Kipkaren Kids' Camp

Edna
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

This morning, I went to our base at Kipkaren to take pictures of a children's ministry event. More than 300 kids showed up for day camp where they played some games with a visiting team from Nuevo, California, but mostly spent time singing, praying and memorizing Bible verses.

The kids are so cute. Whenever someone introduces themselves, they start with "Bwana asifiwe," which means "Praise the Lord." Usually, the response is a simple, "Amen." However, these kids respond with a boisterous "Amen-Hallelujah-Amen!"

There were 300 children present, and by the time we left, more children were still arriving...

There is so little entertainment in rural Kenya that any program usually attracts large crowds. What amazes me is that some of the children would walk for an hour or more just to attend a program such as this! Even little 3-year-olds would walk this far!

Edna does a wonderful job working with the kids. A week ago, she ran a big Sunday-school teacher training seminar in our region, too.

Other things that went on at ELI this weekend: Tomorrow, our Anti-Alcohol ministry (alcohol rehab center) is taking in a new group of men and women for their 3-month training. The son of a member of parliament is one of the guys who is part of this intake, so today, his family had a big send-off for him. I was invited to go and take photos at the event, however, I had committed to the kids' camp first. Please pray for Pastor Rono and his team, especially over the next 3 days. They wean the participants of drugs and alcohol cold turkey, so the first few days are especially tough!

There was also a soccer tournament near Kipkaren, the first round of play-offs that will lead to finals during an AIDS campaign later this month.

There's much happening, especially at this time of year. Please continue to pray for our staff in Kenya as well as the staff in Tanzania, Sudan, the Congo, AND the staff in the US without whom we cannot be doing our work...

Thank you for being a part of what God is doing around the world through ELI's ministry.