Over 2 months in Africa! :)

Happy Monday!
It seems that I wrote my last update just yesterday! How the weeks are flying by. It’s been another great week with lots of things going on, so I’ll just have to stick to the highlights.
I’ve been keeping so busy, and was getting very worn out this week, so Wednesday I took the day off of everything and read all day long! I got to just sit outside and spend some alone time with God all day, which really refreshed me. Of course, the refreshment lasted about one day, and I’m already quite tired again! But there are only 2 more weeks of ministry and internships, so I should get plenty of rest time soon.
Other than the usual ministries I tell you about, there were 3 new exciting things that happened this week. In Kenya, it is very difficult to do international adoptions. There is an American woman named Rene, a wife and mother of 4, who is here to adopt a little girl from New Life Home. But to do so, she must live in the country for a few months. She has to rent an apartment and furnish it, as well as buy all the baby clothes and things for Lucia (the baby). It’s been very difficult on her to leave her family at home, including a 2-year-old son, and live here alone. So it’s given us girls who work there the chance to spend some time with her and show her around town. I’m not sure where she is in her walk with God at this point, and I’m just praying God will use this time in her life to draw her to him, and use our friendship with her to bless her and let her feel his love and comfort. So if you think of it, pray for Rene, because she’s going through some really hard times!
The second incredible thing was with Coptic Church. We had our first girls group on Saturday, and it was awesome. With Kenyans, it takes a long time to really get them to open up and talk about themselves and struggles in their lives. Many of the friends I’ve had here for 2 months still won’t really open up. But the 4 girls that came on Saturday were so ready to share. I think over the next few weeks we will really grow and get some good accountability going, which I’m discovering is a rare thing to build with Kenyans. And in December, I get to go on a weekend retreat with them, which is always great for bonding.
And lastly, yesterday was one of the best days in Kenya yet! We had a huge party at our house and all of us invited everyone we knew. We had over 100 people all crammed into our tiny courtyard and living room! We made some cake (we were celebrating Janna’s birthday) and served a little bit of food. It’s just amazing that after such a short time here, we already had so many friends. I think we invited about 200, but not everyone could make it. We had people of all ages and religions gathered in our house, and toward the end we started singing some praise songs, in Swahili of course J. All semester, our prayer has been that when people stepped into our house they would feel the presence of the Lord. I believe that happened yesterday!
Thanks for all of the mail and emails I’ve gotten from so many of you this week! Birthdays are fun in Africa too! I guess I left out turning 20 on my list of exciting things that happened this week! My team made the day special with lots of little surprises for me. It was a great birthday.
As for prayer requests this week, the main one would be a renewed energy for these next few weeks. Contrary to what one would expect, I’m not tired of the culture adjustment or lack of material comforts (our water has been off all week again! Bye bye to showers J), but I think more from the spiritual intensity. Constantly pouring out spiritually, as well as having lots of team Bible studies that challenge me to think and learn when I’m already tired. Plus, I’ve never been a morning person before, so the 4:45am mornings are starting to really wear down on me! God is working on me and changing my heart, which can be exhausting in and of itself, yet exciting and energizing at the same time! Please pray that I’ll continue to change. I learn more and more every day how much of a sinner I am, and how grateful I need to be for God’s grace.
Thanks for all the support to get Bibles for kids at school! They are so excited to get them! Friday is the last day of school, and we’ll have a party giving them some juice and crackers and playing games. That’s when I’ll give out the New Testaments. Next semester we can get the Bibles! Thank you!!! I’ll take lots of pictures J
Hope you all have a great week! May God show His love for you in new ways this week, and change your hearts to be more like his!

In Jesus,
Nicole