Kwaheri Kenya, Until Next Time...

Hello friends and family,




We are now in Nairobi. We have had a great trip. Mike and I had the opportunity to go hiking and cave exploring on Mt. Elgon one day with Butaki. The caves are amazing and some go as far as Uganda. Some have paths that lead to under ground rivers. The only draw back were the bats!! Thousands of them--I am not exaggerating! We then went for a hike where Butaki grew up. We had a bunch of kids who saw us and trailed behind. There is just something about African children. They are soooooooooooooooo beautiful. We received a call from Stephen Mairori (who found out we were on the mountain) and asked us to to come to a peace rally in Keptama (a division of Mt. Elgon) We were wearing hiking shoes and pants. The peace rally had pastors from all over and the District Commissioner for Mt. Elgon attending. They were all dressed in coats and ties, not hiking shoes and cargo pants! As we were making our way to the van, I stepped in mud and my entire foot was covered and I some how managed to get it all over the back of my pants. We arrived at the peace rally apologizing for our appearance. Stephen reassured us it was no problem as he buttoned up Mike's shirt and told him to tuck it in his pants. Yeah right, no problem. Not much he could do about my appearance. He of course stuck us in the front row facing the audience. Here we are innapropriatley dressed and me covered in mud (I can not manage to stay clean no matter how hard I try!!) Stephen then asked us to speak to the people about peace and forgiveness. It all went well and no one seemed to mind that we were under dressed and a bit unclean. Of course, the people are so polite they probably would not say anything even if they thought it.



On our last day in Kitale, we went to say goodbye to the boys at the house and Edwin was not there. He apparently ran away. We were worried and said a quick prayer for him. After we left we went to spend some time with Lucy before we had to leave. Mike (who is becoming quite the driver in Kitale) took a different route to Sr. Freda's house where Lucy lives. We saw someone sleeping on the side of the road. It was Edwin! We believe that God lead us to him. We sat on the ground and held him while he cried. We then spent some time talking with him about what happened. He unfortunately was not taking any responsibility for his part of the situation but he was willing to go back to the house to try and work things out. He has come such a long way and we were able to help him see that living back on the streets was not an option he wanted. We felt very relieved we found him and that he was willing to stay at the house and meet with Lydia and Geoffrey to work things out.



Saying goodbye to Lucy went well for the first time ever. She did not shut down like she usually does. She gave us BIG hugs and knows we are coming back. We called her today as it was her first day at her new school. She sounded excited-- Yes, Lucy has found her personality! She likes her new school very much. We are very happy and feel such a peace about where she is attending. We pray for good teachers to encourage her.



Yesterday we met with a business man named Ken who is interested in Executive Coaching. He interviewed me by giving me a real situation to coach him on. It was a blast and went well. Mike said he watched Ken's face as "the light bulb went on". He asked to meet with us again today. We went to a place called Beacon of Hope. His wife Jane started it. It is an amazing center that started as a place to help women who are HIV Positive. There is a medical clinic, vocational training, a pre-school, counseling, and training for family members in home health care to save on costs. This center is bringing people to Christ and giving them purpose and hope. Jane and Ken are amazing Christian people who are brilliant and of high integrity. Beacon of Hope is definitely a place to visit in the future.



Our only regret on this trip is that as much as we were on the mountian, we did not realize that their are many families still displaced and living in tents on the mountain in IDP camps. Had we have known, we would have spent time with these people just to share God's love and offer encouragement in any way we could. If it were not for responsibilities we have at home, we would be on the next plane for Kitale and back on Mt. Elgon to be with these amazing people. Our hearts ache that we did not spend time with them.



By the time you read this, we will probably be in the air heading home. Over all, it was a great trip and we accomplished alot. There is more to share but will do so in person. We love you all and appreciate the prayers. We both stayed healthy on this trip!!!!! Hopefully the "elephants" are not near by!

God's light continues to shine on Mt Elgon

Jambo Sana from Kenya. Yesterday was an amazing day. I did a girls conference on Mt. Elgon. I talked about issues that all teenage girls face including abstinence. Towards the end of the conference the rain began and the sound of the rain on the iron sheet roof of the church was deafening. We had to stop and wait. I had a strong sense that I was to extend an invitation to accept Christ. The problem was, no matter how loud we shouted (me and Rispa my friend and interpreter) the girls could not hear. When the rain falls on Mt. Elgon, it lasts for a very long time and does not let up. I prayed that if this was something God wanted me to do, He needed to provide a way. Suddenly the rain stopped!! I asked the girls to bow their heads and if they have never accepted Christ into their lives and if they wanted a relationship with God and to live God's way vs. the worlds way to raise their hands while their heads remained bowed. About 50-60% of the girls raised their hands. I thought they must have misunderstood so I asked again for those who have never made this decision, to keep their hands raised. Not one girl lowered their hand. I then asked if their were any girls who had not remained sexually pure but wanted to renew that commitment from today forward to remain pure until marriage to raise their hand, almost every remaining hand in the room went up! It was incredible. As soon as I finished praying for these beautiful young ladies, the rain started to pour again. God is so amazing!

We are having a wonderful time with Lucy. We have had some great conversations. The more time we spend together, the more she is talking-some English, some Swahili. We got Lucy into a new school, the one we were wanting to get her into so today we took her school shopping. She is always so grateful and only asks for the things she needs. She is a good girl!

We took the boys from the first boys home that we started along with Philip Hamer to our traditional dinner at Pinewood. The amount of food they consumed was insane. They are such great boys. Bramwel won't eat Chinese food because they eat dogs in China but he ordered a whole fried fish, plucked the eye out and ate it!! UGH!!!!!!! We had a great time with them.

We are having a great time and accomplishing a lot. Please continue to pray for us. So far, we have remained healthy but I should not call the elephants until we are up in the tree!

Don't Go Calling the Elephants Until You Are Up In The Tree

We are continuing to have great experiences in Kenya. Mike and Butaki did 2 business conferences on Mt. Elgon at 2 different churches. They did a great job. They were able to explain that they will be receiving the miracle maize and that they will be trained on companion planting and how to make their own compost. They were able to realize further ways to reduce costs and increase profits. Most people did not understand how to calculate expenses to determine profits. They were so excited to hear about how the Planting Seeds Project will help them become self-sustaining. The business management side will further assist them. I had the privilege of giving the sermon at Harry's church last Sunday. It was an honor to have him interpret for me. I spoke about how no matter how impossible our circumstances are, God is bigger. I used the lives of David (David and Goliath), Daniel (den of lions) and Joseph as part of the message. Before I got up to speak, Butaki shared briefly with the congregation that God had put it on his heart to encourage them that God was doing great things on the mountain and that they must have great faith like David when he faced Goliath and Daniel in the den of lions. He had NO idea what my message was on. It was great confirmation to me that God had prepared this message for this congregation on this day! After the service the women were serving us lunch when all of a sudden the rain hit which meant we had to go! We ran out and discovered we had a flat tire!! We had a spare, but no tools! It took about an hour but the tire was changed. About 12 men physically lifted the van so the tire could be replaced. We were not sure we were going to make it down the mountain but what we did. We have a saying here, when ever someone says, "It looks like it will not rain", the response is, "Don't go calling the elephants until you are up in the tree." In Mt. Elgon, you never know when the rain will hit and when it does, you are not going anywhere. We were very careful not to call the elephants on Sunday but they came just the same. We have spent some time with Lucy. We were able to get her enrolled in a new school. It is a private Christian school. We have a peace that this is where she is suppose to be. She has been very unhappy at her current school. She is not at the bottom of the barrel as they say but she has a pretty good view! We are praying that she will receive the encouragement she needs to bring her grades up at this new school. Tomorrow I will be doing a conference on Mt. Elgon (where else) for teenage girls. As usual, I did not find out about it until last week. Please pray for me. You all know how I like to be well prepared. God is teaching me to trust in Him. I am actually excited as I love ministering to teens. Lucy will be coming along. We have also spent time at Freda's feeding program playing with the kids and assisting in serving them lunch. The kids are so cute. I love spending time with them. I know so much more has happened but I need to sign off for now. Thank you for your prayers and comments. We love you all.

It's always an adventure on Mt. Elgon!

Well, we made it to Kenya. After 2 days of travel we woke up early our first morning here and headed up to Mt. Elgon with Butaki, and Philip and Dalene Hamer. We are very blessed to have the incredible talent of Philip to put a video together of the Saboat People giving their testimonies of how they have benefited from Fruited Plains. We will show this at the benefit on October 4th. It was also a blessing to spend time with Philip and Dalene in a place we love so much with people we love so much. The ride up to Mt. Elgon is always an adventure and the roads are even worse. It is more like off roading than anything else. Unfortunately, Dalene and Philip were a little under the weather which made the ride up a challenge for them. Every time we go to Mt. Elgon it is a new experience and this time was no different. First, the starter on the van came loose due to all the banging around we did. No one knew exactly how to fix it so we had to park each time we arrived at a new homestead on a down slope so we could get a rolling start and then jump start it. Thank God we were on a mountain where there were plenty of hills! We then were eating lunch in one of the churches we assist when we were hit with thunder, lightning, RAIN, and hail! Philip decided to use this as an opportunity to teach the children Spanish and Japanese. Once the rain stopped, we waited to determine if we could make it up the mountain to ICM where we planned on spending the night. We played out front with the children in the meantime. Mike and I entertained them with our "stupid human tricks" which they seemed to appreciate. We knew our talents would come in handy one day. Butaki determined that there was no way we could make it to ICM but there was a school we could walk to and stay the night there. School was out of session so we could sleep in the dormatory. A new adventure! There was no running water or electricity and of course the restrooms were nothing more than a tin shack with a hole in the ground. We sat in the staff room as day turned to night. We took out our flashlights and Mike entertained us with unrecognizable hand puppets. They put a small pot of charcoal (not what you are thinking. It is actually pieces of burnt wood) to keep us warm and they cooked some maize on top of it. Around 8:30 pm some of the women waked in with a lantern carrying pots full of food for us! Their hospitality is amazing. Cooking is not an easy process for these women and they took it upon themselves when they heard we were stranded to pull together and prepare food and bring it to us. We then headed for our sleeping quarters for the night. Mike and I had the "Pent House Suite" as you had to walk up some steps to get to our section of the dorm. The door to the dorm house had iron bars but no glass, their were window panes missing in our rooms, it was cold and we had no mosquito nets. I know we should have been miserable but Mike and I could not have been more full of peace, contentment and joy. It has to be a God thing because any where else, I would have been MISERABLE. Unfortunately, Philip and Dalene were not feeling well and this was definitely not the place to be when you are sick. We felt so bad for them. They were such troopers and despite everything, we laughed a lot and had a great time. During the night We were woken several times by a baying donkey that lead a chorus of barking dogs and other unidentifiable animals. We discovered the next morning that the donkey had been right outside our window the whole night. I know I am a vegetarian but I was tempted to have a little cooked donkey for breakfast!! We heard some amazing testimonies from the people both days on the mountain. The children who were once afraid of us were now excited by our visit. There was one exception to this however. As we crossed a farm, there was a very young girl, maybe 2 years old. She did not seem scared so I slowly approached her. Suddenly from behind me I heard another child shouting and suddenly the toddler with a stricken look on her face "ran for her life", screaming and crying. I turned around and Butaki was almost lying on the ground he was laughing so hard. Apparently, the girl saw me approach her little sister and thought she was in danger and screamed to her, "My sister is in danger. She will be gone forever." On Mt. Elgon, the people tell their children ghost stories. Guess who the ghosts are in these stories? Yep, it is us Mazungoos (white people). We made it down the mountain safely. I should also let you know (Kathleen) Philip and Dalene are both feeling much better today! We have not been able to see Lucy yet but will go get her this afternoon. I can't wait!!!! I miss her soooooooooooo much. I will blog again soon!

Heading back to Kenya

Hello friends and family,

We are leaving for Kenya on Friday the 15th. We look forward to sharing with you all that God is doing there. Please keep us in prayer.

We are on our way home

This has been our first opportunity to blog since last time. We did not have access to a computer. We headed up to Mt. Elgon on Easter morning but due to the heavy rains, we did not make it to the church we intended. Even with a 4x4 the mudd on the mountain is so slick and thick that heavy rains prevent you from going to far. We were disappointed as we were looking forward to seeing our frineds again and they began preparing for our visit the day before. We did however attend a church lower on the mountain. It was actually really great. There was a woman who gave her testimony. She had been dispaced from her home higer up on the mountain. She had lost everything and yet here she was in a small church made of mudd and dung in the pouring rain, giving God thanks. These people never cease to amaze me. I learn so much from them.

We are now at the Nairobi airport getting ready to leave. This has been a strange trip in that we did mostly administrative work and less ministry. It was extremely productive but I missed spending time with my friends on the mountian. It was hard to say good-bye to lucy. She did her usual shut down mode the day we left. We had a real good time with her however.

Our plane should be boarding so we will see you all on the other side of the pond!

A Sea of Tents

Yesterday was a great day! After spending the majority of our time in meetings, it was great being out with the people doing ministry and having the opportunity to fellowship with them. We visited two Refugee Camps. The first was at the Show Grounds in Kitale and the second was at Endebess. Lucy was nervous to go to Endebess as this is where we found her. There are a lot of bad memories for her there. She stayed close to my side. There are 5,500 refugees at the Show Grounds and 8,000 at Endebess. It was a sea of tents at both camps. The small tarp covered shelters have now been replaced with large tents that can house a family. There was one family of seven that did not have a tent and was living in a 5x20 shelter on the camp. You have no idea just how small that is! This family was from Mt. Elgon. They fled their home and have no idea what will be left when they return. They had a 15 year old daughter named Sylvia that was so bright and had such a good heart. I could have spent all day talking to her. I sense God has great things in store for her. At these camps, you see people with what ever they were able to grab before they fled. Some were able to leave with their cows which would at least supply them with milk for their family. I spent most of my day with the children. All it took was squatting to their level, smiling, and extending my hand. Before I knew it, I was the Pied Piper with many children in tow. When my hands and arms were covered with the hands of my little friends, they began holding on to my legs as we walked through the camp. These children who had lost their homes and in some cases; families, amazed me. It was remarkable how a smile and loving touch could brighten their faces. There was one girl who was about ten that kept a bit of a distance yet every time I turned around, there she was. After extending my hand and giving her the traditional greeting, “Jambo Sana. Habari Yako?” (Hello! How are you today?) I gently touched the side of her face and told her she was beautiful. The smile that brightened her face will forever be embedded in my mind. Mike stayed at the house to get some rest. He jokingly said before I left, “You’re not going to bring back another child are you?” There was one small boy who was about 2 years old whose parents were killed during the violence. If it were not for an extended family that had taken him in, Lucy may have had a brother! Sr. Freda conducted a medical clinic at the first refugee camp. It was run so efficiently. I assisted in dispensing de-worming medication to all the children. Children in America hate taking medication yet these small ones lined up and could not wait to receive the treatment that would provide some relief. Most of the refugees at both camps were from Mt. Elgon. I was really surprised to learn this. It breaks my heart that these people are displaced. The Saboat people have been struggling for so long. It is the rainy season and they are anxious to get back to their shambas (farms) to plant so they will have food for the year. According to the Member of Parliament that was speaking at Endebess, the government will need to assist them with seed and fertilizer. Even if their homes were burned, it would be better to live in a tent on their own land then to be in the camp. I pray that God, through Fruited Plains, will reach every village on Mt. Elgon with “Miracle Maize” and fertilizer. How great it will be to reunite one day with the new friends I met in the camps back on the mountain as we rejoice together over God’s provision. The thought of this brings tears to my eyes! Please continue to pray for the spiritual and physical needs of these amazing people.

Green Acres here we come!

Another productive day in Kitale. This trip has been filled mostly with administrative meetings. Butaki’s vision makes me nervous. He can see things much further down the road then I can. Today we planted some avocado trees, orange tree, macadamia nut tree and grapefruit tree on our property. We are turning into quite the little farmers. “Green Acres here we come!!” I am literally a “red neck” as it is sunburned. I am even looking at egg shells, table scraps and corn stalks differently. I see them as a means to make compost (fertilizer) instead of trash or items to be burned. What in the world is happening to me?? ICM is going to start saving all of these things for us so we can make compost from them. They have a large kitchen where they cook meals for all the pastors at the school so there should be plenty available. What is one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
The rainy season has begun! Our land is planted and God has now sent the rain to begin the growing process.
Please pray for Mike as we think he might have strep throat. This is the exact same thing that happened when he was here in February. We gave him a stronger antibiotic and he is taking Pretesone (a steroid) Freda is making a house call tomorrow morning. God bless Freda. What would we do without her?
Tomorrow we are going to travel with Steve Rutenbar, Don Thompson and Freda to various refugee camps. We will pick Lucy up in the morning from school and have her until Monday!!! That is all for now. We love you all.

We are officially farmers- yee haw!

Hi friends and family. We are now officially farmers!! We planted about 10 rows of “miracle maize and beans.” We had 22 people show up to plant. It was amazing!! I am turning into a complete dork. I can’t believe how excited I was to work on a shamba (farm). I Was so excited that the workers were laughing and joking with us which made it all the more fun. 5 acres is a lot!! Mike, Butaki and I prayed over the land. I Believe God is going to do things beyond what we can imagine. It is falling in place bit by bit. We continue to have a lot of meetings. All of which have been fruitful! It is way too much to blog but please continue to pray that we are obedient to what ever God calls us to.
Mike went to see Freda today and she took good care of him. He definitely has the flu but this evening he is starting to feel better. We went to try and spring Lucy from school Friday so we can spend a long weekend with her. Mike stayed in the van. As I walked towards the office 3 dogs came charging at me growling and barking. I turned around and ran for my life!! A worker at the school ran out of the building and stopped the dogs before they reached me. My legs were jelly. I was thinking, “Great, my friends are afraid I am going to be shot are attacked with a machete while in Kenya, and I end up being killed by 3 guard dogs!”
Tonight we took the boys to Pinewood for dinner (a tradition) It was so much fun. Mike and I recently watched Glue Boys before we left for Kenya and had a reminder of just how far these boys have come . To see where those boys were and where they are at now is just amazing. You would never believe these boys once lived on the streets. They are smart, happy and so loving. We are having a great time with friends and family here in Kenya.
We love you all and appreciate your prayers and blogs.

We are in Kitale

H I everyone,
This is our first opportunity to blog. We are safe. Mike has the flu so please pray for him. A few highlights: We saw Lucy and she is beautiful and happy! She has been having some severe neck pain and of course I jumped to the conclusion that she has meningitis. She does not have meningitis but does have Typhoid. She is on some good drugs and getting better. We are looking at having her attend a new school next year. We had a 2 hour meeting with one of the originators of this quality Christian school. We were very impressed. We have had several productive meetings. We are truly living the verse Hebrews 3:20 “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than you would ever dare ask or imagine.” Fruited Plains is getting ready to get big quick! Only God will be able to accomplish the vision He has given us. Please pray that we follow His lead in all things and not mess up His plan! There is a curfew here in Kitale. We have to be in by 7:00 every night. As most of you know, we have many evening business/fellowship meetings that don’t even start until this time. Although this curfew is a pain it is also a blessing as it forces us to get the rest we don’t usually get. The curfew is going on because the situation is bad. The military is all over the mountain shooting and bombing trying to find the SLDF. There are some radicals who have decided they want all their original land back which has caused many problems. Many innocent people are being killed. The military believes the SLDF is trying to hide out in Kitale which is why the curfew is in effect. We can’t imagine not going to Mt. Elgon!! This past year and half, although there has been danger, we have always been able to go as long as we had security. This time, security may not be enough. We are praying that we will get word that we can go. You all know how we love these people but we will not be stupid, we will not put our lives in danger so please don’t worry (mom, dad and Linda). It is hard though to come all this way and not be with our friends. Tomorrow Mike and I are actually going to plant our 5 acres (Well, at least a couple of rows) How crazy is that? Two city slickers! There is so much to share and so much to do. We love you all. Please continue to pray for us. We would love to hear from you.

Leaving for Kenya on March 13th

Hi friends and family,

We leave for Kenya Thursday. We will try and give daily updates but will not be able to until around the 17th when we arrive in Kitale. We have a ton to do and very little time as we are only gone 2 weeks. We would love to hear from you as well. Until then, Kwaheri! (good bye)