Saved By God's Grace: Our journey in following God to Kenya

How do you tell a child God loves them yet do not fill their stomach?  I know, I know “…man does not live on bread alone…”  (Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV, emphasis added).  But as I was thinking and meditating on that question and verse the word alone jumped out at me.  To me there is a lesson to be learned here…we need bread (food) to live, surprised!?

You may already know that from basic science of the human body… food = energy.  If I need food then how can I overlook those who aren’t getting food?  For me it was very easy in the States where any type of food is available 24/7.  It was easy to be obsessed with food – what will I eat, how much will I eat, how little will I eat, am I eating too much, am I eating too little, where will I eat, when will I eat, when will I eat again…I think you get the idea.  It was easy to think everyone, everywhere had enough food.   

Tala is just one small speck in this world, but it’s the speck on the globe where God has called Chuck and I to live.  Living here I’m finding it easier to see those who do not have even their basic needs being met.  Are there more people here than in the States who are going hungry, absolutely.  But even being surrounded by needs I find I can close my eyes to it…that selfish, wicked heart rears its ugly head.  God always finds a way though to open my eyes to the need He wants me to see and whether I am able to help or not I say a prayer to our Heavenly Father because I know:

• “the LORD will hear when I call to him“, He will “be merciful to me and hear my prayer“, “You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry” – Psalm

As it says in Brandon Heath’s song:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

I believe we can all open our eyes, no matter where we live, and allow God to show us what He wants each of us to see and how He wants each of us to respond.

Didn’t realize it was this weekend until I started reading on Facebook all the yipees for a long weekend.  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and may the Lord bless you with a relaxing Monday…although I’ve been told that Labor Day means you work especially hard on that day!  Come on, who’s with me on that!?  That’s what I thought…have a great day!

“Waiting on God brings us to the end of our journey much faster than on our feet.”

Friday we traveled to Nairobi to pick up our good friend, Charlotte.  She was working throughout Africa for the past few months and before heading home was able to spend a few days with us.  Actually we take her back to the airport on Sunday…too short a visit but thankful to have her here for even this short time.

After arriving home Friday night we basically sat around talking, eating popcorn and catching up on email (Charlotte has been “in the bush” for awhile so was thrilled to be able to get on a computer with no limits on time!).  Saturday morning while Chuck made breakfast for him and Charlotte (I’m not much of a breakfast eater – chapati and peanut butter for me) I was on the phone with a friend from Phoenix. 

We had a bad connection on the phone but we were able to catch up on a lot of “stuff”.  After I got off the phone I sat with Chuck and Charlotte, drank coffee, ate my chapati and talked and talked and talked.  We all said it was NOT a typical Saturday where we were in our pj’s well into the morning.  But we finally got around to taking a shower and getting ready for the day.

This is how our day went…

Mwaitu & Mary shelling peas

Bella on the prowl

admiring the beautiful flowers

The baby calf is growing

Charlotte gets a tour of the Academy

This lamb was born just the night before!

It's goat hide-n-seek!

Saying goodbye at the Academy

That brings us to 4pm Saturday afternoon.  We are now home, resting/relaxing after the walk – it was very hot out today, ok not as hot as in Phoenix, but it was nice to sit down with a drink of water and relax.  Chuck is on the phone with his parents and then we will make pizza with Charlotte – yummy!  Not sure what the rest of the day will bring but I’m sure we’ll be having tea later with Gideon and Pauline who have both been busy all day today and haven’t had a chance to sit and visit with Charlotte.

Just a little side note, I was able to pet the baby lamb.  At first when I went up to it the mom stamped her hoof and grunted at me so Chuck held her back a bit so I could reach out and pet him.  He’s so cute and soft but I didn’t want to upset mom too much so it was quick.  Next I’ll be learning to milk the cow…that will be video worthy I’m sure!  This city girl is learning a thing or two about farm living!

Guess we relax today, tomorrow we take Charlotte back to Nairobi and then Tuesday school begins again…but daily life is daily life no matter where you live.  Thought I’d let you see another glimpse of our life here in Tala.

Jacinta Kanana (Child No. MC115)

Jacinta’s mother and father have both died.  She was living with her older sister, who gave permission for Jacinta to live at Mercy Child Foundation in Koma, Kenya. 

She was born August 26, 1994 in Meru, Kenya and has one brother and one sister who live elsewhere. 

Jacinta’s favorite color is maroon and she likes playing netball (basketball). 

Her favorite class is Math because she understands it and her least favorite subject is Social Studies because it’s hard. 

Her chores at the orphanage include fetching water, washing utensils, washing clothes and mopping.  When her chores are finished she likes studying. 

Jacinta is among several children who are ready for sponsorship.  To choose a child to sponsor, please visit our Sponsorship Gallery.

Not necessarily a routine morning here in Tala but here’s how our morning has gone so far and it’s only 9am Thursday!

1. woke up at 5am to be ready for a 5:30am Skype call with friends back in Phoenix
2. a big thank you to Doyle for the Starbucks which helped wake us up!
3. talked with friends and saw them all relaxing at the Miles’ home…yup I remember going to the frig and getting a nice, cold glass of tea
4. felt like being with the group again, thanks everyone!
5. after getting off Skype I began making pancakes (remember I said it wasn’t necessarily a routine morning!)
6. as I’m making pancakes I see Bella “playing” with something only to find out it’s a 2″ cockroach she has killed – although that deserves a yipee!
7. but as I’m working I can hear Bella crunch, crunch, crunching the cockroach which doesn’t do much for my appetite
8. finish making breakfast, clean up the remains of Bella’s kill then sit down to eat and discuss what we’d like to do today
9. check Facebook and email
10. write this blog post to give you a very slight idea of what one morning was like here in Tala!

Not sure what the rest of the day will bring but I’m praying that whatever comes up I am open to God’s direction whether that be in the ordinary doings of life or something more and He be glorified. 

“…encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  Hebrews 3:13

Building friendships is not an easy thing to do no matter where you live or what culture you are in.  It takes time, sacrifice and willingness (plus a mutual language is usually helpful).  I’ve been missing relationships lately…friends to have coffee with, who I know and they know me, family who love to watch movies with me or just sit around talking.  Sometimes I miss my kids so much it literally hurts but am I putting too much emphasis on relationship building?  Not that I don’t think it’s important but shouldn’t I sit down with God, have a cup of coffee and just talk?  Shouldn’t I get to know Him better?  Shouldn’t His friendship be more fulfilling than any other? 

Perhaps when I begin to take that to heart new friendships will begin to blossom.  Until then I think I’ll go have a cup of coffee with my Friend.

…I have called you friends…John 15:15

We’ve received several of our secondary school (high school) students scores and we got mixed results.  These are the students who are sponsored by Nice View Academy therefore we are paying their school fees and materials. 

Most of the boys have done pretty well the second term – bringing in B’s while one student went from a B to a D (but we heard he had been sick most of the term).  The girls however have not done as well.  Most went from B’s to D’s and E’s.  The reasons we heard were varied and some quite legitimate – one girl said she couldn’t see the board (we are sending her to an eye doctor), one said the work in the first term was mainly repetition of 8th grade and second term was new material so much harder. 

Whatever the reason we had a talk with a few of the students to find out what happened and to encourage them to work hard.  We emphasized that we could only do so much to help them with their education (getting books, glasses, etc.) but they would have to ultimately do the work to succeed.

Some girls do not feel education is important…they see their mothers (if they have one), aunts, grandmothers etc. who got married very early, had kids and that was their life.  Now they see the same future for themselves so why bother with education.  I’m praying and I ask for your prayers also that this is not the case with these girls.  May they see the love of Christ in the opportunity of having an education, may they work hard at their studies and bring their grades up, may they resist temptation from others to forgo their studies to have fun.  We explained to them the importance of a balanced life – yes study, yes have fun, yes socialize…all these things must be in balance with their main focus being their relationship with Christ.  He is the one who will give them the strength to continue on.

In Nice View we also received Zone scores (zones are smaller than districts so approximately 34 schools in our zone).  The students weren’t lower than position 4 in any of the Classes and Class 5 (5th grade) was in position 1!  What a great achievement and I’m so proud of them…now for prayers they will continue working hard and keep up the scores as they end the school year in November and move forward in their classes in January.

Please also pray for our wisdom in this area…when do you tell a student “your grades aren’t holding up so we can’t pay for your school fees anymore” or how do you tell if a student isn’t putting in the effort?  We’ve told many of them that sponsors from the US do not want to see failing grades and we expect better from them, but what if it’s just not in that student?  Where do you draw the line?  Not an easy place to be because I would love for all the students to WANT to do good, to WANT to succeed, to WANT nothing more than to please the Lord in their work but not everyone will feel that way so when do we say enough is enough?

A big THANK YOU goes out to our friends at DBCC (Desert Breeze Community Church).  We recently received two packages filled with just about everything off our Current Wish List, along with these t-shirts.  I can’t express how wonderful it felt to know we haven’t been forgotten here in Tala.  It wasn’t just the “stuff” – although the Starbucks is going to be rationed and the pepperoni will be handled like gold – it was the fact people thought about us and cared enough to sacrifice time and money to send us some comfort items and supplies.  One box was filled with items for the kids – craft items, stickers, items to be used for incentive gifts and much more…thanks and as soon as the kids come back to school I’ll be starting some sort of program (student of the week for example) for the kids and put those items to good use.

Thanks again DBCC for ticking off items from that list.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I thank my God every time I remember you.”  Philippians 1:2,3

‎”Lord give me a desire to sin, like I have a desire to lick the toilet bowl with my tongue….so that even if I were permitted to do it, I wouldn’t do it.”