Kenya Bound!

Hi! My name is Kelsi Vines and I'm currently a student at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Ok. I will be graduating in May of this year. I've been chosen to volunteer in Nairobi, Kenya at an orphanage that is home to children who've lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. I'm beyond excited for this chance to love children! My trip will be two months long and I'll have responsibilities while I'm there. I will be in charge of planning after school activities for the children of the orphanage. I've always been involved with Creative Arts in some way (dance, art classes, drama, musical theater) and because of this love for the arts, I've been chosen! What an amazing blessing. Teaching children is a passion of mine. I've worked in a local church for three years, working specifically with children from a low socioeconomic neighborhood. They have been a constant reminder of God's love in my life. I would love to get to share in this love for my neighbor, but this time in Kenya. Will you help me get there? I need to raise $5000 dollars for my two month stay in Nairobi. This would cover my living expenses, flights, required shots, and also fund the activities for the children of the orphanage. I know in no-way will this little write up be able to show you my full passion for this opportunity. Please just know that Kenya has been on my heart practically my entire life, and for this opportunity to present itself is the answer to a lifelong prayer. God Bless!

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I might not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen."  St. Francis