Kenya.

My heart is so full as we just returned a few short days ago from Kenya. So much to think about, to process, to share & to be thankful for. 
Our travel adventure before we even started was quite the story. We ended up with a 6 hour delay in our home airport due to a mechanical fault with the aircraft. A problem with the de-icer, probably way more information than I would ever want to hear before departing to fly many hours over the arctic circle. (I was also recovering from a sinus infection, which was definitely aggravated by the pressure on all the flights)
This brought our arrival into Amsterdam 6 hrs behind schedule so of course we missed our connecting flight to Nairobi. Thankfully by an amazing delta assistant on twitter, we were all rebooked on an evening flight to Nairobi, that was nothing short of a miracle. So we hung out in Schipol airport all day, then boarded for our 2nd night flight to Kenya, arriving bright and early the following morning. 


The excitement about being in Africa was pretty high at this point, although I will admit my fear of flying and lack of sleep over the previous 2 nights was starting to wear on my body. All that to say, our brief 4 hr stay at a guest house in Nairobi to freshen up was a beautiful time. I don't think I would have woken from that nap if we hadn't set alarms though. That evening we boarded our 3rd and final flight to Eldoret, Kenya flying through a storm which made it pretty bumpy on landing. Then we were on a bus journey for about an hour until we arrived at our 'home' for the next week or so. We arrived to the sweet ladies at the guest house having made us dinner, they were amazing all week long at taking care of us! Cooking us meals & cleaning the place while we were gone all day doing ministry with the local pastors. 


Its certainly a long way from home for us. But oh my goodness it was totally worth all the hours of flying & African road travel (I will try not to complain about our roads this winter after experience their potholes). There was something so refreshing about being able to step away from the regular schedule of life and all its problems and privileges, and being a part of a ministry team which is so focused on eternal things. These pastors were truly the most godly men I think I have ever had the privilege of serving others with. I am so thankful for being able to spend a week learning how to be bold in sharing my testimony, in being willing to be used by the Lord to encourage other women in a completely different country and culture. Seeing all that He is already doing the other side of the world, and being blessed to witness such a small piece of that during our time there. 


Central Africa has been in my heart since I first went there in 2006, and the funny part was landing and feeling like I had come 'home.' How is it possible to feel that way about a village you have never been to before in your life. I felt it last time I arrived in Kenya & traveled to Tanzania. And again this time even though I never left Kenya. There is just something deep in my heart that is touched being there, something that seems to fit deep in my soul & feels like a piece of my heart is missing when I leave again. 


I was so excited to have experienced this with Andrew this time & watch his heart grow for the children and people we encountered. Who knows what the Lord will do with this passion. 


There will be more to come as I finish editing pictures and digesting all the emotions and experiences. 

Kenya.

'And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.'

– Galatians 6:9 - 

Dear Friends,

I am super excited to be sharing with you an incredible update on what I/we have been doing behind the scenes of this little space. A few months ago we were told about a trip our church would be taking in the Fall to a rural part of western Kenya. Both the hubby and I discussed what this would look like for us to go in terms of vacation time, finances and health aspects. 

After prayer & consideration we both felt the Lord was leading us to take a leap of faith and participate on this trip with a group from our local church here in the Midwest. 

Since then we have just continued to see the Lord swing open door after door, international travel is never a small decision, even though we are both no strangers to it with our immediate families living in 4 time zones. 

So we both agreed to explore vacation time with our employers and see where we were at. 

Unexpectedly to both of us, as Andrew had just started a new job at the beginning of the summer, we both received an enthusiastic go-ahead to participate. 

This stunned us both as it was totally the opposite of what we had expected. Thinking for sure the timing would just never work.

So we agreed to faithfully commit to the team following that go-ahead and trust the Lord with the financial aspects of both of us travelling together. We are trusting Him completely and thought this would be an amazing opportunity to both go and serve together overseas, something we have never done before. And something which we both have a passion for and hope to pursue in the future as a family. 

We are not going alone as a team, but going to be a part of what the Lord is already accomplishing in Kenya. The organisation we are partnered with is a local Kenya ministry called Build The Village. During our short trip we hope to encourage and support their ongoing ministry. 

A few areas we expect to be involved with are the prison ministries which have been newly established by the organisation, hoping to share the gospel and share the love of Jesus through conversation, sports and serving. Orphan Care as we will be staying on site next to an orphanage run by Build The Village, we are both so excited by this aspect. Marketplace Evangelism, something which will put both Andrew & I out of our comfort zones as we learn to boldly share our faith in public like never before. Finally, VBS style programs which we hope to do in several local schools. 

Sound like a lot? We think so too. But we are excited as we know this is going to grow us tremendously and take us both outside what we are comfortable with. Our prayer is that it would grow our love for Jesus & the Kenyan people as well as light a fire within us to share with others this amazingly good news which can tend to take a back seat in the daily grind of life. 


We would really appreciate your prayer as we prepare as a team, that we would grow in team unity. That our hearts would be ready to be an encouragement to each other as well as those we come into contact with. We realise that without Him, none of this would be possible and we certainly don't wish to go on our own effort which would be entirely in vain. 


We also need to raise the financial commitment for the trip, will deadlines in September and October. Should you chose to partner with us financially, we just want to say thank you for your generosity.

I am so thankful for this precious community which has supported me in so many ways and have been bursting to share this exciting journey with you all. 

Much Love, 

Lisa & Andrew

P.S. If you would like more information or have questions, email me: LoveLisaElle@gmail.com

'To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him.' 

-John Piper- 

Girl Behind the Blog: Travel.

The Girl Behind The Blog- Around The World

Time limit: Vlogs should be 2-3 minutes long

Introduce yourself and your blog

Briefly tell us where you've traveled (domestically and/or internationally) and what you were doing there.

What do you most look forward to when going on a trip?

If you could hop a plane this second, where would you go and why?

Hey friends! 

So its that time again, another fun vlog, another attempt at sticking to the time limit (oops sorry ash!), another awkward 'I'm talking to myself moment.'

I apologize at being late to the party again on this one, schedules have been crazy over here as we have been winding down our frantic (but fun) summer and spending time with family who visited.

I don't know if I will write about a lot of these trips or not. I have been super SUPER blessed to travel to so many places and see God's creation!! 

third culture kid

1. 'A third-culture kid (TCK / 3CK) or trans-culture kid is "someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture. ...'

Places Lived

England (in 3 different cities)

Germany 

Middle East

England (Oxford)

USA - Midwest

Places Visited (Internationally)

England

France (Many different cities)

Belgium

Holland

Italy (Many different cities)

Austria

Switzerland

Spain

Greece

Cyprus

Luxembourg
Prague
Nepal
India
Sri Lanka
Singapore
Kenya
Tanzania
Canada

Places Visited (Domestically)

Texas
California
Hawaii
Illinois
Ohio
Michigan
Indiana
Arizona
Kentucky
Tennessee
North Carolina
New York
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Minnesota
North & South Dakota
Montana
Wyoming
Idaho


Where have you guys traveled to? I want to hear all about it!! 
Where do you want to go??

Head over and link up! 

Much Love! 

L

When God Provided: Africa Part 1

{Via} {Via}

Side note: I am raising funds for Influence through Paypal on my sidebar & through my Etsy store. 

Please prayerfully consider supporting me on this journey.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the Influence conference. I am trying so hard to trust the Lord with opening the door for me to go. I want to grow in learning how to make the most of the Influence the Lord has give me to share His love, the ways He has been at work in my life.

To share Him.

Some days I fully trust Him.

Others are harder.

When those moments come, I have found it encouraging to look back at times when God provided. 

Times where is was above and beyond my wildest expectations.

Africa has been on my heart a lot lately. I feel the Lord stirring my heart for that land again.

So allow me to share with you and journey the Lord took me on back in 2006, I wrote about some of the ongoing effects of that trip here. This was a journey which blew my mind about how sovereign the Lord is. How He is more than able to provide, when there seem to be so many obstacles in the way.

A story about how I found myself in Africa without knowing I would be there till six days before.

I had just finished a challenging year working for the first time, for an internet based company. Alongside this job I also worked part time as an intern with our church's youth group. I was pushed and stretched throughout many challenges that year.

My 19th birthday came and went toward the end of the academic year, I shared it with so many precious friends and several younger girls I had been able to invest time in that year.

I was also attracted to a godly young man from our church. He was the worship leader at our youth meetings, a surfer, and quickly became my best friend.

You know the type.

At the end of the year we had been challenged by his parents to let go of our friendship, as we were both very young and heading in very different life directions. To surrender the whole situation to Christ and trust Him with our hearts.

He left for the states about 2 weeks after that conversation to go to college.

I had no idea if I would ever see him again.

I was getting ready to head off to college myself in England. Then my family announced they too were England-bound. An unexpected change of plan. There would be no returning trips to see them during vacation-time. No trips back to the land where my friends now were and where I felt there was a link to this guy who had left.

I began to fall apart. 

Early that year in January I had planned to go on a mission trip with our church for 2 weeks to India. So a few weeks after my best friend left, I headed out to India.

I felt the Lord speaking to me throughout that trip, showing me His presence, comfort and love in ways I had never experienced before.

I became quite close to the older girls who were leaders on the trip. One in particular shared my struggles with my singleness and heart brokenness over the lost friendship.

As our time was coming to a quick end, they started talking about their upcoming trip to Tanzania. There were two trips organised that summer and they were all going on both trips. All the leaders had raised support months in advance to be able to afford both these trips.

Then one of them asked me why I wasn't going to Africa.

I probably mumbled something about not having the money. Then I was frustrated that I wouldn't get to go to a place that had intrigued me for a long time. Over something like money. Then I felt a nudge.

What a silly reason to not go and do something so life-changing.

I felt the Lord challenge me about whether I thought He could provide.

I secretly felt it was hopeless, there was only six days between landing and leaving for Africa.

But I chose to trust. Thinking I had nothing to lose.

I talked to my parents almost immediately after returning, convinced they would say no. I had already been gone for two weeks. I asked their permission to head out if I could get the support, flight and visas in time.

They said yes.

I was stunned.

I then called the region coordinator of the organisation about the trip. I explained how I felt the God had challenged me to go and I had some of the money in a savings account (money I had earned from my job to go toward college). He told me he would make some calls and see what he could do. But he made no promises, except to call me back asap with an answer.

I waited all day.

By the end of the day I had pretty much lost all hope. I felt so silly for thinking that something that big could just happen.

Then the phone rang.

The organisation running the trip had agreed to fund 2/3rds of the cost for me to go. He had taken so long calling me back as he had been talking to the airline booking my ticket.

Within 24hrs I had my support.

Then I needed visas. I was told to get to the Kenyan and Tanzanian embassies asap. Both of these were located in the capital city of the country we lived in. Which was several hours away. I called one of my friends who lived there, one of the team leaders from India. She invited me to come and stay with her and then head to the embassies with her the following day while she returned to pick up passports which had been there for about 4 months waiting approval for visas.

My heart sank.

My mother, being the incredibly supportive parent she is, drove me to the capital city and agreed to come back and get me when I had my visas.

The following day I entered the Kenyan embassy and explained my urgent need for a visa, that I was due to fly in about 3 days time.

He stamped my passport and I had my visa in about 5 mins total.

(My friend also collected all the visas they needed there too)

We headed across town to the Tanzanian embassy. We met the region coordinator there as he had come to appeal for the remaining passports they needed for those already scheduled months ago to go on the trip.

I was so nervous.

Once again I approached the window and explained my urgent need for a visa, that I was due to fly in 3 days time. They took my passport and told me to wait. About 40 mins passed. I thought for sure this was where this mind-blowing series of provision was going to come to a swift end. 

A lady then came out and handed a stack of passports to the region coordinator, mine included.

He handed it to me, I opened it and I saw a visa for Tanzania.

I could have cried.

My mom was able to come and get me that evening. I spent a total of 24hrs in the capital city and left with both visas and not a single glitch. I then spent the remaining two days gathering items I needed for the trip (like long skirts) and found myself boarding a plane bound for Kenya only days later.

If God is able to take a broken, doubting, selfish young girl like me and open doors providing in a way like that...why is He not able to do it for you too? Are you also waiting on the Lord for provision for something? Know that He has provided in the past.....He will provide again. 

Its always a wonderful reminder when I am discouraged about the Influence conference.

More to come on the actual trip while in Africa.

Much Love,

L