Welcome to my blog! I have set this page up in hopes of keeping you all in the loop with what is going on at the Open Arms Village, to ask for your prayers and also maybe inspire some of you to go on a trip one of these summers! So please enjoy, leave comments and questions if you have any and most of all please keep the community, children, teams, and short/ long term volunteers in your prayers… we all want to see God work!

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I can’t believe my dream of being at the Open Arms Village has finally come to fruition! When I first filled out the application to be a short term volunteer it seemed like an eternity before I’d jump on that plane (or several…) to Kenya.  One morning I opened my eyes and I was here, isn’t God amazing at getting us where we need to be? I have so much peace surrounding me… knowing I am safely in my Father’s hands.

Let me just briefly describe what I’ll be doing for the next 3 months at the OAI Village for those who don’t know me well or just don’t know… my primary job will be coordinating projects for child sponsorship, writing stories and biographies of the kids/staff/happenings at the village to pass along to their sponsors/OAI donors, and taking photos for the Open Arms staff. I will also be assisting with three medical clinics that the teams will be putting on while here, we are expecting a couple thousand to show up between the three teams. The first of the three camps ended two days ago (I’ll be posting about that for sure)!

Here is my home/African cottage for the next 3 months…

I get to share this amazing place with my sister Kim and my friend Rachel (check out her blog: Wishyouwerehereinkenya.blogspot.com).

Living at the village for the last week and a half or so has been great; we have a school, a farm, African huts, visitor homes (team accommodations) with fantastic views of the river, an office, children’s homes that house up to 18 kids, and a sweet bus that occasionally breaks down.  Honestly, I still can’t believe I’m here… in Africa. Life at Open Arms Village is amazing; we live in a very rural area with wide open fields, maze, and greenery that surrounds our homes. The following is a picture tour of the village:

African Cottages(where we live) …

River View Lodges…(team accommodations)

Back side of 4 of the 5 children’s homes…

The newest children’s home.. not quite finished yet.

More pictures and posts to come as long as the internet will cooperate... it's been VERY spotty, pictures take forever to download- hence the delayed blog, sorry! Thank you for your continued prayers and support, I can see the Lord working already! I feel so honored and blessed to be able to work with such inspiring people. I have no doubt in my mind that I will return to the US a changed person. Join me in my journey at Open Arms Village and see the awesome things the Lord is doing here. I'm hoping to post as often as the internet allows... so Lord willing often!

 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Prayer requests:

*Victor- pray the US Embassy will allow him to come to the US to have his legs fixed (he is one of the OAI kids and was severely abused by his dad- more on that to come).

*OAI kids

*Ted and Brenda Whiteman- trying to get their missionary visa to stay long term… there is a deadline and everything in Kenya takes much longer than it would in the US!

*Medical Clinics

*Kambi Teso Slum kids, they have NOTHING and live in mud huts.

*Water

*Safe travels for our teams coming and going.
*Internet