Meet our Promiseland News Team! Our 5th graders will provide the FUMCWP news and events each week in Sunday School.
Author: devadmin
Promiseland News Team
Popsicles for Flood Buckets!
Sarah and Kate Ryan are no strangers to service. Their family – including mom Betsy, dad Andrew, and sister Annie – has served as volunteers within the church for years, and this year is no different! After the recent destruction of the Bahamas by Hurricane Dorian, Sarah and Kate decided they would donate the money raised from their popsicle stand to UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief) in order to help those affected. Their donation will be given to UMCOR, along with over $8,000 donated by our congregants over the past month! Thank you for your contributions. Your generosity makes such a difference!
The Word of the Day – Celebration!
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 7
Today is the day!!! It is Graduation Day!
We met at the church around 8am to check youth in, distribute caps & gowns and take photos. The second mission team from Florida arrived during this prep time. A small pep band warmed up in the courtyard as youth trickled in and lined up for a celebratory parade through town from the church to an outdoor, tented graduation ceremony site about 10 blocks away. So much joy and anticipation.
It was about a 4-hour ceremony, filled with inspiring speakers from the community, Inua alum, current graduates and our very own Kenya Katie (Katie Cornelius.). There was singing, praying and picture-taking. The youth were called up one-by-one within their vocation to receive their certificate. Families/guardians cheered and hugged and even shed tears of pride.
After the ceremony, Cycle 2 alum Lily, catered the reception celebration. Other youth set up displays of their work and wares to sell, such as jewelry and art. Groups gathered with friends for photos and celebrations. We encouraged the youth to trade their caps and gowns in exchange for an Inua string-backpack. (We reuse the caps/gowns.). We left around 3pm (it had started at 10!) and many were still celebrating!
Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a day of R&R, exploration, shopping and farewells with our Inua partners in Naivasha. It will be hard to say goodbye to the staff: Florence, Eunice, Patrick, Ephantus and Paul. They are family.
On Sunday, we will begin our journey home. We are all a tad concerned about Hurricane Dorian and our families in Florida prepping without us. We expect our flight from Nairobi to Dubai will be fine, but the storm will dictate the timing of our return to Orlando.
Update: The unpredictable nature of the storm has messed with air travel plans. We are currently booked to land on Saturday extending our 10-days away to 15 days. It is hard but we are together and making the most of options in Dubai. We are so thankful for Laura Toshie, our trip leader. Her selflessness, humor, and kind spirit have kept us together and ready to weather the twists and turns of our daily situation with a dose of grace.
The Word of the Day – Prepare.
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 7
As our families back home begin to prepare for a massive hurricane, we are busy preparing for tomorrow’s graduation ceremony.
We spent our entire morning with the Inua Staff in their office in downtown Naivasha. Some of us had meetings about things like a graduate/alumni program or tweaking the Inua Mission Statement, others worked on reprinting a few graduation certificates that need edits. Others loaded caps and gowns into the van for transport to the church, which some spent time next door at the Inua Salon and Training center. It was a busy and productive morning with lots of chatter about youth transformations, updates on Inua youth from Cycle 1 and 2, and excitement for Friday.
We toured the large market area and had a quick lunch before returning to the hotel. It was only 5pm so we decided we had enough time before dinner to enjoy a hippo boat ride on Lake Naivasha. We insisted that our van driver, Sammy, come with us as he had NEVER been on a boat ride before. We love Sammy! We were able to get up close to several safari animals on Crescent Island — so unique with its access to wildlife… zebra, impala, giraffe and water buck graze free here after being left behind when the island was used to shooting the movie “Out of Africa.”
It was an amazing day and we feel prepared for all of the excitement tomorrow promises.
The Word of the Day – Growth.
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 6
We spent today in Zone 3, the furthest area from the center of town. It is about an hour away from the Inua office in Naivasha. It is a more rural area, scattered among large, internationally-owned, flower farms. We gathered at a church in the DCK neighborhood with seven youth and one mentor as well as two missioners from Minnesota (courtesy of Ivor and Mary Scott Singer) who were joining us for the second half of our week.
This area appears to have the greatest need in terms of access to water, education, etc. Even so, their faith and joy remain high. It was a blessing to hear the youth speak with enthusiasm and confidence about their futures. We went to see a few of their businesses including Beth’s hair salon, called “Smart Saloon”, Ben’s Poultry Farm which sells eggs, chickens, and chicks for breeding and Vivian/Cynthia’s hair salon, where a few of us were able to purchase headbands and hair ties. While there, we ran into Abraham, a Cycle 2 graduate who is now a tour guide at Hell’s Gate National Park. It was so uplifting to see the growth and smile on Abraham’s face!
After our visits with the youth, the Kenyan office staff gave us a tour of the Inua Farm, currently brimming with corn. The farm is used to train youth about safe agri-business while increasing food security. It is an important part of the program, one which we are working to expand. We (all 15 of us – 5 Kenyans and 10 missioners) enjoyed a late lunch at Ken Gen before the rains came pouring down. We made it back to the hotel in the late afternoon for a few meetings about the new mentor training program and graduation prep.
The youth are growing nicely. The crops in the farm are growing nicely. Our team, our understanding of this mission and our vision for Inua is growing nicely.
God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.
The Word of the Day – Happy
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 5
“I am so happy. Thank you so much. I have never felt so, so happy.” – Phoebe, Zone 2 
We spent today focused on the youth in Zone 2, a region about 30 minutes from the center of Naivasha. We were met by Margaret, Joseph and David, the awesome mentors for Zone 2. Their groups had so much to share. The Fashion & Design Youth showed off custom dresses and curtains from their new businesses. Hairdressing & Salon graduates were excited to provide tours of their new shops. We heard about new motorbike repair businesses, new electrical repair and plumbing repair businesses and several new hospitality graduates eager to open their own cafes.
We captured as many stories as we could on video and took many pictures. One member of our team, Loran, got to meet her prayer partner, Francis. It was awesome to witness their joy. There was singing, dancing, hugging, smiling and love shared all around.
Mixed among the Cycle 3 graduating youth were a few prospective Cycle 4 newcomers. Meeting them made it easy to contrast the challenges of youth not in the program with youth in the program. Inua transforms lives, this we can be sure.
We got an in-depth walking tour of the neighbor and visited with a few of the youth’s businesses including the Florida Salon & Cosmetic, owned and operated by Rose, a Cycle 3 graduate. We popped in on Paul as he was working on a painting job and stopped by Phoebe’s Café where we all enjoyed her freshly baked mandazi (a sweet fried bread). We later enjoyed a delicious lunch at Lily’s Café, an Inua graduate from Cycle 2 who will also be catering Friday’s graduation reception. We are filled with joy and happiness to see so many youth who have transformed into healthy, happy young adults able to provide for themselves and others.
We filled the late afternoon with meetings with Inua’s Kenya Staff about an expansion to the agribusiness program and graduation preparations.
Worship – September 1, 2019
After much prayer and deliberation we have decided to hold Sunday worship services as normal. Should our region be placed under a Tropical Storm Warning at any time following this communication, services will be cancelled.
Worship Times:
Traditional Service – 8:00 & 11:00am
Contemporary Service – 9:30am
As we watch and anticipate Dorian’s landfall in Florida, please continue to be vigilant in your preparations. Are you ready? Here is a simple checklist of things to have.
The Word of the Day – Grace
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 4
“Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.” John 1:16
It is another beautiful day in Kenya… beautiful weather, beautiful people, beautiful souls. We spent the day immersed with Inua youth. We started back at the church with a Zone 1 meeting. (Zone 1 is comprised of 4 separate groups.) Roughly 30 youth proudly shared their stories of transformation and success. A highlight was Philip W., a young man who gave thanks to God for allowing him to not only start his own video production business, but also form his own outreach to help drug users.
They each received their last letter of support and congratulations from the prayer partners in the US. There was much singing, picture-taking and capturing video messages of thanks to bring home to Florida. We can’t wait to share story after story with friends of Inua back home.
After a mission-team lunch at a local coffee shop, Sammy navigated some tricky roads through an area named Kayole. Here we met over 20 teens and young adults hoping to join Inua’s next cycle. This was an info-session of sorts. It served to give the youth more information about what Inua is all about while giving us a quick contrast to the morning’s group – those not yet in the program vs. those about to graduate.
We were struck by their honest, heartfelt expressions of hopelessness as well as the familiar aloofness of teens we know back home who have no clue what it takes to live on their own. It was in this meeting that Inua’s program stood out as the much-needed guide to usher youth, with no parent or role model, through challenging years toward sustainability and adulthood.
The grace of the Lord is continuing to open doors and shine upon this program, its mentors, volunteers, youth and staff. Thank you, God.
The Word of the Day – Connection
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 3
After a quick breakfast at our hotel, we were in Sammy’s spiffy passenger van on the way to Naivasha – our final destination. The shoulder of the road to Naivasha was brightened by grazing cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. There was even a wildlife sanctuary along the side of the highway and from our van we got to see zebra, wildebeest and giraffes!
The long journey has given our team a great sense of familiarity and respect for one another. Need advice on how to pee in an outhouse, Loran’s your gal. Wondering what animals we’ll see on the drive from Nairobi to Naivasha, just ask Katie. Want to know how close we are to the equator, Ivor’s got that. We’ve connected with each other like old friends. We have a nice balance of “first timers” eager to ask questions and “returners” who can draw attention to changes and the evolution of the program, landscape, and people.
We travel straight to Trinity Methodist Church for their 10am service. Singing, dancing, praising and connecting. We scattered into seats among the parishioners and join in as if we’d been there our whole lives. Florence, an Inua staffer, takes the lead as our guide. We also get to reconnect with Paul, the Executive Director of Inua and Kenya’s version of a District Superintendent.
After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we were back at the church to meet a group of Inua Youth who are about to graduate. Ivor Singer facilitated a chat via Skype with their prayer partners and the Forum class back in Winter Park. Their stories are remarkable and the emotions shared on both ends are powerful. It is amazing how a series of letters and prayers connect them. The youth here consider their prayer partners as true family. We can all feel it.
What a powerful gift God has given us to meet these youth in person and more fully understand how the Inua program has helped guide their transformation.
The Word of the Day – Gratitude
Kenya Mission Team A, Day 2
Even though we’ve lost 7 hours crossing the ocean and our sense of day/night/time is gone, we are still a happy bunch. We gathered at 3pm Dubai time (which is what? umm, subtract 8… 7am Saturday in Florida) for a quick devotion before boarding our flight to Nairobi. A few more in-air meals and movies and before we knew it, we were in Kenya!
We were met at the airport by Sammy, our exuberant driver who has been a friend to Inua Mission Teams for years. Sammy had us laughing all the way to our hotel, where we said quick goodnights and headed to bed.
We are thankful for a safe and uneventful journey to Kenya. We are thankful for pillows, showers and bottled water. We are thankful Loran was able to get her Visa approval as we checked through customs. We are thankful for one another. We are thankful for a loving God who has opened this opportunity for us to learn, grow and share His love on the other side of the globe.