Mission Mombasa 2012 Video

Mission Mombasa 2012 video by Kim Hayes.

We are Home!

Kenya 2012 was a wonderful experience.  We saw God work when everything else wasn't going the way it was planned.  Eight months of planning and preparing and plans changed almost daily.

Monday, we suprised Mbewau with a final visit!  I asked Joseph the headmaster, to let us spend our last spare hours playing with the kids. All 190 children were released from their classes and the games were on.  There where soccer games being played, kids being pushed in swings and lots of children being loved on.

Little Emanuel walked up to Kim and raised his hands for her to pick him up, he layed his head on her shoulder and sang himself to sleep.  Courtney and Karen had multiple children hanging off them, Medina chatted with a group of kids for a long time and all of the guys played soccer with about 50 little boys. I found Imna, Kelvin and Morgan and carried them around on my back and shoulders for most of the morning. It was so great to just hang out with the kids.

My favorite memory of this trip to Kenya is seeing my Kenyan friends that are faithfully serving Christ every day in a very natural and organic way, no big screens, no stage lights, no sound systems, no padded pews and no air conditioning.  Everyone should experience a worship service in Kenya!

Thank you Chris and Lisa for following God's call on your life.  Because of that faithfullness many Kenyans lives have been forever changed. I am so very thankful that God has allowed me to see His hand at work in Kenya!  After a month or so we will start making plans for Kenya 2013.

God Bless!!!
David

Saying Goodbye.

Today we go to Mbewau to spend a little more time with the children and say our final goodbyes.  Our time here in Kenya has flown bye.  Every day has brought a new adventure and new challenges for the team and Kim and I as team leaders.  I learn to be more flexible every year and adapt to what happens because TIA, this is Africa.  Losing our co-leaders at DFW due to passport issues was a huge shock.  Several flight delays changed our plans in London and by the time we got to Mombasa we were all beat.  It has rained a lot here this year and we have had to adjust our plans for that too.

Going to Maasai Corner for the first time was awesome.  Last year it was the "Church under the mango tree." Now it is a thriving, growing and exciting place worship Christ and serve with fellow believers. As we returned yesterday for our last church service in Kenya much had been accomplished in a week and the place was even more beautiful.  God has great things planned for Maasai Corner and I know that many lives will be changed for Christ there.

Mbewau is a little piece of Heaven here on Earth.  There are several new ministries there that are pointing everything on that campus to Christ.  The sports ministries is 3 nights a week, water ministry is open every day, a small store sells goods to people and helps support the ministry there as a whole and a new mens vocational training program is about to start up in the next few months.  Men will come and learn wood working, welding, etc.

God has really blessed the Moore's ministries here in Kenya.  They face new challenges every day!  Please keep them in your prayers as they serve Christ here in Kenya.  Thank you Hallmark for all of your love, prayers and support for our missions trips to Kenya.  Great things have been accomplished here for Christ and even greater things will come in the future!

If all our flights are on time we will be home at 1:25pm Tuesday!
God Bless!
David Hayes

To sacrifice means it will cost me something to give it.

What a blessing to be in Kenya!  My life will forever be changed.  God is so good to allow me to see and enjoy the beauty of his creation.  I have seen magnificent sunrises and sunsets.  The ocean is so beautiful and has provided such a peaceful place to spend time alone with the Lord.  We have been on Safari and seen many of the wonderful animals here in Africa.  The monkeys have even tried to join us for breakfast each morning at our hotel.  They are very good at stealing food right off your plate.

  The people here are so gracious, kind, and loving.  I have truly been blessed by seeing old friends again and meeting new ones.  It always amazes me when I go on mission trips that I can travel across the world  and speak a different language than many of those I meet and still have an instant bond with them.  That bond that ties us together is our Lord Jesus Christ and our love for Him. One of my favorite times in Kenya is worship.  The people here worship with their whole body and heart.  Their voices blend together to make such a joyful and beautiful sound unto the Lord.  

  The children in Kenya are so precious to me.  Their sweet faces are the first thing that I see when I think of Kenya.  They are forever imprinted in my mind and on my heart.  They have so little and yet they seem so happy.  We in America have much and never seem content.  We always seem to want more.  How I pray that I learn a lesson from the people in Kenya.  I am asking myself as I think of going back home, “What do I give to the Lord and the people that God has put in my path?  Do I give to them from my surplus and what is convenient to give or do I sacrifice to give to them?”  To sacrifice means it will cost me something to give it.  I don’t often give sacrificially.  Lord, help me do that for you and for the people you place in my life.  Please ask yourself too what you have given this past year that cost you something.  The people here in Kenya are in such need.  Will you be willing to sacrifice for them in the coming year?  I pray that I will.

  Three years ago I came to the school at Mbewau when it was first being built.  It is amazing what God has done in that time.  The school and grounds are absolutely beautiful and very well run and cared for.  They even have a flushing potty now!!!!  YEA!  On this past Saturday, we had planned to do hut to hut evangelism and have crafts and games with the kids in the afternoon.  However, it rained all day, so we enjoyed fun and fellowship inside with the adults who were there.  I spent most of the morning with Joyce trying to learn to make chapati which is a favorite food to many of us.  They are similar to tortillas, but are fried and have lots of oil on them which is why they taste so good.  Joyce said she would pray that I will make them well for my husband when I get home, but I think it will take many, many prayers.

  Today we went back to Maasai Corner where Real4Christ has begun another new ministry.  Last year, worship services were held under a mango tree and now a new worship center and medical clinic are almost completed.  We shared a special time of worship today and last Sunday in the new center.  Flushing potties are almost complete at Maasai Corner also.  Another big YEA!!!  The ladies tried to teach Sabine and I to carry a bucket on our heads today without much luck, but the Kenyan ladies got lots of laughs from it.

  God has richly blessed Real4Christ ministries in both places.  Our team will be heading home tomorrow and it seems like we just got here.  We said good-bye to our friends at Mbewau and Maasai with heavy hearts and many tears.  I have been so blessed by knowing and working with the Hallmark team this year.  They are a very special group to me even though they are a little crazy (or a lot crazy) and  I am so thankful they allowed me to join them on this trip.  I only regret that Donald and Stacy were not able to come with us for they have been missed very much.  I also regret not getting Chris Moore back for wanting to fill my 4 days late luggage with trash and hide my clothes.  Thank goodness for Lisa!!!!


Medina Gribble

Team Hallmark

June 13-26, Team Hallmark will be making its fourth trip to Kenya.  The last three years we have had some amazing trips and we trust God that this one will be the best yet.  We have had three training sessions, several team gatherings and met yesterday to pack our ministry bags.  We are counting down the hours until we load up on the bus and head to the airport.

Please pray for our team as we follow God's call to visit Kenya and spread the Good News to many that have never heard the name of Jesus!

Mbewau Academy's New Desk!

In the summer of 2011, Cliff Williamson came to Mbewau Academy with Hallmark Baptist Church.  Cliff and Kathy had previously adopted five Mbewau students to sponsor monthly.  As he toured the school he noticed that the standard 2 and 3 classes were empty.  God pricked his heart and he inquired about how much it would cost to get 17 desk and a teachers desk for the students going up to standard 2 the next term.  When Cliff got home he made it his mission to raise the money for the desk.  The goal was to raise all of the money by October 31.  He sat down and hand wrote letters to church members, family and friends asking them to sponsor a desk for $150.00.  Before he knew all 17 desk had been bought.  Cliff decided to try and get the standard 3 desk sponsored as well, 17 more and a teachers desk.  By the end of August when Chris and Lisa returned to the states Cliff had raised enough money to pay for all 34 student desk and 2 teachers desk.  After Chris preached the Sunday morning message at Hallmark Cliff mentioned to the crowd that Lisa could also use a microscope in her clinic.  A man in the crowd rushed to Lisa as soon as the service was dismissed and said that he had a brand new microscope to donate because his daughter had just finished med school.

God truely had His hand on this endeavor.  The little secret is, Cliff is a 75 year young gentleman that just followed the Lord's leadership and will have an eternal impact on all of the children that pass through Mbewau Academy for many years to come.

Cliff, we are looking forward to seeing you in Kenya this June.
Thank You and God Bless!