Lakeside Baptist Church 2025 Mission Trip

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.'

First of all, to our teams from November and January, we apologize.  We had a quick turnaround in the U.S. before we left out again and the updates have not happened.  You will see your trip coming up soon, we pray.  It seemed best and easiest to share the recent trip as it is the most fresh and then we will backtrack.  Your work was equally God-glorifying, helpful and appreciated .

For now, we would like to thank Lakeside Baptist Church for their heart and obedience to send a team from our home church with us to Kenya to serve at Promise Springs Rescue Center and at the new area of the boy's program.  It was a full trip and much was accomplished in the community and with the girls.  Also, awareness was brought to the community about the boys' program due to your participation in a soccer camp and 5K run.  Let's look back over the six days.

On April 8, a very tired group of Americans arrived in Nairobi after a grueling journey.  They arrived in good spirits and after a night's rest, were ready to start the adventure that God had prepared for them.

April 9 -  First...breakfast!  This was the last "Americanized" breakfast, though most of the food was Kenyan in origin, that these people would see for eight days.  We advised them to enjoy the choices because things were about to change.

 This was an easy instruction to follow!

After breakfast, we are all ready to start out..except James who missed the group photo in favor of retrieving yogurt that he had left in his room.  This was not really an unwise choice.  Yogurt is not readily available where this team is going unless you stop by a local supermarket after a day's work.

We then traveled another 5 hours to our home for the next 8 days, Coconut Palms Hotel, in Wyurmirire, Kenya.  We dropped our bags and went straight to the Promise Springs Rescue Center.  The girls met us with song and dance and then...

the bonding begins.  Ken and I stand amazed at the growth of the young children at the center.  Once they screamed in terror at the site of a white person and now they are more than happy to be cuddled and interact.  It is a pleasure to watch.  Both of these kids have moms that are away at a discipleship program as they prepare to go on to further learning.  A special bond was formed between Barbara Santamaria and Princess.  Princess adopted Barbara and whenever we were at the center, you could find the two together.

The young men in the group also bonded...with young boys and what else?  Baby chicks.  James has a real fondness for chickens and he was with one whenever he could get his hands on them.  The chickens may be relieved that they now have peace back in their lives.

On April 10, we got acclimated to our new environment.

We visited the site of the new boys' program and the upcoming soccer clinic.

Newly fenced with Kai Apple trees planted.  Kai Apples trees are thorny and will grow into the fence to make a thorny barrier to keep things out and if need be to keep things in.

The new guard shack. We are already employing two young men who sleep at the site at night and do odd jobs when they can't find casual jobs outside.  They  watch over the building materials on site and the ones coming in the future..

We also visited our temporary boys' program at Florah's house.  

Our American young men and our Kenyan boys.  We love them all and they made quick friends.  One of the moms of the Lakeside boys sent gently used clothing for the boys.  We are so thankful.  We buy mostly used clothes but these are much nicer and we saw them on the boys many times.

We also made visits to our neighbors.  Many are elderly and we try to take food supplies and pray with them.  It is a special time of really crossing cultures and loving each other in the name of Jesus.

Our Lakeside Baptist young men immediately stepped up and showed their love of their neighbors. 

Joseph, our neighbor, needed a little sharing and caring.

Ethan just so happened to have extra chapstick.  It was much needed and he just gave it freely.  

These people have not seen chapstick before.  So there was a little teaching session in how to apply it.  

Then we went to Ruth's home.  She walks to do her chores every day.  This is not unusual but Ruth has lived many years and her back is not as strong as it once was so she walks bent at a 90 degree angle.

Levi has such a beautiful heart.  He gave Ruth a bracelet which we are sure she will cherish for many days to come.  This was totally without prompting and really touched her heart and ours.

Then it's back to Promise Springs.

Andrew gives a word of teaching and encouragement.

At Promise Springs, we are all family...workers, girls, babies, and visitors.  Joey and Francis, the guard, share a game of checkers.  We don't know who the winner was but Francis wasn't saying he is the champion so we suspect Joey may have one this one.

Levi gets rewarded for his good deed of giving a bracelet earlier.  Josephine and Pauline made a bracelet for each member of the team.  There is a trick to getting them on.  You have to use soap and water and sort of work them over your hand to your wrist.

All the girls got t-shirts just like the team traveled in.  They love this part of any trip.  Some of the shirts were a little over-sized but no one seems to care.

No day at Promise Springs is complete without at least one game of volleyball.  Chris and Andrew play alongside the others and the girls.

We ended our very full and fun day by stopping at that local supermarket.  It was a hit with everyone and they were all amazed at the prices. The prices may not seem good to a Kenyan but to a group of Americans, they brought a lot of joy.

April 11

Our first day of real work!  The guys went to a nearby village and reconstructed a home for a family of 7 ( a mother and 6 children).  5 of the children are mentally handicapped.  They were all sleeping on the floor in one room of the house.  Not only was the house reconstructed but a new room was built for the boys to sleep in.  This is the Kenyan tradition.  Meanwhile, the ladies did preparation work for the 5K that the Kenyans organized for awareness of the boys' program.  It was to be held the next day.  We also had a quick cross-stitching class at the center. Was that our plan?  No! That is one thing you learn on a mission trip...no plan is set in stone.  Flexibility is the name of the game.

Picking up trees donated by the Huduma Center in Makutano to be planted at the boys' program after the 5K.  It's the Kenyan tradition.

Barbara teaching us all how to cross stitch bookmarks.  She had her job cut out for her.  None of us knew how to do this. The girls ended up with beautiful bookmarks and a lot of lost needles!

At the construction site:

We had American men and boys and Kenyan men and boys all working together.  It was a joy to see.

Oh!  And no power tools.  Everything was done with hand tools and muscle!

And only one injury!  This is the nice photo of that thumb!

For Patty, one of the most touching moments of this day was watching the heart of our Kenyan director, Florah.  She always knows the right questions to ask and the right thing to do.  She found that other than the snacks the Americans shared with this family, they had no food that day.  She took one of the bags of food we had for home visits and immediately started building a fire to cook over.  The boys were so happy and they couldn't believe that a fire for food was actually going to be built during the day.  The excitement was palpable as they watched and clasped their hands in anticipation of an unexpected meal.

A grateful family wishing everyone goodbye for the day.

April 12 was another full day with a whole new agenda.

The guys all went to a pastor's conference where Andrew spoke on What Makes a Good Church.  The ladies had other plans so we left them to it and went to what we call the "happy place", the center!

This is a photo of the Pastor's Conference.  The reviews from most people attending were very encouraging.

At the center, Jean taught about the beatitudes.  The girls had to read the beatitudes, discuss them and then show emotions such as 'pure in heart' or 'peacemakers' through pictures.  They struggled with this but that is the point.  You must wrestle with scripture to get a deeper understanding.  They learned to really think about what the Bible says and how to meditate on the words and interpret them.Jean explaining the lesson.The girls discussing the passage.The girls interpreting the blessing (maybe this one was "pure in heart") in their expressions and motions for a photo.

And now... the first 5K Run for the Boys held in Makutano, Kenya.  This all started because George, whom Florah foster-parents, was doing very well in running.  We think that Andrew challenged George to a race first and then when Ken and I arrived, George extended a formal challenge to Andrew and the rest of the team.  As we were writing this, we realized that we have no photos of Andrew.  We don't know if this is because he was defeated or if we just missed him crossing the finish line...either way....George was the WINNER!!!The runners at the start line!This was not early in the race.  James needed a little boost to cross the finish line.Florah, the Kenyan director, might be a little dramatic!  But she finished!And the winners are... George in 1st, Michael in 2nd, James in 3rd.  Levi and Ethan just get to be the pedestal!

April 13 - The team visited the local Baptist Church, Shalom Baptist Church.  We worshiped, heard the word and were invited to a fellowship meal afterwards.We got to witness the worship of Kenyans though this church is more westernized than a lot of the churches.  Fellowship and deepening friendships after church. 

April 14 - Day 2 of construction and lessons with the babies at the center!This is the whole team...the American men, the Kenyan carpenters, some friends of ours who wished to help, and the family who got the reconstructed home.  This was a lot of hard work but the project was finished in the early afternoon and EVERYONE rejoiced! At the center, Barbara was giving the young children a lesson on Palm Sunday.  They got to ride the stick donkey as Jesus road the colt into Jerusalem.Then the kids got to make their own crosses.You haven't completed a mission trip to Promise Springs Rescue Center until at least one girl has had a chance to play with the "muzungu's" (White Person's) hair.  

April 15 - Soccer Camp!!!!

This was the day most of the team has been looking forward to.  A day of playing and teaching soccer to the young boys in the neighborhood and from as far as they could walk, a time of evangelism, and a soccer match between two local teams in the afternoon.  What a day it was!166 kids!  So we were told but how can you get a count.  There were kids everywhere and it was loads of fun!There were soccer (football) teaching moments!Times of sharing! Reid had a captive audience here.You can never go wrong with music and dancing!  We can always count on the girls of Promise Springs for help with dancing!Then we broke out into groups to share the Gospel.And God chose this special day to call nine of his own to join His family in Christ!  One adult also professed his faith.  We all rejoiced!  We made these young men known to Pastor David who will speak with the pastors of the respective churches of the boys or he will follow them.Then the time came for the big boys to play.No one wants the day to end.  This young man obviously had a burning question for Ken.  And that's what it's all about...doing life together!

April 16 - Safari day for a Deserving TeamA day to enjoy each other's company and the magnificence of God's creation.And to learn more about the personalities of our team mates.  One of us found beauty in the strangest of animals.  Andrew?

April 17 - Time for the team to return home!

But not before we had celebrations.James turned 21 a few days after his return to the U.S. But the girls, staff and the team couldn't let him leave without celebrating with him.  As is fitting, his dad gave hime his first piece of cake.Then James shared with his new Kenyan mom, Florah!

On our first day, the girls had a skit for the team.  We decided to give them a skit as a farewell.  We did The Prodigal Son!The prodigal son gets a beautiful robe upon his return to the father.The older son knows how to pout.And the fattened calf was killed, much to the delight of the audience.And it was time for our wonderful time together and with our new Kenyan friends to end.  We all learn lessons from any service that we do together for the Lord.  We think we learned and lived the verse 1 John 3:18 "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth!'

 We hope you have enjoyed sharing it with us. Many blessings to you all