Today McKenna and I finished our time with the Masai children. We were privileged to help Pastor Shane and Terry by doing the Sunday school and by singing some Swahili songs for the adults. The place was packed out. The children were dismissed after a while and after McKenna and I finished our songs, we walked on the dusty dung laden road to the tree under which were gathered 50-60 or so little Masai children. We sang songs to them and talked to them about loving each other. “Jesus is the King and He has commanded those who follow Him to love one another…”
McKenna and I did a little skit to demonstrate this by pretending to have an argument and then remembering Jesus’ words and apologizing to each other with a hug. The kids loved it. I hope that long after we’re gone love will grow.
There were Masai children who asked us if we’re coming back. It’s always so sad to say goodbye to little children. I told them that if they follow Jesus we will meet again for sure around the throne of God for ever and ever.
This afternoon I a Masai man come to seek medical attention because he had been knocked over by a cow. Terry is kind of the residential nurse. Another boy came with an eye infection and a Masai mama came with a cut from gathering sticks for a fire. I got to administer cleansing and a band aid for her. Terry cares for anyone who knocks at her door. She also teaches literacy classes and the children absolutely adore her.
Pastor Shane has asked that McKenna and I sing at their morning prayer meeting and after that well begin the amazingly bumpy journey back across the rift valley. This has been the most different place that I’ve ever been in and I’m most fascinated by it and especially by the beautiful Masai people. I’ve met such amazing people including Shane and Terry, and also John and Almay who also work for the Masai.
Outside the wind is blowing strongly and I wonder if the lions are prowling around. Some baboons chewed into Shane’s water line last night and they had some elephants pounding around just a few hundred yards up the hill last week. What an amazing place.
In 13 years the Masai have had some good changes come into their lives. For example,Terry had told them that if they didn’t begin to bury their dead instead of leaving them on the ground that lions could develop a taste for human meat. They bury their dead now. The Masai who are coming to church are becoming loving husbands instead of beating their wives. Terry was so happy to see a Masai carrying wood for his pregnant wife – a thing just not done by Masai men. One of the missionaries have offered to send a young Masai girl away to school if she decides to not have a forced circumcism, which the Masai consider a rite of passage even though it’s illegal in Kenya. These missionaries truly care for the Masai people and it’s very inspiring to me and McKenna. Tomorrow we head back into the extreme poverty of civilized Nairobi.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
SAT AFTERNOON MASAI MEETING
Terry told me that my interpreters were here and that I should go outside and meet them. She told me earlier that I should be careful not to give them a hardy American handshake as their culture considers that flirtatious. We practiced shaking hands where you hardly touch at all. But - that was earlier and by the time I went out to meet them I totally forgot…
I was a bit taken aback - to put it lightly - when I went out the back door and rounded the corner to behold three tall Masai warriors in their full red capes, knives, beads and chained calves. So of course I went right up and gave them all hardy handshakes. ARRGH!!! Later when I realized I’d blown it Terry said it’s okay, they know I’m a foreigner.
So I met Joseph, Daniel and Jacob and explained how it would work to interpret for puppets. I’m not sure that they really understood what I was talking about.
Terry explained that when I meet children I should not shake their hands because in their culture that’s disrespectful. The children will approach you with their head down and you’re supposed to lay your hand on their head. This is exactly what happened but again, the first thing I did to the first child is stick my hand out and give him a nice American squeeze. He looked surprised and that’s when I remembered. After that I got it. It was amazing how they would come to me and bow their head then look up and smile.
By the time we went to the little church building there were already 30 children gathered singing Masai Christian songs with a very cool Masai drum beat going. Wow! The Masai children we discovered are really friendly. They are very poor by American standards. Many of them had torn, stained clothing on and were totally unaware of it.
McKenna and I got our little puppet stage assembled and then did a puppet show and sang. But then about 80 school children came in and so Pastor Shane asked us to do our entire program again, which we gladly did. Our interpreters did a really good job. They were interpreting our English into Masai, and in the back of the room Terry was interpreting into Swahili for the Masai folks who speak Swahili.
Our message was well received. We were making the point that based on Masai law which may require that a murder pay a fine of 5,000 cows, God’s law is so much higher that even if they had 5,000,000 cows, they could never pay it and since they can’t pay their penalty for breaking God’s holy Law, they have to be separated - forever unless someone COULD pay their fine. This person of course is Jesus. A number of Masai children indicated a desire to follow Jesus and tomorrow we’ll talk about how following Jesus is to follow the God of love.
After the Saturday meeting, we go to witness 5:00 o’clock Masai traffic: the herds are coming home for the night! To our left in a steady stream marched hundreds of cows, goats and sheep with gentle clanking bells and waving shepherds in red capes. The pungent fragrance of animals filled our nostrils and I was really surprised to see such order. “How do they keep their herds together?” I asked.
Terry explained, “Oh the animals all know each other and their shepherd. If you put a cow from one herd with a strange herd, it’ll cry all night long.” It makes me think of when Jesus said, “I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…” Now I understand that a little better.
It’s amazing to me how radically different our time has been in each different venue. This is certainly the most amazing time in my life. McKenna has still been battling a cough and has done so great. We’ve learned so much and have only gotten half way through our trip. Tomorrow we’ll be leading the Masai children’s Sunday School and then singing and doing a short puppet show for the adults…
I was a bit taken aback - to put it lightly - when I went out the back door and rounded the corner to behold three tall Masai warriors in their full red capes, knives, beads and chained calves. So of course I went right up and gave them all hardy handshakes. ARRGH!!! Later when I realized I’d blown it Terry said it’s okay, they know I’m a foreigner.
So I met Joseph, Daniel and Jacob and explained how it would work to interpret for puppets. I’m not sure that they really understood what I was talking about.
Terry explained that when I meet children I should not shake their hands because in their culture that’s disrespectful. The children will approach you with their head down and you’re supposed to lay your hand on their head. This is exactly what happened but again, the first thing I did to the first child is stick my hand out and give him a nice American squeeze. He looked surprised and that’s when I remembered. After that I got it. It was amazing how they would come to me and bow their head then look up and smile.
By the time we went to the little church building there were already 30 children gathered singing Masai Christian songs with a very cool Masai drum beat going. Wow! The Masai children we discovered are really friendly. They are very poor by American standards. Many of them had torn, stained clothing on and were totally unaware of it.
McKenna and I got our little puppet stage assembled and then did a puppet show and sang. But then about 80 school children came in and so Pastor Shane asked us to do our entire program again, which we gladly did. Our interpreters did a really good job. They were interpreting our English into Masai, and in the back of the room Terry was interpreting into Swahili for the Masai folks who speak Swahili.
Our message was well received. We were making the point that based on Masai law which may require that a murder pay a fine of 5,000 cows, God’s law is so much higher that even if they had 5,000,000 cows, they could never pay it and since they can’t pay their penalty for breaking God’s holy Law, they have to be separated - forever unless someone COULD pay their fine. This person of course is Jesus. A number of Masai children indicated a desire to follow Jesus and tomorrow we’ll talk about how following Jesus is to follow the God of love.
After the Saturday meeting, we go to witness 5:00 o’clock Masai traffic: the herds are coming home for the night! To our left in a steady stream marched hundreds of cows, goats and sheep with gentle clanking bells and waving shepherds in red capes. The pungent fragrance of animals filled our nostrils and I was really surprised to see such order. “How do they keep their herds together?” I asked.
Terry explained, “Oh the animals all know each other and their shepherd. If you put a cow from one herd with a strange herd, it’ll cry all night long.” It makes me think of when Jesus said, “I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…” Now I understand that a little better.
It’s amazing to me how radically different our time has been in each different venue. This is certainly the most amazing time in my life. McKenna has still been battling a cough and has done so great. We’ve learned so much and have only gotten half way through our trip. Tomorrow we’ll be leading the Masai children’s Sunday School and then singing and doing a short puppet show for the adults…
SATURDAY MORNING SAFARI TRIP SEPT 27
When I went outside this morning the first thing I noticed was that it smells just like a zoo. The Masai’s herds live right where they live. There are goats and sheep and cows everywhere!
Down the hill from Shane and Terry’s house we drove in a safari jeep. Our driver is Ronald. He’s not very talkative and when he does talk it’s pretty hard to understand him. He drove us to the iron gate of the Masai Mara Animal Reserve where we were inundated with amazingly aggressive Masai women all holding up beaded and wooden things and saying, “Miss, Miss! Look! Look at this!” If you look, they’ll hook you! If they see you’re interested they will say, “How much will you pay?” Or they’ll offer all the bracelets, “Ten of these for 400 KSch!”
Anyway, we escaped into the Masai Mara and immediately saw zebra with their amazing stripes. Are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? We saw many cute Thompson gazelles with their tan coats and black slash across their sides. We saw giant giraffes with no bars around them. They stop chewing and stand as still as statues when they hear us drive by. We take pictures and move along.
We saw two female elephants with three calves. They came within 75 feet of our jeep but passed us by as they walked along yanking up tuffs of grass with their trunks and stuffing them into their mouths. You could hear the grass as it was being pulled up – they were that close.
We saw lots of dark gray warthogs and a couple of red ones. We saw beautiful orange impalas and finally Ronald found us two male lions laying in the shade of low bushes. They were amazing! They were so unconcerned about us as we drove our jeep within 20 feet of them that they yawned in boredom. We however, were thrilled!
I never knew how GREAT 4-wheel drive is, but we went through mud holes that I never knew was possible. We bounced and bucked like a wild bronco at times. Ronald took us off-road at times looking for those lions. After a couple of hours the jeep stalled and Ronald had to stop and put the can of fuel in the jeep. While we were waiting I was so amazed at how quiet everything is. There is not even the slightest hint of that continual freeway hum we’re all so used to hearing. What would it be like to camp overnight if he can’t get this thing started back up? The air is dry and cool unless you sit in the sun – then you realize how hot it is on the equator.
We left after seeing four more giraffe, gorgeous zebras a mother warthog running away from us with her tail sticking straight up and followed by six tiny warthogs with their tails all up. Now we must prepare for the meeting tonight…
Down the hill from Shane and Terry’s house we drove in a safari jeep. Our driver is Ronald. He’s not very talkative and when he does talk it’s pretty hard to understand him. He drove us to the iron gate of the Masai Mara Animal Reserve where we were inundated with amazingly aggressive Masai women all holding up beaded and wooden things and saying, “Miss, Miss! Look! Look at this!” If you look, they’ll hook you! If they see you’re interested they will say, “How much will you pay?” Or they’ll offer all the bracelets, “Ten of these for 400 KSch!”
Anyway, we escaped into the Masai Mara and immediately saw zebra with their amazing stripes. Are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? We saw many cute Thompson gazelles with their tan coats and black slash across their sides. We saw giant giraffes with no bars around them. They stop chewing and stand as still as statues when they hear us drive by. We take pictures and move along.
We saw two female elephants with three calves. They came within 75 feet of our jeep but passed us by as they walked along yanking up tuffs of grass with their trunks and stuffing them into their mouths. You could hear the grass as it was being pulled up – they were that close.
We saw lots of dark gray warthogs and a couple of red ones. We saw beautiful orange impalas and finally Ronald found us two male lions laying in the shade of low bushes. They were amazing! They were so unconcerned about us as we drove our jeep within 20 feet of them that they yawned in boredom. We however, were thrilled!
I never knew how GREAT 4-wheel drive is, but we went through mud holes that I never knew was possible. We bounced and bucked like a wild bronco at times. Ronald took us off-road at times looking for those lions. After a couple of hours the jeep stalled and Ronald had to stop and put the can of fuel in the jeep. While we were waiting I was so amazed at how quiet everything is. There is not even the slightest hint of that continual freeway hum we’re all so used to hearing. What would it be like to camp overnight if he can’t get this thing started back up? The air is dry and cool unless you sit in the sun – then you realize how hot it is on the equator.
We left after seeing four more giraffe, gorgeous zebras a mother warthog running away from us with her tail sticking straight up and followed by six tiny warthogs with their tails all up. Now we must prepare for the meeting tonight…
SEPTEMBER 26 TRIP TO MASAI MARA
Did I mention that the roads are bad? Most of the 4 hour trip was a bucking bronco ride! In fact, about 1 ½ hrs. out from Masai Mara we hit a bump really hard and heard a strange sound, so Bob pulled over to check it out.
As he was removing the right rear tire to see what the problem was, I noticed a Masai shepherd crossing the road from the opposite field with two little boys in tow. I approached him, gave the old firm American handshake and introduced myself. He was a very soft spoken man dressed in the traditional red blanket/short robe with a knife on his waist, chains on his calves and dusty sandals. He said his name was “Yuma.”
As I stood there watching Bob and making small talk with Yuma, I was amazed at how pastoral the scene was. All around were rolling hills with the only sound being the gentle tinkling of cow bells wafting in the air. There were no cars, no houses, no people…
With Yuma’s permission I gave his two little boys a “sweet,” and him too. Then I asked if I could take his picture and he said yes, which I did. “Are those your cows?” I said pointing across the street.
“Those are my sheep,” he said, “We are prosperous.” Soon two Masai women came and stood by Yuma, and then 4 other Masai youths. So we all stood staring at poor sweating Bob. When I asked the new group of Masai if I could take their picture, they said something unintelligible which Yuma interpreted as, “They said no unless you give money.”
Since Yuma had asked for no money I went to the car and asked Ann how much money I should give him and she said that 20 KSch would be sufficient. So just before we drove off I handed him the money and said, “Thank you for letting me take your picture.”
Bob couldn’t find what was wrong but we went on cautiously since there was an unusual scraping noise going on. We passed mile after mile of open space with sparse little brown mud huts contrasted sharply by the Masai’s red blankets worn by the men. We finally arrived at Shayne and Tari’s little aluminum house at Masai Mara. They are missionaries which the Masai had invited to come live among them. The Masai had noticed how greatly improved the lives were of other tribes which had welcomed missionaries in. So Shayne and Tari have lived among them for 13 years in this little aluminum house. We are glad to be still and very tired. But not too tired to notice the amazingly different world we found ourselves in. Cows, sheep and goats are everywhere which is because the Masai are a shepherding people. They consider their animals to be their wealth. In fact they believe that God gave all the cows in the entire world to them, and they can go gather them from other tribes at times…
They live mostly in mud/dung huts that the women build with sticks and some stones. Unfortunately they are sick a lot and the child mortality rate is high. This is because of the unsanitary conditions they live in. There are a lot of bugs in those huts and disease is common from cuts and scrapes.
Time for bed. I will sleep under a mosquito net for the first time in my life. Though I haven’t seen any mosquitoes yet. This is malaria country so McKenna and I are taking our malaria medication tonight. Tomorrow we will go on a short driving safari in the animal reserve, then we’ll be having a meeting with the children. Till then… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
As he was removing the right rear tire to see what the problem was, I noticed a Masai shepherd crossing the road from the opposite field with two little boys in tow. I approached him, gave the old firm American handshake and introduced myself. He was a very soft spoken man dressed in the traditional red blanket/short robe with a knife on his waist, chains on his calves and dusty sandals. He said his name was “Yuma.”
As I stood there watching Bob and making small talk with Yuma, I was amazed at how pastoral the scene was. All around were rolling hills with the only sound being the gentle tinkling of cow bells wafting in the air. There were no cars, no houses, no people…
With Yuma’s permission I gave his two little boys a “sweet,” and him too. Then I asked if I could take his picture and he said yes, which I did. “Are those your cows?” I said pointing across the street.
“Those are my sheep,” he said, “We are prosperous.” Soon two Masai women came and stood by Yuma, and then 4 other Masai youths. So we all stood staring at poor sweating Bob. When I asked the new group of Masai if I could take their picture, they said something unintelligible which Yuma interpreted as, “They said no unless you give money.”
Since Yuma had asked for no money I went to the car and asked Ann how much money I should give him and she said that 20 KSch would be sufficient. So just before we drove off I handed him the money and said, “Thank you for letting me take your picture.”
Bob couldn’t find what was wrong but we went on cautiously since there was an unusual scraping noise going on. We passed mile after mile of open space with sparse little brown mud huts contrasted sharply by the Masai’s red blankets worn by the men. We finally arrived at Shayne and Tari’s little aluminum house at Masai Mara. They are missionaries which the Masai had invited to come live among them. The Masai had noticed how greatly improved the lives were of other tribes which had welcomed missionaries in. So Shayne and Tari have lived among them for 13 years in this little aluminum house. We are glad to be still and very tired. But not too tired to notice the amazingly different world we found ourselves in. Cows, sheep and goats are everywhere which is because the Masai are a shepherding people. They consider their animals to be their wealth. In fact they believe that God gave all the cows in the entire world to them, and they can go gather them from other tribes at times…
They live mostly in mud/dung huts that the women build with sticks and some stones. Unfortunately they are sick a lot and the child mortality rate is high. This is because of the unsanitary conditions they live in. There are a lot of bugs in those huts and disease is common from cuts and scrapes.
Time for bed. I will sleep under a mosquito net for the first time in my life. Though I haven’t seen any mosquitoes yet. This is malaria country so McKenna and I are taking our malaria medication tonight. Tomorrow we will go on a short driving safari in the animal reserve, then we’ll be having a meeting with the children. Till then… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
THURSDAY SEPT 25
This is to catch you all up real quickly. Wednesday we were at Kijabe Hospital all day visiting people with the chaplains. It was a time of singing and speaking to mama’s in the maternity ward, infants in incubators and more. Did I mention that Kibaje Hospital is a non-profit institution? The staff is amazing. They are dedicated to caring for people and also to bringing the good news of God’s great salvation to them through faith in Jesus.
We had an amazing day today at Bethany Home for children where we met Mercy. First thing, Mercy took McKenna and in into a tent where surprisingly we sat and waited, not for children but for the staff. “This is where the staff meets in the morning. You will sing and then make a presentation.” GULP!
McKenna and I looked at each other each wondering what we would do for doctors and nurses. We ended up singing some Swahili songs and then I spoke on how important it is for us to remember what Jesus suffered on the cross not only at Communion times, but at all times. We must never forget the greatest tragedy and act of love of all time.
Afterwards, Mercy led us into ward after ward of women and their children. The mothers stay with their children in the child’s bed. The mothers all dress in pink gowns except the Muslim women who also have their head veils on. In each ward Mercy would have us first greet each mother with a handshake and, “Habari mama.” Then she would have me open the Bible up and read to the women and speak to encourage them. Then McKenna and I would sing to them in Swahili which amazed and delighted them.
In the hydro-encephalitis ward we greeted each mama and laid a hand on her baby’s swollen head to ask the Lord to heal him/her. As we sang a Swahili song, “Walk With Jesus,” Mercy must have asked the women in Swahili to get up and walk over to greet each other, because all the mama’s rose up and began to do that! Then they began to do a gentle dance. A Masai mama danced the amazing Masai way and another joined her. They were greatly encouraged. Then Mercy said, “McKenna you will pray for baby Abraham and baby such-and-such who are in ICU right now.” So this is the way that it went. It was amazing to touch each mother and child and be able to encourage them throughout the day.
Do you remember the report of people who had run into a church in Kenya during the war last January who were burned to death? Well I met five survivors who’ve been in Kijabe Hospital since January. They were each terribly disfigured, some having only stubs on their fingers or their fingers so badly burned that they can’t move them. One girl is 16, a boy is 6. What do you say to such people to encourage them?
I spoke to them about how Jesus had suffered so very terribly on the cross and that He truly knows what it is to suffer. I encouraged them that He loves them and that He has preserved their lives for some special purpose. “When you leave this place, tell people about how wonderful He is to have died and risen for you.” I was so happy to notice that the little boy with his face so badly disfigured was singing a song to Jesus with us.
Before lunch time an amazing things happened. As Mercy, McKenna and I were about to walk down the hall to the cafeteria, a Somalia woman carrying a child walked up to Mercy smiling, grabbed her hand, kissed it and hugged her neck. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” Mercy said.
Then the woman grabbed my hand, kissed it and hugged me and then McKenna too. This was amazing because the M*slm women are not warm like this. In the wards they talk loudly when we sing and make no move in friendliness at all, though if you grab their hand to shake it they will smile a little in polite response. So I was very curious about this lady.
It turns out that her name is Diamond. She has become a follower of Jesus and her relatives are trying to kill her. She showed me a scar on her hand and said, “They have beaten me very badly.” As she spoke she teared up in telling us that a couple that had taken her in have “rejected me,” and now she has no place to go. Mercy called in a man who is trying to contact the UN. I wonder where Diamond is now. I am trusting God will care for her and her little one.
I was delighted to meet William, a boy of about 11 who sat in a wheelchair with a cast on both legs with a bar between them. What a beautiful smile on this child’s face! Mercy said, “He became a Christian 2 weeks ago.” At that, William smiled and nodded his head. We got to pray with Frances a 12 year old boy and two others who want to follow Jesus.
By the way, we’ve discovered that McKenna’s name is Kikuru and means something like “continually joyful.” When people see her not smiling they ask her, “Are you sick?” Actually she’s been bravely battling a cough and so she has had to truly make an heroic effort to keep a smile on her face. She’s been doing so great and I’m blessed to have her as my partner.
So this ended our amazing day at Bethany Home. We got to touch a lot of people and got to meet Mercy, an amazing woman who truly loves people and desires them to know the joy of God’s great salvation through faith in Jesus His risen Son.
We had an amazing day today at Bethany Home for children where we met Mercy. First thing, Mercy took McKenna and in into a tent where surprisingly we sat and waited, not for children but for the staff. “This is where the staff meets in the morning. You will sing and then make a presentation.” GULP!
McKenna and I looked at each other each wondering what we would do for doctors and nurses. We ended up singing some Swahili songs and then I spoke on how important it is for us to remember what Jesus suffered on the cross not only at Communion times, but at all times. We must never forget the greatest tragedy and act of love of all time.
Afterwards, Mercy led us into ward after ward of women and their children. The mothers stay with their children in the child’s bed. The mothers all dress in pink gowns except the Muslim women who also have their head veils on. In each ward Mercy would have us first greet each mother with a handshake and, “Habari mama.” Then she would have me open the Bible up and read to the women and speak to encourage them. Then McKenna and I would sing to them in Swahili which amazed and delighted them.
In the hydro-encephalitis ward we greeted each mama and laid a hand on her baby’s swollen head to ask the Lord to heal him/her. As we sang a Swahili song, “Walk With Jesus,” Mercy must have asked the women in Swahili to get up and walk over to greet each other, because all the mama’s rose up and began to do that! Then they began to do a gentle dance. A Masai mama danced the amazing Masai way and another joined her. They were greatly encouraged. Then Mercy said, “McKenna you will pray for baby Abraham and baby such-and-such who are in ICU right now.” So this is the way that it went. It was amazing to touch each mother and child and be able to encourage them throughout the day.
Do you remember the report of people who had run into a church in Kenya during the war last January who were burned to death? Well I met five survivors who’ve been in Kijabe Hospital since January. They were each terribly disfigured, some having only stubs on their fingers or their fingers so badly burned that they can’t move them. One girl is 16, a boy is 6. What do you say to such people to encourage them?
I spoke to them about how Jesus had suffered so very terribly on the cross and that He truly knows what it is to suffer. I encouraged them that He loves them and that He has preserved their lives for some special purpose. “When you leave this place, tell people about how wonderful He is to have died and risen for you.” I was so happy to notice that the little boy with his face so badly disfigured was singing a song to Jesus with us.
Before lunch time an amazing things happened. As Mercy, McKenna and I were about to walk down the hall to the cafeteria, a Somalia woman carrying a child walked up to Mercy smiling, grabbed her hand, kissed it and hugged her neck. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” Mercy said.
Then the woman grabbed my hand, kissed it and hugged me and then McKenna too. This was amazing because the M*slm women are not warm like this. In the wards they talk loudly when we sing and make no move in friendliness at all, though if you grab their hand to shake it they will smile a little in polite response. So I was very curious about this lady.
It turns out that her name is Diamond. She has become a follower of Jesus and her relatives are trying to kill her. She showed me a scar on her hand and said, “They have beaten me very badly.” As she spoke she teared up in telling us that a couple that had taken her in have “rejected me,” and now she has no place to go. Mercy called in a man who is trying to contact the UN. I wonder where Diamond is now. I am trusting God will care for her and her little one.
I was delighted to meet William, a boy of about 11 who sat in a wheelchair with a cast on both legs with a bar between them. What a beautiful smile on this child’s face! Mercy said, “He became a Christian 2 weeks ago.” At that, William smiled and nodded his head. We got to pray with Frances a 12 year old boy and two others who want to follow Jesus.
By the way, we’ve discovered that McKenna’s name is Kikuru and means something like “continually joyful.” When people see her not smiling they ask her, “Are you sick?” Actually she’s been bravely battling a cough and so she has had to truly make an heroic effort to keep a smile on her face. She’s been doing so great and I’m blessed to have her as my partner.
So this ended our amazing day at Bethany Home. We got to touch a lot of people and got to meet Mercy, an amazing woman who truly loves people and desires them to know the joy of God’s great salvation through faith in Jesus His risen Son.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
WEDNESDAY SEPT 24
Did I mention that Kijabe means “place of the wind,” and that it gets super windy in the late afternoon? We’re 7,000 feet above sea level it turns out, and the wind rushes down the mountains in the evening as the sun sets, and it sounds like you’re in a winter storm. Then in the morning you wake up and it’s dead calm outside. It’s cold now – about 55. There’s no humidity in the air and it’s quite beautiful. There are lots of pines with bare skinny trunks and fluffy tops. Apparently animals eat the green from the trunks.
Speaking of animals, Dan was telling us that there were some elephants blocking traffic a few weeks ago.
Well I’m sitting at Dan Dooley’s computer in Kijabe writing this. Since Bob and Ann had to get back to Diguna until tomorrow, Dan fixed McKenna and I some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight. We talked for a short time with Dr. Ibu, a Muslim who’s staying with Dan for a few weeks. There’s a little Kenyan family of three staying here too.
We spent the day at Kijabe Hospital and are joyfully anticipating bed soon. We started out the day at the Wednesday morning chapel service along with 200 doctors, nurses and other staff members. McKenna and I sang some Swahili songs which people really liked, and then I said a few words from Gal. 6:9, “Let us not grow weary in doing good....”
Afterwards we went into the chaplain’s office and met the chaplains – all very nice people: Silvia, Agnes, Samuel, David and John, plus the head chaplain pastor Mark. Samuel took us to a patient waiting room where we sang and welcomed the people to Kijabe Hospital. Then we went to the relative waiting yard and sang outside. I was glad that I’d taken my hat. The air is amazingly comfortable - but at being almost at the equator, the sun is really hot. Then the chaplains served us chai and a donut-like cake.
Did I mention that McKenna is an African name? Only they spell it Makena. Every time she’s introduced they’re amazed and they always remember her! McKenna is tickled about it because in the US nobody could remember her name!
Kijabe Hospital is an amazing place. It’s a non-profit institution devoted to making quality medical care available to the poor. We saw people from different tribes including Somali’s, women in total burka’s, British, Australians – I saw a old Masai man dressed in a blue gown walking slowly down a hall with a cane. You can tell he’s Masai because his ear lobes have a giant hole in each of them and hang down low. The Masai consider this beautiful. The facility itself would take you back to the 50’s in its looks, but it’s clean and the food in the cafeteria was safe to eat.
In the afternoon Silvia took us to the women’s ward – again a throwback to the 50’s like from the movie “One Flew Over The Cookoos’s Nest” with white iron beds and all. McKenna and I prepared to sing but Agnes said, “This is Africa. You have to greet the people.” I thought, ok, I’ll say hello before I sing.
Agnes repeated herself, “This is Africa. You have to greet them first. You must shake their hands.” Oh!
So we went around to each lady and shook her hand and said hello. I was thinking that this is rather different than US customs. In the US you don’t really shake someone’s hand unless you’re being directly introduced to them, or you’re running for office...
Anyway, there was a young woman of 17 sitting in a bed who smiled shyly at me. I went and talked to her later on and she said her name was, “Blessing.” She had stitches in her jaw with sutures poking out. She’d actually been released but didn’t have money to pay her bill; so there she sat.
There were three M*slm women who were about to be discharged and who listened politely to us. When I saw one of them in the hall a little later I touched her shoulder and said goodbye, she said, “Salame” which means “peace.”
Afterwards, Agnes took us to the newborn ward and asked us to pray for them. I saw the tiniest preemie I’d ever seen – so frail – a tiny baby boy. Agnes showed us baby Christina who’d been found abandoned. She was such a beautiful little baby. There were about eight babies in incubators. One was very jaundiced and crying. She quieted right down when a nurse gently lifted her out of the incubator and held her.
After this Agnes took us to the maternity ward where McKenna and I sang and then greeted them both verbally and with handshakes all around. It was very cool! The human touch between strangers from different nations does so much more than words alone. The mothers each had a baby in her bed. Some were nursing them and had no qualms about shaking my hand and moving their baby so that I could put a hand on it and ask God to bless it. They were so cute!
At 3:30 Dan came and took us over to Cure Kenya, a home for handicapped children. It was really nice. They are so dedicated to caring for these children. We sang a couple of songs and said a few words to children and adults who were parents or relatives, plus they do some adult surgeries there. We’ll be back there tomorrow afternoon and then again on Friday morning.
McKenna and I are staying at Kijabe Motel again tonight. It’s a bit old but nice and bright, really quite nice for Kenya from what I’m told. People who are visiting relatives at the hospital stay at the Motel. I saw two robed M*slm women in a downstairs room. Dan told us that the Somalies aren’t used to toilets and stand on the rim...just an interesting tidbit there.
We’ve got to hit the sack. Very busy day at Kijabe Hospital and Cure Kenya tomorrow
Speaking of animals, Dan was telling us that there were some elephants blocking traffic a few weeks ago.
Well I’m sitting at Dan Dooley’s computer in Kijabe writing this. Since Bob and Ann had to get back to Diguna until tomorrow, Dan fixed McKenna and I some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight. We talked for a short time with Dr. Ibu, a Muslim who’s staying with Dan for a few weeks. There’s a little Kenyan family of three staying here too.
We spent the day at Kijabe Hospital and are joyfully anticipating bed soon. We started out the day at the Wednesday morning chapel service along with 200 doctors, nurses and other staff members. McKenna and I sang some Swahili songs which people really liked, and then I said a few words from Gal. 6:9, “Let us not grow weary in doing good....”
Afterwards we went into the chaplain’s office and met the chaplains – all very nice people: Silvia, Agnes, Samuel, David and John, plus the head chaplain pastor Mark. Samuel took us to a patient waiting room where we sang and welcomed the people to Kijabe Hospital. Then we went to the relative waiting yard and sang outside. I was glad that I’d taken my hat. The air is amazingly comfortable - but at being almost at the equator, the sun is really hot. Then the chaplains served us chai and a donut-like cake.
Did I mention that McKenna is an African name? Only they spell it Makena. Every time she’s introduced they’re amazed and they always remember her! McKenna is tickled about it because in the US nobody could remember her name!
Kijabe Hospital is an amazing place. It’s a non-profit institution devoted to making quality medical care available to the poor. We saw people from different tribes including Somali’s, women in total burka’s, British, Australians – I saw a old Masai man dressed in a blue gown walking slowly down a hall with a cane. You can tell he’s Masai because his ear lobes have a giant hole in each of them and hang down low. The Masai consider this beautiful. The facility itself would take you back to the 50’s in its looks, but it’s clean and the food in the cafeteria was safe to eat.
In the afternoon Silvia took us to the women’s ward – again a throwback to the 50’s like from the movie “One Flew Over The Cookoos’s Nest” with white iron beds and all. McKenna and I prepared to sing but Agnes said, “This is Africa. You have to greet the people.” I thought, ok, I’ll say hello before I sing.
Agnes repeated herself, “This is Africa. You have to greet them first. You must shake their hands.” Oh!
So we went around to each lady and shook her hand and said hello. I was thinking that this is rather different than US customs. In the US you don’t really shake someone’s hand unless you’re being directly introduced to them, or you’re running for office...
Anyway, there was a young woman of 17 sitting in a bed who smiled shyly at me. I went and talked to her later on and she said her name was, “Blessing.” She had stitches in her jaw with sutures poking out. She’d actually been released but didn’t have money to pay her bill; so there she sat.
There were three M*slm women who were about to be discharged and who listened politely to us. When I saw one of them in the hall a little later I touched her shoulder and said goodbye, she said, “Salame” which means “peace.”
Afterwards, Agnes took us to the newborn ward and asked us to pray for them. I saw the tiniest preemie I’d ever seen – so frail – a tiny baby boy. Agnes showed us baby Christina who’d been found abandoned. She was such a beautiful little baby. There were about eight babies in incubators. One was very jaundiced and crying. She quieted right down when a nurse gently lifted her out of the incubator and held her.
After this Agnes took us to the maternity ward where McKenna and I sang and then greeted them both verbally and with handshakes all around. It was very cool! The human touch between strangers from different nations does so much more than words alone. The mothers each had a baby in her bed. Some were nursing them and had no qualms about shaking my hand and moving their baby so that I could put a hand on it and ask God to bless it. They were so cute!
At 3:30 Dan came and took us over to Cure Kenya, a home for handicapped children. It was really nice. They are so dedicated to caring for these children. We sang a couple of songs and said a few words to children and adults who were parents or relatives, plus they do some adult surgeries there. We’ll be back there tomorrow afternoon and then again on Friday morning.
McKenna and I are staying at Kijabe Motel again tonight. It’s a bit old but nice and bright, really quite nice for Kenya from what I’m told. People who are visiting relatives at the hospital stay at the Motel. I saw two robed M*slm women in a downstairs room. Dan told us that the Somalies aren’t used to toilets and stand on the rim...just an interesting tidbit there.
We’ve got to hit the sack. Very busy day at Kijabe Hospital and Cure Kenya tomorrow
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
TRIP TO KIJABE
TRIP TO KIJABE
Driving through Nairobi, Matatu’s are everywhere. Matatu’s are 13-passenger vans that drive extra-crazy because the drivers are on commission. I saw one get impatient in standing traffic and drive onto the sidewalk! Then he blew his horn at people who were walking towards him!
Did I mention that driving in Kenya is a time of prayer and thanksgiving?! If you’re not dodging holes, you’re dodging slow drivers or you’re dodging a huge plume of black exhaust to save your lungs!
We were driving along and I spotted a truck full of men – “Trish, no! Don’t take pictures of those soldiers!”
“But it’d be a cool shot with those AK47’s.” Actually I’d already gotten a shot before I knew it was a bad thing to do. My Kenyan friend Roselyn explained, “Sometimes they can be mean.” I haven’t really seen hardly any military personnel or police which is amazing considering how people drive.
Uh – you’re not going to believe this. I’m actually journaling in the car and right ahead of me I see a police officer waving us over. We pull over and another officer is literally walking past my window with his AK47 machine gun! Bob opens the window and the first officer says, “Please open your boot.” (That is, trunk.)
Bob gets out and I hear him asking for his license. Bob it turns out had left it at home.
I didn’t get to hear all of it but this is what Bob related to us after he’d gotten back into the car, Ann was driving and I asked whether he could have been arrested or not. “Yes,” he replied, “But I gave him some shillings.”
“What?”
It turns out that the officer said to Bob, “This is a serious offense.”
“Yes bwana,” Bob said, “I don’t know why I forgot it at home.”
“Well it will cost you 6,000 KSch at my precinct or you can give me something and I will forgive you.”
Bob said that he pulled out 3,000 KSch but the officer said, “Could you make that 4,000?”
So now we’re out past Nairobi and another check-point where we were allowed to continue on to Kijabe. We’re out in the country and I see many “shambas,” tiny little 1/8 or ¼ acre farms with tiny houses and teenie gardens. We’ve passed mile after mile of rusted shacks that people live in and are driving through lovely green hills.
We entered into Kijabe and drove down a dirt road to Dan Dooley’s little house, visited a little while and have checked into a motel close by. Directly across from the motel is Kijabe hospital. Tomorrow morning at 7:45a.m. Dan will come walk us over where we’ve been asked to lead the Wednesday morning chapel service for the hospital staff of doctors ad nurses. Pray for us! Afterwards we’ll be visiting patients at bedside and singing in some relative and patient waiting rooms. At 4:00 p.m. Dan will walk us over to Bethany Home for Children next-door for us to sing there. Pray for us!
Driving through Nairobi, Matatu’s are everywhere. Matatu’s are 13-passenger vans that drive extra-crazy because the drivers are on commission. I saw one get impatient in standing traffic and drive onto the sidewalk! Then he blew his horn at people who were walking towards him!
Did I mention that driving in Kenya is a time of prayer and thanksgiving?! If you’re not dodging holes, you’re dodging slow drivers or you’re dodging a huge plume of black exhaust to save your lungs!
We were driving along and I spotted a truck full of men – “Trish, no! Don’t take pictures of those soldiers!”
“But it’d be a cool shot with those AK47’s.” Actually I’d already gotten a shot before I knew it was a bad thing to do. My Kenyan friend Roselyn explained, “Sometimes they can be mean.” I haven’t really seen hardly any military personnel or police which is amazing considering how people drive.
Uh – you’re not going to believe this. I’m actually journaling in the car and right ahead of me I see a police officer waving us over. We pull over and another officer is literally walking past my window with his AK47 machine gun! Bob opens the window and the first officer says, “Please open your boot.” (That is, trunk.)
Bob gets out and I hear him asking for his license. Bob it turns out had left it at home.
I didn’t get to hear all of it but this is what Bob related to us after he’d gotten back into the car, Ann was driving and I asked whether he could have been arrested or not. “Yes,” he replied, “But I gave him some shillings.”
“What?”
It turns out that the officer said to Bob, “This is a serious offense.”
“Yes bwana,” Bob said, “I don’t know why I forgot it at home.”
“Well it will cost you 6,000 KSch at my precinct or you can give me something and I will forgive you.”
Bob said that he pulled out 3,000 KSch but the officer said, “Could you make that 4,000?”
So now we’re out past Nairobi and another check-point where we were allowed to continue on to Kijabe. We’re out in the country and I see many “shambas,” tiny little 1/8 or ¼ acre farms with tiny houses and teenie gardens. We’ve passed mile after mile of rusted shacks that people live in and are driving through lovely green hills.
We entered into Kijabe and drove down a dirt road to Dan Dooley’s little house, visited a little while and have checked into a motel close by. Directly across from the motel is Kijabe hospital. Tomorrow morning at 7:45a.m. Dan will come walk us over where we’ve been asked to lead the Wednesday morning chapel service for the hospital staff of doctors ad nurses. Pray for us! Afterwards we’ll be visiting patients at bedside and singing in some relative and patient waiting rooms. At 4:00 p.m. Dan will walk us over to Bethany Home for Children next-door for us to sing there. Pray for us!
TUESDAY SEPT 23
TUESDAY SEPT 23
I heard a lion roar really loud last night - so strange! Toby, a German friend, told us that he'd seen a lion on the compound at 9:00 pm. on Monday night. So barking dogs are our friends! This morning I was telling Ann at breakfast that we ought to DO something...that they're encroaching human territory. She smiled and said, "Actually this is Africa. They've been here a lot longer than we have. We're the ones encroaching their territory." So get used to it Trish - you're in Africa!!
Speaking of Africa, I came into my room on Sunday and there was a monkey sitting on the windowsill peering intently into my window. She had tan fur with a black face and when she detected my motion immediately scampered away. On a walk yesterday morning I saw her with two little babies one of which was nursing.
This morning I spotted some strange little creature slinking along low to the ground in the backyard. It was a ricky-ticky mongoose, long and sleek with a black tipped tail! cool!
Last week I saw wild zebra just across from us on the hill in the animal reserve feeding. I heard one calling later in the night.
The Monday morning meeting with the Diguna staff went really well. I was nervous but once I get started it's okay. There were about 75 people I think, mostly Swahilis, so there was an interpreter. By the way, it's really easier to speak through an interpreter than I'd thought. In fact, I like it a lot because you get to think ahead more.
I had shared my salvation story last Monday, but during the week both German and Swahili people had asked me to "finish" it this week. They wanted some more details. One thing I had to do was to address some comments that someone had told me about. They had said that after I had spoken last Monday, some of the Kenyan men were cheering my first husband on for having threatened to divorce me if I didn't become a good wife within six months. ! So I spoke about how the Bible says that God HATES divorce, and that as His children, we ought to imitate that and hate it too. A Kenyan man named Daniel told me later in the afternoon that what I had spoken about was good and that he'd understood it perfectly.
McKenna did really well sharing her story with tears from her heart. We were all moved, though I think she was a little embarassed to be emotional. A German lady named Stephanie (sounds a LOT different than how we say it!) told me that she really appreciated our openness with our stories and that the Kenyans aren't used to that.
A Kenyan lady named Alice told me that she really appreciated me sharing because it is common for Kenyan men to threaten their wives like my first husband did. She began to tell me how terrible it has been with her own husband committing adultery, beating her and threatening to divorce her. She fled to her parents' home after she became "sick with STD's," as she put it. Her mother is furious with her for having run away. McKenna and I prayed with her. Pray for Alice.
A German lady doctor named Eva dropped by to leave us some avacados yesterday afternoon She told me that there just happened to be a Kenyan man in attendance who beats his wife and that she was glad that I had spoken. WOW!!
Last night we had about 20 Germans and Swahilis over to sing with us. It was so cool to sing hymns in German, Swahili and English! I've learned a beautiful new Kenyan song about being grateful to God that I can't wait to sing for you!
We will shortly be clamboring into Bob's car to drive north to Kijabe. It'll be about 6,000+ feet above sea level. Can't remember whether I've mentioned that being almost a mile high from Florida's sea level has caused a little nose bleed but other than getting winded a bit easier, I haven't really noticed it.
The ride to Kijabe will be about 1 1/2 hrs. and Mckenna and I will be at Kijabe Hospital tomorrow. Then Thursday we'll be a Bethany Children's Home for orphans. Then Friday there's a home for handicapped children. On Friday evening we'll drive out to Masai Mara. Bob and Ann are taking us on a short safari! I'll let you know what we see...
Then Saturday night we'll be ministering to Masai children! Wow! Pray for us. Also on Sunday we'll have them for Sunday School. This is all unchartered waters for us. I googled the Masai people and found a quote from an old Masai man. He was saying, "We do not fear men. But we are very afraid of God. If we make him angry he will kill us. He lives in the sky and in the grass. He sees everything that we do. After you die there is nothing. It is finished." So this has helped me a lot in writing a puppet show for the children.
I don't know that I'll have any computer access next week. It's doubtful. But I'll update you as soon as I can. Thank you soo much for praying for us. We can truly sense your support.
I'm missing the children from the slum city this morning. Wait till you see their cute faces! They live such a hard life yet they are so full of vitality. With 66% of the adults at Mitumba being HIV positive, the children's world is constantly losing stability as people around them die. McKenna and I are glad to have brought them some encouragement and hope for a very bright future.
Till next time...kwa heri!
I heard a lion roar really loud last night - so strange! Toby, a German friend, told us that he'd seen a lion on the compound at 9:00 pm. on Monday night. So barking dogs are our friends! This morning I was telling Ann at breakfast that we ought to DO something...that they're encroaching human territory. She smiled and said, "Actually this is Africa. They've been here a lot longer than we have. We're the ones encroaching their territory." So get used to it Trish - you're in Africa!!
Speaking of Africa, I came into my room on Sunday and there was a monkey sitting on the windowsill peering intently into my window. She had tan fur with a black face and when she detected my motion immediately scampered away. On a walk yesterday morning I saw her with two little babies one of which was nursing.
This morning I spotted some strange little creature slinking along low to the ground in the backyard. It was a ricky-ticky mongoose, long and sleek with a black tipped tail! cool!
Last week I saw wild zebra just across from us on the hill in the animal reserve feeding. I heard one calling later in the night.
The Monday morning meeting with the Diguna staff went really well. I was nervous but once I get started it's okay. There were about 75 people I think, mostly Swahilis, so there was an interpreter. By the way, it's really easier to speak through an interpreter than I'd thought. In fact, I like it a lot because you get to think ahead more.
I had shared my salvation story last Monday, but during the week both German and Swahili people had asked me to "finish" it this week. They wanted some more details. One thing I had to do was to address some comments that someone had told me about. They had said that after I had spoken last Monday, some of the Kenyan men were cheering my first husband on for having threatened to divorce me if I didn't become a good wife within six months. ! So I spoke about how the Bible says that God HATES divorce, and that as His children, we ought to imitate that and hate it too. A Kenyan man named Daniel told me later in the afternoon that what I had spoken about was good and that he'd understood it perfectly.
McKenna did really well sharing her story with tears from her heart. We were all moved, though I think she was a little embarassed to be emotional. A German lady named Stephanie (sounds a LOT different than how we say it!) told me that she really appreciated our openness with our stories and that the Kenyans aren't used to that.
A Kenyan lady named Alice told me that she really appreciated me sharing because it is common for Kenyan men to threaten their wives like my first husband did. She began to tell me how terrible it has been with her own husband committing adultery, beating her and threatening to divorce her. She fled to her parents' home after she became "sick with STD's," as she put it. Her mother is furious with her for having run away. McKenna and I prayed with her. Pray for Alice.
A German lady doctor named Eva dropped by to leave us some avacados yesterday afternoon She told me that there just happened to be a Kenyan man in attendance who beats his wife and that she was glad that I had spoken. WOW!!
Last night we had about 20 Germans and Swahilis over to sing with us. It was so cool to sing hymns in German, Swahili and English! I've learned a beautiful new Kenyan song about being grateful to God that I can't wait to sing for you!
We will shortly be clamboring into Bob's car to drive north to Kijabe. It'll be about 6,000+ feet above sea level. Can't remember whether I've mentioned that being almost a mile high from Florida's sea level has caused a little nose bleed but other than getting winded a bit easier, I haven't really noticed it.
The ride to Kijabe will be about 1 1/2 hrs. and Mckenna and I will be at Kijabe Hospital tomorrow. Then Thursday we'll be a Bethany Children's Home for orphans. Then Friday there's a home for handicapped children. On Friday evening we'll drive out to Masai Mara. Bob and Ann are taking us on a short safari! I'll let you know what we see...
Then Saturday night we'll be ministering to Masai children! Wow! Pray for us. Also on Sunday we'll have them for Sunday School. This is all unchartered waters for us. I googled the Masai people and found a quote from an old Masai man. He was saying, "We do not fear men. But we are very afraid of God. If we make him angry he will kill us. He lives in the sky and in the grass. He sees everything that we do. After you die there is nothing. It is finished." So this has helped me a lot in writing a puppet show for the children.
I don't know that I'll have any computer access next week. It's doubtful. But I'll update you as soon as I can. Thank you soo much for praying for us. We can truly sense your support.
I'm missing the children from the slum city this morning. Wait till you see their cute faces! They live such a hard life yet they are so full of vitality. With 66% of the adults at Mitumba being HIV positive, the children's world is constantly losing stability as people around them die. McKenna and I are glad to have brought them some encouragement and hope for a very bright future.
Till next time...kwa heri!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
SUNDAY SEPT. 21
SUNDAY SEPT. 21
We spent our last day at Mitumba slum city and are now back at Diguna, tired but in a good sort of way. I feel very fulfilled. The children were so happy to see us and that was very heart-warming. They smile and say, "Habari Patreesha!"
Our little program went without a hitch after much practicing through the week. A very small 14 yr. old boy named Pius Kamau and his friend Gabriel did the puppet and did a great job. Then 12 other children did the human video we wrote to "In Christ Alone." Then we went to the Children's Ministry where we did a puppet show for them and sang. Then we were asked to sing a final song at the adult church there in Mitumba.
It's very very dusty and messy there inside the little church building. People sit on wooden benches and don't seem to mind being crammed next to oneanother. There is no glass in the two windows, just a wooden door that they open up. Children and adults are always peeking in from outside and I can see their lips moving as they sing along with us.
Pastor Shadrack is so nice. Did I mention that he's a highly educated man who used to teach teachers how to teach? I can't say enough about him and his wife Violet.
Anyway, McKenna and I are well and are glad to know that about 15 "slum mama's" indicated yesterday after we met with them that they want to follow Jesus. WOW! And very very many children also indicated a desire to follow Jesus.
We talked with them about what that means. One thing we told them is that Jesus is loving and so His followers must be loving. To demonstrate this, McKenna and I did a little skit in which we were fighting. Then suddenly we remember that Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you..." Then we apologized to each other ad hugged. The children went wild! They "got it." They shouted and clapped I think because they could identify with the fighting since that happens a lot in close quarters.
Earlier in the week we were talking with them about how the Bible says that we ought to do everything "as unto the Lord." So McKenna asked them, "What kind of work do you do that's really hard?"
I kept waiting for them to reply, "Schoolwork!"
But it was very telling that not one child had that as a response. Instead here were the replies:
"Carrying water."
"Washing clothes."
"Carrying sticks for fire."
"Building a house."
Actually, school is considered a great break in their daily lives. They LOVE to learn and are extremely gifted and bright. One boy was trying to make chords on my guitar and oh how I wish I had time to teach him!!
McKenna and I want to go back for a visit before we leave. It wasn't easy being in Mitumba and getting a taste of how hard it is for people to live in such squaller, but on the other hand we had such a sense that this is exactly where God had intended for us to be that it was very fulfilling.
On the way back home every day we have passeda huge Mosque and many many Muslim students and adults walking around. We need to pray for the Kenyans.
Tomorrow is a rest/packing day for us except that we've been asked to speak and sing at the Diguna Monday staff meeting again. In another week they've asked that I lead a worship seminar on their Wednesday evening meeting. Wow. I feel very privileged to do that. Please pray for me.
On Tuesday we drive up to Kijabe. That's interesting because we've left Florida at sea level and have been here almost 1 mile up high and now we're going to be a bit higher and 6,000 ft +. We've had a little bit of nose bleed happening. But there's SO much dust and SO much pollution from huge black plumes of smoke from buses and trucks that our poor sinuses are suffering a little. Bob and Ann's car doesn't have air-conditioning and so we have to open the windows. Oh well this is part of the Kenya experience!
On Wednesday we'll be speaking and singing about Jesus at Kijabe Hospital. Then on Thursday at Bethany Children's home and on Friday at another children's hospital. Then we drive out Friday late afternoon for Masai Mara. We'll be doing a puppet show for Masai children on Sat. and Sunday.
The followig Wednesday we'll be bringing our message of hope to a public school assembly! Wow! I'll try to get online again. Don't give up checking my blog. Please please keep us in prayer. We can feel your prayer support, believe me.
Till next time...
We spent our last day at Mitumba slum city and are now back at Diguna, tired but in a good sort of way. I feel very fulfilled. The children were so happy to see us and that was very heart-warming. They smile and say, "Habari Patreesha!"
Our little program went without a hitch after much practicing through the week. A very small 14 yr. old boy named Pius Kamau and his friend Gabriel did the puppet and did a great job. Then 12 other children did the human video we wrote to "In Christ Alone." Then we went to the Children's Ministry where we did a puppet show for them and sang. Then we were asked to sing a final song at the adult church there in Mitumba.
It's very very dusty and messy there inside the little church building. People sit on wooden benches and don't seem to mind being crammed next to oneanother. There is no glass in the two windows, just a wooden door that they open up. Children and adults are always peeking in from outside and I can see their lips moving as they sing along with us.
Pastor Shadrack is so nice. Did I mention that he's a highly educated man who used to teach teachers how to teach? I can't say enough about him and his wife Violet.
Anyway, McKenna and I are well and are glad to know that about 15 "slum mama's" indicated yesterday after we met with them that they want to follow Jesus. WOW! And very very many children also indicated a desire to follow Jesus.
We talked with them about what that means. One thing we told them is that Jesus is loving and so His followers must be loving. To demonstrate this, McKenna and I did a little skit in which we were fighting. Then suddenly we remember that Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you..." Then we apologized to each other ad hugged. The children went wild! They "got it." They shouted and clapped I think because they could identify with the fighting since that happens a lot in close quarters.
Earlier in the week we were talking with them about how the Bible says that we ought to do everything "as unto the Lord." So McKenna asked them, "What kind of work do you do that's really hard?"
I kept waiting for them to reply, "Schoolwork!"
But it was very telling that not one child had that as a response. Instead here were the replies:
"Carrying water."
"Washing clothes."
"Carrying sticks for fire."
"Building a house."
Actually, school is considered a great break in their daily lives. They LOVE to learn and are extremely gifted and bright. One boy was trying to make chords on my guitar and oh how I wish I had time to teach him!!
McKenna and I want to go back for a visit before we leave. It wasn't easy being in Mitumba and getting a taste of how hard it is for people to live in such squaller, but on the other hand we had such a sense that this is exactly where God had intended for us to be that it was very fulfilling.
On the way back home every day we have passeda huge Mosque and many many Muslim students and adults walking around. We need to pray for the Kenyans.
Tomorrow is a rest/packing day for us except that we've been asked to speak and sing at the Diguna Monday staff meeting again. In another week they've asked that I lead a worship seminar on their Wednesday evening meeting. Wow. I feel very privileged to do that. Please pray for me.
On Tuesday we drive up to Kijabe. That's interesting because we've left Florida at sea level and have been here almost 1 mile up high and now we're going to be a bit higher and 6,000 ft +. We've had a little bit of nose bleed happening. But there's SO much dust and SO much pollution from huge black plumes of smoke from buses and trucks that our poor sinuses are suffering a little. Bob and Ann's car doesn't have air-conditioning and so we have to open the windows. Oh well this is part of the Kenya experience!
On Wednesday we'll be speaking and singing about Jesus at Kijabe Hospital. Then on Thursday at Bethany Children's home and on Friday at another children's hospital. Then we drive out Friday late afternoon for Masai Mara. We'll be doing a puppet show for Masai children on Sat. and Sunday.
The followig Wednesday we'll be bringing our message of hope to a public school assembly! Wow! I'll try to get online again. Don't give up checking my blog. Please please keep us in prayer. We can feel your prayer support, believe me.
Till next time...
Update From Africa!
Well I'm catching you all up since we've been here almost a week. Been having difficulty getting onto my blog. I'll be posting more detail when I get back. So here goes:
FLIGHT OVER:
Our flight was really smooth. McKenna managed to get about two hours of sleep on the plane. I really REALLY tried but fially gave up and so was awake for a total of 36 hours by the time we got to Kenya and to bed Saturday night.
It was awesome traveling via Emeritas. It's a really classy airline. They have a computer simulator of the plane that you can watch to see exactly where you are. For example, at 2:15 a.m. we were flyng over Paris! Back to Kenya:
Kenya!! WE'RE HERE!!!!!
Bob and Ann greeted us warmly considering that they waited a considerable amount of time since my second piece of luggage never showed up. It came a couple of days later. Kenya is a CRAZY place to drive! For one thing, Bob is driving on the wrong side of the road and you've got trucks barrelling towards you on the wrong side of the road. There are no lane markers, and people sort of make their own lanes. The streets vary from being paved okay with holes that you dodge, to being incredibly pocked dirt roads that you jump and bump over like you're riding a wild bucking bronco.
The streets are crowded with traffic that doesn't seem to mind being only inches from oneanother as they jockey for the quickest positions. Bob is quite the driver! Also there are lots and LOTS of people who walk. They are for the most part well dressed people carrying briefcases and walking on dirt roads in heels.
When I asked Ann why so many people walk, she said "They can't afford a car." When I asked her why they dn't take the bus, she replied, "They can't afford a bus ride." THen when I asked her why they don't ride bikes she replied, "They can't afford bikes," I sort of began to get the pictures. There are a LOT of poor people here in Kenya.
MONDAY SEPT. 15
At 5:00 a.m. I woke up to the really weird sound of a Muslim call to prayer over a LOUDSPEAKER. It sounds like something really old like from an old record player from years ago. Anyway I decided to get up and on my way downstairs missed my step. In briefly hanging in mid-air while holding onto a wooden pole I slightly gashed my thumb, which concerns me since we'll be going into the slum city of Mitumba tomorrow. I'm trusting the Lord to protect me and am grateful for people who are praying for me.
Now it's almost 6:00 a.m. and outside I hear a symphony of lovely and strange bird songs. A rooster is crowing and a dog is barking in the distance. A chill is in the air as I sit alone in Bob and Ann's living room wrappped in a blanket with a knit hat on my head. I've been asked to lead the morning staff meeting here at Diguna and have to get ready...tomorrow Mitumba!
TUESDAY SEPT. 16
We drove past a huge Muslim mosque and on down an incredibly bumpy trash littered road till we could see aluminum buildings ahead of us and many little children running around. The smell wasn't as bad as I'd expected as we exited the car. Many little children ran excitedly over to us. I heard one say in a heavy accen't, "Guitar!" As soon as I stood with it in hand a mother holdng a baby with a gray piece of cloth against its botto as a diaper me to play a song for her - on-the-spot! I told her I was going to play it at the school.
We trudged through red soil onto a very narrow lumpy hard-packed path that ran between very narrow rows of aluminium shacks. Clothes hang on clothes lines. Tiny little children stare us with wet noses and dirty clothes. Curious older children dressed in blue school uniforms with bright orange sweaters run around us till we arrive at the "school."
The school is a few tin shacks with wooden floors and wooden benches for the children to sit on. There are faded school hangings around with the alphabet and other things to help the children learn to read.
We had 90 children for 2 1/2 hours or so in the morning. Then in the afternoon we had 80 older children for an hour. Out of these 80 we had to choose 12 who will present the program on Sunday. We felt a little bad about this but they just don't have room for more than that.
The younger children are very happy and vocal. They listened and seemed to greatly enjoy our songs and teachings about Jesus. The older children were more reserved but they eventually got into my "Are You Ready?" song with gusto.
Anyway when I presented God's amazing gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus many prayed a prayer asking God to forgive them and tellig God that they want Jesus to take their sins away. We ended the day very tired but it was a good kind of tiredness.
WEDNESDAY SEPT 17
We're back in Mitumba today and I wanted to tell you about pastor Shadrack. He's a very soft spoken man with salt-and-pepper hair. We had lunch with him today. He told us that Mitumba has a population of about 17,000 people right now, and that a whopping 66% of them are HIV positive. He said that many of the children are aids orphans and others are taking anti-viral medication.
He said that when he began helping the people 6 years ago, you would have seen naked children running around. "We lose families each year to AIDS," he quietly said. He said that many of the members of his little congregation are single mothers whose husbands have died of AIDS and who were also infected by those husbands.
He feeds 270 children two meals a day now. People sometimes donate vitamins which have been a real blessing to the children. Some people help by giving money at the grocery store and then they can go buy groceries. I have many pics to show you...
SATURDAY Sept. 20t
It's 3:30 a.m. and I'm awake thinking about the slum children. It only took 12 men who trusted in Jesus to "turn the whole world upside-down" as the Bible put it. What could these children do to turn their slum upside-down?
I can clearly see the faces of young men and women - the future generation of Kenya - who were impacted by our message of hope. One 17 yr. old boy named Ed had tears in his eyes as he listened. He's new. He's just been taken into the school and is already at the 3rd grade level. He sits gently and quietly among the 3rd graders two heads taller than them.
Another boy who had a reputation for fighting began to listen and respond to the words we spoke from the Bible.
A 12 yr. old girl while outside sang one of the songs we had taught. In fact, Pastor Shadrack said that all over Mitumba children are being heard singing my song about Jesus' eminent return, "Are You Ready?"
McKenna and I have been physically well. I've kept my thumb cut covered up and we haven't gotten sick eating the food offered to us. We thank everyone who is praying for us
McKenna bravely used a "cho" for the first time! I'll let her give you the sordid details sometime...but she did take a pic! (Yes, it's a hole in the ground potty...)
SATURDAY EVENING
We're home after a long but satisfying day. We used some of the funds given for our mission to buy 96 2kg (a little over 4lbs.) bags of corn flour to give to the "slum mama's." A kg. of corn flour used to be 22 Kenyan Schilllings (KSh) but due to the war and to fields being buned has doubled in price. It's really hurting the poor people. Food is very expensive for them now and it looks like a drought is setting in.
Anyway, we had a large morning class again and then met with the slum mama's. While we sat their little choir sang and sort of marched/danced in. I asked Rosylyn our new Kenyan friend what they were singing. She said they were singing a welcoming song for us!
After that they sang some other songs and I have never heard such amazing harmonies before. I felt so unworthy to sing! But they received our singing warmly and clapped in appreciation. They heard McKenna's story of how God saved her and then mine. Then they asked me to speak to them.
I told the that I had a simplel message: The richest woman in Kenya may own a large house and a car but she's poor if she doesn't own Jesus Christ as her personal savior. And the poorest woman in Kenya is rich if she has nothing but owns Jesus Christ as her own personal savior.
I sat down after that but Roselyn interpreted the words I as hearing, "They want you to say more."
I swallowed and stood back up. What can I say to these women who are suffering so much living in the slum? I told them about how I'd been reading Jesus' prayer, "The Our Father," that morning and had been thinking about how any person in any nation who has trusted Jesus to take their sins away is my sister joined in God's family by the shared blood of Jesus that has taken our sins away. I said, "I am happy to meet my sisters."
They applauded warmly when Roselyn interepreted. Afterwards about 15 women respnded to a call to trust Jesus to take their sins away and to follow Jesus. The leader, Violet, asked me to lead them in a prayer of salvation. Wow, I felt very humbled. After that the flour was distributed and also some sugar that McKenna and I had gotten. They were so happy! They were singing a song and I asked Roselyn what they were saying. "They're singing that they have seen the hand of God." Wow.
Tomorrow we go back to Mitumba for the last time and help the children present their VBS program. Then McKenna and I will have the children for children's church. Next week we drive up to Kijabe to serve good news at the Kijabe Hospital.
By the way I had a bad dream this morning. In the dream I saw sometlhing mysteriously move in my closet and began to pray.However my tongue swelled up and I couldn't speak! Then in my dream I was being carried backwards in my house until my family came into view. I felt that I was aware that the enemy doesn't want us to share the hope that we're sharing and I was aware that people are praying for us. Keep those prayers going up!!!!! I love you!!!!
FLIGHT OVER:
Our flight was really smooth. McKenna managed to get about two hours of sleep on the plane. I really REALLY tried but fially gave up and so was awake for a total of 36 hours by the time we got to Kenya and to bed Saturday night.
It was awesome traveling via Emeritas. It's a really classy airline. They have a computer simulator of the plane that you can watch to see exactly where you are. For example, at 2:15 a.m. we were flyng over Paris! Back to Kenya:
Kenya!! WE'RE HERE!!!!!
Bob and Ann greeted us warmly considering that they waited a considerable amount of time since my second piece of luggage never showed up. It came a couple of days later. Kenya is a CRAZY place to drive! For one thing, Bob is driving on the wrong side of the road and you've got trucks barrelling towards you on the wrong side of the road. There are no lane markers, and people sort of make their own lanes. The streets vary from being paved okay with holes that you dodge, to being incredibly pocked dirt roads that you jump and bump over like you're riding a wild bucking bronco.
The streets are crowded with traffic that doesn't seem to mind being only inches from oneanother as they jockey for the quickest positions. Bob is quite the driver! Also there are lots and LOTS of people who walk. They are for the most part well dressed people carrying briefcases and walking on dirt roads in heels.
When I asked Ann why so many people walk, she said "They can't afford a car." When I asked her why they dn't take the bus, she replied, "They can't afford a bus ride." THen when I asked her why they don't ride bikes she replied, "They can't afford bikes," I sort of began to get the pictures. There are a LOT of poor people here in Kenya.
MONDAY SEPT. 15
At 5:00 a.m. I woke up to the really weird sound of a Muslim call to prayer over a LOUDSPEAKER. It sounds like something really old like from an old record player from years ago. Anyway I decided to get up and on my way downstairs missed my step. In briefly hanging in mid-air while holding onto a wooden pole I slightly gashed my thumb, which concerns me since we'll be going into the slum city of Mitumba tomorrow. I'm trusting the Lord to protect me and am grateful for people who are praying for me.
Now it's almost 6:00 a.m. and outside I hear a symphony of lovely and strange bird songs. A rooster is crowing and a dog is barking in the distance. A chill is in the air as I sit alone in Bob and Ann's living room wrappped in a blanket with a knit hat on my head. I've been asked to lead the morning staff meeting here at Diguna and have to get ready...tomorrow Mitumba!
TUESDAY SEPT. 16
We drove past a huge Muslim mosque and on down an incredibly bumpy trash littered road till we could see aluminum buildings ahead of us and many little children running around. The smell wasn't as bad as I'd expected as we exited the car. Many little children ran excitedly over to us. I heard one say in a heavy accen't, "Guitar!" As soon as I stood with it in hand a mother holdng a baby with a gray piece of cloth against its botto as a diaper me to play a song for her - on-the-spot! I told her I was going to play it at the school.
We trudged through red soil onto a very narrow lumpy hard-packed path that ran between very narrow rows of aluminium shacks. Clothes hang on clothes lines. Tiny little children stare us with wet noses and dirty clothes. Curious older children dressed in blue school uniforms with bright orange sweaters run around us till we arrive at the "school."
The school is a few tin shacks with wooden floors and wooden benches for the children to sit on. There are faded school hangings around with the alphabet and other things to help the children learn to read.
We had 90 children for 2 1/2 hours or so in the morning. Then in the afternoon we had 80 older children for an hour. Out of these 80 we had to choose 12 who will present the program on Sunday. We felt a little bad about this but they just don't have room for more than that.
The younger children are very happy and vocal. They listened and seemed to greatly enjoy our songs and teachings about Jesus. The older children were more reserved but they eventually got into my "Are You Ready?" song with gusto.
Anyway when I presented God's amazing gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus many prayed a prayer asking God to forgive them and tellig God that they want Jesus to take their sins away. We ended the day very tired but it was a good kind of tiredness.
WEDNESDAY SEPT 17
We're back in Mitumba today and I wanted to tell you about pastor Shadrack. He's a very soft spoken man with salt-and-pepper hair. We had lunch with him today. He told us that Mitumba has a population of about 17,000 people right now, and that a whopping 66% of them are HIV positive. He said that many of the children are aids orphans and others are taking anti-viral medication.
He said that when he began helping the people 6 years ago, you would have seen naked children running around. "We lose families each year to AIDS," he quietly said. He said that many of the members of his little congregation are single mothers whose husbands have died of AIDS and who were also infected by those husbands.
He feeds 270 children two meals a day now. People sometimes donate vitamins which have been a real blessing to the children. Some people help by giving money at the grocery store and then they can go buy groceries. I have many pics to show you...
SATURDAY Sept. 20t
It's 3:30 a.m. and I'm awake thinking about the slum children. It only took 12 men who trusted in Jesus to "turn the whole world upside-down" as the Bible put it. What could these children do to turn their slum upside-down?
I can clearly see the faces of young men and women - the future generation of Kenya - who were impacted by our message of hope. One 17 yr. old boy named Ed had tears in his eyes as he listened. He's new. He's just been taken into the school and is already at the 3rd grade level. He sits gently and quietly among the 3rd graders two heads taller than them.
Another boy who had a reputation for fighting began to listen and respond to the words we spoke from the Bible.
A 12 yr. old girl while outside sang one of the songs we had taught. In fact, Pastor Shadrack said that all over Mitumba children are being heard singing my song about Jesus' eminent return, "Are You Ready?"
McKenna and I have been physically well. I've kept my thumb cut covered up and we haven't gotten sick eating the food offered to us. We thank everyone who is praying for us
McKenna bravely used a "cho" for the first time! I'll let her give you the sordid details sometime...but she did take a pic! (Yes, it's a hole in the ground potty...)
SATURDAY EVENING
We're home after a long but satisfying day. We used some of the funds given for our mission to buy 96 2kg (a little over 4lbs.) bags of corn flour to give to the "slum mama's." A kg. of corn flour used to be 22 Kenyan Schilllings (KSh) but due to the war and to fields being buned has doubled in price. It's really hurting the poor people. Food is very expensive for them now and it looks like a drought is setting in.
Anyway, we had a large morning class again and then met with the slum mama's. While we sat their little choir sang and sort of marched/danced in. I asked Rosylyn our new Kenyan friend what they were singing. She said they were singing a welcoming song for us!
After that they sang some other songs and I have never heard such amazing harmonies before. I felt so unworthy to sing! But they received our singing warmly and clapped in appreciation. They heard McKenna's story of how God saved her and then mine. Then they asked me to speak to them.
I told the that I had a simplel message: The richest woman in Kenya may own a large house and a car but she's poor if she doesn't own Jesus Christ as her personal savior. And the poorest woman in Kenya is rich if she has nothing but owns Jesus Christ as her own personal savior.
I sat down after that but Roselyn interpreted the words I as hearing, "They want you to say more."
I swallowed and stood back up. What can I say to these women who are suffering so much living in the slum? I told them about how I'd been reading Jesus' prayer, "The Our Father," that morning and had been thinking about how any person in any nation who has trusted Jesus to take their sins away is my sister joined in God's family by the shared blood of Jesus that has taken our sins away. I said, "I am happy to meet my sisters."
They applauded warmly when Roselyn interepreted. Afterwards about 15 women respnded to a call to trust Jesus to take their sins away and to follow Jesus. The leader, Violet, asked me to lead them in a prayer of salvation. Wow, I felt very humbled. After that the flour was distributed and also some sugar that McKenna and I had gotten. They were so happy! They were singing a song and I asked Roselyn what they were saying. "They're singing that they have seen the hand of God." Wow.
Tomorrow we go back to Mitumba for the last time and help the children present their VBS program. Then McKenna and I will have the children for children's church. Next week we drive up to Kijabe to serve good news at the Kijabe Hospital.
By the way I had a bad dream this morning. In the dream I saw sometlhing mysteriously move in my closet and began to pray.However my tongue swelled up and I couldn't speak! Then in my dream I was being carried backwards in my house until my family came into view. I felt that I was aware that the enemy doesn't want us to share the hope that we're sharing and I was aware that people are praying for us. Keep those prayers going up!!!!! I love you!!!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Out of Africa!
WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!!
Practicing the backpack!
This is Deedee, my favorite singing puppet...
This morning I'm up early again! I got up with Patrick around 3:40 a.m. with lots of things spinning around in my mind. A lady called yesterday and is bringing over some socks this afternoon for the children to make their own sock puppets. Phil is dropping off something for me to take to Bob & Ann. My brother Steve's seeds arrived yesterday just in time! Thanks Steve, Lisa, Maria, Mom and Hortie - thanks so much. My son Michael and his financee' Sarah are sending out a new battery for my phone and I sure hope it arrives today! Thanks to Pat Clay who wrote a newspaper article about our trip which was printed yesterday. (You can view it at http://www.floridatoday.com/ if you do a search with my or McKenna's name.) Wow!
Practicing the backpack!
So I'm starting this new post... I'll try to update it at least once a week from Africa. Please keep checking back! I'm told that the internet connection in Kenya is pretty poor, but we'll do our best to let you know what's going on.
The puppets, McKenna and I are packed and ready to go...! We've made our umpteenth final trip to Walmart for insect repellent, sunblock and things like that.
The puppets, McKenna and I are packed and ready to go...! We've made our umpteenth final trip to Walmart for insect repellent, sunblock and things like that.
This is Deedee, my favorite singing puppet...
This morning I'm up early again! I got up with Patrick around 3:40 a.m. with lots of things spinning around in my mind. A lady called yesterday and is bringing over some socks this afternoon for the children to make their own sock puppets. Phil is dropping off something for me to take to Bob & Ann. My brother Steve's seeds arrived yesterday just in time! Thanks Steve, Lisa, Maria, Mom and Hortie - thanks so much. My son Michael and his financee' Sarah are sending out a new battery for my phone and I sure hope it arrives today! Thanks to Pat Clay who wrote a newspaper article about our trip which was printed yesterday. (You can view it at http://www.floridatoday.com/ if you do a search with my or McKenna's name.) Wow!
I've had many people calling to pray with me these past few days including Ann, Eric, Ellen, Nancy, Charlene, Howard, and Maria. THANK YOU!!! Thanks to all who have so kindly contributed to my mission trip in prayers, socks, seeds and finances. Please, oh please do pray this month for us!
Our travel time is about 31 hours long! We leave around 7:15 a.m. tomorrow and arrive in Nairobi, Kenya the next day at around 3:00 p.m. If you go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFtizkHTT1I&NR=1 you can see some airplane exercises!
(New visitors: You can read the previous post if you want. It's got trip information and stuff in it. Please do pray for us!!! )
In all the excitement of preparation, we are sobered as we think of the dire circumstances that more than 2,000,000 people around Nairobi find themselves in. We'll be ministering to just 200 children during the first week, 300 on Saturday then 150-300 on Sunday at the Mitumba slum city. To these children of impoverished imigrants we are hoping to bring a message of hope in God for a future beyond their wildest dreams through faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Their parents left their rural villages in hope of finding a better life, but have instead found the dead-end of slum city living.
We'll also be at other places including Kijabe hospital and the Masai Mara ministering the hope of the Gospel. We'll try to keep you posted. Please don't forget us. Keep us in your prayers.
(New visitors: You can read the previous post if you want. It's got trip information and stuff in it. Please do pray for us!!! )
In all the excitement of preparation, we are sobered as we think of the dire circumstances that more than 2,000,000 people around Nairobi find themselves in. We'll be ministering to just 200 children during the first week, 300 on Saturday then 150-300 on Sunday at the Mitumba slum city. To these children of impoverished imigrants we are hoping to bring a message of hope in God for a future beyond their wildest dreams through faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Their parents left their rural villages in hope of finding a better life, but have instead found the dead-end of slum city living.
We'll also be at other places including Kijabe hospital and the Masai Mara ministering the hope of the Gospel. We'll try to keep you posted. Please don't forget us. Keep us in your prayers.
No, I'm not leaving barefoot!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Welcome Everyone!!
WE LEAVE FOR AFRICA ON FRIDAY!
SEPTEMBER 6
Why does a hurricane have to be coming this week?! It's looking like Ike is going to be staying to the south of us. I'm finally - well almost finally - packed and I hope to get rested up this next week before we fly out. A friend told me that we ought to be getting to bed earlier each night and waking up earlier to let our bodies begin now to adjust to an 8-hour time difference. It's hard to get to sleep though, because I'm so wound up! But my goal is to be asleep by 8:00 p.m. the night before we leave. We'll be leaving for the airport around 4:00 a.m.
I found a nifty currency converter (you can see the link it on the right upper corner). One US dollar is worth about .73 Kenyan Schillings (KES). You can go to: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.co.uk/time-zone/africa/kenya/time.htm and see what time it is there. You can go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day_f.shtml?world=0129 and see a 5-day weather forecast. It looks like it's generally about 78 during the day and 55 at night. Our elevation is 5,672 feet above sea level which makes for low humidity! You can go to: http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/country/content.country/kenya_172?fs=travel.nationalgeographic.com and hear a little bit of Kenyan music if you want.
For those who have given socks and seeds and support funds, I thank you sincerely and ask that everyone be praying for us this month of September (we leave on the 12th) and the first week of October (we return on the 11th) every time we come to mind. I'm planning on starting a new Post for In Africa soon!
AUGUST 31
Hurricane season has finally arrived to remind us how small we are and how powerful God is!! Hanna has thankfully passing us by, and Ike is due to arrive at southern Florida sometime next week possibly as a CAT 3. We'll probably get lashed with some strong winds and rain up here in Merritt Island. We pray that the lives and property of many will be spared.
Wow!! Having a hurricane off your coast can make for some gorgeous sunrises! I took this pic from my kitchen window yesterday morning.
Patrick took us to the beach after dinner to check out the erosion the news had been reporting and found someone had written into the erosion wall.
Early this morning I woke up wondering what it will soon be like to be staring out at 300 little curious Kenyan faces at the Mitumba slum school. Being among 1.5 million people living in gigantic slum cities around Nairobi, their life situation is dire. They don't fully realize what a difficult, diseased and death-filled future awaits them in this world. When they see us, I wonder what questions will be in their minds? Who are these two foreign women? Why are they here?
The question in my own mind is: What can we bring 8,000 miles across the world to these little ones that will benefit and impact them for life?
Our conclusion is that the best thing we can bring them is hope of a rich spiritual future filled without out tears and sickness and death; a future in a kingdom beyond their wildest dreams. We will bring them the hope of the incredible free gift of God's salvation through faith in Jesus of Nazareth. For the present and immediate future, we will teach them to be rich in love and we hope that long after we're back in our own land, that they will remember our message of hope.
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Amidst final packing preparations, yesterday I took McKenna to Wycliffe in Orlando, since she'd never been there before. It's a missionary organization and I thought it would be encouraging to go there and see what other missionaries have done and are doing. Boy, were we encouraged!! Here's an excerpt from their website:
"Wycliffe USA is part of an international association of organizations dedicated to seeing God's Word become accessible to all people in the language that speaks to their heart. Wycliffe’s staff is passionate about the glory of God through the translation of His Word for all peoples of the earth in the language they understand best." (http://www.wycliffe.org/About.aspx)
A volunteer named Marty introduced us to several staff members after she took us on a tour. We got to sit at length with Diane, Gary, Carolyn and Ruth and ply them with questions! They were so patient with us, and we learned many very helpful facts. We left feeling more ready than ever to get on a plane in a week and fly to Africa!!!
Please keep us in your prayers starting now!
AUGUST 24
I find I wake up thinking Africa...what time is it there? I need to add page numbers to the program schedule... I've got to get the wording on that puppet show simplified so they can understand easily... I've got to get those sashes ready for the human video... I've got to get those new songs onto CD for Ann... Gotta get my passport copied and laminate the song sheets...Etc. !!
This past week I've been feverishly working on time management for our first week spent at the Mitumba Slum School; polishing up puppet shows and messages and practicing songs and getting things needed including a chromatic pitch pipe in case my guitar gets damaged or lost, a portable music stand, paper bags to make 200 puppets, a rain poncho, a little suitcase with wheels etc. etc. etc. McKenna is working on a felt board project and a message for the children on Sept. 21 and practicing harmonies. We'll be hitting hard the Slum School week on Monday. Ann said she's prepared our room for us at Diguna!
We'll be spending the first week at Mitumba with 200 children on Tues. - Friday for 2 1/2 hrs. a day not including lunch time. (Note: we'll not be eating lunch there as the food is very scarce. The children only get one meal a day at the school.) We'll have 4-5 yr. olds from 10:00 - 10:30; 6-7 yr. olds from 11:00-12:00; they then have lunch and then we'll have 8-14 yr. olds from 2:00-3:00. We'll be working with a small special group of older children who on Sunday morning will present to their church a program I've written for them.
On Saturday Sept. 20th we'll have an additional 300 children! Then the next day on Sunday about hundreds of children (don't know how many) all squeezed into a room the size of my little living room. I think McKenna and I are feeling excited and overwhelmed at the same time! We are happy to be bringing a message of hope to these little ones who are among 1,500,000 living in slum cities in Nairobi.
On Saturday Sept. 20th we'll also have the privilege of talking through an interpreter (the children speak English) to hundreds of "slum mama's" who are very depressed from what I've been told. They feel they have no future, no purpose and we are happy to bring them a message of the hope of a bright future through faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Please pray for us if we come to mind the next couple of weeks!!
NAIROBI
In Nairobi, Kenya, approximately 60 percent of its two and a half million inhabitants live in slums. That is SO mind-boggling. That's about 1,500,000 people living in slums.
Our first week in Kenya will be spent at Mitumba, a slum city. What exactly is a slum? UN-HABITAT attempts at a definition by describing a slum household as, "A group of individuals living under the same roof that lack one or more of the following conditions: access to safe water; access to sanitation; secure tenure; durability of housing; and sufficient living area.
"The majority of slum dwellers earn their living in informal but crucial activities, and therefore provide services that may not be so easily available through the formal sector. Many cities and industries would simply come to a halt without the labour provided by these dwellers." (Rasna Warah, a writer based in Nairobi, Kenya. )
What can we bring from America that could possibly impact those living in such dire circumstances? This is a question I asked myself. The only hope that we can bring is the hope that God offers: that of the gift of eternal life through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
The first week we're in Kenya we will be singing, speaking and doing puppet shows for about 500 children!We'll also be speaking with the "slum mama's," who are for the most part very depressed, and understandably so.
If you've never seen any photo's of a slum city, you can go to:o http://www.webshots.com/search?query=Kibera&new=1&source=chromeheader
USED SOCKS NEEDED!!!!
We want to bring socks to let the children make sock puppets. You know those socks that you thought you'd find the mate to and never have? We need them! Or if you have other used white or light-colored socks of any size - we can use them! Please call me at 321 452-4755 if we can come pick them up.
MARKERS NEEDED!
We need colored permanent markers so the children can make their sock puppet faces. If you can help out kindly let me know.
TRAVELING 8,011 MILES
I did a search to find out how many miles we're going to be traveling: 7,966!! Add on the 45 miles to the airport and we'll be a little over 8,000 miles away on foreign soil. We'll be traveling about 32 hours!
We'll be leaving for New York at 7:10 a.m. on September 12th, and will arrive in Dubai at 8:05 a.m.. Go figure! We'll be Time Travelers...
Dubai is an Emirate (a city) in the United Arab Emirates, a country formed in 1971 out of 7 different and locally run Emirates.
The UAE is in the Persian Gulf (though the UAE officially calls it the Arabian Gulf), bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman. Most of the country is desert, and most of the cities (including Dubai) are located on the coast of the Gulf. Dubai is toward the East of the country.
We'll be in Dubai for 2 1/2 hours. Then we fly on to Nairobi where we arrive at 2:50 p.m.
We have lots to do still in preparation. Please pray for us if we come to mind.
A few pics from our July SUMMER PRACTICE STUDY:
CHRISTMAS IN JULY ART SALE
Thank you so much for coming! Here's a few pics. Sorry we didn't get everyone. I'm so grateful for the use of my little paintings to help fund our mission trip to Kenya! McKenna and are practicing everyday. I've written three messages for our Kenyan brothers: "He was Looking" (about Abraham looking for a city built by God), "The Measure of a Woman," (How does God measure us?) and "The Cross of Christ in Times of Crisis."
We got to practice on our puppet show!
My art sale was a big part of my preparation for Kenya and now that it's behind me I feel that I'm oh so much closer to getting on that plane! We sang at First Baptist Merritt Island which was good practice for us. We sing for anyone who will endure our practicing!
It was really awesome to have folks in my home and to feel their loving encouragement. We ate chips and dip and stuff and chatted and all the while paintings disappeared from my walls. I hope that they are a warm spot in each home and that you'll say a little prayer for us when you look at them.
Thanks to each and everyone of you who came and supported me. Nancy, thanks so much for the beautiful tags and all you made and for helping me all day. McKenna, thanks for your help and how you drip honey onto my songs. May God be glorified.
Africa in 6 weeks!!
I've written four puppet shows using The Way of The Master method to evangelize children (if you haven't read about them, go to www.wayofthemaster.com). I've also written some songs specifically for the Kenyans, "Worthy Worthy;" "Are You Ready?", "The Eyes of the Lord," "There Is One Body," "Love Oneanother," and "He Who Walks."
I'm helping McKenna to come up with hand/body motions to help communicate these songs. Plus I've written a human video for the slum city kids to do. We're also working on some "oldies," like "Bread Of Heaven," Safe" and "The Blood Of Jesus." Plus we've learned five Swahili songs. And more!
(TRIP INFORMATION is in this post further below.)
I'm so glad to have as a traveling companion to Kenya - my sweet friend McKenna Taylor! We're learning a little Swahili (got some CD's from the library). Semahani, wafahamu Kingerezza? "Excuse me, do you speak English?"
We have a total of 21 songs that we are learning. Fourteen of them are little songs that I've written and I'm so thrilled to see them being used in Africa. Some you have heard "Bread of Heaven; Safe, and We Your People." I've also written songs specifically for the Kenyans and we're practing them too. We'll be singing a few hymns such as "Amazing Grace," and "All Hail the Power."
We've also learned five Swahili praise songs. Anita, a young Kenyan sister in Christ, sang them onto a CD. Anita leads worship at her church and she wants us to help her lead worship at her church with the Swahili songs. Gulp. Please pray for us!!
I've written a "human video" for the slum school. In Kenya we'll practice it each day at the slum school for a week and then the children will present it on Friday to their church, and possibly sing it for the radio.
There are three messages I've written to bring hope and encouragement to the Kenyans: The Measure of a Woman; He Was Looking (about Abraham looking for the city built by God); and The Cross of Christ in Times of Crisis. If you're interested in viewing any of these, please e-mail me at trishcampbell@cfl.rr.com and let me know. I can e-mail you the file.
McKenna and I have gone to the County Health Department and have gotten our immunization shots. It wasn't so bad! I got Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hepititus A and B, and Polio. I was surprised about the Polio vaccination, but the nurse explained that there is "wild Polio" in Africa on the food. I've gotten back in for a followup on the Hepititus so I'm all set for Africa minus the Malaria which I'll start taking in a few weeks.
That catches you up for now. We're busy each day practicing and are finished with a little summer study and are very encouraged. On Monday July 28th we tested out one of our puppet show in front of some little ones and it was great!
TRIP INFORMATION
Ann Tayloe, my friend who lives in Africa and who works at BHB radio station, has asked me to come to Nairobi, Kenya to sing my little songs at schools, orphanages, churches, a slum school, at a concert, and to share the great hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
This is an answer to much prayer about how to serve God. He has certainly opened an amazing door!
TRAVEL DATES
Leaving September 12 and returning October 11
As you see, we’ll be gone a month! Wow! Ann said she’ll have no problem keeping us busy for a month.
LIVING SITUATION
We’ll be staying with Ann and her husband Bob at the Diguna compound where they live about 30 minutes outside of Nairobi. Diguna is a German mission that has been there in Kenya for 30 years. You can go tohttp://www.diguna.de/ueber_uns.html?&L=1 if you speak German, or http://www.diguna.de/home.html?&L=1 and read about them if you want. They have their own water system and housing that they built.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Leaving September 12 and returning October 11
As you see, we’ll be gone a month! Wow! Ann said she’ll have no problem keeping us busy for a month.
LIVING SITUATION
We’ll be staying with Ann and her husband Bob at the Diguna compound where they live about 30 minutes outside of Nairobi. Diguna is a German mission that has been there in Kenya for 30 years. You can go tohttp://www.diguna.de/ueber_uns.html?&L=1 if you speak German, or http://www.diguna.de/home.html?&L=1 and read about them if you want. They have their own water system and housing that they built.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR
...so that you will PRAY FOR US. We don’t want to be out there alone!! Please, please remember us in prayer.
SEEDS – I want to bring in little packets of flower and vegetable seeds to use as rhythm instruments, and then to give them to the children.
EXPENSES – We have our tickets!! So our needs aren’t huge. God is providing for transportation in Kenya, food etc.. Bob and Ann are not charging us rent. Wow!
ART SALE - Paul in the NT was a tentmaker. I decided to try to raise the extra money needed for the trip with my own tentmaking enterprise: Hand-painted Art Works! Thanks to all who participated!
YOUR MISSIONARIES TO AFRICA
If you have any questions you can contact me via e-mail at trishcampbell@cfl.rr.com or call (321) 452 4755.
Don’t forget to take a moment now to mark your calendar so you can remember to pray for us!
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