Day 1

Our day began at the Pangani Center.  We arrived about 10ish and went through orientation.  We saw some very familiar faces.  After a briefing of  Missions of Hope, we toured the Pangani Center and Mathare Area 1.  We visited some homes.  In the home that Jenn B, Andrea, Joanne and Nancy went in, was a grandmother taking care of 8 children.  She is the sole provider of these children.  She has her own food vending business.  This was a definite CHE home.  This home was organized and "clean" as far as shanty cleanliness is concerned.  She was cooking in her home, but there was no smoke and she had dishes organized in a cabinet.  She was very welcoming.  Mary is her name and she was there with her niece Jen.  We prayed with her and got to know her and her family.  She has 3 children in the Pangani school and one out at the Joska boarding school. 
The other group, Tim, Michael, Jen F, LaSaundra, went into a home with a 10 year old and a two year old.  The mother was off working.  So it was very quiet in that home.  But it was a very, very small home that barely fit the group and social workers in along with the children. 
After touring Area 1, we went back to the Center to visit with our sponsored children.  That was awesome!  We got plenty of one on one time with them.  We enjoyed getting to know them better.  Some of us met our sponsored children for the first time and others, it was a revisit and we had to pry them away from them! :-)  What an amazing time.  We had lunch and went over our full schedule.  We are amazed at the future vision for Missions of Hope.  They are at over 7,000 children now in all of the schools combined and have a big vision of over 125,000 children by 2017.  They will achieve that goal!
Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for us.
Team 2012