in the middle of the middle

well, we are in the middle of our "in between"  time. every time i interview a potential camp staffer or tell someone about camp i talk about the weeks "in between" camp. we are currently experiencing those weeks. it's good. 

last week (Sunday through Thursday) we stayed with the Calvert family in Ngong. they work with the masai people group doing church planting and discipleship. praise God for the faithfulness of the Calvert family. they let us take over their lives for a few days and partnered with us in ministry. it was amazing. they have four children, all of whom have been at camp their whole lives. zac, the youngest, is a senior at rosslyn this fall and is working as a junior counselor with us right now. so they were pretty great parents to us. nancy cooked AMAZING food for all of us each night and then we crowded around the table and made lunch for the next day before eating brownies with ice cream or jello poke cake. Bob told us tons of stories about years of ministry and the faithfulness of the Lord. they poured into our lives and it was overwhelming. we went into the rift valley with Bob each day to help with different projects. Monday we helped pass out food and encouraged some children at a school. Tuesday we cut grass and took it to a village where even their cows are starving for food and water. and when i say cut grass i mean we used pangas and slashers. and we  gathered the grass with walking sticks. not gonna lie, it was pretty sweet. it turns out i'm pretty skilled at cutting grass with a panga and could get quite a few cows in a dowry. :) mr calvert assured me he could find me a good husband. i cannot describe to you the look of surprise and joy the pastor had when we brought that grass to him. we ended tuesday with a bit of bouldering. wednesday we hiked the entire Ngong hills, something i've always wanted to do. it started out a bit rainy (which we'd been praying for) but then we could see clear to tanzania. it was stunning. God loved us so hard those three days, through hospitality, testimonies of ministry, encouragement of loving parents, the example of a beautiful 27 year marriage, his beautiful creation of the masai people and their wonderful homeland, and i was in awe of the effect of all of this on the camp staff. i love witnessing people being changed by the Gospel. God is indeed so good. 

now we're back in nairobi and preparing for a week in western. 24 of us have been staying at our house in nairobi. it's a bit cramped, but there are some sweet times in there. we have, however, been without water almost the entire time. so yesterday i took everyone to hampton house (baptist guest house) for showers. never saw such happy and good smelling people. after church today we've been lazing around. 

tuesday we will hop on a bus early in the morning and head to western where we'll meet eric. the plan is to stay in people's homes there, plant trees, play with orphans, encourage churches. if you know anything about kenya, though, you know that plans are just that: plans. they never really go how you expect them to. i am confident in God's sovereignty and am excited about what he has for us. 

please pray for all of us over the next week. after being in western for a week we'll head to Jinja, Uganda to raft the NILE! this is a highlight for some. the river is so large and powerful and such an illustration of so many characteristics of God. all creation sings His praises! 

so pray for our safe travel, for God to speak to and through us, and for the Gospel to go forth in everything we do. 

thank you for all your support! i love you with the love of Christ.

so i'm sitting in a straight back chair with about 50 misquotes buzzing around me, my shirt is wet and has been all day, and i'm exhausted in every way. there's nowhere else i'd rather be than right where i'm at. 

i just finished partying it up with junior campers at the disco. it was almost a disaster. well, you'll laugh at my idea of a disco disaster because it wasn't really all that bad. it's just that the music didn't work (ok that's a major disco ruiner), the one light wasn't bright enough to light the field, they had served us dinner rolls instead of doughnuts and no popcorn or hot chocolate. i was slightly panicked. after about 20 minutes of amazing counselors doing their camp counselor thing and creating fun even when the situation is struggling, the music started working, the doughnuts and popcorn came out, and stu and clayton got some tiki torches lit. we all danced the night away. 

I cannot stop thanking God for letting me be here and be a part of camp and be a part of these lives. we have some incredible counselors and amazing kids. 

thanks for being a part of it too.

Blue Sky Let's Go!!!

I. Am. Amazed. 

God is so faithful. My heart is so full and it's been wayyyy too long since I've written a post that there's no way this post will suffice to update you. 

Camp has begun. Our counselors have been here over two weeks now and I can't believe how wonderful they all are. God is faithful! Staff week was great. Everything was, for the most part, smooth and everyone had a great time. We talked A LOT about camp, planned for some of the programs and took a sweet camping trip across the street to a game ranch. It rained all night, but as we stood around the bonfire picking ticks off of ourselves and each other no one cared about the rain. We sang hymns a cappella and burst into spontaneous prayer. Then it quit raining and we went to bed while the lions were roaring in the distance. I haven't even mentioned the hotdogs, beans, and s'mores yet! It was incredible.

I need to back up and tell you, too, that the Preston's and Stoever's came out to help us with our leadership retreat, staff week and a marriage retreat. During the marriage retreat I took the kids camping at Hell's Gate. We drove all around looking for animals and saw giraffe, wildebeest, wart hogs, baboons, gazelles, zebras, and a dic dic which Wesley and Charlie were really stoked about. We saw a half-eaten zebra which was really cool to the kids and a buffalo skulls. Dead things were awesome. Then we had a huge dance party around the bonfire as we ate hotdogs and s'mores. I never dreamed I'd be doing the cupid shuffle at the overlook at Hell's Gate, but it was incredible. Those kids are too much fun!! After a beautiful Kenyan night we hiked the gorge the next day. It was beautiful and enlightening and we bought spears and bracelets to remember our trip. 

Then the leadership retreat was so great for all of us. We learned more about each other and how to work together this summer. Shawn, Dave, and Tammy are amazing. What incredible leaders to learn under! We stayed at Naivasha Country Club which was beautiful. It was very colonial and i kind of liked it. Except the desserts were gross. Nothing new there though.

So, like I said, staff week was great and now we're in Wednesday of the first session of camp. There are a lot of adjustments and I'm pretty exhausted from all the confirming and instruction i'm giving to everyone. I get to teach Lukenya Getaway staff things like how to serve meals on time and make biscuits and tacos. And then almost all of our counselors are new so they get to learn a lot too. I've not really been in a leadership position quite like this before and God is so faithful at giving me what I need. I'm a witness to my own growth and change. It's very different and as I process all that's happening in me I will definitely write more about it. 

Right now, I'm tired from dancing at the junior camp disco, and am about to get ready for sports day and commandante. I LOVE CAMP!!! I might take a little break and swim during rest time with Lauren and Graham. 

It's amazing to do what you are called to do. There's nothing else that feels quite like it. 

Thank you for being a part! 

Amanda