This is an update for all those following the mission trip to Africa. (For those who don't know...this is my son and daughter-in-law.)

Hey everyone,

We wanted to let you know that we are still alive. We have enjoyed our last few weeks at Neema Children's Home. There's a lot to cover in such a short time, so we will just do a quick overview. Katie has spent the last few weeks teaching in the nursery and in standard 2 (that's second grade). She has had a lot of fun, but it is difficult to communicate with the smaller kids because they don't know much english and she can't speak kikuyu. Devan started teaching Standard 1 the first week and moved to Standard 3 this last week. The kids are like a pack of hyenas if we bring out stickers and balloons. They will do whatever they can to get one. We have also been running Bible studies with the older kids (7th grade through high school). After an almost completely silent first attempt, Katie now takes the girls and Devan takes the boys and they are much more talkative. We've been learning a lot. Devan preached the sermon at church for everyone on Sunday the 7th. We also went to a local private high school and each told the story of how we came to Christ. After that we opened up the talk to questions from the students (that was one of our favorite events so far, it was a blast).

Over the last few weeks God has really been teaching the two of us a lot. We are still learning what it means to "die to yourself" as we get up early each morning still exhausted knowing that some of the people you will be serving can't understand a word you are saying. We have learned so much about what it really means to be thankful for getting your "daily bread." Being with Mama [Mama Katherine is the parent at the orphanage the kids are serving] and the students has taught us even more about faith and being truly dependent on God as we have been waiting for the rain to fall to be harvested for drinking water. (Each day that it doesn't rain the kids have to walk about a kilometer to the river to fill 50 gallon drums with water, then roll them back up the hill to get home. It's exhausting!) We have learned so much more, but we are being called out the door so we will have to tell more later.

We love all of you and have been praying for you. We appreciate all the prayers and support. God Bless You All.

Love,

Devan and Katie