On the road again..

Africa Based Orientation is over and we are off to our final destination (in a couple of days). We are back in Nairobi at the Mayfield guest house. We will leave here Thursday morning and fly to Uganda. We will stay at a guest house in the capital, Kampala, for 3 nights. Tonight we had pizza for dinner! We are so excited but, to be honest, it's the first time I've had to use Tums since we arrived. I think I may have been too happy to have pizza. :) We have the same room we had last time and the kids ran in and dropped their backpacks on the floor and ran out to play as if they were home. It warmed my heart in a special way to see how comfortable we all are - at least here.

Before we left, back at Scott Theological College, I finally took these pictures I had wanted...

of the avocado tree (it's huge!)

and the crow with the white vest.
We had to say goodbye to Jenny, a very special lady whom we have all grown to love, today. She is off to be a teacher at Rift Valley Academy and I was surprised at the emotions that overtook me. It was like having a little sister we were leaving behind. We thank God so much for her. It's only the beginning of some difficult "goodbyes". I thought those were over when we left home. I guess not. Tomorrow night we tell Hannah "goodbye" as well. She is off to Namibia to work in an orphanage. Here's a few pictures of Jenny and Hannah...

On our "safari"

Dara and Hannah at the top of the mountain before Joel twisted his ankle.
Jenny and Dade in a tuk-tuk (a little vehicle that's not called a tatu like I had said in a previous blog) :)

Joel and Jenny were picked along with others to be a part of a skit for "family fun night". Joel was an Indian chief.

God has been so faithful and has taught us so much. We have been blessed with amazing friends from all around the world and who are heading to places all over Africa. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like we've actually made it to Africa. We can obviously look around and see that we are not in Texas anymore, but life has not been as difficult as I thought it would have been. Life is not necessarily as easy, but I still haven't had a hard time. I anticipate this changing because one day I'll have to wash my own clothes and cook my own food. But I have an amazing assurance that God will take care of all my worries for the future too. We serve a great God who care about us intimately and completely. We are so blessed!

This is just a great picture (from the top of the mountain - again - before the twisted ankle)that Hannah took. She gave it to me and it's just too good to not share.

Home Visit

Part of our orientation to Africa is called a home visit. We were sent to a home with 9 other people. I have to admit I was pretty surprised that we would be going somewhere they would be able to host 13 people. Much to my delight we were sent to Exodus Children's Development Center.

This is a local Christian home for orphans. Presently they have 22 children in residence. There are 7 boys and 15 girls. These were some of the happiest kids I've seen considering their circumstances. This is the boys room. There are only these 2 sets of bunk beds for all 7 of them. 2 older boys each have their own bed. The younger 5 boys share the second bed. Their rooms were so neat and they were so proud to show us their space.

The girls share a room this same size. There were 3 sets of bunk beds and then another bed in the midst of them. It was amazing to see how they didn't complain about anything. Truly amazing. The kids are allowed to live there as long as they need. They have 2 "kids" who are now adults who help support the center. The director and his assistant are very active in the kids life (it's only them and two other ladies who work with the kids). Their focus is on helping them learn the Bible, learn how to give to their communities, do well on their studies (most of the children are in the top of their classes), and for the boys - ladies first! (This is a difficult concept for many men on this amazing continent).

The director was telling us how they have often wondered how God would supply enough food for the children. One day they had no food for dinner and they sat down to pray - the phone rang with someone calling to say they had some food they would like to give. How amazing to see God work in such a tangible way!

Each child has an amazing story of God's grace and provision. This young boy is the youngest in the home. His name is Barracka, which means blessing. His mother gave him the name "suffering" so when he came to the center, he received a new name. Because of the deformity in his hands, his mother tried to kill him 3 times. His grandmother walked in on the last attempt and called the center. Dade took this picture while Barracka was being silly. :)

The kids sang songs for us and told us what they wanted to be when they grow up. Then we got serious and played "net ball". It's very similar to basketball with a hint of soccer, but brutal. I kept praying for Joel's ankle and it is a testimony to God's grace that after a little over 2 hours, his ankle was no more swollen and sore than it had been on the previous day! God is so good.

This young lady is Lillian. She and Joel were buddies and she is one tough goalie! She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

My special friends were Faith (on the far left) and Momina (Joseph). Momina means "finished". He is the youngest of 6 boys and is 11 years old (even though he is significantly smaller than Dade). His mother is still living but is "suffering". Faith's brother and mother both died last year. She is 13 years old and has a beautiful voice. She wants to be a doctor as well.
It was a great visit that went late into the night. The kids walked us back to our campus, about 30 minutes away, around 9 pm. I could not have asked for a better time. Dara and Dade did very well and I think they learned a lot as well. Please remember these kids in your prayers. They are precious.

A Market & A M0$que

Here are the pictures from the market (the internet is acting super fast - I think I might pass out)...

It was very crowded with people and tons of veggies and fruits all neatly piled up.

Most everyone sat under umbrellas which made the whole place quite shaded - nice. Most of them had the same foods - I wonder how they ever make money...everyone is selling the same stuff! How do you know whom to buy from? There was an ample supply of food but not very many buyers. It just left me wondering how they survive.

It definitely was a family affair with lots of little kids around. This little one was smiling and jumping like crazy, but as soon as I asked his mom if I could take his picture he quit smiling. This was the second picture and I got a bit of a smile. Most kids wear this kind of hoodie but it's not attached to a jacket or anything. The kids here just laugh and smile so much. The older ones laugh at us like crazy when we walk by, we just laugh with them :)

On Tuesday we went to a M0$que (I'm spelling it like this so searches of the internet won't find my blog - I'll explain more another day). It was such a "neat" experience. It is located by an intersection so travelers who need to pray can come by conveniently. It was a very narrow building - which surprised me. There was a courtyard with water spickets for washing and then an open porch type of space and then the main room. Very interesting.

Here I am with my head covered. The young lady with me is Jenny, one of the single ladies who has made our life much better here. Please pray for us (especially the kids) as we think about leaving in a week. We will miss her and the others so much when we head for Uganda and they go their own way.
We had to enter the "place" through the back door and take our shoes off.
Then we had to look through these little holes which made it very difficult to really observe what happens - I guess the women who come are praying instead of watching... I held my camera above my head and this is what I saw. I didn't keep the pictures of the men who came in - thought it was a bit intrusive (not like this isn't).
It was an interesting experience as we were able to visit with the leaders and men afterwards. My heart breaks for these people who are so passionately lost. They are so convinced they are in the right but they are so far from the truth. I'm thankful for the chance to learn and see what I may never have the opportunity to see again. Please pray for these people. God loves them just as much as He does you and me.

Finally, here is a picture of Joel's toes. We find them to be impressive. Please keep praying for his ankle. It is still very tender. Thanks for lifting us up!

Laundry and Market

First, laundry...there is a lovely lady, Mary, who will wash our clothes here. She'll wash a pillow case full for about $4.50. It saves me lots of time and back ache so we give here our business regularly. She washes everything by hand and then lays them out on the grass to dry. I try to go out in the early afternoon and flip over the pants so the pockets dry better. You have to be sure to shake everything out completely to make sure the ants are all off. When the clothes are still damp, there are ants everywhere! But when they dry, the ants are usually off. My pajamas aren't as soft as they used to be, but I guess that's just how it goes. Personally, I see Mary as a blessing and am so grateful that she gets this extra income when we come here to study culture.

Today we went on a "scavenger hunt" through our town. It was interesting and tiring. We road a matatu to town and went to a chicken place for lunch.

To be honest, the chicken is not all that flavorful, but there are "chips" or french fries that are quite good. We fed all 4 of us for less than $15. We can't eat at McDonald's for less than that.

I'll write more later (hopefully, later today) about our experience at the market. We are learning so much and God is so faithful. Please continue to pray for the sale of our house, they are coming up with a creative way to possibly get it done. We know God wants us here - therefore, He'll take care of the house, but your prayers are still very much appreciated. Gotta run!

Adventures

Pop quiz...Is this picture from (a) the panhandle of Texas or (b) a wild life preserve in Kenya? Okay, so I know it's easy to figure out the answer, but it does kind of remind you of Texas, doesn't it?

On our way to the small wild life preserve we rode - well packed- in two land rovers.

We passed many little "shopping strips" such as this. Usually there's alot of nothing around them - just all of a sudden there's another set of stores. I don't know if you can see, but the butchery is very very close to the clinic. Somehow I don't know how those judging cleanliness would feel.

I'm not sure what the Rotary Club of Machakos does exactly but at least. Do you think this is an example of the West influencing Africa? :)

Here is a matatu (sp?) or local transportation. I've only ridden in the smaller tatus - not yet brave enough for the larger vehicles. Can you see the two people riding on top?

Here's a local college of Engineering & Computer. Weldon, we'll get you a few resumes if you want? :)Once we arrived at the wild life preserve, we were able to ride on top of the land rovers. Dade wanted down and waited until we were further into the drive.

Here's another quiz, how many giraffes can you find in this picture?

The answer is 3. This wasn't one of the bigger preserves. The only animals were: giraffes, wildabeast (I can't even spell that), zebras, a variety of antelopes, ostiches, and cows.

This is a group of girls who decided it would be fun to chase after a herd of zebras. I think I would have done it as well if we found another herd that didn't have wildabeast intermingled, but alas - there wasn't another herd like this one.

Finally, as we were leaving, there was a huge male giraffe by the entrance. We tried to show how close we were. It was such a nice and relaxing day (and thank you, Lord, for the internet access to share it!)!