Wrap 'n Up

Bwana Asifiwe. Praise God. I returned home safe and sound from my trip to Africa. I will attempt to share with you my experience.

The Ministry

The main desire of the ministry is to reach the streets of Nakuru, Kenya. This is accomplished three part-fold. There is the primary school, the rescue center and the town office.

Primary School

The primary school serves 200 students formerly suffering street children or victims of poor family life. The school while called a Children’s Home acts as a boarding school. Students attend classes three months on and one month off. During this month, students return to their family/ guardian. Upon acceptance into the school, the faculty conducts a background check on all students, finding a guardian for them whether it be parent, brother, sister, uncle, grandparent, etc. The intent is not to withhold them from their culture but to install good habits, preparing them to survive in the world they live in.

Rescue Center

The rescue center serves street children transitioning from the streets to a structure. The center provides the boys with educational lessons until they prove themselves ready. Recently, the Rohi board decided to convert the rescue center into a vocational training center. This allows older boys to learn a skill worthy of employment. The main desire of this ministry is break bad habits, instill good habits, and then put them into their old environment ready to succeed.

Town Office

The town office takes cases for those on the streets daily. They give out anything from food to clothes to finding medicine. The main outreach involves Sunday street church. The church is in a local park. There those living on the streets gather to hear the gospel and then get fed. Many people from the Sunday church show up at the town office.

My Ministry

The ministry I served was the primary school. There I taught the P.E. lessons and executed various tasks for the faculty. P.E. lessons may have been the most challenging part but also the most enjoyable. A 25:1 ratio is difficult but a 70:1 is absolute chaos. I also helped plan an Olympic event for the kids.

Toward the end of my stay, I went to the Pokot tribe and showed the Jesus film. They listened receptively and many kids dedicated their life to Christ. Pray that pastors in the area can disciple them.

On a personal level God taught me the importance of prayer. This ministry wouldn’t grown were it not for prayer. They meet everyday at 11am and Tuesday nights for prayer. It is an important part of their lives and God has blessed them.

Thank you for your support and prayers. They were heard and appreciated. Let God do the work. Just faithfully come before him.

Daniel Hudson

Sawa Sawa

James Lupui he ran away from the school before I got there and returned maybe 4 weeks after I arrived. In this kid I saw the most visible impact I had. Why? soccer. Sports cross boundaries that otherwise are difficult to break.










This picture just makes me feel good.

I had a good time














Woah yeah this Paul the best high jumper in the school

The Return to the Motherland

Now I actually can upload at a decent speed so I will be posting pictures. There are several thousand picture thus I will only post selected pictures.


These boys to the right are Patrick and Samuel. Class 7 and 8 respectively. They rule the ping pong table.





Elijah, Daniel, Charles all Class 8 students. Daniel is the headboy which means he is next in command after the faculty











baboon and baby baboon













This the cook who went of the "bush" mission with us. She gave us the biggest portions ever. It was the most I have ever eaten in my life. That is saying something. I also posted this picture because she rarely ever smiles.









This is one of the villages in the bush. This is downtown chepcolacea












Me, josphat and cliff













The class 3 soccer team (minus a few) but they took an awesome class photo. The class shots are rare but I have many other photos that look like school photos.

This is Africa

Next time I add posts the plan is to be home and may more stories and pictures will be shared. Now it is time to play some volleyball.

The Bush

Give me time to process the information so I can say something intellegent about it.

We showed the Jesus film Friday and Saturday night and the people there were very responsive.

Today is my last day with the kids and actually some of them have already left. On thursday night the school gathered for one final worship meeting. The kids were on fire with lots of energy. It will probably be one of the best memories of my life. We danced and danced and danced to the heavens. Make no mistake, I can move. The kids loved it. I take it not too make white people dance. I seriously thought I was in heaven. You had to be there.

Laugh Hard and Live Well

Gladis She is truly one of a kind. Three pictures up today. Giddy up

Where the Players Play

ROlympic Day

Play a good game and go home tired.

Week 12 Term 2 26/7/07

I have now finished my term. However this means the kids will have exams. This is not fun for anyone. The kids are tired from pouring out all their brain knowledge and on top of that have about zero free time. I will have no lessons and will patiently wait oh so patiently for the kids to be free. After school I am sure we will continue the soccer pick-up games.

As far as soccer goes I have still been scoring goals winning game. Now I have played a couple games at goalie and I am still frustrated I got scored on. It is a difficult position because if you get scored on you immediately start thinking about what you would have done differently. I should have come up on the ball, I should have stayed back. am on offense I just worry about becoming an animal and getting the ball. Best goal was today with the right foot against class 8. Giddy up.

Rohi Olympics was on Friday. Despite a couple of glitches it went really well. It was fun to watch these kids do incredible stuff but there is one problem with game. Some people (like me) hate to lose. Some of us can control ourselves while others cannot. I had to ref which I can assure you is the toughest job. You have to listen to complains and make sure the game goes well and fair. Really the day was fun but the mistakes are easier for me to pick out because I was part of the planning process.

Highlight

On Saturday I had my first day off and I stayed at the house and had some peace and quiet but also I learned some Masai. So now I now the greeting and I am this much closer to being a Masai warrior which is way better than being a thug.

Food for thought

I have been on several missions trips. In fact my past two summers and spring breaks I used the time to serve elsewhere. When participating on these trip the mindset tend to be different as compared with mindset in the rest of life. On a missions trip these is a sense of determination, approval, and selflessness. When I come home I may start with fire and passion but shortly it all becomes extinguished. One of the major components involves is the amount of time I think about myself. At home I think about myself a lot. However, I realized this year with an extended period of time I view ministry differently. The natural tendency is to desire results. We want to see the work of our hand in these people. We want to see that we have made a difference. First of all, who do you worship? And how do you worship Him? Honestly unless you can read a book and worship at the same time you will always be frustrated with your life. Unless you can worship God through exercise you will never be content. You don’t have to be a preacher or a missionary to accomplish this. You just have to be alive.

Finally a fortune cookie

holla back yall I got one picture up. These are my buddies from class 3. Meet at the field 2:40, play some futball.

Catch me if you can

Week 11 of the term

A top whirls frantically clinging to the axis it orbits. But as it spins the vigor wanes and the leg which so valiantly held tough now wavers and the saving face wanes. I am the top. Okay this might be an exaggeration. One of the children’s compositions inspired the pen to wire again. I am placing below a few examples of beautiful imagery. Any middle school teacher would frown on a student who pretends to use words larger than their vocabulary but as I continued to read this was his style not a fool flaunting his knowledge.

Tears of despondency cascaded down my muddy visage

tied us tenaciously

My heart beat erratically

My heart beat spasmodically as I vividly remembered that fateful day my uncle killed my brother.

when my uncle’s fury was as erupting volcano

When my mother saw me safe and sound she became jovial and as happy as a lark.

However then when I went to discuss the matter with the teacher she said the phrases came straight from a book. I must say I was a little disappointed.

Tomorrow marks a glorious day: Rolympics. The kids will participate in various athletic activities such as 100m, 400m, long jump high jumps as well as games: soccer, volleyball, badminton and other fun competitions such as tug u’ war, sack race, potato n’ spoon relay. I cannot help but reminisce about my own elementary Olympic experience, running so fast the gobs of sunscreen flew off my face all for the prize of that blue ribbon.

But enough of that what did I actually do this week. I continue to hit it up at the soccer field after school. I think I am getting better or the kids are just intimidated now. A couple of days ago I scored 5 goals in 9-3 romp of class 3. I usually play for class two because they could use the extra help. I must say three hours of soccer a day is a pretty good workout.

Street church was extremely peaceful last week. So now it has been two weeks now when the crowds remain peaceful. That is God. Nothing else can describe this peace. Please continue to pray for those who attend. Pray against their lives built on fear and need and the hand of God to intervene in their lives.

Every Tuesday night is prayer night. Many times by the time it gets to 7:30pm you are dead tired but prayer is worth it. If there is anything I want to take back with me it would be the spirit of prayer.

Thank God for good health. Many people who come tend to get sick off the Malaria medication so I consider it a huge blessing to not have taken a few days off. My stomach is becoming much stronger.

The month of July is the coldest month of the year. That just means the mornings are cold and the midday tends to be hot. Bring a jacket and take it off at lunch time.

Two weeks form now we will go on a mission to the bush. The headmistress chose ten students to join the team. Pray

Highlight of the week

-Yesterday Dave brought Massai blankets, which is important because all the watchmen have these blankets. So as soon as I got back to the house I brought out the blanket and got pictures with one of the watchmen jumping. One thing the Massai are famous for is fighting (they were born fighting) and they can jump. Oh they can jump.

Food for Thought

- Try taking a cold shower once a week it will help to not take for granted the comforts we so easily take.

-Luke 9:23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
When Christ calls us to Him he asks us first to deny ourselves. Not deny your personality but put God first instead of you. Next time when you share the gospel start there. (Also this is something to live out. If you do this people will notice.) Now when I say deny yourself remember all parts of you. When I look at myself there I the parts honor but also I am not perfect, I am not pure and these part will not change without the help of God. So when we deny ourselves we place the lying, the cheating, the sloth before God. Believe me if you do this you are going to get the better end of the deal. Remember he is there for more then just your guilt but he desires to make you like Himself.

Matt 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Tell me how it is

The week of 7/5-7/12

Wow I am tired. Believe it or not, I walked Kenyan ground for three weeks and I had not yet played football. I consider this an amazing feat especially considering I am a PE instructor. That changed this week. After school the lower primary students get out before the upper. (lower primary = classes 1,2,and 3.) Thus they go out to the field a play a legit soccer game. If it makes it sound like I was playing against third graders, that was not the case. The class three students would destroy third graders any day of the week and then send them crying to their moms. Plus these kids may be as old as 17 but most are 13 or so. So I am not a fish out water flopping on the land. I have three things on them strength, speed, and intimidation. Intimidation is a valuable asset. I don’t think I have ever had that advantage before. I found out I have a canon of a leg. However the accuracy is not quite there. The past two days I have scored a goal. ( I am not going to count the ones I scored during PE.) My favorite part is penalty kicks. I loved looking at their faces before I kick. Fear and competitive spirit. These things fuel athletes to be great.

I love it because I got hundreds of kids at my disposal to play sports with except for during duties. Everyday they have chores and during that time they take away all the sports equipment. This my friends is the saddest time of day.

I got to see to today how I am a blessing to the staff. Today I had six PE classes which is equivalent to about a 70: 1 student teacher ratio. It was bordering chaos every moment. The tidal wave crashed on my head and I just waited for it to take me away. This is what he has everyday, so you can see having an extra instructor is a huge boost.

I guess I cannot complain about having class three ever again. 30:1 is manageable.

The school is preparing for the Olympics. The event should be really exciting and tiring at the same time.

Food for thought:

When I returned from Cuba I saw I was living in excess. This happens to most all that visit people living well below the poverty line. Seeing people living on next to nothing lead me to question the lifestyle of Americans. First of all, how do you cut back but how do you give the cut back amount. The sensation that I was living richly has not hit me in Kenya. I think it is because I already learned the lesson. This statement seems cocky but read on. I do not deserve to be wealthy, go to a university, be born in America but I was. It does one no good to feel guilty because it this way. Believe me, many of them find more joy than we do. Accept this fact; everything that is your has been given to you by God. Now it is your responsibility to deal with it responsibly. So I have a couple points to live by

Steward your blessings wisely

Cherish blessing don't put a death grip on them

Don’t look down on those with less material wealth

Let your life speak louder than your money

It is okay to have fun in life and to own things that cause enjoyment but make sure you can exhibit self-control when it comes to spending money.

Still clouds cover the glorious sky

Clowds Cover Stars

Let me see what can I tell you today. Really, the biggest thing to realize is people are people. If you realize that you are no better than the person next to you (and live it) you have a lot of life figured out.

One thing sticks out in my mind very clearly> -- One girl at the school went up to the front during an assembly telling the students not to complain about ripped shoes because at least they have shoes. wow, if this is true then no one has reason to complain because someone will always have it worse than you.

I love the ministry here at Rohi. Out of 150 ministries toward street kids in Nakuru, this is the only one on the street level. Also, the ministry aims to provide for the needs of the kids while preparing them to live on their own; either vocational school or preparation for the university. If we aim to take them out of their culture, give them the skills to survive not just provide a place to stay with fresh food. Some times I think America should do something like that instead of using college to serve that purpose. However we will see no matter how bad the conditions for people are, people find a way to live. While conditions might surprise us of disgust us, this is the life they know and hold dear. Some kids after being taken off the streets run back because the streets comfort them.

Please keep the street church ministry in your prayers. Pray for the people attending and those leading it.

This past Saturday the team went with class 8 to a ropes course. It was a lot of fun and I just realized I have nothing else to say about it other than it was fun and the bus got stuck along the way.

I haven't seen the stars yet because clouds continue to cover them every night.

I am waiting

The Internet around here run like molasses uphill so there is more I could not convey but I will slap the computer a couple more times to see if it works. I need to figure out a way to upload videos because it has been all the rage. Peace

Week one

Thursday 6/21
So I survived my first day at Rohi. Lesson 1: always be prepared for anything. A speaking opportunity lurks in the dark and could strike at any moment. Anyone who has ever gone will say the same exact things. Today 5 minutes before the PE class I was told to put on my “soccer clothes” and teach a “skill to one of the classes. Uhhhhh what skills I got skillqzz? Aparently I got em. So I played volleyball with class 8. The kids catch on quickly and volleyball is probably one of the only sports I can keep up with them. Soccer um I could make the 4 year olds team.
Other than that my day was spent connecting with the staff at Rohi. I met with them today and had tea and Madazi which I guess could hold a candle to a donut without sugar. Afterwards the staff meets for prayer.
The kids are obsessed with digital cameras (thanks Suzi) they wanted me to take solo shots of them all day. Striking a pose and very important, get a full body shot. So it may look like I have OCD but I assure you…
Still no sign of elephants or Lions

Friday 6/22
Another day at Rohi and it started the same shaking the hands of the staff. My right hand is in permanent shake mode. If anyone gets near me I will shake their hand.
I taught some more PE classes (class 3 and 6) I played hackie sack dodgeball with the class 3. They play the game with one on each side and a couple kids in the middle and if you get hit you go to the ends. I taught basketball with class 6 They seem kinda bored so I decided to show me some moves. Show me your moves. Then it became fun.
They have chapel on Friday afternoon. Which if any private school did 2-hr chapel on a Friday afternoon starting at 2:40 students might file for child abuse. Eventually I will probably have to speak at one of those.
Afterward I had about an hour forty before I had to go. I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was raining so I walked outside and soak in Kenyan rain. I walked to the other side and saw Job. One of the cool kids, I will put a picture up to show you but I started to talk to him and Gideon and then it progress and I met the funniest kid, Aaron ( I have video of this kid so watch out). And like all sweet kids he has got the moves. So basically that our hour was spent dancing with class 4 and talking about the effects of gravity upon a gut.

Weekend

This weekend I cannot forget. Once I have saw the kids on the streets it makes the kids at Rohi. I would try to explain with word but that wouldn't do it justice. However since they gang leaders won't let us take pictures I will resort to words. We entered the alleyway and instead jump screaming you don't belong here. As I look into the eyes of the kids you would see Peter Pan's youthful- no- rules- nature but see a desperate child. Picture a mother bear protecting a cub, a kid protecting his bottle of glue while sucking it like a baby sucks on a pacifier. We gave then the word and then we placed bread down on the ground and the kid swarmed; punching and kicking, kicking and biting. No bag could hold this bread and withstand the rage

It is something you can only see for yourself.

Monday 6/25

My week starts once again and I am ready to teach some more PE. All I can say is I have a lot more respect for my teachers now. Dealing with a class of 30 kids I struggle to keep them all focused.

This is the last day I will give a run down and whatever I feel necessary I will say but the picture are more interesting so I will post them.

Here?

So I arrived in Kenya. Sigh of relief. I am paying per the shilling right now and I forgot my flash drive with pictures. arggh. As far as the animal count goes: babboon (but the butts weren't blue), gazzelle, monkey and zebra.

During the week, I work at the school, teaching PE, meeting people, people and more people. If I wasn't on the clock I would be more specific but please continue to pray becuase strength is a luxury. Also pray as I shake more hands and see more faces to reach them; much of life is still foreign. Day 5 and health is still good. Thank God

Keep me in your prayers

Through the years I have learned prayer is more than saying nice words that make us feel better about ourselves. God moves through prayer. So please pray

Above all else, have my eyes intensely fixed on Christ

Live off God's strength alone and give 110% to this trip

Connect and relate to the kids (and adults) at Rohi

Grow in the area of Leadership

God would guard me from distractions


As time goes on I am sure this list will change and I will try to make request more specific.

Where are we

I love the smell of summer, more specifically the sensation of feeling a hot June day because as a child that same smell meant freedom from the sweat of school. Cheers to days where there were no commitments; summer break. Well this summer break has not hit me yet. I'm going to Kenya. Soon, very soon these word will have meaning but until then I will elaborate of structure of my adventure which I can assure you will be a far cry from the actual experience.

What will I be doing? Where will I be staying?

I received an internship at an orphanage/ school in Nakuru, Kenya. My specific task is currently unknown but I will report it soon. Throughout the duration of my stay, i will be housed by missionaries Dave and Kimberly Shields. This alone causes reason for excitement because I have a first hand account of life in the missionary field. Also, the last two weeks are spent in the bush.

What do I know about the orphanage now?

The orphanage houses around 150 boys and about 30 girls. The student attend classes three months on and then one month off. During this month, the children are allowed to go back into their family environment (provided it is safe). The goal is to integrate them back into their environment without leaving them a mess.

When will be leaving?

June 18th i begin traveling to Kenya.

When do I return?

Lord willingly I will arrive back in San Jose on August 12th.


To conclude, I would urge you to pray for me. This experience will only be what it is because of God. Thanks to all those who supported me financially. I appreciate you more than words can say and i will do my best to update this blog weekly.

Another World Awaits

Welcome to Daniel Hudson's blog.