A step into our journey...

We are officially here in New Jersey after a 22-some hours road trip from Nebraska. The six of us (Alex, Alexa, Dallas, Javier, Moises, & I) had to fit into a Dodge Grand Caravan with all 6 suitcases full of donated goods in the trunk as well as our backpacks (containing our clothes and so forth) on the top of the van. We had to spend some time yesterday trying to puzzle every piece of luggage into/onto the van! We had help from Jason & Mistie - which we greatly appreciate. 

All of us before hitting the road sans Jason, Mistie, & our dogs!

We arrived New Jersey around 4 p.m. and grabbed a quick lunch, before I had the opportunity to show Moises my childhood houses and spots. He had never been to Jersey, so this was a perfect timing to show him a bit of where I came from. We were fortunate to be able to visit with a few relatives as well as see the inside of my family's FIRST apartment - where I was born in. Memories came flooding! :)


We are also very grateful for a family relative of mine who allowed us to stay at her apartment, and all six of us! She also served us dinner -- baked lasagna, meatballs/sausage, and garlic bread. Very delicious!


We are now relaxing the night away with a movie, and looking forward to doing some things tomorrow in New York City before we all fly out.


Thank you all for following us on our journey! Also thank you all for the financial support that made it possible for us to take on this trip, as well as the donated goods that we were able to bring for the orphans. Please continue to pray for our trip! God bless.

The dates!

We apologize if we haven't been very clear on the DATES of our mission trip! Some people have been wondering, so here it is!
  
We leave with the team on May 28th en route to New York City. All our flights depart JFK in the afternoon/evening of the 30th. Our layover is in Zurich and is overnight; we then finally arrive Kenya on June 1st in the early evening. 
  
We depart Kenya on July 1st, with a short layover in Zurich, and arrive NYC on June 2nd. We will fly back to Omaha on July 3rd. 
  
If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!
  
God bless.

Devastating news...

We, the ODO team, has been informed a few weeks ago that two of our fellow team members, Jason and Mistie, will not be going with us to Africa! As some of you may know, they are expecting their first child, and Mistie is due about the first week of August. They both were forced to make this grieving decision for the safety of Mistie and their baby's health. As much as we are bummed, we will still proceed with our trip to Kenya! We both hope that they two will find the activities that will satisfy their needs this summer, whether it is another more local mission trip or preaching at other churches in the area. 
  
If you are interested in reading their side of the story, here is a link to their article:
http://jmsministry.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/africa-news/ 

Our home for one month!

The people over at LDO have completed putting together our new HOME for the month we are staying there. Many, many thanks to them for having it complete before we arrive! Here is a sneak peek at what it looks like... By the way, these pictures were stolen from ODO's blog - just a forewarning. :) 

 

The hut has been sealed with concrete to prevent things we do not want coming in while we are earning our precious sleep (i.e. mice, nasty bugs, etc)!

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. We will definitely get the authentic Kenyan experience by living in this hut, rather than out of a nicer hotel. There aren't any toilets out here, nor much electricity either! :)

God bless.

Glad to meet you, Kat!

We had a meeting on Saturday and that was when Kat finally got to meet the rest of us. It was nice to meet you, Kat! :) She is a childhood friend of Alex; she hasn't met Moises, Javier, Dallas, or I. We covered some minor details such as visa's, flight times/schedules, etc. As well as what to expect when we are in Kenya. 

We will be greeted by two individuals, a deaf pastor and an interpreter, when we fly into Nairobi. They will guide us from the airport and to our hotel where we will stay one night. The next day we will be driving to Kisii. 

We now know all our orphans' names and ages at LDO! Moises and I are definitely going to have to practice memorizing these names, so we can easily associate them with the orphans and call them by their names. It seems that each orphan has one American name and one Kenyan name (i.e. Kevin Odhiambo and Christine Akoth). Their Kenyan names are going to be a tough one to remember!

Among one of the things we discussed at the meeting is donation of goodies. Alex has asked Lance from LDO what the children at his orphanage are in need of. He said that these are the items that they need:

-clothing [both girls and boys - their ages are 3-13 (most are 6-11 years old)] ... these can be either new or second-hand

-pens

-coloring pencils

-toys

-balls of various kinds (football, soccer ball, basketball, but don't forget a small air pump!)

-shoes

-sunglasses

If you would like to give any of the above items, please contact us! We will be bringing all we can with us to LDO. We will be stopping by a couple second-hand stores in hope for their support!

We now have ~$800 left to successfully go on our mission trip! Again, if you would like to make a donation, please do. Anything you donate is very much appreciated and you will know that your money went to a good cause. We look forward to giving inspiration and hope to these 14 orphans at LDO.

God bless.

James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.