And from Kathi...

     I have seen cabbages the size of basketballs here inTanzania.  So, I have used a cabbage to illustrate teaching moments with the mamas and older kids when talking about seeking Jesus to heal the layers of false thinking, grief, fear and pain in our hearts. As time goes on here there are more opportunities to have some quiet times to talk to some of the kids about their stories. With eyes cast downward and in a very quiet voices, some of the older kids have shared of their pain of losing their families to death or separation.  Tears don’t come easy for these children.  They guard their hearts fiercely to protect their deepest thoughts and emotions. The kids and I have been writing back and forth in notebooks this month and I have learned so much more about their pain, past experiences and doubts.  Questions like “Why did God take my mama away from me?  “Why do I have to be an orphan?  “If God says he is good, why does my heart hurt everyday?”  Their letters to me have hurt my heart more that words can say, but these questions have opened a door to for us to seek God for answers to these deep questions from their hearts.  Life is hard here for everyone, but so much more so for these vulnerable, precious children.

     I would like to share two stories with you that have really impacted our hearts. Last week, we spent a few hours with the kindergarten class reading and playing educational games.  It was a beautiful afternoon so we finished up by sitting on the grass in the middle of the houses to read books together.  Our conversation flowed easily from frogs, to the stars in the sky, to why some of the children are not at the children’s home anymore.  Wow!  Where did this come from?  I talked with them about adoption and forever families.  The small group of kindergarteners around me agreed that this was a great idea.  I then shared with them that the president of Tanzania stopped all adoptions for a while.  The kids were not happy to hear this.  One seven year old boy who is very bright but often involved in the craziness that occurs here said something I will never forget.  He said very boldly, “If I were president, I would make a new law that said that all children should have a family.  That will make God very happy.”  I was stunned that such a profoundly true statement should come from such a little guy.  This boy came with a baby sister to the children’s home several years ago.  He was the one to find  his mama dead in their home.  Even he understands that God’s heart is that all children are loved and cared for in a family.  That is the deepest desire of each child here.

     

     I would also like to share with you the story of little Happy.  We met little Happy almost two years ago during our first visit to the children’s home.  Happy’s name did not fit her personality at that time.  A social worker and policeman had recently brought her to the home from a hospital where Happy was treated for burns to her face, back and extremities.  The police report stated that Happy was burned with a hot spoon by a woman who was “taking care of her.”  Happy was very scared and angry during her first few months at the home.  She bit and hit other children, stole food and cried throughout most of the day.  During each of our visits, we saw huge changes in Happy. She had learned to interact well with the other children and was beginning to trust the mamas to care for her.  She now loves to sing and dance. Happy has made huge strides in her learning in preschool in the past year as well.  One afternoon, I asked one of the mamas who speaks English to help me talk to Happy so I could learn more of her story.  Happy shared with us that her home was in Burundi before she came to Tanzania.  The mama told me that there had been lots of violence and fighting so Happy might very well have come with many refugees into this country.  Somehow Happy ended up staying with a woman to care for the woman’s infant.  Even though Happy has no idea how old she is now, I can’t imagine she could have been more than five or six when she was caring for that baby.  Happy said that the woman came home one day and found her baby crying.  She then placed a spoon in the fire and then used it to burn Happy in many places all over her body.  Happy’s physical burns have healed into scars, but only God has been the One to start to heal the deeper wounds to her heart and mind.  

Beware the serpent!

One of the many reasons I love being in Africa, is that I am freed from the many distractions and busyness from everyday life in America.  This allows me the freedom to ponder some of the deeper spiritual truths of daily events that occur that I would otherwise overlook back in the United States.  Yesterday, one of those events occurred and I wanted to share about it.

While doing laundry behind one of the children’s houses, Mama Adele spotted a large snake in the grass just feet from where she was hanging up clothes.  We heard the commotion and ran over to this area and spotted what turned out to be a Boomslang.  Fortunately, it was already dead as one of the dogs probably killed it the night before.  Boomslangs are an extremely dangerous snake (among mambas, cobras, puff adders, etc. that live here) and are highly venomous.  Their venom is a hemotoxin.  This means that it attacks the clotting mechanisms in the blood and the victim will hemorrhage internally.  The interesting thing about a Boomslang bite is that the effects from the venom can be delayed for up to 8 hours so that a victim might be completely unaware that they have received a serious bite until it is too late.  There is a 60% risk of death following a bite from this snake.

So as I was on my daily morning walk today, I was extra vigilant in scanning the ground ahead of me for snakes.  I was also reminded of how the serpent can attack us in our daily lives.  He comes, most often sneakily and under cover of darkness, attacks and “injects” his venom.  We may not be aware of this attack until our lives spiral out of control, relationships are damaged, jobs are lost, etc.  Fortunately, we have a very powerful antivenom available to us in the saving, redemptive power of Jesus Christ who can restore us to complete healing!  

So friends, be ever vigilant for the serpent and cling to the One who is our ultimate protector and healer!

Blog July 17, 2017

Happy Monday! As we say to the kids during their break this morning from preschool classes.  We arrived at the Children's Home 10 days ago to a very warm and exuberant welcome from the kids and staff.  Since then the days have been filled with teaching the younger children reading and math readiness skills, reading the new books we brought over and over again, doing writing with the older kids and art with everyone, and getting reacquainted with everyone.  We watched The Queen of Katwe with the older kids last weekend- a true story of a girl growing up in a slum in Uganda who uses her love of the game of chess as a way to overcome many challenges in her life.  The kids could relate to to much of the movie and reacted with a loud cheer when she won the an international chess tournament.  So... as you can imagine, after washing clothes and other chores this weekend, we spend several hours learning to play chess.  Mama University was off to a great start last week with classes on loving and working with orphan children with abandonment and rejection issues- I really love this time with the women who are such a vital part of this ministry.  Sarah has been working with the preschoolers and loves her time with the babies!  Scott is doing physicals on the kids this week and is continuing to work through issues to open the community clinic here in a temporary building.  My favorite time of the day is bedtime- stories, prayer, lots of hugs and kisses until everyone is cozy in their beds to sleep. The sponsor Facetime calls with the kids have been wonderful so far and we are excited to all the children who are sponsored to have this opportunity to connect with and thank their sponsors during this trip.  We have watched some science movies on the human body and God's creation of space with the older kids.  We are so encouraged with the questions from the kids and prayer time with them during nightly Bible Study as well.
   Many of the older kids are beginning to communicate their stories- memories of their families and the nightmares so many of them have lived through before coming to Falco.  I believe we are seeing a miracle of God's healing love and redemption beginning to play out in Joshua (name changed)- a six year old boy from the home.  We met Josh when first coming to Falco over a year and a half ago. We learned from the social worker here that Josh came to Tanzania with his mother, brother and little sister as destitute refugees from Ethiopia when Josh was about two years old.  While begging for food along a road, his older brother was hit by a passing car and killed.  The story goes on that Joshua's mother then abandoned the two younger children.  Josh and his little sister were placed at a government orphanage until Josh aged out at age three.  After coming to Falco, he was diagnosed
with a chronic disease.  A memory is etched in my mind of seeing Josh for the first time a year and a
half ago of a little boy with dark circles under his eyes, his mouth open and almost unresponsive to others around him.  As I watched him in his preschool class, Josh's face was turned toward the ceiling; he did not sing with the other children or seem to be apart of his surroundings.  Josh seemed to be in his own world refusing to be touched or interact with anyone.  My heart went out to this little boy and I have often wondered if the trauma and abandonment he experienced caused him draw deep within himself.  Although Josh grew a little physically each time we visited, I saw no change in affect or desire to connect with others.  When we arrived 10 days ago, I noticed Josh out of the crowd of children right away.  We had committed to pray for him while away and I was excited to talk to the mamas about him.  Josh looked right at us as we approached him and the other kids. Then, for the first time, I saw him smile!  For the next nine days, we made a special effort to talk to Josh many times a day.  He gradually began looking at our faces when we greeted him and sometimes would even bless us with a smile.  Last night while doing the goodnight routine in the little boy's house, I approached Josh's bed very slowly.  He surprised me by scooting closer to the edge of his bunk bed so I could touch his arm.  As every night before, I prayed over him and said, "Good night, Josh! I love you!"  As I turned to leave the room, I heard a small voice softly say, "Love you, too, Mama."  I quickly turned around to hear the other little boys in the room cry out, "It was Josh. He say that.".  Tears came to my eyes as I came to his bed again and touched his face.  The mama who was with me in the boy's room for the night routine came to me and said,"God is so good!"  Yes, yes He is!  Over Josh's time at Falco, God is doing a new work in this precious boy.  God is working His healing power in his mind and heart and helping Josh to come courageously out of himself to connect with others.  The other little boys cheered loudly for Josh from their beds.  We had all witnessed a miracle
in this little boy's life and, once again, were reminded that God is so good even in the midst of such brokeness and pain.

 

We have safely arrived at Falco and were warmly welcomed by the children and staff.  It was great to see everyone.  All is well here and everyone is healthy and happy.  We had a wonderful church service yesterday morning and it was awesome to again be present as the children were worshipping with their entire beings, raising their beautiful voices heavenward.  

 

One of our suitcases did not arrive in Tanzania with us so we filled out all the appropriate paperwork but not expecting to ever see it again.  This suitcase had a lot of sponsor gifts, letters to the kids and other important educational materials.  Saturday evening, we had the kids pray that this suitcase might be located.  To our astonishment, a van arrived here right during our church service the next day and delivered the missing suitcase!  We know that in the whole scheme of things, this "problem" was relatively minor but it was a great testimony to the kids that we can go to God with even our "small" problems and He is faithful!

 

We are still waking up at 2-3 in the morning ready for the day but hopefully our sleep schedules will get squared away soon!

 

Blessings,

Scott and Kathi and Sarah

Dear family and friends,

We can't believe it has been almost 3 years since our last post.  There have been so many changes over this time it has been staggering.  God has redirected our paths and we have been serving at a different children's home in Karatu, Tanzania for almost 2 years.  The organization is called Falco Children's Village and can be found at www.falcoschildrenvillage.com.

The children's home presently has 78 children and had needs that matched up to our giftings perfectly.  We have started a new child sponsorship program and have 31 children sponsored in the first 6 months!!  In October 2016,  Scott applied for a grant that was approved to start construction of a small medical clinic on the compound.   This clinic will provide care for the children, staff and surrounding village.  Kathi has been busy with the spiritual development curriculum and is starting to lay the groundwork to open an international school to serve the children at the home as well as the surrounding community.

With God calling us to ever-increasing involvement in African orphan care, Scott will be shifting gears at the end of June and starting to work part-time in Urgent Care again.  This will free us up to be able to spend more time in Africa.  We will be heading back the first week in July and will return in September.

Please pray for us as we enter this new but exciting phase of our lives and follow God's leading.  We will post updates here in the coming months so stay tuned!!

Again, our thanks for your support and prayers!

Blessings,

Scott, Kathi and family

Jambo to family and friends, We are finishing up another week on the Hill with the kids and community!  The birthday celebration with special devotion, cupcakes, small gifts and a bonfire worship was lots of fun for everyone last Saturday!  After an awesome worshipping the God who made us and made all the stars that were in the sky that night, the kids were in awe of the clearly seen white Milky Way band across the sky, several of the kids and staff stayed up late with our family after seeing the Jesus Movie to lay on our backs under the stars. The kids were presented with their tie dye t shirts they had made the day before and wore them on Tuesday to a special worship and picture taking time on the mountain.  One of the children commented that with all the kid's wearing their colorful t shirts "they looked like a rainbow from God".  Well said!  We have been spending our nightly devotions really focusing on Jesus with scripture reading, Bible stories, new worship songs from America, lots of prayer time asking Jesus to help us to believe that He is indeed everything to us.  Scott is working hard in the hospital down the hill in the nearby town.  He is continually being challenged with seeing patience with trama and diseases uncommon to his U.S. patients.  James has been his "assistant" on these days and takes his new position very seriously.  Matthew and James are doing down to a friend's home in that same town this morning to watch a pig slaughtering in preparation for a pork roast we all are excited to go to tomorrow night.  There were no other volunteers from our family to go with the guys. She has "recruited" our entire family to help with homework from 7:30 to 9 every school night.  The kids know not to ask Mom for any math questions which adds a predictable laughter every night.  Sarah loves hanging out with the older girls and reading Bible stories to the little ones.  The daily after school volleyball games are helping Sarah get ready for her season in the fall.  Today, the Smith family is leading an education team to the Hill for a week to teach at the local school. It will be cozy in the guest house each night! The students and teachers are all so excited to have this opportunity and I know that the U.S. teacher's hearts will be changed forever during their experience here.  Please pray for the mamas and young ladies who will attend the all day Seminar this coming Saturday.  The excitement for this event in this community is at an all time high!  We believe that God has a wonderful plan for speaking to all these women.  Lives will be changed when these ladies, whose lives are so very difficult, encounter the love and grace of the Lord.  Please also continue to pray for physical and spiritual protection for our family.  We also are asking God to be in our words and all our interactions with others each day and to give us spiritual eyes to see beyond the battle into the hearts of these precious children.  The stories of their lives prior to coming to the children's home are heartbreaking, their passion for the things are God is inspiring and any time spent with them is a true gift to us. 

                                                                                             Friday, July 18, 2014

 

Dear family and friends,

     Six days on the Hill!  We are enjoying every moment with the kids and friends this week!  We await the kids getting out of school for fun like volleyball, chalk drawings, Bible story reading, talking and sharing along with nightly devotions (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!) and all six of us helping with homework.  Today we are preparing for the weekend- popcorn and movie tonight, t-shirts with tie-dye after school, Jesus posters and crafts for Saturday along with the long awaited birthday party celebration at night.  The kids remember blowing out the candles, although it was not clearly communicated to not eat the wrappers and candles with the cupcakes, and singing their own Kenyan version of “Happy Birthday”.  Scott has worked down at a hospital in Kilgoris with the Drs. Magita for a few days this week and is experiencing a high learning curve to treat malaria, typhoid and other diseases common to this area.  Kathi was happy to reconnect with the mamas of the community a few times this week for Bible study and to discuss the upcoming Mama’s Seminar on Saturday, Aug. 2.  They are very excited to be hosting probably over 150 women of all ages on this day for worship, Bible teachings, prayer and fellowship.  Please pray for the women of the larger community for this day that they would experience God’s love, forgiveness and provision in a new way and that they all would leave renewed in their faith.  A young mama shared with me that, last year at the woman’s seminar, she wrote a prayer on the small slip of paper asking God to bless her with a long- awaited daughter.  She then nailed it to the cross.  God answered that prayer and I was able to hold the beautiful “Cross Baby” (as her mama refers to her as) earlier this week- God is so good!  Matthew and James are working on a shelving project for all the new books donated by Oasis.  Megan is starting a reading program with the kids soon to strengthen their reading and comprehension skills and to build excitement in reading all kinds of books. She has been having a blast helping the kids with their yearly sponsor calls to the United States.  The looks on both the kids and sponsor families’ faces are so precious!  Sarah, James and Matthew have really enjoyed reconnecting with the kids this week and are looking forward to many more hours of hanging out together in the next weeks. Even though we have been gone from the Hill for a year, there is an appearance that time has stood still in a way for this community. Despite this,  the kids at the children’s home have grown and changed quite a bit both physically and, especially, spiritually. Their testimonies are filled with a new sense of God’s presence, love and provision during this past year.  In their eyes, we see a hunger for the things of God and even their worship demonstrates a growing faith and trust in Jesus. Please continue to pray for our family, the children and the community here.  We are continuing to sense a need to pray for His spiritual and physical protection and wisdom during our time here (which we are reminded daily is too short).  There is nothing we can bring to this “table” that is worthy of anything- of that truth we are so sure of.  Our desire is that God will work through us- that our words would be His words, that our actions and decisions would reflect Him only. 

                                                                                                       In Christ,

                                          Scott, Kathi, Sarah, Megan, James and Matthew

                                                                                               Saturday, July 12, 2014
Dear family and friends,
     We have been in Kenya for three days now!  The flights were basically uneventful and we drove into Kijabi (one hour from Nairobi) around 2 am on Thursday. Megan greeted us at the airport and we are enjoying every minute with her.  She is doing so well and is loving serving the Oasis ministry and the kids during this past month.  Megan is enjoying living and working with the Smith family- and, of course, any day spent with the kids of the Oasis Children's Home are the best! Today, on Sarah's birthday, we joined the Smiths and Ruzga's hiking Hell's Gate gorge.  Seeing zebras, warthogs, monkeys, giraffe and gazelle while descending into a very deep gorge and then praying that each one of us will make it back out again ended up being a wonderful birthday memory for Sarah.  Tonight, we have prayed with our good Oasis friends and are very, very, very ready to make the trip to the Hill tomorrow morning!  We have had some restless nights courtesy of jet lag, but tonight the excitement of seeing the kids and friends on the Hill will probably make it more difficult to sleep.  We are so very thankful to the Smiths, Oasis for Orphans, our family and friends and especially to our God who is able to "do more that we can ask or think"- He is truly the God of miracles!   What a gift we have been given to have this month!  Please pray for the baptisms of the kids, the community women's conference, the birthday party celebration, Bible studies, building projects- we are so looking forward to all things wonderful things, but also to just being with the kids again.  Please pray also for our health and physical safety, for wisdom and discernment, for relationships to grow with the kids, staff and community and that glory will be brought to God through everything.  We are looking forward to sharing with you this month.

All God's Blessings,

The Derse Family

Some final thoughts upon our return...

Greetings from the Derse Family from back here in the United States!  Ann and Rick Smith have asked us to share with you some highlights of our 5 months living at The Hill in Kenya for the July Oasis newsletter.  We immediately said “of course,” and started quickly making a list of all the different activities and projects that we were involved with there but quickly realized that we are still trying to understand how God moved through us to minister to the people there and, just as important, how He changed our hearts forever in ways that we are still struggling to fully comprehend.  We spent months planning our “to-do” list before our trip only to quickly realize once we arrived in Kenya, God’s plan was much different than ours’ in ways that we could never fathom.  What follows are what we feel were some of the highlights of our ministry opportunities and we will try our level best to convey what we feel God was trying to accomplish throughout and what He was trying to teach us and how He was transforming our hearts in the process.

 

It was evident to us upon our arrival at The Hill that God had prepared these children’s hearts for significant growth in their spiritual life.  What a privilege and blessing it was for our family to see God moving so very powerfully in this area of their lives.  Over seventy of the children prayed the salvation prayer and invited Jesus into their hearts for the first time!  What an incredible praise!  It was great to work hand-in-hand with the staff to develop Bible memorization and implement Bible curriculum to help provide for continued spiritual growth of the children. 

 

We are also so very thankful to have been welcomed into Pastor Andrew’s small community church and for giving us many opportunities to share.  Kathi and Scott were able to preach several Sundays to this congregation.  Quickly after our arrival in January, Kathi discerned a huge need in the spiritual lives of the women in the community and felt burdened to help in this area.  She joined the weekly women’s Bible study and this grew rapidly- drawing 30-40 women every Wednesday to study God’s word and we witnessed significant healing of hearts and relationships.  This culminated in an all-day women’s conference which was attended by 108 women from the surrounding area to hear God’s word through several different speakers and to worship together.  God also gave James an awesome opportunity to serve God’s people there.  He was able to film and produce music videos of the church choir performing several worship songs.  These will soon be uploaded onto YouTube for viewing.  The choir was very excited at the prospect of bursting onto the internet as the newest worship sensation!  Matthew and James also spoke on pursuing careers based on the giftings and desires that God gives us.  This was an important message for children of this community to hear as there is a real cycle of poverty and hopelessness which squelches many of the hopes and dreams of the young people there.  Sarah spent many hours in the kitchen learning the finer points of making chapatti and how to prepare meals for 100 hungry kids as well as helping out with the afternoon preschool and just running around playing with the kids.  Megan, returning to the Hill after finishing her spring semester, came with tremendous enthusiasm and passion to love each one of the kids as well as organizing and conducting the annual sponsor calls.  Trying to coordinate these calls with all the sponsor families given the 8-hour time difference, peoples’ busy schedules and the communication challenges in a 3^rd world country was no small task but seeing the kids’ faces light up when talking to their families was definitely worth the effort!

 

Our entire family was involved in various building and other projects.  James and Matthew worked diligently on building many large storage cabinets.  Matthew learned much about building and construction and was also able to mentor several of the young men as they assisted him in these various projects.   A huge thank-you goes out to Nate and Kurt for helping them get started on this project!  Every dormitory room received a fresh coat of bright paint and 8 new sets of bunk beds were installed.  It was amazing to see how happy the children were with their new “digs.”  Friday nights were movie and popcorn nights.  The 3 hours spent every Friday afternoon popping over 100 bags of popcorn was a burden of love.  This was all the kids could think about towards the end of the week and it was great to see them lose control as we handed out the popcorn and started the movie.  We enjoyed many special Bible studies, nightly devotions, anatomy/physiology lectures and numerous special events (group birthday party, staff appreciation party, bonfire devotions, all-week Easter celebration, etc.).  All of these activities became important avenues for us to build relationship with these special children. 

 

As we reflect back upon this amazing experience, we are aware of the many mistakes and cultural faux pas that we made but the staff and community were more than gracious to us and welcomed us into their lives and loved us anyway.  For this, we will be eternally grateful.  Despite encountering significant spiritual warfare, times of discouragement and life-threatening illness, the privilege and blessing of loving and serving those 98 children has had the greatest impact on all of us and we will forever be changed because of it.  All six of us miss each one of these beautiful children deeply.  We can still see their faces, hear their laughter and singing and feel their arms around us.  God has imprinted these kids on our hearts forever.  We have seen God move in miraculous ways and He has taught us that He is indeed faithful and His ways are absolutely beyond what we could ever plan for, hope for or expect.  Thanks to all who have supported us financially and, more importantly, with prayer.  We know that it was through this on-going prayer that God was able to further His will there with children on The Hill and the Massai people.  It was also a privilege to serve alongside the Smith family and we would like to extend to them our thanks and love for all that they did to support our family during our stay in Kenya. 

 

In God’s Service,

 

Scott, Kathi, Megan, Matthew, James and Sarah Derse

 

 

May 29, 2013

Dear family and friends,

      We walked home from the Children’s Home in silence under a cloudless Kenyan sky tonight.  We had just had a very long goodbye with seventy eight of the children and the staff.  We knew that it would be heartbreaking- and it was.  The tears,  hugs, kisses and prayers lasted for several hours before the final “see you soon” was said (the kids had decided that to say goodbye was not good- “see you soon” meant that our time apart would be short and temporary).  Each of us had written letters to each of the children telling them how much we love them, sharing what we value in each one of them and reminding them of God’s love and plan for their lives. How many nights in the past five months had we walked back to the guest house after hugs and goodnights in each bedroom of the Children’s Home?  For the past few days I had been thinking of all that was left undone here, all the regrets of words not said or heard, had we really done what God was calling us to do.  What hurt the most was knowing that some children were just beginning to open up and share a little piece of their hearts with us.  Why didn’t we spend more time, more energy on those things that will last for an eternity?  We leave tomorrow morning for our flight out of Nairobi.  We have prayed that God will help us to sort all this out- to leave behind the things that could bring doubt and discouragement- to treasure those things and times that brought glory to His name and made a difference in the Kingdom.  I shared with some of the older kids tonight that I was thankful for the pain of leaving them, for that pain was a reminder of the deep love we feel for those children.   One girl replied, “Mom, only God can do that!”  Enough said- Amen!!!  Thank you family and friends for joining us in this life changing adventure!  God has moved through your prayers and support!  We will write much more after returning to Sheboygan. 

 

Love in Christ, Scott, Kathi, Sarah, James, Megan, Matthew

Derse Family in Africa  May 13, 2013

 

Dear family and friends,

We want to express our very deepest appreciation to you for lifting us up to the Father during these months- especially during these times of such intense spiritual warfare.  The severity of these attacks to both our family and the Smith family (living in Kijabe) has been increasing the past few weeks. We are learning what it means to truly seek God for everything and to cry out for His direction and protection.   

 

The long-awaited baptism of over 50 of the kids here was cancelled- much to the frustration and disappointment of all of us.  We decided, along with staff, to make Sunday as special as we could before the high schoolers returned to school by doing a very special blessing ceremony, presenting them with the 2Corinthians 5:17 bracelets, and worshipping around a campfire ( with testimonies and, of course, cake).  The kids also really enjoyed celebrating their birthdays all together, with more cakes and small gifts, as part of the “Who Am I?” devotions for this month.  We were so impressed with how the older kids took leadership roles in planning a surprise staff thank you party with thank you books written by the kids, sweets and food, speeches and music.  It was awesome to see how touched many of the staff were by the letters of appreciation written by all the kids. 

 

The weeks of break from school were also filled with volleyball (thank you Nate) and football games, Bible study, human anatomy/physiology lectures (taught by Scott), and lots of fun time laughing and playing together.  James premiered the second music video he made of the church choir yesterday and continues to work on building projects, Maasai culture documentary video interviews, and the worship CD of the kids.  Matthew is really working long hours finishing up building projects and then taking time every afternoon to play volleyball with the kids.  Megan has jumped in with every part of herself to be with the kids every minute and make sponsor family phone calls for all the kids.  It is so precious to see the looks on the kid’s faces when they see their sponsor families on Skype!  Megan and the two Oasis interns who arrived last week have been painting, helping the kids write sponsor letters and will be leading the kids in devotions in the next few weeks.  Sarah and I are trying to finish up some school in the mornings and then she loves spending time with her friends on the Hill after they are done with school. 

 

As we are on the countdown for our remaining days here on the Hill, we are so thankful that God has gifted us with this privilege of knowing and loving these beautiful children.  I begin to cry even thinking of how we will say goodbye to the kids and staff here.  We had prayed as a family that would use this time to grow us and change us to be image bearers of Christ as well as working through us, despite our weaknesses, to show these children His love.  It may take some time for us to truly see how God has worked- despite the warfare, disappointments and challenges, but God has been faithful in working miracles.  We want to extend a huge thank-you to all of you who have given generously and have made all of this work possible.  God is working through your giving here in the lives of these kids.  Please pray for:

• For the women’s conference next Sunday with more than 100 Maasai women in the surrounding communities- that lives will be given to Jesus, hearts will be healed and all will see the love and power of the living God
• For our health and protection against spiritual attacks- Kathi had an anaphylaxis episode few night ago from an unknown source- Scott has thought of bringing meds needed for such an occurrence and saved her- Praise God!! She was well enough to speak at church yesterday- twelve people gave their lives to Christ!!!
• For our family to finish strong here with time with the kids, teaching, projects for the home, connections with community members
• For the two Oasis interns who have joined us- that they will enjoy and grow from their interactions with the kids and community
• For God to continue to work in the hearts and minds of the 98 children living here
• That God’s will would be accomplished here in this ministry despite severe spiritual oppression and attack

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!  We are looking forward to seeing you all soon!

                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                 The Derse Family

                                                                  Scott, Kathi, James, Sarah, Matthew, Megan

April 25, 2013

 

Dear family and friends,

     Of all the comforts of home, it is the people we miss the most!  There is nothing like living in the middle of rural Transmara Kenya (even though we are literally surrounded by people everyday) that has taught us the life-giving value of real friendship!! Thank you for your continued prayers on behalf of our family, the children here and the people in the Maasai community.  There have been times when we have been experiencing the oppression of the spiritual warfare around us and have desperately sought God’s peace and wisdom that your prayers and God’s grace have brought forth.  It has been just what we needed at the time.  We are leaving this weekend to Nairobi to pick up Megan on Sunday night form the airport.  We can’t tell you how excited we are to have her finally back with us on the Hill!  The kids have been asking everyday for months when Megan is “coming home?”  She has done an outstanding job handling school, work, and all the crazy things that have happened with the pets and house since the middle of January. 

 

The week after her return, we have planned a huge birthday bash (complete with cupcakes with candles and plenty of balloons) as part of our devotional series “Who am I?- Being an image bearer of Christ!  They are all extremely pumped for this event!  Many of the children do not even know when they were born or have ever had that day celebrated.  That week we are helping the kids plan a special thank-you party for the staff with letters of appreciation, songs and drama to honor the staff, and, of course, sweets!  Now that the kids have discovered cupcakes, there are no other possibilities for desserts!  The biggest event that we are all looking forward to more that any other is the baptism on May 5!!!  We are not sure whether the kids will be baptized in a tub or the river- but it will be a day of true celebration (special baptism scripture bracelets, pictures, and a big feast are also planned) We have been teaching for a few weeks on the significance and calling of baptism and there will probably be over 50 kids ready to be baptized on that day!!  God is so good and He has made Himself so present in their lives these past two months!!!  We know this will be a day we will all remember for the rest of our lives!! 

 

Sarah is working hard to finish up school work while continuing to play with kids of all ages here.  The mamas in the kitchen are helping her to learn to cook “Kenyan” as well as braiding her hair.  Matthew, James, and Scott are continuing on building and painting projects at the Children’s Home. The kids love it when Matthew plays with them and “flies” them like an airplane.  We frequently hear his name “Matayo” being chanted as they hang all over him.  Scott has been teaching Human Anatomy/Physiology classes to the older kids and Kathi has enjoyed every moment of the Purity Bible Study with the older girls.  Two Oasis interns will be joining us on May 6 to help with preschool, special activities with the kids including their yearly sponsor family phone call and a Women’s Day of Encouragement, Pray and Worship for the women in the community.  James is finishing up the Oasis- Kids on the Hill worship CD and his Maasai culture and history video project.  Kathi celebrated her birthday this week by finishing up the family and children teaching series at church complete with baby and motorcycle dedication.  Yes, the motorcycles (form of the only public transportation around here) were driven into the church and dedicated to the Lord near the end of the four hour service.  God spared us from carbon monoxide poisoning as the cycles’ engines were left running, headlights on and turn signals flashing during the dedication ceremony.

 

 As we prepare to begin our fourth month on the Hill, we continue to pray that God will show us His way each day and that He will truly give us the eyes and heart to see each child as He sees them.  I love it when at the end of the day, my arms are tired from all the holding and hugging of the kids.   I know then that it has been a great day! Please pray for the kids and their baptism on May 5, for the Women’s Day in May- that many women would understand the life changing love God has for them and begin to see themselves as He sees them, for Megan’s safe and uneventful arrival back to the Hill, for Kathi’s health (typhoid complications of the gallbladder), for wisdom and discernment as we seek God for direction here, for protection from the spiritual warfare heating up in this area, and that God would do a mighty work in this community.

 

Personal note:  I remember writing on our last blog that there had been two newborn infant deaths in this small community right before Easter.  Pregnancies are not publically talked about because home abortions and murders of newborn babies are not uncommon.  Some women feel hopeless to be able to feed and provide for a new child or are totally overwhelmed with the number of children and responsibilities they are “burdened” with so they feel that they have no choice but to “dispose” of their new baby.  We found out about a newborn baby boy thrown into a outhouse pit soon after birth only 6 days before Easter Sunday. The mother of this baby lived right down the road from us, only a stone’s throw from the Children’s Home- why couldn’t she have brought him there?  Family members found the baby and called authorities- the baby laid face up in the feces with the placenta still attached and appeared to be doing fine.  This precious baby boy was taken to a hospital down the Hill and the mother was arrested.  The whole community celebrated that God had saved this baby from death and our family prayed fervently for him.  I (Kathi) asked around the community about what would happen to this little guy- was God calling us to love and care for him?  Would he someday become part of the family of children on the Hill?  Three days later, I was meeting with many women from the community for Bible Study.  Toward the end of the study, a woman blurted out that the baby had been given back to the mother (who was still in the hospital being treated for “stress”) to be fed.  The mother killed the baby as she fed him earlier that day. What?  How could this happen?  I felt like I couldn’t breathe or speak.  My grief was so raw I could hardly see through the tears as I ran from the room to the back of the Children’s Home overlooking a pasture.  I cried out with everything that I had for this beautiful baby boy who would never be held in loving arms, would never know the feel of the sun on his face. Three months of grief, frustration, and disappointment was all pouring out of me at once.  I don’t know how long I stood there until I heard several small voices behind me, “Mom, Mom?”  I turned around to see precious little faces that I had grown to love looking hesitantly toward me.  I put out my arms to them and they all ran to embrace me until we almost fell in a heap.  One little girl, who has the sweetest voice and brightest smile, looked up at me and said, “Mom, why are you crying? It’s Easter!”  Out of the mouth of one of His precious children were the words of hope, truth and love.  We had spent weeks talking about Jesus and the Easter story!  This little one had learned the true message of the death and resurrection of Christ!  Yet, we live in a world of sin, death, hatred, suffering- we, as children of God, followers of Jesus Christ, live in  joy, peace, and love because Jesus’ victory!  Halleluiah!!  Only in Him can we live our lives, despite our circumstances, in this victory and bring God’s message of life, love, and hope to this world so badly in need of Him.  This beautiful baby boy is safely in the arms of Jesus!

 

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.  Until then, God’s blessings to all.

 

Scott, Kathi, Matt, Megan, James and Sarah

April 25, 2013

 

Dear family and friends,

     Of all the comforts of home, it is the people we miss the most!  There is nothing like living in the middle of rural Transmara Kenya (even though we are literally surrounded by people everyday) that has taught us the life-giving value of real friendship!! Thank you for your continued prayers on behalf of our family, the children here and the people in the Maasai community.  There have been times when we have been experiencing the oppression of the spiritual warfare around us and have desperately sought God’s peace and wisdom that your prayers and God’s grace have brought forth.  It has been just what we needed at the time.  We are leaving this weekend to Nairobi to pick up Megan on Sunday night form the airport.  We can’t tell you how excited we are to have her finally back with us on the Hill!  The kids have been asking everyday for months when Megan is “coming home?”  She has done an outstanding job handling school, work, and all the crazy things that have happened with the pets and house since the middle of January. 

 

The week after her return, we have planned a huge birthday bash (complete with cupcakes with candles and plenty of balloons) as part of our devotional series “Who am I?- Being an image bearer of Christ!  They are all extremely pumped for this event!  Many of the children do not even know when they were born or have ever had that day celebrated.  That week we are helping the kids plan a special thank-you party for the staff with letters of appreciation, songs and drama to honor the staff, and, of course, sweets!  Now that the kids have discovered cupcakes, there are no other possibilities for desserts!  The biggest event that we are all looking forward to more that any other is the baptism on May 5!!!  We are not sure whether the kids will be baptized in a tub or the river- but it will be a day of true celebration (special baptism scripture bracelets, pictures, and a big feast are also planned) We have been teaching for a few weeks on the significance and calling of baptism and there will probably be over 50 kids ready to be baptized on that day!!  God is so good and He has made Himself so present in their lives these past two months!!!  We know this will be a day we will all remember for the rest of our lives!! 

 

Sarah is working hard to finish up school work while continuing to play with kids of all ages here.  The mamas in the kitchen are helping her to learn to cook “Kenyan” as well as braiding her hair.  Matthew, James, and Scott are continuing on building and painting projects at the Children’s Home. The kids love it when Matthew plays with them and “flies” them like an airplane.  We frequently hear his name “Matayo” being chanted as they hang all over him.  Scott has been teaching Human Anatomy/Physiology classes to the older kids and Kathi has enjoyed every moment of the Purity Bible Study with the older girls.  Two Oasis interns will be joining us on May 6 to help with preschool, special activities with the kids including their yearly sponsor family phone call and a Women’s Day of Encouragement, Pray and Worship for the women in the community.  James is finishing up the Oasis- Kids on the Hill worship CD and his Maasai culture and history video project.  Kathi celebrated her birthday this week by finishing up the family and children teaching series at church complete with baby and motorcycle dedication.  Yes, the motorcycles (form of the only public transportation around here) were driven into the church and dedicated to the Lord near the end of the four hour service.  God spared us from carbon monoxide poisoning as the cycles’ engines were left running, headlights on and turn signals flashing during the dedication ceremony.

 

 As we prepare to begin our fourth month on the Hill, we continue to pray that God will show us His way each day and that He will truly give us the eyes and heart to see each child as He sees them.  I love it when at the end of the day, my arms are tired from all the holding and hugging of the kids.   I know then that it has been a great day! Please pray for the kids and their baptism on May 5, for the Women’s Day in May- that many women would understand the life changing love God has for them and begin to see themselves as He sees them, for Megan’s safe and uneventful arrival back to the Hill, for Kathi’s health (typhoid complications of the gallbladder), for wisdom and discernment as we seek God for direction here, for protection from the spiritual warfare heating up in this area, and that God would do a mighty work in this community.

 

Personal note:  I remember writing on our last blog that there had been two newborn infant deaths in this small community right before Easter.  Pregnancies are not publically talked about because home abortions and murders of newborn babies are not uncommon.  Some women feel hopeless to be able to feed and provide for a new child or are totally overwhelmed with the number of children and responsibilities they are “burdened” with so they feel that they have no choice but to “dispose” of their new baby.  We found out about a newborn baby boy thrown into a outhouse pit soon after birth only 6 days before Easter Sunday. The mother of this baby lived right down the road from us, only a stone’s throw from the Children’s Home- why couldn’t she have brought him there?  Family members found the baby and called authorities- the baby laid face up in the feces with the placenta still attached and appeared to be doing fine.  This precious baby boy was taken to a hospital down the Hill and the mother was arrested.  The whole community celebrated that God had saved this baby from death and our family prayed fervently for him.  I (Kathi) asked around the community about what would happen to this little guy- was God calling us to love and care for him?  Would he someday become part of the family of children on the Hill?  Three days later, I was meeting with many women from the community for Bible Study.  Toward the end of the study, a woman blurted out that the baby had been given back to the mother (who was still in the hospital being treated for “stress”) to be fed.  The mother killed the baby as she fed him earlier that day. What?  How could this happen?  I felt like I couldn’t breathe or speak.  My grief was so raw I could hardly see through the tears as I ran from the room to the back of the Children’s Home overlooking a pasture.  I cried out with everything that I had for this beautiful baby boy who would never be held in loving arms, would never know the feel of the sun on his face. Three months of grief, frustration, and disappointment was all pouring out of me at once.  I don’t know how long I stood there until I heard several small voices behind me, “Mom, Mom?”  I turned around to see precious little faces that I had grown to love looking hesitantly toward me.  I put out my arms to them and they all ran to embrace me until we almost fell in a heap.  One little girl, who has the sweetest voice and brightest smile, looked up at me and said, “Mom, why are you crying? It’s Easter!”  Out of the mouth of one of His precious children were the words of hope, truth and love.  We had spent weeks talking about Jesus and the Easter story!  This little one had learned the true message of the death and resurrection of Christ!  Yet, we live in a world of sin, death, hatred, suffering- we, as children of God, followers of Jesus Christ, live in  joy, peace, and love because Jesus’ victory!  Halleluiah!!  Only in Him can we live our lives, despite our circumstances, in this victory and bring God’s message of life, love, and hope to this world so badly in need of Him.  This beautiful baby boy is safely in the arms of Jesus!

 

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.  Until then, God’s blessings to all.

 

Scott, Kathi, Matt, Megan, James and Sarah

Long overdue post from Kenya...

From Out of Africa (more precisely, Out of Kenya on the Hill) Blog Entry

                                                April 5, 2013

 

Dear family and friends,

    

We apologize for not writing more last month- we actually started a few entries, but did not finish them before there was more to write.  We are beginning our fourth month here on the Hill and just returned yesterday from Nairobi where we went through the process of renewing out visas for a longer time.  It was great to take very hot showers and soak in the hotel pool to take off several pounds of dirt accumulated during these months!  We decided to spend yesterday morning at the Nairobi Wildlife Park where many species of wild African animals live and wander in from the Mara.  During the few hours we drove around, we saw wildebeests, several species of antelope, a sleeping lion only 10 feet from our van, zebras, various birds and small mammals, and (the highlight for Sarah) were a herd of giraffe very close to the road with their young.

 

As Sarah’s little puppy Joey is growing, she found several animals that she thought would make nice pets in our home here.  We were excited to get back to the kids at the children’s home-several younger ones where very surprised to see us today as they thought we had gone back to America. 

    

We had the best celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus last weekend with the kids and staff!!! Devotions for two weeks prior to Easter were dedicated to the teaching of the life of Jesus, His last week on earth, His death on the cross and resurrection.  During these weeks, over thirty more of the children gave their lives to Jesus and we had the privilege of seeing the presence of God in our worship, group prayers, and in the questions and comments made by the kids.  The day before Easter, we had an Easter party with resurrection eggs and more Easter teaching, crafts, and games before the strong rains came which happens every afternoon now.  The highlight for the kids was to dye eggs (thanks to Megan for sending the egg coloring sets) and, after many pictures were taken of every child with their brightly colored egg, we all ate the eggs!  After Easter church service, which lasted six hours with foot washing and communion, we all worked with the mamas to cook an extra special Easter dinner for the kids and staff.  The mashed potatoes were a huge hit along with rice, cooked carrots, cupcakes, and more meat than you can imagine which stunk up our home the night before.  While we were still cooking during the late afternoon rain storm, the kids wanted to watch the kid’s version of the Jesus movie for the second time (we had never seem them watching a movie so intently= even compared to their all time favorite- The Lion King).  Praise God!

    

Scott continues to work on projects in the children’s home, taking care of minor medical issues and will soon start physicals on all the kids.  He faithfully makes popcorn all afternoon on Fridays for movie and popcorn night with the kids which they all really look forward to.  Matthew and James worked hard with our friends Nate and Kurt for over a week on building projects in the kids’ bedrooms and other areas of the children’s home.  They are both getting pretty handy with power tools and are determined to finish these projects before we leave.  James finished the church’s first worship song video- over two hundred people crammed into that tiny mud church to see the premiere and went wild when they saw the drama spearing scenes and picture of Jesus at the end!  The second video is planned to be taped this Sunday after church with a large crowd to support the singers.  Sarah still loves to work with the mamas in the kitchen cooking and serving the kids at meals.  They love to hear her sing and tell stories!  Sarah also helps with the little ones in the afternoons and can put a baby to sleep faster that anyone on the Hill.  I am continuing to teach a family series at church, loving women’s Bible study, and the devotions with the kids each night.  Along with the pastors, who are on staff here, we are planning longer into the future now and are excited about the big baptism when the high schoolers return for break. We still have kids to the house on Saturdays for lunch. Pasta is new to them, but they love the cookies, crafts, and games.  The Oasis team, who visited right before Easter, brought new wonderful games and toys for the kids- especially the little ones. Preschool time will have renewed energy now!  

 

Megan is finishing up her college classes and will soon be joining us here.  We have really missed her and so look forward to seeing her again.  The kids are counting down the days until her arrival and all the fun she will bring to the Hill. Please pray for her journey here. Megan is also bringing many materials for the kids and staff to use as they grow in their faith.

    

Lastly, there have been two deaths in the past two weeks which have been very hard on everyone.  Infanticide is still widely practiced here (along with illegal abortions) and two newborns never had a chance to know love here on earth before entering into the arms of Jesus.  Mamas worry about not being able to feed one more child or they want to hide the fact that they were pregnant at all.  Life is so hard here.  There is much child and spousal abuse and alcoholism.  Some of this behavior is accepted by the culture and some are acts of desperation.  Please pray for the people here so that they may receive the forgiveness, freedom and love they so need from the Lord and will follow Him above all else- even their cultural traditions. Thank you for your prayers and for taking an interest in these beautiful children here.  We have grown to love each one of them more than we could have ever imagined. Over time, they are opening up their hearts and lives to us and that is a very precious gift.  We are learning so much and yet now realize that, somehow, it seems we know less than we did in January.  God is using this time for all of us as a refining fire and we are praying that He is changing us more everyday into whom He is calling us to be. We really miss you all at home and eagerly await seeing you in a few months!

 

Love,

 

The Derse family

Easter fun pics.  We will write more soon but we had a great time celebrating Easter with the children and staff.

Hello Family and Friends!

 

We are still in Kijabe awaiting things to be finally sorted out with the national elections.  The vote took place this past Monday, but they have been counting votes all week and, hopefully, will be done and make an official announcement sometime today.  There have been some allegations of fraud, but I think on whole, the elections were transparent and fair.  The country, as a whole, has been peaceful all week but we can not return to The Hill until we see what the response will be to the final announcement.  We are so thankful to the Smith family for housing us this past week during this uncertain time.

 

Kathi is still feeling under the weather.  We thought she was doing better overall, but had another episode last evening with increasing abdominal pain, vomiting, etc.  Her tests have all been negative to date, but sometimes you can still have typhoid and have the test be negative.  We will be waiting for her to feel better before we make the final decision to return to The Hill.  Please pray for healing for her.

 

We are all missing the children on The Hill this past week.  The week before we came to Kijabe, we had a very exciting evening devotion.  Kathi talked about past hurts, fear, disappointment, etc. burdening us and preventing us from living a life of freedom that God wants for each and every one of us.  The children were each given a slip of paper and asked to write down (confidentially) whatever they were being burdened with in their lives.  They then brought the folded slips of paper up to the front of the room and pinned to a wooden cross and, symbolically, left their cares there at the cross.  It was a very powerful and life-changing evening.  We were so proud of the children for their participation and maturity in handling a service like this.  One of the most powerful moments came when Kathi was starting to preach and the rain started to fall upon the metal roof and drown out her talking.  She stopped and prayed to God to stop the rain so that this important message could be given.  Immediately, the rain stopped, the children cheered, and Kathi was able to continue the entire service without interruption!  Amazing!

 

We were also officially welcomed and installed as missionaries by the Church of God in Kilgoris, which is the small town at the base of the mountain where we are living.  Although a long and very warm service, we were humbled by the large turnout of people and the warm welcome we were given.

 

James is making progress in the recording of the worship CD.  He also recently finished shooting, editing and finishing a music video that he did for the small church up at The Hill.  I’m sure this will be posted on YouTube in the near future.  Sarah is enjoying spending time with the Smith kids this week and trying to get some school work done.  Matt is helping with a few projects around the house, working on his on-line class and going on a few runs down to the airstrip here by the hospital.  I know he misses flying and is looking forward to his return when he can again get back in the air.  Upon our return to The Hill, I will be travelling to visit several of the small clinics that are run by the Church of God and, hopefully, advise them on things they might be able to do to run more efficiently, with better financial accountability and provide even better medical care in the isolated areas where they are located.

 

That, I think, is about all for now.  We miss you all and continue to covet your prayers and remain ever-thankful for all of your support!