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Day 10- Church at the Center

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Today is the last day we are here in Kenya. This is always an emotional day as we day goodbye to all the kids and the Project Lucas staff members. As we got to the Center, we hung out with the kids until church started. Church today was with all the Project Lucas kids and their families. We began with everyone together in the middle of the yard. We sang worship songs, danced, and prayed together. When it was time for the sermon, the kids went to kids church and the teens went to teen church. Collin got to preach an incredible message about worship. We don't worship idols but we worship the living and True God. He gave the Gospel at the end and we got to see four of the parents accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Four parents moved from death to life today! God is SO good!  In teen church, we got to share a similar message with them as well as have the rest of our high schoolers share their testimonies. The group was much larger today than yesterday and it was awesome. Afte...
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Day 9- FUN Day!

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Today was all about FUN for the Project Lucas kids! This morning was the morning the entire team went to get our COVID tests to return back to the US. Please join us in praying for a full and 100% negative test outcome. We will have results within 24 hours so please pray along with us!   Aside from that detour this morning, we were out at the Center all day today. It was our last day playing with the kids so we brought the FUN today. We started the day with an inflatable slide/bounce house. Now, I know in the States this isn't a big deal at all. However, over here it is a HUGE deal. As Scott explained to the team last night at our meeting, this is like taking them to Disney World back home. These kids have never experienced a bounce house. Isn't that crazy? My neighbor in Celina has one outside their house in the summer every single day that's connected to the water house to cool off the kids. The sponsorship kids have never been on one. Think about that stark contrast bet...
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Days 6-8- Safari

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This is a pretty good representation of our team This is the moment of the trip when we take a break to go do something that will most likely be a once in a lifetime experience. Many times, people have asked, "Why do you go on Safari when you go on your trips?" My answer is always very simple: when you are THAT close to something so amazing, I believe there's no way you can not go. Not only is it incredible and like nothing in the US, it's a completely spiritual experience.  Every time I come on Safari, God is right there teaching me about who He is. The first year I came, God really taught me about his magnificence when it comes to creation. He created the world and all that is in it. When you sit in a place like the Masai Mara, you can't help but think about how magnificent God is in His reach and His ability to create such a place that draws all worship to Himself.  The second time, I was blown away by the creativity of God. All the animals and how unique the...
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Day 5- Painting, Exercise/Teethbrushing, and Home Visits

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Today was a lot like yesterday. We woke up at the Heart Lodge, ate breakfast and headed to the Center. Yesterday, we finished the inside of all the classrooms so today we moved to the outside of the building to paint. We painted the building, the inside gate, the outside gate, the guard house and outside corrugated metal. It was a full day of painting but our team is incredible and knocked it all out.  Instead of doing a chapel service for the kids, we divided the kids into two groups and did a couple of different things. The first was a time with Amanda leading exercises. She's an instructor in the US so she brought her skills and talents with her. Using a Bluetooth speaker, she did a whole routine with the kids and wore them out. One of the unique blessings of this trip is to see each team member use their gifts in some fun ways. God assembled the right team for this trip. So many times, we see God utilize something in someone to bring Himself glory.  While that was go...
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Day 4- Chapel, Painting, and Home Visits

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  Today was a big day around the Center. The whole team showed up after breakfast as the kids were in school. The major time blocks of our schedule were facilitating a chapel for all the kids, painting the interior of all the classrooms, and half the group going to visit the houses of Project Lucas families. We began painting the interior of the classrooms in order to get those done so that the students weren't displaced from them for long. It is a belief of Project Lucas that since these kids are in the dark much of the night with no lights in their homes, we want the Center to be a place that is bright and inviting during the day. This is why every two years we put down a new coat of paint on the whole facility. We were updating the walls with a fresh coat of yellow, the baseboard with a fresh coat of black, and the blackboards with a fresh coat of chalkboard paint. One of the things we don't think about because we are so used to it in America is the ease at which we can get ...
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Day 2- BACKPACK DAY!!

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 This is one of the BEST days of the trip! Before coming and while all of us were raising support, we also participated in a Fitness Challenge through Project Lucas. The purpose of the challenge was to raise money specifically for backpacks. Our goal was to raise $15,000 to bring and give out 750 backpacks to vulnerable children all over the city of Ruiru. As we progressed toward our goal, it was such a blessing to see the faithfulness of God. We reached our goal with about two weeks left in the challenge. At that point, Scott upped the goal to $20,000 or 1,000 backpacks. We reached it on the last day of fundraising! Again, the faithfulness of God to not only meet the goal but then exceed it by $5,000 is just a testament to His character and His promises. This has been the constant theme of the team as we have walked through the fundraising process. When we were wondering where the money was going to come from, God brought it. Sometimes He brought it in a weird way, sometimes He br...
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Day 3- Church and the Maasai Market

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Today we had the privilege of going to a local church here in Kenya. This is always an awesome experience for our teams because they normally come having only experienced church in America. Typically church here in Kenya lasts about 3 hours if not 3 and a half hours. This year, due to COVID restrictions, it is limited to an hour and a half. With that said, we didn't really know what to expect.  As we arrived, we were welcomed warmly by Sylvester and his family (this is where they attend church each and every Sunday morning). They ushered us off the bus and into the worship center. Now, their worship center looks and feels very different than in America. Here in Kenya, when you are building a church, you build as you have the money to pay. So, this church building was unfinished in multiple ways. However, that didn't stop them from worshiping God every Sunday morning as a group of believers. The walls were not decorated, the sound system wasn't perfect, the chairs were plast...
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