We blog at last!

Jambo Sana friends and family,

Sorry for the long delay in blogging. We arrived to Kenya safely last week. This has been our first opportunity to blog since we arrived. First we had no access to a computer and then we were without electricity for almost 3 days. It's Kenya!

My dad is loving Kenya and is already looking forward to his next trip. He experienced Nairobi traffic which is an experience one can do without! We have moved into our new home in Kibomet (a suburb of Kitale). It has been hectic to say the least. The house was full of contractors when we arrived and although it is still a work in process, it is comfortable and we are grateful.

We arrived in Kitale last Saturday evening and saw Lucy Sunday morning. She is boarded at Legacy school. They hold their own church service for the students that board. Then entire service is lead by the students and each week a guest pastor shares a message with the kids. These kids were amazing. Every time I see kids worship God, it brings tears to my eyes. Lucy is happy, growing and beautiful. She had the opportunity to meet her grandpa for the first time. She had a huge smile on her face when he hugged her and my dad cried. He was so excited to finally meet her. (I know, I come from a family of criers) She is able to walk to our house from her school. Our first day here 2 of the neighbor kids came by and introduced themselves to us as Lucy's friends and wanted to know if Lucy was home! We get to have her every weekend we are here. We are blessed as this is a special compensation. We did not even ask because we did not want to disrespect the rules of the school. She will spend the night at the house with us. We are so looking forward to having her.

We have been to Mt. Elgon 3 times since we have arrived and so far no wild adventures to report. This is the first time we have been on the mountain and there has been no rain. The army now has a permanent presence on the mountain so they are actually making real roads up there. Although we believe it has been pretty easy drives, my dad begs to differ. It is still a bit like off roading. I am missing the adventure of it all and hope there is at least one before we leave. Perhaps when Pastor Mike arrives. One has not experienced the mountain until they have been stuck or stranded in some way. it is kind of like an initiation or a right of passage. My dad was given his Sabot name today. It is Ngeywo which means wise elder. Mike and I however believe it really means old man!

The testimonies we have been hearing from the people on the mountain have been beyond what we could ever imagine. And yes, they have made me cry but not just me. Mike and Butaki were also overcome with emotion by what the people were sharing. One of the pastors told us he wished we could understand their tribal language because the translation did not do it justice. Mike and I however thought it was all very powerful. There have been numerous testimonies, all powerful. We would like to share 2 of them with you.

One woman said she was distraught because she was unable to provide food or school fees for her child. Since the project, her child has attended school the last 3 years. During the land clashes on the mountain last year, her extended family was displaced. She had 25 people living in her home and she was able to provide for all of them!!

Pastor Martin shared there was a woman who wanted to give her testimony and was waiting at her shamba (farm) for us. Unfortunately due to time, we were unable to make it. One of the recipients of the planting seeds project felt prompted by God to go and visit this particular woman who was a neighbor. When she did, she discovered the woman had NO food and her child was very sick. So the recipient gave the woman some food and took her child to the hospital for treatment and paid the bill. Several days later, the neighbor came to the recipients home and asked her where she fellowshiped and asked if she could attend church with her (she was not a Christian). The woman went to church with the recipient and accepted Christ! She will be a recipient of the planting seeds project this year and we will be distributing seed to her next week! We can't wait to meet her in person.

There was a church meeting for widows at one of the churches Fruited Plains works at. I was asked to give a message. God had put Psalm 23 on my heart- "The Lord is my shepherd..." In preparation I educated myself about the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep and that David, the author of Psalm 23 was a shepherd as a boy. Anyways, after I finished my message the women were asked to go outside and each was presented with a sheep as a gift from the church. I had no idea the women would be receiving this gift. How well it tied in with the message! Coincidence, I think not.

Tonight 2 friends from Saddleback Church arrived and will be staying with us for the next week or so. Pastor Mike (our pastor at Mission Hills) will arrive on the 4th. We will have a full house. We are sleeping very well here. Our beds our very comfortable which is a nice change and no more dirty mosquito nets hitting us in the face as we sleep!

Tomorrow we walk the farm with Richard and we pick Lucy up in the afternoon. Now that our computer is hooked up and we have electricity (pray it continues) we should be able to blog more frequently. Please pray we all remain in good health and that God would work through us as this is our greatest desire! The people here continue to go out of their way for us and do so much more for us then we could ever do for them. How blessed we are!

We love you all and look forward to hearing from you as well!