which means crazy in swahili slang) cause well, she's crazy sometimes. Actually, she's a nice cat. She's a tabby who likes chasing the computer mouse on the screen, playing soccer with her duct tape ball and also hiding behind the curtains, running out to pounce on your legs and then takes off. You know, typical kitten stuff. But she's happy and alive so I think I'll keep her, till she goes into heat. then I might strangle her. KIDDING. She's and indoor cat so I don't have to worry about fleas or more kittens and she doesn't even want to go outside cause she knows monkeys are out there and she hates monkeys - That makes two of us.

That's the bulk of it. So now you know what I've been up to.
And I'm going to try REALLY hard to make sure I have some time weekly to keep you in the loop. Cause it's an awesome loop to be in!

p.s. check out my Prayer Page.