When Trials Come...

“When I am down and oh my soul so weary, when troubles come and my heart burden be. Then I am still and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit awhile with me.

             You raise me up so I can stand on mountains, You raise me up to walk on stormy seas. I am strong                            when I am on your shoulders. You raise me up to more than I can be.

There is no life, no life without sorrow, each restless heart beats so imperfectly. But when you come, I am filled with wonder. Sometimes I think I’ve glimpsed eternity.” (Josh Groman)

These words have meant a lot to me during the last few weeks. 

I have struggled quite a bit since returning to Kenya after a month in the USA. Maybe it was exhaustion from such a busily scheduled trip in the USA. Maybe it is the increased stress during the last month. Maybe it is spiritual warfare.

Whatever the case, times are tough. I am having interpersonal relation problems with some of the people I work with in the orthopedic workshop at CURE.

 Every time I try and sit down and write this update, I got writer’s block. Recently, it seems as if my head is attached physically, but detached in every other sense.

I can feel myself burning out and at a time when I need more enthusiasm not less. I have a little more than a month to finish planning and preparing for the first LIMBS training to be held since I came to Kenya in 2011.  

Also, this year is the 10 year anniversary of the start of research on the LIMBS knee. In celebration of this, LIMBS is providing the prosthetic components to fit 500 above knee amputees around the world. However, there is a catch. As some of you know, LIMBS work here has not gotten off the ground the way the organization would like it to. Therefore, I have been told that if 100 or more knees are not fitted to patients in Kenya this year LIMBS may pull out of Kenya entirely. I have been trying everything I can think of to get the program running here, but with little success. So you can add the stress of sink or swim to my life. Though I know in my head that failure would not be entirely my fault, I still feel like if LIMBS does fail, it would be my fault because there must have been something I could have done to make it succeed.

Also, over the last 5 weekends, I have been unwell three of them. The first was jetlag. The next was over a conference and caused by the food. The last was last weekend and was caused by contaminated water.

Last weekend, I was so sick that once I came home from work on Friday, I barely left the house until Monday morning. Yes, I know I am in a developing country and water systems do get contaminated. But what frustrated me about the whole thing is the lack/refusal of communication about the water situation. Water contamination happens in the USA as well, however, the contamination is communicated quickly and thoroughly so that few people are at risk of getting sick because of lack of communication. 

As an American, I like to come at things head on. However, many Kenyans care more about appearances and relationships than solving the issue quickly. They are two completely different approaches to solving problems and are heavily based on the culture they were developed in. Both have their merits and pitfalls.

Having said all this, I still believe God wants me here in Kenya and so I will stay until He tells me otherwise.

Prayer Requests:

Some of these are new and some are ongoing

• The LIMBS Knee Evaluation would continue getting off the ground and that it would run smoothly
  
  
  That I will catch on and learn Swahili quickly
• Use of the LIMBS prosthetic system would pick up in Kenya
• Better communication between me and those I work with
• Patience and Loving-Kindness toward those co-workers that frustrate me
• Better interpersonal skills with those around me
• That preparations for the upcoming LIMBS training would go smoothly 
• That the training would run smoothly
• That those you are supposed to attend this training will be able to
• That I would stay healthy
• For God’s provision for my finances
• For God’s guidance in my life and work in Kenya
• That my new passport would arrive in time for me to go to my brother's wedding in March. I applied for it this week and it should be here by the end of the month, but if anything goes wrong .....)
• Strong walk with the Lord
• Wisdom in relationships
• Punctuality in Updates
• Patience under pressure!
• Reliable Internet
• Good Business Relations with those around me!
• Adjustment to life and culture in Kenya
• That I will be able to properly write up patient stories and edit their videos
• Productivity- I want to make the most of my time here in Kenya
• Wisdom-To know when to give money and when not to
• My Mental Faculties - That I will remember what I need to buy, where to buy it, and when.
• Health and Sleep
• Spiritual Growth
• That I will make good friends quickly!