ADVENTURE TO KENYA

Hey friends,

It's been a while since you last heard from me and a lot has happened...

The last two months of lecture phase have flown by.

Like the weeks before, the rest of the time we covered various topics like mission, living with God, prayer and worship, spiritual warfare, and power evangelism. In the last week, we prepared for outreach with different inputs and team building. After the Christmas party we said goodbye for two weeks of relaxing Christmas vacation. On the fifth of January, our team and two others met at the airport in Oslo, and off we went to Kenya.

Our base was outside the town Kilifi in a Kenyan community overlooking Kilifi Bay. We

worked together with the "Swahili coast mission" led by a Norwegian family. The weather was hot and most of the time we were sweating haha. Weekly we helped on base with different practical things, had teachings from our hosts, spent time as a team and in prayer/worship. My favourite was community time - playing with the kids, prayer walks in the community, home visits, and praying for locals. Our free days we usually spent at the beautiful beach of Kilifi, eating good food, reflecting on the last week, having fun and just relaxing in the sun. That was always good :) On the weekends, we either participated at our local church service or got invited to another church in the area. On some weekends we went to weekend outreaches. There we held seminars, evangelised with the church members, had open-air meetings, kids and youth programs, and preached in the worship service. It was so cool to experience that and step out of our comfort zone. At one trip we even slept in a mud hut or in hammocks under the stars and were greeted so warmly with the hospitality of the Africans wherever we went.

The joy of locals was always so contagious. Even though they don't have much and live a super simple life, they radiate contentment and are so happy. Even just walking past people in the community, they welcomed us into their homes with a "Karibu". You learn that our live is so luxurious and that were so blessed with everything we have and also don’t have. I think when I'm back home, I'll be so much more grateful for the little things!

One of my highlights were the kids. They came running up to us with big smile on their faces, waving with joy and shouting "Mambo" (how are you). We spent so much time with them and were able to invest in their lives in different ways.

As a team, we were so blessed to go on a safari where we saw various wildlife's (elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, jackals, zebras, buffalos, hippos, birds, etc.). It was so cool and something unforgettable!!!

TESTIMONY

A lady and her husband had walked around the city of Kilifi looking for ways to earn money all day. She had pain in her lower stomach and they needed money to get a scan at the hospital. When they were walking they where getting some pineapple at this fruit booth in the exact area we had our open air meeting. In that moment they where getting pineapple at the booth, Brynjar was speaking and he asked if there where someone with stomach pain in the crowd. The husband heard what Brynjar shared in that exact moment and said to the woman that she should ask for prayer. One of our church contacts overheard this and went over to them. Krispy and Anne went over to them and asked if they could pray. She explained where the pain was and we prayed. The woman said the pain faded from the one side, so they prayed again and she was completely heeled. They told her that she as a daughter of Christ also has the same authority to pray for heeling. She was smiling and so grateful when we shared this with her! She went and got her husband and they also prayed for him. He had some trouble with fully recovering from a past operation. They prayed for him and he was healed instantly. They also blessed them and their marriage. God is such a good father! Leading them to the meeting in that exact moment.

During my time in Kenya, I also got to know God more and grew in many things - personally and as a group. Through evangelism, praying for healing and seeing big changes in peoples lives, living with six girls in a small room, not having a lot of space by myself and simply being close with an amazing team for ten weeks. etc... We have seen so many miracles and it is crazy what our God can do. Since many Kenyans are already believers and belong to a church we have shared stories from the bible with them or simply prayed for them and build relationships.

We finished the whole outreach as a team in an air b&b in Watamu a bit north of Kilifi by the ocean. We reflected on what we’ve individually learned during our time in Kenya and what our highlights / favourite memories are, but also

had a lot of fun and enjoyed the sun and the beach with good food and drinks. :)

After six incredible months, my DTS is now unfortunately over. I can promise that it was one of the best times of my life, I was able to learn so much about my gifting, what im good at and in which areas I still need to learn a bit, got closer to God in many ways, have such great new friendships for life and everything was so much fun!!!!!

In particular, I learned what it means to serve wherever and whenever there is a need. Placing others before yourself and through that becoming more and more like Jesus. Especially in areas that are in the background and you might not get recognition for it right away. But without these services, some things would not have gone as they should. Therefore, they're extremely valuable and important for you and the people around you. It feels good to give up your right for that and to see how happy and grateful people are for things you did in the background.

Now you might be wondering what I will do next.

This year at the end of June there will be a big Christian event - "The Send" - in the biggest arena in Norway in Oslo. Various international speakers and bands will be there and for one day they will promote to give everything for Jesus and to live with a new fire for him - ALL IN.The organisation for this is in cooperation with YWAM Norway.

Our DTS has been invited to join a team for the preparations for the send. For me, the ”media team" - which does everything that has to do with social media, design, and photography and then also taking pictures on the day of "the send”, sounded very interesting and fun. Since I enjoyed the media track a lot, I feel encouraged and challenged by God to join it. I would also love to learn more and it was simply a unique experience.

This generation (Gen Z) needs Jesus more than ever. They find hope and satisfaction in consumption but are becoming more and more enslaved instead of free. It is this freedom that we want to bring out to our generation through Jesus alone and His love, awakening a generation with a new zest for life and giving them a future. We want to encourage others to give their all and live fully for Jesus and eternity.

However, the whole thing is voluntary and therefore I need your help. I would like to participate but I don't have enough financial means. In total it would add up to about 1500 €. If you have it in your heart to support me and fulfil a little dream, I would be very happy and beyond grateful!

PayPal: elena.bovenschen2@gmail.com

Bank account: Elena Bovenschen, IBAN DE35 7209 0000 0001 0600 40

Hereby, I also want to invite you to come to the send in Oslo and experience a once in a life time experience. (https://thesend.no/de/)

If you have more questions or are just interested in the DTS and The Send, feel free to contact me :)

That's it for now ... I hope you're well and remain healthy!

Love and see you very soon. Feel blessed,

Elena :)

Gospel seeds 1500

Healings 170

Salvations 33