Ellie sharing in the second service

They made it!

Tired but safe! 30 plus hours of flying, 2 hours in customs

Don, Ellie. and Tim

Are on their way to Los Angeles. If you want to track their flight it is:

United 967, arrives LAX Sat. April 28 at 7:20 pm

Images of Sudan

Please click this link http://marinachristian.phanfare.com

The Plane picking us up in Sudan

Kenya

This was taped at the children's home right before Jennifer did the bible study in Alderet Kenya.

A Conversation with Steve

Jennifer meeting with the children

Playing with the children

Electricity in Kipkaren, AIDS campaign and more

I (Adele) just walked into my home after a marathon couple of days for all of us.

When the team got back from Sudan on Wednesday, they were happy to take showers and drink lots of fresh water. Wish you could see them devour the ice cold watermelon I gave them as they were heading to take showers... Later, we sat on my porch and chatted about their experiences. You'll want to ask them MANY questions when they get home. They have lots of stories to tell!

The team had both shrunk and grown. Micah, Kevin and Jen had gone straight to Nairobi, and Tammy joined the group from LA. She arrived on Wednesday night.

On Thursday morning, we headed to Kipkaren. They were welcomed by the Kipkaren children, after which they had tours of the centers. They were in Kipkaren on a historical night: The first night ever that there was electricity in the area! (Other than that from generators or solar panels.)

On Friday morning, we headed out bright and early to a nearby town for an AIDS campaign. It was in a small village where people are still very afraid of talking about HIV/AIDS, so the crowd was a bit smaller than usual (maybe 1500 as opposed to 3000+). More than 400 people got tested, of which 7 were HIV+.

The afternoon's events were interrupted by heavy rains, but about 30 minutes later, the soccer team was back on the field and the crowd back in their positions, cheering. Then followed the prize giving, after which we headed home. The Salvation Army Band from Kitale was still playing their hearts out by the time we pulled out and headed back to Kipkaren. (A band from Nairobi was also present, but not the usual band we have. They didn't play as much since it seemed like the very rural crowd enjoyed the Salvation Army guys more than they enjoyed the city boys!)

The band from Nairobi had a concert for the kids from the children's home after dinner (ask the team about it--I headed home for some down time), and then, BAM! there was a massive thunder storm and heavy downpour. It was wonderful! But the lightning hit something, and now there's no power in Kipkaren again... Power should be back soon!

Today, the team had some much-needed down time. They came to Eldoret to walk around the market, buy postcards, relax at Poa Place (poa means "cool"), the local hang-out for families. (It's a swimming pool and playground for kids.) I was not with them since I joined Laban and Angelina Rono's 25th wedding anniversary celebrations, followed by a birthday party for 35 of our kids in Ilula.

Tomorrow, the team will participate in church activities in Kipkaren, then go for some home visits. On Monday, they'll come to Ilula where they'll visit the ELI Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center. Jervaun leaves on Monday evening. The team will spend the night at Ilula and will try to connect via e-mail at that time.

On Tuesday, they'll head back to Kipkaren, see the ELI clinic, and on Wednesday, they'll get to be a part of a Children's Ministry event at Kipkaren.

Thursday's back to Ilula. They fly to Nairobi early Friday morning to spend the day in the city (shopping & seeing touristy things), and then they'll be off, home-bound!

Please keep them in your prayers this week. I'll upload photos to my Flickr account later this week. I just realized that the USB cable for my camera is in Kipkaren... Sorry you can't see photos right now.

Adele Booysen

Communications Coordinator

Empowering Lives International

Cattle Camps

This is what they call the “The cattle camps.” We walked for a couple hours to get there. Many of them have never seen white people so a lot of the children where watching from afar. But they eventually came around. I did not know the camera was in the black and white mode; sorry about that.

African Hunter

After interviewing the children we saw some vultures about fifty feet from us so I gave the camera to Tim and decided to be “African Hunter.” Then I was thinking, “What kind of animal did this and why is it only 500 ft from our tent?”

Sunday Afternoon

After church we were walking back to the children’s home during the mid afternoon. During the afternoon, we were going to rest, but crowds of children showed up, so Ellie, Jervaun, and Jen spent the afternoon entertaining them.

The Ladies are dancing!

On Sunday late afternoon the ladies wanted to come over to teach our ladies to dance. Jennifer had a swarm of children around her while Jervaun and Ellie danced. Understand this, it is still over a hundred degrees outside! “Ellie’s Sudanese moves”

Walking to church

After church we were walking back to the children’s home during the mid afternoon. During the afternoon, we were going to rest, but crowds of children showed up, so Ellie, Jervaun, and Jen spent the afternoon entertaining them.

Just landed: VIDEO

This is the video from when we had just landed in Southern Sudan. The runway we were supposed to land on was too muddy so we landed a hour south on a dry runway. This is the tribe that met us at the plane. They are the most loving people and they helped carry our luggage to a compound of another mission group. There, they welcomed us, gave us drinks, shelter from the coming rain, and offered us a place to spend the night if our ride did not show up to pick us up. They showed us their facility where they are building a hospital funded by “The Lost Boys” and they really wanted to us to stay but our transportation showed up. The big truck was our transportation

We are home

We arrived home on Friday afternoon after 2 uneventful flights. Thank you for your prayers for safe travel. We are working on putting together the message for Sunday. Please continue to pray for the rest of the team as they work at an AIDS/HIV campaign and children's outreach programs in Kenya this weekend.

Transportation in Sudan

We are on our way home

Wednesday morning we left Sudan and arrived in Kenya in late afternoon. It was very sad for me to say goodbye to some great friends that I made. It was very exciting, however, to get on the plane and be given a small bottle of cold water! We dropped most of the team off in El Doret, including Ellie, then we flew to Nairobi. We are staying at a missionary guest house called "Mayfield." It is similar to a bed and breakfast and we've met several interesting missionaries from all over Africa who are here for a rest. We will fly out late tonight and arrive at LAX Friday afternoon. We will continue to update the blog with information about the rest of Ellie's trip and video clips from our trip. Kevin and I will be sharing about our trip during the Sunday services. Thank you for your prayers for this trip, and continued prayers for the rest of the team as they minister in Kenya.

Not for a 1000 cows!

Please continue to pray for Ellie as this coming weekend she will be working with the Empowering Lives teams at the tri annual aids screening weekend. This will be a full weekend as well as a emotional time for a lot of Kenyans as they will find if they have Aids. Either answer is emotional. Paul you need to be PROUD of Ellie she is a trooper.