[ overflowing blessings ]

I am officially settled in and the apartment feels so much like home now. In just a short amount of time my housemates, Emily Rice and Bethany Mast, and I have made this empty place to a place we can call home. My housemates and I were able to put together a list, a long list, of items we need for our home. Yesterday morning we left our apartment virtually empty besides a few hospitality items. We sincerely had nothing of our own. And then, God blessed US!

Besides buying a few smaller items,sets of plates, and food... the Lord gave us EVERYTHING we needed. Every single item on our list was given to us some way or another! Many people from Rosslyn left last school year and left items designated to my housemate! Down to "cooking spray" and "clothes pins." In a 12 hour span we went from nothing to having too many items! The LORD is GOOD. House appliances are very expensive here and we were blessed to get a microwave, toaster, mixer, and a hot water warmer. I could not help but tear up and thank God for every item that I pulled out of tubs that were given to us. Now, I am able to begin to save up to pay off my school loans!

We are blessed. You are blessed. I dont believe we realize how blessed we are! I too, need to put even more faith in Jesus Christ into our lives. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ FULLY, amazing things happen! All honour and glory to God!

[ what a life. ]

what a life. its unreal to think that just a few days ago i was on the other side of the world. and now, i am here. in AFRICA. its definitely a crazy, quick change. the transition has been good. besides a few mishaps, missing friends, and family ive been blessed with a transition with absolutely no jet lag. i slept 9 hours the first night and 12 hours the second night. many of the other missionary teachers coming still can not sleep the whole night. please be praying for all of us and a smooth transition and SLEEP!

the scenery here is just beautiful. even though its winter there are flowers everywhere. i am still trying to grasp how it can be WINTER and there can be flowers, green grass, and absolutely no frost or snow. its truly unreal. it really makes me think how it is to have summer at Christmas time! not to mention my door and window is opened!

nothing really happening at the school besides moving in, transitioning, getting use to everything, etc...many people coming back from furlough and unpacking! workers are cleaning out the school and preparing for school to start in a week and half!


i can already tell that i am in a whole different world here. life is much, much slower. there is not any pressure on hurrying up and rushing. its all about enjoying life and taking your time. which of course, has its disadvantages. but for now, its really nice for new people like me!


i just finished finally putting away and unpacking all my suitcases. it took for a few days, but my room feels more like a home now! i am about to go boil water to put into the filter. you can not drink the water from the tap. and when you buy any fruit, veggie or egg you have to let it set in bleach water for 20minutes. its no biggie though, its just life here!

later today ill finally be able to get into my classroom. i went a few days ago but i was asked to come back so they could clean my room again. i did not dispute especially since i saw at least 25 dead grasshoppers and insects everywhere. :) i guess its better than spiders!

well, i better get working! blessing to you all!

[ My Flight ]

Here are a few words that will summarize my flight experience: 49.5 - broken - marriage - indian

My interesting flight begin to be memorable right from the beginning. The flight representatives were already shocked that one flight person was carrying five bags, but hey, i moved halfway accross the world! And it was absolutely hilarious to see them weigh my bags. After much puzzling and weighing the night before with my family, I made sure that each of my suitcases were at the limit weight: 50 pounds. And as each bag went on the scales it kept reading 49.5. It was hilarious! Although, one of my bags was a tad over but he was nice enough not to charge me!

I made it to the Chicago airport. I was awful bored there, especially in the international terminal but that soon diminished when I was asked to be a WITNESS to a wedding! A couple was on the same flight as I towards Africa for a safari and to be married in Africa! Unfortunately they were told that they had to get married in the states first in order for the Kenyan wedding to be official. So right in the middle of the international terminal they had a wedding! And no, I am not kidding. It was quite the experience.

I made it to London, finally, and I was waiting in this very long security line when I noticed that a young indian boy was looking at me and then whispering to his mother. and then he looked at me again and then whisper. at this point i had no sleep whatsoever, but i smiled at him and said "hello." and he said "hello. why are you so white?" and me (not having sleep) said, "because i come from ohio, and there isnt much sun there." (okay..that was a dumb answer but i was TIRED!) the boy turned at his mom and whispered some more and the boy looked back at me and said, "we are from ohio too..." haha..i didnt know how to respond and luckily they were next for security! :)

the air flight from London to Nairobi was not that fantastic especially since my TV screen was broken. and there was not any other places to change seats at. so i spent nine hours looking out the window and swinging my legs. but its all good because i am here...SAFE on Rosslyn Academy campus. It is very beautiful here. I will post pictures when I get time.

miss you and love you all very mucH! thank you for coming with me on this journey! :)

[ preparation ]

As I stand here in your presence,
Of your beauty I will always stand in awe,
I reach my hands out to the heavens, yeah,
And I lift my voice to you alone, To you alone,

As I bow my head before you,
I lay my burdens down at your nail pierced feet,
Every ounce of you radiates your glory,
With you I know that I'm complete

And I sing Hallelujah,
You are my God, Maker of the heavens,
Hallelujah, You are my LORD,
I bow before your presence,

As I stand here in your presence,
Of your beauty I will always stand in awe,
I reach my hands out to the heavens, yeah,
And I lift my voice to you alone,
And I sing Hallelujah,
You are my God, Maker of the heavens,
Hallelujah, You the LORD of all, Maker of all the heavens,
I can only kneel before your presence,
All the nations praise your Holy Name,
You are the great I Am, More than I can reason,
I realize more that I am needing you,

You are worthy, you are worthy LORD,
You are worthy, You are worthy,
You are mighty, You are mighty,
You are mighty, You are holy,
You are mighty, You are holy.

-jeremy camp-

Despite the very busy time preparing to move overseas I keep finding myself at the end of the day on my knees thanking God and praying that I can be everything He desires me to be. Secretly, my heart is stirring and changing so drastically. I have many requests to take care of, things to organize, items to take care, people to talk to, and countless other expectations but in the end, I can do nothing but answer to our God, our Lord, and our wonderful Savior. Everything that I thought was a priority as become nothing compared to my priority of awesome making God everything He is and deserves to be. I very much see now the areas I need to work on to make myself everything for the Lord. Yes, it takes time to work on problems areas in your life. But in the end, God will say to you, "Well done my faithful servant."

As the days grown closer to my departure I can feel myself changing every single day. I know, I know without a doubt, that God is going to be doing some amazing things with my life in Kenya over the next few years. I feel entirely blessed and grateful that He has picked me to be blessed with such a vision.

I pray that you are seeking God's desire for your life because He has an amazing vision for each of you too, a beautiful amazing vision. All you have to do is ask Him for it and He will show you when the time is right. I encourage you to get on our knees and give it all to Jesus. Give him your family, your friends, your boyfriend/husband, your insecurities, your worries, your whole life . . . and most of all, your heart. Take back your heart from those who make it weak and give it to Jesus to make it strong.

In the end, you will be living a life of true worship.

in His service always and forever,
melissa a. brown

[ CONTACT INFORMATION ]

If you desire to stay in contact with me while overseas, here is the information below!


Rosslyn Academy
Attn: Melissa A. Brown
P.O. Box 14146
Nairobi
00800
KENYA

website: www.heartforkenya.blogspot.com

email: melissa.a.brown@live.com

skype: mab16618


Many Blessings!


melissa a. brown

[ the transition period ]

i must admit the transition is unlike anything i have really experienced. its somewhat like planning your own funeral and being there at the same time. its quite an unusual experience. i knew this time would be happening, but i did not realize how this experience would pan out. and i will admit, its much harder than I expected as well. Selling my larger items, especially my college car was especially difficult for me yesterday. watching someone else drive away with my car brought nothing but tears. at the end of each day of this transition period, i must lay my head down, close my eyes, and think about the people and children i will be affecting through Jesus Christ.

my heart has always been for africa. i know that my home is in africa. it has been my dream and God's vision for me to move to africa. but i can not deny that my comfort zone is surely in the states. even though i have some feelings of sadness, loss, and loneliesness its just part of the process! overall, the time has been very successful thus far. i have been blessed to have my car be sold within six hours of it on craigslist! in addition, i thought i would have to drive hours to receive special shots and it turns out they called me and said i would be able to get them only an hour and a half away!

prayer. please be in prayer during this time for me. the more prayer the better. i can not do this without Jesus Christ and I can not do it without prayers. thank you in advance!

many blessings to you all!

[ 25 Days and Counting ]

It is hard to believe that in 25 short days I will be making the journey to east Africa. Many of you have asked, 'are you ready?' And my answer, 'no!' It seems so unreal that I am actually leaving. Besides beginning to clean out my room of years and years of papers, books, and junk that I have collected during my college education ... I have not started a thing of preparation! Like I wrote, it seems so unreal that I am actually leaving. I have been waiting for this day for YEARS. YEARS. And finally it has come ... dreams really do come true. I knew all along that God's hand was upon this vision and dream. And He has blessed me with this amazing opportunity to work at such a great school!

[ Off to Africa I shall GO! ]

With absolutely excitement, humbleness, and praise I would like to announce that I have a scheduled departure date and placement to begin ministry in east Africa! After much prayer and changes, and more changes (after all, its Africa .. things change all the time!) I will be teaching overseas at Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi, Kenya. Rosslyn Academy is a developing school on the outskirts of the capitol. It is considered a very good school compared to many of the schools offered in the area. I will be at this school for 2 to 3 years. I will be teaching Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Bible to a group of 5th graders. My departure date is the last week of July, as the school year will begin the second week of August. I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity to serve Jesus as a missionary teacher in Africa! It will be hard to leave such wonderful people here in the States, including my family, friends, and church family. But I know that you will all be in my heart and will be praying for me as I begin this amazing journey! May all the glory go to our Great God!