Ministry

I’ve been working on this post for a couple of days now. It’s so hard to put into words what all the Lord has been teaching me and what ministry here has been like. This past month the Lord has overwhelmed me with so many truths about Himself and about me that I couldn’t possibly write everything down and some stories will just have to wait until I return. Before I left for Kenya I began praying that the Lord would speak through me and use me in incredible ways and He has been faithful to answer my prayers. 

At training camp I began praying that the Lord would audibly speak to me. I had also been praying about my career as a physical therapist and also wrestling with the desire to continue with short-term mission work. I felt that the Lord may be calling me to medical missions but wasn’t really sure if it was just what I wanted and had convinced myself was from the Lord. While at church in Kijabe one Sunday medical missionaries were introducing themselves and the Lord spoke to me and said “that’s going to be you”. I could have fallen off the bench I was sitting on; I was so excited that I heard the voice of the Lord! I also felt such peace with what I had heard. At this exact moment I have no idea where I’ll go or what it is going to look like but I feel that all of that can wait for now.

I have story that I would really like to share with you. On February 14^th, we were doing ministry, traveling to homes and we stopped at a farmer’s house. We were invited into their home and started making conversation with the family. The wife of the farmer asked for prayer for herself because she was really sick. As soon as she asked for prayer the Lord told me that I would be the one to pray, so I told my group that I would pray healing over her. Then I felt the urge to ask her if her head and stomach ached and she said yes it was indeed her head and stomach that were aching.  The Lord then spoke and said, “ask her if she has faith that I am going to heal her”. I was like “ummm, no. That is so weird to ask”. Then again the Lord said “ask her if she has faith that I am going to heal her”. Again I was like “ummm, no”. Then a third time the Lord said, “ask her if she has faith that I am going to heal her”.  So I finally asked the woman “do you have faith that the Lord is going to heal you”? She responded, “yes I do”. For a split second I was like oh man what if this lady is not healed? Then God spoke again and asked me “where is your faith? Do you believe that I am going to heal this lady?” I was like oh dang, you’re right! I immediately had this peace and complete faith that the Lord had already healed the lady. When I began praying I did not pray for healing because the Lord had already healed her. Instead, I began praying a prayer of thanksgiving to God. It was so awesome! When I finished praying the Lord told me to tell the lady “because of your faith, you have been healed”. In my mind I was like I think she knows this already but I will tell her God (haha!). I told the lady and she smiled and said, “thank you very much!” It was incredible! I was also able to explain that I had nothing to do with her healing, in fact I did not even pray for healing, that the Lord was the one who had healed her and that now we were able to celebrate and thank Him. The whole day I kept thanking the Lord for using ME in such a way! I told my team that I could not help but boast in the Lord and His power.

Our ministry here mainly consists of us going from home-to-home visiting with the families, encouraging them with scripture, and interceding for them in prayer.  I have really enjoyed it! Mainly because the Lord has been teaching me about praying and the power of prayer.  I know that when I am praying for the people and their homes that the Lord is listening and that He is faithful to answer my requests. I also know that God gives me power and authority to speak healing and encouragement over people, so each day I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do in the lives of the people we meet. Our team of 16 breaks into 4 groups and each group is assigned a translator. We have been moving and will continue to move to a new tribe/place until April. Our ministry groups change every 2 weeks as we move and we have new translators each place we go. My group consisted of only 3 people this past week. If you have been reading our team blogs you may have noticed that many of my teammates have had some rough times with this type of ministry, with language barriers, and even with their translators. However, ministry for my group it has been a completely different story.  Our translator has been awesome and we have had such good spirit filled days! We’ve also come across many individuals who speak English very well.

On an average day our entire team wakes up around 7 and we have bible study together at 730 and then eat breakfast together. We usually leave our camp around 8:45 to head to homes. Each group goes in a different direction and we don’t see each other until the end of the day. My group went to an average of 7 homes each day this week. As I have talked about before when we go to a home we are often offered things. This is because they believe that if they bless us the Lord in turn will bless them. We have been given mangoes, papayas, eggs, chai, avocadoes, etc.

One of my favorite ministry days was the day we got to witness a man give his life to the Lord. After my group read scripture and explained salvation to the man, our translator and a pastor who was there began to further explain sin, God’s gift to us - Jesus, grace, and forgiveness. The man emptied his pockets of a bottle of alcohol and a package of tobacco and gave them up to the Lord. He then knelt beside the two objects and began to pray for salvation with the pastor. When he stood up I was so overwhelmed with joy I began clapping but no one else joined in! Ha-ha!  I then said “bwana acifiwe!” (which means Praise God! in Kiswahili) and then the pastor, the man, and our translator lifted their hands and agreed by saying “praise God! Yes!”. My group and I just started laughing.

the items the man emptied from his pockets

I have really enjoyed being in Kenya so far and being able to just find rest in who God is. Something that I heard in a song the second week we were here was “whatever’s in front of me I’ll choose to sing Hallelujah”. I keep reminding myself that in every situation I have the option to choose to sing Hallelujah. The Lord is really teaching me so much about prayer, what it’s like to fight for something/someone through prayer, and what is means to pray without ceasing. I just love that the Lord hears our prayers and that he answers them. I know that so many people are praying for my team and me. Please continue to pray! I love you all and am so thankful that you are walking along beside me through this awesome adventure!

With love,

Hallie Bolton

Meru

Well another 2 weeks have come and gone. On Thursday (02/09) we had the whole day off so we took a taxi bus to Nakumatt. We were able to use the internet, go shopping at the grocery store, and eat at a restaurant. I was so happy about getting to eat at the restaurant. My teammate Katie and I shared a large Hawaiian pizza! It was so good! The days seem so long here but the weeks seem to fly by. I was in the town of Kwa Koome (the district of Meru - with the Meru people) Monday (02/06)- Sunday (02/12). It was a straight 8-hour bus ride from Kijabe to get to the small town! We stayed in an orphanage but there were only a few girls that lived there (to my understanding some were orphans, but others stayed because they were going to school nearby and were sponsored). We moved to Nkubu (still in the Meru district) on Monday morning and will be here until Sunday.

a slice of Hawaiian pizza, yum!

DETAILS & SUCH FOR KWA KOOME:

-       Our tents were set up inside a small dormitory (they were packed in there nice and tight)

-       Water was not readily available so we were only able to bathe and wash our hair once. It was awesome! Haha

-       It was hot & humid during the day and cold at night. However it was extremely hot sleeping in our tents since they were inside - I never once used my sleeping bag.

-       Food was basically the same. Mama Margaret traveled with us from Kijabe and she cooked for us each day.

-       Compared to Maasai land it was much greener and not as spaced out (which resulted in less walking! Yay!)

-       For ministry this week we split into 3 groups of 5. Each day looked a little different for my team, but everyday was so encouraging.

-       The people were incredibly friendly! I really enjoyed being in Meru.

-       I went to a primary school one morning with my teammate Amanda and told the children the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They loved it and so did I!

Short story: One morning my team went to a mango farmer’s house (John & Ann) and was given mangos while visiting with the family. When we returned to the orphanage that afternoon the family had brought us a huge sack full of mangos and asked us to come visit them again before we left. Saturday we had some free time so on our way back we stopped back by their house and they feed us more mangos! They asked us to pray for unity for their family, their livestock, and for rain. I prayed aloud while my team members prayed silently. As we were about to leave they handed us a sack of mangos and told us to take them with us and share with the rest of our team. When we returned to the orphanage we were standing outside talking and it began to RAIN! It rained 2 days in a row! It was an awesome testimony to the fact the God hears our prayers and He is faithful to answer them.

i love this picture. this is a child we met while going door-to-door

DETAILS & SUCH FOR NKUBU:

-       A few of us set up our tents in the living room of a parsonage. Some girls opted to just sleep on their sleeping pads in the bedrooms.

-       Water was available for us through a water hose

-       The entire place was overpopulated with banana trees and mango trees so there was shade everywhere we walked. It was so nice!

-       Apparently my name is no longer Hallie, but Eileen.  Every time I introduce myself to someone they smile and repeat back “Eileen”. I tried once to correct someone and learned that it’s best to just be Eileen.

-       I tried 2 new things this week: porridge and sugar cane!

Short Story: I cannot drink the chai here. As I talked about in my last email I have always given it away because I do not like it and the milk in it makes me sick afterwards. Our translators told us before we went out this week that whatever the family offered us we needed to accept and that we would be drinking lots of chai. My team was made up of just 3 people this week so we decided that we would just tell our translator that I was allergic to milk. We totally thought this plan would work. Well sure enough the third house we went to offered us a cup (and by cup I mean soup bowl) of chai. Our translator told the woman that I was allergic to the milk so she did not hand me a cup. I looked over at Katie (my teammate) and we both smiled because we thought we were in the clear. I looked back at the woman and she told me that she had something that she could give me instead…..PORRIDGE! You should have seen my face. I could have died right there. She told me not to worry though that the porridge would not make me sick because she had made it yesterday and then she proceeded to pour me a soup bowl full! I put the cup up to my mouth and took a sip (while she was watching) and said “Yum!” out loud. In my mind I was convincing myself not to vomit what I had just swallowed. It was great and everyone got a real good laugh out of it!

this is a family we met going door-to-door. the women said i was beautiful and they let me hold their 2 month old baby

krystin, lexi, and i eating sugar cane

Maasai Land

It's been a little over 2 weeks since I have been in Kenya (and I have survived!) We arrived in Kijabe on 01/18 and on the 20th we packed our equipment and headed to Maasai Land. We have spent the past two weeks here going home to home visiting with people and praying over them and their homes. We have also visted 7 schools and played volleyball and soccer with the children and had the opportunity to share God's love with them. It has been such a blessing!

A little details about Maasai Land:

- We have been sleeping in our tents in an open field

- It is extremely hot during the day, but absolutely freezing at night (many of my team members put their entire wardrobe on and then get in their sleeping bag haha!)

- there is no running water

- donkeys bring barrels of water from the river for us to bathe with (bucket showers, usually every 4-5 days), cook with, wash clothes, etc.

- we bought fresh clean water and brought in with us to drink

- the bathroom is a squatty and the hole is the size of my hand

- we walk everywhere (we have already walked appox. 100 km)

-  my feet are constantly brown from dirt

- i survived an african dust tornado (it was scary! it flipped tents over, and threw a huge carnival tent that was staked with metal stakes in the ground on top of the church)

- we have been eating lots of beans, rice, ugali (gross), chipati (basically a tortilla), cabbage, and potatoes

- we have been drinking hot water, hot water, and hot water...and occasionally black tea (so good, with lots of sugar), and chai (i hate it, and almost every home offers you some when you visit and you have to accept...a guy on my team has drank his and MINE every single time...praise God!)

- in my "free" time i have been learing Kiswahili and I love it!

We are headed back to Kijabe today and will leave for another tribe on Monday!

the girls before church at Tangi Tatu

50th anniversary

i'm a red raider

"Dear Hallie Bolton

I am pleased to offer you admission into the Physical Therapy, DPT program within the Department of       Rehabilitation Sciences of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Allied Health Sciences."

thanksgiving

God sometimes answers our prayers by giving to us what we would have asked for had we known what He knows.
- Tim Keller