Post by June team member Sarah Johnson.
It has been a true joy to be a part of this trip and experience firsthand what’s going on here at Canopy Life! I trust and believe God has incredible things in store for this very special place, and how He’s going to bring favor here in these children and in Kenya.
We started the day off with a devotional led by Christi; praying and being still before our Creator. A question to pray over… God, what’s Your heart for me?
Each of us brought a favorite childhood book with us to give to the soon-to-be Canopy Life Academy library, and Torrie read: Only One You by Linda Kranz. The synopsis of this book is we are all uniquely made; there are no others out there like us. God created each of us with talents and strengths. We used oil pastels to color the fish (each one was different) and the Canopy kids wrote the verse Psalm 139:14, which says “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” What an awesome truth we all need to hear and believe. I believe they had fun as you can see on their beautiful faces!
I (Sarah) had the privilege of sharing with them how to bake a delicious treat. Desserts are not common here, especially for the children, so we learned how to make banana cookies! It was a fun adventure! Each of the Canopy kids took turns and worked together as a team to mix together the variety of ingredients in the recipe. They all got to plop a dollop of cookie batter on the baking sheet and see it go into the oven.
Kate read the book Don’t Worry About a Thing and played them Bob Marley’s song “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” She came up with the clever and ingenious idea of creating water bottle wind chimes. We had the Canopy kids use their imagination of colors and design a water bottle using colored Sharpies, and then helping cut a spiral to create what you see below!
Before we headed to lunch, Christi whipped out some dance moves with the Canopy kids. Not only do they have stellar voices, they also have the dance moves! What a way to work up an appetite!
After class ended for the day, the cookies were finally ready and everyone got to enjoy the banana cookies together! We shared a cookie and story time led by Sara, as she read a book about a giraffe dancing.
Sarah and Torrie created a colorful canvas with an acacia tree that we had all the Canopy kids place their hand print on the tree with paint. They will leave the legacy of Canopy Life Academy’s first graduating class in 2023!
Christi and the Canopy Life team ended our day together going over sponsorship and what it means. Each of the children have a family of sponsors, and this evening will hear from some of them through letters and pictures with the house mom & dad, Linah & Stephen. One of the Canopy kids, Kioko, ended our time together praying over the sponsors — it was super sweet.
My heart is full, and I know I will definitely be back again :o) Much love from Kenya!!
SJ