It's official, I'M AN ALIEN!

No, I don't have green antenna or spew slime!

Last week, I finally received my Republic of Kenya Alien Certificate. Basically, this means that I can now pay the resident price at attractions (which is about 1/10th of the tourist price).

In other news, I got to spend the afternoon with a Kenyan family yesterday. It was nice to talk to someone my own age and see the new place where she is living. Her last place had landlord/neighbor problems and she didn't feel safe letting her kids be there alone. Now she lives in a nice area, surrounded by friendly neighbors and other kids.

All and all, I spent about 5 hours talking/chatting with her and seeing her family's new chickens.  Mary, my friend, has two daughters and her youngest sister is the same age as her youngest daughter. Ester (her sister) and Michelle (her daughter) are only 3 months apart. Mary is the one who pays for their preschool/kindergarten education. Also, her oldest, Abby, has mild epilepsy and has to go to private school to get the attention she needs. Public primary school (1st thru 8th grade) is "free" in Kenya. However, private education is quite expensive. This is a great burden for someone who makes less than $60 a month.

Mary is the oldest of seven children. Four of her siblings are in high school (3 are seniors). In Kenya, you have to pay for high school and also to take the final exam. Therefore, even though her 2 sisters and 1 brother are not the same age, they are all the same year in school. Having 4 children in high school equates to what it would be like in the USA to have 4 children in college at the same time. Its a HUGE financial burden. Mary's father does not make a lot of money working as a guardsmen. Therefore, part of the responsibility to feed everyone falls to Mary.

I met Mary back in November in one of the shops in Kijabe. Her younger sisters, Salome and Rose, have been coming to my house since about a month after I got to Kijabe. I met them through another American living here. Mary and I had never met until that day at the shops. Mary and I have become good friends. She is very close to my age and believes in the value of hard work. We have a lot in common. We are both the oldest, both care deeply for our families, both work hard, and we get along very well with one another.
She has good advice on Kenyan customs and I can help her with financial advice and budgeting.

Other than that life is going along as usual. I have run into another obstacle with the evaluation. My boss decided to change the adapters we were to use. There must be some spiritual warfare going on here because when I ordered the new adapters from China, two completely unexpected weather conditions hit the area. First, heavy fog has entombed the area (closing airports and roads) and second, it snowed in March! Hopefully the adapters will get here quickly.

I miss my family and pets. I don't think I am allowed to have a pet in the house where I live. Plus, if I am only here for a short time, getting a pet would not be wise.

PRAISES

•   The healthcare strike is over. Most workers have returned to work, those who have not have been fired.
• I have stayed relatively healthy
• An election date has been set in March 2013
• Administrative finances for the evaluation have been worked out =)
• I got to spend Sunday afternoon with Mary and her daughters

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continued health. Strep throat has been going around the area.
• Continued prayer  for the knee evaluation. The program still has not started. Each time we get over one hurdle another takes its place. (Current hurdle: Change to new adapters, therefore, longer delay as we wait for parts from China)
• I have been offered to stay in Kenya for a second year. Please pray for wisdom about this opportunity. If I stay I would need to be able to raise the support for a second year. Also, my US insurance runs out this year so I also have to consider how to handle this. 

          I would love to stay. My work here is so fulfilling and I can see Christ working.

• Please pray for relationships. 
• Please pray for the coming elections in Kenya. This will be the first presidential election since 2007 when there was so much post-election violence. Pray for peace!
• My parents have considered coming over to see me in Kenya. Please pray that God's Will be done!
• I have been getting lonely. Please pray for friends, emails from supporters, etc!

Prayers and Praises

One of the most important things for a missionary is prayer and yet, I have not updated any of my prayer supporters in over a month. If "Seven days without prayer makes one weak", I must be close to death.

Anyway, this post is focused on just that, PRAYER!

Praises

• I have my work permit and soon will be registered as an ALIEN (No, I do not have antenna!)
• I am getting along very well with my friends in Kenya
• God has kept me healthy!
• I have been able to meet missionaries from northern Kenya

Requests

• Continued health. Strep throat has been going around the area.
• Continued prayer  for the knee evaluation. The program still has not started. Each time we get over one hurdle another takes its place. This is quite frustrating and my boss in the States has even threaten to can it altogether. Please pray for wisdom and patience! (Current hurdle: administrative finances for testing centers and national healthcare worker strike)
• I have been offered to stay in Kenya for a second year. Please pray for wisdom about this opportunity. If I stay I would need to be able to raise the support for a second year. Also, my US insurance runs out this year so I also have to consider how to handle this. 

          I would love to stay. My work here is so fulfilling and I can see Christ working.

• Please pray for relationships. 
• Please pray for a friend of mine (Tiffany) in the Praise and Worship team. She has been suffering from stomach pain. Please pray that she would have the courage to get it checked out and that God would heal her body.
• The national healthcare workers (Nurses, Orthopedic Technologists, anesthesiologists, etc)  have been on strike since March 1st. Please pray that this will be resolved quickly! Not only does it cause delays in my work, but more importantly, it causes the patients (or potential patients) to suffer. People in urgent need of medical care are being turned away from public hospitals and those who are in the hospitals are left to fend for themselves. 
• Please pray for the coming elections in Kenya. This will be the first presidential election since 2007 when there was so much post-election violence. Pray for peace!
• My parents have considered coming over to see me in Kenya. Please pray that God's Will be done!

Thank you so much for your continued support!

A week in the Life!

In and effort to update more regularly, I decided to write about last week.

Monday night I went up the hill to Bible Study at RVA. We are studying1 Corinthians. This is definitely an enjoyable time of the week. I get to talk to other missionaries/people who understand my accent (and I understand theirs).

Tuesday, I went to a meeting in Nairobi alone for the first time. I have been in Kenya for 5 months now
(and been to Nairobi almost once a week every week) so I should be able to navigate around Nairobi by myself. Yes, this was a new experience for me but God took care of me. I did go the wrong direction twice. However, God was there. The first time I got lost, I ran into a lady who happened to be going right by where I was trying to get to. The second time, there was a security guard to direct me. Also, the second time when I turned the wrong direction I was in site of my destination and still turned the wrong way. SILLY ME!
In the evening, I went to praise and worship team rehearsal. 

Wednesday, I decided to work from home instead of going into the workshop. I had a lot of computer work to do and need peace and quiet to concentrate. I got about half the work done, but it was still more than I could have done if I had been around all the machines and co-workers.

Thursday, I went to another meeting in Nairobi. In addition to the meeting, my coworker needed to run some errands. Therefore, the two of us went running around Nairobi (on foot) to find what he needed. Man! my feet hurt that night!

Friday, I was back at the workshop. I basically spent the day responding to emails and helping out my co-workers. I thought there was a meeting that night, but when no one showed after a half hour, I went home.

I have started taking Swahili lessons on Friday nights. This is usually my only free night (other than weekends) and I thought, "Since I'm in Kenya, why not learn Swahili from a Kenyan?"

Last Friday night I got to speak to my family on Skype. In total, I spent 3.5 hours talking to them (2 hours of that was with my brother!). I really enjoyed it!

Saturday, I rested. Sleep is wonderful!

Sunday, after church, I went with a friend of mine to Nairobi to meet some Master's Mission Missionaries. Although, we only had 2 hours with them, I enjoyed myself immensely. I got to talk with some of the wives about life in Kenya.

So that is a week in my life!