MBC KidsHeart

CBF of Missouri trip to Kenya

2008-10-29T08:48:00.003-05:00

CBF of Missouri made their 2nd trip to eastern Kenya in 2 years. Rand Swanigan and Melissa Hatfield with First Baptist Church of Jefferson City were with this group. Rand, who is my brother-in-law, made some observations in the following blog: First Baptist Church Missions blog. I told him before he left that it would be life changing.

Transition for Orphans

2008-10-27T16:34:00.002-05:00

Scott Collin's Blog Entry #2. I just finished reading this blog entry and what's been put in place in Russia is what we want to help out in Kitale, Kenya. We saw a number of teenage children who in a few years would be leaving the "Seed of Hope" orphanage. We're not certain exactly the form it's going to take, but we have started fund raising for it. Everything must have a name and so we're calling this REACH for Realizing Education And Career Hopes. Be in prayer for direction.

Scott Collins on a Shoe Trip to Russia

2008-10-24T16:34:00.011-05:00

I read on Ken Hall's, the President of Buckner, blog about one of the many "Shoes for Orphan Souls" trips Buckner makes around the world. This one was in Russia and Scott Collins, a participant, was the guest blogger. Scott, as you remember, spoke at our church in November 2007. You may also remember that he is a "Show Me" guy, growing up in Moberly. Make sure and read all of his entries at:

Click here to read Scotts comments

Who's On the Lord's Side?

2008-09-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

As stated in an earlier entry, what we saw and participated in at the Ecclesia church was quite an experience. This video clip was taken at the end of the service. I should have taken one earlier, but I was hestitant not wanting to be disrespectful. The 75 pictures are representative of what we did at the Seed of Hope. My son, Michael, put this together, and we showed it during the offetory for the service where we did our mission trip presentation.

What a Few Soccer Balls Can Do

2008-09-02T20:54:00.014-05:00

This story begins 2 years ago on our Buckner vision trip to Kenya when Naomi took a few small balls to give to the children we would see. They were the type that if you bounced them, they would bounce high. We're talking small balls, about 1 inch in diameter. But instead of bouncing them after we gave them to the children, they placed them on the ground and started kicking them like soccer balls (or football as they and the rest of the world calls it). Fast forward a few months. Todd Pridemore, Minister of Recreation and Outreach for Memorial Baptist Church, asked Naomi what they do as a mission project for the 2008 Upward Basketball program. Naomi, remembering what had happened with the small balls, suggested giving soccer balls. She was thinking a few balls, but by the end of the season every team had collected at least one ball and had the children sign them. In total, they collected 46 balls! Also, Christian Chapel Academy had donated about 50 small Upward Soccer balls. In order to transport that many to Kenya, they had to be deflated. We took them to the Seed of Hope orphanage where Terry Dykes, one of our team members, used a few of them in recreational games during our VBS with the children. Phil Brinkmeyer, a Dallas Buckner employee, and Dickson Masindano, a Kenya Buckner employee, were leaving so that Dickson could show Phil around, this being Phil's first trip to Kenya. Since they were using Dickson's truck to get around, Naomi suggested to Phil that he take about half of the balls to give to other children. Phil thought this was a good idea and was more than happy to be able to distribute them to the various places they were going. Phil later joined us on our Masai Mara safari. Phil told the story about the balls and we were spellbound. Later, as we discussed the story, we said that we had to tell others. But if we told it, it would be second hand. Naomi suggested that we video Phil telling the story. We approached him and at first he wasn't sure. After much thought, he agree to be videoed. The following is his story.
I videod Phil while at the lodge and Phil later provided the photos and the short embedded video clips. My son, Michael, a film editing major in college, put it all together.

Safari!

2008-08-30T13:30:00.006-05:00

We arrived at the lodge after landing on the the dirt airstrip and getting into safari 4 wheel drive jeeps and driving about 15 kilometers in the Masai Mara. One individual somewhat excitedly asked, "I suppose that was only a taste of what we will be seeing". I could only nod my head in agreement. It's hard to describe going on a safari, but we will try with pictures and videos. This is beautiful country and the animals are magnificent. And to be here during the "Great Migration". There literally were thousands of zebras and wildebeasts. Enjoy what you see. We did.

Final Day at Seed of Hope

2008-08-19T17:28:00.007-05:00

Today was the last day with children. We had fun activities for the morning and we were to leave that afternoon, but we didn't know exactly the time. The foster children left around 11:30 am in order to be able to drive them all home. One of the big activities was the craft to build a handbag out of duct tape. All ages enjoyed that. When it was time to leave, we all gathered in a circle. Terry presented a soccer ball that had been donated by the MSHAA (Missouri High School Athletic Association). Rose then introduced and thanked the Seed of Hope staff. She then personally thanked our mission team and also thanked the interns. We left knowing that these children were in good hands. We headed back to the Kitale airport and later that afternoon we were flying back to Nairobi. We made it to the Methodist Guest House for a well deserved night of rest. But more excitement awaited us. Tomorrow.... Safari!

Monday, Monday

2008-08-18T13:53:00.006-05:00

Remember that old song by the Mama's and Papa's? They were not looking forward to that day. However, after Sunday, we were ready to go. The medical team knew it was going to be a extremely busy day especially after "free medical care" had been announced in church. It wasn't long before there enough people lined up to be seen for the day. There's nothing more difficult than to have to turn people away simply because the need is greater than the resources. Procedural changes had been made to make it a better environment for the team to be able to serve. The VBS team was busy, too, but had made adjustments to help out. We had translators (church pastor, house mom & dads, Rose, etc.) to help out with all but the older children who's English was pretty good. With communication improved, the children were better able to follow instructions. The afternoon was unstructured and a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed Naomi's safari game, having the fingernails painted (boys, too!), flying a kite (Kevin had a hard time with it, but the kids knew how to work it better.), and Sharon's Noah card matching game, not to mention some serious rope jumping. The normal sounds of children playing were great to hear, just like any children around the world. But, of course, they are like any other children.

Sunday at Ecclesia

2008-08-17T07:31:00.014-05:00

Today being Sunday, it's appropriate to talk about the Sunday 2 weeks ago. The day before had been a very busy day for all, and now we all got up (some of us didn't get as much sleep as we wanted) and headed back to the Seed of Hope. But first we attended a church nearby the Seed of Hope, one that the children attended. It was the Ecclesia church. When we got there we were ushered to the front, to a place of prominence. We got pews that were padded and covered. The service began and the children came up front with the song leader and youth pastor and led in worship for about an hour. They sang and danced. It was tremendous. If any of us were dragging, this level of energy raised us up. Rose got up and introduced us, but let us all say our own name since a lot of ours were "too difficult to pronounce". They had a visiting pastor and he preached for quite some time. Fortunately we got to sit down for that part. He preached in English and had a translater who translated in Swahili.

After the service we gatthered about and visited while the older boys and their men leaders engaged in a volleyball game. We then headed to the Seed of Hope for lunch and then an unstructered time with the children. We had football games and relay races going on. The children really enjoyed the relay races and the interns got their level of excitement up to a high level. They all had a great time! But again, it rained in the late afternoon and everyone scooted inside. Terry and I were able to sit and talk with the visiting pastor for quite some time and found out that he had been quite the football player in his younger days. When the time came for us to leave, it was decided that the road was too muddy for our van and so we walked out of the Seed of Hope and up to the Ecclesia church in order to get to the van and back to the Kitale Club, our hotel.

Busy Day - Big Time

2008-08-14T21:26:00.011-05:00

Saturday was a very busy day for both the VBS and medical teams. We divided the children up into age groups, each one with an intern, gave them colored bandanas to identify the group, then had each group go to a station. We soon learned that the craft was taking a lot of time while the other groups were finishing and so we had to figure out what to do with them while they waited. The interns were wonderful with this as they were able to have fun playing with them until we were ready to switch groups. We had only gotten through 2 rotations when it was "Tea Time"! This is something they do there at the Seed of Hope no matter how busy you are. We were able to finish up before lunch. After lunch, it was a much more unstructured atmosphere and then the rains came! It rained very hard for at least an hour and the football field was unplayable. Tom and Rose were worried that if the bus came down it might get stuck in the muddy road. In the meantime, the clinic was swamped. Word had gotten out to the community that there was free medical care and so there was a crowd. Louise and Erin had a crowd in their room making it difficult to move much less work. By mid-afternoon it was apparent that they would not be able to see everyone, so tongue depressors with numbers on them were handed out to those in line saying that they would need to come back Sunday afternoon in order to be seen. By the time we made it back to the hotel ( this time the Kitale Club ) and checked in and had supper, we all were pretty tired. But we all knew adjustments needed to be made and so the different teams talked on how they might do some things different in order for it to run more smoothly.

Our First Full Day in Kenya

2008-08-13T21:41:00.012-05:00

We left the Grace Guest House with Tom (Kenya Buckner staff) and Julie and drove to the Wilson airport to fly out to Kitale. While we were waiting, we met up with Phil Brinkmeyer (Buckner staff from Dallas) and Dickson Masindon (we've blogged about him previously). We caught our plane which held about 35 people and headed to Kitale. At the Kitale airport we were greeted by Rose (Kenya Buckner staff in charge of foster children). Around the airport we noticed how high the corn was. The Kenyan staff proudly told us that this area pretty much fed the whole country with corn from here. We headed to the hotel, but got a second surprise of the trip. For the first night we would stay at the Mid Africa Hotel instead of the Kitale Club. We unpacked, ate, and headed to the Seed of Hope. We found out why we would be eating lunch there this week as it was pretty far out of town and out dirt/mud roads. This was our first time to see Kitale, and so we soaked it all in. Many noticed how many people walked along the roads and how many rode bicycles. Martin, our driver, was good in manuevering around them. When we first got to Seed of Hope, the children noticed us immediately. It took a while for each of us to warm up to each other, but whenever Shelly went down the slide, the kids immediately followed and the ice was broken. Rose gave us a tour of the houses where the children lived and medical team soon checked out the clinic, meeting the nurse and the lab technician. They made plans on what rooms they would use and how they would work their process in seeing patients. In the meantime, the VBS team checked the houses and where they could do inside activities and the outdoor grounds for outside activities. We all had a great time, but knew that tomorrow would be a busy day for both teams. We headed back to the hotel to eat supper and for rest. It having a bar, it closed late and some of us were too close to the lobby and were awakened when people left or went to their rooms. We were able to get back to sleep knowing the morning would be here soon enough.

The Trip

2008-08-12T14:30:00.007-05:00

I hope to describe our trip in the next few entries starting with our trip to get there. Most had been involved for more than a year, now we were ready to go. Needless to say, most were at the church a lot earlier than the posted timed to meet. We loaded the church bus and had a good number see us off. We had a circle of prayer with our pastor, Bob Webb, leading us. It was an excited group, even though the Lewis' were getting over illnesses and Shelly Dykes was not feeling too well. Our driver, John Dye, did a good job of getting us there. As we went up to the counter to check in, Laura Dye, who had come with her father, offered up a prayer that our flight go smoothly. Early on, our prayers were answered as we expected to have to pay for an overweight bag containing medicine, but learned at the counter that since we were going to be connecting with British Airways in Chicago, the limit was to be 70 pounds for checked in bags instead of 50 pounds.
Our trips to Chicago, London, and Nairobi went smoothly, but were long. We met Julie, our mission coodinator, at the gate in London. Customs at Nairobi was a lengthy process, but finally we were out and we met a Kenya Buckner staff member, Tom. Tom was to be with us practically the whole trip. More about him in a later entry. We got a first lesson in being flexible, as we found out we were staying at the Grace Guest House instead of the Methodist Guest House. Once we got to the Grace Guest House, we learned that our luggage, with the exception of what we were going to carry onto the small plane the next morning, needed to be loaded and start heading to Kitale by land. So the picture in this entry is of us rearranging our suitcases in the parking lot of the Grace Guest House.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

2008-08-11T14:15:00.003-05:00

Here's a link to our pictures:

Kevin and Naomi Scantlan's pictures

Sharon Horton's pictures

Back home

2008-08-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

We made it back to Columbia. We had a long wait in Chicago. We're not exactly certain of the problems, but we sat on the tarmac for over an hour before we took off. But the pilot made a quick trip of it and we arrived in St. Louis not too late. Thanks to John and Laura Dye for coming in the church bus to pick us up. We are tired and most of us have to go to work on Monday. But it is a good tired and thankful for the opportunity to go to Kenya and work with the orphans there.

Airport in London

2008-08-09T02:52:00.004-05:00

We made it to London. Some of us slept well on the airplane, others did not. We're sorta hanging out until we catch our flight to Chicago. It's good we have a break as long flights can be very tiring. We will have lots of pictures and videos to share once we get back. We'll try and post some very soon.

Nairobi airport

2008-08-08T13:42:00.003-05:00

We are at the Nairobi airport waiting for our flight out to London. We had a great time since we last wrote. Our group and the interns went out to eat at the Carnivoire (not sure of the spelling). It's an experience to say the least. Today we went shopping at the Village Market. We all bargained for what we bought and that was different for those who had never done that. Needless to say we helped the Kenyan economy. Afterwards, we went to the New Hope Baby Home. They take abanded babies that have HIV and take care of them until they can be adopted, have foster care, or reach the age of 3. Then they would go to an orphanage. It takes a while to navigate your way around the city, but our driver, Martin, was the best. We are looking forwarded to being home. We've had a couple of spills, as Naomi fell on her tail bone and it's sore, and Linn fell at the Grace Guest House and skinned her chin and neck and hands. Hopefully the flights will not be too uncomfortable for them. Keep them in your prayers.

First Picture

2008-08-07T02:13:00.003-05:00

Here's the first pictue we've been able to post. This was when we went to worship with the kids and others in the community. What an experience! We'll write more about it later. We are at the Masai Mara Game Reserve and have went out 3 times to see the animals. We even saw a rhino this morning. We plan on going to a Masai village this morning before we fly back to Nairobi.

Back in Nairobi

2008-08-05T14:32:00.003-05:00

I can't post any picutures from here, but will give a short narrative. We are staying in the Methodist Guest House and will take off early to the Masi Mara Reserve. We're excited about our safari, but even more excited about the work that was done. This is a trip where we learned to be flexible. Sometimes we had to make changes on the fly, but we all knew that this more than just a possibility, but a probability. Each of us have a different perspective and have some many stories to tell from the VBS team and the medical team. We just heard a story from Phil, a Buckner employee, during our devotional time that just knowing that God was with us. We will try and relay that story as soon as I can. Thanks to all who supported us with your money and prayers. As soon as we have pictures posted, we will let you know.

We're in London

2008-07-31T02:23:00.003-05:00

It's 8:25am in London. We're halfway. I'm trying to get used to a different keyboard, so I may make mistakes. Plus I'm under a time limit. Chicago was real crowded and we were about 45 minutes late getting there, so we didn't have much of a layover. We have a 2 hour layover in London. Some of us got some sleep on the plane and others did not. In either case, we can rest up a bit here, then it's another 8 hours to Nairobi. British Airways is a top notch airline. We'll see when the next time we can update the blog.

The Interns

2008-07-28T22:06:00.006-05:00

Interns with Dickson Masindano
The interns that work with Buckner are keeping a blog over the summer. There are 2 entries from the ones that will be working with us. Check out what they have to say: Click here They look like an enthusiastic group and experienced now that they've spent a couple of weeks in Kenya. We look forward to working with them.

It Begins With A Vision

2008-07-28T21:28:00.004-05:00

A long term project such as this mission trip has to begin somewhere. This one began with a vision by a pastor with a heart for missions and a heart for his church. He did not see them as two separate things, but intertwined. But he is also a man of action. At the CBF of Missouri Assembly in 2005 he heard of the call of missions to Kenya in partnership with Buckner International. He contacted Naomi and myself about going on a "Vision Tour" to Kenya with Buckner. Of all the people in church, Naomi is perhaps the only one who had ever heard of Buckner, but he did not know that. We went, we came back, we reported what we say. But it did not stop there. Bob Webb formed a Task Force for us to determine "What Now". It was determined by the team that we should go on a mission trip to Kenya in August 2008. Bob did not make the decision, did not lead the task force, did not do the planning. He knew that it had to be a church decision, not a pastor decision, in order to be successful. But he's been as supportive a pastor that anyone could ask for. He would have loved to have gone as a part of the team, but could not due to scheduling. But that did not lessen his support. Now, come Wednesday morning as we gather at church with others for prayer as we depart for the first mission trip abroad for this church, who better to lead those prayers than Bob. You see, instead of "doing", sometimes the best thing a pastor can do for his church is "seeing". It would have never gotten off the ground without that.

Commissioning Service

2008-07-27T14:04:00.007-05:00

Thanks to Scott Collins with Buckner for giving us words of encouragement. We asked Scott if he could give a short video clip about upcoming trip that we could show in our worship service. He was more than happy to work with us. The clip about is one that he provided us. We now have less than 3 days to go. We are concerned about Erin Lewis who has come down with an illness. Ask God's healing so that Erin can gain strength for the long flights aheard and the working with the children.

Out Team, Ready to be Sent

2008-07-25T09:17:00.007-05:00

Vacation Bible School kids got to see this short video clip yesterday. This was to give an idea to the childre who was going and some of the planning that had to take place. The music in the background is a portion of "Here I Am" by MercyMe. I had published their video of this song on YouTube earlier.

Vacation Bible School

2008-07-21T15:04:00.007-05:00

This year, the church's Vacation Bible School is using their mission offering for the mission trip. In order for the children to understand what the mission trip is all about, I created a series of video clips. The first one shows the trip of going from Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, Missouri to Kitale, Kenya. It shows that it is indeed on the other side of the world. It also shows of what the Seed of Hope orphanage looks like.

Packing Party

2008-07-16T21:23:00.006-05:00

Last Sunday was our packing party. No, we were not packing personal items to take on the trip, yet, but getting all the VBS supplies, 46 full sized soccer balls, 51 small sized soccer balls, medical supplies, etc. We tried to distribute them evenly between the 9 duffel bags the members will have as one of their check in bags. We wanted to put the VBS supplies for a particular day together, but had to make sure that the bags stayed within the weight limit of 50 pounds. Everyone pitched in and helped. With a little of 2 weeks to go, the part of preparing makes the trip even more real.
This picture shows us organizing the bags. We listed everything that we place in the bags on a sheet of paper for that bag.
Here's the packing crew after a job well done.

Masai Mara videos and pictures

2008-07-08T13:20:00.005-05:00

Wildebeest Crossing the Mara River into Mara Triangle from Joseph Kimojino on Vimeo.

We found these videos on a website linked from a blog. This is the Mara Triangle Blog maintained by a conservation agent. To see more of the videos he took, click here. Additionally, they have some pictures posted here. Kenya is a beautiful country and the animals are amazing. I'm ready to go now,

100 Days of Prayer Calendar

2008-07-03T19:08:00.004-05:00

Probably the most important ingrediant to a successful mission trip is prayer. Not only the prayer of the team members, but others. Many have asked, "What Can I Do?". You can do what Dickson Masindino said when asked what we can do for the orphans of Kenya. "You can prayer" was his immediate reply. Thanks to Linn Lewis who created this prayer calendar. Now it's available online. You can click here. There will be a permanent link on the right side of this blog with the other links or you can go to the main webpage for this mission trip.

Even more Planning.....

2008-07-03T18:16:00.005-05:00

With 4 weeks until we leave, there is still some last minute planning that needs to be done. The Medical Team met and went over details. Also the VBS Team has met and gone over their details. Sometimes parts of plans need to be changed as you find out that something doesn't work quite like the way you thought it would. That's why is was good to try things out. There's a realization that you can't be "married to" your plans knowing that they may need some adjusting and completely thrown out if need be, but it's still better to be prepared than not. We are grateful for the leadership that we have on both teams. We know we are in good hands.

Medical Team meeting

2008-06-22T22:24:00.005-05:00

The Medical Team met to go over details on the medical ministry. We are grateful that Dr. James Brillhart is able to lead that team. James and his wife Louise were missionaries to Togo for 10 years and have done a number of short term medical missions. James is well trained for this and has the heart to minister to the ophans in Kitale. Please pray that the remaining planning and training goes well. Pray for God's leadership in those things that are planned and for those things that cannot be planned.

Here Am I, Send Me

2008-06-14T22:48:00.003-05:00

I found this video on YouTube by MercyMe that calls about the call to missions whether around the world or in your neighborhood.

Searching for Smiles

2008-06-12T14:37:00.002-05:00

It's amazing what one can stumble upon on the internet. I did a search on "internet cafe" and Kitale and found this blog:
click here. I found it interesting reading of another ministry that occured in Kitale. The need is great.

Google Earth - Kitale

2008-06-10T16:44:00.006-05:00

Google Earth is pretty amazing. I downloaded an updated version and tried to find Kitale, Kenya and WOW! I'll see if I can find the Seed of Hope orphanage and the Kitale Club where we will be staying.

Art in the Park

2008-06-07T18:04:00.006-05:00

You just never know who you will meet. While browsing around at the annual "Art in the Park", we happened into one photography booth. While looking around, I spotted a sign saying that proceeds would go towards a trip to Ethiopia in one month (but the month was striken, and above it was "week"). We made inquiries and learned that the couple (John's, I think that is his name, is in the picture on the flight to Kisumu) were going with a group from their church, First Baptist Church North Kansas City. They had an interesting story. They had a Kenyan women in their small group and so they planned a short term medical mission trip to Kenya. They contacted the denominational mission board and were told that their trip didn't fit what they did. Undaunted, they planned the trip any way on their own. This year they are going to Ethiopia, again planning the whole trip. We shared that we were going to Kenya and were partnering with Buckner. They seemed impressed and would look up the Buckner website that we gave them. We came away thankful for the Buckner organization and the opportunity to share what Buckner is doing in helping out in short term missions.

Article in the Baptist Standard

2008-06-06T15:16:00.003-05:00

Jenny Pope with Buckner called and asked if we would like to do an interview on short term missions. I said, "sure", but wanted to make sure Naomi was in on the interview, too, so we scheduled a phone conference. We were glad to tell of the trip, what it means to our church, what it means to us, and what we hope to accomplish. The face of missions is changing and more like us are getting involved. We hope that this is not just a one time trip for our church, but just the beginning of involvement. Read the article here. We've heard that it may also appear in Missouri's "Word & Way".

Seed of Hope

2008-06-05T21:35:00.008-05:00

Buckner sent out it's e-newsletter today and it had an article about the "Seed of Hope" orphanage in Kitale where we will be staying and working with the children. Buckner took over administration of the orphanage this last January. Here's the website for "Seed of Hope": click here . It tells quite a bit. There's a page that tells of the history and a video page which has 2 videos. You'll notice there's quite a bit of German on the page. That's because the couple who founded the "Seed of Hope" orphanage is from Germany. It's good to learn the history and to see where we will be going.

more planning

2008-06-04T22:05:00.003-05:00

It's less than 60 days until we go. We have plenty of time, right? And we're there for only around a week, right? However, we work with some limitations, such as, the materials we will work with are ones that we will have to take over on the airplane. We have to make some assumptions because we don't know exactly what resources we will have there, such as stable electricity. So our team is working hard knowing that they want this to be a time the children won't forget, to know that we love them, and that God loves them, too. They deserve the best from us, such as our own children would in our church Vacation Bible School. But even with all the planning, some things cannot be planned for and some things go differently than we planned. Pray that we will ask for God's leadership and direction as we minister to these, the least of his children.

Preparing

2008-06-03T08:58:00.006-05:00

Going to a third world country such as Kenya requires preparations that you might not need to make going elsewhere. One of those things is immunizations. This link to the CDC describes health concerns for traveling to Kenya:
Click here . Some of the immunizations are very controlled, such as yellow fever. There are only 4 places in Missouri where you can get that immunization. Pray for the health of our team. Naomi and I traveled to Kenya in 2006 without any problems. But we followed the precautions and got our shots (as you can see in the picture).

God Provides

2008-05-23T10:46:00.003-05:00

Every day it seems that we are shocked even more by the rising fuel prices. We shared with our congregation (Memorial Baptist Church) about the additional costs and there are several who've taken the opportunity to give. The missions committee has voted to send more funds for our trip to alleviate the burden on individual team members. We are especially touched in hearing of one handicapped individual, who does not have a lot of income, giving sacrificially. It reminds us that this trip is not just this team's mission trip, but the entire church's.

Cost of trip up due to airline fuel prices

2008-05-09T08:55:00.002-05:00

Due to the sharp increase of fuel prices, the cost of our trip to Kenya is several hundred dollars more than expected. Julie, our Buckner trip coordinator, sent us the final cost of the trip. The land costs remained the same, but the flight costs were significantly higher. June 15th is the deadline for our final payment. If you'd like to contribute to help offset these trip expenses, you can send a check to Memorial Baptist Church and denote "2008 Kenya trip" in the memo area. If you have any questions you can contact the church or Kevin and Naomi Scantlan.

What Now?

2008-05-06T13:22:00.004-05:00

It took me a while, but I finally got our "What Now" video posted. Thanks to Dave Irovic at our chuch for putting it together. Most of these are Naomi & my pictures that we took on our Vision trip to Kenya in May 2006 with Buckner to see the work they were doing. We knew before we left that we had to do something with this song of Stephen Curtis Chapman. It spoke to what we would be doing.

Geoff Moore video

2008-04-17T16:08:00.009-05:00

Naomi & I saw this video at the Buckner Founder's Day last Friday night. We also got to hear Geoff Moore sing. Geoff is a contemporary Christian singer that made a Buckner mission trip to Guatemala this last year and is now a supporter of Buckner efforts.

Team Members

2008-04-15T11:16:00.004-05:00

Trying to get 10 people together in one place at a specific time is not an easy thing to do. But we succeeded. We are lucky to have the people we have going on this trip. They have varied backgrounds, varied skills and talents, but have at least a couple of things in common; the love of God and the love for orphan children. In the slide show we also have Buckner members who will be with us on the trip: Julie Schiefer, who is the mission coordinator, and Dickson Masindano, the director of Buckner-Kenya.

Dallas

2008-04-14T13:14:00.007-05:00

Naomi and I spent the weekend in Dallas. We had heard about the Go.Be.Do. Buckner missions converence (http://www.buckner.org/gobedoconference/), but had decided not to go. But we heard that Dickson Masindano was going to be there to present. We knew that it would be good if we met with him concerning the trip. So, we contacted Julie Schiefer, our Buckner trip representative, and she set up a lunch date with Dickson, Scott Collins, herself, and ourselves. It was time well spent. We were able to go over a number of details that would have been hard to for us to go over had we not met face to face. Additionally, we were able to renew our acquaintence with him and to see what a joy it will be to work with him. Also, it was great to meet Julie. We will be working closely with Julie as the trip date nears and on the trip itself. And, of course, it's always good to see Scott again. This is also probably the busiest week of the year for Scott, but he took time to be with us. You see, not only was the mission's conference on Saturday, but the annual Founder's Day banquet and a quarterly trustees meeting on Friday. We got to see Dickson present at the mission's conference and see him singled out for his work in Kitale at the Founder's Day banquet. I hope to be able to show video on that later.

Congratulations to Dickson

2008-04-02T21:52:00.005-05:00

We found out the Dickson Masindano is receiving an award. This is the Hardin-Simmons University 2008 Young Alumni. Dickson is the director of Buckner Kenya and was with Naomi and myself on our trip to Kenya in May 2006. We enjoyed every moment with him. He was a great help to us. Hardin-Simmons is a Baptist university in Abilene, Texas, where Dickson went to school. Here is the URL to the university's website that talks about the award: http://www.hsutx.edu/news/FAF/story/970.html.

Here's another link, this time on Buckner's website: http://www.buckner.org/enews-kenyadirhonored.shtml

Congratulations.

Pictures of Kitale and the Seed of Hope orphanage

2008-03-31T22:30:00.008-05:00

I found some picutes on Flickr of some pictures of Kitale and the Seed of Hope orphanage. Some of the pictures are 2 years old and before Buckner took over administration and so some things may look differently. It's just to give us an idea.

soccer balls

2008-03-31T21:08:00.004-05:00

As a project of Memorial Baptist Church's Upward Basketball season this year, each team donated one soccer ball which all team member signed. We gathered 46 full sized balls and a bunch of mini-soccer balls. The kids in Kenya love to play soccer. The balls will need to be deflated to save space while traveling. We are not exactly certain what we will do with them. Most likely we will give them to the orphanage since we do not have a ball for every kid. I can't wait to see their eyes and smiles as they see these balls.

More good news

2008-02-28T10:49:00.005-06:00

We just heard from Julie, our Buckner representative, that Buckner has decided to go ahead and have mission trips to Kenya this summer, unless, of course, something else comes up. But that could have happened at any point in time. Julie will be going on the trip with us. This is exciting news. Now we can focus on the mission at hand.

UPDATE: Ken Hall's blog for the 29th confirms this: http://bucknerprez.typepad.com/ken_hall/2008/02/may-god-bless-k.html

Part II

2008-02-28T09:48:00.006-06:00

Well, the first phase of our planning is over. Although we have a few small fundraising activities left, we are in the planning for what we will be doing phase. We finally know exactly who is going as the $250 deposit was due. Here is our team: James Brillhart, Louise Brillhart, Terry Dykes, Shelley Dykes, Sharon Horton, Linn Lewis, Erin Lewis, Blair Lewis, Kevin Scantlan, and Naomi Scantlan. We'll try and post pictures of the team later.

I also read good news on Yahoo news saying that a power sharing agreement has been formally signed by the parties the 2 parties that were in disagreement with the election results: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080228/wl_nm/kenya_crisis_dc . Please be in prayer that the good news continues and that our team will be able to go.

Hopeful news from Kenya

2008-02-25T09:29:00.003-06:00

If you keep up with the news from Kenya, you know there are political discussions taking place to provide more power sharing between the various parties. Pressure is being exerted from various places to make sure that these changes are real and not window dressing. So, with this in mind, the going sometimes appears to be going slow. However, there is some hopeful news. If you keep up with Sam Harrell's blog ( http://africaexchange.org/KenyaNews.htm ) , you'll know that he made a trip to western Kenya without incident. Keep checking this blog and Ken Hall's blog ( President of Buckner ) for any updated news.

Auction is a Success

2008-02-25T09:13:00.002-06:00

We were more than pleased at the outcome of the Fundraising Auction at church yesterday. About a week ago, we were not so sure. We did not have a lot of people who had signed up for the pre-auction dinner. We had a meeting and hashed things out. We had a good attendance from the team and we had our discussions. We decided that we were not going to loose any money and rescheduling it was really out of the question. As one member put it, "let's just go on with it and have some fun!" And fun we had. We have a professional auctioneer who attends our church and our pastor was able to approach him to call the auction. He and his wife volunteered and in my opinion, he made a big difference. You can tell that he's good at what he does. He knew how to coax the bids without offending, but making it fun to give. The whole team pitched in and it was great to see everyone working so well together. At the end of the day we had estimated that between the dinner and the auction, we had raised $5,000. It was a lot more than some of us had guessed. If you were a part of this, we want to thank you!

Fundraising 101

2008-02-18T10:54:00.003-06:00

This year has been an education about fundraising. At first my approach was that this was a neccessary evil in order for some of our team members to be able to make the trip. But as we are about to have a Dinner and Auction this Sunday, I've discovered that the process that we began back in August has useful in ways other than just raising money. We've learned some important things about each other that we may not have found out until we got to Kenya. We've learned about our different personalities and how to adjust to one another in order to reach the desired goal. We've learned that we need to listen to each other even though we know that our idea is better. We've learned to laugh with each other. We've learned that we are different, but yet we can work together for God's Kingdom; that each of us have strength and weaknesses. I think we've been able to open up a little to one another and talk of our joys and our disappointments. I'm sure I drive some people crazy, but they have shown me God's grace to let me be who I am. Sometimes you don't find that out until you have to work together in a close situation.

more trips cancelled

2008-01-29T20:33:00.000-06:00

We heard from Julie, our mission coordinator with Buckner, that Buckner has cancelled trips to Kenya through May. Previously trips through February had been cancelled. We hope and pray that we will still be able to go in August, but more importantly we hope and pray that the violence ceases and that the people in Kenya can live their lives without fear. We also pray for the orphans and for their caretakers. It surely must be frightening for them. We continue to plan with the presumption that we will be going until we understand differently.

Ken Hall reports from Kitale, Kenya

2008-01-28T21:26:00.000-06:00

In Dr. Hall's blog, he reports on his short trip to Kitale, Kenya. Here is a link to that post on his blog: http://bucknerprez.typepad.com/ken_hall/2008/01/message-from-ke.html

Note from Kenya

2008-01-17T13:57:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone. Someone I went to high school with happens to be in Kenya right now. She is a nurse by training, but I am not sure what her mission is at this time. This is an email my mom forwarded to me from Amanda. She is a member of Church of Christ. I am pretty sure is on mission through them. Sorry, in advance, for the sketchy background. I will try to find out more. But thought you might want to share.

Thanks,

Natalie

Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:28:34 -0800
Subject: 'No news is good news...?'

I’m probably not going to get away with that cliché am I? But things have sort-of gotten back to normal this past week and a half, and I’ve actually been doing a bit of traveling and visiting ministry partners here. When I say normal, I mean the matatu’s are running again, schools are back in session (though most were delayed by about a week), I can go downtown, and I don’t have to stock up on food and phone credit. But things continue to be far from normal for many: my Swahili teachers had several of their students evacuate the country and no new students wanting to register, so they have yet to start teaching, numerous police stations throughout the country are still crowded with displaced citizens who have either lost their homes or are fearing to return to them due to violence they may encounter upon their arrival, and the far northern part of the country is still unable to receive produce from the city of Kitale (due to routes being closed) making their desperate situation for food even worse than before. So you can see why I’m reluctant to describe things as ‘normal.’
This week marks another crucial week for us here, as the new Parliament was sworn in yesterday and today started another 3 days of proposed attempts to rally throughout the country by the opposition’s party. I arrived back into Nairobi around 3pm today, and headed home only to be met by a mass of pedestrians and vehicles leaving the city center. The radio in the taxi reported that the streets and businesses downtown had been closed again, and all employees were being sent home. The park (same site as previously attempted rallies) was blocked off by endless rows of military and city police. Thankfully, we arrived home safely and to my knowledge, things have remained calm up to this point. Again, the security is doing an excellent job of preventing looting and violence downtown. So for now, as has been for the last few weeks I guess, it’s just ‘wait and see.’ The opposition leader says that he will succeed in holding these demonstrations and that he’s even willing to face imprisonment if it comes to that. It’s our prayer that the pursuit of ‘democracy’ will not cost any more lives here in Kenya.
Thanks again for the prayers, and continue to remember us this week. Pray for peace in the schools that have resumed, as roommates, classmates and faculty are returning who may be of the opposing tribes. Pray for the multiplication of resources that are being donated here by Kenyans to help others in need, many are giving not out of their excess, but from what little they have. Pray for the Church here in Kenya to lead the charge in eliminating tribal discrimination. Pray for those of us serving here in Kenya to know how we fit into this sensitive time in this country’s history.
I’ll be in touch…
amanda

Seed of Hope Children's Home in Kitale

2008-01-10T09:59:00.000-06:00

Buckner announced that on January 1st this year that they are taking over administration of the Seed of Hope Children's Home in Kitale, Kenya. This link is an article written by Scott Collins concerning this: http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=7276

Most likely our teams will be working with these children in addition to the foster children in Kitale.

Prayers for Kenya

2008-01-04T13:02:00.000-06:00

My heart is sad as I continue to hear of the problems in the country of Kenya. Please pray for peace. We will continue to plan our trip until we see that it is not possible to go. A lot can happen in seven months. We know Buckner will make the best decision for our safety. Here are few links where you can get more information. This one is to a blog that contains news from Sam Harroll, a CBF missionary in Kenya. http://africaexchange.org/KenyaNews%20.htm This is a site he recommended.
http://allafrica.com/kenya/

Buckner has been in contact with their Kenyan employees and at this point they are all safe. You can read Dr. Ken Hall's blog entries at http://bucknerprez.typepad.com/ken_hall/2008/01/hope-in-kenya.html
and
http://bucknerprez.typepad.com/ken_hall/2008/01/indigenous-insi.html
This link is to the Buckner newsletter.
http://www.buckner.org/enews-bucknerkenya.shtml

Naomi

More information from Ken Hall, President of Buckner

2008-01-04T11:16:00.000-06:00

Check Dr. Hall's blog for his last 2 entries. The link to his blog is on the list of links on this page.

News from Sam Harrell, CBF Missionary

2008-01-04T10:43:00.000-06:00

http://africaexchange.org/KenyaNews.htm . He should be updating this page, so continue to check back.

More News of Kenya from Buckner

2008-01-03T11:41:00.001-06:00

http://www.buckner.org/enews-bucknerkenya.shtml

news from Kenya

2008-01-02T09:59:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've all heard the news about the unrest in Kenya since there elections. We are not sure what it will all mean to us, but be assured that Buckner is monitoring the situation very closely. Here's a link to the blog of Ken Hall, President of Buckner.
http://bucknerprez.typepad.com/ken_hall/

Welcome

2007-12-31T08:52:00.000-06:00

Welcome to MBC (Memorial Baptist Church) KidsHeart blog. This blog will be about KidsHeart Africa activities and in particular out planned trip to Kitale, Kenya from July 30th - August 9th, 2008. We all very excited about the opportunity to minister to the ophan children there with our children's team and also to the community at large with our medical team. There's still a lot to do, but with God's help, we've accomplished a lot already. This blog is open to team members to make posts and anyone to comment. Please tell others about the blog. We will have links to it from our website ( http://www.mbckidsheart.org ) and also our Yahoo group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/memorialbaptistkenya2008/ ).