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Moving to Kenya

I checked on our flights this morning.

78 days until departure.

Our family’s journey back to Kenya has taken so long – the ability to put a specific and set number of days until we take off is a bit surreal.  In the fall of 2016, we were sure that we would have left for Kenya in February of the New Year.  But, the day after we came home from a trip to Kenya – our lives were flipped upside down but a little stick and a few purple lines.

Trip delayed.  Life altered forever.

While most people are surprised by bad things that happen to them… we were surprised by shocking yet amazing news about the miraculous arrival of our baby.  That bundle of joy arrived in May 2017 – a few month past our intended departure date.

Almost eight months after our original, planned departure date – Brian and Gabe will leaving three weeks before baby girl and I.  Sweet Charleigh Marie will be six months old when she boards a plane bound for Kenya. She will be my lap baby – and while it may seem inconvenient to some to hold a baby for two long flights and throughout a long layover… I am looking forward to the comfort and joy she brings wherever she is.  While my mind has been swirling, pondering, puzzling and agonizing over details – she naps, eats, fills a diaper, cries, smiles, kicks, coos and giggles.  She goes where I go with no commentary or opinions to share.  She just hangs on for the ride.

Yes, she will be a joy to hold onto for the long, long day of travel.  I hope to glean from her ability to put 100% trust in her parents.  I would love to follow and trust the Lord as she follows and trusts her parents.  I don’t even know if that is possible for me to lay aside my thoughts and agenda.  After years and years of waiting, planning, learning and working toward the start of Kijani Farm – its here!  Now is the time to be a joy-filled person.  Now is the time to lay aside any thoughts other than those focused on each day and living it to the fullest in the USA.  Now is the time to focus on what lies ahead and pray that we are as prepared as we always imagined ourselves to be.  Now is the time to be excited… the building Kijani Farm has started and its time to dedicate ourselves to the calling God placed on our hearts years ago.  Now is the time to simply follow and trust.

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Dellamater's

Our family LOVES adventure! In 1994, when Brian & I got married - the pastor who officiated our wedding encouraged us to never settle into boredom. Over 20 years later and we are still not bored. The catalyst of our adventurous spirit begins and ends with Jesus! We love Jesus! We love to learn more about Jesus and we love to serve Him by helping others. In our desire to know him more, we began to pray that God would show us the true desires of our heart and somehow put whatever gifts & talents we have to His good purposes. That prayer was answered in our first journey to Kenya in 2007. Brian is a master carpenter and has an incredible gift to take a plain board of wood, an empty piece of land or a debilitated structure and transform it into something useful and beautiful. In the Karen area of Nairobi, Kenya - Brian designed a 5 acre property that where 100 orphaned children now call home. I (Heather) learned what God had in store for me once we were on the ground in Kenya. I spent a lot of my time in the Kibera slum working with women and children. When we returned to the states, we took a few months to evaluate what we had learned. First, I realized that I wanted to be a better helper! So, I finished my bachelor's degree in Human Services, jumped into a Master's degree in Organizational Leader and just wrapped up an MBA. What can I say, I REALLY love learning. Secondly, we realized that we are "starters" - we really love partnering with God to see a place where nothing had existed to become something that can bless others. Third, we LOVED being in Africa and prayed for an opportunity to return someday. In 2015, our family was commissioned as missionaries with Global Outreach International. In 2016, we purchased 52 acres in southern Kenya in the heart of Masai country - just 23 km north of the Kenya/Tanzania boarder. In February 2017, the ministry of Kijani Farm began! With the help of a few short term mission teams, Kijani Farm was "ready" for our family to make it our home. October 2017 was moving day for Brian and Gabe... Charleigh and I joined them in November. While living in the African bush is the polar opposite of our life in the USA, day by day we are learning to make it our home, learning to live as outsiders in a completely different culture and working to build a community development project with the vision of Kijani Farm to inspiring hope and create opportunity. This community development project, through agricultural training that will assist the Masai people to transform their lives through sustainable work & food solutions, education, access to healthcare, clean water, and a church. At the core of Kijani Farm is Jesus. I hope you enjoy following our life and our adventures! Brian is a master carpenter with experience in land development in Kenya. Heather is a coordinator and planner with experience in organizational health and spiritual growth. Together, Brian & Heather love to see God bring forth something from nothing and feel blessed to be called the ‘starters’ for Kijani Farm.

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