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