April Ends with a Bang!

Over the past week, we have had the joy of hosting our friends 

Diane Bannister and Kara Carline who are both in Kenya for a few weeks.

On Friday evening we took them along with our friends Andai Jackson, Wayne and Maureen Morgan to see Tristan and Emma in the Rosslyn High School Performance of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. The Rosslyn theatre kids brought the house down with another standing ovation. 

 Emma and Caroline sang with and led the children's choir

Cast Party at the Kennys

With all the Spring Rains, 

we were very thankful for the big Rosslyn tent!

Getting out of the rain!

Wrapping up Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat

April 24th was also Aaron's 40th Birthday

We had a great evening at the Joseph Performance 

and a fun time afterwards around our backyard campfire

with our children and some close friends!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

JOSEPH and the AMAZING

TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

Yesterday wrapped up Rosslyn Academy's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical comedy Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This was Audrey Statler's directorial debut and she and the students brought the house down each night. Jose Muniz conducted the orchestra in this toe tapping show, and Lindsey Lane choreographed the dance.

Tristan as Joseph's brother Reuben shares the news 

with his father Jacob of Joseph's tragic death

Reuben (Tristan) sings "One More Angel in Heaven"

A dramatic pause in the hoedown!

Potipar sends Joseph to prison

Joseph meets the Butler and Baker in prison

Throughout the journey, Joseph is accompanied by a host of angels

represented by Rosslyn dancers

Go, Go, Go, Joseph Disco!

Tristan rocking the baby blue leisure suit

Emma singing with the children's chorus

"A Pharoah's Story"

Joseph rises again in Egypt 

with the affection of Pharaoh

 Meanwhile, the brothers have fallen on bad times in Canaan

Tristan singing "Those Canaan Days"

 The humour of the show had the audience rolling in laughter

"Eh bien, raise your berets

To those Canaan days!"

"Benjamin Calypso" 

What a show!

 Congratulations to the Rosslyn High School

Theatre group for such an Amazing performance!

Kamp Tumaini: Counsellor Training

Kamp Tumaini

2015 Counsellor Training

Over the past three days, we have had the great pleasure of facilitating the counsellor training for the Kamp Tumaini program with our friends and colleagues Samuel, Phyllis, Wayne and Maureen. The anticipation is building as the camps draw near!

This August the ten Kenyan counsellors will be joined by Canadian volunteers to lead two summer camps for the orphans and vulnerable children of the Guardians of Hope HIV and AIDS ministry. The 2015 camps will gather 96 children from the African Christian Church and Schools Guardians of Hope groups in Kenya. 

Counsellor Training at BTL Conference Centre in Ruiru

Aaron, Erica, Maureen, and Wayne

"My name Samuel Karanja, I am so happy to be in this counsellor training and am looking forward to this summer's Kamp Tumaini program. And more so, I am excited to meet with the campers and our Canadian partners, as we look forward to showing the love of Christ to these young people. And I hope that we shall have a lot of fun and learning!"

Maureen training the counsellors on health and safety

Camp Counsellor Antony and Erica

Phyllis and Erica

Phyllis is the project officer of the African Christian Church and School's Guardians of Hope program. She facilitated HIV and AIDS training for the camp staff. The Canadian volunteer team will also be receiving this training in August during their orientation here in Kenya.

Aaron leading Samuel out for trust game with the other counsellors

Maureen, Samuel, Wayne, and Phyllis

Please keep the Kamp Tumaini counsellors and staff in your prayers as we prepare for the launch of this new program. You can learn more about Canadian Baptist Ministries and the Kamp Tumaini here.

Kamp Tumaini Preparation

This week we are travelling through the beautiful rolling coffee hills of Thika up into the steep tea country of Gituru to visit with the African Christian Church and Schools (ACC&S). The focus of  our visit is to meet with the local leaders and to see the compound where we will be hosting the August camps for the Guardians of Hope (GOH) orphans and vulnerable children. 

2015 will be the first of a three year pilot for Kamp Tumaini (Camp Hope), a project that will provide support and encouragement for the children of the the CBM/ACC&S GOH program.

Next week, Erica and I will be facilitating the counsellor training of the ACC&S volunteer counsellors who are joining Canadian volunteers that will help make these camps a successful intervention for the first 96 GOH children that are being sponsored to attend camps in 2015. We are excited to share with you a few glimpses of Kamp Tumaini.

Samuel, Erica, Principal John, Laura, Phyllis, and Maureen

The Gituru Secondary School is an historic site for the ACC&S. The establishment of this secondary school marked the genesis of the indigenous Kikuyu denomination as it declared its independence here in the 1940s. The importance of providing education for the children of the church and its community defined the identity of the church which is why "Schools" is included in its name.

Gituru is also the site of the beginnings of the CBM partnership with the ACC&S. It was here in 1970, that the first eight Canadian missionaries to work in Kenya entered the Central Highlands to serve with the denomination. Ron Ward had taught school in these very classrooms, and Joan Ward worked in setting up the library which fills the repurposed chapel at the centre of the school.

It is exciting to return to this breezy hilltop for the launch of this new initiative! This summer Canadian and Kenyan volunteer leaders will play games, sing songs, and share their faith under these great old trees. 

The flag pole at the centre of the school 

will also be the central meeting place for Kamp Tumaini

Erica and Maureen

Preparation for the new camping ministry has been a huge effort over the past few years. Erica and I are so grateful to our friend and colleague Maureen Morgan who has been working on the logistic details. We will miss her and Wayne this summer as they return to Canada.

Dormitories

As the camps will take place during the August school break, the campers will be bunking in the school dormitories. We are very thankful for generous support of Canadian Churches and individuals who are contributing to the short term mission costs of the Canadian Counsellors, included in this budget are funds that will provide for 5 children to attend camp for each Canadian volunteer. 

A part of those funds will provide each child with a camp kit that they will be able to take home after their time at Kamp Tumaini. The kits include a Bible, note book and pen, camp t-shirt, sleeping bag, towel, wash bucket, toiletries, and lots of little treats!

Samuel and Phyllis

Representing the ACC&S in the leadership team of Kamp Tumaini are Rev. Samuel the youth ministries director of the denomination, and Phyllis the project officer for the Guardians of Hope HIV and AIDS ministry. They are both looking forward to meeting the Canadian volunteers who will be serving with us. This will be their first time to experience camping ministry first hand, but they are both ready to jump in.

Please pray for the preparation of Kamp Tumaini. 

We think of the Canadian volunteers who are actively raising funds. Canadian Baptist Ministries is also receiving donations that will be used for the Kamp Tumaini Ministry. You can learn more about how you can be involved by clicking here or contacting CBM directly.

We are praying for the ACC&S as they finalize the selection of campers and complete the preparations of logistics for transporting almost a hundred children from across Kenya to the camps.

We especially pray for the volunteer counsellors who will be coming to next week's training. It is our hope that they will be free of any anxiety and that God will shine through their lives as they serve the children this summer.