Christmas Party

I love Christmas!  The Annual General Meeting for Starfish Charities falls in December each year.  It seemed like a good time to have a party (after the meeting of course).  So I asked all my board members to include their families and plan to spend the day.  Also included were a few families from Nairobi who have been close to Starfish Charities.  The new training center was a perfect place to make it all happen.  The room was decorated and I was ready to start receiving guests.

Teresa was in the kitchen organizing the food and many baked goods we had cooked all week.

After the board meeting, we joined the families and began a time of sharing.  There were 38 of us in all!  We sat around and shared favorite stories from Christmas' past.  It was so enjoyable hearing tales of childhood memories.

The couple in the center, James and Grace Bukachi, along with their three teen girls, arrived after we had finished the sharing.  But if they had been there earlier, I know James would share the miracle God performed on his behalf.  James was diagnosed with cancer several years ago.  After all the Nairobi doctors did all they could, they advised the family to put James on hospice and wait for the end.  I don't have all the details or enough space or time to give you the whole story, but God provided the funds for James to go to India to seek treatment last year.  Upon arrival they re-ran all the tests and confirmed the cancer diagosis and scheduled surgery.  Later that week prior to the surgery, they did one more test to confirm and clarify the surgical site.  The baffled doctor came back into the room to tell James to go back  home to Kenya.  They could find no sign of cancer anywhere in James' body!  Wow!  God is a miracle working God and James has been faithful to share his testimony anywhere and everywhere he goes.

Franklin was sharing his testimony.  His memory was of his university days in China some years ago and how faithful God was during that lonely time away from his family.

This is part of Pastor John's family waiting their turn to share.

John's oldest daughter Alice, with her child, Rhonda Maria!

After a time of sharing time was over, we took our food outside.  The fellowship continued as we ate with one another and, for some, made new friends.  It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures (70's) and soft breezes.

The teen girls gravitated to one another.

The ladies did what ladies do!

But the men also found each other and enjoyed a time of fellowship. It looked like some serious discussing going on.

The members of this group declared this table was the Executive table.  Basically old friends who had not seen one another in some time.  They had a lot of catching up to do.

Rhonda Maria enjoying the attention of all the adults.

Arriving a little later were the newly-weds (only three weeks) Teddy and Jeddi.  He is the oldest son of Franklin, pictured above.  Teddy has been such a blessing and inspiration in my life.  Together with his beautiful wife, Jeddi, they serve God with enthusiasm and joy.  I love these kids!

After lunch, we went back inside and sang songs.  We didn't limit our singing to Christmas songs.  We just allowed the songs to flow.  Here, we invited Pastor John and his family to share a Maasai song with us.

Teddy arrived with his guitar, which Franklin promptly took and began playing.  He did his best to keep up with the many and varied songs we sang.

All in all, I have to say, I had a very blessed Christmas, surrounded by close friends.  My biological family is in the U.S., but God has definitely multiplied my "family" with His family.  He is so good and faithful to bring people into our lives, and to walk along side us in this journey, as we walk together with Him..

Merry Christmas!