Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Today we are excited to bring you another one of our special studio interviews, this time with members of our Dreamworld Outreach teams that went out to the nations in June.
Now they can speak a lot better to their stories and experience than I can, so I'm just going to toss it over to them. Enjoy.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Hello, everyone. My name is Alex Nguchu and a buddy of mine who actually did go on one of the DWO trips and I'll just give him a moment to introduce himself.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: Hello, guys. My name is Makai Baltimore, Maryland. I just came from the Kenya trip.
[00:00:41] Speaker D: Well, hello everyone. My name is Matt Slisher and I serve as the Global Ministries Assistant Director here at ELAM Fellowship.
And I'm excited to be here to talk with my friend Nora today about her experience with Dreamworld Outreach.
[00:00:57] Speaker E: I'm Nora Keir and I am a student at Elam Bible College, which is how I heard about the trip to Kenya through Elam Fellowship. I believe it was Alex who came and shared about what Elam Fellowship was doing. And I was like, I gotta do this.
So I signed up to go to Kenya and I just had an amazing experience there.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: So Makai is actually a student at ebc. Oh, he was a student at ebc. Are you done now? Graduated.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: I graduated.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Nice. What are you doing now?
[00:01:28] Speaker C: I'm still trying to figure that out.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: I'm just trusting God with the process.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:01:34] Speaker C: Just to see what he has for
[00:01:35] Speaker D: me and just to give everyone. In case you don't know what Dreamworld Outreach is, Dreamworld Outreach exists to spark a lifelong passion for reaching the loss for Christ through high impact short term mission trips. And so this year we launched three trips to Kenya, Kazakhstan and Mexico.
[00:01:52] Speaker E: That's something I also really liked about the Dreamworld Outreach is that our team consisted of people of all ages. And I noticed that in the other teams as well, especially when we came for the training. And it was just like a huge family.
And it was just super cool that it wasn't limited to a certain age group. And we just, I think it really helped the teams benefit from each other because some people had a lot of wisdom in one way and some people could connect with younger kids better or, you know what I mean? Like, it was, was just, it really benefited the team to have all different ages. It was super cool.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah. So let's talk about the DWO trip. I know it was advertised. I helped put all of that together. I helped put the flyers and all of that together. And you saw it at some point, I'm sure. And so I'm kind of curious what the deciding factor is. How you went from seeing this advertisement to making the decision to go. What was it that kind of caused that and motivated you?
[00:02:53] Speaker C: So I would say what I guess motivated me is that I just.
A couple, two years ago, I think I went to Rocco Blanca.
And just being there and experiencing that just made me realize that I definitely have somewhat of a heart for missions, even if it's short term or long term. So when I seen that Elam Fellowship was doing it, I wanted to go.
[00:03:15] Speaker E: So I had never been on an overseas missions trip before.
Uh, and I knew my whole life that it was something that I wanted to do.
Especially, I would say, around, like, sixth grade, I read the story of Amy Carmichael, and I just really felt drawn to missions at that point, specifically India.
And so I just. Like, throughout my high school years, I was like, well, I really feel called to missions. What is this going to be in my life? And I didn't really have any of the open doors yet. And so coming to Elam, I was like, okay, this is going to be my year. And, um, and so I was planning on going to Kenya with Elam Bible College, but the dates didn't really work out. And then I found out that Elam Fellowship was doing Kenya, and I was like, perfect. The stars are aligning. Um, and so, yeah, then I was just like, yeah, I'm definitely gonna go for it. Um, Kenya just seemed like the obvious answer for me. Um, it just seemed to be perfect, and it ended up being just right, just what I needed.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: So, yeah, I know one of the biggest things that people struggle with when it comes to missions trips is fundraising. I think it's one of the most intimidating things. It's like, am I able or will I be able to raise the money that I need for the trip? Is that something you struggled with?
[00:04:29] Speaker C: As I was just praying and seeing what, like, I guess how to find ways to get the money to be fundraised, I reached out to a few of my churches, and I think one of the most important things to do when you're asking for money or, like, just asking people to fundraise you is to message them personally and just to tell them about your trip. So I started doing that. And as I.
It took me a little bit of a while to do that, but as I started doing it, the funds just kept coming and coming and coming, and just having those real conversations with people just really helps to see why they support you and, like, what ways they can. So I just reached out to a lot of people.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I know you didn't do the, you didn't just go to the trip. We had a two day training right here on the EBC campus.
How did that go? Do you feel like that was something that impacted you and prepared you for the trip? Do you feel like just, let's talk about that a little bit.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: For the training. It definitely, I would say it helped a lot.
One, it gave us time, meaningful time to meet with our, I guess, teammates, people that we were going this trip with. And then also some of the messages that were given, like Dr. Case's one stood out a lot to me. Yeah, and it just helped with the cultural differences and just seeing how to approach it and just being there really helped a lot. It helped me learn personally. It helped our team grow together. And just, it's, I would say it's very important just to have that so you can go with a clear mind.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:56] Speaker E: When we were at Rahema home, we kind of noticed that different people's strengths would come out. And for me, I love to be with the really young kids and like, you know, the four or five, six year olds and we get to do all these games. And then there was a lady on our team who loved the infants and she would just stand there all day holding the little babies. And then another person on our team was really great with the older kids, the youth and the teenagers. And then our leader, Joan Wood, everyone called her Mama Jawan and she was just, you know, like the mother of everyone. And it was just so perfect how everyone came together and we were able to reach everybody. And then also Lorraine, she was on our team, she wrote a children's book and she's a grandmother and so she read this children's book about her granddaughter to all the little kids. And it was just so perfect how everyone's strengths came together and accomplished the goal that we had set out to do.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: So to be honest, my first thought about Africa is that I really just wanted to try what you call it, Ugali.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: That's valid, that's valid.
[00:07:05] Speaker C: Also helped me reason why I wanted to go. But it's like flour. Yeah, it's like flour. A lot of people from over there, they explain it as like grits.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Grits, yeah. It's the closest thing you can.
[00:07:19] Speaker E: But you also went to Kazakhstan.
[00:07:21] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:07:22] Speaker E: Yeah. And how was that for you?
[00:07:23] Speaker D: That was actually very, very impactful actually, because I served with my family, my wife and our children for seven years in Kazakhstan, actually in a different part of Kazakhstan. Than where we actually when where our team went. But it was really special actually because I got to go with my daugh, just graduated from college and so she was, she's in an in between stage of getting to the next stage of where she's going and she just really felt like she wanted to go back to where she spent the first five years of her life growing up. And so it was really special leading with her together, leading this team and being on this team and going to a place that was different from where, where we were used to but it was just a whole different experience being on the end of leading a short term team. In our years in Kazakhstan we had a lot of experience hosting team.
So actually when I was first asked they came and said hey, would you lead this team? They figured since you live there that you'd be great. I'm like yeah, but I've never led a team there. I've hosted teams. This is a whole different thing.
But it actually turned out to be amazing.
One of the things that kept coming up was this is a team that only God could put together.
And one of the verses that actually kept coming to mind is that I can't think of the reference but one generation will declare the, the glory of God or the works of God to another, right? And just seeing that at work. In our team we had a, we had a young person on our team who was just 16 and actually turned 17 on the trip and we had someone, a couple people as old as 70 that were I think in the early 70s and, and in between and so we had all generations together serving together.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: I remember when I came to the US the first time I landed, got off the plane and I remember that even the air just smelled different to me. This is the first time I'd ever left my country, my culture, my people. And so I remember getting off the plane and just looking around and being like, wow, this is a whole different part of the world. I'm curious what your first impression was when you got off that plane and realized that you are no longer at home.
[00:09:26] Speaker C: Yeah, when I first got off the plane I guess the first thing that stood out to me was just there was a lot of people at the airport, like as soon as, not even inside, as soon as we walked outside. Yeah, there was just this massive like crowd of people like come here.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, Yep, yep.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: I was just like, I was following our leader Jones. She was like, just go, don't worry about it. I was like, cool. Okay. Then we seen the Maasai people And they were all dancing and all.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Yep, yep, yep.
[00:09:53] Speaker C: It was a very, like.
I wouldn't say culture shock, but I was definitely shocked. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, I just. They were all very, I guess, welcomed me.
[00:10:05] Speaker D: Were there any expectations that you had before going on the trip and how were those expectations met or even challenged or different?
[00:10:16] Speaker E: Yeah, so I'm not really sure exactly what I expected specifically, but I guess as a whole, I just expected the Lord to work on me. Mostly.
I kind of felt, I guess, insignificant going out and trying to reach them, because it's like, I'm only here for a couple days. What can I really do? But I think the Lord challenged me to be mindful of what he was going to do through me.
And I actually happened to get a word From Pastor Phil McNeil Before I left, and it was very much directed toward me and what I would experience on this trip, the joy I would find in seeing other people serve the Lord. And so I think that was kind of what I expected out of the trip, is to be changed for myself and to hopefully have a clear direction of what the Lord wanted to do with my life, which he fully met that expectation from the very first day we landed.
And after I talked with Mark and Michelle for a while. Mark and Michelle, they were our hosts, and they took amazing care of us.
I know Alex Nguchu knows them really well, and they worked really tightly with Rahemaholm and just all the ministries we did.
But I talked with them for a long time, and from that first night, I was like, lord, I know that you have a plan for me back in the US Because I know you've called me to be a student, but how could you do this to me? I want to be in Kenya.
And so I know the Lord really clarified that to me that at some point I would be going out and doing missions.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: What's one story that's just. This was an unforgettable moment.
[00:12:06] Speaker C: The most impactful thing to me, I guess, when we were there was when we went to the slums.
As soon as we got out the car, we were just surrounded by, like, a lot of kids, and they were all, like, pulling on us and just tugging on us. Yeah, we.
Our leader, Joan, also gave us candy to, like, give out. So then even more kids came crowding us. But as we were just walking through the slums with John Chege, he was just showing us, you know, how the people live. He went to a son's house and just saying, one son's house was finished. One son's house was still in progress.
But just as we were walking through, just seeing how the people live, just, I don't know, it just.
It made me sad.
And just to realize, like, that's what they. That's how they live. That's their everyday life. They don't see anything different. But the guy who was walking us through, John Chege, he showed us his house and then he was just explaining, you know, the reason why he was where he would. Why. Why he was in the slums. Yeah, he was just telling us that, you know, he comes here to help out the kids.
He made a computer lab for them. And just the kids, the kids there, when they go to their schools, because of John Chege, their grades are rising, they're becoming better. And even, like, the teachers realize it as well.
He does a lot of ministry there. He takes a majority of the kids there to church every Sunday.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:41] Speaker C: And it just, you know, his obedience to the Lord and just him saying yes to living in the slums because he seeing that obedience really stood out to me.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: And just seeing the fruit from saying yes to God was another thing that stood out to me.
[00:13:58] Speaker E: Did you have any expectations when you went?
[00:14:02] Speaker D: Yeah, honestly, I had some expectations, but I had to be careful because part of my expectations were based on my previous experience.
[00:14:12] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:14:13] Speaker D: And I knew that where we were going, you know, was a different dynamic. You know, I wasn't going to be able to rely on the primary language that I was used to speaking, and I had some familiarity with the country and the culture and the people.
So there was that. But I also actually, I'm glad you asked that because that's actually one of the things that Lord challenged me personally in. In training week, because I'm a planner. I like to know things in advance. I like to know and know what to expect. And I just felt the Lord say, just let me surprise you to let
[00:14:41] Speaker E: go of the expectation.
[00:14:42] Speaker D: Let go?
[00:14:42] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:14:44] Speaker D: Like, okay, Lord, I can do this. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay if we don't know the plan.
But I think that was what really just helped me personally to say, okay, I'm not going to get frustrated when things don't go as I think they should go. I'm just going to go and with an open heart and serve my team.
Serve with my team and serve our hosts and let God do what. What God wants to do.
[00:15:05] Speaker E: We had a couple instances with that.
One of them is kind of funny.
So we had been painting this mural at Peffarounda and It was beautiful. I had, like, spent so long designing this mural, and I, like, it was just gorgeous. And I was so happy, and everyone was helping out, and we're literally almost done with it. Like, we're just doing all, like, the fine lines, you know, around the little words and stuff.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: And.
[00:15:34] Speaker E: And one of the people on our team was helping out, you know, and she stepped back, and a can of black paint was on a table, and it fell off the table and splattered all over the wall and the floor.
It was so unexpected, and, like, it was poor timing, but it was amazing to see how the team was, like, no judgment. It was just like, what can we do to help? Like, everyone just jumped right to work. No one made her feel bad. She had an amazing attitude, and it was just like, wow, this is like the dream team, because a can of black paint spilled everywhere. It's not fun to clean up, but everyone worked together. It was great.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Makai, I think this is a really cool full circle moment right now, because you visited something that. A place that's very special to me, and you got to, in a sense, understand my life a little more and get a glimpse of how I grew up.
And now here we are, years later, I'm on the other side of things, putting together, you know, helping to put together teams to go to somewhere that's really dear to me.
So I'm. I'm curious. What was it like doing ministry with the kids?
You know, sometimes I think we have an idea of what missions is going to look like, what ministry looks like. What was it like at the home with. With all those kids?
What did ministry at Rehema look like?
[00:17:00] Speaker C: I met this one boy named Case.
He was one of the kids that just stood up a lot to me, and I was able just to connect with him and talk with him.
And a lot of the older kids, I'm a lot better with youth. So I was just connecting with the youth and just hearing their stories and just me telling them stories. One of the funny things they told me was that they were asking me, like.
Cause we played basketball that day. And a couple days before, he was like, how long have you been playing basketball? And I was like, oh, I've been playing since I was, like, a little kid. And he was like, do you play, like, American football as well? And I was like, yeah.
I started in middle school, and then in eighth grade, I had to stop because I broke my rib. And he looked at me. He was like, you know. And that's when that came to start.
And I Was like, you know, true. That's fair.
But they were just, it was very funny.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Funny.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: We just played a lot of games with them. But just talking with them and just having fun was just very neat. And yeah, I really, I really enjoyed it though, just being there with the kids and they want us to come back. They also talk about you a lot. Every kid there, he's like, how's Alex doing it? Do you know Alex? I was like, yes.
But it was, it was fun.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: That's really cool.
[00:18:19] Speaker D: I think sometimes we think about, you know, what can we really do? We don't know the language, we don't know the culture. Right. But, you know, but you're, you're not just going, you're doing your own thing. You're investing in the long term. And we're working with long term established missionaries that Elam has close relationship with.
So I think that's the one of the power, powerful impacts of these trips. We're not just being scattered out like a shotgun and who knows where it'll hit. It's very strategic and it's through these relationships and partnerships that we're able to see long term kingdom impact.
[00:18:51] Speaker E: I would 100% recommend everyone to go on some sort of missions trip.
Short term probably would be the first step.
And Dreamworld outreach has really provided a great atmosphere for that because they already have people in those countries who are very solid there, they know the area and we're just sending a team to go join with them.
And I would say just in general, it's so beneficial to go on a missions trip because you do see the sacrifice of people. You see their yeses to the Lord and you see the fruit because of that. Even with the training that we did beforehand, a couple days, really preparing the teams to go out was super beneficial. And you just grow with the team. You're not alone. You're not like a little sheep without a shepherd.
You have a base, you have leaders who know what they're doing and really just the care and support that can help you start out your missions journey or whatever. Yeah. Our leader, Joan Wood, wrote a book. I think it's called Re Entry. But we went through it together at the end of the trip and she just encouraged us that it doesn't stop when we get back. Like coming back to normal is like, it's still the mission field.
And so, yeah, that's how it definitely impacted me.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Just the whole idea of giving your yes to God and saying yes to him.
And you did that with your own life and you've been doing it and you got to see other believers, John Chegga, for example, somebody else that just says yes to God.
And I think the best thing that anyone can do with their life is to give God their yes. I don't think there's any regret that comes with that. I'm encouraged just seeing you walk into what God is calling you into and living that out, I think it's the best decision any of us can ever make.
And I hope I stick around enough to continue seeing you say those yeses and be able to witness everything that God has for you.
[00:20:57] Speaker D: And I hope this, this has been encouraging to all of you. And, and if any, I just want to encourage you if you, if you feel God is prompting your heart or to take a next step to say yes to missions. And that next step could be signing up for a Dream World outreach trip in 2027. We have teams going to Kenya, Mexico, back to Kazakhstan. We have a trip going to New York City.
So I encourage you to just go to our website, fill out the interest form and we'll be in touch with you. We would be happy to have a conversation with you to see how we can partner with you.
You giving your yes to the Lord.
[00:21:39] Speaker E: That was fun.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: Thank you for watching. We have so many more amazing episodes to share with you, both upcoming and on our website, so make sure you check them out wherever you get your podcasts. For even more amazing content, go to elamfellowship.org and check out the Hub. Not only are all the well podcasts there, but there is so much more content for you. If this message was meaningful to you, please show your support by liking, subscribing and sharing this channel. And drop your thoughts down below. It really does make a big difference for us. So until next time, I'm Thomas and we will see you around the well.
