VBS, Seminars, Angry Cows, and Busyness

Hello Friends,

It has been about a month since I have updated and for that I apologize. A mixture of busyness, forgetfulness, and lazyness has caused me to wait so long. But many things have happened. Life if going very quickly now and I am finding my groove here in Kenya West.

Since my last update I have been very busy with a lot of programs. On April 11th We had a meeting for our young people who will be traveling to Sweden next year for the World Youth Convention. We found out that getting passports in Kenya is a very long and tricky process, involving many different government offices and paperwork. So we decided to start now. This was a good time of getting to know some youth from around the Territory. We will be sending 20 youth from our Territory to the Conference, which is an International Salvation Army Youth Conference. We learned a timbrel routine and everyone was amazing at Timbrels, except for the TYS and I.

The following weekend we had a DYO Seminar, which was a seminar for the Divisional Youth Officers (they are in charge of the youth work within an area of the Territory). This was a great time to learn about issues of youth work in the divisions and to teach the DYOs what we expect for them to do. It was an odd feeling because I was treated as their superior (sort of like upper management) even though they are doing all of the actual practical work and are much older than I. I really had a good time with those DYOs.

During the DYO seminar my friends Keri Shay and Kaitlin came to Kakamega to see me. They were traveling around Africa and decided to see the Kenyan Wildlife. It was really nice to see some friends and we went and saw the Crying Stone. Which is a giant stone which constantly cries (duh). While they were here, there was a Territorial Meeting for Self-Denial, which is a meeting where everyone from Kenya West gets together and gives money to The Salvation Army around the world. Our Territory raised over 3 Million Shillings (which is about $40,000). We had a good time dancing and singing with the people of the Territory, and it was a good time of worship and fellowship.

The following weekend I had a chance to be the guest speaker at a Zonal youth meeting. This was a meeting where the youth from 7 different corps (churches) got together and had a crusade (which is a like an open-air march/parade with dancing and singing) and had a youth meeting where they had speakers, teachings, and dances. The youth here love Gospel Dances, which are special dances that are a mixture between contemporary and tradition Kenyan Dances which are set to Christian Praise songs. The highlight of this meeting was the debate that took place. The youth split in two and had a debate on faith and healing, with each side using scripture to support their ideas. It was great to see people using the Bible to make their points and then people correcting others when they used scripture out of context. It was guided by the DYO who ended the debate by teaching them our doctrines.

The following week was a very busy, but great week for me. I was out in the field all week doing VBS with a local corps (church). The Vacation Bible School was for five days and was held the week right before the youth went back to school. I went out into the slums with the corps members and taught the youth about the Bible and played games with them. My favorite part was going on visitations after the lessons. We would walk each child home and pray for them, their house, and their family. To walk one young person home we had to walk over 3 miles, but it was worth it to see him active in the corps.

During VBS, I was playing soccer in a field and there was a cow tied to the goal post eating the grass of the field. Someone kicked the ball and it was headed straight for the cow. so I ran as fast as I could to kick it out of the way before it got to the cow. I reached the ball, kicked it out of the way, and turned my back on the cow, i was about 5 feet from her. The next thing i know, The cow headbutts me on the back of the thigh and puts her head in between my legs, throwing me up onto her back. So, i was attacked by a cow while playing soccer with some 10 year olds.

This past Sunday was a really good service. There was a youth talent show at church which involved 7 gospel dances, many acapella singers, two rap groups, and a young man who drew a bird and a caricature of our officer (pastor). I love being a part of a church that cares so much about their youth, I feel very honored and fortunate.

Also, in the past month my dad and his wife had a baby and I now have a little brother. His name is Titus.

I have a new favorite store in Kakamega. It is a wedding store and out in front is a sign that says "We sell everything you need for Weddings" and underneath is a list of things that they sell. Number 2 on the list is Boyz 2 Men.

Please pray for:

-Language

-Perserverance

-Useful and creative ideas

-The Youth of my Territory

-My Family

Much Love,

Justin