We’re Going To Naomi’s Village in Africa!

We are so excited to be sharing this big secret of ours! Yes, we’re going to AFRICA! Kenya, to be exact, and we’re so crazy excited about it! It has been in the works since June and keeping it a secret while we finalized everything has been so hard!

You may be wondering how all of this is happening, why, when, how long….. let me tell you all about it! 😉 As some of you may know, I (Hillary) went to Kenya in 2012 and 2013 for several months each time. I absolutely loved it and have been wanting to take Grant, but it never seemed to quite work out.

I’m going to get just a little personal….. For the past two years, Grant and I have been dealing with infertility. We’ve realized that starting a family may be a longer process for us. So, one day when we were talking about going to Kenya, we realized that maybe there is a reason we haven’t been able to start a family yet. Maybe God isn’t just being silent when it comes to our prayers about starting a family. Maybe He’s instead providing us with the chance to use our photography skills to serve others during this time. We’ve talked a lot about going to Kenya over the last few years, and then one day we both just felt we should pursue it and see what doors God would open. And no, we aren’t moving there. We’ll be leaving in mid-January and spending 5 weeks.

We will be volunteering as interns (seems funny to say that since we’re in our 30’s), at Naomi’s Village and providing them with photos. We will be updating all their headshots for the children and staff at NV and Cornerstone Preparatory Academy, which is the school all the children and village children go. When we’re not doing photos, we’ll be helping out in whatever areas are needed. On some days that may be providing the kids with the chance to have video calls with their sponsors, helping out in the baby room (my favorite!), kitchen, laundry, etc. And hopefully while we’re there we will get to experience bringing a new kid home to NV! 🙂

Naomi’s Village is a children’s home in Maai Mahiu that was started by Bob and Julie Mendonsa who first went over to Kenya back in 2005. After seeing the amount of orphans all throughout the area they set out to create a home that would raise the next Kenyan leaders. (I believe the current orphan statistic for Kenya is between 2 and 3 million for reference). Now, 88 children call Naomi’s Village home! These children have sponsors and they are raised by Kenyan staff who are called “aunties” and “uncles”. It’s been 7 years since I was last there and while I know the kids will probably not remember me, I am still so excited to see their smiling faces again!

And that is our big 2020 news!! 😉 We’re so excited to see what God does through us during this time and what impact this time at Naomi’s Village will have on our own lives! We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we prepare to go and also while we’re there. If you have questions or curious to know more, post a comment or send me a message! I’m more than happy to talk about it. 😉

Photo Credit to Erin Richins of the portrait of us!