Welcome to our Blog.

Welcome to our blog!  We are a team of 6 from Fallingbrook Heights Baptist Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who have been called to go on this Short Term Mission Trip to Nairobi, Kenya, with Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM).  Don and Joy Hepburn, John and Julie Penner, Nick and Lila Scott first discussed going to Kenya in January 2011.  We purchased our airline tickets through CBM in February.  As we have thought and prayed about our trip over the past 8 months, God has excited us even more about this wonderful opportunity to serve.

We will be visiting with Aaron and Erica Kenny, who are global field staff with Canadian Baptist Ministries.  They have been serving in Kenya since 2006.  Together they minister to the displaced refugee population living in the urban ghetto of Eastleigh, Nairobi.  Most of the residents of Eastleigh are Somali.  In August 2010, Aaron & Erica also became the African Coordinators of the Guardian of Hope, CBM’s HIV/AIDs program.  The Kennys work in the area of joint pioneer outreach and sustainable community development through community outreach activities such as English literacy projects (Iftin groups), self help groups, vocational skills training, micro enterprise developments, community health initiatives and peace building projects at the Eastleigh Community Centre in Nairobi.  Aaron and Erica have three children: Tristan, Emma and Ava.

The Kennys have arranged for us to volunteer at the Eastleigh Community Centre.  We will be actively engaged in a number of activities during our time there.  These will be identified in subsequent blog entries.  Suffice to say we will be very busy during our short time at Eastleigh.  The Eastleigh Community centre is operated by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.  It has been operating for over 50 years towards improving the conditions of those living in the slums.  It operates a nursery school program, the Kareri Primary School, a vocational school program and various outreach programs.

The Kenya Fallingbrook team decided that our primary fundraising effort would be for books for the Primary school library. Thanks to the generosity of many and some garage sales, we were able to raise over $3,000 for library books and other school supplies.  The campers, volunteers and staff at our Church’s Baseball camp in July held a toonie day and raised $175.00 for sports equipment for the school.  This money was used to buy soccer and volley balls, a volleyball net, 2 air pumps and 6 pins for the school.

The Kenya Fallingbrook team has also put together a gift package for the Kennys (Kraft Dinner, Halloween Candy, chocolate chips, granola bars, pop corn seasoning, cherry pie filing, etc.)  These are just some of the items that are unavailable in Nairobi.  We also are transporting some Christmas shopping that we did for the Kennys.   Luckily, we are each able to take 2 suitcases with us as long as each suitcase does not exceed 22 kilos or 50 pounds.

The Team has met several times to discuss, plan and pray about our trip.  We have had fun getting to know each other better as we reflected on several questions and thoughts about our time in Eastleigh. Questions like: “What are some of your biggest fears about this trip and how can the team assist you with them?”,   “Why do you think God wants you to go on this short term Mission Trip?”,   “What do you hope will be the impact of this experience on you?” 

 We are reminded that “It is only through Christ that we can fulfill God’s call to be instruments of grace in Eastleigh”.

We hope that you will step into Eastleigh with us by reading our blog.   As we continue to prepare for our departure date of September 21^st at 11:05 PM, we ask that you would continue to pray for each of us.