The kenya Blog

One Day left in Kenya

2010-03-08T23:18:00.000-08:00

Well, our team will be together again as Candice comes to Nairobi to meet up with us.
As some of you have heard by now, David was sick in Mauritius, but he is feeling alot better now. We are thankful for the prayers of the people, and the Lord's healing for him. Dane has a bad cold, but he is feeling better today, please pray for him as he tries to rest and recover for the trip home. We leave tomorrow night and have 12 hours in London. Don't imagine we will do much but rest there...but who knows....how everyone is feeling.
We want to thank all who read our blog and prayed for us all during this time away. We really appreciate the prayers and interest in us shown by the families and relatives and friends.
Hope to see many of you in person and thank you.
Keep praying as Mercy Home needs your prayers for the kuku and tomato and egg business that will be ongoing.
May God richly bless you all.

Two more days....for 6 of us.. Pray for us all

2010-02-23T00:29:00.001-08:00

Well, only two days left to get all the things done that we need to do.
This past week has flown by since Graham and Brenda came. We had a sports day on Friday at Mercy Home, with all the children cheering on the teams.Baraton school came, which is a public school, our children did well against alot bigger school.
On Saturday we had a board meeting with the Kenya Board, and a Jamboree for the children. They really got into the dances and singing, mostly the medium size girls, who can sing like nothing you have seen before! The drums were playing(two plastic containers) and boy did they dance. After the jamboree we had bread with jam, and balloons. Big Mike was the MC for the day, he did an awesome job. The practicing was almost as much fun as the real thing.
On Sunday the church officially said Hello to Graham and Brenda, and goodbye to us as a team. We got gifts, 2 dresses for Candice and I and a skirt for Brenda, and material to make shirts for Dane and David. It was a touching moment, as the Mama's Bible study ladies, and other church members sang and gave us our gifts. Only in Kenya would three women change their clothes behind purple and white sheets, so that everyone could see our new outfits....what a hoot!!
On March 1st Dane and I and David will travel with Graham and Brenda to Mauritius to see where they live, we are really looking forward to that time with them, and see some of the Mauritius sights and relatives.

So four of our team will leave Kitale on Thursday, going to Nairobi to visit some folks that we met a few years ago. Elizabeth and Michah actually came to see Mercy Home before the children were moved out there in 2007, so it will be nice to update them on the work.
Candice will leave Kitale around March 8th to meet up with us in Nairobi, to fly home on the 10th.

It will be hard on Wednesday to say goodbye to everyone, but God is Faithful and He will give us strength and comfort as we depart.

Best quotes from the trip

2010-02-23T00:25:00.000-08:00

Woke up with tears in my eye's today. My heart is breaking. How can I leave these kids? I cant remember the last time something has had this much impact on me. Tonight I will sleep over at Mercy Home for the last time and soak it all in. Dane, Trudy, Graham and Brenda and I are leaving on Thursday for Nairobi for a few days then Mauritius on the 1st then back to Nairobi for our flight back home.

Over These past five months we have made a collection of some of the best quotes (mostly from Trudy) here they are

"Lord, help us find more buyers, because they're good little chickens and they need to be slaughtered"
- Trudy during prayer

"where is that grown again?"
-David (in reference to Jamaican blue mountain coffee)

"The mzungu chickens (white people's chickens) are living in better house then we are."
- workers on the new chicken house

" It's just one of those things I don't want to know and I don't want to ask."
- Trudy (in reference to why Jon was at the lady's mama's bible study

" Dane, stop talking, you haven't got a clue what you're talking about."
-Trudy

" You cannot get lost in the daytime"
-Police officer in matissi (while we were lost)

" I am sure that I am always perfect"
Laban

"they don't have a pee to pot in!"
-Trudy

" it was just one of those slips of the tum"
-Trudy

" David when is your tomato going to come?"
-Little Hawa at Mercy home ( the word for grandma in swahili is the same word for tomato in swahili)

" SO I want to get to Mercy Home either before lunch or after Lunch"
-Dane

" Dane were picking song number 40, F-0"
-trudy

" She was hanging on him like a yo-yo"
- Trudy

" She wasn't jumping on only women while we were there"
-Trudy

-DAVID

Highlights

2010-02-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well, things are really whizzing by now. One more Mama's Bible study, one more Come together(for four of us), and each day goes so quickly now. The kids have enjoyed having some much younger mzungus around(besides David and Candice) as our son Graham and his wife Brenda are here for 10 days. The shyness of the first day or two has changed to hand holding and teasing and much closer contact.
The tomatoes are doing well, and some have little tomatoes on them. The greenhouse ones are doing much better than the ones outside. The past few days have been cool and wet, not the usual for us here in beautiful green Kenya.
Our broilers are ready for market but appear a bit smaller than the first ones. Some of the restaurants want them a bit bigger.
Mercy Family Church is going well. The worship team does such a great job, with no power, except a battery to run the keyboard. Hopefully, the electricity is imminent, with the transformer coming last week, while David was spending a night at Mercy Home.They used a pulley to haul it up into place, and flashlights to see. Talk about power!!
For me, I have really enjoy the 5 months here at Mercy Home. The highlights have been seeing the big boys and girls who are growing to be great young people of God. When I text them on my cell phone to encourage them...they really encourage me! Also being with the children in their classes, although I have not been able to do that as much as I hoped. The staff have been fantastic to work with, and of course, the Mamas of Mercy Family Church. I know I will have tears as I go...as well as the rest of our team, but Mercy Home is in God's Hands...and He cares and provides beyond anything we could ever do or imagine.

Count Down is on.....Rueben and a Miracle

2010-02-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

Our team has one month to go. Time continues to fly by as we try to fit everything into the last two weeks. Mama Detty lead the Mama's Bible study last week. We are going thru Victory in Jesus, a 7 chapters(short) study, upon completion they will get a Bible. So far, the ladies have not remembered their study books well, but we are hoping that they will, as we have 2 weeks left. Each time we attend, we realize what testimonies they all continue to have about how the Lord is looking after them.
Update on Rueben....he is doing well. The whole family has changed! The father has returned and thru the hand of God...we have seen him receive Christ and stay around to support his wife and family. It is truly a miracle. Rueben's sister, Ruth came and sat on my knee last week, as we counseled her parents. She is so sweet, not nearly as "busy" as Rueben. Please continue to pray for Margaret and her husband, Zechariah, and the five children.
The novelty of the swing set has NOT diminished. I think for some kids, who never have had something like this to play on....they just can't keep off it. We think it will become less of a novelty but not sure....when. We also bought a large old tire to put in the ground beside the swing set. It is getting some use,too. Mostly little kids climbing.
When Detty leaves on the bus on Feb. 15th, our son Graham and Brenda, our daughter-in-law will arrive within one hour...like ships passing in the night.....anyways, we will look forward to that visit with someone from our family.....after all it is all about family here in Kenya.....and relationships formed are important and lasting.

2010-01-31T22:22:00.000-08:00

David Sunday January 31ST, 2010
So Mercy Home has a swing set now and I would like to thank those of you back home who contributed what you could to make this project happen. As it turned out the money we raised ended up being pretty much what it cost to build the swing set so thank you!

On Tuesday I was given the job of finding out what paint Mercy home had so that we could paint it. Mercy home had two green paint cans so we took them back along with some of the Mercy Home paintbrushes. We decided to paint it at our place because we figured the kids would get to excited seeing the new swing set and they would get in the way and get especially excited and curious seeing Mzsungus (white people working) because for some reason they don’t think white people should work.

We got home from Mercy Home and I showed Dane the paint I got. Unfortunately the lid was not on properly (my bad) and when Dane lifted to read what kind of paint it was a lot of it spilled all over the cement floor and on the welcome mat in the corridor missing Dane by inches. I began to wonder what to do but couldn’t think of a good plan. Dane was kind of in shock, and then Candice walked into the room and started laughing. We eventually got our act together and realized the cement was painted practically the same green color.All we had to do was mop the spilt paint around evenly and get rid of the old mat. It might have smelt of paint for a bit but it was all good in the end.

On Wednesday Candice, Detty and I started painting the swing set after breakfast (and if I can say so my self I thought we did a darn good job) although, I kind of pulled a Dane and spilt paint all over the grass.... guess what color grass is? Yup, saved again.

On Thursday morning Gershom (the manager) came with the Mercy Home truck and picked up the swing set to bring to the center. We hadn’t painted the seats yet so Candice, Detty and I went to kitale Gibson’s building supplies and bought a small can of blue paint, red paint, and yellow paint so that each swing could have its on color. When we got out to Mercy home we realized that the paint had not really fully dried and that alot of the paint job had been ruined transporting it from home to the center. Now Gershom does drive to fast down the bumpy dirt road to Mercy home but the fact is that it just should have been left to dry longer.

We realized that if we were going to paint the seats at Mercy Home we had no old clothes to paint in. Luckily their were some old stylish paint clothes there (recognize them Edwin?) there were enough paint clothes for two people so Detty sat out and Candice and I got to work. Now as I said before having a new swing set is a tremendous deal for these kids and also the fact that Candice and I were painting was pretty much mind blowing. I was busy painting away when I looked behind me and pretty much the whole school was on a field trip to see the mzungus work. Remarkably Detty had them all in a neat row and she made a line where they were not to cross that that Candice and I had our space and that they wouldn’t touch the wet paint. Candice remarked that with the large crowd watching us that it felt like we were in a competition. The same day we also dug the holes for it to go in and we cemented it.

Friday we really had to keep watch so that the boys would not go on it, because the cement needed to dry but on Saturday we gave in and now since then it’s been in constant use.
Thanks again for those of you who contributed!
David

A quick hello from mamaDetty

2010-01-28T00:27:00.000-08:00

Well here I am into my third week in Kenya, and it feels like I have only arrived. It was wonderful to see Candice again, waiting for me at the Nairobi airport . Nancy was also there, she was on her way out to visit with her family in Australia. We stayed in Nairobi over night, and then began the adventure. We arrived in Kitale around 4pm on the 14th, and were soon at my new home of the next 6 weeks. The Ochana’s are very wonderful and God loving people who welcomed me with great enthusiasm.
The sunrises and sunsets in Kenya are absolutely magnificent, but far outshining them are the people, especially the children. Everywhere you go the children are so excited to see us mzungus (white people). They above all else have stolen my heart. There is one little girl 12 at Mercy Home who has attached herself to me as my special friend, something they do when someone new comes. Her name is Angelina,she is 12 years old, and very sweet, each time I come to the home, she is there to greet me and make me feel very special. We usually spent a little time together just her and I. Mercy Home is filled with many such children, all very special and just wanting to shower us with love and attention.
On the other side of things are the many poor, hungry and homeless street kids, always begging for food or shillings, some or I should say most of them carrying around there bottles of glue they sniff to ease the pain of hunger. I just want to pick them all up and take them home, but of course this is impossible. That is why what Mercy Home is doing is such a blessing , this is where many of the children have come from. With the help of God and Mercy Home they will grow up to be strong men and women.
Every day here is an adventure, and one thing I have learned, is to be very flexible. This is one of the teams motto’s and a very necessary one, cause no matter how well you plan things, chances are it will take not go as planned. This is not always a bad things, cause God’s plans are not always ours plans and we must be sensitive to His leading.
Candice, David and I are planning a day trip into Eldoride(about a two hour bus ride)some time in the next week, possibly Monday or Tuesday. There we will do some shopping and just look around town. Today we are going to set up the new swing set we had made, thanks to so many of you who donated. Candice, David and I painted it here at the our home yesterday, and it looks pretty awesome. The kids have no idea this is happening and I know they will be thrilled. The big problem will be making them wait for the cement footings to dry. It should be ready to go by Saturday!
I really could go on and on about everything here, but I just mainly wanted to let you know how blessed I feel to be here and help in any way I can with this great work that has been going on here at Mercy Home. God willing I will be able to return again one day, but for now my prayer is God use me in anyway you can.
There now, that wasn't so hard, wonder why I put it off for so long...talk to you again soon...God Bless

Cabbages and Rueben

2010-01-27T00:34:00.000-08:00

Rueben is doing so well at home! Some of the children from Mercy Home and I walked down yesterday afternoon, to see how things were....I bought one big cabbage and was given another one,and some oranges, so after school some eager children walked down the dusty road (with me) to their house. Rueben is a bit of a little character at his own place.
He had a squirt bottle(plastic water bottle) and was managing to squirt his siblings,and having a good laugh,too. Margaret was to take him for physiotherapy today in Kitale. I sent Samwell, one of our oldest boys, to see what exercises they would suggested. I am hoping she can learn them at home. It is a long way to Kitale for the physio. We shall see how it works out.
The tomatoes are up at least six inches now in the greenhouse...at Mercy Home.
The little chicks are doing well, too. The broilers are four weeks old now, so they will look at marketing them soon.
Detty is doing well, learning curve is steep, but we thank God for her coming to join us in Kenya. God is working, as we see His hand daily in our lives.

Rueben goes home-Precious is Born!!

2010-01-26T00:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,
Exciting news....Rueben went home from the hospital.Yes! Praise God for answers to prayers. He is walking well and his skin is recovering nicely without a skin graft!
We picked him up yesterday afternoon, but before we did we went to see Esther, our accountant, who was in labour(her first child), she was walking and waiting....We drove Margaret and Rueben home, after getting some supplies for them, and of course, some of the children wanted to come. Detty and I were in the back with 12 eager students, wanting to see where Rueben lived. I think they were a bit surprised at the size of the house, and the lack of furniture. It was a good thing to show our children, because they are truly blessed to have such a life, with sponsors who care!
Margaret was so thankful, she even gave us back drugs and supplies that were NOT used, so Detty will take back the surgical knife, and saline solutions for refunds.
Now to Esther. We got a call this morning to say that little Precious was born,(actually born at 4am,)she weighed 2.9 kg and has a head of hair. I hope to put two pictures on, so the one, is Precious, and the other is Margaret, with her children, all five, and the house where they all live. Even small Sara, from Mercy Home said"They all live in that little house?" But God is good, and we thank Him for His many provisions for that family, and us, as a team.

Rueben part 3 -kuku and Gifted Hands-letters of love

2010-01-21T00:36:00.000-08:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if I had the right camera cord, I could have posted a picture of Rueben walking down the aisle of the ward and out the door, down the pavement, step by step, very pleased with himself. It was truly a sight to behold. Praise God for answers to Prayers. The doctors are extremely happy with his progress, and at this point they are NOT talking about the skin grafts.
Thanks to all of the Mercy Home supporters for all your prayers. We know that many of you were upholding little Rueben in your prayers.
At the farm, the broilers are gone, more are coming, and there is two hundred layers, and 140 males that can be sold as broilers.
The tomato plants are growing strong and healthy.
School is in full session, and the students are studying hard. One of the books we brought, or bought, called Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson, has caused alot of reading and passing of the book, once read. It is a true story of Ben, an African-American, who grew up in a impoverised single family, and how at his mother's prompting started him reading at the library. From there, his marks improved so drastically, that he started to feel he could do anything. He is now a world renowned surgeon, taking on some of the most difficult cases worldwide.
Sponsors.....have you written your child this month, yet? All it costs is one stamp, worth $1.65........ a 15 minutes to write.........when your child receives your letter........PRICELESS!!!
Don't have a sponsored child yet? Phone Donna Ball at 604-886-7736
God Bless You.

Rueben Part 3

2010-01-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday when I arrived the nurse explained that they wanted to do skin grafts.
Then she told us the price....5000 shillings! That is alot of money for the average Kenyan to pay, let alone a single Mama. Our team quickly talked, and we went down to the Chemist to buy more cream for his burns. When we went back, we said"Yes" we will bring the money tomorrow morning.
We went on to Mercy Home and talked to all the children, to remember to pray for their Neighbour, little Rueben, as I reminded them the Bible says"Love your Neighbour as yourself".
Today when we arrived to pay the amount, the doctors have decided to wait on the grafting and see how exercising and gently moving the leg would help. So, God does Answer Prayers. Thanks be to God. Keep praying for the other little ones, who are burned on their faces. They truly need Jesus to overcome that burden.
Thanks again for praying for Mercy Home kids and little Rueben, your prayers are being answered. Praise Him!

Rueben Part 2

2010-01-19T01:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update, when I went to see Margaret yesterday, they handed me a list of things to get. Rueben is in alot of pain, so please, keep praying!! On the list , to my shock, was a surgical grafting knife, to be bought, so I went to the Chemist and got the supplies. Hard to believe, the hospital does not have a surgical knife to do skin grafts. WOW! I believe that this will be extremely painful, so he will need a touch from the Lord, who is with him, to help him thru this most difficult time. Margaret has hardly left his side, remember her in your prayers, too.
One bright note, Kathy and Ernie B. sent some toys, so out of the bag, I found 5 small animals, which I gave one to each of the 5 who are suffering from the burns, there was smiles from the mothers....and some of the patients, too.....amidst the pain.
At Mercy Home some desks for Standard eight arrived, and some tables for the Sewing Room, along with sawdust for the chicken coop.
Thanks to all the supporters of Mercy Home, your contributions help so much.
Also those who pray daily, your support is so much appreciated here in Kenya.
The tomatoes are growing, and the sawdust is being laid for the next batch of chickens to come. Praise God for His goodness!

Rueben

2010-01-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at Mercy Family Church, one of the women from the congregation(she is blind) stood up to tell us news of one of our Mamas, Margaret, whose son Rueben who was burned on Thursday evening.
After the service, many of the church family, along with Detty and myself went with the Mercy Home vehicle to see the boy. Margaret lives in a very small house, with only two chairs, it is about the size of a ensuite bathroom in some of your homes.She has 5 small children, and the husband left. Rueben was lying on a cloth moaning. We prayed and quickly got organized to take him to the hospital in Kitale. Once we got there, a man in a blue shirt assessed him, and steered Margaret into a small room, where they immediately saw he needed to be admitted. The little guy was in so much pain. We quickly went to buy the necessary things, such as rubber gloves, saline solution, cream and injection for pain/infection. NO, the hospital has no drugs or supplies. They had forgotten about the tubing for the IV, but we were fortunate, someone had an extra one, so as soon as we got back to his room, they put the IV in. Margaret will spend the days with him until he recovers, as there is NO nurses, or nurse aides to attend these patients. On the same bed was another boy, who had something wrong, and next to Rueben, sat at least three other small children who were also burned , one in the face, a little girl....heartwrenching to say the least.....
To all bloggers, please pray for Margaret, and Rueben, and all the other little ones who are suffering with burns.

welcome Mama Detty-Mama Eliz.arrives in Australia

2010-01-16T05:07:00.000-08:00

We are happy to welcome Mama Detty to Kenya. Detty arrived on January 14 with Candice, right on time from the Easy Coach Bus. She has done well so far, no jet lag, and has already met the kids at the Friday come together, where they welcomed her with songs and poems. May God use you in a mighty way,here at Mercy Home.
It was Candice's 19th Birthday, so after the music, they sang a wonderful and loud Happy Birthday. It was a special day for Candice, and as a team we wish her a great year....her first as an adult, officially.
By Monday, all of our broilers will be sold, as another restaurant,one of our favourites, wants the rest of our broilers. We are happy about this,because it is after Christmas, and people just don't have so much in the way of finances.
I'm at the library with two of our Standard 7 students, two that I promised would come to the Kitale library(in December)but better late than NEVER! A promise is a promise taken seriously, here.(or anywhere, for that matter)
Tomorrow will be Detty's first Sunday at the Mercy Family Church, so I imagine that will be blogged by someone soon.
Nancy Miller has arrived safely in Australia, seeing her son, Jim, and his wife Claire, and her grandchildren, who she hasn't seen for 2 years, so God is good. We really miss your smile, Nancy, and your words of encouragement, but we know you will have a wonderful visit! God Bless You.
On a personal note, I want to thank everyone who has prayed for my ear to get better, it is finally feeling like it is slowly getting back to normal. Thanks be to God.

WE Will Miss YOU, Nancy. God Bless YOU

2010-01-11T01:40:00.000-08:00

This is our last day to spend with Mama Elizabeth, as we called her out at Mercy Home. Of course, the goodbyes will be rough, as they always are when you say goodbye to a friend like Nancy.
She has been such an inspiration to us all, never complaining and just jumping on that "High up step" on the bus or matatu. Her friendliness with the people she has met has meant so much to them all. The children will really miss her wide smile and hugs.
She has played the keyboard for us, during devotions each night at our host family's home. She plays by ear, and knows almost everysong we requested.
We wish her a safe trip to Australia, and hope she has a wonderful time visiting her son, daughter in law and grandchildren.
Of course, for the team, it is bittersweet, as we will see her at home in Canada when we come home. And also with Detty Edgecomb coming, another grandma, we are excited to see what impresses her about Kenya, this being her first trip.

Mama Elizabeth Says Good Bye to Kenya and MCCH

2010-01-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

Hi:

I thought I would write a short blog to let you know that I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Nairobi then off to Melbourne, Australia, to visit my son and family. I have enjoyed the most incredible stay in Kitale, meeting the people, their customs/culture, and interacting and making lasting friendships with the staff and children at Mercy Home. Trudy and Dane have been marvelous leaders - so much wisdom from their past two trips. David and Candice - could not have done half the 'physical' adventures without their help. I'm less sure walking than I used to be and they helped me all day long while walking 'the hill'/climbing into my favorite 'matatus'/going up and down stairs. The Team has bonded with a special friendship - a forever friendship!

Thank you for your prayers. They were answered as we traveled and lived in this welcoming country.

Will add a little photo of me with a few of the children from Mercy Home. What will I miss the most when I leave? Them!

Love,

Nancy

2010-01-08T01:34:00.001-08:00

David Wednesday January 6, 2010

Today I met a very nice fellow. His name was Thomas. He was a very, tall man with a quite a long neck and a nice purple tongue. Thomas was very outgoing to all of us and I enjoyed meeting him a lot. Here is pictures of Thomas.

We had finally made some concrete plans to go on a little tourist outing to see African animals at a place called captain Davis a place David Ochana had wanted to take us too for a while since we had been here. As we were just driving through the gate of the place I spotted Thomas the giraffe standing in the field next to the driveway with a bunch of horses. We all gazed out the car window in excitement to see our first giraffe, but because it was standing so still, Trudy refused to believe it was real. When I tried to reason with her and tell her to see that its head was moving from side to side she said, “yes its head is moving from side to side but it’s in a mechanical way because that’s all it does.”

“Ok” I said realizing that I was going nowhere. I mean was it to hard to believe that there were real giraffes in a wildlife park in Kenya? This wasn’t no Disney land. When the giraffe actually started to walk towards us as we got out of the car I knew I had won.

We were led on a nice tour of the place, where we saw some gazelles, antelopes, zebras, and second best all behind the giraffe was two rhino’s. These things are pure beast. I was told they weighed around 4400 pounds and around 6 feet tall. Pictures don’t do them justice as to how massive these animal’s were up close. Rhinoceroses are also clever. Did you know they always sleep, eat and even do their business in exactly the same spots every time? The spot they had chosen to always they do their business was the most apparent. Not like cows where they they go everywhere

We spent allot of time with the very friendly Thomas the Giraffe and he seemed to want to get as close to us as possible. A staff member came with some brown sugar squares and it was fun for us to feed him. He would stick his long big purple tongue out and curl it around the squares in our hand and then suck his tongue back in. After amusing ourselves for a while and getting lots of pictures and videos we continue the tour and see the ostriches. But Candice and I didn’t just see them. We rode them. Yup, that’s I got on one of those huge massive birds and rode it like a horse. Sure it was over priced but who in their life can say they have rode an ostriche. Oh and say they also saw a unicorn, except it was really a large gazelles like creature born only with its right horn. Close enough right?

-David

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T00:41:00.000-08:00

The Kenya team wishes everyone at home a very Happy 2010. Yes, we survived Christmas in Kenya, and saw the simple way it can be celebrated without any fanfare. On December 25,our Church was packed with visitors,and we were happy that the cooks had justprepared enough food, as some unexpected company(from Gershom's church)arrived to hear his sermon, and of course,eat the meal, also.
We have had a good week, trying to catch up on sponsorletters. Nancy Miller is doing a fantastic job of staying focused on that. heh? if you are a sponsor....how about a new year's resolution to write your child each and every month....what a blessing that would be to that child. We also were trying to talk with as many of the older students as we could, because, they will be leaving fairly soon, now to their various schools and attachments,that they are involved with. These fine young men and ladies are the future of Kenya, and from where I sit....it will be a great future. Thanks to all of the sponsors who support the older college kids....they really could not possibly be where they are without YOU.
God Bless you all. We miss you but know that God is looking after each and everyone of you.
Praise HIS name.

One big birthday party and a story about fainting

2009-12-24T01:22:00.000-08:00

David Wednesday December 23,2009
First of all happy birthday to Nancy yesterday ! She was very excited to get her cards and Candice gave her a giraffe and I gave her a rhino. But today we weren’t just celebrating Nancy’s birthday but we were celebrating the birthdays of all the kids at Mercy home with party. The night before we had popped a hundred plastic bags worth of popcorn and put 5 candies in each one. Trudy and Candice had also spent a while putting together gift bags personalized for each child. Most of the toys and gifts were stuff from Canada so thank you to all the people who donated those gifts. We left for Mercy Home around 10:30 and the first part of the party was a talent show. Most of the kids would get into groups and do a choreographed song and dance while Joseph the guy in charge of the boy’s dorm accompanied them on the keyboard. They also recited poems and did some skits. My favorite skit was one that all the big boys from college did. There was also the fastest food-eating contest, which was hilarious because after the kids competed they had the manager Gershom and two other board members of Mercy home also take part. I had never seen the kids so enthused. Another highlight was a dance competition between some of the younger boys. They certainly bring it on when they are competeting. After the talent show all the kids received jelly sandwiches and juice, which was a real treat. Once all the kids had received one of each Trudy allowed them to have seconds only if they could repeat a verse from the bible from memory.

Then it was time running races the part where this day got interesting. Apong one of the big boys organized that I race against all the other big boys I agreed very excited to try my best against the highly talked about Kenyan runners. We were to run two laps around the soccer field. After many false starts we were off. I ran with all my might and began to take a good lead on the first lap, then I realized I had just sprinted it and had very little energy for the second. Half way around the second lap I was being passed by everyone I was just about to finish last when big Samuel totally face planted and I finished the race ahead of him. I had ran so hard I felt like my lungs were bleeding and I was going to throw up. I paced around for a good ten minutes not feeling any better and every time I breathed I felt a sharp pain. I then really felt the need to throw up so I went for the boy’s washroom and immediately started to dry heave. After that I felt a little bit better but then all of a sudden I become extremely light headed and lost all vision and some hearing, I could only see white light and felt as though the ground underneath me was spinning. This had happened to me once before and I knew I was just about to faint and if I didn’t get out of the washroom and drink some water then I could fall and hurt my self in there and nobody would have known. I staggered out clinging to the walls murmuring for some water when a girl named Howa saw me and got water and help. As soon as I drank some water my vision started to return and I felt more conscious. Andrew one of the big boys and vincent helped me to a bed in the boy’s dorm to lie down. My body was just soaked in sweat so they helped me cool down by unbuttoning my shirt and opening some windows. After a few minutes of resting I felt back to normal and I ate some food and drank ALOT of water. Nancy hung out with me the entire time, which I was very grateful for and she gave me extra water from her bottle. After all that I went back outside to join the party again. They were handing out the gift bags and popcorn and the kids were smiling from ear to ear.

So the moral of this story is, don’t try and outrun Kenyan’s

Merry Christmas everyone!

David

Merry Christmas from Kenya.

2009-12-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy time during December. We first had a wedding of two of our staff. It went very well except the bride and groom were 4 hours late for their own wedding! It took one hour for the men to come a short distance...they walk slow....then it was the ladies, and many flower girls' turn....they were slow dancers, too. Just as the bride came out of the car, it started to rain(good luck,here) so they had an umbrella over her, as she walked to the tent. Everything was outside. Two tents were put up. All of the girls were allowed to wear their Christmas dresses(where else is someone going to wear it..otherwise,except at church). Some of the boys wore their new African made shirts, but the trousers were not ready yet. Of course, the highlight of any wedding is the food. The food was chapatis, rice, potates, soup, pork, kuku, and sodas. The cooks at Mercy Home did a very good job staying up late to make sure it was all done. Amazing!
Some of the children got to come to Kitale for the library. Most of the Secondary students got to read and study, and actually got a library card.
The next week the children were given a home visit. Some went to relatives and some stayed with friends of Mercy Home. It was like a ghost town out at the farm. We had the joy of having our sponsored girl, Alphine stay with us. She had a great time with David and Candice, and enjoyed new foods and experiences. One day we went to Eldoret(an hours drive) to renew our visas for another 3 months. They enjoyed that outing too.
This past week we have been busy doing sponsor letters, and we had a youth conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had a guest speaker from a local church. I had the joy of talking to the young girls ( 8- 13 years) in three separate workshops on what puberty is. We had some interesting discussions. The bigger girls were also present.
This week we are preparing for Christmas at the Centre. The birthday party will be tomorrow, so yesterday we had to organize our suitcases full of toys, to make sure each child has something small, to celebrate Christ's birth. It was an exhausting, but rewarding day!
Tomorrow we are having the Christmas/Birthday party, with popcorn, bread and jam, drinks and a small gift. On December 25, we will have special meal, with meat, rice, chapatis, potatoes, and bananas for dessert. We look forward to seeing all the kids, and their new dresses, shirts and trousers. All the college boys are home now. What awesome young men they all are!
Christmas is all about Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour we have.
Being here for Christmas is a gift from God. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Canadian Christmas you can really see better the meaning of the holiday. Of course, we miss our family and friends...but God is good....and we feel His presence with us each day.
Merry Christmas from the Kenya team.

a book every parent should have

2009-12-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

I found this in the Christian book store.

Uganda part 3

2009-12-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

David Friday November 27,2009
Today was to be our last day in Kampala, Uganda and we had to wake up at the ripe time of 5:00 in the morning. Our Bus would leave at 6:30 so we got ourselves packed and ate breakfast then we got driven to the bus station. This time I made sure I was not sitting at the back of the bus because last time I felt every speed bump and pothole to the tenth degree. I sat alone for the first 30 minutes or so until a young Muslim lady around my age came on board and sat next to me. She sat down said hello, I said hello back, and then she put one of those Muslim veils over her face and put on some black cloves. I’ve always been a little spooked by these veils and I wasn’t sure if it meant that she didn’t want to be talked too as well as be looked at. I turned up my Michael Jackson on my IPod and looked out the window as if I was looking at something very interesting.

Around ten minutes latter or so, the girl tapped me on the shoulder and offered me some home made snacks out of a big plastic bag I accepted and then she removed her veil and cloves. She introduced her self has Sophia and from there we got talking about how she had all this food because it was a Muslim Holiday and she was travelling back to Nairobi Kenya to see her family because school was out. Only hearing about Muslims in the media I figured now was my best chance to really get first hand information on what their beliefs are and about their religious practices. She cleared up allot of misconceptions for me like that having the long back robes and veils (she said they were called Ninja’s) that the girls wear doesn’t mean they want to be completely ignored but that its manly for safety and modesty reasons. She also said she and her friends wear “ninjas” because their fun. It didn’t take long before she found out I was a Christian, so I asked her what the main difference is between our religions. She told me that in Islam Jesus was just a prophet and that he never died on a cross for our sins. The person was died on the cross was just someone that was mistaken for Jesus. So basically their way of getting into Heaven is by doing good deeds and keeping their religious practices like praying 5 times a day. So we just continued talking, she asking me questions and me asking her questions in a none threatening way, it was actually quite a pleasure.

We eventually moved away from the topic of religion and just talked about normal things like music and movies and the differences between the Kenyan life and the Canadian life. It really helped time pass and in no time we were in elderit getting a Kangaroo back to Kitale to make it in time for the monthly missionary bbq that night. We made it in time and we enjoyed eating western food again!

Uganda part 2

2009-12-07T00:11:00.000-08:00

David Thursday November 26,2009
Today was our last full day in Kampala and we started it off by having a nice breakfast and then making our own way into town. First we walked to the nearest road to try and get a matatu, but we had no luck so we continued to walk until finally one stopped for us. We wanted to go to the garden city mall, the one we went to yesterday so we asked the conductor if he was headed that way. He nodded vigorously and said “yeah, yeah, yeah” and hustled us into the van. We soon found out the had no intentions of going anywhere near the mall and that the conductor just wanted us to get in so that they could make money off of us. The conductor actually tried to cheat us and tell us the fare would be 1000 shillings to where it would let us off, but thankfully Dane had a guardian angel next to him, an older Ugandan lady and she told Dane that we were only to pay 600 shillings. She then got worked up about it and scolded the Conductor. The conductor by then feeling embarrassed allowed us pay the right amount. Even after we had gotten off the Matatu (which was not really anywhere near the mall), the lady very kindly showed us where to go and she tried to find a matatu that was headed that way but she couldn’t so she arranged a taxi for us.

So we got in the taxi but only went a few meters before we were stuck in a traffic jam. We waited and waited but we hardly moved an inch. So we decided to just get out of the taxi and start footing it and try and make it to the mall using Dane’s map. So we walked and walked and while Dane refused to ask directions, Nancy would ask every block or so, for directions from the locals. It was a real classic case of how men like to read maps and ladies like to ask directions.

Along the way to the mall we came across a really good market, where we spent a while buying more souvenirs. We finally made it to the mall, and we went straight to finding somewhere to eat. As we were looking Candice let out a gasp and squeal of delight she had spotted a pizza restaurant. Now this was truly a moment where you think it might be a mirage. A legit pizza place is really hard to come by in kitale. In a way it was kida a mirage because we thought it said Pizza Hut but infact it said pizza hot but it was delicious anyway and we were thrilled to bits.

After eating Candice and I really felt like watching a movie at the cinema, so while Nancy and Trudy got hair cuts and Dane went back to the market, we went to see what this cinema business was all about. You see we had gotten used to things not being quite as what they seem to be or what were used to, so we were a little skeptical about what kind of cinema this would be. As it turned out it was one of the nicest Cinemas I had been too. And guess what we saw? The new Michael Jackson movie “This is it” Believe me it was the last thing I thought I would be doing while in Africa, but I really wanted to see it. It was sorta a live concert/documentary of Michael Jackson preparing for his last 50 concerts he was going to do at the O2 arena in London. It was spectacular footage even though it was only dress rehearsals and no audience and we enjoyed it through and through. Walking out of the theater I had to remind my self I was in Uganda and not somewhere like Vancouver. We then met up with the others and took a taxi back to the hotel.

Uganda part 1

2009-12-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who dont know our team went on a short Vacation to Uganda to see the city of Kampala. For some reason my journal entry from the 24th wont open on this computer, so I have started from the 25th. The 24th was just spent on a eight hour bus ride. The highlight was seeing the mouth of the Nile river from Lake Victoria

David Wednesday November 25,2009
We left Kitale on Tuesday on the 24 at 10 in the morning, and we arrived in Kampala around 9:30. After a comfortable sleep in our guesthouse we all met downstairs to have breakfast together at 8:30. After breakfast we discussed that we would all like to spend the day looking and shopping around the city and just use public transportation. We got ready and met outside, but we met a man who was on staff with Adoni guesthouse and who could drive you and be your tour guide around Kampala. So we decided that since we didn’t know anything about Kampala and where things were, we hired him. He first drove us up to a large hill where a large Muslim mosque stood and you could see all of Kampala from the top. We were allowed to go inside the mosque and take a boo, so we took off our shoes and the mosque man allowed us to go way up to the top to one of the four towers. After walking up a very spiral 79 stairs we got to see an even better view of Kampala. Kampala has 2 other hills, which are for the Roman Catholics and the Anglicans. It also had alot of tall modern looking buildings, which was a site for sore eyes.

Our next stop was lunch. I was very happy to see a western style menu that didn’t just serve just Ugali and chicken and chips like Kitale. We stopped by an impressive new mall that got us pretty excited because it was something like you would see at home. We only spent a short while because we decided we would check it out in more detail the next day. Next, our driver took us to a very cool touristy kinda market, where I bought a mid sized Jimba drum, two African shirts, and some other gifts for home. Nothing had fixed prices on it, so it was fun to bargain. We then went to another market but this one was mostly second hand clothes, but I did end up buying some nice dress pants. We wanted to see lake Victoria, so we made a stop by before dinner, and I Candice and I put our feet in the water, just to say we had put our feet in Lake Victoria and we got pictures to prove it. Our driver dropped us off at probably one of the most expensive and nicest restaurants in town. It felt like I was at a tropical resort because the roof was a grass roof and it was made off bamboo, and there were lots of fountains and palm trees and it had a nice view of Kampala. I ordered the tenderness steak I had ever tasted that only cost me 24 thousand Ugandan shillings which is around 14 dollars, where in Canada it would have cost be between 25 and 30. It was sure nice to spoil ourselves though and have a break from the small town of Kitale and experience new and also familiar things.

pics from Uganda

2009-12-06T22:59:00.000-08:00

Here is us eating out on Wednesday for supper after our tour.

The one with the Dino's is in front of the mall. And there is one of me with my feet in lake Victoria and me up in the very top of the mosque tower we visited

Monday November 23-Field trip with grades 1,2 and 3's

2009-11-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

Here is an acount of he day we took the grades 1,2 and 3's on a field trip. The grade 4 and 5's got to go to the kitale show, the grade 6 and 7's went to kisumu and the 1,2 and 3's got to go to a deformed animal place. Here is an acount of what we did that day acording to my journal. Stay tuned for stories about our trip to Uganda.

David Monday November 23, 2009
After a long day on Sunday we got home, and I learned that we were taking the grade 1,2 and 3’s a field trip to the museum today. I had kind of forgotten about the field trip because it was supposed to be 2 weeks ago. Dane, Trudy and I went in early to do some Internet cafeing and then met Candice and Nancy later. When Gershom and Benta arrived with the 25 kids crammed in the back of the truck they suggested that we go to the Kitale wildlife conservation instead. Everyone was fine with that so some of us took a taxi, and and Candice managed to squeeze herself in with the kids.

My first impression of the park reminded me of the jungle part in Disney land. First we checked out the man made cave’s and huts then we went on a little hike through a very amazonish looking rain forest. There were exotic trees and there was a very muddy river through it, which looked like the perfect place for pythons and crocodiles. Unfortunately I didn’t see either. It was nice to walk through a forest again I must admit. I was told by Gershom while walking through it that only 1.8 % of Kenya is made up of trees.

After we had passed through, we came into a very open field where it was nothing but deformed animals. Truly I say unto you, I saw a cow with three eyes, 4 horns, and a very lopsided mouth. There were many animals with three legs, short legs and some with legs coming out of their backside. It was kinda weird. The kids were very excited when they got the chance to take a canoe ride in a midsized pond. After all the kids had gotten a chance, I took Benta the social worker at Mercy home in one and we paddled around a bit. That part also reminded me of Disney land because I did the same thing around Tom Sawyers’ island when our family went there. We then had fries and soda’s for lunch had packed ourselves back in the truck and headed home. Tomorrow is Uganda... WHAT?! I don’t think we know where were even staying yet.

Kisumu-Lake Victoria

2009-11-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we woke up early (4:45am) to arrive at Mercy Home and board the 70 passenger bus for Kisumu. A few more teachers came than we expected so we were jam-packed but a happy crew of Standard 6 and 7 pupils. We arrived at 9:45am and quickly went on a tour of the Post Office on the main street of Kisumu. The tour lady gave a detailed account of the whole procedure in mailing and receiving mail.
We then boarded the bus again to go to the Court House-where all justice is served. The children had many questions and they were answered one by one.
Our next stop was a soda break, as we had only a few minutes to get to the Kisumu Airport for a tour of the weather station, and control tower. We felt very blessed at the airport, having seen many group like ours come and see a plane that had landed. Our group got to actually be on the field as the plane came in and get a very inspiring talk by the control tower man, who had worked in an orphanage for ten years. God is so good. Part of the man's talk was on getting good marks and trying hard at school.
Our next stop was a Game farm. We were running out of time, so we decided to forget that plan, especially when the Kenya team was going to be charged approximately $100.00 per person to get in.
Our last place of interest was a beach on Lake Victoria. There was some fish boats, and many different kinds of birds in the marshes along the lake.
Just as we got back on the bus the wind picked up and rain fell. Not a drop had fallen before then.
Our last stop was a welcome sight....lunch....supper....at a local cafe. The menu was either talapia, or stew. The children were glad of that meal!!
After supper, we loaded up and returned to Mercy Home, arriving around 10pm.
Thanks be to God for a safe and good tour of Kisumu.

Posted by Mama Trudy

a week of stories part 5

2009-11-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

David Friday November 6,2009

I rode on a camel today! I just had to say that first. OK, so Today we took the standard 4 and 5’s to the show. Dane went to pick them up in the morning at around 9 and Candice, Trudy, Nancy and I took a matatu and met them there. Since not all thirty of the kids could fit in the Mercy Home car, Kurshum had hired a matatu but it never showed up, so Dane had to go back and pick up the second bunch of kids.

While we waited for Dane, we took the first group in and looked at the plants and vegetables and the farm animals. Then we met up with the second group and wondered around looking at more stuff. I had a terrible stomach ach, for most of it, so I wasn’t enjoying my self. As we went along, we saw a type of freak show tent where you could see a man who had just less then half of a body, and the lady who was charging the money said Candice and I and a few kids could go in for free so we went in and there was this man, who only had a body up to his chest which was sitted in a bowl. It was pretty weird so I came out. I have now decided it wasn’t real because there is no way someone could live like that. We then had lunch, which was just plain bread and Fanta’s. Now Candice and I really wanted to ride on the camels, so we decided it would be fun if we took 6 of the kids with us. In fairness Nancy would take the rest of them on the swing set spin ride. So we paid for two camels and hoped on.

The camels were kind of kneeled down on all fours, and it was crazy when it got up because it started with its first two feet first, so I felt like I was going to fall off, it was fun when we started walking and seeing everybody get out of the way, and the little kids start crying when they saw this huge beast coming there way. The man leading the Camel just let us a short distance around the show a little bit, and then came back in a circle. When the camel went into its sitting position again, its first two legs where the first to go down, and we lurched forward and if I wasn’t holding on I would have gone straight off. After the camel ride, I saw another freak show tent that said there was a man who was part mermaid. I decided to kill my curiosity and find out what this was all about. I went in and started laughing at what I saw.

a week of stories part 4

2009-11-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

David Thursday November 4,2009
Today we spent the first half of the day in town. As we were about to leave, a street girl was begging us for shoes and other things, and a street boy of around 20, saw this and got very angry with the girl for persisting even when we had said no. The street boy started grabbing the girl and shoving her face down into the ground, I yelled at him and told him to get lost. He went away, but he must have told his friend. So his friend comes over with a big stick and starts threating the same girl, Candice to the rescue jumps out of the car to save her and then it dawns on her she is just as likely to be struck with the stick too. Seeing this I run over and shove the man away and tell him to beat it, but Dane wasn’t finished with him yet. Dane yells for him to come over, and lays it down for this young man that if he ever harms that girl again, then he would be very angry. The boy apologized and the girl forgave him with a Kenyan handshake. The rest of the day we spent at Mercy home. When I got home, I finally gave George the Bible I had bought him, and we sat there reading it for some time.

a week of stories part 3

2009-11-07T01:17:00.000-08:00

David Wednesday November 4, 2009
Today was the first day of the Kitale agriculture show. Candice, Dane and I, met Benson and Esther there at 10 am. This show is a big deal here and attracts thousands and thousands of people, mostly school students. Since today was opening day it wasn’t very crowded. The first thing Dane and Benson wanted to see was the green house where they had tomatoes growing. The reason why is because were going to build a green house pretty soon at Mercy Home, and also have tomatoes. We also looked at perfectly grown, cabbages, corn, and coffee trees. After we had looked at the plants and vegetables, we looked at the farm animals. We saw some pigs, ducks, rabbets, chickens, cows, and my personal favorite, goats. A goats appearance reminds me of men trapped forever as a goat. The sound they make is hilarious too. Around noon we went for lunch and Benson picked a place for us. Outside of the hotel we saw a small pen of chickens, beside the pen was a bqq where a lady had a plucked chicken on a stick and was roasting it. The chicken’s neck was still even a little bloody. It was then that I decided not to order chicken before I even went into the place. We all sat down, and before I had time to look at the menu, Ehster had shouted something at the waiter, and a few minutes later the waiter brought each of us a nice fresh piece of chicken with French fries. Now that’s the Kenyan way of doing things. I can’t imagine that would go over to well in Canada. Ordering Chicken and the next minute here the chicken squawking in the back for its life. It turned out to be the best chicken I have had here since. After Lunch Candice and I wondered around the show looking for the supposed Camels but we found out later they would be there on Friday. Candice decided to be brave and go on a swing set amusement park ride while I watched. As I was watching I was standing next to some people setting up speakers, and within minutes they started pumping out Kenyan rap music and one high school boy started to groove to it like there was no tomorrow. Pretty soon it became infectious and there must have been 20 students all dancing and jamming out to the music. That’s one of the cool things I’ve noticed about Africans, it doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, and what your gender is, they all can dance with remarkable talent. It was quite a site to see; how everyone just lets them selves go and jam out to the music. As for me I just filmed them with my camera. We left the show, and Dane and I went with Benson and Esther back to Mercy Home, but Candice decided to get dropped off at home. That night, we had our usual delicious dinner, and devotions then I went to bed.

a week of stories part 2

2009-11-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

David Monday November 2,2009
This morning I had to read like 7 chapters of the Purpose Driven Life, because today we were doing the study. It was all about over coming our obstacles and temptations, which God made us with so that we could over come them and become stronger individuals. I had never thought about it that way, and I find it helps a lot in day-to-day life. After Devotions I spent my day at Laban’s cafe, eating Githeria, going to Stellahs School at lunch and meeting all the class 6 and 7s. I also took a walk with my friend Rita and sorted beans with Laben. The rest of the team went into town for the day. As we had just finished dinner, Laben got a call from David and his friend Titus, saying they were trying to take the red car home from the garage, but it had died right in the middle of town. Dane, Geoffrey, Laban, and I went to town to pick them up. Dane looked at the car for several minutes but could see no problem. We then tried to push it and see if we could start it that way, but no luck, so we did things the Kenya way. we got a 6-foot rope, tied one end onto the none working car and one end on the working car and towed it back home. Technically, it all seemed extremely sketchy to me especially with such a small rope. All the way home there is huge speed bumps with no markings, which could easily pose problems. David’s friend Titus did a remarkable job with his break work though, and we got home safe with no bumper to bumper’s. Just another day in Kenya.

A week of stories.

2009-11-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

Its David here. These are some stories I have written straight from my personal Journal entries.

David Saturday October 31, 2009

Let me start off by saying Saturday here is my favorite day. This particular Saturday did not disappoint me. Today we finally took a break from Kitale town, which I was pleased to take a break from and I’m sure my wallet was too. We went straight to Mercy Home, and started arranging who would be going to Cabiafwye, the girl’s school, to see Jennifer, Elizabeth and Sarah (our Mercy home students in high school). Since last time it was the girls who got to go, they arranged for mostly boys to go this time with the exceptions of Susan and another girl. So we got to the school and we quickly realized that it wasn’t visiting day after all. However, the girls did get to visit with us. Having had come to the school before I knew I had to make sure to go into all the classrooms and get lots of pictures of me with the beautiful Cabiafwya girls. We had a nice time out there, and I eagerly anticipate the next visiting date.

When our team got home, Candice and I decided to stop by Laban’s to have a cup of tea. While having that cup of tea Candice and I got talking to our friend George and he introduced us to his friends Elias. He told me Elias is not a saved, like himself. I asked George what was hindering him and he told me he faces a lot of temptations and he didn’t think he could over come them. As I was ministering to George, Candice ministered to the other man. We explained to them that you don’t want to wait even until tomorrow to be saved, because you never know if you will die from some freak accident, or Jesus himself comes back. After more discussion, the one Candice was ministering too, decided to accept the Lord right there on the spot in Labans hotel. But George was not ready yet. I could see George was in a war within himself, there were things he did not want to let go of, and every time he was close to surrendering, he would shake his head and let out a nervous laugh. It came to a point in the night after a good long pause of silence where he sayed he would like to be saved and I prayed with him. These are new territories for me, territories that are not possible without the help of God through me. After I got home, I couldn’t help but burst into Candice’s room and tell her the news. Pretty soon Nancy, Dane and Trudy were wondering what the commotion was and I shared with them. After devotions I told Stellah about George and she told me that just last night she had had a dream where George had quit drinking, and all the other things he was caught up in and had become saved. WOW.

An amazing Week!!

2009-11-04T00:17:00.000-08:00

Hi folks back home.
Our team is doing well. Today we are checking out the tomato greenhouses at the Showgrounds in Kitale. After the Kuku roof is on at the end of this week we are hoping to get a greenhouse started.
Everyone is healthy now. Praise God for that!
Our weeks go by rather quickly
Last Friday night we had a BBQ at Transformed International headquarters. We met many other missionaries who were doing many different ministries here along with us. It was our first salad for some of us older folks, as we usually don't eat it.(not sure how it is washed and prepared). The steak was tough but we sure enjoyed it!
On the past Saturday we went to visit three of the big girls at their school out of Kimini. They enjoyed our visit and goodies we brought(just in time for exams next week).
On Sunday some of our host family, Laban(nephew and son David) came to our church. They were welcomed and the children enjoyed a new face to hang around with. I was preaching on PurposeDriven Life--how to be a disciple of Jesus.
Last week was an amazing week. Two of Dane and David's Sunday school class students accepted Christ. That same day, one of the congregation a man named John had come forward to accept Christ. Also, several days later, David and Candice had the honor of leading two young people to Christ near our host's home.(watch for more from the young folks about that)
Our Women's church group is meeting at Josephine's place(kimini) this week. This dear lady walks two km. one way to attend our weekly meeting and then walks back home.
posted by Mama Trudy

A taste of what we call home

2009-10-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of home away from home. The living room( the table to the right is where we eat) some pics of outside and a picture of my (David) room. It has 7 bedrooms two bathrooms, living room, kitchen, and office. Where the car is facing is a seperate building where their son George lives with his wife and two kids.

A few pictures!

2009-10-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

The picture on the left, was taken after a few days of being at Mercy home. It was taken in the shamba (garden) at Mercy home. The vegatable behind us is sukuma wiki (kale) and they cook it and eat it every day for supper along with ugali (ground up corn flour made into a paste). the picture on the right is Candice getting her hair done, in little girl pig tails. Nancy (the one with her hands on Candice's hair) was the chief salonist. The lady down from Candice is Monica wife of Gershom and she is the chaplain for Mercy Home.

So now that we know we can get pictures, you will be seeing more soon!

Week update

2009-10-22T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hello all in Canada, Its David here with an update on this past week so far.
Last Saturday we got to do door to door evangalism with pastor Kennedy around the area of his local church and then on Sunday we went to his church which was four hours long! :0 After the service we went to his house for lunch.
Monday was our day off as ussual, and Candice and I spent the day hanging out with Laban (a cousin that lives that lives at our house) at his litttle cafe at the end of our drive way.

Tuesday was a Kenyatta Day, which is a holiday to celabrate their first President after Kenya got its independance. We organized a sports day for the kids at Mercy Home, and played. vollyball, soccer, handball, and also had running races for the kids. It ended up being one of my favorite days so far.

Wednesday we helped with a street kid's program at Fath Community church runned by a lady named Esther. We didn't know what to exspect, but it ended up being a really good way to connect and understand the kids. When we got there, there were about 13 kids playing football and washing their clothes. As the day went on there were about 70 and I reconized alot of them from seeing them on the Kitale streets. I soon found myself joining in on the football and meeting some of them, while Candice, Trudy, and Nancy helped with bandaging wounds and cuts, and giving medicine to those who needed it. At lunch the kids were all fed Githeri (beans and corn in a dish) and then we were asked to introduce our selves and sing a song to the kids. After a short time of prayer, the kids were all lined up ready to go through bags and bags of donated clothes. Each kid was allowed one item, but I saw some take two ;).
Overall I am glad we decided to give it chance, and we are planning on going to it next time on the November 18. They have it the third wednesday of every month.

Today we are in Kitale and then to Mercy home to see the kids, and check up on how the contruction of the chicken building is going.

Thats all for now, Thanks for the prayers

David

Mama Trude-Book of Ruth/Malaria foes

2009-10-15T02:21:00.000-07:00

This is my first posting on the blog. We made it to the internet early today and so I thought I would tell you about our last week.

We celebrated Thanksgiving by taking our Host family out to the Pinewood for supper. It was a Chinese food meal. Hard to know if they enjoyed it or not, but they did thank us alot when they got home.
Our team has been busy trying to remember all the kids names , Nancy Miller has been peer counselling children as Benta the social worker advises her. So far, it has worked great, some of the kids have really responded to the one on one. More smiles all around!
I had my first experience with the Kiminni Hospital as I went with Benta to take sick children. I had a cold and cough that would not get better, so I got tested for Malaria, and they said NO, but gave me drugs for the cough. They are very efficient, and had all of us(three children and I through in under one hour)--results and all. We have had many children sick with Malaria and day scholars as well. One day scholar named Gloria was sent home sick and for two days she was suffering. Dane was leaving one night when Gloria's parents were pushing her up on a boda boda(bicycle).He drove her to Kiminni Hospital and she was admitted. It costs money, which of course, many don't have to treat the dread mosquitoes.
Nancy M. and I went to the ladies fellowship yesterday with Monicah our chaplain. We were greeted by the ladies with open arms, many of the ladies have a one room mud house, and a family of three or four children included.
The chicken coup is coming along nicely. The workers are busy laying the foundation and construction of the walls is next after the man cuts down two big trees. Yes, that is for the wood for the building.
Our Sunday school classes went well. We taught the older students from Standard four up, with David and Candice team teaching with Dane and Nancy and I taught the older girls...from the book of Ruth. Candice and David go to Youth Church with our Host family's son, so we have to teach Sunday school in the afternoon on Sundays.

David's flash back to september 23

2009-10-08T02:47:00.001-07:00

Here is my personal journal entry from September 23, when we were in Nairobi.

David September 23, 2009

Woke up at 4 am this morning, worst sleep yet, but the day proved to be a real winner. After not being able to get back to sleep I watched some of the office on my iPod until around 6 am when Dane decided to get up. We headed down for breakfast in the hotel, and spent the morning there, waiting for the girls to get up.

At around 10, we arranged to hire a hotel guy named Amos to walk us into the city to the shops we needed to go to, because we didn’t have a clue as to where to go. And this is where I get to see Nairobi in all its chaotic glory. Thousands of people walking and thousands of people in cars and buses all weaving in and out around each other in systematic chaos. Our guide quickly showed by example that walking in the middle of the roads and crossing busy streets where cars and vans and buses all going way beyond the speed limit and getting each other off, was as natural as it was to us crossing a proper cross walk when the walking man sign is green. Our guide would walk onto a busy 4-lane road and barely bat an eyelash as cars skimmed past and stopped suddenly to let the crowds through. Sometimes he would hold up his hand and stop traffic its self. The difference in driving and traffic control is the biggest difference I have experienced so far. Huge buses would just cut off people within 2 seconds notice, traffic jams in the round about were just insane, and plus there were a lot of matatus (van taxi) with loud hip hop music that had people hanging on the outside, shouting for you too come on. These taxi vans were also very tacky looking and usually had a picture of bob Marley or weird pictures.

I took some videos and pictures, but not very many because it was very likely my camera would draw the wrong attention, so when I felt it was safe I took a few. But the video I wish I could have captured was us weaving in out of the roads dodging crazy Kenyan traffic in a very skilled and calm way.

Despite people rudely cutting each other off, and almost hitting each other, no one appeared to be upset. It was perfectly normal. Mom your heart would have stopped beating. When people cut each other off in Canada, there is a lot of shouting and swearing. But not here. We booked our bus ticket and we got our cell phones and then went for dinner at Micah’s Elisabeth’s and micha’s – place, people Dane and Trudy knew. They had their own car driver to pick us up, and bring us to their home away from the city. Wonderful dinner and great people. Its 10:30 and I’m off to bed. Have to wake up at 6 tomorrow for our bus ride to katali tomorrow.

Candice here!

2009-10-08T02:43:00.000-07:00

Although Dane and Trudy have talked about the orphanage to us a lot, there is no way that we could ever have been prepared for what it is like in person. The immediate love and acceptance that these children had for us, is not something that makes sense, or that can be explained. As Trudy has said before, it doesn’t matter what you are wearing, or what you look like, (though the white skin definitely adds a novelty factor) they are just so excited that you care, and you came to visit them, that they are more than willing to take you as you are, and be your new devoted friends. It’s a very humbling experience for me. It’s also a little overwhelming, and almost confusing.

I tried not to come into this trip with any expectations, but I must have had them, because so far, everything is different than I thought it would be. Before coming here, the kids were just pictures, names and ideas, but now, after meeting them, and seeing how vastly different each one of them is, it’s impossible not to start loving them already.

team update

2009-10-08T02:32:00.001-07:00

We thought it would be a good idea to start a weekly team update, while also having individual updates. Here is what we have been up too this past week.

Nancy:

- Provided Counseling one on one

- Took two Sarah’s from Mercy home to a hospital to get treated for malaria

Candice

- Marked some grade 7 English compositions

- Had her first boda boda ride (bicycle taxi) and piki piki taxi ride (motorcycle taxi)

- Made a list for the new library books

Trudy

- Did a presentation using puppets and bible verses for Fridays “coming together”

- Helped out with the baby class telling stories

Dane

- Busy getting research for chicken business

David

- Marked grade 7 English Exams.

- Learned how to play a simple African song on the piano.

-Learned how to count to ten in Swahili

- Stamped library books

things we did as a team Team:

- -Went to visit three Mercy and caring home girls named Lucy, Elizabeth, and Jennifer that are now at a Kabuyefwe secondary boarding school

- -In week two of the Purpose Driven life team bible study

- -Brought donated clothes and books to Mercy Home.

- -Enjoying our accommodation with Geoffrey and Helen our hosts and their son David and their niece Stellah and nephew Laban

- -Enjoying getting to know the Mercy Home staff and Children.

Enjoying the Welcoming Kenyan People

2009-10-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.

It's my turn to write a little update. We are at the internet cafe trying every method we know to get our photos onto the blog or our e-mails and have not been successful yet. We (or I should say David and Dane) will keep trying. Things continue to go well for us. We definitely feel your prayers for our health and safety. God has supplied us with a wonderful Kenyan family to live with and our accommodations are very adequate and extremely safe. There are 10 of us around the dinner table each night eating delicious Kenyan food prepared by Helen, our hostess.

Yesterday we helped a young boy who had been 'thugged' the night before while riding his "boda boda" (bicycle taxi) in the dark. The thugs took his money, part of his bike and then knifed him in the leg. We took him to the public hospital where he had stitches and got a prescription. Those are the times when we have opportunities to talk to the people here about God.

Until next time, lots of love to you all.

Nancy

update

2009-09-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! so we have been in Kenya for 5 days, 2 days in Nairobi and 3 days in Kitale. everyone has been enjoying their time, and soaking it all in. The situation with the house and the people we are staying with in Kitale couldn't be more perfect. They are an amazing couple. Geoffrey and Helen are their names. There are many other people staying at the house as well, alot of them relitives and people working on the property.

we went to the orphanage for the first time yesterday and the responce from the kids and staff was incredable. They burst into cheers and woops, as we pulled up cause it was a suprise that we were coming that day. It was also a suprise that people around their age had come (Candice and I) it was an awsome day just getting to know the kids and joining in on their meals (all talk more about that later ;) lets just say the food is very different. At the house Helen is an amazing cook, so I know if I dont always want to eat the meals at the misssion I can at home. :P Everyone has so many stories and things we want to say, so were going to write up a blog entry on microsoft word at home, then bring the laptop to the internet cafa, where we can post past it onto here. soon I want to post my personal journal entry from Nairobi cause, I think everyone will find it quite interesting. so we will write soon. thanks for all the prayers

David

safe and in London

2009-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all, the plane trip went well, we landed in London around 1 in the afternoone. We checked into our hotal, then Went exploring London, mostly piccadilly circus, got some good pics. London really is awsome, and I one day I hope to explore more of it. We fly out at 10 this morning for Nairobi. Exciting stuff!
Bye for now
-David

today is the day!

2009-09-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it. today is september 20th! the day has come. We leave on a plane at 8:30 this evening to London for one night then to Nairobi for two. Thank you all for the wonderful support! We will talk to you soon.

-David

First post!

2009-09-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hi,our team is leaving the Sunshine Coast, BC Canada,on September 20th to go to Mercy and Caring Home in Kenya, Africa. Our team consists of: Dane and Trudy Ruck, Nancy Miller, Candice Veale and me (David Williams)

This blog is going to be shared amongst us, so at any time it could be any one of us reporting. We hope to be able to keep it interesting, and update it as much as possible but we just don't know what kind of internet usage we'll be able to get. Thanks for checking it out!

FIVE DAYS LEFT TILL WE LEAVE!

-David W