The Swahili word for mercy is Rehema. And mercy is at the heart of Rehema Home – an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, that offers a new life to children who have been orphaned, abandoned or abused.

Our Kenya mission team just returned from Nairobi, where they spent 10 days serving the 60 children who call Rehema their home.

We recently sat down with one of our mission team members, Sue Bender, to talk about her experience.

Q. What made you decide to take that leap and sign up for a mission trip halfway around the world?

A. Well, people who know me well won’t be surprised to hear that I didn’t do any research or deeply analyze the decision. I just saw the mission trip video in church and I had this gut feeling that it was time for me to go. I used to go on mission trips back in college, but it must be about 14 years since the last time I went. But I’ve been so blessed at Hoboken Grace with support and community, that it felt like I had a strong base and it was time for me to stretch myself again.

Q. What did you do at Rehema Home?

A. Our time at Rehema Home was split between working on small repair projects around the home, like painting and finishing a new bathroom, and spending time playing with and getting to know the kids. I was actually really nervous about leading activities for the kids. Keeping 60 kids of all different ages interested and entertained for more than about five minutes seemed like a daunting task. But in the end, it was the simplest little things that captured the kids’ imagination. Thumb wars and hangman were the most popular games – I can’t tell you how many games of thumb war I played.

And then there was one day when I was sitting in a circle with some of the kids and kind of absent-mindedly rubbing a little boy’s back. I started tracing a word on his back for him to guess – a game my mom used to play with me – and before I knew what was happening, all the kids were running around, tracing letters on each other and laughing. I told them the game was called blackboard, and by the time we left, all the kids were calling me “blackboard.” That was not something I had planned on doing, it was just a piece of my childhood that came out, and now that little game is part of their childhood too.

Q. What memory from the trip will always stay with you?

A. There was a five-year-old boy at Rehema called Kelly, but we all called him Mr. Giggles, because every conversation with him quickly dissolved into laughter. One day we were sitting on the swings next to each other. We were talking and giggling and pumping our legs, seeing who would be the first one to swing high enough to kick the leaves on the nearby tree. I remember the sunlight and his giggles, and the feeling of the air underneath me as I swung back and forth. I prayed that I would never forget that moment. As beautiful as that memory is, it breaks my heart a little every time I think about it. Will Kelly even live to be my age? He’s part of the precious moment I got to experience. Will he get to grow up and experience something like that? I don’t know.

Q. How do you think this trip has changed you?

A. I think this trip has changed how I look at needs versus wants. We’re so privileged, and yet we make ourselves miserable confusing wants with needs, luxuries with necessities. All we really need is a roof, clothes, food and love. These are real needs, and while we are chasing our wants, the kids at Rehema Home are struggling to get these most basic of all needs.

Q. What advice would you give someone thinking about going on a mission trip?

A. Don’t overthink it. And don’t worry about whether you’re really the best person to help tile a bathroom or teach 60 kids arts and crafts. Just go, be present, and let God do the rest.