12 days till Christmas!

Christmas-OrBust!

The count down has begun in the Kenny household as Tristan and Emma anticipate the quickly approaching Christmas break and festivities. Ava is also getting in on the fun which includes making our own wrapping paper: each night after supper we sit together and draw/colour Christmas pictures and designs on big sheets of flip chart paper -- It is a very relaxing family activity. I think we'll have to make it a new advent tradition!

Looking back on the week, which was unfortunately gripped with cold and flu for me (Aaron), we had several highlights. The Christmas concert was the big one. We had a great evening at Rosslyn with a recorder recital from Tristan's class (I remember using my third grade recorder more as a kazoo than an instrument, but Tristan is amazing he certainly didn't get this talent from me), and then the Bethlehem Treasure pageant! Afterward, Emma's friend Mary slept over and we stayed up eating popcorn and watching a dvd of old Christmas specials.

On Wednesday, we had the fun of hosting Carla Nelson and Seth Crowell along with Malcolm & Patty Card for supper. Carla and Seth are in Kenya with the ABC teacher's program. We enjoyed lots of laughter as we heard bits and pieces of the work they are involved with.

We were also glad to hear back from Don & Joy Hepburn who've safely returned to Canada. Since being back, they have added some great new photos to their blog. For anyone interested in what an STM to Kenya might look like, I would highly recommend taking a peek at the Hepburn's blog as they chronicled their time here.

Looking ahead to next week. We are in Eastleigh sharing in home visits among the Somali women of Iftin. As part of our time in the community, we have been working together with Zahra to complete a baseline survey for upcoming Sharing Way programs in Eastleigh. We have been climbing a steep learning curve in sustainable community development, but our training and study of Integral Mission has wonderfully shaped our efforts in urban ministry. We will continue working in Eastleigh up until December 19th when the kids get out of school for Christmas break.

Thank you all so much for keeping our family and Somali ministry in your prayers.