Three Months in Kenya, 2011

Final Days in Kenya

2011-09-01T04:16:00.000-04:00

We're coming to the final days of this trip to our beloved Kenya. We've had many adventures, made new friends, enjoyed old friends and experienced the beautiful African landscape here in the Rift Valley. Here's a couple of collages to show what we did this weekend.

This was a competition we went to. Tamasha played, we watched dramas and a beautiful acapela choir sang for us.

We were invited to visit friends of Petranilla's. Their youngest daughter was being sent off to university with blessings, words of advice and prayers.

We spent a lot of time with the Kingdom Hikers. They have become our sons and daughters. They will make change happen in Kenya because of their love of God.

And we visited George's parent's home in the up country. I have pictures posted on my web albums.

Final plans are to have kids day Friday, September 2, a pastor's conference on September 8th, a ladies' gathering, another fundraiser for the church building, Noah will preach at another church Sunday, the 4th, visit friends in their homes, and distribute school fees to the adopted children. (see http://kenyalearn.blogspot.com) It's not too late to claim a child. Please write me at rcvkenya@gmail.com

Please continue to pray for us. We feel your support and love everyday. Pray also for our flight home. I'll probably post one more blog before we come home.
Miss you all and we love you!

The King's Daughters

2011-08-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

It’s getting close to time running out here in Kenya. We’ve been here over 9 weeks and have 3 weeks left. Sometimes things go slow and it seems nothing is happening. This is where we were at about 2 weeks ago. We prayed that God would make our last month here the best and that is what He is doing.

Kingdom Hikers had a great talent show. Many participated and were encouraged and excited to continue the path they have been on.

Pastors meetings have grown with now over 12 pastors from many different churches in Nakuru. They come to learn and share their faith. When Godly men get together things change and that is what is happening.

The men in the church are becoming more and more committed. They had a cookout this Sunday. They want to be together more. Just going to church on Sunday isn’t enough anymore.

The women had our first conference. It was truly glorious. Let me share with you the some details of that conference……

We started talking about this conference and set a date of August 13^th. At that meeting the ladies just wanted me and Yahshanna to just do the conference. They wanted to invite outside speakers. I told them this should be their conference and that they had so much to give. I encouraged them to seek God and make this conference come from their own hearts. After a lot of discussion, in which I would not back downJ they finally agreed to teach. We chose subjects for each of the ladies to talk about. It was a good meeting.

Then we had to post pone the date because of Mary’s husband’s death. A few weeks later we met again in George’s van, while it was raining goats and cows outside, because we had no where else to meet. We set a new date and finalized our plans. At last the day arrived.

The conference started at 9:00 am African time. The night before the electricity went off and was still off that morning. George had to go down to the electric office to get someone to come and find out what the problem was and how to fix it. If he hadn’t gone we wouldn’t have been able to shower and get ready to go. So we were grateful even though it put us behind time. Simon and Kenford went ahead early to set up sound. They were helpful all day running errands for us. Simon wanted to dance for us but we drew the line there. No men at the ladies conference please.

Tara and Yahshanna went ahead at 8:30am to help with the decorations. Yahshanna made flowers out of pink and white napkins since we couldn’t find any crepe paper. I decided to wait for Nellie. It was already 9:30 and she hadn’t even got dressed yet so I was feeling a little anxious. Finally we left the house and took a Matatu (a van used for public transportation) to the church. The man wanted to charge extra because of my white skin but Nellie refused. So we got there at about 10:00 am. Besides the ladies setting up there was only one other guest there. That was Ninette with her baby and two young boys. She won the gift, a nice bible cover, for being the first one there. Later Ziporah stood up to say she was the one that invited Ninette and she was late getting there. She said, “I repent for being late”.

Mary and Nellie and Petranilla started singing and praying as we waited for more women to arrive. By 11:00 am we had enough ladies to get started. Remember the conference started at 9:00 am…. African time.

We chose the theme ‘the Kings Daughters’. We are daughters of the King of Kings and we are His queen waiting for Him to come. We want to be ‘all glorious within’. So we began teaching and encouraging each other to godliness. The women received so much. They are not only hearers of the Word but doers.

Nellie taught about worship from Psalm 95 and John 14:19-24. She said worship is for anytime and anywhere. She told a story about how she used to take her lunch break at school to pray and worship God. She got in trouble once for not showing up for lunch but when she explained to the teacher what she was doing it was ok.

When Mary our priestess taught on forgiveness she told how God moved in her heart to forgive the man that killed her husband in a traffic accident. She said she couldn’t teach until she found that forgiveness. She was so bright and happy. Freedom is found in forgiveness.

Yahshana taught about teaching children. She’s been diligently teaching the children during church service the whole time we’ve been here. She told us all women are teachers. God shows us how by letting us learn from our mistakes, getting input from other sisters, and by changing our hearts. Don’t say, “I am not a teacher”. God will show you how if you ask Him. Matthew 7:7. Then she sang the song, Let the Children Come. It was sweet and very inspiring.

Tara tearfully spoke about how good it is to have friends who will encourage you in God. She shared about her experience in finding true friends in the church and encouraged everyone to keep their hearts open to each other.

Mary (Lloyd’s mother) is the behind the scenes lady in the church. She is there early to decorate and set up before gatherings. Telling the story of Rahab, she said we should all be hospitable, entertaining strangers, as Rahab became one in the line of Christ’s linage. Hospitality is a work that goes without notice and that is how it should be.

Petranilla refered to Psalm 31 and also told the stories of Naomi, Ruth and Rahab. Naomi left her home but was not afraid to turn back when she saw her mistake. Ruth was loyal. Rahab didn’t allow her weakness to keep her from serving God.

I talked about how to resolve conflicts. We need to be humble with each other and not place blame. We should go to each other and not let conflicts build up inside our hearts.

Since the conference the ladies have been practicing what was taught. One testimony was from Seline. She said she learned how to humble herself. A friend owed her money so she went to her house to see if she could get the money back. It ended up in a fight. The woman actually tore her clothes fighting with her. When she went home her husband asked her what happened. She told the story and he said she should go to the police. She said no. She wanted to go back and make it right. She went to see her friend not knowing what reaction she would find. She told her she was sorry for coming at the wrong time. Her friend cried and asked Seline to forgive her. They were reconciled because Seline humbled herself.

In conclusion we read 1 Peter 4:7-11

Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. Above all, maintain an intense love for each others since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God's words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen

Now with 2 weeks to go they want to have another conference. Well….. I don’t know if that’s possible but we will get together and have a ladies' gathering to share more testimonies of life’s lessons. With sincere hearts we will work together and worship God until we meet again.

Answered Prayer

2011-08-23T07:18:00.001-04:00

Before we came this time, Noah suggested we help the kids with their schooling by sponsoring and adopting a child by paying for their school fees, uniforms and books. This would amount to about $200 a year per child. He called it L.E.A.R.N. – letting educational adoption reshape Nakuru. I loved the idea and claimed it as mine. I realize we don’t want to just do a humanitarian thing. We will need to work together with the church to make it happen. They will give us a list of names of the kids who need help. We’ll take pictures and the kids will write letters to their sponsors. We don’t want this to become simply a financial endeavor but rather a matter to build the faith of these kids and their families. They will write the letters and have their pictures taken with no promise of support. They will be encouraged to pray and ask God to send them a special person to not just send money to them, but to communicate and pray with throughout their schooling. This will be a matter of building their faith, not just giving them money.

We now have 9 kids that have applied for sponsorship.

We will soon have many more.

You can click on this link http://kenyalearn.blogspot.com/

to find out about this program and how you can become a sponsor.

Kingdom Hikers had a great talent show. Many participated and were encouraged and excited to continue the path they have been on.

The men in the church are becoming more and more committed. They’re planning a cookout this Sunday. They want to be together more. Just going to church on Sunday isn’t enough anymore.

The women had our first conference last Saturday. It was truly glorious. Let me share with you the details of that conference……

but first I'm going to take a break from writing the LEARN BLOG.

A Memorable Weekend

2011-08-09T06:56:00.000-04:00

It’s been fun having Doug and Tara with us. Brandon has really fit in well with the Kingdom Hikers and is very helpful when we need him. He’s very flexible and a servant, like his dad. He even goes with us on shopping trips to help carry our bags.

The talent show was a great success. There were about 150 people throughout the day. Preparations were interesting. We had several meetings to plan the day. Hikers took responsibility for different things to do. Yashana was very deliberate about having a banner for them. She wanted vinyl. We couldn’t find it but she was a dog on a bone. Finally she decided to let it go and gave it up. We went to town that day. As we were riding down a street we happened to see a little store with rolls of vinyl out on the side walk. We both shouted to George, “STOP! Let us out here.” What else could he do? He stopped and we jumped out and got some red vinyl for about $4. I looked at Yahshana and told her, “God loves you”. He does. She has been “wonderful” to have here. The Hikers love her because she loves them and pours herself out for them.

Now let me tell you all about the popcorn. We were planning snacks for the kids and she, of course, wanted to pop popcorn. I’m practical so I suggested we just buy it from one of the popcorn street vendors. It’s only 10 cents a bag. But no, she wanted to do it herself. Ok, whatever (sorry ShammahJ So Friday we started. She was in the kitchen popping so I got the little bags out and started filling them. After about 25 bags she was wondering why she wanted to do this. Only 175 bags to go. We couldn’t find the stapler so we had all these open bags of popcorn on the dining room table. We finally decided to tape them closed and after about 6 hours and 5 people working on it we had 196 bags. They loved it! Ah, a labor of love.

Noah and George worked on setting up the tent. George was amazed at Noah’s skills at constructing an extension to the tent and clearing the grounds. Hikers washed the tent, cut the grass and edged the fence with only machetes, helped with the addition to the tent and other things - I don’t remember them all.

We rented some instruments and finally the big day came. It was a great day. The kids were so encouraged as we clapped and hooted and joined in on the fun, singing and dancing all day. They gave glory to God in everything they did. It reminded me of the days chosen were doing Winddance and Kula, glorifying God with the life He put in their hearts. It was a great day! We all came home pleasantly tired.

Sunday morning came too soon. We were all tired but ready to go again. Showers, breakfast, clean up, get dressed and we’re off by 9:30 am. Doug spoke a good word about friendship followed up by Noah, then George. We could hear Yahshana in the background teaching the kids how to throw Jonah into the whale. She sewed together bean bag Jonahs and made a fish out of a cardboard box.

After the regular service we had a ‘fund raiser’ to raise money for a building to replace the tent. We had no idea what to expect. The ladies wanted me, Yash, and Tara to lead the ladies to give. We weren’t sure what they meant by that but decided to do a dance to ‘Sing to Jesus’. We practiced and were ready to go. For some unknown reason they chose Mary (Lloyd’s mom) and me to be the ‘distinguished guests’, put a tag on us and seated us in front. Then they started calling up different groups of people to put money in the basket. Some came. Then Mary our priestess came up with money and a big basket full of vegetables…yes…. Vegetables, she had grown herself.

Then Gideon started the auction. Corn went for 10-30 shillings, the cabbages went for 30 – 100 shillings, a bag of carrots for 300 shillings and the biggest take was a bunch of green onions for 950 shillings. It was all organic. My dream auction!

Gideon kept trying to get Noah to give something. He kept refusing until finally he gave Gideon a challenge. He said he would give 1000 shillings if he and Simon, Lloyd and Kenford would run around the tent 3 times waving their hands in the air shouting Halleluia! They did it! Then Doug challenged Gideon to stand in front and not talk or laugh or smile for 100 shillings a minute up to 5 minutes. Now Gideon is only quiet when he’s eating so this was a strong challenge. He only lasted one minute. Others took the challenge. They only lasted a minute except for one lady lasted 2 minutes. Everyone cheered and tried to make them laugh. It was fun and Fred was happy to add another 500 shillings to the basket. In the end they raised 12,700 shillings. That’s about $140.

By the time this was over we were pretty tired and hungry. But alas, it’s not over yet. Ziporah’s husband came to church and said he wanted to be baptized so George and Noah stayed to talk to him. The ladies went home to wait. When they finished talking to him they came home at about 3:30 pm pretty tired and hungry. So we all went out to eat at Gilani’s. After we ate Tara and Yahshana decided to do a little ‘window shopping’. We all came home satisfied.

We fought some battles this week but in the end all is well. What a good weekend this was!

The Second Team - Coming Soon!

2011-07-29T13:56:00.000-04:00

It’s getting very close to time for our second team to arrive. The house got pretty quiet when Tabach and Chloe left and we’re ready for some new stimulation. Now Michelle is enough stimulation for a pretty big crowd but she’s a 2 ½ year old and it isn’t exactly the kind of stimulation we’re looking for. Sometimes we want her to go bother someone else for awhile. So we tag team her. Yahshana gets the most of this type of stimulation because she shares a room with Beatie who is Michelle’s nanny. This morning she came into the kitchen and wanted to play in the dish water. Yashana was ready for her to go into the other room so we could get done, but I felt the grace this time, which is rare. Yashana has A LOT of grace. I decided to let her help out, put her on a stool and let her wash a few dishes. Michelle was delighted!! And I had fun. Yashana took some pictures and then we were done. Little Michelle is so sweet and loving and very smart. She helps me when I miss my grandkids - which is most all the time. We actually consider her one of ours too.

Our Kingdom Hikers meeting was at the new land in the tent for the first time. We bought sodas and cookies for snacks and had a lively discussion to plan for the Talent Show coming up on August 6^th. Please pray for this event. They really want to reach out to the youth in Nakuru and help support each other in Christian fellowship.

Sunday’s gathering was good. It seems each week they get better. During the worship I went with Yashana to watch her teach the kids. She’s awesome with them.

She told the story of Elijah with her flannel graphs.

Then we all turned toward the little door because Simon and Lloyd peeked in. These two friends are inseparable. Lloyd was responsible for leading Simon out of gang life and into God’s life a few years ago. They are best friends. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Lloyd since we got here. We hadn’t seen Lloyd yet because he’s been away at boarding school. The two of them together remind me of those young Hebrew boys who went through the fiery furnace together. Simon and Lloyd are just like them.

As the singing died down I went back into the tent. Noah retold an awesome story from the bible about Naaman. It was so good I am including it here in this blog below:

Lessons from 2 Kings Chapter 5 and the Story of Naaman
This is an awesome story and without much effort we can find some wonderful truths contained in it. Naaman was a good man. He was a real ‘man’s man’. He was a famous and a respected national hero.He had the admiration of his King, the love of his household, his servants, (even the captured servant girl from Israel liked him), the men he commanded and the gratitude of his country. God had mightily used him to conquer their enemy Israel. He was probably wealthy and as stated very highly respected. He seemed to have had it all with the exception of one problem. He had leprosy.His wife’s servant girl, quite on her own, suggested an answer to his problem. There was a prophet in Israel who could heal. It seemed worth a try, but being a man under authority he sent his request to the King.The King of Syria loved the idea and sent a letter to the King of Israel to take care of his general. The King of Israel having no relationship with God freaked out. Elisha, who did have a relationship with God heard about it and said, “send him to me”.Now this great and famous man really had two major problems. He could only see the more obvious one but God saw them both. And his leprosy was not his main problem. His main problem was the leprosy within ....pride. For that would keep him from ever knowing the one true God. So God began to deal with both the leprosy and the pride.Naaman rides up to Elisha’s house with great pomp and ceremony. He imagined he knew just how God was going to heal him; and it would be glorious. Being a great man there needed to be a great healing. But God had other plans. He usually does.As Naaman pulled up with all his entourage to Elisha’s house he waited for Elisha to come out and wave his hand over the great general and his God would send down from heaven a beam of glorious light containing his healing….or something like that. So he waited for the great man of God to come out. And he waited, and waited, and waited.Elisha doesn’t even come out. He sends his servant out to tell this great warrior to go take a bath. Not just one bath seven of them. Can you imagine how Elisha’s servant must have felt? How would you like to go out and tell this man who conquers nations to go take a bath?Naaman was furious. How dare this hick prophet not come out and honor him. The rivers of Israel were but mud streams compared to the rivers of Syria. This is stupid. So off he goes totally irritated and indignant.Thank God for good friends. Naaman had some real friends in his servants. They risked his wrath and indignation to say …. “Hey; if the prophet would have asked you to do something big you would have done it, why not do what he says and see what happens?” They knew about Naaman’s pride.Well Naaman recants’ cause he’s not only a good man but a wise one to boot. Yet all he can do is dip seven times in the Jordan. Not wash …dip. His faith is small but enough. Several times while dipping he probably looked at his servants and men as if to ask… “Are you sure about this?” But the seventh time he dipped the proof that there was a man of God in Israel who knew the one true God was manifested.Filled with gratitude he returns to Elisha’s house and offers him a reward. He is clean inside and out. He has had an encounter with the living God. He got saved. Elisha says no because he really is a man of God. Real men of God don’t take money for things that God does. Remember what Abraham said after rescuing the kings? Hallelujah! He cares about God getting glory than his getting rich.Naaman has truly been converted; but he knows that he must go back and serve his heathen King. So he asked if would be alright if when his King went in the Temple to serve his false god if he could keep helping his king worship. What’s amazing to me is that Elisha says ….go in peace. God never puts more on his new born children than they can bare. See (Acts 15:28)But a double minded servant of Elisha’s by the name of Gehazi is plotting how he can “turn a few bucks” from this event. He figures serving God is ok but nothing wrong with making a few dollars in the process. He thinks no one will be the wiser anyway so he heads out to intercept Naaman.Naaman sees Gehazi and stops. Being so happy and extremely grateful for his healing and revelation of God he gives Gehazi what he asks for.When Gehazi returns he is greeted by his master with some terribly bad news …. “Gehazi you have broken my heart and defamed God”. Do you know where Naamans leprosy went? It was looking for another home and it has found you. Gehazi went out a little richer and full of leprosy.Some spiritual lessons really emerge from this story. The first of which is our Father loves people who do the best they can with what they have no matter what they have done previously in ignorance. Naaman was a good man… just not a spiritual one. Much like Job who went from good to godly; Naaman was found by a God who was looking for him.Secondly; our ideas of how God should help us can really be a hindrance to … God helping us. Best thing to do when in need is to take what comes from God’s hand and not to question how it comes. Like the Syro-Phonecian woman who asked healing for her daughter and go called a dog. We should always remember that God is after more than what we’re asking for Him for. He is always considering our eternal well being over our temporal well being.Third; Better hope you have surrounded yourself with people who care more about you more than how you feel about them. If Naaman,s servants had not have had the courage to risk his wrath and correct him Naaman would have died in a leper colony.Fourth; Men in whom God entrusts His power to, are not in it for the money and them seeking it will ruin them. Godly men’s aspiration is to bring God glory not to obtain money.Fifth; Hanging around or even living with godly men does not ensure their godliness will rub off on you. And it’s foolish to think that God doesn’t see everything you do. Sometimes there’s a little Gehazi in all of us.Hopefully we have included in the collection of our relationships a few of Naaman’s friends. More hopefully we will listen when they speak.

I may be a bit prejudiced but I think he's a great story teller and gave a good message that we can all apply to our lives. People got excited. George spoke some clear words about following God in everything. Mary was back for the first time since her husband died. She said she didn’t want to stay away as long as the custom of grieving allows. She would have been here last week but she was sick. She thanked everyone for all the support she and her family were given.

Then she went into a story about how wonderful her husband was and how God had prepared for the time of his departure from this earth. They had a conversation and Syrus (Mary’s husband) told her he wanted to be a part of the church and he wanted to give his tithe. Mary really does believe. She was looking for the tithe she was sure he must have left behind and couldn’t find it. Suddenly, while she was at his coffin God showed her his wedding ring. This was the tithe he had left behind. She called the funeral home man and asked him to give her the ring. As she told this story she was bright and shining as if she were in the presence of God. That is why we call her our “priestess”.

After the gathering Noah spoke to the men. They’re growing strong in their faith and love and desire to hear the undiluted message of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Keep praying for us. God is strongly supporting our work here. He is the King of Glory!

We’re counting the days until our second team arrives. Karibu to Doug, Tara and Brandon!

Last week.... late blog post

2011-07-28T14:08:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I go to bed at night wondering what is my purpose here? I have no doubt I am supposed to be here. Not in a way of distress but I think it’s good to examine yourself and look for guidance. So I am doing just that.

I believe God is laying a strong foundation here. The bricks are being made ready for the building of the wall – the men, then the women will have a safe place to add an expression of the loveliness of this life.

Elizabeth

For the past 2 evenings we’ve met with the leaders here in our living room. Thursday Noah taught a strong word on the dangers of kingdom life. Strongholds are beginning to be pulled down. Friday’s meeting was questions and discussion. Noah was able to impart more of what God has taught us about living a corporate life. Then Petranilla asked if receiving the Holy Spirit was evidenced by speaking in tongues. That became a lively discussion as you can only imagine. We were talking about Christians who come to church, speak in tongues but live a life of sin throughout the week. You can surely fake speaking in tongues and it cannot be used as evidence of whether someone has the Holy Spirit or not. In the midst of that discussion Elizabeth – she is one of Mary Priestess’s sisters in law and has just started coming to our gatherings. I like her a lot. She smiles and is cheerful all the time – anyway, she got up and walked out. I was hoping we hadn’t offended her. Then George followed her out and came back with her. We asked if she was offended and she said emphatically “no!”. She needed to get home before it got too late. George offered to drive her home so she stayed for the rest of the discussion and had chai with us. Near the end she made a profound statement. She said, “if you don’t have the Holy Spirit you can’t do this.” (‘this’ referring to living a life of godliness). It was so simple. That is the evidence – that we walk in obedience, loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.

Saturday morning is our ‘sleep in’ morning. We have breakfast at 8:00 instead of 7:30. Chloe never could figure that one outJ When I got up I found Beatie and Yahshanna in the kitchen, the later looking rather perplexed. We had run out of propane so Beatie was making coals in the little cooker on the floor. Yahshana was trying to figure out how to make French toast on the little coal cooker on the floor. I came in a suggested we just put it up on the counter by the sink and use the cast iron pan thing they use to cook chapati on. Yahshana whipped up some eggs, I added cinnamon, she added milk. I started dipping the bread in the egg mixture and Beatie took over grilling the French toast. Nellie came in to see what we were up to. What started out as a problem turned into a lot of fun in the kitchen.

Back to my purpose. I cook and clean, do some personal laundry, take care of Noah, and I’m the accountant this trip. I really want to work on L.E.A.R.N. this week, AND I need to blog more. But most importantly I’m becoming friends with some of the most delightful people in the world and I’m watching God’s family being knit together here in Nakuru, KenyaJ

A Schmorgasborg of Happenings

2011-07-20T03:55:00.000-04:00

It’s been some time since I wrote a blog so I’ll do so now. This will be a schmorgasborg. I want to start with thanking you all for your emails of encouragement and just loving me and saying ‘Hi’. It means a lot to know I have family and friends always praying and thinking about us while we are so far away. For example---this is an email my mom wrote after reading some of our blogs, followed by my reply.

For your reading enjoyment……

Hi C,

Happy Fourth of July. I loved the album, especially Helen's work place. I think it shows the strength of these people, the poverty and the hard life, yet the spirit of the power of God in that life. I love that picture and the people, even though I have never met them. I also like (or dislike) the fish photo. It shows how strong you are and what you will endure to further the love of God and his work. It also shows me how very lacking I am because I could not eat it. I humbly bow to you, Dave and your group for your ability to endure. My next choice is the one of you and David. David looks tired. I see in that picture the support you give him. I see the love for him and God in you, and the determination to uphold and encourage him in this work. I would ask if David knows how very fortunate he is to have you, but I am sure he does, so I won't ask. But I would include the fact that I am prejudiced when I would ask this.

I love you and Dave and these people that you hold in your hearts,

Mom

Hi Mom,

I LOVE MY MOM MOM!

I loved your email. It was so encouraging. I always feel your strong support when we come here. I must confess I didn’t eat the little fish. We actually eat well. The meats and veges are organic and the fruit is fresh and sweet. But it is inconvenient to prepare food here. We cook on a 2 burner camp stove and don’t have an oven. We bought a little charcoal grill for meats. That’s nice. I’m going to do lamb chops tonight. We have a cook that helps at dinner because we usually have meetings to go to. She’s really sweet and cooks for about $2 a day. Beatie does our laundry for $2 a person a week and irons our clothes for 10 cents each piece. All the laundry is done totally by hand. It’s a big job. There’s definitely a big difference in life at home and we do feel the sacrifice but it is a light affliction compared to the rewards of loving these people. Everything is inconvenient and a process but nothing like what the 19th and early 20^th century missionaries endured. When I read stories of the early missionaries I feel spoiled.

Yesterday we celebrated on the new land God gave us. We gathered together to worship God. We set up the tent, gave the kids balloons, sang and danced. It was a glorious day. They are all so grateful and our faith is built up. Dave is a great husband and always appreciates me. I would follow him anywhere because I know he follows GodJ

Well this email is turning into a blog. Keep in touch.

Love, C

We had a couple of slow weeks as far as the work goes because the church was actively participating in supporting Mary’s family as they endured the loss of their husband and father, Syrus. He was suddenly killed in a motorcycle accident. People visit the home of the family and give encouragement and express their desire to help in any way they can. There’s tea and sometimes snacks or food prepared and served by close family and friends to the visitors. We went to Mary’s house a couple of days after the accident. This was the first time we visited since the building was complete and the family living there.

(see http://haviylah.blogspot.com/2010/09/safari-and-more.html). She’s done so much to make a home and farm for her family. We see the timing of God to establish her in this place before her husband died. Going to Mary’s house was a particular challenge to me. This is where I got the tick bite fever that made me really sick last time we were here. I covered myself with repellent, prayed and walked cautiously avoiding bushes and the like. She’s done so much clearing of the land that the danger of getting another tick attack greatly diminished, so I relaxed and enjoyed the wonder of it all. I am amazed at the grace God gives His people when a loved one is taken home. We haven’t been to an actual funeral service here because they travel to the home village for the burial. Sometimes it’s a week or two before they go. They put the deceased in a coffin and tie it to the top of the van they will be traveling in. Truly there is no victory in death for we will all be together in eternity. God is so good!

This is the house that Mary built - Beautiful and full of God's love and grace.

We took a much needed safari to the lakes of Kenya. I really enjoyed the boat ride and visit to the small island owned by - “one man, five wives and 26 children”. Our tour guide repeated this several times. Once he said there were 27 children. Guess one of the five wives just had a baby. The island was so beautiful! The Desert Rose trees were beautiful. We saw all kinds of birds and reptiles. (see For our Grandkids tab at the top of this page - Zelda the Zebra and abba’s blog tab - safari, for pictures and details). Nature is so very diverse and speaks of the handiwork of the Creator. These outings are always refreshing.

We go to town frequently for various reasons. The hawkers can make you a little crazy at times. They’re very pushy and won’t leave you alone. You have to try not to be rude and unkind but firm in your ‘Hapana, asante’, (no thank you). There are some we are drawn to. Like Issac at the Wool Matt. He always greets us and offers his assistance with the heavy bags and the water jugs we buy at WM. He sells onions and tomatoes for 100 shillings a bag. That’s about a dollar. There’s a fine line between being taken care of and being taken advantage of. We’ve learned to discern the difference. The problem is that there are so many hawkers and they all need your money. We have to choose who we give to. Sometimes it’s obvious but it’s not always that easy.

Kingdom Hikers are doing so well. They are learning to work together for the purpose of raising a standard for the youth in Nakuru. That standard is not to be drawn into the worldliness but to draw their peers into Godliness. They want to Hike to the highest mountains of God and follow Him together. We visited ‘Tamasha’ – means ‘Festival’. Tamasha is a band of college age people 4 of whom are Kingdom Hikers. They don’t just play instruments and sing songs, they send a message of hope and the life. You won’t want to miss this - https://picasaweb.google.com/abbanoah/TAMASHA

We’ve had some very good but in depth discussions with George, Nellie and Petranilla. We’re going deeper into each other’s hearts and minds to understand how we can bridge the cultural differences. In the end it’s not Kenyan or American culture that matters. It’s what does God want? How can we overcome the traditions of men to find His will and follow His leading?

Our Kenya Household!

2011-06-29T06:55:00.000-04:00

These are the people in our household. We pray together, work together, eat together, go to town, go to gatherings and meeting, and entertain guests together.

Kwa Imani!

2011-06-29T05:55:00.000-04:00

The gathering last Sunday really focused on ‘faith’. The words ‘by faith’ were spoken at least 100 times it seems. Not in a repetitious way but earnestly desiring the spirit to come. Kwa Imani means ‘by faith’. The people received the message with hope and gladness and readiness to do what God asked of them. They immediately began to pray and ask God what to do.

The next day George found a place to lease from a lady he knows. She is an honest lady and wanted to lease to godly people. There were 4 others in line to see the land and wanting to have it. She gave us favor and first option to lease the land. We can use the tent for meeting until they are able to erect a portable building. This is a short story, because God moved quickly for these faithful people. George made an agreement with her and everything was provided. We will have a place to meet until we can find something permanent.

This is the land God has given. There will be rejoicing and praises to God this Sunday!

A Good Weekend.

2011-06-27T11:09:00.005-04:00

We got Wi Fi in the house now so we can do more blogging and web albumsJ It will actually save us money and we can disconnect when we leave so we don’t have to pay when we’re not here.

Our weekend was full. Friday is our “grocery shopping” day. That’s always an adventure. We go to Tusky’s for fresh bread and special items, WoolMatt for groceries and household needs, and the Gilani butchery for meat. We were delighted to find HELLMANS Real Mayonaise on the shelf and Heinz ketchup. This is not something you can count on being there so we bought 4 bottles. When it’s gone it’s gone. This is one place you can get cuts of meat resembling food rather than the animal it came from so most mzungus go there. We bought a grill for the Grill Master - that would be Tabach. He did the pork chops for us this time. They were well done and nobody got sick. Asante sana, Tabach!

Saturday morning we needed a little outing so Yahshana and I went to see Petranilla with Simon’s escort service. It’s a short walk, about 2 blocks. We surprised her and she was delighted to see us. She was working on a funeral dress. All the women are buried in white dresses and the men in colors. We visited for a while. Now if you go anywhere for more than five minutes you can count on Yahshana pulling out her crocheting. Everyone wants a cell phone purse, even Simon (I think he wants if for his mom;-). The children everywhere say, “how are you?” and hold out their hand for sweeties. If you don’t have a sweetie to give you just give them a handshake and they like that too.

We went home and got ready for the Kingdom Hikers meeting. The young people are excited about the friendships they’re making based on godliness rather than coolness. They know they need each other to walk with God in the world of sin and sorrow. They are a precious gift.

Sunday was a full day. We started with a nice breakfast. Beatie did some ironing for us. Michelle took a bath. George and Simon went ahead to set up the tent and music system. We arrived at about 10 am singing and praying. Noah and George usually team preach and teach. They talked about living by faith. This was particularly important because they are losing the lease on the land and church building. They need to believe God cares enough about them to provide a place for meeting. They were encouraged to seek God for what they can do to help find a place and what they can give. I love to watch Noah and George work together. Noah gives a message then George expounds. They have truly become friends and co workers for the gospel.

We went home to freshen up a bit for the ladies meeting. When we, Nellie, Yahshana, Chloe and I, arrived at Mama Lloyd’s house the ladies were praying. They prayed, and prayed and prayed. They never seem to tire of prayer. It’s a good thing when the Kenyans pray for you. Petranilla talked for a while, summing up the message of living by faith. Then we went around the room and introduced ourselves. After prayers we ate a silent meal. I don’t know why they were so quiet but we went along. When in Kenya do as the Kenyan’s do. Petranilla asked me to speak to the ladies. I encouraged that I see spiritual growth among them. I talked to them about staying clear with each other, not gossiping but building each other up. We ended with a song and most of the ladies went home.

Nellie

Petranilla

Mary Kathini

Mama Lloyd helps decorate the tent.

Mama Lloyd

We are getting tired and thirsty. We can’t drink the water and we had run out of what we brought. But it wasn’t over yet. We met with Mary Kathini, Mama Lloyd, Nellie and Petranilla to plan a ladies conference. Again they were timid to make plans. They said they wanted me to do it and they would support me. Again I told them it’s their church and they should let me support them. This is hard for them to believe they can do this. They asked if they could bring speakers from outside. Again I encouraged them to be the speakers. I know they have a lot to give and not to keep it to themselves. The talk got lively and they began to encourage each other to teach. We made a plan. They will all four teach. It was so sweet to see them encourage each other. Mary will teach about forgiveness, Nellie about worship, Mama Lloyd about hospitality, and Petranilla about being a godly woman. I had studied different subjects to teach about like the Kingdom of God, miracles etc. but when it came down to it they asked me to teach about conflict and relationships. Ok. That is what I’ll do. They want Yahshana to talk about teaching our children. It was so great to watch them blossom and open up.

We came home exhausted but fulfilled. It was a good day!

Miracles happen.

2011-06-24T12:02:00.000-04:00

This trip has been different than our previous visits. We are growing and changing in the way we relate to the church in Nakuru. Our confidence in our purpose is growing as God sends His messengers to validate His word to us. During our 8 months at home in Rose Creek we were dealt with and built up. We learned from other missionaries like Steve Saint (www.itecusa.org) . We’re learning what to do but, more importantly, what not to do. We have no desire to come and bring our ways to this foreign culture. God works in many ways and is not limited like we are. He has prepared the hearts of the people here. It will take much courage for them to stand up for what they believe and become the people of God in Nakuru.

One thing we are doing is after breakfast each morning we read from Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest. We talk and pray before we go about the business of the day. This morning we talked about what happened on the way back from Nairobi. Our close call in the accident could have been such a tragedy. I believe miracles happen to show us the compassion of God towards us. What we experienced was no less than a miracle. So often we doubt the working of a miracle because they come in such subtle ways. We talked about our thoughts and feelings during the moments of the accident. Traffic was heavy and even in the best of circumstances we are usually on the edge of our seats (as close as you can get with a seatbelt onJ) because of the different ‘style’ of driving here.

George was overtaking a semi truck on a 4 lane highway. Usually the vehicle being overtaken will slow down for the overtaking vehicle. The truck didn’t slow down. Now in front of us was a petrol tank semi truck. George said he didn’t want to get too close to the petrol truck so he cut it too close with the semi he was passing. Our van clipped the left front of the truck taking our rear bumper off and doing damage to the semi’s head light. Noah said he thought we could have easily flipped the van and if George had put on brakes or swerved we would’ve hit the petrol truck.

As I watched the scene from the back seat, I felt anxiety as he started to pass. I didn’t think he could make it and I noticed the petrol truck. This is the only time I have felt seriously anxious in traffic. I said a prayer, then I felt a sense of calm in the midst of the storm. When we collided with the truck we all felt the protection of angels. That very morning before we left, Tabach had prayed for “protection of angels in traffic today”.

I didn’t know how George would react but God gave him so much grace. He pulled over and went to talk to the driver of the truck we hit. This man was very upset. George was very calm. He helped the driver to calm down and they discussed a solution. At first the man wanted to call the police. That is not the best way to go here. You can easily have to sit in jail until the insurance company settles the issue. They made an agreement to settle by George paying the damages and making a written agreement. The man called him the next day to thank him for keeping his word. He had heard tales of bad outcomes from other truck drivers and was grateful for an honest man.

We are thankful and so needful of the prayers you pray for us. God is hearing and answering. Keep praying.

I read this today by David Wilkerson. It inspired me to look for the miracles of God in everyday life. I hope it will inspire you too.

IN THE MIDST OF A MIRACLE

by David Wilkerson

You may be in the middle of a miracle right now and simply not see it. It may be that you are waiting for a miracle. You’re discouraged because things seem to be at a standstill. You do not see any evidence of God’s supernatural work on your behalf.

Consider what David says in Psalm 18: “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken…. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured…. He bowed the heavens also, and came down…. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice…He sent out his arrows…he shot out lightnings”

(Psalm18:6-9, 13-14).

You have to realize, none of these things literally happened. It was all something that David saw in his spiritual eye. Beloved, that is faith. It’s when you believe God has heard your cry, that he hasn’t delayed, that he isn’t ignoring your petition. Instead, he quietly began your miracle immediately when you prayed, and even now he’s doing supernatural work on your behalf. That is truly believing in miracles, his marvelous progressive work in our lives.

David understood the foundational truth beneath it all: “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19). David declared, “I know why the Lord is doing all this for me. It’s because he delights in me.”

I truly believe in instantaneous miracles. God is still working glorious, instant wonders in the world today. In Matthew 16:9-11 and Mark 8:19-21, as Jesus reminds the disciples of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000, he is asking them and us to take note of his progressive miracles and their role in our own lives today.

June 22, 2011

2011-06-22T15:03:00.002-04:00

God is so good to choose the likes of us to do His work. May we always hear His voice and do His bidding no matter how great the cost. Our first gathering was absolutely inspiring. The people are strong in spirit. Many half hearted people, people who came for the wrong reasons - like expectations that the mzugus (white people) would give them money - are gone. The worship was in spirit and in truth. The message was received with joy and thanksgiving, but not without a sobering thought of counting the cost to build the church with living stones here in Nakuru.

The place we have met for 3 years has been sold and the church in Nakuru will be ‘homeless’ soon. This was discouraging to many people. We were able to encourage the saints with our story. We were once homeless too but not for long. We know our Father has a place even better for us here. I think He wants to bring us closer and will put us in a place to facilitate that. I love the adventure of it all.

Monday Petranilla dropped in for dinner. After we ate my good friend ‘Shannah and I had a good conversation with Petranilla and Nellie (that's Nellie in the picture). We talked about what it means to be the church not just talking about it. We talked about the women’s conference. They wanted us to tell them what to do but I said, “We are here to help you but this is your church and you have to hear God and make the plans. He will order the steps. We want to help you and equip you with what we know and have experienced, but it must be yours not ours.” We didn’t come here for a humanitarian purpose but to help build the church, that it will be a light shining in the darkness for all of Nakuru, Kenya, Africa and the world. We told stories of our life. They had questions. Would they be taken advantage of? Would it cost them their businesses? Boy, did we have stories about that. Even as Jesus gave His all, we want to learn to give our all together. We want to learn to walk humbly in the earth. We want to learn to love even to our own hurt. After we talked doubts came into my mind. Did we go too far? When I went back to our room I could tell Noah was getting a bit discouraged. We went to bed for much needed rest. Adjusting to time changes, culture differences, not having clean clothes to change into and wondering where our suitcases were gave plenty of opportunity for the enemy to inject his venom. But these ‘light afflictions work in us every day, an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ 2 Cor 4: 17-18

That morning Noah checked his email He was given a word from a man we met in India 6 years ago. This man was awakened in the night. God spoke to him about the work He wants to do in Africa and that He has chosen Noah to do it. He said things he couldn’t have known. (For the whole story read abba’s blog, part of the 'We Got Em' blog. You can click the Abba’s blog tab at the top of my blog page to read it). We were so encouraged! We needed that word.

Since our bags were still not here we decided to go back to Nairobi to get them ourselves. George made a lot of phone calls to find out where they were and how to get them. We had been given many untrue promises that they would be delivered each day. So we loaded up in the van and took off. Chloe decided to stay home. She had all her PINK bags. Next time we will all use pink bagsJ

The weather is nice and cool every day so the drive was pleasant. We knew we had arrived in Nairobi because of the traffic and air pollution, so we found our way to a parking place, got out of the van, and took off running behind our Captain leader George. He had a Red Bull on the way. We didn’t. we were grateful we didn’t have heavy backpacks on our backs this time. We got to the Turkish Airlines office after a security check and were lead to our bags. We wanted to hug and kiss them. We are so American. Our possessions are so important to us. God is giving us opportunities to examine ourselves in this area of our lives. It really wasn’t that bad doing without. I thank God for these experiences. It is actually very freeing to learn what you think you need is not really necessary at all. We can do without so much of these seemingly needful items; things which prove to be no less than items of mere convenience. The airline employees were apologetic and kind to us. We were grateful and left with our bags and made our way through traffic out of the ever growing city of Nairobi.

On the way home we stopped at our favorite rest area, about halfway between Nairobi and Nakuru. We had some lunch and did some bird watching.

These are the same birds that make their nests in the Dr. Zeus trees.
I call them Thing 1 and Thing 2 etc. We continued our journey not knowing that an accident awaited us as we entered Nakuru. (details on abba’s blog). We are thankful for the outcome which could have been much worse.

We got home in time for dinner. Petranilla showed up again. She really wanted to talk to Noah. They had a good talk. She told us she had been troubled by the things we were saying. She said she had to repent of putting her faith in man, (that would be us, the mzungus from America). She will put her faith in God to provide a place for the church to meet. This was a big step of faith. Noah began to calculate the amount of money we spend on renting a meeting place for ladies meetings and kingdom hikers meetings. Plus the rent for the building all added up to an encouraging amount. The people will seek God for a place and it will be their faith that leads them to it. She gave Noah some encouraging words very similar to the ones in the Indian man’s email.

We then opened Tabach’s missing suitcase that was packed with the blue choir dresses and shirts we brought from home, the ones we used a couple of years ago in the village. We told her they were for the choir here and they could use them however they chose. A squeal of delight and laughter came out of Petranilla, as only she can do, to express her gratefulness. She found one her size and put it on right then and there, and wore it home.

I slept well that night, praising God for the His abundant Life He has given us.

2011-06-19T12:31:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s Sunday and I am ready to start blogging. It was an interesting trip to say the least. We boarded the first plane to Chicago with ominous signs from the start. Although we had reserved good seats in the middle section, they chose to exercise their right to move us all the way to the back. Yes I mean the very last row. That’s not too bad except you can’t recline and it’s very noisy because it’s right over the engines. The good thing is it’s right next to the bathroom and it’s only an hour and a half flight. Ok, we can do this. I put in my earbuds and listened to Cademon’s Call and Fernando Ortego and played games on my iphone to pass the time. Now for a refreshment offered by the very southern Tennesseean flight attendant. She made her way to the back a little out of breath, to serve our preordered drinks. Just when she thought she was done with her service to all us anxious passengers we hit some ‘turbulence’ which caused my orange juice to transfer from the cup in her hand to my lap. She was horrified that such a blunder could happen to her so I reassured her I was ok, not to worry. Had I know these were the only clothes I would have to wear for the next 5 days I might not have been so gracious. Good thing I didn’t know. Ah, let the adventure begin.

We arrived in Chicago safe and sound. Safe and sound? Does that mean of sound mind? We were safe. We found our way to the number 5 terminal by tram, went through security which can be a real work out. After passing the screening process we looked for a place to eat only to discover all the eating places are on the other side of security. So out we went, found a food court and had our last American meal for 3 months. We had hoped for a nice restaurant but this terminal only had a food court. We did manage to find a pretty decent grilled chicken ceasar salad. We enjoyed our meal and went back through the security check. It is a bit of a hassle but well worth it to make our journey as secure as possible so we won’t complain. 6 hours later we boarded our plane to Istanbul, Turkey for a 10 and a half hour flight. It was an eventful flight, long and tiresome but we made it through 2 nights in one and arrived safely with just enough time to make our connection to Nairobi. Another 6 hours and we were finally at our destination – Kenya, Africa. Only to find that each of us, except Chloe, were missing a suitcase. It took some time to file the report and we were assured that our bagbags would be delivered to Nakuru the next day…NOT! It’s still Sunday and we are still waiting.

I have more to say but since I am now the only one with internet access and everyone wants to use my computer to check email I will close for now and continue this blog at a later date. For pictures worth a thousand words check out my picasa web album.

African Adventures

2011-06-10T10:01:00.001-04:00

We are preparing to leave for Africa soon! We have nine people going this time and we’re excited to see what God will do! Here’s our travel agenda:

Abba, Amma and Yahshanna are leaving June 15th and returning September 14th (yes, that’s 3 months)

Tabach and Chloe will be leaving with us on June 15th, and returning July 20th.

Doug, Tara, Brandon and Khale will be leaving July 26th and returning September 14th.

We will be having conferences and meetings for Kingdom Hikers, Pastors, Men, Women, and children.
We will continue the F.I.S.H. program (Financing Indigenous Self Help) and will initiate a new program called L.E.A.R.N. (Letting Educational Adoption Reshape Nakuru) to help send kids to school. Education will help enable people to get jobs and take better care of their families. Hunger and lack of health-care are a major problem in Nakuru. Many parents do not have an education themselves and want their children to be able to get better jobs. Please consider sponsoring a child and/or contributing to the F.I.S.H. program.

Letting
Educational
Adoption
Reshape
Nakuru

L.E.A.R.N. is a program we are developing to help support school age children in Nakuru, Kenya. Many times families go hungry in order to send at least one child in the family to school. For only $100 twice a year you can adopt a child’s education by paying their school fees, uniform and book costs.
You will receive a picture of your adopted child and you will be able to actively support and encourage your child by writing letters and following their progress in school.

If you are interested or would like more information please e-mail me at: rcvkenya@gmail.com

Your thoughts and prayers for us are invaluable and they help us do the work we are called to do. You can follow our blogs to keep up to date. We will truly miss you!

Return to Kenya coming soon!

2011-03-22T15:11:00.000-04:00

We have our tickets! We'll depart June 15, 2011 for a 3 month stay with our friends and family in Nakuru,Kenya. As I think of all of them, one little person stands out in my thoughts today, Michelle Haviylah.

She is the cute and mischievous 2 year old of George and Nelly. We call her "sticky fingers" because she is quite the explorer and believes that we should have 'all things in common'. She loves to play with the things we bring from America. So I wrote this little pictorial poem so that you too can meet our dear "sticky fingers".

Safari and more....

2010-09-20T11:17:00.022-04:00

Our safari was delightful! We not only saw the wild life of Kenya, except for the lion, but we saw the beautiful landscape and breathed the clean, fresh air of Rift Valley. It was a much need reprieve from the work, but not without it's own challenges. We have yet to go on a safari without some sort of car trouble. We got stuck in a ditch which we were able to get out of with the help of everyone pushing and pulling. But then the gears wouldn’t shift properly. We found a spot to work on it and out of the van and under it went George. Within moments a guard with a gun, and a worker came to assist us. The guard kept us safe from lions while the worker helped George determine what was the problem. We were able to drive away but not without a lot of clanking noise. We decided to go out of the park and get it fixed, then come back to finish our safari. As we were leaving the attendant said we would have to stay and let George go out and come back. Our tickets were for 24 hours in the park. They were afraid he would go out and exchange us for other tourists and not pay the price. No problem, we just went to the café to get some chai and wait. When George returned we were just finishing our tea and ready to continue our tour through the park. We went to the top of a cliff and had lunch. Of course there were armed guards to prevent us becoming lunch for the wildlife. We saw blue and orange lizards and had a clear view of the park and the town of Nakuru from our picnic pavilion. The day was absolutely beautiful and we had plenty of time to see all we wanted to see. I am grateful to God for His creation speaks of His Glory!

Saturday we had a Kingdom Hikers meeting. Amy and Bob Miller led the meeting giving them some practical ways to begin working together and encouraging them to take care and watch over each other. Then we went to Helen’s house for dinner. Helen is a very humble servant. Her cooking is excellent. She is the clan leader and has demonstrated the life of God in such a way that her people love and respect her and follow her lead in taking care of each other and the neighbors. She has delightful children who are happy and secure and actively contributing to the formation of the Kingdom Hikers.

Sunday was our last gathering here in Nakuru. When we arrived the singing had already started and as we took our seats we all felt a spiritual battle coming on. We didn’t know what to do except pray and ask for God’s leading. Soon Noah was on his feet and giving an exhortation which chased away the enemy. It was a strong word and was received well by all. The young kids danced and sang for us. Then the Kingdom Hikers danced. We gave out baptism certificates, said our good byes, and then gave rice and beans to every household. We went from the church to Patrick and Christine’s while George had a meeting with the leaders. After that, Morelle invited us to dinner to meet her family. We are eating well, maybe a little too well. I’m feeling very stuffed.

Today, Monday, we visited 4 homes in the Lakeview clan. I really do love going to their homes. They are so amazed and grateful to us for visiting. One couple we visited have a business roasting and selling peanut, which they call ground nuts. We bought some and had a nice snack. We asked the husband why men don't come to church. He said they have to work. Noah encouraged him to come and ask God to make up for the time spent. He told about how Patrick did the same and has been doing well since he chose to trust God. He said he would be sure to come next Sunday and really seemed to mean it. I'm always amazed at how little it takes to encourage a Kenyan. All four of the ladies we visited said they like to sing. We encouraged them to start a choir. We said we would bring Kallah next time to help themJ

We went to see Mary our “priestess”. She took us to her land where she showed us how she is building a house out of bricks made with her own hands. As we stood in what will be the living room area I told her we would come back and sit here and have tea with her. She smiled really big and started pulling things out of her bag. She gave each of us a tea cup and poured us a cup of tea from her thermos. Then she gave us each a little plastic bag and served us meat cakes. The bags were to hold the meat cakes as we ate them. It was absolutely delightful to stand inside her mud walls with the sky above us, enjoying her hospitality! She says she will be done and moved in, in 3 months. The land was given to her because of her faithfulness in serving God. She says she will make new friends and bring them to church. She will!

We have 3 days left in Nakuru. Today we visited 4 homes; went to see Mary’s land. Later this evening we’ll visit Patrick and Christine to video tape their story. Tomorrow we’ll have lunch with Petranila; video tape Petranila, George and Nelly; go to Helen’s clan meeting. Wednesday we’ll stay home and pack; spend time with visitors who drop in and meet once more with the Kingdom Hikers. Thursday we’ll wait for George to go to his court date and pray they don’t put him in jailJ Then we’ll head for Nairobi. Our flight doesn’t leave until 9:55 pm so we’ll go to a reptile and aquarium zoo to see the rest of the wildlife in Kenya. Then we’ll fly 9 hours to Paris, but, we’ll only see the airport and hopefully the backside of our eyelids for a 4 hour layover, 9 hours to Newark, then Nashville, by then it’ll be Friday with a 3 hour drive to home sweet home! We should arrive at about 8:30 pm if all goes well.

As I reflect over the past 6 weeks I realize once again how quick I am to grumble and complain. I'm learning to be still and seek God's grace. Many times I need grace from God. He has always been faithful to pour out His grace for the mere asking. How quickly I forget! I’m assured that no matter what the circumstances His grace is sufficient for me. This is a reality I cannot live without. What a wonderful Savior we have in Christ! He turns all things to His purpose when I give all my anxious thoughts to Him. I feel more free to serve Him and follow His leading in all things. Then only do I see how much I have to be grateful for. What a privilege it is to serve the living God!

See you soon! Love to all!

(I have more pictures but I can't get them to upload so I'll try a web album)

Safari not!

2010-09-15T07:42:00.000-04:00

Today we planned to go on Safari in the beautiful Rift Valley. George says this is a good time to go because the animals will be moving around and visible. I’ve been looking forward to this since the first time I came to Kenya. I am still looking forward to it because it’s 10am and we had to postpone the trip once again. Hopefully we’ll go tomorrow.

The reason for the delay is that we have been having water problems since our first week here. It’s been working ok but not much pressure until Saturday when we got up in the morning and there was no running water at all. So for the last 5 days it has been on and off with Fred, George, Bob and the plumber in and out trying different solutions. It seemed yesterday we finally had it fixed with good water pressure. We went to town to get groceries for lunch and to the Safaricom store to fix Joy and Amy’s modem. Suddenly George gave abba the keys to the van and took off saying something vague about the water pump. So we waited for Amy to finish her business. A car pulled up behind us and blocked us in. About the same time the driver disappeared Amy walked out. No problem, this happens all the time. Abba went to find the driver of the car who had disappeared. He talked to the security guard who had no answers so we waited….. I thank God that I’m a midwife and have learned the valuable lesson of waitingJ Abba kept looking in nearby places but couldn’t find the man. Joy, Bob Miller, Amy and I waited in the van. After about 20 minutes we decided we might just as well have some ice cream while we wait. So Bob and Amy walked back to the store to get some. Now these ice cream bars are really good…chocolate covered vanilla ice cream on a stick … ummmm… They were only gone a minute or two when the dear driver showed up and apologetically moved his car. Abba got in the driver’s seat of our van and backed out. Now that may sound like a simple thing, backing a car out of a parking place, but it was not. With poor visibility Joy and I were trying to direct Abba – “Wait! There’s a pedestrian. Wait there’s a car, another pedestrian, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a pedestrian, more cars”. “Ok , Go NOW!” “What?” “Go NOW!” Whew! We made it. Now that we’re on the road abba noticed that Amy and Bob are gone. We told him to go back to Tusky’s (grocery store). As we turned the corner we saw them walking back towards the Safaricom. Joy and I yelled across the traffic of cars, motorcycles, bike and yes, of course, pedestrians, “Hey!! Hey!!” Everyone on the street turned and looked at us mzugus yelling out the window with a mzugu driver. Fortunately Amy and Bob looked too and crossed the street to board the van. We laughed and ate our expensive ice cream bars (295 shilllings each) while abba drove us home on the wrong side of the rode dodging cars, motorcycles, bicycles and, did I say PEDESTRIANS? When we got home there was no water again, Morelle was cooking dinner, so we got ready to go to a clan meeting.

The clan meeting was good. It was easy to find the little one room house because we heard the singing from a distance and were able to follow it to that house.This particular clan has been struggling with commitment to each other. Abba started by asking Joy, Amy, Bob and I to tell our story with God and why we were here in Africa. While they were speaking I was silently asking God what He would have me say to these precious ladies. I told them how God had brought me out of a horrible pit that I had dug for myself and that He had set my feet on a solid Rock, Himself, Jesus Christ. I told them that I am in Kenya to share the “abundant life” He has given and taught us to live. Abba started by telling them that was exactly what he wanted to talk to them about, “abundant life”. Abundant life is not money, houses and cars but comes from giving to each other even the little we have, taking care of each other and living in each other’s hearts. He challenged them to take care of each other and to become the very best clan. That we would return and find them the most talked about clan because of their faithfulness to each other. They listened intently and agreed that they needed to do that. It amazes me that God has given us faces to express the life inside of us. When we entered that room the faces were sad and depressed. As we left they were full of light and life. The Word of the Lord had come through earthen vessels and filled their hearts and minds with His Love.

Back to the water story….. It wasn’t until breakfast this morning that we got the whole story. We really didn’t know what caused George to abandon us in town except that it had something to do with the water problem at home. It seems while we were in town George got a frantic phone call from Beatty, the house girl, saying the plumber ran away and some men were there taking the water pump away. George went down to the agent and recovered our pump with a promise that it wouldn’t happen again. We have water again so I think I’ll close and go take a showerJ

Hopefully my next blog will be all about our Safari to the Rift Valley!

[I can't get pictures to upload so I'll have to try later.]

What a trip!

2010-09-10T05:53:00.000-04:00

We have been given the privilege of working in the clinic in Migori with the Kenya Relief team. But before I tell you about our time there I must tell you about the trip to Migori. We got up at 3am and were on the road by 3:30am. We had packed food for the journey, boiled eggs, scones (later given a name change by Abba, “hockey pucks”, popcorn, and of course Chai. Beatty got up when we did to make the chai for our trip. We hadn’t gotten far when Joy realized the thermos had leaked. When she picked it up all but ½ a cup had disappeared into the side step of the van. We couldn’t even find the lid. So abba emptied the thermos since he was the only one that wanted any at that moment. We rode on for about an hour when George suddenly pulled onto the side of the road, leaned his seat back and closed his eyes. We couldn’t believe he got us up at 3am to drive for an hour and then sleep. We asked what he was doing and laughed so he decided to go a little further. It was a cold night we were shivering to try to get warm. Half hour later he stopped again so we let him doze for about 15 minutes. He said he didn’t know why he was so tired. I think taking care of mzungus for 3 weeks might have something to do with it. I pulled out my Withania (Medi Herb energy pill) and gave him 2 tabs. We drove on over very bumpy roads that rearrange your insides. We finally got to Kissi where we were promised a nice hot cup of chai to warm our chills. There we found a familiar Tea Hotel. The nice man at the gate let us in. George went in to find out when we could get some tea. He came back and said they don’t open until 7am, it was 5:50am. Now we have to decide whether to wait or go on. George assured us there were no other places to go between here and Migori. We waited a while. We voted George should go back in and talk the hotel man into making us some tea. He has Nathanael’s gift of talking people into things. Didn’t work this time though, but he did find out where we could go to get tea. We went a little farther into town to a little hole in the wall place and got some very hot tea. We were grateful and were ready to continue our trip, the Withania and 4 cups of tea got George going pretty well by now. The sun was rising and the scenery was beautiful! Tea plantations went on for miles.

We finally arrived at the Brittany Home of Grace without car problems or getting lost. We were ever so grateful to be there. We were greeted by Alice who manages Kenya Relief from this side. She is a very hospitable, stately lady given to take care of the needs of those who come to help her people. George and Abba left us in our cozy bunk room and headed back to Nakuru to meet Pastor Daniel from India. We were there before the rest of the team so we took a tour made ourselves at home and rested a bit. Bryan (nurse anesthetist) and Emily (photographer, and friend of Steve James family) arrived next and offered to take us across the street to see the clinic. K.R. has about 45 acres of land with a highway dividing the 5 acres where the orphanage is and the rest is for clinic, farming, and a future hospital. Little did we know we would be packaging pills. It was a good time to chat and get to know each other a bit. We later welcomed the rest of the team, Dr. John Roberts, (pediatrician), Dorothy, Emily, and Lauren (pharmacy students), and Josh (chemical engineer). This was a very diverse team and a small one compared to others. We went to church on Sunday and visited a widow with 6 kids K.R. supports. By this time I wasn’t feeling too good but I assumed I was just tired from the trip. I went to bed early every night and missed out on some of the evening social time.

Monday morning was our first clinic day. We didn’t exactly know what to expect but felt comfortable. The team was very relaxed and created a non stress environment. We arrived to see hundreds of staring, pleading eyes that seemed to say, “can you, will you, help me?” We greeted them with smiles and Jambo’s (hello’s). Knowing some would be waiting all day to be seen. I was assigned to Gyn/adult assessment room with Beatrice, a Kenyan nurse. I really had no idea what I was doing. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any medical care and never in a foreign country. I said a little prayer and rested in knowing God would give me what I needed. Beatrice was very sweet and helpful. She had a cold and wasn’t feeling well and the colicky pains in my stomach interrupted my train of thought on more than one occasion. So we were the sick treating the sick. We worked together well. She deferred to me which was a humbling experience since I knew she was very capable of doing this without me. We saw a lot of infectious diseases – malaria, parasites, fungal, viral, bacterial – gave out a lot of meds, counseled and prayed with them. One particular woman came to us with a lower abdominal mass, nausea, fullness, backache. When I examined her it was obvious she was pregnant! We did a pregnancy test to confirm it. Now that was fun! This same scenario happened again the next day. I have stories to tell that wouldn’t be appropriate to put in a blog, so we will talk laterJ

I took a break from my room and went to watch Caroline in the pediatric room. The timing was perfect. Her patient was a baby and nursing mom who had a serious case of thrush. Caroline looked to me so I suggested nystatin drops for the baby and mom and vinegar water to cleanse with and stop the passing of the thrush back and forth.

Back to my room. Another patient had all the symptoms of sciatica. I had her lie on her back and showed her exercises to relieve the pressure on the nerves. Beatrice thought I was crazy at first. It was hard for her to interpret so I just laid down on the table and showed her how to do the exercise. Now that was comical. But it helped. A little while later we had another patient with back pain and Beatrice started explaining to her the exercises. Many have back pain, hip pain and neck pain from the work they do bending and carrying water and things on their heads. But you can’t tell them to take a couple weeks off work. They would starve.

Overall I believe I got a better picture of what we want to do in Nakuru. The clinic was interesting. I gave out A LOT of antibiotics. These people have very bad infections and a real need for medication. There’s plenty of access to medical care in Nakuru but to educate and teach wellness is needed. I want to do a wellness clinic to try and teach them how to stay healthy. Herbs have a bad reputation here because of all the abuse by shaman ‘witch doctors’ so I will just teach nutrition and vitamins, exercise and body mechanicsJ A prenatal clinic would be good too because many of them don’t go until they’re almost due. Anyway it gave me a lot to think about.

After 2 twelve hour days I was exhausted and realized something was going on inside. I going to blame it on the boiled egg I ate on the way here. Being as careful as possible doesn’t guarantee you won’t get something. I got on some antibiotics to get rid of whatever the cause of my distress. Thank you for your prayers. I’m finally feeling normal again.

Love to all!

Every day is the Lord's day!

2010-08-31T10:41:00.000-04:00

August 30, 2010

Sunday was a very full day for all of us. We went to church to find only a few people inside the tent waiting. This is pretty typical. They usually sing and pray long enough for everyone to arrive. The singing was lead by Morris who is a very sincere man but full of charismatic practices. He was yelling so loud I had to plug my ears. Crying and taking deep breaths in preparation for the next long sentence he was about to speak. This went on for, well I’m not sure how long, but it was too long. We all wanted to get up and walk out but at the same time, wondered what God wanted to do about it. George went to the back of the tent to try to catch his eye and put a stop to all the theatrics. As I said in the beginning Morris is a sincere man and probably just needs help to see that what he was doing was fruitless. When it came time for Noah to speak he very carefully but clearly said things to help everyone see that God wanted to do a new thing in them. When they started to collect the tithes and offerings he suggested they give the money they intended to put in the offering to a neighbor in need instead. They wondered how they would pay the rent on the building if they did that. That amounted to 3000 shillings. Noah said he would cover it so they all agreed to do what he suggested. I hope to hear stories about people in their neighborhoods.

We went home to refresh ourselves before the ladies meeting, then headed out again to Carolines house. It was already packed out in the two small rooms she has for a house. Ladies were singing and dancing and enjoying each other. They took turns singing tribal songs but didn’t ask us to sing this time. I think they wanted to spare us the embarrassment. As they were singing I realized our problem is our songs are so different it just didn’t work. I started thinking about African Americans and the songs peculiar to that culture like “ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down”. As I was thinking that song they sang a song about what it will be like when they go to heaven. I tried to fool myself into thinking I really didn’t have to sing that song for them but it didn’t work. So I stood up and told them I was going to sing them a song. No turning back now. Thankfully Amy helped me sing it. They loved it and all joined in. I want to learn some more spiritual African American songs to bring back next trip. We had tea, donuts and ground nuts (roasted peanuts)…..talked and then left to walk over to the hotel conference room we had reserved for the meeting with ladies and Kingdom Hiker girls.

The purpose of this meeting was to open their eyes to see the need of the young people and guide them in how to work towards bridging the gap between them. The older women will teach the younger women as they have been taught of the Lord. They all seemed surprised to know it really didn’t have to be the way it is. They have watched the relationship Joy and I have with Amy and have never seen such a thing. Joy, Amy and I gave them a new vision. I gave each of the girls a pretty handkerchief (like the ones at Dassi and Nicoles passage) to remind them to work together with sweat and to share life’s tears of pain and joy together.

We gave the women scripture cards to remind them to seek God’s wisdom as they walk together with the young ladies. Nelly, Helen, Mary, Petranilla and Christine also shared. They all seemed to be excited about the future and how they can help each other keep the youth on the right path with God. The young people were encouraged to know they would have somewhere to go with their struggles. Everyone had tea, sausage and cole slaw and visited with each other. It was nice to see them enjoying each other and being in a hotel restaurant. Most of them have never eaten out.

Noah, George and Bob Miller showed up at about that time to pay the bill and pick us up. We got Helen and Petranilla and went to a local restaurant for dinner. It was a good day. We were all very tired and slept well. Which was a good thing because Monday was another very busy day.

We did 5 home visits. We videotaped all of them telling their stories. Abba was the director, Amy the camera woman, I did the interviews with George interpreting, Bob Miller calculated the shillings to dollars when they told their stories and Joy kept us light and helped everyone including the Kenyans. Abba’s blog gives a very good report so I’ll refer you to the tab – Abba’s blog – at the top of this page. I couldn’t do a better job of describing these visits.

I realize I haven’t written a blog in a week. Last week was rough for me with 4 bad days of side effects from the malaria pill so I wasn’t up to writing. Today is Tuesday and George went to apply for his visa. They turned him down again saying essentially he doesn’t make enough money. Although it was a disappointment to all of us we are sure God is in it. We’ll just have to wait.

Reflecting on the events of the first half of our mission I’ve been asking myself, “why we are here?” There are so many humanitarian efforts helping people all over the world. There is so much need. We seem to be doing something a bit different than most missionaries we know of. Our focus is to build the church indigenously - to help them learn to help themselves and each other, to teach them the scriptures that they might learn to live their lives for Him alone, to worship God not only on Sunday but with everything they do and say. God has gathered together the very finest of the wheat to pour out His spirit upon here in Nakuru. May we do all that He asks us to do. Please do not cease to pray for us.

We need your prayers every minute of every day. Our time is short and we don’t want to waste it.

We are His family…

2010-08-25T04:52:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

We had a busy day! Since we take our malaria prevention pill on Monday I’m not feeling my best. It makes me dizzy and a little nauseated not to mention the constant ringing in the ears. Better than having malaria though… or is it? We started the day with oatmeal pancakes with honey and bananas made by Joy. Have you ever noticed when we pray for a meal we often say something like “bless the hands that made it”? You know we actually know who made it, so we can bless them, so we do that now when we pray. It’s kinda nice and more personal. After all, we are His family.

We did three home visits today. First we went to Sycilias house. She is such a wonderful person. She always has a really big smile beaming across her face. She tells everyone in her neighborhood about the gospel of Christ and the Lakeview church. Many have come because of her and her daughter Janet.

Walking through the neighborhood from house to house is quite an experience. Children run up to us saying, “howwaaru?” Cows and goats grazing and wandering around, people staring out their doorways. When they stare at you they look mad until you speak to them and then they light up. They are shocked that mzungus would come into their neighborhood. The ones we are visiting are so proud to show us off.

We went to Seline’s house. She told us what happened last year when her 2 year old son died. He had been playing outside when she called him in to get ready for bed. She tells the story with great detail, especially the dialog between her and her son, which was the last time she spoke with him. She found in the bed the next morning, dead for no apparent reason. I asked her why she didn’t get mad at God. She said her faith had grown because of the love and support she got from the church during this time. We recorded the story and asked other questions too. I wanted to know how often the family gets to eat. She said once or twice a day they have ugali and vegetables. I don’t think they are starving but they are hungry. We pray that God will show us how to help.
Although it’s very emotionally taxing, home visits are my favorite thing to do here. We really get to touch their lives and it changes us inside in ways I can’t even describe.

Tonight Abba taught the clan about being the family of God. He started out talking to them about how we need to love God first and then each other. We had just finished recording a video interview with a few of the clan members. Kennedy told how his father left him when he was a young boy and Violet told how her husband left her with 4 children, one of them cripple. Abba tied that into his talk, encouraging them to be the family of God and to never leave each other as they had been left. It seemed to have a real impact on them. It’s really hard to tell if they are understanding or not, but as I watched their faces they slowly began to change. Where there was sadness, hope appeared!

We gave them a kerosene lantern because they have no electricity and have to use candles for light. I noticed Dorris had red and weeping eyes, symptoms of a severe eye infection. So we went to the Chemist and got her some eye drops for just 300 shillings. That’s about $3.50 .

When we give money, medicine and food it is a good thing, but it will soon be gone. When we give them the love of the One who first loved us, it is eternal.

There is no greater gift.

Comic relief…

2010-08-23T11:26:00.005-04:00

August 21

One of my favorite proverbs is …. a merry heart is a good medicine. God gave George a great sense of humor. Sometimes he makes me laugh until I cry.

He’s been telling us for a year what a good cook he is. We never believed him because he never did cook. We challenged him to make good on his word so he decided to cook on Friday. This little video shows the fun we had with it. Actually, it was a great meal. As you can see he had help with the prep work but the cooking was his.

Sorry the video didn't upload. Go to my web album to view video.

Now a little story about Morelle. She cooks for us every night except Sunday. She decided to play a little practical joke on me. That was her first mistake

Here’s the rerun of the August 19^th blog in case you didn’t read it:

When we got home Morelle had dinner prepared for us. She greeted me with a concerned look on her face and said, “Amma, I am sorry. I dropped the chicken on the floor.” I said, “OK….” And went to see what had happened. Then she broke out laughing to end the practical joke she wanted to play on us. I let her have her laugh and then warned her that there will be payback. Amy told her I am a brownie. When you least expect it. Anyone have any ideas? Now she's worriedJ

Saturday night she made curry chicken. I taught her how to make it so she was following my recipe. We decided to tell her the food didn’t taste good. Noah Pavao would start it so she wouldn’t suspect anything. He began with, “I don’t want to be rude…but….this doesn’t taste good.” I chimed in with, “What did you do? This just isn’t right”. Morelle was shocked, we always praise her cooking. She didn’t know what to say so she just said, “I did what you told me.” Amy started laughing, Joy didn’t know what to say. Abba said something like, “There’s something wrong with this chicken.” George and Nelly watched the whole exchange. I could see Morelle was getting upset so we ended it pretty quick. It took her a while to recover. She said she was turning red. (we couldn’t tell) and her face was hot. We all laughed. Finally she said, “Amma, you got me good!” After all that there were many reassuring comments. We wanted to make sure she came back.

Sunday’s gathering

Teresa went to church with us so we brought her home for lunch. Nelly stayed home and cooked lunch for us so it was ready when we got there. After we ate we went over to Teresa’s to look at some paintings by a man named Peter. His paintings will be in an art show in New York. He gives 10% of the profit to a Kenyan ministry of the buyer’s choice. They were really good paintings. Joy bought 4 in hopes that we can sell them and raise money for our work in Africa.

Now on our way to Teresa’s this is what we saw…

Janam Funeral Services

Mombasa

Can I help you?

Don't worry. We arrived safe and sound.

It’s a rainy day…

2010-08-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

August 19, 2010

The rains in Nakuru are refreshing. When it’s dry here the dust is abundant. They don’t have lawns to keep the dirt under cover so it gets pretty thick. You breathe it, it gets in your eyes and everything you touch is dusty. Enough about the dust, I’m supposed to be telling you about the rain.

Tuesday is clan day so we were planning to go visit the newest clan with Lawerence the Masai, Kennedy and Dorris, William and his wife Violet and baby, and Simon, Before we left the house there was a major down pour. We debated whether to go or not. After George called them he felt we should just go. So we got our umbrellas and literally waded to the van. Once in the van we started down the road with rivers flowing beside us and even over the road in places. With water splashing up in the engine it waasnt long before we stalled out. We just happened to be on the corner of several Kiosks (food stands) with people staring at us wondering why we would be so foolish to try to drive these roads. George managed to dry out the distributor and we started down the road again. I wanted to dispel the serious looks on the faces of our observers so as we restarted I made praying hands signs asking them to pray for us. They all laughed.

We got a little further down the road before we stalled out again. George suggested we walk the rest of the way (about a mile). In unison we all said, “no way!” Who knows what microorganisms might be lurking in that muddy ditch water washed over the roads and it was still raining. So he kept working on the engine until it started up again. All the while there was much debate as to whether we should turn around and go home or not but something kept drawing us on.

We finally made it to Lawerence’s one room house. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with them that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. The rain had stopped so we got back in the van to go home. I realized how easily I get anxious about circumstances, forgetting to consider God. When we ask He is always faithful to answer our call. In the end, no matter how foolish we were it was we all agreed it was His will for us to be at that Clan meeting. Who is that strong man holding the rock????

Wednesday

I got up early this morning to make breakfast. Nelly came in the kitchen and started asking a lot of questions about what I was doing. I was wondering why she was asking so many questions when I realized it was her day to cookJ We had made up a schedule for cook / clean breakfast since Morelle only comes for dinner cook. We had a good laugh. She cut up a pineapple and I finished the fried rice. My mistake so I will cook again tomorrow on my cook day.

Today Joy and I went to town with Petranilla to buy fabric for dresses and aprons while Amy went to Nelly's salon to get her hair done. George dropped us off so when we were done shopping we caught a Matatu home. That would be a 15 passenger van, crowded with people going places. We sat all the way in the back by our own choice. We are the minority here and although we are not treated as such, it made me think about the African Americans during the civil liberties movement and how they were forced to sit in the back of the bus. We got home Lawerence, Kennedy and Dorris were there to talk to Abba. It was lunch time so we started warming up leftovers. We weren’t sure what to do as far as hosting our visitors so I asked Petranilla. She told us if we are going to serve them lunch we do not have to serve tea unless we want to and then it would be served after eating. If we weren’t going to serve lunch we should serve them tea. We decided to go all out and serve lunch and tea. They were grateful and enjoyed the time with us. We asked questions and made plans to video tape their stories.

Joy and I walked to Petranillas, escorted by Lloyd, to spend time with her in her shop. We met Martha who is from Sudan. Women are not allowed to work in Sudan so she is learning to sew from Petranilla. She wants to change the way things are done when she returns to Sudan. Then a customer walked in to try on an outfit Petranilla was working on. As they talked in Swahili even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I could tell the young lady was not satisfied with the sleeves. I asked if I could help. They said yes so I shortened and pinned a pleat at the hem of the sleeves. The lady was delighted and told Petranilla she wanted my design. She hurriedly left the shop. Petranilla said she was embarrassed because she didn’t know English and couldn’t tell us good bye. She had not been fortunate enough to go to school.

I think this trip will be about entering into their lifestyle a little more. I can see how our cultures will compliment each other. We are always reminded it’s not the African way or the American way but the way of God’s people living in His Kingdom, learning to love each other and become His light in the darkness of this world.

Please keep praying. We feel your prayers (and also the lack thereof). We need you everyday.

Thursday

After breakfast I called Teresa June. I immediately liked her and hoped she was all she seemed to be on the phone. We met her in town at the Kokeb restaurant where you get those wonderful fruit punches. She is a very dear lady. Steve James had given me her email address here in Nakuru. She’s from Huntsville, Alabama and has been in Nakuru by herself for 2 years. She has friends here and works with various ministries, teaching the bible and helping people in need. Her main focus is a ministry to Masai girls who have left their homes because of the abuse they received when refusing to submit to the custom of female circumcision and marriage to 60 -70 year old men. Many come having been beaten close to death and some die. They are a place of refuge for these girls age 15 and 16. They are given a safe place to live and an opportunity to go to school. Teresa will be going into the mountains with back packing group to reach the people there who would not even know who you’re talking about if you say the name of Jesus. Then she will hopefully be able to go to the Kenya relief clinic with us. She will be coming stateside in November and wants to visit the village. We felt an instant bond with her and look forward to being with her in the work here.

Teresa just called and wants to spend time with us so I will close. We’re going to meet her in town and go to her house. She also asked, “if it wouldn’t be too much trouble can I come to church with you Sunday?”

Of course!

Sunday gathering and more....

2010-08-17T02:40:00.000-04:00

August 15, 2010

Today is Sunday. We got up early, had breakfast and got ready for the gathering. I was really excited, anticipating reunion with our family here at Lakeside Village Community Church. The Kingdom Hikers led the singing with Noah Pavao and Amy joining right in. They sang wholeheartedly. It was very refreshing to see how they love to sing praises to our God. Abba gave an amazing teaching encouraging and exhorting all to seek the face of God. There were fewer people than I expected. Some have left, others had mandatory meetings having to do with government housing.

After the gathering the men met with Abba. There are so many more men than before. They seem to be sincere and wanting to build together for God’s glory. The ladies have started meeting every other week in each other’s home. They asked us to come and it was so much fun. They decided to meet because they wanted to become closer to each other and not just see each other once a week on Sunday. This was only their second time. George, Abba and Noah P dropped us off and waited in the van. It was supposed to be a short time and we were only having tea. We began with singing.

We were all crammed into a small room with no floor space to speak of at all. They sang songs from their tribes and told us to be ready to sing one from RCV. It was really hard to think of a song because I just wanted to listen to them. It came to be our turn so we sang One Life. Then they broke out in more singing so we just joined in as best we could, dancing and singing for about an hour. It was fun! We all sat down and the ladies went around the room giving testimony to what God has done for them:

This is Sylvia.

Ann Wango told her story first. I remember my first visit here we met her in her home. She was very distressed that her 17 year old daughter had to work taking care of children because her husband had left her and was not supporting her even though he had the means to do so.

God touched our hearts and we decided at that time to help her send her daughter, Elizabeth, to school. We gave enough to pay tuition and took her shopping for a uniform and shoes. I remember bargaining with the seller of shoes to get a fair price. He was pushing for more money so I started to walk away. He called us back and gave us the shoes for the price we offered. My first lesson in bargaining with the local sellersJ So Elizabeth got to go to school. This story makes me want to remind our children what a privilege it is to be able to go to school. The kids here have to work hard and hope they will get an education. At the time we also encouraged Ann to seek legal help for financial support from her husband. When we came last time in November Ann and Elizabeth were active in the church and happy. But she still had not been able to get support from her husband. So that brings us up to date. Since then she was going to take him to court. He didn’t want to go so they made arrangements to settle out of court and he has been supporting the family since. Ann was so delighted to tell how God has taken care of her family. She is happy and full of the spirit of God. Her faithfulness has been rewarded.

We met Dorris. She is 18 years old and has a 4 year old daughter that lives with the grandmother. She’s , married to a man who works giving rides of the back of a bicycle to people. She told the story of how, a few days ago he was giving a ride. The man guided him to a secluded area and beat him and took his money. She was not complaining that the money was lost but was praising God that he was not killed by the theif. Today, (Monday), we went for home visits and were at her house. Her husband, Kennedy, was there. His struggles began at age 5 when his parents separated and he was in the middle of the problems between his mom and dad. Both Dorris and Kennedy are good members of the church and will be baptized while we are here. They both have struggled a lot in life and want to put the past behind them.

All of the ladies testimonies were full of heartfelt gratefulness to God who has never forsaken them. Then ladies started to bring food to the table at our knees. Our hands were washed in the traditional African way with a pitcher of warm water and a basin. We were serving our plates when it started to rain. Suddenly in comes Abba, George and Noah P. They were tired of waiting, or maybe the smelled the aroma of the feast before us. Any way they crashed our ladies meeting. Every one had a good laugh. We ate and left to go home.

Soon after we got home the Kingdom Hikers came for a meeting at George’s. Abba is encouraging them to do whatever they can to be a light in the city of Nakuru. They don’t talk much yet but that is typical of the age group. I was there but I could hardly stay awake so I slipped out for a cat nap and joined back in about the time Abba started showing slideshows.

After our feast at Sylvia’s no one was really hungry…. Except George that is. We had pork chops in the frige so I was going to cook them for him. When I opened the bag I smelled an odor I didn’t like. After having several people check and not be sure we decided to rinse them. Sure enough the 2 chops on the bottom were bad. Now remembering Abba’s last experience here with pork chops (he was very sick for days) we mzungus didn’t want to take a chance. So I cooked the ‘good’ ones for everyone else.

That means squatting down over a charcoal cooker in the ally off the kitchen. It was nice outside so I didn’t mind at all. It did make me a little sad though because I miss Joel (Hall). He always did our grilling last time we were here. We miss him and keep calling Noah Pavao ‘Joel’- even George does. Noah is gracious and patient to wait for us to remember that HE’S NOT JOEL!’ We’re getting to know him better now. Every morning I step out of my room, brushing my teeth, heading toward the open community sink, and there is Noah, brushing his teeth. I told him today, “ we have to stop meeting like this.”

We chatted a bit and then we all went to bed. This was my first good night’s sleep since we left Tennessee last Tuesday. I think we are getting adjusted now.

Until next time,

Haviylah

It's not the destination, but the journey, that matters....

2010-08-14T12:30:00.000-04:00

August 13, 2010

We started our journey to Kenya on Tuesday, August 10, at 9:30 am. Our plan was to leave at 9:30 but we decided, since we were ready, we would leave early. Problem is we forgot to tell Joy. She was very gracious and just made the adjustment quickly. Shammah, Hannah, Gideon and Faith were our escorts to the airport. We all piled into Asher’s 15 passenger van and away we went. First stop, the bank in Selmer to get newer bills and a walk across the street to the Village Coffee Shop. We got to say good bye to Paul and Dassie and had one more coffee shop drink for the road.

We got to Nashville in plenty of time for a great lunch at an authentic Greek restaurant called ‘Istanbul’. Then to the airport we go with our total of 10 bags, each one of us with two carry on bags, ready to check in. That all went smoothly so we sat and waited at our gate. Apparently our plane was delayed so we got a late start. Finally we boarded with plenty of time to make our connection in Newark, NJ. As the plane began to taxi a screeching noise was blasting right above my seat in my ears. I was obviously annoyed. Joy looked over at me and smiled, “So that’s why they say you’re a lot like Nathanael”. We were reassured the noise would go away so I just put on my iphone ipod music to drown out the noise. That worked. We then realized we weren’t going anywhere. The pilot came on the PA to let us know there was a technical problem that would only take a short time to fix. We taxied back to the gate and waited. I was getting concerned about making our connection. We were already informed that we would have to take a shuttle to our next flight. Finally we were in the air and the noise ceased. When we arrived in Newark we had to wait for the shuttle with only 30 minutes before take off. I was surprised that Abba wasn’t concerned as he usually is even when there are no difficulties. I was anxious but I couldn’t get him to be anxious with me. I discovered later that he had determined not to be over concerned. As it was we barely made it onto the plane before the doors closed. We got to our reserved seats to find a man and lady stretched out across them, ready to sleep. We had to ask them to give us our seats which didn’t make either of them very happy. Ok we made it….. to Paris we go.

Ah Paris! What a delightful interlude!

We didn’t have any trouble connecting with our tour guide, Christian. He gave us a relaxed tour, helped us find a restaurant for lunch and got us back to the airport in plenty of time. It had been raining when we arrived but stopped long enough for us to have a good 4 hours in the city. When we got to our gate it started raining again. God delights in taking care of us. We asked for good weather and it couldn’t have been better. I loved the architecture of the old buildings and gates to the city. There were statues everywhere you turned. So much history reaching out to say don’t forget what happened here. It causes me to want to tell stories of our history to our children and grand kids, not to live in the past but to enable them to go forward and make their own new history.

Why is everyone holding their arms? >

We boarded Kenya Airlines airplane totally exhausted lacking sleep. Sitting for hours on end, not able to even stretch your legs or recline pushes us to our limits. This was a newer plane and the seats were about as comfortable as you get on an airplane. We had a great flight attendant who brought us warm cloths to freshen up followed by a really great meal. We tried to sleep, watch movies, read books as best we could ever longing for our home in Nakuru. Finally we are in Nairobi airport. We got through customs and recovered all 10 bags without a glitch. There was our smiling George to greet us with African hugs and another seat to occupy for the next two hour drive from Nairobi to Nakuru. But first we must get our “jabs” –( immunizations). We endured rush hour traffic as we caught up on how everyone is doing and exchanged stories with George. We took time for tea and mushroom cheese omelet breakfast before going to the familiar Lynton’s Pharmacee. Our brains were tired but we finally figured out who needed what shots with the ever patient man behind the counter who would administer the shots. They always see us when we are this tired but are so friendly and helpful. George went next door to get a card reader for Amy’s camera. Now we are ready for the last leg of our journey. Everyone kept knodding off, waking up, knodding off.

When we got to the house we were greeted by Nellie and Michelle and a houseful of our favorite people in Kenya. They were preparing a feast for us so we chatted and got a little organized. After we ate we all just wanted to go to bed til morning. George came to me and said we should go to see people at the church. That was a stretch…… He gave us time to get a short nap then we were back in the van for the bumpy, but short, drive to the church. There were not many people still there by the time we got there but it was more that worth the effort to see their smiling faces. God’s love is strong in His people. It is the food we eat, the sleep we need that comes from heaven to us on earth and gives us life and breath.

We came back home and ate again, took showers and went to bed. Not to worry the rooster made sure we didn’t oversleep and called to us at about 3am. We were pretty tired and went back to sleep - after about an hour. We are still waking up at night trying to get our bodies to realize we’re not in Tennessee now.

I’m starting not to make sense so I’ll save the rest of the story for tomorrow.

Love to all. Miss you so much already.

Haviylah

Mary goes F.I.S.H.ing!

2009-12-22T04:10:00.001-05:00

December 22, 2009

Sunday after the gathering we met with the clan leaders and the people who were chosen to be in the first phase of receiving micro loans.

It took a lot of seeking God, talking to each other and making changes according to the unforeseen needs that inevitably arise in a project such as this. Noah, George, Nelly and I did a lot of the setting up process. We were glad for Doug’s assistance by email on the forms. We set up accounting books and made applications. The clan leaders did the interviews and gave their recommendations on who should receive the first loans.

This process took weeks and we are still making changes.The funny thing is none of us are good at financial matters, but our God is and He has led us in what we believe to be His will. We will learn as mistakes are revealed and resolved. There was opportunity to teach the people about sacrifice and taking care of each other, avoiding gossip and slander, and trusting God to meet our needs – not money. The goal is to learn to work together and help each other. Building businesses will help build the church and give opportunities to give to those who are less fortunate.

As we sat with the people it felt good to all of us. We had the peace in our hearts that made us feel close to God and to each other.

Those chosen range from good business people to widows without means to start businesses. Business here means buying some vegetables, coal, bales of used western clothes and the like to sell on the streets and to neighbors. This gives them enough money to pay rent, eat and send their children to school.

We handed out the money in brown envelopes and received their grateful slapping handshakes, hugs and holy kisses on our cheeks. I don’t know who was happier, the source or the recipients. It is truly better to give than receive.

We left the tent gathering and went to town to celebrate at Gilani’s Restaurant with Petranilla and Alice. Gilani’s is also a wholesale warehouse like Sam’s. Now Joel was in pain with sunburn blisters on his feet and pain on his back. So we decided to go into the store and get some aloe, leaving Noah and George at the van. As we were standing in the isle blankly staring at shelves full of unfamiliar bottles of lotion, suddenly from out of nowhere came....

Mary – remember the chicken story where the lady placed a live chicken in my lap; remember the story about the lady who the police broke down her door looking to arrest her for selling fresh milk, and she went on her knees and cried out to God telling them she was a priestess and they should let her go, and they did? – It was this same Mary we found F.I.S.H.ing in Gilani’s wholesale warehouse – or should I say she found us. Now catching a big fish is no fun unless you can tell somebody. When she saw Joel and I she came up to us very excited. Mary doesn’t speak much English and we don’t speak much Swahili so the communicating was in action form. She grabbed me by the arm and led me away. I had no choice but to follow. I left Joel standing there, “I’ll be right back”, I said, hoping it was a true statement. She had something to show me.

She had taken her bait money and went straight to the warehouse and started F.I.S.H.ing. She bought groceries to sell in her store.

I saw the big F.I.S.H. and I was amazed. It was so large it sat in a pile knee high and had to be delivered to her trunk with a hand cart.

She wanted me to meet her husband so she dragged me out to the street where he was looking for a place to park the car so he could reel the catch into his trunk. By now, seeing all the commotion, Noah and George joined us on the street to admire the big F.I.S.H. and meet Mary's husband.

I took this opportunity to slip back into the store to rescue Joel. He was still trying to choose which aloe lotion would be most helpful. I didn't think any of them would serve the purpose so we decided to go to a chemist (drug store) to find pure aloe. We ended up just going home and using rescue cream which did the trick and gave some relief.

All in all it was a wonderful day. We have a successful start at teaching and learning the art of F.I.S.H.ing. Many thanks to all who made this trip and this project possible with your support in prayers and contributions. Mary represents one of 18 faithful servants of God who will begin the working out of our endeavor to help those who need help here in Nakuru, Kenya, Africa!

Missing you all. I am so anxious to see you all, but at the same time it will be very hard to leave these precious saints. Love, Haviylah

Christmas in Africa

2009-12-20T11:14:00.002-05:00

This year at Christmas time I find myself surrounded by unfamiliar scenes. None of the usual triggers to remind me of the things I am used to seeing – like Christmas trees, presents, lights, shopping traffic jams, men in Santa suits, parades, and manger scenes on front lawns. As a matter of fact, things don’t look any different than any other day here in Nakuru. So as I look around and remember the birth of Christ I see sights I have never seen before to remind me of the events that took place so long ago.

I see a young maiden praising God and I think of Mary’s praise.

I see a young woman with child and I consider the mother of our Lord.

I see a donkey and I think of how difficult it must have been for her to ride so many miles in the fullness of her pregnancy.

I pay sales tax and I think of why she took that journey.

I see a hotel and remember there was no room in the Inn for her to rest, to labor, and to give birth to the only Son of God.

I see flocks of sheep on a hill and I remember the heavenly host that came down to earth, to announce this birth of our King, to mere shepherds.

I see a gathering of people who love Him bowing down to worship Him and I remember the unknown faces of those who came to worship the baby born in a stable.

I see little boy and I remember the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincence and myrrh, to a young boy, saving Him from the wrath of Herod.

And I am filled with a new wonder! Our God’s Love is so great it has come to us again. If we will only pause to look for it each day of our lives. We are surrounded with signs of that Love.

May you know the Love that was born in the earth so long ago.

Let it be born in your heart anew this year.

An African Wedding

2009-12-14T08:32:00.000-05:00

Monday, December 14, 2009

Yesterday was a busy day. After breakfast we all headed out to the van for our bumpy ride to the gathering. Kids were yelling, “how are you?” and waving as they ran down the road after us. People are everywhere going to one of the many churches in the neighbor. As I look out the window I wonder why we can’t all just get along and be one family of God, His people and His Kingdom. One day may it be so.

After the gathering we had a ladies meeting. I spoke to them about women in the Bible from different phases in their lives – single, married and widowed. The language and culture makes it hard to know if what you are saying is either helpful, too complicated or too simple to understand. They are so expressive when they are singing, praying and praising but when they listen it is hard to read their faces. They are good listeners but give little indication or response to what is being said. Nelly assured me that the interpreter makes sure they understand. So all in all, you just give what you have and let God speak to their hearts the message He wants them to hear. I love being with these ladies. When the meeting was over their faces came back to life with expressions of love and kindness. I think they are trained to listen when it’s time to listen and talk later. Hum… not a bad idea.

It’s fun getting to know their culture and learning to understand the difference in perspectives. After the ladies meeting we took pictures to put on the F.I.S.H. applications then had a clan leaders meeting. It was about 12:30pm when all this was over so George took us back to the house to get something to eat before we went to a wedding. We had samosas and rice. I love samosas. They are triangular shaped stuffed with minced meat (ground beef) and / or vegetables deep fried. They remind me of eggrolls. George said we shouldn’t go to the wedding hungry. Later we found out why.

This was a wedding for one of Petranillas friends. She brought her over to meet us a couple of weeks ago. I had a conversation with her and we connected right away. So I was interested in going to an African wedding and glad that it was hers. We got there a little late so I expected we would just sit in the back and be inconspicuous. Wrong… we stuck out like a mzungo at an African wedding. They escorted us to the front row where people moved around to make room for us. The sermon was being preached by a very enthusiastic preacher. We all liked what he was saying. Then it started to rain really hard. But he kept on preaching with the P.A. system blaring loudly over the sound of a downpour of rain on the tin roof over our heads. George told us later that it was a unique ceremony. I won’t give the details because we may want to borrow some of it for one of our up and coming weddings. After the preaching the bride and groom exchanged rings, prayed and then were seated on the stage. There was a little commotion of chairs being moved to the stage, and suddenly we found ourselves seated amongst the relatives on the stage, being served by the bride and groom bite sized pieces of cake followed by a plate full of …uh….. food….. we still aren’t sure what kind of meat we were supposed to eat off that plate. We did our best and washed it down with Stoneys and Fanta orange soda. During the meal friends and relatives gave their blessing and advice. I looked up as Noah was being handed the mike, then me, then Joel. We said some nice things, thanked them and went on our way.

We got home and chatted a little with Petranilla. She asked me questions about life in America. As we talked I realized how different our lives are and how hard it was for her to even relate to our lifestyle. She is a tailor and when she was told by Nathanael that Rachel was a “tailor” too she pictured her with a little shop with a sewing machine that she sat at and sewed for people every day for a business. I told her that people mostly bought their clothes ready made and that we sew mostly for special occasions. She didn’t have a clue what I meant by ready made. If the tailors didn’t make the clothes then how did they get made? I told her factories made them. She was shocked.

She asked what kind of jobs the ladies do. I listed a few and mentioned that Marlene hangs wall paper. You can only imagine what confusion that would bring. She doesn’t know what wall paper is. I tried to explain but I think she may think it’s something like the unframed posters they put on their walls. She went home. We had some greens and ugali and went to bed.

Making progress....

2009-12-12T06:37:00.001-05:00

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Our time here is getting short. We have less than 3 weeks to go and much to do. The leaders here are in unity about the F.I.S.H. program and we are encouraged by the response of the people. We don’t have unlimited funds so most will have to wait for assistance. We will start with a few people’s businesses to see how to go about it and hopefully be able to help more in the future. We are working hard to make sure they are doing the work of it and decision making with help and support from us. We want to equip them for the work. We repeatedly tell them this is not about financing as much as it is about them learning to work together and take care of each other. They are very responsive.

Last week we took Christine’s husband, Patrick, to the doctor. This is the same doctor that took care of Austin and Joel. He’s from India and seems to be competent and caring. He only charges 300 shillings for an office visit. He is not ‘getting rich’. His office is small. He has a receptionist and a couple of benches for a waiting room and an office with an examining table. He pulled out a BP cuff that looked like it came from the 18^th century. He has no nurse and uses a notebook to document his findings. I talked to him about what we could do here to help with health care. At first he talked about a friend who is doing work in the villages. When I told him we want to do something here in Nakuru he seemed to get excited. I asked him if I could come work with him a day or two and he said he would like that too. We will head in a direction and let God lead us. I am thinking we could set up a lab to do diagnostic tests for people at a cheaper fee than they charge here. That would help a lot. Most people just guess and self treat because they can’t afford the lab and doctor fees.

On our way home today we stopped by the butcher to get a chicken for dinner and some meat for the next couple of days. There was a fresh side of beef hanging in the window. They will keep it for up to 2 days that way making cuts as it is sold. They say if you refrigerate it you lose all the juices. I told Petranila she would never see a sight like that in our country. She was surprised. She thought that was the way everyone processed meat. If you ask for a chicken they go get a live one and kill it, gut it, and pluck it for you. Fransisca is our butcher. She used to work at a place in town but now she has her own shop. She just opened a couple of days ago and was bringing the meat to our house before that. She’s very kind and I like supporting her business.

Oh, by the way, there are no Christmas trees or decorations, no “merry Christmas” or parades. We are going to have a feast where all the ladies will cook together at the church and a Christmas program. Most of them have never done any of this before so it will be a new experience for them. I’m looking forward to seeing what God will do.

We had a youth meeting today. Noah told parts of the story of the birth of Christ and the events surrounding His birth. Then we came home so they watched the RCV version of the Christmas story. On the way home in the van they sang Christmas carols. That was nice.

Please leave your decorations and Christmas trees up for us to see. It would be fun to tour the village for a late Christmas. Missing you all……………Haviylah

Here comes Michelle Haviylah to help me write this blog.

Anne

2009-12-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

Wednesday December 9, 2009

I went to bed last night thinking about Anne. She is the young lady who has been crippled since she was about 13 years old. I think she is 19 or 20 now. The remarkable thing about her is that she doesn’t complain or ask for money. She has a grateful heart and smiles a lot. We have talked about getting her a new pair of crutches. The ones she has are made of steel and are very heavy with wooden arm rests that go under her arms. When I asked her if they were too heavy she said no, they are fine. That’s what I mean when I say grateful and not complaining. I would probably be complaining. We went shopping for new crutches and found some nice ones at the second shop we went to. They are aluminum but sturdy and cost all of about $40. We bought them and took them to her today. When we drove up to her little one room house she greeted us at the door, smiling big. When she saw the crutches she was speechless. We adjusted them for her on the lowest setting. She is about 4 foot 10. She loved that they would not rub under her arms. What a joy and privilege it is to make her life even just a little bit easier.

A day of adventures!

2009-12-08T07:07:00.000-05:00

Monday, December 7, 2009

What a day! Monday is a “rest” day. We got up early, had breakfast, packed a lunch, and walked to the car wash about a block away, to pick up the van. Then we headed for the hills to visit one of the parks here in Kenya. The park is only about 1 hour 15 minutes African time, or 2 hours real time, away. It was a nice drive and we enjoyed the scenery as we went from green landscape to the semi arid lands of the foothills of some mountains I don’t know the name of.

On the way we passed a field of Sisal plants. George told us how the plants were used to make materials for mattresses, couches, twine and such things. We came to a factory and decided to stop and see. We took some pictures as we toured the area, observing the step by step process of turning green plants into a useful material to be shipped to England. George knew about this because his parents had worked on a Sisal farm. We went a little further down the road and stopped for a picture of us standing on the equator.

Back on the road again when suddenly an Ostrich darted across the road we were traveling on. We almost hit it! George pulled over so we jumped out of the van and got some pictures. What a huge bird! We found out they run wild in the area.

We arrived at our destination and entered the National Reserve Park heading towards the Hot Springs. The road ran alongside the lake and all along the way there were wild animals to be seen. Flamingos lined the shores of Lake Bogoria. We saw wild warthogs, impalas, hawks and eagles flying low and perching in the trees, and big squirrels. We knew we were in the wild when we saw a dead zebra lying in the open. Noah found a horned skull which he will bring home for public viewing. I, on the other hand, collected a few pink feathers, left on the beach by clueless flamingos.

Picnic with the boys: Now they are not boys but I often feel like the mom so I think that way. I have enjoyed being with these men of God - General, leading out through the wilderness of Christianity, culture and foreign countries; Captain, doing his best to follow; and Jerogi learning all about the Way. We parked the van and got out at the hot springs area. We enjoyed the sauna with other local, and not so local tourists. By now we were pretty hungry so we went to the picnic area. Almost flat rocks served as a picnic table.

As soon as we popped the top off our Stoneys, our favorite ginger ale, the flies took up the invitation to join us. But we were hungry enough to perservere. Joel and I made some sandwiches. We discovered if we kept moving and ate and drank fast enough the flies didn’t have a chance. So we gulped it all down and headed back for home.

But not without another surprise adventure. I guess that is what makes adventures… surprise, unkown territory, danger, sweat (lots of sweat on this one), and tears. After about 30 minutes traveling down the road the van stopped running. No big deal. George is a mechanic, he can fix the problem. Hum… a mechanic without tools can’t do much. He tried though, using a butter knife we brought for our picnic. He wasn’t able to get very far into the engine without a wrench. Meanwhile we were visited by some neighborhood boys who were no help at all but seemed to enjoy the destraction to an otherwise boring day for them. It was obvious to all that without tools we weren’t accomplishing anything so George hitched a ride to town. He had already told us we were 40 minutes from the nearest town so here we were 3 mzungus stranded on the side of the road in the bush country. That practically means no trees for shade and no people visible anyway. We knew they were out there somewhere but unseen. It was day time so we didn’t sense any danger but wondered where George went. Then we saw another car come from the direction George went in. The car stopped a little ways past the van, George got out. They seemed to be looking in the trunk for tools or something so we felt relieved….. but…. He never came to the van, he just got back into the car and left in the opposite direction. (It seems that there was a town about 10 minutes away in that direction so George decided to go that way instead of the 40 minute town in the direction we were headed. He is so smart.) Ok, we know from experience that informing us of his intentions is not something George does. He assumes we know he is wisely taking care of us, and he usually is. So we weren’t even worried yet. We settled in for the wait….. which we do a lot of waiting here anyway so we are pretty good at it….I took the back seat and stretched out to rest, Joel laid down on the floor and Noah walked around carrying his big walking stick. He reminded me of the massi warriors, protecting the tribe:-) I dozed off in the back seat of the oven - I mean - van. It was so HOT! The side windows and side door were open but not much air was coming through. Finally George returned with two mechanics. They began to work and quickly diagnosed the problem. As they were working it occurred to me that maybe if we opened the back door it would help with the heat. So I asked if that would be possible. Noah went to the back and opened the door. Immediately a cool breeze filled the van. Now why didn’t anyone think of that before? How refreshing! Alas, cooling off only made us aware of how thirsty we were. We had each brought one water bottle and drank it all on the way there so there was not a drop left. We had asked George to bring water back from his search for a mechanic, but he was anxious about us sitting on the side of the road and forgot to get it. The mechanics fixed the problem, as described by Joel in his blog, and we were on our way. Our mission now was to find water. We drove for a good while asking every few minutes, “when do you think we will get water?” “Not long” said George. Uh is that real time or African time the mzugus wondered. It seemed like a long time but it really wasn’t. We took a side road and found a little town full of interesting sites. Now interesting sites in Kenya means interesting people. Noah got a picture of the most interesting one which I’m sure he will share with you. It seemed to take longer than usual to get water but soon George showed his smiling face with 4 one and a half liter bottles of ice cold water!! George drank his down because driving here takes both hands on the wheel at all times. Then we were off.

We thanked God for leading George to help and for the good timing of the van breaking down. - It could have been into the night time with darkness and malaria infested mosquitos feasting on us.- We reached Nakuru at about 5pm, picked up Nelly and came home to the aroma of Morella’s fine cooking.

We all slept well that night. Thankful to be safe in our beds dreaming of natural saunas in the wilderness and how to stay out of hot wate.

Letter to Rose Creek Village from Petronilla

2009-12-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Today we had a good gathering in the tent. Noah spoke from the book of John chapters 13 – 18. This was His last conversation with His disciples before the cross. We serve such a savior who went to all extremes to teach us to love one another and then sent His Spirit to enable us to do the same. We have no reason to ever doubt His love. After the gathering we gave grains to the people. This is a portion of rice and beans that will feed a family for 2 days. They were so happy and grateful! We then went to Judy’s house for lunch and conversation. Judy is our Judah in Kenya. I have never seen anyone praise like Judy praises. We came home and spent some time with Petronila. She gave me this letter to send to you:

To the church:

Hello! My name is Petronila. Sometimes I am so amazed with what the Lord is doing. Since Noah and Ammah came for the last one month we have seen a great revival in church. We had twelve benches in a room where we used to fellowship together but through their teachings the place filled up. He bought for us a tent and 4o chairs of which the place is full again. Since they came we have learned a lot from them and the church is growing rapidly. Thanks for your efforts in sending them to us. I know know you are really working tirelessly for the work of God to succeed. Thank you again for your prayers your labor is not in vain. General will reward you. Ammah has taught us about forgiveness and repentance and also intimacy with Christ and with each other. It’s wonderful to hear all this revelations from the men of God. It’s good to be around them. Noah has taught us accountability, responsibility, authority and walking on a narrow path. That it needs obedience and perseverance.

Praise the Lord, oh Jerusalem. He is worth of all your praise!

Please continue to pray for "Captain and General" as they lead us into war against the enemy. Let us follow them into battle every day until the Lord returns.

Work and play....

2009-12-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday, December 5, 2009 Beatrice and Michelle

The 5^th weekend in Nakuru is upon us. We are feeling a little time pressure to accomplish what we are here to do. Pray for us that it is His will and not our own that we succeed in. We are finding the balance between what we need to do and what they need to do. Together we will work as we learn to overcome obstacles of communication and culture. It will be good for us to leave and give them a chance to experience the rewards and sacrifices of this Life. Petranilla came over and we had a ‘round table’ conference to work on F.I.S.H. micro funding plans. We will meet with all the leaders this afternoon.

The young people are in the living room with Joel watching Ingathering DVDs. They seem to be enjoying it and break out in laughter from time to time….why are they laughing, who knows? The girls really liked the dance the Sundari Jewels did. They want me to teach them a dance like that. Ok I’ll try. The dvds were over so they’re playing chess with Joel. I popped them some popcorn for a snack because they are going to play soccer. While they played soccer Noah and I went to the park to make videos for the grand kids. The monkeys and baboons were fun to watch. There are the most beautiful,

iridescent blue birds I ever saw. We watched the Impalas graze in the distance while we had a cup of tea and chatted with a Massi warrior. He was there to keep the baboons and monkeys out of the café.

The clan leaders meeting went well. They are truly coming together to do the work of helping people. They are learning to put themselves aside for others’ sake. We got home a little late. I helped Morella make the chicken curry. We had a nice dinner and we’re going to bed now. Hope you all have a nice day while we are sleeping. Much love…..Haviylah

2009-12-04T01:36:00.000-05:00

It’s Thursday, December 3^rd. We got up this morning to find out we are out of gas for our little 2 burner stove. Nelly was not sure what I would think of that but it wasn’t a problem. I just cut up some delicious fruit, pineapple, mango, avocados, and tomatoes, added a little strawberry yogurt, bread and butter, and a cup of tea made on the charcoal stove. This made a nice breakfast and we were all satisfied. Nelly said we probably don’t have charcoal in America. Yes, I told her we do, and began to describe how it comes in a paper bag that you just light to get the coals started. She was very surprised.

After breakfast we went to do a few home visits. School is out so we were greeted everywhere we went with, “How are you?”, “Do you have a sweetie?”, “Take my picha”, “Mzungus!!” Every little one room home we visited was clean and tidy. We are asking questions about their businesses so we can decide how to help. Where to start? There is so much need. If they buy food there’s no money for their kids to go to school. If they pay school fees, buy school books and uniforms, they will often go to school hungry. When you think of how little they need according to our western standards, it is a shame we don’t give more. I am motivated to tell people who want to give but don’t know about the needs. I know people want to be sure that they would be giving effectively. I think the generosity of Americans can make a huge difference in the economy here. We have only to get the word out. I am glad for what Dassie and Noah are doing in the continuation of Radical Outreach. This will be a timely venture that I hope will grow. We will bring back video and pictures to make a DVD.

Last night we met with the leaders of clans to make decisions about who and how to start the F.I.S.H. (Financing Indigenous Self Help) program. It seems there’s so much need it is hard to know where to begin. Please pray for these leaders that they will make the right decisions. We aren’t able to help everyone at this point so we will do as much as possible to learn how to work out any difficulties that might arise. It was a good meeting and I believe the people are getting closer to each other and learning to work things out together. Noah has been doing some good teaching and preaching. We are equipping the people to do the work here as best we know how. They are receiving the teaching and are getting ready to do what God asks them to do. We sometimes have problems because of the language/culture barriers but we are getting through. Love you all………..Haviylah

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving, being an american holiday, does not exisit in Africa. I had a little fun with Morella, our cook. When she came to make dinner for us I asked her to bake a turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe casserole, green bean casserole, squash casserole, oh, and could she bake a pumpkin pie with whipped topping. Not to mention this would be impossible because we don't have an oven here. Her eyes got big and she was speechless. We had a good laugh, then she asked me what is thanksgiving? I told her the story. She had seen things on TV about thanksgiving and was wondering what it all meant. Anyway, we had a nice day. Our dinner was good - chicken, beans and carrots, rice and ugali. No desserts though. I think I will get a snicker candy bar today. It is the only thing that tastes like it is supposed to.
My computer is in the shop again. We took it to a different place this time. It seems Gerald doesn't really know what he is doing and pretty much just took it apart and put it back together. He said he replaced the processor but he didn't. It has the original processor in it. The man working on it now says it overheated and burned out a couple of transistors. He will replace them. I should have it back tomorrow.
Today we will go to the "Crater". We need an outdoors excursion to maintain our sanity. I definitely prefer country life to city life.
The work here is progressing daily. Thank you for your prayers..... Love and missing you, Haviylah

Home visits and......billiards???

2009-11-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

November 23, 2009

It’s Monday and we started our day with fried rice for breakfast. We went to 3 homes today. Our first visit was to Rose Anindo Ochalo’s house. She lives in a rather large 3 room house with her husband and a friend and her small boy, Abdul. Her husband is retired from a railroad job because he was injured in an accident which left him handicapped. He had a fractured leg and now has a rod in his spine from the accident. As the story goes his equipment was sabotaged by a jealous fellow worker. During the post election violence they had to leave their home and spent 6 months in an IDP camp. They had to flee to avoid danger because of their tribe. That incident has really affected the economy. People who were doing fine in their businesses before the violence are struggling to get back on track. Rose is very active in the choir at the church. I love to watch her praise God with her whole heart.

As we arrived in the neighborhood of our second visit, I saw a cute little girl holding a doll as she skipped through the yard. We went to the one room home of Dorothy Anyango. I was delighted to see that the little girl with the doll just happens to be her youngest daughter. I gave her a “sweetie” (piece of candy)and, as most kids do, she instantly popped it into her mouth. Dorothy has 5 children and is married to a Tailor. She has a little grocery stand and has just finished a tailoring course. She wants to sew for a business but needs money to get started. She was a gracious hostess and said to us, “You do well to come back to us.” (Most mzungos don’t come back a second time).

Lastly we went to visit Rose Odhiambo. She is from Uganda and lives in a 2 room house with her husband, who is a gas station mechanic, and her 5 children, including a set of twins and her granddaughter, Aquilla. She sells fabric from Uganda. She goes to government offices to sell her fabric, which is a bit nicer and more expensive than the usual. She also weaves straw mats and does a very nice job. We ordered one to bring home. We may want to sell them and/or use them to decorate in the coffee shop. Her ambition is to raise her kids in a godly way and help orphans. We had Stoney’s – the best ginger soda in the world – and “cakes”.

After our visits George challenged Noah to shoot some pool. Now Noah hasn’t played for many years but he was ready to take a shot at it. George says he is the Nakuru champion. Joel and I sat back and watched. George told Noah he would give him some lessons so before each turn he repeatedly said, “lesson # 1, 2 and 3” with each game perspectively. Noah started out pretty good but the table and balls were smaller than usual and he kept hitting the balls too hard. It was fun to watch and I am sure we will do this again. I put up some pictures on my web album for your enjoyment.

Then we went to town to pick up a few things at the Wool Matt, had a light lunch and came home. We have 3 home visits tomorrow. I love being in the homes of the people. It is a good way to touch their lives and hearts. They are always so grateful and so are we.

Until tomorrow…. Haviylah

PS I can't seem to get the pictures on my blog so please go to my web albums for illustrations.

An Adventurous Day

2009-11-21T10:54:00.000-05:00

November 21, 2009

Today was an adventurous day. We went to town to meet with the youth. That went well. There were 12 of us (that is if you count George who came and went throughout the meeting). We had tea and a snack. Abba talked to them about having ambition and not quiting. He encouraged them to find out what God wants them to do and tell someone. They are getting ideas for Christmas. Abba suggested a feast….. with sweets of course…. They said they could do it. I don’t know how without ovens and refrigeration but I’m sure they will come up with something. We went around the room and each one talked a little. Some told stories of how they came to the church. Simon told how he was in a group of boys that hung out at clubs and would usually end up in fights. He said you had to have a weapon, like a ‘blade’ to go there. When Lloyd asked him to come to church he didn’t want to at first but decided to go. He loved it and decided to quit his gang. He now has 3 close friends he can talk to God about. He is an awesome young man. Joel came even though he is not completely recovered - he is doing much better.

After the meeting we needed to go get some groceries. Joel wants chicken alfredo so I will attempt to make it this week. We went to the butcher first to get some meat. It looked like it was closed because there was no meat in the display but they let us in anyway. There were other customers there too. They were cleaning so the man went to the back to get our order. Then we went to Tusky’s. That is the best place to get bread. They bake it fresh every day. I got some hamburger buns too. I will make burgers for dinner tomorrow. It’s Morella’s day off. She likes to learn new recipes so I am teaching her some American meals. George dropped us off but stayed in the van with some of the young people to wait for us. While Abba and I were shopping Simon came in to tell us George was being taken to the police station. Evidently he was parked in the wrong place and he didn’t have his license with him. They were saying they would put him in jail for 2 days but he called his friend, the inspector, who came down and after hearing the story, let him go. George thinks the lady police wanted a bribe and he would not give it. She didn’t know who she was dealing with. George knows everybody. During this time we got a 'Tuk Tuk', 3 wheel taxi, to bring Abba to the station and I went home with Joel, Lloyd and Vivian. While the decision was being made Abba was praying with some of the youth that God would let George go. When they finished praying George walked out. Who is like our God? They came home. Since we didn’t have lunch so I was going to make some popcorn but it didn’t work out so I poured some yogurt mixed with mango juice. Ummm it was good. Better than a milkshake. Now Abba is having a mens meeting. George just walked in and gave me a bag of popcorn, Morella is cooking dinner – pork chops. Tomorrow is Sunday and we will have a gathering and ladies meeting.

“We pray for you, you pray for us. We need you to survive.”

Better go now. Dinner is almost ready…..Haviylah

Daniel's visit and stories of everyday life.

2009-11-20T02:55:00.000-05:00

It’s 10pm on November 17th. I have my computer back and it seems to be working fine. We took it back to Gerald and he got it going again. Let’s see how long it lasts?

I was talking to Nelly at the table about the possibility of moving the refrigerator out of the living room dining room area and into the kitchen. She said the kitchen was too small and I agreed she was right. But she decided to ask Beatrice, who was in the kitchen. I heard them laughing so I went to find out what was so funny. Beatrice said, “If we put it in the kitchen no one will know we have a frig.” That was funny. Beatrice has a great sense of humor. She is always making somebody laugh. I wish I could understand her more. She doesn’t speak much English.

Last night Daniel taught our people to be ambitious and not waste their lives. He told how he was raised in a very poor home and had nothing, but God gave him much to do to help people all over the world. He encouraged us to make history and to change Africa. Now we are heading out to Nairobi to take Daniel to the airport. The van is quiet. We are tired and contemplative.

I am overwhelmed by what God is doing through people like us. He has given us the desires of our heart - to reach people all over the world. He has sent us to 3rd world countries and then given us the grace to be here. There is no hardship to be endured. It is not even worth mentioning the daily inconveniences. My love for God grows when my love for all mankind is realized.

My thoughts are wandering towards God’s will for me now. I hear a lot about miracles of healing and wonder why I am not drawn to pray for miraculous healing. It’s not that I haven’t seen God do miracles of healing, even as an answer to my prayer. But that is not where my focus is. I would love to see a world without sickness but as it is I feel most useful to His purpose when I am caring for those who have not been healed. I feel like my work is to take care of those who are not healed miraculously. To be with them in their suffering and to ease their pain when I can; and to bring them back to health through whatever means is necessary and beneficial; to show the love and compassion of Jesus who cares for us and draws us to himself through suffering.

Speaking of suffering. Abba just came in from working out at the gym. He stormed in and collapsed on the bed, crying out for electrolytes. I’m glad I brought the Ultima Replenisher! He went too far with jumping right in to a strenuous exercise routine and literally passed out on the floor. George managed to get him home and now he is sleeping. That’s our Abba …. Pushing the limits again. LOL Don’t worry, he is fine.

This blog has been a series of days all in one. I will try to keep them up now that my computer is back. Thinking of all of you everyday. We could not do this without your prayers and support. xxxoooxxxooo Haviylah

A Candlelight Service

2009-11-14T01:18:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a nice day, pretty uneventful, until we went to the meeting hall for a teaching. I sat down on the front row with Petranilla and Joel. Then the sweet little girl named Priscilla came along and sat down beside me. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes as if to say “Got anything for me today?”. I think she was the only child there. She loves to hang out at the meeting hall when we are there. I let her draw pictures and write her abc’s in my note pad. As it got darker outside Petranilla told her to go home. She got up and left. After about 5 minutes she was back peeping in the door. Petranilla sent her home again. Again she came back. Then Petranilla got up and took her home herself. We did not see her again that night but I am sure she will be there next time we come. I pray God will keep her and draw her to Himself and that she will serve Him with all her days.

Noah spent a good part of his day preparing to teach and he was excited. He was speaking about the difference between the universal and the local church and the accountability we have to each other. It was a hard concept for them to catch. They had never heard of the local church. Through illustrations he was able to help them understand. He wasn’t too far into the teaching though when the power went out. It was getting dark outside so it quickly got to where he couldn’t see people’s faces or his notes. Petranilla whispered something to one of the ladies and she left to who knows where for who knows what. Since this had happened the night before I had the foresight to bring a small flashlight. I gave it to him as he was speaking but it only seemed to add to his frustration because it wouldn’t stay on and then it wouldn’t turn off. He found a way to close his talk and promised to take it up at a later date. About that time the lady came back and handed Petranilla a candle and some matches. She lit the little candle, dripped some wax onto the pulpit, and skillfully stood the candle in. This brought a little light on the subject and George, as usual, backed up the teaching with further commentary in Swahili.

After the gatherings there’s always a lot of ‘how are yous?’ slap- shaking hands, hugs and smiles. Then we sit in the van and wait for George to check on people and things. It’s nice to have the van because we get to give people rides and we have them to talk to or listen to while we wait.

When we dropped everyone off Noah vowed to buy 4 oil lamps for the church. When we got home we ate a meal prepared by Morella (still haven’t got that picture of her yet and she just left), visited a little and got ready for bed. I always think of you all and what you are doing at your time of day 8 or 9 hours behind us. When I wake up in the morning you have had the day to write emails. I always look forward to checking my mail first thing in the morning. Your letters and notes mean so much to me.

May you have a day full of blessings.

Lala salama. Haviylah

2009-11-12T02:49:00.000-05:00

Home visits

2009-11-12T02:40:00.000-05:00

November 11, 2009

We found out today that George has Typhoid. (don’t worry we had our ‘jabs’ (vaccination)). He went to the clinic today for a blood test. We were sitting in the van for about a half hour or more, not knowing how long it would be, so we took a walk through the streets with vendors on both sides and down the middle. I saw bought some pinto beans. The lady gave us a price which we did not understand what she meant so we over paid her. She was honest and told us we gave her too much so we took some of it back and gave her a little more that she had asked for. I thanked her for her honesty. When I started to take the picture of her a man came up yelling at me in Swahili. I looked at the lady and she wasn’t impressed so I just ignored him. He was pretty obnoxious but I got a couple of pictures in spite of him. It took all Noah could do to restrain himself I forgot to bring the cell phone so we had no way of telling George where we went and when we came back to the van he was still not there. We found a scrap of paper and left a note on the windshield. About that time he walked up from behind so were together again.

Then they took me to the barber that knows how to cut ‘nylon’ (mzungu) hair. His name is Gerald. He does a very nice job and puts his whole heart into it. He cuts the hair first, then there’s the shampoo with massaging followed by towel drying and oiling with olive oil. The best part is saved for last- that is a massage of the head and shoulders with a vibrater. Ahhh….helps relax those tense muscles. When we are riding down the bumpy roads you don’t know whether to tighten up your muscles or let them go loose so you end up a little sore by the end of the day. I will take pictures of the barber next time Joel or Noah get a haircut.

Next on our agenda was a home visit to Sycilia. When we arrived she greeted us joyfully. She took my hand and walked proudly through the neighborhood showing us off to her friends. We laughed together as we walked. She is a dedicated lady. When we came last time she is the one like the woman at the well. After teachings and gatherings she went home and told the everyone she knew about it. She is sick with cold symptoms and needs to go to the health clinic but doesn’t have the money. So we gave her what she needed.

Christine invited us to lunch at her house and because George wasn’t feeling well we decided we would go but not stay long. She served us the best fish you can imagine, beef stew and chipati (flat bread). It was so good. As we talked we could hear the wisdom in her words even though we could not understand her Swahili. George let her tell her stories and then a told us what she had said in his own words. He was so encouraged by her faith he started to feel better. She had been talking to someone who had left the church and wanted her to leave too. She said no. She is committed to be with us for the rest of her life. She had great insight into the untrue things that were being said to her. We ended up staying much longer that we planned. We were blessed.

We went back home for a little rest then went to the teaching. Noah is teaching accountability, responsibility, and authority. This is a really good teaching and he is being very clear. Near the end the lights went out so it was hard to see his notes but was able to finish without too much trouble. As he prayed for God to give us light the lights went back on. George spoke to emphasis the things Noah taught and then we went home for dinner, fellowship, check emails…. Then under the mosquito nets, read a little and sleep.

We prayed for you all this morning. Love you and miss you. Haviylah

Flamingo Clan Gathering

2009-11-10T23:42:00.000-05:00

This morning I got up at 5:30 to catch up on updates. They are posted below and are kind of out of order. I hope it is not too confusing but you get the gist of it anyway. I am learning the blogger tricks and working with a computer going down. Hopefully that chapter of this trip is over now. I stayed home and cleaned out the frig to make room for the vegetables Nelly will bring home from the market. It was a slow, quiet sort of day. That was nice. Then we went to the Flamingo Clan gathering. All the clans gather in homes on Tuesday. We will go to a different one each week. It gives us a chance to get to know people in a smaller group setting.
This is a summary of the Flamingo clan gathering:
These are the people who were there:
1. Nelly– We met her there because she comes from working at her salon. She and Pamela lead this clan.
2. Christine-Last Sunday’s teaching was about turning the other cheek. She said that teaching helped her to change today. Her son and wife came to her house fighting. The other son asked her to bring peace. The wife fought her. She did not fight back, she turned the other cheek. This is a change in her life. She left but the wife came back at her. Again she did not fight back. In the end there was peace. She also wanted us not to take George to USA yet because the church needs him here now.
3. Karalyne- She said encouraging words about George. He has given them words of Life and helps them grow. She was empty and sick but Nelly and Christine came to her house to help her. ‘General’ prayed for her.
4. Lucy- She says she stopped going to church for a long time until now. She will come.
5. Susan-Says she has been built up by the teachings. She compared what comes out of us is like and orange when it is squeezed. She used to have bitterness come out when she was squeezed. Now grace comes instead of bitterness. Her husband has noticed the change in her.
6. Alice- The Sunday teaching showed her what is most important. She closed her work early today so she could come to the gathering tonight. For her this is a sacrifice. It could mean she will not eat. She will trust God.
7. Pamela- She said she used to get angry easily. The anger is gone from her and her husband says she is a different person.
8. George- He interperets for us. He is a Godly man and we appreciate his tireless efforts to take care of us and shepherd the flock in Nakuru. He is not feeling well and thinks he may be having a malaria attack. He will take medicine.
9. Noah- Noah taught about putting on the new creation – [Galations 6:15, IICorinthians 5:17, Galations 3:27]. The teaching are really good. I hope that when we get home he will be able to teach them to ya’ll.
10. Joel- He listens and watches. He is a good sent one and a servant. We are glad he is here.
11. Haviylah- I love to listen as they speak with grateful hearts. It reminds me to be grateful as well. I am learning so much. I want all of you to know what God is doing so I pull out my note pad and try to capture their hearts in words so I can send you the message.
They receive so openly and apply what is taught as soon as the first opportunity comes along. It is a humbling experience to speak to them knowing how everything you say will be considered carefully and then acted upon. I am reminded of the words of our Lord, “Whoever humbles himself like this child-this one is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18: 4. They are like that. Many of them acknowledge that the change in their lives began when they were baptized on our last visit. That was 8 months ago and they are still changing from glory to glory.
We came home and had a nice dinner prepared by the cookJ Nelly added ugali and greens to the minced meat, fried rice, and salad. The lettuce had so much flavor. I didn’t know lettuce could taste so good. I started to clean up but Nelly asked me to teach her how to do a spread sheet on the computer for church records. She is sharp and catches on quick. When I went back in to finish the dishes, there were none to be done. Beatrice, the house girl had done them all. She is a good worker and does well with the baby too. I told George and Nelly not to let her go. They heartily agreed.
This update marks the end of my day. I will close and get ready for bed. Thank you for all your prayers. We are praying for you also.
Praying for you,
Haviylah

No more, "cock a doodle doo!"

2009-11-10T02:03:00.002-05:00

"Tonight we sleep!!!!

Second Week in Nakuru

2009-11-10T02:02:00.000-05:00

It's Monday and we are ready to face the challenges. Yesterday my laptop went out again. I was unable to get it back up after spending hours with Doug and the on line with HP Advisor chat line. They instructed me to open up the back and reseat the memory card..What?????? I thought I'd give it a try. Problem is we didn't have the right size phillips head screwdriver or the dissipated bag, whatever that is, so I abandoned that effort. They told me to simly pack it up and ship it to the states so they could pick it up and work on it. Ok, I'll sleep on that one. Well I didn't sleep very well at all. I read and prayed for Noah. He has been struggling with anxious thoughts about the work here. I finally got to sleep and then he woke up. God spoke to his heart and gave him peace. So when the rooster began to crow we were both up. George went into town and found a computer repair place in the "mall" so we decided to give it a try. But first we had 2 visits to make. The first one was Anne. Her daughter, Elizabeth is one we were able to help go to school. It is amazing to me the change in the faces of the people since we were here 8 months ago. There is hope for the destitute and rest for the weary. We talked about how we could help her with her business. she sells cooked corn and beans on the side of the road. We would like to be able to invest in some of these small businesses and use a percentage of the profits to help these families and th e church. Both Anne and Pamela were very open. Pamela is the lady in the picture that Joel is giving sugar to. Joel has been an awesome help. We were in the van on our way to the houses when he asked what he could do to help. He usually is a little surprised at the answers to that question, "uh... well... you can give the sugar to the moms and candy to the kids. Oh, and would you mind carrying my backpack?" If you aren't reading his blog you might want to. He has been a delight to have. Have I said that before? After our second home visit we went to the computer repair shop. I watched for three hours as he did surgery on the laptop. it was almost like watching your child getting stitches. you don't know if you want to watch or not. He did a good job and i am happily working on this blog. Needless to say we were getting hungry and thirsty so we went to a restaurant for a late lunch. i went to the restroom first. as i was coming out of the stall i was almost knocked down by a rather large lady. she was giggling and saying, " Hurry, hurry! The rain is gonna come down, the rain is gonna come down." So....I got out of her way, laughing out loud! The people here are so full of character. They are not as self conscious as we are in America. they are free with each other and there is always lively conversation wherever you go. We came home and 'rested a bit' . Petranilla came over and had dinner with us. Then we went to bed and slept the whole night through!! The rooster is in the freezer;-)

Gathering and Ladies Meeting

2009-11-10T02:01:00.000-05:00

Sunday's gathering was great! it was good to see the shining faces of the people. Some we knew and a few new ones too. The children always make my heart sing. they are the future of the world. it is good to invest our time in their lives and it is not a waste of time to give to these little people. They gave their testimonies and were so full of gratefulness to God.

After the gathering George sent the men outside so the ladies could meet. I was planning to start the meeting by having each lady introduce themselves. Unbeknownst to me Petranilla had the same idea. She asked the ladies to stand and introduce themselves. When I told her later that I had wanted to start that way she was very excited to know we were in unity.
I encouraged the ladies to be creative, in their homes, marriages, mothering and friendships. To find what gift God has given them and to use it for His Kingdom. For examples I asked them what if: Judy didn’t sing, Alice didn’t dance, Mary decided not to be a friend, Petranilla didn’t pray. The church would be lifeless without them and the gifts they give to the body.
I talked to them about forgiveness by telling the story of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus forgave without conditions. She did not have to do anything first. He was doing the Father’s will by forgiving her and that the church must seek His will before making a judgment on a brother or sister. Gossip hurts and destroys unity. It was after He had forgiven her that Jesus told her to go and sin no more. Repentance is turning and going the other way. As we are one with Him we are given power to be His body in the earth.
The ladies listened attentively. They are amazingly open to hear and do. It is a very humbling experience to stand before them and speak. Your prayers and constant laying down of your lives enables us to do the work here. We are grateful for you and we feel your prayers.

The rest of the day was trying. My computer went down, I was tired and we were getting a little hungry. We had a big lunch so we had planned to just have popcorn and fruit for dinner. I could only manage to pop the corn. Joel asked where's the fruit, looked in my eyes and said never mind. I went to bed early but didn't sleep much. I have been reading the book I mentioned before about Mary Mozley, a missionary to Africa in the 1920's. She has been inspiring me to do the work here without complaining. I noticed that she had a cook, wherever she went. I remembered that Amy Carmichael also had a cook. What an inspiration! So I presented my inspired idea to hire someone from the church to cook and clean our evening meal. Everyone liked the idea, especially Nelly and me, so we now have a cook for 150 shillings a day. (that's about $2 a day I think). Her name is Morella and she is great. She eats with us so we have time to fellowship with her. I will send a picture later.
I will leave you with a quote from Mary Mozley:

"Take time in God's presence to be encouraged by Him and strengthened by a new revelation of Himself before facing anew the difficult way. Love is the beginning and end, the only thing that counts or matters. Not---How much have I served? but --How much have I loved?"

Yours always,
Haviylah

November 6,2009

2009-11-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

Update November 6,2009
A new day and we are beginning to feel like Kenyans. After breakfast – scrambled eggs, yogurt and fresh fruit [pineapple, mango, passion fruit, papaya, bananas] – we finally sat down and wrote our schedule for the next two months. We will be busy with gatherings, prayer meetings, teachings, home visits, men, women’s, youth, leaders and clan meetings. Pastor Daniel will be coming November 15-18. We will possibly be visiting the church in Eldoret and maybe Peter in Uganda. Since the house is dark, [kinda feels like living in a cave] we decided to go to town again. This time George took us to a Choma restaurant. That’s where they roast the whole goat on charcoal, then they bring it on a wooden cutting board to slice it up at the table while you watch. This time they brought out a bundle of intestines too. Everyone tried it but me. Joel says it looks like macaroni. Hmmmmm ...I’ll pass on that one… Don’t have anything to prove…lol. The meat was served with ugali (best we’ve had yet, it was moist) and a salad (tomatoe, onion, lime, cilantro mixed together). We had a nice afternoon, just resting, playing with little Haviylah, watched a funny movie, cooked and ate. Now I am ready to go to bed and read a good book. Lala Salama [good night]. Haviylah

Nakuru November 6, 2009

2009-11-06T02:03:00.001-05:00

Noah and George open an overseas account while Joel and I wait in the van and take pictures, watch people and chat.

Then we take a break at the Guava Cafe Coffee Shop. We are waiting for George to come back. He went to get mushrooms for dinner - minced meat (ground beef) and mashed potatoes. He laughed at the mashed potatoe idea saying that is for babies. I told him that's ok, he doesn't have to eat them. In the end he ate more than anyone!

2009-11-06T01:54:00.000-05:00

Wed Nov 4
(Con’t from yesterday)
After lunch we went to the market to get vegetables. It has been raining so much here. Everything is green and much more beautiful than last visit. There are tall, trees with lavender flowers that look a lot like wisteria. They are beautiful! They drop their petals to make a beautiful carpet on the ground. I will try to get a picture if I can. Anyway, because of all the rain the market was a mud bogL ugh…. By the time we were done my toes were as black as George’s. So I asked George if there was a place we could clean up a bit. I was thinking maybe a faucet in an alley or something. He said “I know a place”- we got in the van and drove off. Before I knew it I was sitting in a shoe shine chair getting my feet cleaned and my shoes polished. Never done that beforeJ when he finished mine, George got his shoes cleaned and shined. Meanwhile across the street Noah and Joel were getting bombarded by ‘hackers’ (people selling stuff on the street). They ended up buying baseball caps and were quite happy when we got back to the van. So we went to the butcher to get us some meat…and mayonnaise too…. Don’t worry no one is starving this trip. I think we figured out the eating thing. We took the scenic route to show Joel the Rift Valley and the lake. There were thousands of flamigos! Beautiful! You can see them in the background of the picture of the grazing water buffalo.
I love living with Nellie. She is so sweet and we work together well. Joel is a big help in the kitchen and George and Abba are grateful recipients of our labors. She got up early this morning to kill the chicken Helen gave us. She cooked it for dinner and boy was it good!! Maybe that ole rooster’s worth the trouble after allJ We went to town to open a bank account and look for a battery for my laptop. Noah got a haircut as we watched. The young man cutting his hair was amazing to watch. First he applied hot towels to his beard and head as he gave a gentle massage. Then he began the sculpting of hair. I have never seen anything like it. He is more than a barber. He’s an artist. Very nice haircut! Then he got his assistant to wash Noah’s hair. She massaged as she lathered up the soap and he almost fell asleep. I took this opportunity to ask the barber if he could cut my hair too. He said, “Of course, I can do this for you.” George had already told me he is the best because he knows how to do “nylon” hair. I asked him if he was just as good with “steel wool” hair – like his. We had a good laugh. – OK back to Noah’s haircut – he was taken back to the chair and give a complete and thorough massage of not only his head but his face, shoulders and upper back too. Wow! We concluded our trip to town with a cup of coffee and sandwich before going to look for a battery for my laptop. We found out it would cost $246 to replace it… never mind. When we got home I talked to Doug – we chatted a bit as he checked my computer, that was nice – then we decided I should do an online chat with the Geek Squad at Best Buy where I bought the computer to be sure I had a new one that wouldn’t give me trouble in Africa. That was most frustrating. They were no help at all, so I gave them a name change…..Worst Buy…. ( I’m sure I’m not the first to think up that name.) My frustrations was at its peak when I remembered I had a program called HP advisor so I managed to get on a chat with one of their reps. The first line let me know they knew how to help me. After about 30 minutes of diagnosing the problem she gave me instructions to power drain the computer and come back online if it didn’t work. Just as we closed the conversation the power went out. What perfect timing! So I took a break and went in the kitchen to help Nelly cook dinner. We cooked, ate and did clean up to candles and flash lights. Now it was getting late so I put away my laptop, let down the mosquito net and got ready for bed when, lo and behold, the lights came back on! So I got back online – we have a modem that fits into an usb port like a gig stick – and reopened my HP advisor to restart my chat session. I got a different lady this time but she was equally as helpful as the first. She gave me a download to check out the battery and a promise to send me a new one if this didn’t work. (A brief intermission for a commercial - I have been on chat with Dell and Geeks and no one has helped me like HP!... Except our own personal specialist, Doug, of course.) Well it worked and I now have a fully charged battery.
November 5, 09
Good morning! We slept well with the regular scheduled rooster crows causing us to remember where we are. But it is getting a little easier to ignore. Next, put on the kettle for tea/coffee, get a shower. The water pressure was good today, or maybe I’m just getting used to the trickleJ The temperature was dropping to about 76 degrees so Nelly got out the snow suit for Haviylah, (she already had on 3 layers of clothes. We laid her on our bed. She couldn’t even turn over. I’m thinking they better come visit us in the summer. J
I feel your prayers today. Yesterday was not without its’ trials. George and Noah got a little out of sync but they took time to talk and things began to lighten up. We had a good rest of the day. After dinner they spent time together talking about what God is doing here. We know without perfect unity God cannot move and we will not let the sun go down without working out our difficulties. Our enemy is busy and we must be about the Father’s work. His will is all we desire to do.
I am reading a book from our library (thanks JoyJ) called ‘The Obedience of the Faith: Mary Mozley’. She was inspired by Amy Carmichael, to go to Africa as a missionary. One of her letters to her friends and family at home put my thoughts and feeling into words so I will quote her:
“Indeed we feel if Jesus Himself does not draw near and go with us, it were better not to go at all. ‘If Thy presence go not with us’ it would indeed be life and money wasted. There is so much to do in these days we hardly have time to think. Everyone is so good and kind. Our hearts ache for those who will be left behind, it is so much worse for them. The verse that comes into my mind is that one about a sword piercing through the heart. And it means that at this time. Yet for our dear ones ads for ourselves, the knowledge that the sword is held in pierced Hands and the piercing is guided in the highest wisdom and the deepest love is more that comforting. There is a hundred-fold more in this present time to be given not only to those who go but to those who give. May we indeed prove this. Our future is unknown for us as we go forward and for you staying in the homeland. How good it is to know that even so it is –
‘Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown! Jesus we know and He is on the throne’”. -Mary Mozley
In other words I am missing you all already and love you so much. George says we are taking this first week to ‘rest’ …LOL…. and settle. Then we will get busy. My heart is full of anticipation of what God will do in these next 2 months, here and at home.
Haviylah

2009-11-04T05:28:00.000-05:00

(con't from yesterday) This picture doesn't do it justice. I think he wiped most of it off when I got my camera out.....nice picture anyway.

Where was I? I don't remember the rest of the day before because yesterday was so full! and now we are leaving the Internet cafe so I will have to end with these pictures.

2009-11-03T03:05:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a fun day. We got up late ... because we didn't get much sleep.... our biological clock wakes us up at 3 am and the rooster outside our window makes sure we stay up. I made breakfast - scrambled eggs, fried toast and fresh mango and passion fruit. The food is sooo good and healthy. Joel loves it too. I'm glad he is health conscious and not a picky eater at all. After clean up we went to town. Cyber first then stopped at a restaurant for lunch. Noah had curry chicken with which he managed to dye his white beard and mustache yellow. I am not working from my laptop so I can't send a picture today.... my battery won't charge..... technical difficulties follow us where ever we go...... anyway I will send a picture next time. Noah and George needed to talk to Joseph so Joel and I walked to Wool Matt to buy some necessary items. We got done before they finished talking so we walked down the street to the open market. I was warning Joel how they try to convince you that you reallly need to buy from them and they will give you the best deals. We didn't get past the first two booths before we had to go back. It was fun to watch Joel. He didn't want to leave so we will go back another day. We went back to meet up with the men...who were still talking...so we sat and ordered a cup of tea. by the time we got the tea they were done talking and had to wait for us. Soon after we got home Christine (warrior Queen) came for a visit. She is such a giving person. We talked about health care in Nakuru. She does volunteer work in an American based clinic. She wants to go to med school. She has 6 kids and is 32 years old.
Sorry I have to close now....I will finish this tomorrow.....love you all an miss you so much...Haviylah

Adventure begins in Kenya!

2009-11-02T04:09:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends,
I haven't had time to write until now. We are at the internet "cafe" and my battery is low, so this will be short. Noah wrote an awesome update. I'll just pick up when he burns out:) The lost wallet was a sweet word from God to me. Before we left home I was so worried I would lose it I even sewed an extra zipper into my purse. Guess you have to put it in and zip it for that to work. Now I know God will take care of my every need because He cares.
We are adjusting to time, altitude and temp changes. It has been much easier for me this time. I took SP Ferrofood to build my hemoglobin for the higher altitude this time and it seems to have worked:0 I am feeling great! Unpacking cooking and cleaning and visiting has occupied all of my time so far and we are getting settled.
The birthday for little Haviy was fun! She loved the cake the most. Everyone wrote sweet things in the birthday journal I brought her and we sang Abby's birthday songs.
Love to all,
Thank you for your prayers, we feel them.
Haviylah

Here we go!

2009-10-27T17:40:00.000-04:00

Here we go.....

Halfway around the world to Africa, to those I hold so close.
They tug on my heartstrings, in harmony, with all of you I leave behind and with all God’s people everywhere - family, friends and others not yet known to me - who are all, to my heart, so dear.
So I will have to come and go and come and go again. But you should know that I love you so, and one day very soon, when our Lord returns for everyone, never again will we part. For then we’ll all be together, as our heavenly eternity starts.

I miss you already,

Haviylah