Chuck and I are spending a few days away in Nairobi. I’ll be checking Facebook but will hold off on writing blog posts until after I return to Tala…but after just one day in Nairobi I already have a couple of posts in mind!
I would like to thank those who helped make this time away possible, you have helped my mental well-being more than you know!
Just before Christmas I thought I’d capture what happened here at the family compound. It wasn’t necessarily a typical day but the compound was busy this day.
First, since we didn’t have water at this point it was a good opportunity to clean out the mud from the well in anticipation of when the water would come!
Some of the mud being cleared from the well. It was completed on Christmas Eve.
Kilonzo is our resident rock/well climber! He's also our nightwatchman.
Once at the bottom Kilonzo begins shoveling the mud into buckets which are hauled up by rope.
Then Peter (the bus driver from Nice View) and Richard (one of the nightwatchman at Nice View) were working on the engine for the old Nissan bus. It has to be in working order by the time school starts.
Peter and Richard taking parts from another engine and trying to fix the old bus!
Finally James (Gideon’s eldest son) had driven to the Academy to fill up jugs of water for the compound – thank God the Academy had water and James was able to get it for us, otherwise we would have had to pay someone to do this.
Grace takes water to her house by wheelbarrow - I was using water sparingly so I used one of the jugs she is carrying for the day.
There’s a day here on the compound. The well is now clean and the water is flowing – thank you Lord! The bus is being worked on – Father help the workers to get it running. And we no longer need to haul water – another thank you Lord!
As many of you know we had very little rain at the farm…there was however enough rain in other areas for the river to start flowing. That means the farm is being watered from the Athi River and here’s a look at the procedure:
The pump is stored at a neighbors – one of the owners
then it’s loaded onto the truck (the ramp was built by Chuck and Lewis) – Lewis tries to push the pump up the ramp first
but finds it a bit too heavy for his first try so Chuck takes over
the pump and ramp are secured in the bed of the truck and it’s off to the farm
where the pump is unloaded, adjusted and taken down to the river
Once it’s at the river the pump is primed and all the hoses and pipes are hooked up
The water starts flowing…Juggie (yup that’s what they call him) waters, while Roman boxes the plants so the water stays at the plant and Bosco moves pipes as they water farther into the farm
Here’s the “fruit” of all this watering…watermelon!
Then it’s time to go into town to get fuel for the pump and for us!
they actually have very cold sodas...not room temperature!
stew and chapatti
We stop at a store on the way back to the farm for loaf (literally a loaf of bread) and a carton of milk each for Bosco and Roman. Roman recently received a kitten and we warned him to feed the cat! He was pretty proud of himself when we came in the morning and showed us he had bought milk for the kitten! Lunch time he shared a bit of bread and milk with the kitten…like all cats in Kenya (except ours I think!) her name is Puss
After lunch Chuck and Lewis look over the farm and discuss plans while I babysit Puss
Then it’s more watering until the end of the day when the pump is shut down, hauled up by the truck, loaded and taken back to the neighbors
Most of the field was watered that day (a little had to be done the following day) and we had a full moon to wish us usiku mwema (good night)
Saved By God’s Grace is raising funds to purchase land and drill a well and until December 30th we have an anonymous donor matching all donations to the Land & Water project. Please click on the Land & Water button below for more information and to donate.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:8-14
May we all sing “Glory to God in the highest heaven” today and every day of our lives.
I know I’m posting 2 posts on Christmas but I wanted to tell you about our very first Christmas Eve here in Kenya. It was quite different from how we’ve celebrated in the US!
We started the morning (after being without water for about a week) with water running in the taps! Yea we were excited too until I ran the water…
Oh well, at least there’s water in the taps, right?
Then we were off to the farm. After dropping off the water pump we ran into “town” to get sodas for this afternoons celebration with the kids from Mercy and look what passed me by…
After some work on the farm we went to pick up the kids from Mercy and bring them back to the farm for our Christmas Eve lunch celebration. While Chuck and Annastacia went for chicken and chips I stayed behind with the kids. I read the Christmas story from the book of Luke, answered some questions (we ran the gamut on questions…why does God want us to be fruitful? Which led to a discussion on sex. Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? Which led to a discussion on the ultimateness (is that a word?) of God.) and had my hair played with and braided. Then we just sat under the tree and relaxed, waiting for lunch…
Once lunch arrived everyone queued for chicken, chips and soda and sat in the shade enjoying lunch…
After lunch Chuck needed to walk to the river to check on the water pump so we all went along…
We came back to the tree, relaxed and talked for a bit then took the kids back to Mercy…
After the kids were all back home Chuck and I stayed at the farm until around 7pm. We stopped at our local grocery store on the way home and it was a madhouse…it actually reminded me of the stores back home (sniff, sniff) on Christmas Eve, crazy! As we drove home we realized the electricity was out…again! But we got in the house, made some tuna (no electricity needed for that) and ate by candlelight and discussed how different this Christmas Eve has been.
No matter how different though I have to remember the reason we are celebrating, not the external circumstances (lights, music, parties or lack thereof). Our God came down to Earth out of Heaven to be among us. Jesus Christ is totally the reason for celebrating today and every day! Merry Christmas 
(Read Parts I, II, III and IV)
Once everyone had all they wanted to eat (and digest a bit!) we gathered the kids for the gift giving part of the party,
I have to say a big thank you to teacher Jane for helping with the gift hand out (she also was one who stayed up all Friday night to cook!),
After all the gifts were handed out we were going to show the movie again but the kids were excited to get home and try on their outfits! Here are the Mercy kids in their new outfits,
Mercy kids, me and Reverend Wachira
Then we just hung around the Academy talking with friends,
Bosco is working with Chuck on the farm
This baby is just too cute not to put on the blog!
Lewis' family, George's family and Chuck & I
To end the day Chuck did minor surgery! Roman (another worker at the farm) had cut his finger and got stitches…today they came out and thanks to medical supplies donated from the US we had just what was needed!
I think the little one in front may become a doctor!
Surgery went well and Roman’s finger is healing nicely.
Once everyone was gone Chuck and I decided to stay at the Academy to work on our computers (at that time they had electricity while we didn’t at home) but we received a phone call from Pauline with an early Christmas gift…electricity had come back to the house!
We had a fun day and it was a wonderful party celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with all the kids and friends!
(Find out what happened in Part I, Part II and Part III)
After the movie everyone found a seat and Chuck said a few words,
Gideon then addressed everyone to wish them a very merry Christmas,
Pastor Mutie prayed for the food then it was time to wash hands…
and eat!
no one left hungry or thirsty!
Watching the kids enjoy the chicken, rice, cabbage, potatoes, chapatti and soda was was fun. Many had not had chicken in a very long time and being told they could go up for second helpings was a real treat. Although many were full with the heaping plate of food they received the first trip! However some of the older boys took up the call and went up for more chicken! It was truly a blessing to be involved with this outpouring of love towards these kids…and the day wasn’t over yet!
Before you get started on Part III of the party I wanted to let everyone know Saved By God’s Grace has an anonymous donor who will match ALL donations made to the Land & Water project from now until December 30th! Last minute Christmas shopping…click here for more details and to donate. Thank you donor and thank you for your prayerful consideration to this project.
(You can catch up on the Christmas party details here and here.)
The oven fires were stoked,
the whole chickens were brought to the kitchen in buckets,
then cut into smaller pieces,
Puss was keeping a close watch on the chicken and he actually snagged a wing and ran,
then the cooking began,
The kids from Mercy arrived and greeted everyone,
As we waited for the movie to begin…
tea was served – to the kids first!
Then it was time for the movie, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,
So far everyone was having a great time and all through the movie they were smelling the yummy smells from the kitchen and waiting for what was to come next!
The last post gave you information on beginning preparations for the Christmas party last Saturday and this post will continue with those preparations.
Veggies were chopped and set aside for cooking…
Serah chops veggies like an expert!
Ann coordinates "her" kitchen!
These 2 happy faces helped with various jobs…water for the kitchen, firewood, desks moved etc….
As more kids arrived they were put to work setting up the chairs…
Next time you’ll see more kitchen work…boiling, cutting up chicken, frying and mixing large cooking pots of food and tea!
