Haywoods in Africa: First Love Kenya Team

Thursday, August 13, 2015

First Love Kenya Team

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

www.firstloveinternational.com

Here are the 97 (minus a few at boarding school) orphans that we have the privilege of living with while we serve with First Love Kenya:

The first time we came in 2011, there was 40-something kids. On our second visit there was around 68 kids. And now they are almost up to 100 kids!!! The First Love Family continues to grow as very generous donors continue to give money for more buildings, more sponsors sign up to financially provide for the kids and teams continue to come to work on projects to improve the place and most importantly love on these kids!

Here was our amazing 2015 team:

This team was extra-special because one of my Miller cousins, Diane, signed up to sponsor a child and came along with her daughter, Abby, and Abby's friend (from UP Michigan).

Sadly we hadn't seen each other in 5 years, so this was a treat to be together to be together in Kenya! We joked that even though our states touch, we had to fly to the other side of the globe to spend time together!

The 2nd cousins:

This is an incredible couple we just met but now consider close friends:

We got to spend some quality time with Brent & Jen & their adorable son Sammy, while the rest of the team was on safari. They have an amazing heart story and were here on this trip to confirm God's calling on their lives to move to Kenya and serve full time with First Love!

It's always soooo cool to meet and bond with Godly people from around the US, all coming together for 2 weeks with a common purpose! I love how God fuses our individual gifts, talents & personalities to form a solid, fluid team of servants!

*Read in the next post about the amazing husband/wife dentist team we had with us this year!*

Here are some photos around the beautiful property of the First Love Kenya children's home:

The basketball court and greenhouses (where they grow lots of tomatoes, cabbages and greens):

The soccer field where they play games every Sat & Sun (after the ceremonial removing of cow patties lol ;)

This gorgeous place has been slowly transformed and improved alon by each team that comes. Every roof in this place was put on by a roofer from our church in WI (2 yrs ago we got to see him in action on the new garage). Last time our team helped with some of the landscaping and built some wooden desks (that Jonas & Alea helped sand & varnish). Mike, a sign maker from Arizona and jack of all trades, made this metal sign for the gate 2 yrs ago and some other teammates painted it:

(I always love the smiling gate keepers! :)

This time, Mike (who we got the joy of serving with again) and another guy from our team built (with help from the hired staff digging, hauling dirt and some of the other manual labor) this gazebo while we were doing Kids Club every day in the slums:

It will be a nice shady spot for kids to study, braid hair, have devotions, play games, you name it!

This year's team work day was spent on Chris & Irene's new house (the national directors who have been living off property all these years and now because a generous single donor gave money to build them a house, they will be moving on site!). We were doing some of the final clean-up stages to get the house ready for them to move in soon:

The founders, Tom & Linda Clinton's daughter, Angie, who we had fun serving with on our first trip in 2011:

And their grandson, Carter (age 13), made his first trip here this time (far right):

He and Jonas had too much fun together! ;) The First Love kids as well as the kids we did outreach with in the slums absolutely LOVE having kids their age on the teams! Kids are able to connect with other kids in a way adults cannot:

The 2 "Hannah"s:

Every project that teams work on, big or small, makes a difference for the kids & staff living here!

If YOU want to be a part of an upcoming team, they have them every Jan & July (twice a year).

See the website for more details: www.firstloveinternational.com

or email: firstloveinfernstional@comcast.net

It can be YOUR turn to wrap your arms around one of these precious orphans and let them know they are valued and cherished:

Teams coming give these kids renewed hope that someone outside their four walls cares and that they are not forgotten. Teams encourage the staff, too, who are living there and pouring out their energy for these kids day after day, month after month, year after year.

Boaz & Irene who are the house mom & dad for all the kids living in the children's home. They are offering their lives as a living sacrifice for doing God's work!

Teams coming remind the staff that they are not alone; they have partners on the other side of the globe who praying for them and the work they are doing and who are willing to fly across the ocean to come alongside them for a short time.