2026 CLC Mission Helper Trip to East Africa

Today we taught at two schools in Moi's Bridge here in Kenya. We started out at Baraton Academy and taught about 40 kids. When signing the guest book there, we actually looked back and found Tom's signature from 14 years ago! Then we headed over to Mustard Seed School, where we taught about 180 kids. This was the first time the Mission Helpers have been to this particular school. Neither of these schools are part of the KCLC; they both have Christian Religious Education (CRE) in their curriculum. After teaching, we visited one of the pastors here, Pastor Samson, at his home. Then we went to visit the family of one of the elders of the church, John, who passed away last week. What a unique experience and blessing to have the chance to share a devotion with them and share love and encouragement in our Savior's victory over death. In Kenya, the prosperity gospel is widely taught. Many of these children believe that God wants believers to be healthy and rich, and if yo...

Yesterday began in one of the most remote places we have visited during this trip. After a short night of sleep, we returned to the church and spent more time with the congregation before beginning the long journey back. We shared a little tea in the morning, which was especially appreciated by Jeremiah. It had taken us about five hours to reach the congregation the day before, and that did not include the final travel across the dry lake beds. Being there again that morning reminded me how many faithful Christians gather in places most of the world will never see. Before we left, the congregation presented us with several thoughtful gifts, including necklaces, shoes, and a rooster. We later named the rooster Ashe , pronounced “A-shay,” which means “thank you” in Maa. More than the gifts themselves, we appreciated the kindness and fellowship they represented. One conversation that stood out was with the daughter of the head elder. She knew some English and asked thoughtful...

The pictures didn’t go through on my previous post and the blog doesn’t make a whole lot of sense without them! Here they are… -Josh

Today’s travels took us to a newly constructed church in Shimabala, Zambia. Though not as common a custom in Africa as it is in Asia, the children of the congregation removed their shoes before entering their church. It is a visual that brings to mind Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” Though I doubt there is a person in the world who would describe our feet as “beautiful”, the Holy Spirit does. Feet are dirty and smelly, but when God uses them bring the Gospel to others, they are beautiful! The feet that these shoes belong to are beautiful feet as well, for the Lord can use the voices of little children to proclaim the peace we have in the forgiveness of sins. We heard it ourselves as the children sang songs of praise after our lessons! Please keep these children and their feet in your prayers that they may hear and believe the simple Gospel message we are privileged to share with them...

Hello from Uchira, Tanzania - I would like to take a moment to thank all the CLC ladies' groups and others who donated for the small gifts for the MHT children. Here in Tanzania we found inexpensive zipper bags and colored pencil sets. We also produced a coloring page booklet with 7 Bible stories in Swahili. The children received them enthusiastically - "Asante sana!" (Thank you very much!) 

Elijah sumey Today we drove to Holy Cross Lutheran Church / Emmaus School in Moi’s bridge, and preached to around 125 children. They were extremely grateful we were there and it was a pleasure to be around them and preach to them. They were very strong in their biblical knowledge. Afterward we had lunch with Mary Sagala at a Choma Zone in Moi’s bridge. The goat was delicious and the hot cayenne peppers made everything better. Today, Tom went for a run in the morning and Abby and I ran in the afternoon. Lots of kenyan children ran with us. Elijah sumey

Team Tanzania - Monday Mission - Paula Naumann Monday was a very full day. As Jeff posted, we presented at two different schools. Our program begins with a song, we sing songs between each different speaker, and end with a song - all in Swahili! Thankfully, the Swahili language is not tricky. Every letter is pronounced, and always makes the same sound, so you can sing even if you don’t know the meaning of the words. Bruce plays the guitar, and we encourage the children to sing along. Here is our line up: Siku Ni Hii (This is the Day the Lord Has Made) Neno Lake Mungu (The Word of God) Jesu Kwetu Ni Rafiki (What a Friend We Have in Jesus) Anipenda ni Kweli (Jesus Loves Me) Liko Mlango Moja Wazi (There is One Open Door) Mungu Ni Pendo (God is Love) These melodies are fun to sing, and hard to get out of your head. We pray that the lessons we are sharing with the children about...

Monday was a very full day. As Jeff posted, we presented at two different schools. Our program begins with a song, we sing songs between each different speaker, and end with a song - all in Swahili! Thankfully, the Swahili language is not tricky. Every letter is pronounced, and always makes the same sound, so you can sing even if you don’t know the meaning of the words. Bruce plays the guitar, and we encourage the children to sing along. Here is our line up: Siku Ni Hii (This is the Day the Lord Has Made) Neno Lake Mungu (The Word of God) Jesu Kwetu Ni Rafiki (What a Friend We Have in Jesus) Anipenda ni Kweli (Jesus Loves Me) Liko Mlango Moja Wazi (There is One Open Door) Mungu Ni Pendo (God is Love) These melodies are fun to sing, and hard to get out of your head. We pray that the lessons we are sharing with the children about the real Jesus will also be thought of often and remembered forever.  We also went shopping in Arus...

On July 13th, we spent the school day at St. David's Lutheran Church and School in Etago, Kenya! When we arrived, all the children pre-primary through grade six were waiting for us eagerly outside! We all assembled in the main assembly building (the building they use for their church services), and after a few words from the pastor and a few elders and teachers, and a few songs from the children, we began our teaching program. After our teaching program was over, we ate lunch (most of the children go home for lunch, and come back for afternoon classes) and we got to speak with the teachers about what an average school day looks like in Kenya! They use an average grading scale with percentages for Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations, and Below Expectations. The students are separated by grade for daily classes, much like in America, and have classes such as Reading, Mathematics, Social Studies, Writing, Technology, and mo...

It is hard to believe that Team Zambia has been here for four days already. With the lack of sleep and busy schedule, the days really blend together.  Having been on Tour Choir before, I've grown to appreciate worship through music more. One of the purest representations of what I imagine heaven might look like is people collectively praising God through song. It is such a unifying and beautiful experience. So when multiple different choir groups sang for the church service on Sunday, it made me feel very emotional picturing all of us rejoicing in heaven together. Even typing that last sentence made me get emotional thinking about it.  Life is hard. Everyone has problems, and lots of them. That can make the world a hard place to be. But when there are moments like these that make me think about what heaven is going to be like, when there will be no...

Hello everyone! We're bussing back to Lusaka from Kitwe today. Our time in Kitwe has been such blessing. We taught our first lessons here, sang and worshipped with the ZCLC for the Sunday service, and met so many amazing people! Overall, we taught over 400 children in Kitwe.  The theme of our lessons are based off of John 20:31 "These words are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." My lesson specifically is teaching children that Jesus is true God by using the Bible story of the feeding of the 5,000. One of my favorite parts of teaching is asking review questions at the end of my lesson. The very last question is "What does this story teach us about Jesus?" The children will raise their hands excited to answer and say "Jesus is God!" Or "Jesus loves us!" The room then erupts with clapping and laughter. It fills my h...

Yesterday gave us two more opportunities to share the Gospel with children, first at Vision of East African Children School and later at Aston Vision Primary School. The children in the morning were mostly around three or four years old. In the afternoon, they were closer to five or six. Both groups were wonderful. They were warm, joyful, and eager to participate. One thing that has changed during the trip is how I present my part of the lesson. I began with more of a written script. Now I am increasingly telling the story directly and watching the children as I speak. That has helped me connect with them and respond more naturally in the moment. Our program is divided among four presenters, but Eubank translates every part. By the time we completed both programs, he was understandably tired. His work has been a tremendous gift throughout these days. Translators must listen carefully, understand the thought, carry it into another language, and help the speaker connect with the peopl...

Pastor Tom Naumann here from Team Kenya.  Today we were blessed with another busy day of teaching; this time at St. David’s School in Etago. Contrary to what you might assume, St. David’s is not named after the biblical king, but rather retired CLC missionary David Koenig! The church was founded in 2000 and the school started shortly after. Pastor Enosh has been serving as pastor of the church and director of the school since 2008. He is also the president of the KCLC and works as a director of the local tea factory in the neighboring town of Kisii (black tea is consistently Kenya’s number one export; a heritage from Kenya’s former days as a British colony). Pastor Enosh is a busy guy! We arrived at the school in the morning and were greeted with many smiles and welcome songs from the children. It is hard to describe the feelings of humility and happiness that come from such a joyful reception. All the students and staff gathered in the onsite church sanctuary where us Mission Help...

 Sorry, for some reason these weren’t posting in Lauren’s blog.