And It Begins

It seems like we’ve been waiting for quite a while to get ourselves organized and to get everything in order so we could begin support raising.  I don’t think that I would say that we are fully ready but either way, it has begun.
Several weeks ago, we received an invitation to speak at Rally Day at Westminster United Presbyterian Church in Mifflintown, PA (the church where my dad pastored for 14 years).  It had been ten years since I stepped foot in that church.  I think the last time would have been for dad’s funeral service.  It was strange being there again after so many years away.  There were some differences, but much was the same as I remember from when I was growing up.

I think the boys were more excited than anyone else.  For years they have heard stories from their nana about how I used to discover all the secret locations in the church.  I had found ways to get in and out of the church unnoticed.  My friends and I would take parachute men and drop them from above the sanctuary (around 40 feet up maybe).  We would also climb on top the of the bell tower to fly paper airplanes, throw bouncy balls, and just take in the views of the town.  So when they had the chance to see some of these areas they wanted to explore for themselves.

While Joshua was crawling around the sanctuary before the service began, the boys crawled along and together discovered a dead bat that chose the area under a heating register as his final resting place.  Go figure the boys are in the church for less than 15 minutes and manage to find a dead critter.  They eagerly followed along as the bat was escorted outside to decompose in a more natural location.

After the service, we were treated to a delicious meal that included some of our former favorite foods.  It’s funny that our kids aren’t used to eating some of the classic PA dutch type foods that we grew up on.  When everyone had finished, the boys resumed their search and discovery mode.  I’m guessing if they hadn’t been wearing their church clothes that I may have found them dirt covered in areas of the church that likely haven’t been visited in quite a while.  Before we left they had used the front of the church as a battleship (sadly, no light sabers made the trip) and they then had an impromptu concert as they sang their Swahili song “Jambo” from the choir area.

Overall, I’d say the trip was successful.  It was great being back in my old church and seeing friends from years ago.  Levi was definitely a fan of Westminster.  As we were packing up he told me “I wuv it here at dis church.”  That probably had something to do with the fact they were able to play and roll down the aisles when almost everyone had left.

We have begun scheduling our other speaking engagements.  We are trying to go back through old emails and messages and recontact people who have requested us to come in the past, but it is probably best to reconnect with us just to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.  If you would like us to come speak about the work at Tenwek, how God has been working in our lives, and how you can partner with us, just let us know!  And if you would like us to mail out one of our prayer cards feel free to email us and we’ll add you to the list.

Prayer requests:

-Pray for us as we will have many hours of travel over the next year.

-Pray that we can clearly communicate what God wants us to and that He will receive the honor and glory.

-Pray that the necessary funds for our return to Kenya will come in quickly.

-Pray for fundraising for the expansion project for our casualty department (will update you on this soon).

-Please be praying for one of our Kenyan colleagues named Andrew.  I posted on FB recently that he was involved in a bad accident that has left him in very serious condition in the ICU at Tenwek.  I don’t have any updates at this time but he has several significant injuries.

-Pray for us as there are still struggles adjusting to a new area.  It’s been a difficult couple of weeks.

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Aaron Kelley

Latest posts by Aaron Kelley (see all)

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