What a trip!

Where do I start!? Being back home has been somewhat of a shock. Last night going to bed (around 2:30 in the afternoon and waking up around midnight!) I felt exposed because of no mosquito net! Having the internet work so quickly that I don't have a chance to get tea while waiting for the next page to come up. But mostly missing all my kids in Tala! The last couple of days were very special for me because we really seemed to connect with the kids. Chuck spent one day cutting down trees with the boys while I sat with the girls and they all played with my hair. I would hear them whisper how soft my hair is or how slippery it is. They were very interested in my hair and skin and I loved every minute of it. We talked, laughed and just enjoyed each other's company. I thank God for that blessed moment in time!



And I told them I wouldn't cut my hair because they want to braid it next time!



Here are some photos of the kids on Sunday afternoon.




There are so many stories and pictures to tell that I hope you don't mind the blog continuing with some past stories and pictures. Plus some updates on what's happening at the Academy from Gideon and Ruth. Again, I thank you all for your prayers and support and pray that God bless you and your families.

Coming Home!

Hi everyone! It is now 6pm here in Tala and we are just getting ready to leave for Nairobi. I don't have any pictures because everything is packed away, but I will show you some pictures when I get home. It was a tearful goodbye with the kids, Ruth and Catherine. I'm sure it will be the same at the airport when we say goodbye to our brother and sister in Nairobi. This has been such a blessed trip and all our prayers is that God will allow us to return soon. My love to everyone and thank you all for your prayers and support.

What's Up and happenin'!

Here’s a picture of the first floor going up quickly. Your help has made this possible and the kids are really excited to see the building knowing that the new classrooms will be there.

The next picture is of the new stove. It can handle cooking for 400 kids! Ann, the cook here, is very excited. She is so happy to have a good working area now, although they are working on the kitchen while she's trying to cook and I can tell she wants everyone out of her area!

Another project that came up is bunk beds. Some of the kids are sharing beds (girls with girls, boys with boys of course) so we wanted to get everyone their own bed which means purchasing about 20 bunk beds! So please pray for continued providence to the Academy so these and many more projects can be fulfilled.

This picture I thought was funny because this is the atmosphere we work with here. Talking business with a cow following you!

Here are a couple of boys getting water from our water supply. They can drink and cook with this water without fear of contamination. Praise God for His providence in this area!

We wanted to take some “family” photos before leaving and this is one of Ruth (on the left) and Catherine. We are really going to miss them!

Please continue to pray for Nice View and the students here. We recently went to a family to say “pole” (poh – lay/sorry) because the mother had died. Her two daughters go to school at the Academy and now their grandmother is taking care of them. We have invited them to board at the school after the burial. Grandmother gladly accepted and was very thankful for the offer of help. There are many more stories like this one, please remember all the families here in your prayers.

Weekend Update to today!

What a busy weekend. We left Friday morning for Nakuru to visit Pastor John Brooks, his wife Kate and their children. They are ministering to the sick and dying in Nakuru and surrounding areas. They have also opened their home to seven orphan girls and plan on opening other homes for orphan girls. Here’s a picture of all of us.
We left Nakuru on Saturday (it’s a four hour drive from there to Tala) and arrived home around 6pm. We were all exhausted and went straight to be and didn’t get up til the next morning! Then we went to church and were there until about 3pm. It was a long service, but the choir sang for us the two songs they sang at a festival on Friday and won 1st place! This is the choir with past and present preachers.

Then on Monday morning we called Tarrin to wish her a happy birthday (when we got up Monday morning at 7pm it was 9pm Sunday night so still her birthday!) Even in Kenya dad was giving her directions to make sure she was getting home ok! Dad and mom never leave their job no matter how far away. Remember that God is our Father and how much more he cares for us and will never abandon His children.

Only a week and we’ll be on a plane back to the states. Tati (I know I’ve spelled it three different ways but you don’t always get the accurate information the first time you ask) was concerned that he may run out of his supplies before we return, but I assured him that he would be taken care of. Plus I will talk with him again to reassure him that whatever he needs he can always go to Ruth and she will contact us for anything specific. Since I’ve seen the needs here and what is used daily I can sponsor him in a more personal way. Instead of wondering what does he need, I have an idea now.

They’ve started work on the first floor (they go by ground, first, second etc.) of the building! Remember there are no cranes here so the guys working carry the bricks, sand, ballast and cement bags up two flights of stairs in order to start putting up the walls. That’s after the men on the ground have shaped the bricks! Sorry thought I had a picture with me but I'll have to post that later.

The kids are back to school this week but only until 1pm. So I went around and took some shots of the kids. They are more comfortable around me and will now smile for the camera instead of just looking at me with a stoic look on their faces. They are beautiful children and my prayer is that each one will see his or her potential through Christ.

We visited the Reverend Zeke from AIC Tala this afternoon. He lives on the top of a mountain and he calls it the “upstairs”. He has a beautiful view.

The country is beautiful and makes me realize everyday the magnificence of God's creation and His majesty in everything and everybody.

God is Good!

What a glorious morning! First we visited some of the recipients of AfricaShare (they are a micro-finance group). They were both very happy with the loans they’ve received and both were on their third loan! So they have been able to increase their business while paying back the loans. The woman, a single mother, Ann, asked for prayers as she is trying to support her family which consists of her two children, her mother, her aunt and another girl who is not a member of the family but living with them. Her eldest was going to college but had to stop for lack of fees. So she requested prayers, please pray for her and all those in the same situation here of which there are many.

This photo is Sara, she is 19 and looking for a sponsor to help her fund tuition at Scotts Theological College nearby. She said that since Form 2 (which is a sophomore in high school) she’s wanted to spread the gospel of Christ as a preacher or teacher. She told me if it’s God’s will for her to attend college than she will succeed. Many children look for sponsors in primary, secondary and on into college because their parents or guardians are unable to pay for fees, just like the story above. There is no student aid, financial aid, Pell grants, etc. these kids must either save, work or have their fees paid by their parents/guardians. I have seen parents sacrifice much for the sake of sending their child to school yet many still cannot afford an education.

Then when we got to school I found Ta Te’, Caffe and Muuo (which means “peace”) in a classroom studying! I walked in and Ta Te’ had a big smile on and said “good morning”! He brings such joy to my heart to see him happy and adjusting so well here. Thank you Lord for your presence in Ta Te’s life!

Please keep Catherine in your prayers, she fell ill last night and had to spend the night in the clinic with an IV to combat dehydration. We visited her Thursday morning and she is very weak but the medical staff believes she’ll be home by this evening. They think she had a reaction to an antibiotic. Pray that the Lord will heal her and strengthen her; she’s anxious about the students coming back on Monday and wants to be prepared!

At school we were talking with Ta Te’, Caffe and Muuo about when we were leaving. They were excited about more visitors the next time we come and said that when they get older they would come to visit us in the US. We told them to keep working hard at school so they would have more opportunities open for them and they could stay with us when they visit! What a dream for these boys and I know that God has begun a good work in them!

UPDATE ON CATHERINE: She came back to school around 12:30 and is still very weak. Please keep her in your prayers for quick recovery and thanks be to God for His intervention on her behalf.

Quiet day at school

It sure is quiet around here with all the kids gone! We have a lot of projects in the works though so things are moving quickly here. One major project is the new kitchen. We wanted to wait for break so that meals wouldn’t be affected. This is the outside which won’t change much but you can see to the left of the kitchen is an open area. That will all be closed in and the inside of the kitchen will be expanded. The wall at the back of this photo is being taken out and moved farther back to make room for a bigger stove. In this last photo I am standing in the doorway of the kitchen, we walked into it during lunch time and with no ventilation the smoke was terrible. I really don’t know how Ann and Faith could work in there. But after the break they will have a brand new kitchen, store and place to keep fire wood. I’ll post pictures of the finished kitchen in a week or so.

Here’s Caffe, Ta Te’ and Caffe’s uncle all studying on Tuesday afternoon. I kept kidding the boys when I’d see them around the compound asking them why they weren’t studying! One time Caffe held up his school book to prove that’s what they were doing! Another time Ta Te’ told me they were just taking a break. You would not believe the difference in Ta Te’ since being here just 24 hours, he smiles and jokes with us and feels at home here. I thank God for that.

Thanksgiving for His blessings!

We visited a couple of families today after church. The poverty still shocks me when I see how people are living. One of our students, Evelyn, lives with her aunt and grandmother along with about five other children. Their story is a sad one, there are sad stories everywhere you turn. The grandmother’s brother-in-law died and left the children with her and her husband, and then her husband (the grandfather) died. So that left the grandmother taking care of all the children, along with Evelyn’s aunt who has two or three of her own children. The home is about 30’x6’ and that is divided into a sitting area and two bedrooms. I took this picture sitting at the wall across from them. They have a separate building that is about 10’x10’ for a kitchen and a latrine out behind the home. Grandmother was telling us how excited Evelyn has been the past couple of weeks with the new t-shirts, bible, shoes etc. It’s such a blessing to meet these parents, grandparents and guardians and see the effect on them and the children.

Then we visited Ta Te’ again. He wasn’t home but his mother was there so we were able to talk with her. She kept saying it was ok for Ta Te’ to come to the school and stay. She said she feels she has been granted two miracles, the first was her eldest son was sponsored at a secondary (high) school at the beginning of this term and now Ta Te’ is being sponsored this term. She was so happy and you could see she was on the verge of tears. Here is a photo of the complex where they live. Their home is the farthest doorway, and we found out that is used to be the toilet and the landlord turned it into a room to rent out. Rose, Ta Te’s mother, pays 250 Ksh per month (that’s about $4). Remember I told you that Ta Te’ had burned his clothes while cooking one night? The clothes are still outside and you can see what was burned.

This is Rose standing in the doorway of their room and the “kitchen” where they cook. You can see the door on the right of the picture and she had to move the stove from the doorway so we could get in. Rose agreed to have Ta Te’ come to the school and board but she wanted to wait until after the holiday so she could spend time with him. I wish I could have seen his face when she told him he would be coming to the school! We were the talk of the complex with the little kids because we handed out sweets and took pictures! The “muzungus” were very popular!

Do you remember the little girl at church who wet herself on me? I was finally able to get a picture of her today. She’s wearing the same dress although it is a bit cleaner today.

On the way home we stopped at a shop to buy some eggs. (That is the gift we take when we are visiting homes) In this part of town the little kids are all excited and eager to see what the “muzungus” are going to give them. While Chuck was in the shop these three little girls followed him in to make sure he wouldn’t forget to get them some sweets! The little boy behind him was the lookout for the other boys and as soon as Chuck told the shopkeeper to get sweets for the girls he signaled for the other boys to come running!

This was a cuter scene than the one we encountered at the Acacia Market, our local grocery store. While we were leaving a man came up to the window and started mumbling. Chuck asked Gideon to interpret but Gideon couldn’t understand him either so we started to back up to leave. All of a sudden the guy comes up to Chuck and bites his elbow! He didn’t break the skin but left a red mark. The security guard at the Acacia went after the guy, who had started to run, and kicked him in the behind to get him out of the parking lot. Afterwards we all had a laugh about Chuck being the “other white meat” here and the guy was just trying him out! He’s the only madman we’ve run into here so no worries! Sorry no picture because I was so shocked that he bit him I didn’t think of bringing my camera up and snapping a picture!

UPDATE! When we came into school Monday morning Ta Te’ and his mother were here waiting to talk with us. Rose said that Ta Te’ requested to come and stay at school now, not to wait until the 14th! He was excited to be at school since you’ve seen his home the dorm rooms are bigger because he will only be sleeping there – not cooking, cleaning, washing etc. in it. Plus he will have companionship while at school. Right now while the kids are on holiday we have Catherine and her son, Christopher (he’s like the schools accounts payable/receivable department – he collects the fees from the parents), Mutiya (the night watchman) and Ruth, who is a like a mother to the children who live here. He will be well taken care of here and won’t be on his own any longer. After he was settled in his room we asked him if he would like to get a book from our library. The first thing he said was “I would like an encyclopedia”! What 13 year old boy asks for an encyclopedia?! But he wanted the KSPE (I think that’s the acronym) which is the standard test study book for the exams he will be taking at the end of the year! When we walked into his room he was studying his science book – on holiday with no teachers to push him to study! And when we told him Ruth would be cooking for him this week over the holiday his first words were “God be blessed”. When we told him that Caffe (Catherine’s son) was excited about Ta Te’ being around he told us he looked forward to helping Caffe focus on his studies and helping him succeed! This kid is amazing and he told us that God is opening many doors for him and he plans on doing his very best to take advantage of the opportunity. I thank God for allowing me the privilege of seeing a boy of 13 living on his own coming into the school to be educated and loved. These are the children God has called us to help. I thank God for Gideon and the work he started so that Ta Te’s mother knew to come here for help. There are so many things and situations to be thankful for that I can’t begin to count the blessings. God is good all the time, all the time God is good because that is His nature – we say this in church and it is shown to me daily. Thank you for all your prayers and support, your reward is in Heaven and you will meet all those you have touched here in Tala, Kenya one day.

Another progress report on the gate!

Every Friday the students split into two groups (nursery – class 3 and class 4 – class 8) and have devotionals. They sing, dance, and have a bible reading, discussion and prayer. I joined them and enjoyed singing and dancing with everyone. They all squeeze into a classroom but I watched as an older boy allowed a smaller boy to sit on his lap. I thank God for His Spirit being shown here at the Academy.

We handed out shoes on Friday and you can see what your help is achieving here. These are just a couple examples of what condition the children’s shoes were coming in like. Because of your support the children who are orphaned or in a single-parent family will have good school shoes and many of them will wear these shoes outside of school because of the condition of their original shoes. There are so many ideas I have for fundraising before we come back in September because of the needs of these children. I thank you all for the support you’ve shown and the prayers. God’s hand is moving here in Tala and what a blessing it is for me to watch it happen.

Milkah, I told you about her in the last post, requested to have a picture with me before she left for Nairobi on holiday next week. I was going to tell her it was a MySpace picture but she wouldn’t understand that. I had my iPod out the other day and the kids were fascinated with it. They all thought it was a radio. As for the holiday the kids will be off school next week then they will all be back for two weeks with classes 6-8 staying an extra week. Then the second term begins in May. The school year here goes by a calendar year – January thru December, going three months to school and having a month off. Some schools, like ours will have school during the break with just a short holiday for the kids. The attitude here is geared towards educating these kids and the more they are in school the better chance of an education. Many parents board their children at school even though they live very close. They believe that coming home at night is too much of a distraction and it is better for the child to live at school to learn.

While we were in Tala on Friday morning we stopped at a shop to get juice and biscuits (cookies) for the kids’ last day before holiday treat. I was standing next to the car not really paying attention when I finally heard a bunch of little kids yelling “muzungu!” (I have learned this is Kiswahili for “white person”) So I turned around and they all waved, so I had to cross the street and greet them with “sasa” and take a picture of them. I didn’t have any candy but had Kudo bars but they liked them just the same!

Now for a story that will break your heart and make you praise God for His perfect timing and intervention. I told you before about a boy named Ta Te' (Tah-tee) who lives alone while his mother works as a maid and lives with her employer. She is only able to visit Tate on Sundays and sometimes during the week. If you remember he was the one who burned some clothes while he was cooking for himself one night. While we were handing out shoes Ta Te' was the only one who couldn’t fit into the standard school shoe. So we had to take him into Tala and get a wider shoe for his foot and then we were going to take him home. While we were at the market I asked him what he was going to have for dinner that night. He would be making oogali – this is flour and water cooked until it’s thick and has to be cut with a knife. We have this but we usually have it with spinach and meat. But he was only going to eat oogali that night. So we told him we would get him some fruits and staple items from the market. He got rice, flour, soap, sugar, biscuits, and more that would fit in the basket, plus I threw in a few candy bars. Before we took him home we ordered him chicken and chips for dinner that night so he would have some protein. When we took him home and my heart broke when I walked into his home. First the doorway was just wide enough for me to get through; Chuck had to go in sideways. His “home” may be 10’x10’ and this is where he eats, reads, studies and sleeps, his mom sleeps here too when she is visiting. He has to move his mother’s clothes in order to lie down to sleep. He has one basin to wash from and wash his clothes and one pot to cook with (which may be why he was only going to eat oogali). I asked him what he did after school by himself, he said he read then cooked for himself. Now remember that this boy is only 13 years old! When I was interviewing him the other day he said that since he lives alone he does all the chores: washing his clothes, washing the dishes, cooking, cleaning and whatever else needs to be done around his home. You can see a small part of the only window in this room; the window is about 8”x8” and doesn’t provide much light. We were there at 5pm and couldn’t see much because of the darkness. He was so happy though when I asked to take a picture; you can see the joy on his face! I had to try very hard not to cry in front of him, I kept thinking what a brave and responsible boy – maybe by necessity – but still. Before leaving we asked him if he would like to live at the Academy – you should have seen his eyes light up and he said yes he would like that very much. Chuck told him we would come by his home again on Sunday afternoon to meet with his mother and ask her permission. Chuck asked him what his mother might say, and he said that she would not refuse. This boy has touched my heart from the first time I met him and he is officially the first U.S. sponsored child. Chuck and I both cried and prayed about Ta Te' that evening, we wanted to take him home with us that night, but since he has a mother we have to ask her permission. When we left TaTe' said that he would escort us out. He is very polite and intelligent and I’m proud to be his sponsor. So you can understand the heart breaking part, but if God had not made Ta Te's foot too wide for our shoes he would have gotten a regular pair of shoes and went home. God had a plan for Ta Te' and he fulfilled it with a pair of shoes. Lord God you are the creator of all things, the lover of our soul and I praise you and glorify Your Holy Name. If getting Ta Te' to the Academy was the only reason for us to be here then I thank God for opening our hearts and eyes to His plan.

Visiting and interviews

Electricity has been on and off the past couple of days. After I posted the last blog entry it went off again for a couple of hours! That was on Monday and now on Wednesday it just went off at the school so we are testing our knowledge of how to turn it on (Chuck and Gideon are in Nairobi so we are on our own)!

Here are a couple of pictures of families we visited recently. The first family is standing in front of their home. (This is the family I wasn’t able to take pictures of before at night) We have grandmother and grandfather in the back along with mom (holding the baby). The two boys in blue sweaters go to the Academy but live with another set of grandparents. The young man in front with the yellow vest is a brother-in-law to the mom. The four boys on the right are her sons and live with her and the other two are neighbors. (the boys in white, blue and green go to the Academy along with the girl in light blue with dark sleeves) The compound includes the grandparents home, kitchen, latrine and the mom’s house is nearby (just a couple of yards away). We were inside the grandparents home which is about 20’ wide by maybe 30-40’ long and consists of a sitting room and two separate rooms for sleeping.

The mother of the second family wasn’t home so we visited with the kids for a bit, gave them some candy and eggs for mom. The girl holding the baby and the girl next to her go to the Academy. Since mom wasn’t home we didn’t go into their home, maybe on another day.

Here are some of the boys after school helping the fundi (carpenter) carry cabinets.

This is our new gate (the white is a primer coat – you are getting progress reports!) The student is Milkah in class 8. I am interviewing all the students, taking their pictures and giving them a photo. When it was Milkah’s turn she requested to have her photo taken in front of the gate! I told her I liked a girl expressing what she wants! She wants to be a broadcaster on tv one day and I said I would see her on tv one day and that made her smile and blush. The students have just finished their exams for the term and she received a 309, but is determined to get a score of 400 at the end of the year.

During my interviews I met the future leaders, entertainers, engineers, pilots and professors of Kenya. This boy, Felix, said he wanted to be an empire. I asked him what that meant and he said he wanted to be a leader of a country. I questioned him on that a little further and determined that he would like to be president and help the people of Kenya. We have bright students here and I ask that you continue to pray for their education, health and spiritual growth. God’s plan will be fulfilled in these children’s lives.

By the way, success on the generator. Praise God for His providence! And we are thanking God that Ruth and I made it through all the students interviews, less one who hasn’t been in school because she broke her leg a few weeks ago.