Rebekah and Mark

Hello to all of our dear friends and family!! We miss you so much but we are having an incredible time!!!!! We left from the guest house at 8:30 this morning to go to the Mercy Care Centre. Traffic is terrible in Kenya so it took us a little while to get there but the kids were already waiting to welcome us for another day filled with blessings. Dad and I went to the preschool class first today. They share a larger room with the fourth graders and are divided only by a small partition. The only light they have in the room for almost 100 kids is from one door. Today I read a book called "Bear Feels Sick" which is about all the animals of the woods taking care of the sick bear and once he gets better, all the other animals get sick. They loved the story and clapped after I had finished reading which was really cool!! In advance, I had printed out a picture of a real bear on a piece of paper for each of the kids. I also gave them a piece of felt which they glued on top of the bear like a blanket. They really enjoyed that. Then we made a snack that went along with the story. We took two cookies and used peanut butter to hold them together and form an upside down "V" shape like a tent. Then we put a gummy bear underneath the tent. After all the kids had made the snack, not one kid picked it up to eat it. They all just stared at it in amazement. I told them at least 5 times that they could eat it but they wouldn't. So the teachers and I ate some in front of them and they finally ate theirs after that. They were a wonderful class to share with!!!
Next, we went to the fourth grade class. I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to them and then we gave them 10 different pieces of paper with either a fruit from the story, the cocoon, or the butterfly. Then after they colored them all, I re-read the story and they put the pictures in order of how the story happened. They were very attentive and interactive. Then we made a caterpillar snack using a small pretzel stick, fruit loops to slide on the pretzel, and a marshmallow for the head. Some of the pretzels broke when the kids slid the fruit loops on it and so we would give them another one. Other kids saw that so they began to purposely break theirs so they could get another. The teacher told dad that 90% of the kids at the Mercy Care Centre never got three meals a day. This broke both of our hearts and we actually gave them all an extra marshmallow to eat. Then before I left I had a stuffed caterpillar that you could turn inside out and make a butterfly. The kids were in awe when they saw me "magically" make it into a butterfly. I passed it around the room and the kids would pretend to fly it around the room. I took many pictures which they always love. One little boy actually hid the butterfly in his knapsack which was hung on the wall. As I'm sure you can tell, we had so much fun with them!!!! Then at the end, the teacher came up to me with the stuffed butterfly and quietly asked me if I would mind to take her picture with it. I cannot explain to you what this meant to me and I thought about how that's what this is all about-sharing God's love in unique ways with those who need it the most.
Then for supper, we went to an African restaurnat with most of the teachers from the Mercy Care Centre. We were told to spread out among the teachers so we could talk more with them and let them tell us their story. I talked in great detail with a lady named Rose who was the teacher of the fourth grade class I mentioned above. She has been a teacher at the MCC for 11 years and she told me that she walked most days to school for an hour and a half!!!!! I was completley shocked and humbled that someone is so dedicated to their job, that they would walk for that long. I'm sure many of you complain about driving to work and how it takes you 30 or 45 minutes. I pray that we will realize how truly blessed we are and not take these things for granted. It was a wonderful fellowship in the Lord and we all really enjoyed getting to know them all better.
We will unfortunately not be able to update you for several days because we are leaving early tomorrow morning for the 3 day safari where there is no internet. WE CANNOT WAIT to see all the incredible wildlife!!!!!! We will be back Monday afternoon so I will try my best to post something then. Please continue praying for all the children and teachers at the Mercy Care Centre. We love you!!!!

P.S. Just wanted to let you know, for those who read about the very sick girl who came to the clinic yesterday with Black Water, she is doing MUCH better!!! They checked her temperature and it was normal. When dad took her back from the clinic, her and dad held hands and skipped back to the classroom. It was definitley an answer to everyone's prayer!!!!