Trust

Why is trusting SO hard?

How many times has God come through for me and yet I still struggle to trust Him entirely?

It is so much easier sometimes to try and take control yourself, especially when God is not working in your timing.

Being in Kenya has shown me a lot about trust and where it should or shouldn't be placed. There is a saying that goes, "once injured, twice shy." That describes me pretty well in terms of trusting. Unfortunately, I also struggle with generalizing and therefore, if someone breaks my trust, anyone I met at around the same time or in the same situation suffers from that breach of confidence.

Case 1:
Setting: My house
Situation: The contents of my first aid kit and some money are missing
Characters: Two young kenyan ladies from different families

Neither of them admits to taking the money or the first aid supplies. So, in an effort to be fair, neither are allowed any more into my house without close supervision.

That should be the end, right? But no, since my trust in them is broken, my trust in their entire family and their friends is threatened. I have become overly suspicious of anyone entering my home. I struggle to trust even those I know are trustworthy and have an excellent reputation in Kijabe. WHY?

What is trust? Can you trust someone only partially? OR Does it mean that you have full and entire confidence in that person?

Case 2:
Setting: My life
Characters: God and me
Situation: My problems, struggles, and seemingly impossible obstacles

God saw fit to bring me into a personal relationship with Him very early in my life. As I grew older, he taught me more about what it means to be a Christian and how to follow Him. Only by His Grace and help did I make it through my adolescent years. He called me to serve him in missions and then provided me with ways to follow His Calling. God has worked out situations at the last minute, but in His Timing. He supernaturally orchestrated my arrival and ability to work and live in Kenya.

So, if He has come through and worked out SO MANY things in my life thus far, WHY OH WHY do I struggle to trust Him when my computer breaks?

Here's the story:
When my parents came out to Kenya last summer, they brought me over a new laptop because my old one no longer worked. It was supposed to be the toughest computer out there. Within the first few months the back USB port stopped working. Then, a second USB port stopped working with my modem. Now, within the last month, my final USB port started having problems. I have one month left on my warranty, so I called the technical support number.

Another missionary friend had also spoken to the tech support from this company and had warned me of the connection difficulties I might have.

However, when I called and was transferred to the right person, the whole call took less than 15 minutes! And that was even with being put on hold a couple of times!

1 point for God!

In the past, when I have called technical services for my computers, the person is Indian, Asian, or Hispanic, and while I have no problem/issue with any of these people as human beings or people, sometimes understanding them is difficult because of phone connection quality and accent. Imagine my surprise and delight when the man on the other end had a deep southern accent! What I blessing! I could understand every word he said. (Though we had to repeat ourselves a couple of times because of the internet connection.)

2 points for GOD!

This all happened on Wednesday night. All day Wednesday, I had been trying to back up my computer so I wouldn't lose any information when I sent it back to the computer company. Three time the back up had crashed. After talking with Technical support, I started the backing up the computer a fourth time and began worrying that I would never get a full back-up. Why was I worried? Hadn't God already come through for me twice just that day?

I found out that there were three ladies leaving on Thursday and one of these said she was willing to take the computer. Now, if only I could get the computer to backup itself.

Tic-toc, tic-toc. It's past 10 pm and I am still waiting for the back up to finish. It's at 64%. I use the time to talk to my family and a couple friends over the internet. Tic-toc, tic-toc. It is 11:15pm. I am falling asleep, but the back up successfully completed. Praise the LORD!

3 points for GOD!

I left the computer with the guard at CURE because I had to meet the 5am bus from Kijabe to Nairobi on Thursday and didn't know if I would be back in time to get the computer to the lady who volunteered to carry it.

Well, Thursday morning came too fast. I caught the bus (which was early), we hit minimal traffic, and it dropped me off much closer to my connecting station then I expected. The connecting bus filled quickly and I arrived at my destination an hour earlier than expected. Wonderful! Things were moving smoothly!

4 points God!

Now, by this point you should see that God has been providing for me in SO many ways over the last 15 hours and I should be trusting him to get me through the next 15, right?

Well, the Bible says, "The testing of your faith produces perseverance."

Enter testing. The lady who was going to carry my computer started having second thoughts. Once I finished what I needed to do in Nairobi, I hurried back to Kijabe. Half and hour before I arrived, I got a call from the lady saying that she couldn't take it. Now, what was I going to do? No one else from Lower Station Kijabe (where I live and work) was going to the States until mid June and that was too late.

But why was I worrying?
Hadn't God worked things out so far?
Where was my trust?
I know in my heart, but my head isn't following!

I arrived back in Kijabe, picked up my computer and prayed.
Then, it hit me, "What about RVA?"
I quickly called and found out that someone was leaving that very day for the US and might be willing to carry it for me. I tried calling the places the guy might be, but to no avail.So, since I needed to go up to RVA anyway, I picked up my computer and bags and headed up to the school (RVA). I met my Missionary friend, the one who recently sent his computer to the States for repair, and he helped me track down the departing missionary, Lamar. Lamar was very willing to carry the computer and it also gave him an excuse to purchase one of the snazzy RVA computer bags for his computer in the States! (He preferred this option over taking my bag and then having to send it to my parents.) He left last night and my computer is safely on its way to the US. This is an even better situation than the one that fell through before!!!!!

Now, why was I SO WORRIED? Why can I trust God with the big things like salvation from eternal punishment, yet I struggle to trust Him in the little things like getting a computer over the ocean in time for it to be repaired?

GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES! Why do I worry?

I think I need some supernatural help in trusting those who deserve it!

God Bless!

An Anchor in the storm

Hello Family and Friends!
The last few weeks have been not only busy, but also, very emotionally draining. The first week I travelled and house sitted. Last week, I was representing CURE International and LIMBS International at a christian health Conference. However, during this time three people I knew went to be with the LORD.


Ok, so let's started with the week of April 15th.

• On Tuesday, I spent the day in Nairobi interviewing 2 patients, helping 3 patients learn to walk correctly and then filming them. Then in the afternoon, I had a long meeting with the medical training college across the street from the hospital to talk about the possibility of them hosting a training workshop for LIMBS. I left at 7am in the morning and didn’t get back until 7 pm in the evening.
• Wednesday, a patient was supposed to come to be evaluated for the LIMBS system above knee prosthesis, but she never showed up.
• Thursday was by far my longest day. I accompanied the CURE mobile team to Embu because I needed to meet a patient/client there. We left Kijabe at 5 am and didn’t get back until 8:30 pm. I did get to see the patient and do what I needed to with him and after that I helped around the mobile clinic. One of the things CURE doctors do at mobile clinic is tenotamies (where they cut the Achilles tendon in order to enable it to lengthen and the foot to have better range of motion) on infants with clubfoot that is being treated by serial casting. Some mothers are fine holding their child during this 5 minute procedure, but yesterday the mother looked like she might pass out when the doctor explained what they were going to do to her child. For once, I could see she was very uncomfortable so I offered to hold the baby and let her sit outside. As I held the baby while the doctor and his assistants prepared, the baby promptly peed on the sheet on my lap under him! Go figure! I guess I bring out the best in everyone! The tenotamy went well and the child’s leg was casted in the corrected position. The hardest thing for me when holding a child that is undergoing a tenotamy is feeling the Achilles tendon snap. The feeling is a little freaky. Since Embu is about 4 hours away, when we left at around 4pm I knew we wouldn’t get into Kijabe until after dark. When I got back to the house it felt like midnight! However, it was only 8:30 so I took care of my evening responsibilities and tried to watch a movie. Bad Idea! I fell asleep halfway through!

I addition to my other responsibilities this week, I was house-sitting for a missionary family on vacation. This basically just requires me to feed their 5 cats and lock the youngest two in the storeroom at night. I were kind enough to let me stay in their house when I wanted/needed to this week and that has been a big blessing because they live halfway between my house and CURE so the distance to work is half. All my transportation this week has left from the hospital compound so being that much closer allowed me to sleep more than I could have if I stayed at my house. (For example, yesterday, I was able to sleep until 4am instead of 3:30am, etc.)

• Friday, I spent the morning in the house so I could focus on my write ups and admin work. The noise at the workshop makes it hard at times to write up a patient’s story/profile.

I wish I could say that was all that happened that week, but it wasn't. On Monday, I found out that one of my hallmates in college lost her father to cancer. This made me sad and caused me to start prayer for her and the rest the the grieving family. On Wednesday, an AIM missionary and friend of mine, Martha Pontier, had to be admitted to the hospital with a fever of 104 F. I found out on Thursday that another missionary friend of mine in Texas, Joe Comroe, went to be with LORD after fighting the effects of "Agent Orange" for the last several years. Friday, Martha seemed to be getting better, but by Saturday she had to be moved to a hospital room with Oxygen. Sunday morning she was in ICU. AIM worked as hard and fast as they could to get her medi-vacted to South Africa, but to no avail. Sunday night she was moved from Mombasa to a hospital in Nairobi. I got a call right after lunch on Monday, April 23rd, that Martha was in the arms of Jesus. Her illness had lasted 5 days from beginning to end!

Did I mention that this missionary was the sister to the missionaries whose house I was watching?

SO, in the course of a week I lost 3 people I knew. Each one hitting closer to home and more abrupt than the one before. I had only met my hallmate's Dad once, but I knew her VERY well. Joe and I both worked at Missionary TECH during my time in Texas and I got to know him and his family well. But as I said before, he had been suffering the effects of exposure to "agent orange" used in the Vietnam War for several years so his death by cancer was to be expected. Then, there was Martha. I first met her a couple months ago when I visited Mombasa. Then, I had gotten to know her even better when she came to Kijabe to stay with her niece and nephew while their parents, her sister and brother-in-law, were in India on business. The suddenness of her death hit me hard. In fact, I was looking forward to possibly meeting her again last week when I was down in Mombasa helping out her sister and niece with some organizing and renovations down there. 

Our exhibit table at the CHAK Conference

Then, there was this last week. Since Martha's illness, my trip to Mombasa had been cancelled. However, I was told Monday morning that the hospital (AIC-Cure International Children's Hospital) wanted me to represent them (and LIMBS International) at an exhibit booth during the annual CHAK (Christian Health Association of Kenya) conference in Limuru, about a half hour from Kijabe, starting Tuesday morning. This was definitely something orchestrated by God. When my trip to Mombasa didn't work out, HE filled my time with something else to keep my mind off the deaths of two dear friends. And you know, God even enabled me to stay calm in the midst of all the disorganization during the conference? The late nights and early mornings forced me to sleep at night and not think to much about the sorrows. The conference ended Thursday afternoon and I was exhausted! After a half hour accidental nap, I went to praise team rehearsal as scheduled, then, returned to my house and slept. 

Friday, I spent the day waiting for and building wheelchairs for someone who was supposed to pick them up, but never showed. 

"We interrupt this dialogue with a weather update." 

 "Due to the heavy rains this week and the tremendous rainfall last night [Friday], the tunnel leading to Kijabe is blocked and mud/landslides have blocked many parts of the only major access road to Kijabe and her hospitals"

This is the main road into Kijabe and yes, that is a full sized
railroad pylon at the men's feet!
(about a mile from the railroad and tunnel)

Full-sized tree swept down the hill into the middle of the
main road.

In front of the church. If you blow up the picture, you can
just see the the church gate to the right of the red motorcycle
and the church sign on the ground behind the two fallen trees.

This WAS the RVA fenceline! Everything is wiped
out from here to the gate.

The tunnel before it was cleared.

Above the tunnel/the railroad tracks!
The water went OVER the tunnel/railroad tracks!

The road directly after the tunnel /railroad bridge.

Another landslide blocking the road.

"Now back to your dialogue."

Judy and Me

As mentioned above, Friday nights heavy rain caused mudslides, landslides, and a flash flood that essentially cut Kijabe off from the outside world and on the one Saturday I HAD TO go to Nairobi. I was going to meet a friend that I had not seen in close to a decade and Saturday was our only chance to meet before she returned to Western Kenya to teach. Well, where there is a will there's a way! Since the tunnel was blocked I walked up the hill over the railroad tracks over the tunnel (about a mile) and caught a ride on the other side to Limuru and then on to Nairobi. I had a wonderful visit with my friend, Judy, and by the time I returned to Kijabe, the tunnel was clear and I was able to get transportation all way down to Kijabe. A long day, but it was worth it. 

Yesterday was Martha's funeral. Nine of her friends from Mombasa were able to make it to Kijabe to attend. Martha was the manager of Amani Acres, a retreat area for missionaries to escape their hectic lives and relax. Martha was loved by practically everyone she met and therefore many are devastated by her suddeen death. The funeral was full of stories about her hospitality, generosity, and love for Christ. Many of us in Kijabe prayed that the rains would hold off until after the funeral and God answered. The rain did not start until after the final shovel of dirt was laid on the grave! However, it was hard to see Martha being buried and her mother, who traveled all the way from the US for the funeral, was unable to stand in her grief and had her eldest son stand for her to do the necessary things. PLEASE KEEP THIS FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Now is a new week and I have more time to think.

Prayer Requests:

• For those grieving the loss of loved ones. Not only the ones mentioned above but also for the family that lost three children in Friday night's mud/landslide.
• Pray for me as I grieve. Losing two people I am close to in one week is hard and this week not as much is going on and I will have more time to think.
• I am trying to arrange a training seminar on the LIMBS knee for sometime this summer. Please pary that the details would work out. 
• Pray for those affected by the landslide, mud slides, and flash floods here in Kijabe. This is the worst mudslide and flooding Kijabe has had since anyone can remember. Several homes have either been entirely washed away or filled with mud. 
• Please pray that interest in the LIMBS knee would pick up and that these legs can get to those who need them most. 

Praises:

• God gave me and those with me safety during our travels.
• Praise God that Martha's Family was in Mombasa when she got sick and were able to be with her during her entire illness.
• Praise God for keeping my house and my neighbors safe during the flooding. 

1 Timothy 4:12

I realize this is out of order but I wanted to share it anyway.

I help teach AWANA at the local church here in Kijabe on Sunday afternoons. At the beginning of this year, the church started holding prayer meetings on Sunday afternoons for the upcoming elections in March. These prayer meetings started an hour after AWANA did so none of the other leaders could ever attend the meetings.

On Sunday March 2nd, the day before the elections, my phone service provider was acting up.  Any texts messages I received were delayed several hours. I arrived at AWANA on time, listened to the verses the children had memorized during the week, and then started game time. Only I and one other leader were there. However, as I was leading games, two other leaders showed up and told me that they had tried to text me that they had cancelled AWANA so they could attend at least one election prayer meeting. This obviously had been a DIVINE miscommunication because we already had many children at AWANA. The other leaders suggested that we just send the kids home, however, God gave me another idea. If it was so important for the AWANA leaders to go and pray for the elections, why not demonstrate the importance of prayer by having our own prayer meeting?

So while the other leader attended the prayer meeting, I divided the kids (ages toddler to 8th grade) into groups with at least 1 or 2 7th or 8th graders in each group to lead. Every group had a different aspect of the election to pray for. One prayed for the presidential race, one prayed for the numerous other races to would be voted on the following day, one group prayed for peace during the election, and  another prayed for peace after the election. Once I made sure each group knew what they were praying for, the groups each went to a different part of the field (where we hold AWANA) to pray. I cannot describe the joy I felt watching these young ones pray for their country. The adults of the church may have thought that these children were too young to participate in prayers, but God didn't. The leaders of each group made sure everyone in the group had a chance to pray, even the preschoolers. After all the group had finished prayer, we gathered back together for a final prayer and release the children to go home 15 minutes early.

God definitely had His Hand in the events of that day. He caused the text message cancelling AWANA to be delayed for several hours so I would be at AWANA that day. He gave me the idea to hold our own prayer meeting. He caused there to be the perfect number of 7th and 8th graders to lead the prayer groups and HE enabled even the youngest children to focus and concentrate for a full half hour during the prayers.

I was blessed and I hope this story blesses you as well!

Prayer Requests and Praises April 2013

Praises

• My travels went safely
• The Kenyan Elections went peacefully
• I am making more missionary friends
• My brother got engaged to his long time girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

Prayer Requests

• My emotions have been all over the place. Please pray for clarity and control.
• I feel like I am in that stage of culture shock where everything foreign is suspect. Please pray that I will have a positive attitude and patience.
• I have been told that I am pushing some people too hard. Please pray that I might have patience and show kindness when handling difficult people and stressful situations.
• Please pray for LIMBS relationship with the main government hospital in Kenya. The hospital  have been dragging their feet for over a year now, yet when you talk to the Head of the Department (HOD), he seems enthusiastic about the project and continued partnership with LIMBS International.
• Please pray for my mood. I have been down a lot recently.
• I am starting to make plans for going to the US at the end of this year. Please pray that things will go smoothly and that I find cheap airline tickets.
• Please pray for my Grandma who isn't feeling well.
• Please pray for my friend Nancy and her family. Her brother died last Thursday and they buried him today.

Its Raining, Its Pouring....

Welcome to the rainy season in Kenya! During this time of year you do your laundry any sunny day possible because no one knows when the next one will be. Last year, it took a week for my shoes to mostly dry.

The last few months we been busy! CURE Hospital (where i am stationed) closes two weeks before Christmas every year so shortly before Christmas, I visited a friend in Rwanda and we spent a couple days by some beautiful waterfalls in Uganda.

We came back to Kenya and two days later she left to visit another friend while I spent Christmas day in Kenya for the first time in my life. I visited friends and rested.

In Kenya, very little business happens after the second week in December so I basically had time off. In January, the country starts moving again and this year that included lots of politics! This is an election year for Kenya. Since the last elections in 2007 resulted in extreme violence, all missionaries were encouraged to stock up on necessary supplies in case we needed to stay in our houses for an extended time.

Praise the LORD there was minimal violence following the March 4th election and following court cases. In Kenya, if you want to contest an election result you take it to the supreme court and they will consider the evidence and make a decision. The presidential runner-up did take the results to court, but encouraged all Kenyans to remain peaceful. Easter Saturday, the supreme court announced that the results were valid and the winner was announced! PRAISE THE LORD there has been minimal violence!

I apologize about the sporadic nature of my posts. Sometimes, I sit down to write and get writer's block. Other times, I am so busy and stressed that I just forget.

Life is going fairly well. I am experiencing lots of what I feel is spiritual warfare. Work is going slow, but somethings are getting done.

LIKE......




THE  LOCAL KNEE HAS THE KEBS CERTIFICATION MARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so exciting because, as you know, I have been working on this for over a year!



In February, I finally got the chance to travel to Mombasa. It is like another country! The air is hot and humid. People walk at half the speed of those in other parts of Kenya and time is laid back. Mombasa was not part of Kenya before Kenya gained its independence. Mombasa originally belonged to the Amman but was included in the country after the British pulled out. Because of this, many natives of Mombasa do not consider themselves part of Kenya. This segregation is further intensified by the Kenyan Governments disregard for the area when it comes to allotting finances for development and infrastructure. The area is beautiful but there is a major shortage of fresh water. My reasons for travelling there were both business and pleasure. I needed to meet a LIMBS contact down there and see the facilities available for making prostheses. I spent half a Friday meeting with this individual and touring their facilities. They are the best I have seen in Kenya since I arrived. The rehabilitation Center even has a school for children who have to stay as inpatients for rehabilitation.

After finishing my business work, a friend of mine showed me around Mombasa and the Old Town Area. The view is beautiful from the wall by Fort Jesus.

We spent Friday night and Saturday on the coast and I got to go swimming in the ocean for the first time in three years! It felt SO GREAT! Ok, so I did have to watch out for sea urchins and be careful of riptides, but it was fun. I only wish I had my mask so I could see the fish better.

I really enjoyed the trip and was encouraged by the enthusiasm of my contact there.

February is also the month of my birth. I spent my birthday travelling to Meru with the CURE Mobile clinic. When my co-worker found out it was my birthday, he offered to go to the store and buy a cake. WELL, the icing on Kenyan cakes can be harder than rock. See my attempt to cut it below.

I eventually did get it cut open, but it gave us a good laugh! We even considered using the cast cutter if we had to!

After that trip, it was time to stay close to home in preparation for the elections. Even though the elections went peacefully, there was no guarantee of that peace beforehand. We had to be prepared for the worst because if things did get violent, we needed to be prepared.

Like I said before, the elections were peaceful.

I celebrated Easter with another missionary family and relaxed in the afternoon. I never thought Lamb and potatoes could taste SO good!

Life is settling back down to normal now.

Unfortunately, the stress has also gotten to me. For the last couple of weeks I have been stressed out trying to come up with a strategic plan for LIMBS in Kenya, pushing for progress in the assessment, and bridging the gap between Kenya and Texas.

In the week before Easter, I spent all-day Tuesday and part of Wednesday working from my house because I was afraid I might have an emotional breakdown.

I am not sure what is going on with me, whether it is hormones, stress, spiritual warfare, or a combination of all of them.

Some members of my family have told me just to return to the USA, but I know God has called me here and  you will have trials and struggles no matter where you are. Plus, I am NOT a quitter. God will provide.

Prayer Requests and Praises are coming in the next post.....

Give Thanks!

 It seems the longer I am in Kenya, the harder it gets to update. The last month has flown by!

Here are some of the highlights:

• A LIMBS leg came in for repair.  I spent the day making a new top block for the knee. Below is me sanding the block into shape. The black particulate that results from sanding is the same size as sawdust so if I don't cover everything, I get it in my hair, mouth, eyes, shirt, etc.. In the background, you can see the socket of the leg this knee belongs to.

• Thanksgiving with Ex-pats

This year I was really blessed! I was invited to join two different groups for Thanksgiving meals. Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, I worked until lunch and then celebrated the rest of the day.

At lunch, I ate with two missionary families that live about a 10 minute walk from my house.

My lunch plate (clockwise from the top):
Turkey, roll, broccoli casserole, potato gunk, stuffing, and cranberry sauce (imported from  USA)

After lunch, we got to talk and fellowship with each other. The host and hostess are engineers working in facilities planning in Kijabe hospital (located next to CURE where I am stationed). The other family that was there is designing a house to build in Kijabe and the former are helping them with the floor plans. Anyway, all that to say, I got to see the plans and offer suggestions as to how to make the changes the family wanted. I guess once you get a taste of facilities planning you always enjoy dabbling in it from time to time. I really enjoyed talking shop with other engineers and eating cranberry sauce (Did I mention that it is one of my favorite holiday foods?)

At around 6 pm, I joined a large group of singles in the boardroom at CURE for Thanksgiving supper. 

My plate at supper:
Stuffing, vegetables, crescent rolls, turkey, chicken,
mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli casserole 

I was stuffed after eating but the singles brought A LOT of food so we had lots of leftovers. We gave most of the leftovers to the people on night shift at CURE hospital. However, I am still eating leftovers from that meal (a week later). I have about two meals worth of potatoes left. 

This Thanksgiving was so different from last year's. This year, I got to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. Last year, I was on a mobile clinic and couldn't celebrate until Saturday. Last year, I knew almost no one. Now, I know many. So many, in fact, that I had to turn some down.  

• Worked my tail off in the department this week

The orthopedic department is already understaffed so if anyone technologist is out of the department for a day it creates problems. Well, on Wednesday, two technologists were out and Thursday, two technologists and a student were out. Because of this, I sat down for only about 10 minutes between 10 am and 5pm on Wednesday and on Thursday, I didn't leave the department until 8pm. I arrived back at the department today (Friday) at around 7:15 am. Thankfully, all the patients were seen and now I can write this update.

• I have been taking care of a 6 month old puppy for the last week. My house is very small and I also have a cat for pest control. A friend in my Bible Study is visiting family in the USA and asked for volunteers to care for her puppy. Two other families volunteered to care for him during the last four weeks she is gone, so I volunteered to watch him the first week. I forgot how time consuming caring for a dog is! After the first 5 days, I found a system that works to care for him. However, my week is now over and now he moves to the next family. 

So there you have it, an outline of my life!

PRAYER & PRAISE

Praise

• My Christmas shopping is done. All I need to do now is pack it up to send with  a friend going to the States for Christmas.
• I received an unexpected donation from my home church that will enable me to meet a friend working in Rwanda for Christmas.
• I got to talk with my family on Thanksgiving. 
• I got to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day!!!!!!!!!1

Requests

• There is very little unity in the Orthopedic Department right now. One technologist is tattling on another. Blame is being passed back and forth. There is major under-staffing (which is probably part of what is causing the tension), especially during mobile clinic days. PLEASE PRAY for UNITY in the department.
• I have a major decision to make in the coming months that I cannot go into detail about. God knows what it is and that's what is important. Please pray that I will have wisdom and discernment in this situation!
• My emotions have been everywhere recently. Please pray that I would remain Christ honoring in all I say and do.
• I am planning to fly to Rwanda on December 18th and then travel with my friend through Uganda and back to Kenya for Christmas. Please pray for us as we work out the details and pray for safety in travelling.

God Provides!

I spent last weekend in Western Kenya. I had LIMBS International business in Kisumu on Friday so I left with Doreen, a Orthopedic technology student on attachment at CURE, on Thursday. It takes 7 hours to get from Nairobi to Kisumu so since we wanted to arrive in Kisumu before dark, we wanted to take the 9 am bus. To do this, we needed to be in Nairobi by 7:30am in order to buy tickets. Nairobi is about an hour from Kijabe. Therefore, we needed to take the early bird matatu that leaves Kijabe at 5:15am! REALLY EARLY!!

Here we saw the hand of God!
 Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose." Well, we missed the early bird bus. BUT......... God provided a waiting public taxi to take us up the hill to the main road. And His faithfulness doesn't end there!

Once we reached the main road, we ran into the brother of one of the ladies in the praise and worship team I am a part of. He offered to take us to Nairobi on his way to Thika! Praise the LORD!
We made it to Nairobi around the same time as the early bird matatu would have arrived.

Now to be honest, I don't really like to take the early bird matatu because one of the conductors overloads the vehicle (which is illegal) and I don't know which days he conducts. However, when you need to get into Nairobi early that matatu is the only option unless you want to pay over ten times the price to hire a private taxi (assuming you even have the number for one) to take you up the hill. The next matatu leaving Kijabe is 3 hours later. When I realized we had missed the matatu I was really discouraged, but as I said God provided a public taxi (holds 6 people in a compact car) and then FREE transportation to Nairobi.

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

We made it to the bus station without further incident and bought our tickets. While we waited, we went to the supermarket and bought some food for the trip. A little after 9am we boarded the bus.
During the next 7 hours we alternated sleeping, eating, reading, and looking out the windows. Mostly, we slept.

We arrived in Kisumu around 4pm. It was great to arrive in during daylight (my first trip I arrived after dark). The Head of the Orthopedic department (HOD) at Nyanza hospital and own of his co-workers met us with a patient's car at the bus station and took us to the guest house where Doreen and I would spend the night. After freshening up a bit, the five of us went out to eat. The evening was enjoyable; filled with fresh fish and good company. I was asleep before I hit the pillow. I must have woken up sometime during the night because I vaguely remember thinking, "I should probably get under the covers."

Friday went well. I got my business done by 2pm so Doreen and I decided to travel. We spent Friday evening in Kakamega visiting some of her friends. Kakamega is 1 hour north of Kisumu. The main method of transport is bicycle, motorcycle, or piki-piki. When crossing the road these two-wheeled transports pose more of a risk than cars or trucks. Doreen's friends live in modest 1-room apartments that are smaller than my university dorm room was. However, the rooms don't seem that small because everyone moves in and around each others rooms and the shared compound. The toilets are communally shared as is the washroom.

Doreen decided to go to Kericho Saturday afternoon. On the way, Doreen introduced me to sim-sim. These are sesame seed balls held together by pure melted sugar and boy do they taste good! The little girl in the picture below was sitting in front of us in the matatu and is enjoying one of these balls.

The visit in Kericho was short but beautiful. Kericho is known for its tea farms and beautiful views.
Here is just one of the things we saw on our way back to Nairobi.

We took a bus back to Limuru and then transferred to a matatu that brought us to Kijabe.

View from our seats out the front of the bus.

What a Journey!

Praises:

• Made it to Kisumu, Kakamega, Kericho, and back safely.
• I have excellent new neighbors.

Requests:

• Getting over a cold. Please pray it disappears.
• I lost my phone while transferring vehicles last weekend. Please pray that I can get my contacts back.
• I have been struggling to get a good nights rest. Please pray that my sleep would be restful
• Work is getting stressful. Pray for patience, follow-through, and efficiency.
•  There have been a rash of break-ins recently. Please pray for safety, that the intruder is caught and justice is served.
• Pray for patience and unity in the Orthopedic department at CURE where I am stationed.