Happy New Year!

Hello!

The year has started out very well! We got rain in Turkana. On January 1 it rained for 10 hours straight. Praise the Lord for his blessing of rain on this very dry land! The rain did cause a slight delay in my return home. I ended up making it home on the 6h. The road was pretty good considering all the rain we had. There were a couple of places where the road was washed out, but new ways had been made for vehicles to pass. We expected it to be harder to get home, but it was a typical 8 hour drive - to go about 200 miles.

Once I arrived home, I spent the rest of last week getting kids' uniforms and other necessary items for school. I now have 10 kids that go to a local private elementary school. I have been able to help them go to this school through the help of my friends and supporters. They have taken up the challenge of sponsoring a student so they can have a better education. Two of the smallest students have been sick this week. Both 4 year old boys have malaria and seasonal colds. Yes, this is the season for colds and pneumonia because of the dust storms common at this time of year. It is typically around 105 and dusty during Dec. to Feb. So, keep these small ones in your prayers.

This week I have been working on my next English class. It will be next week. This will be a week of review. I have taken as my theme for the week the saying of John the Baptist - just tweaked for my purposes. "They must increase (speaking) and I must decrease (speaking)." I hope to get them talking more as they play games to review the lessons from last year. It has been a long break, so I am expecting them to have forgotten some of what they have learned. Hopefully, this will be a fun and non-threatening way for them to recall what they have forgotten and to use it!

Right after my English class, many of my students will stay in town for another meeting. Some former CMF missionaries will be meeting with church leaders for prayer and reconciliation. Please pray that these meetings go well. There are several issues that will be discussed, so pray for open minds and tender hearts ready to listen to God's Holy Spirit.

I hope all is going well for all of you! Pray for the many in Haiti who are grieving and have lost their homes and livelihoods. Thanks also for your prayers for my ministry! Blessings to you all!

RAIN!

Hello!

Praise the Lord with me because the very dry land of Turkana is finally getting rain! It is wonderful but it also can cause problems. Pray it comes in gentle, long rains instead of short pounding ones. That way the ground can soak up the rain and not flood everything.

I am in Eldoret (Kenya highlands) where I came for Christmas. I was to travel home tomorrow, but because of the rain, I am having to delay that return. The very bad road has a lot of vehicles stuck in the mud. I have also heard that two bridges/ riverbed crossings are washed out. So, passing through them will be difficult if not impossible for right now. Even so, I am so thankful for the rain! I can live with having my plans changed. You learn early in this missionary life (maybe in yours too) that you must be very flexible as God often changes your plans. There is less stress if you just learn to go with his plans and not worry about yours when they conflict!

This is my last post for the year. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010! Blessings to you all!

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!