The rest of the story...

Hello again!

"We got cows!" Does anyone remember what movie that was in? Well it was real life for me on Saturday. On my eight hour journey in, over, through, and sometimes around all the holes that make up the way to Eldoret, I managed to see quite a few animals on the road.

Towards the end of the journey, one of those cows and I had a close
encounter of the not so nice kind. PTL the cow wasn't hurt, I wasn't
hurt, nor was my truck hurt - well not much. It was raining and this
particular stretch of road was pretty good so I was going faster. The
cow was standing in the middle of the road. My teammates went around it with a little slipping. Another car went around it but scared it. So, it proceeded to jump one way and then the other and I couldn't get my truck to stop. The breaks were on, but we kept slipping. So, I slowed enough to just bump into the rear-end of the cow with my grill. It stuttered and then ran away - thankfully as I wasn't sure what would happen if I had to go over it! I kept thinking double mindedly - Stop! and Don't Stop! Thankfully the Cow knew I meant for it to keep moving. I am hoping that cow learned not to stand in the middle of the road anymore!

So, the rest of the story is that the Lord is good - blessed be the
name of the Lord!! I could have had cow in my face and lap, but
instead, the cow ran away. I had a bent fog light and a broken cover
for it. It has been bent back into shape and all is well. So, "we
have cows," but we also have God!!

Last week

Hello!

Last week was an eventful week. I was getting ready to travel down country for the holidays. So, all the busy work to get everything ready for that trip happened most days. I had to arrange for some proofreading of materials for literacy primers that we need to get reprinted. Then I had to get them back and make sure they were packed for the trip.

I held my employee Christmas party on Thursday. We had greens, ugali, and goat meat along with some chapatis. Chapatis are flat bread like tortillas only fried and thicker. The meal was really good and there was plenty for everyone. At the end of the meal, I gave out Christmas bonuses and their leave pay and regular pay. So, everyone went away with full bellies and full pockets. I also gave them enough food so they could have a very nice few days of feasts for Christmas. So, I think they were all pretty happy.

Thursday was also the day that I found out that my Mom was in the hospital. She was having problems with shortness of breath, a slow heart beat and dizziness. My brother and I might say "Mom is always dizzy," but really the other symptoms were pretty new. So, she ended up in the hospital until Saturday afternoon. They discovered that her new blood pressure medicine had reacted negatively with another medicine and had made her heart beat way too slowly. So, PTL, she is better and out of the hospital!

Friday I undecorated my house. I was leaving on Saturday for about three weeks and didn't want to leave it all out to get dusty while I was gone. So, that was a bit depressing. I had just decorated the Friday before :). Even so, it was good to have them out even for a short time. I spent the rest of the day packing and getting ready to leave for the holidays.

I will tell you about the trip down in my next post. Lets just say it was interesting. I hope all is well with all of you! blessings to you all as you celebrate the true reason for the season!

frightening weather

Hello!

Well, okay maybe not frightening but it goes with the song. It was 100 again today. Even so, I had the house decorated for Christmas and 13 kids in the house watching Christmas videos. It was a lot of fun. They probably didn't understand the English - at least the 5 littlest ones - but they enjoyed the opportunity to see the "cinema"as they call it.

They got to see "The Little Drummer Boy," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and Veggie Tales "A Star of Christmas." It was fun to watch with them and see their reactions. They laughed the most at the camel that looked like a crocodile. That was in the Drummer Boy in case you forgot. Since they have both animals they thought it was pretty funny.

I treated them to lunch as well as videos. So, we enjoyed cabbage stew with onions, potatoes and carrots. They also had some ugali - that is corn meal boiled until it stiffens up. It is kind of like a very thick paste and is pretty tasteless. It is their main staple here and no meal is complete without it. So, they had that and I just had the stew since I haven't really developed a taste for the ugali.

I hope you are having special parties and enjoying the season. Celebrate his coming in the manger and in our hearts as our Savior!

Advent

Hello!

Yesterday was the beginning of Advent. It was nice to be in a church in Nairobi that observes the Advent. We sang some nice Christmas / Advent songs with the heavy doctrinal words about the incarnation still in them. It was really cool to start thinking of Jesus' first coming and to think about his next coming. I hope you all have time in this busy season to focus on His Coming!

It works!

Hello!

My computer works now! It did not have a virus. There was a problem with the operating system. I probably had a corrupted download of a system update. The internet isn't as good here as in other parts of the world. So, I guess those fruity people can still make their claim about no viruses :).

I had Thanksgiving this week in Nairobi with friends and CMF family. It was a wonderful day and a delicious feast! Bryan and Diane Myers were in town for the week. They came from Colorado Springs. So, I came down to visit with them. They brought cranberry sauce - yum. It has been scarce in Nairobi since it is the time of year to eat it. Such is life here, so I was glad to see it at the feast.

While here, Bryan convinced me to sign up for facebook. So, I am now a facebooker. Just be aware that when I am in Turkana (which is most of the time), I probably won't be able to be very active since the internet isn't so great up there. It has been fun here in Nairobi though, so I guess it might be worth it.

I hope all is well with all of you! Have a blessed weekend!

What they don't tell you....

When I think of the things I didn't know when I signed up for this missionary life, I think it was a good thing. I might not have had the faith to do it! God knows what he is doing and so I am here. He gives me the strength to face each day and the mercy to stay, when many times I want to just leave it all and head home to a place that really isn't home anymore - but seems better than the home I have here at the time. I am thankful for that daily mercy!
Yesterday I hired a new guard. His name is Moses Kakalei. A few weeks ago he came to me at church and asked for work. I told him I was sorry, but I didn't have any work right now. He is an IDP. That is a new set of letters for me since 2008. It means an internally displaced person. He used to live down country (anywhere south of Lodwar). He used to have a small plot of land and a home. He grew tea leaves and sold them to be mixed with other tea leaves to make one of the best teas (I think) in the world (Kenya tea - of course). He used to work as a guard for the tea company. He had a decent life. Then, the election of 2007 happened and his world fell apart in early 2008. He was chased from his home and became a refugee in his own country. He was "sent" to Lodwar because he is a Turkana. "The Turkana people should live in Turkana district not down country in other tribes' lands" - so the people said. Luckily, he didn't lose his physical life, but he lost his life - his way of life and his livelihood. So, when I needed a new guard, I thought of the men in our local church who needed work. I asked others for advice. I asked him to come talk to me and then I offered him the job.
Whoever thinks that a missionary is an employer who must hire and fire employees? I certainly didn't when I first thought of being a missionary. I have always been an employee. I know how to do that. Here, I am an employer and I have learned some about how to do that. I fired a guard on Monday. Adam worked for me for almost five years. He has a wife and two small children - one of whom is named after me. I am not sure I can say he was a friend (in the way we think of friendship), but I cared for him and his family. I helped him buy land. I helped him with money so he could build a house of sticks, mud and palm leaves on his land. I fed him sometimes when he was at work and celebrated holidays with him and other employees. I got to know him a little bit in the almost five years he worked for me. I liked him. I trusted him. Then, he stole from me when I was at church. It breaks my heart, but I had to fire him. It doesn't make sense. He stole a little more than his month's salary. He could have taken more, but he didn't. For one month's pay, he lost his continuing livelihood. He admitted it, but never said why. I guess I have to be happy with that and the fact that God knows.
So, now I had work for my fellow worshiper. I am glad for that. I am sad that I had to fire someone I trusted and liked. I didn't sign up to fire people (or to hire them either). Sometimes, we end up doing things we don't expect. God is good. He gives us the mercy and the strength to do the things we need to do on the days we need to do them. So, I fired Adam. I hired Moses. I have four guards and three of them are now named Moses. Hmm, I wonder what that is all about! :). I am only calling one Moses. The other two are being called by their Turkana names. Either one works for them, so the one who is Moses to me has worked for me since I moved to Lodwar. I think it would be really hard for me to call him by his Turkana name, because I have always called him Moses. So, the others are Longok (Low-Ngok), Kakalei (Kah-Kah-Lay) and Simon. Please pray for these men. Pray also for Adam and his family in this new situation of life in which they find themselves.
I might not have signed up for it, but it is done. Now I just have to try to be a good employer. I hope I don't have to fire anyone again, but I have had to in the past and I might have to in the future. Thank the Lord for his mercy and strength!
Blessed be the name of the Lord!!!!

4th annual graduation

Yep, that is right. We held the fourth annual Turkana Bible Training Institute graduation last Saturday. The day was full of bright colors! Lime green, lemon yellow and orange orange :). There were also some Christmas greens, reds, purples and silver. The only thing lacking was the traditional graduation day rain!!! For all of the first three graduations, we had rain. This time, when we need it the most, there was no rain - just sun and dust. We had a bit of a dust storm during part of the ceremony. It is a bit hard to concentrate on what is being said when you are trying to keep dust and dirt out of your mouth and eyes. Even so, all went well.
There were about 5 chiors present to sing for the graduates and those who came to see them. My English class was one of them. We sang two songs in English and one in Turkana. I also sang with my teammate, Melba, with the Lodwar ladies' (and some men) chior. When the ceremony was over, there was a small feast for all the people who came. Everyone had a good time roaming around glad handing the graduates and a few even had some small gifts for them. The graduates were quickly garlanded in Christmas garlands. This is a tradition in Kenya. Their school year runs from January to the end of November. So, Christmas garlands are given to the graduates to signify their accomplishment. It makes things colorful after the ceremony!
Please pray for these men and women who graduated. Pray that they would use the things they learned to be better leaders for their churches. Pray they will find ways to incorporate what they have learned into their own teaching. Pray they stay committed to leading Christ's church here in Turkana. They are young, but ready and able to serve the Lord and his church!
More news in the next post! blessings!!!!!