A Kenyan Birthday Party

Jonah turned 8 years old this month.  We celebrated with a Kenyan style birthday party event in honor of our upcoming trip to Kenya.

Please allow me to share a quick story to illustrate the idea and mission behind this birthday party idea.  A year and a half ago, Jonah’s aunt, uncle, and three young boy cousins packed up a few things, sold or gave away all of their belongings, and moved to the mission field in Kenya.  At the time, Jonah’s now 6 year old cousin, Hudson, had a bike that he dearly loved.  Knowing that they could not pack the bike in a suitcase, Hudson’s parents asked him if he would be willing to give the bike away to a foster family in need of a bike.  He was so extremely sad at having given away most his other toys and belongings that he desperately wanted to keep his bike.  Knowing his heartache and sacrifice already, his parents offered to store the bike here in the States.  But Hudson had such a big heart and wisdom beyond his years that he chose to give the bike away to the foster family.  It was a tender moment.  

Shortly after they arrived in Kenya, the station manager at the hospital where Hudson’s dad worked pulled Hudson aside and told him he had something to give him.  He told Hudson that the last missionary family who lived there had a little girl.  When she and her family left, she asked to leave behind something for the next missionary family.  He opened a door to a storage shed, pulled out a bike, and gave it to Hudson!  God is so gracious!

This year, as our family contemplated Jonah’s birthday and our plans to make a trip to visit our family members in Kenya, we recalled that story of sacrifice and blessing.  We knew we wanted to have a Kenyan style birthday party event.  We knew we would use it as a chance to educate the kids about Kenya.  We knew what Kenyan games we could play.  We knew plenty of Jonah’s friends to invite. And finally, we knew a way to involve those friends in a ministry that reached beyond another gift added to Jonah’s ever-growing collection of toys.  Just as Hudson sacrificed his “stuff” and saw the Lord bless him, we asked Jonah if he would be willing to sacrifice getting gifts so that he could see the Lord bless the Kenyans we would visit.  He said yes.

His birthday guests gave so generously and we were completely humbled by the outpouring of support we received.  We are so excited about using the money from his party to bless the Kenyans.   Jonah’s dad will be doing dentistry and we plan to purchase some basic equipment and plenty of toothbrushes to hand out at the clinics.  In an effort to involve our kids as much as possible in the ministry, we will be allowing them to hand out gifts in the children’s ward of the hospital there.  They will be handing out toothbrushes (naturally), but Hudson’s family has specifically asked for scripture verse bracelets, toys, stickers, bouncy balls, and Christian DVDs to play on the TV in the children’s ward.  These are a few of the items we will be blessed to deliver as a result of Jonah's generous birthday party guests.  We are truly blessed to be a blessing.  Pray for us as we visit Kenya this June! 

Here are a few of the photos from the party:

Joey, Jonah and my dad helped build the African hut the night before the party.  Made out of cardboard, we were pleased to find it stayed up all night.  However, the top nearly blew off the next day when the wind picked up.  Joey had to rebuild it about an hour before the party started.  There was no way to get the hay to stay on the top the next day due to the wind.  Bummer.  Still a ton of fun.

The Hut cake and table decor.  Jonah saw the cake and wanted to know if people really like to eat icing with pretzels.  :)

My dad and Joey showing the kids how to play with the most popular "toy" in Kenya - tires and sticks.  It's much harder than it looks, but the kids did wonderful.  I can't remember if the girls or the boys won that game. 

Lasso the giraffe.  NOT a real giraffe.  NOT an actual game played in Kenya.  Still fun.  We had to involve some sort of wildlife in the party.  :)

Instead of Limbo (going under the stick), Kenyans play a game where they attempt to jump over the stick.  The boys won this game.  

Inside the hut for craft time.  We made shakers out of cans and beans so the kids could make "Kenyan music."  That hut was held together with duct tape and love. 

Cake time!  We also served fruit and Kenyan donuts (made by my mom).  For drinks, we had orange soda in glass bottles- a favorite of Jonah's cousins in Kenya.

We had the slideshow of pictures from Kenya playing during the party for the parents and kids to watch. The TV shows the picture in the slideshow of Hudson on his new bike in Kenya.