As a new week is ready to begin, we are taking a deep breath and trying to relax from what was one of the busiest weeks I have witnessed at The Maisha Project.
We started off last week welcoming a family team representing North Pointe Church in Edmond. Matt Blagg, their Worship and Missions Pastor, brought his family of 5 along with a close family friend Jade who was returning to Maisha for the second time. As they settled in for their short stay, they became very at home at The Maisha Project and fell in love with a little girl who they began to sponsor. Throughout the week they led worship, worked in the kitchen, visited the slums and helped with the choir. I think it’s safe to say they became like family to all of us and we were all very sad to see them go. Safe travels home, friends!
As the week flew by, a huge blessing was answered on the grounds of Maisha. We are very proud to announce we broke ground for the Maisha Academy, a dedicated building to house our 1st through 8th grade elementary school, preschool and nursery. We had a ground breaking ceremony where all the children came out and sang and Beatrice Williamson, the founder of Maisha, dug the first shovel of dirt to welcome our new building.
Along with the beginning of construction on the Academy we also had some more major progress at Maisha this week. We have been praying and praying, and FINALLY had a crane come to Maisha to mount the water tanks next to our Paradise Kitchen. Thank you to everyone who has been praying that we would have access to a functional crane. It was so fun to see all the children’s reactions when this massive crane came barreling through our land.
Last, but certainly not least, we would like to welcome our newest team from Vintage Church in Edmond. I was excited to see 3 familiar faces drive up at Maisha, as Vintage is my home church. This summer is the second summer Vintage has sent teams to Maisha. Later in July, Vintage will be sending a second, much larger team. Taylor, Cainen, and Sami are very happy to finally be at Maisha and are ready to share the gospel as much as possible while they are here. They are truly fulfilling the mission of Vintage Church, spreading the good news ‘Across the Street, and Around the World.’
The Word of the Week is BWANA ASIFIWE which means Praise the Lord in Kiswahili. Enter the Word of the Week Contest by taking a brief survey and entering this week’s word at http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e9e3jmdwhvzne3c8/start. Be on the lookout for the LIVE from Kenya blog each week through the end of July for a new word and another chance to win Maisha swag!