Monthly Archives: June 2011

He has returned!

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Sounds kind of philosophical doesn’t it but I’m simply referring to our cat, Bella.  When Tarrin arrived he stayed with us for a few days but once we left on safari Bella left too and hadn’t been seen for the past 2 weeks.  Monday night, or actually early Tuesday morning (1am) he showed up in our bedroom meowing up a storm and demanding to be fed!

From the looks of it he had a pretty rough 2 weeks out in the wild…he’s full of sticky thorns and tics, and he’s dirty, skinny and smelly:

Looks like he may sleep for a few days!

It’s good to have him back but he may be leaving again after we go to visit friends in Nakuru for a couple of days later this week, or perhaps he’s learned his lesson!

Not my type

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What does a missionary look like to you?  I had my own preconceived notions, while living in the States I thought missionaries were those who went into the bush in 3rd world countries, preached to native groups of people and cared for the sick, dying, orphaned and widowed in a completely hands-on capacity.  That’s what I thought I was supposed to do or be after being called to live in Kenya but that style of missionarying never seemed to be a driving force in me or a desire God placed in my heart.  Yes I know we are told  “Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence.“  James 1:27 but I’m coming to realize missionaries come in all shapes, sizes and talents and caring for orphans and widows comes in all sorts of styles, methods and locations.

The number of followers was growing. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other followers. The Greek-speaking widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out every day. The twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together and said, “It is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables.  So, brothers and sisters, choose seven of your own men who are good, full of the Spirit and full of wisdom. We will put them in charge of this work.  Then we can continue to pray and to teach the word of God.” Acts 6:1-4

This verse helps me to see we aren’t all called to the same type of missionarying (my made up word and I like it!) …some are called to “serve tables” in order for those who are called to be more hands on or preach or start Bible studies can continue doing what they are called to do.  Is it a cop-out?  I don’t believe so because God has given me gifts and talents that help me serve the best table I can and with His gifts I am helping the widowed, orphaned, dying and sick.  It might not be in the manner I thought it was supposed to be but God is teaching me to grasp His idea of a missionary instead of my own.

Family ties

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Thursday Tarrin spent time with her Kenyan “younger brother” Tati (and just like her American younger brothers, Tati has surpassed her in height!)

Tati came to Nice View while we were there on Thursday and spent the afternoon with us, then when it was time to go Tarrin asked if Tati could come home with us so she could hang out a bit more.  She warmed up a couple of chapatti with butter and sugar, soda and taught Tati how to play Blitz (card game).  They talked about school, what he wanted to do in life, corruption at his school, favorite foods and simply hung out.

Tati’s background didn’t matter to Tarrin, he was simply a neat kid.  However his background bears telling, he’s been through a lot.  We met Tati back in 2008 when he was 13 years old, living on his own while his mom worked in a different village and could only visit him once or twice a week.  When she did visit she tried to give him enough money for the week for food.  When we met him he had no money and mom wasn’t coming for a couple of days.  He lived in a latrine converted to a room with no security, no electricity, no water.  Tati had to prepare his own meals, wash his own clothes, motivate himself to do his homework and one time while he was cooking he caught his only clothes on fire.  That’s when we were introduced to Tati and we talked with Gideon at Nice View to see if he could board at the school.  He became an excellent student there and a mentor to the other kids (he still mentors younger students at his current high school).

He is competed in a math competition this past weekend and Tarrin is hoping when he returns he’ll be able to spend Monday with her again before heading back to school on Tuesday…I’m sure Tati will not decline that invitation!  You could see the happiness on his face when we dropped him off in the evening and what a blessing it was to see them interact together.

Construction continues

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Water needed to be pumped from the river for the construction site

I am standing at a soon-to-be apartment looking back at (from far right) latrines, courtyard, Roman's room, storage room

Another look at the latrines (far left) and the rest of the rooms

Tarrin tries her hand (and entire body) at using the sledgehammer to pound down the rocks. She got one good swing in!

Opening a wild fruit...not for us but hyenas eat them. It actually smelled like watermelon.

my new collection will be heart stones!

 

Laughter

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Oh how I love the feeling of just laughing, especially when I’m laughing with one (or all of) my kids!  Laughter is such an essential part of my life that when it’s not around I feel dead inside.  I believe God likes it when we laugh and I hold laughing as an important aspect of my life.  I believe that so wholeheartedly that on our living room wall back in Phoenix I have the words “Laugh” and “Faith” hanging in a prominent place – right in the center of the wall.

I have a few DVD’s I keep for when I just want to laugh til I cry.  They have been especially helpful this past year, but with Tarrin here we have laughed so much just being together.  God has really lightened my heart during her visit so far and perhaps that’s the reason I can sense, more clearly, His nudge for which direction He wants me to go.

So go ahead and laugh :)

Wasted time?

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Being totally honest with you…the last year has sucked, for me.  I felt angry and bitter for being “thrown” into this country which I just don’t fit into, unable (or unwilling) to make friends, not understanding (or agreeing) with much of the cultural differences, being taken advantage of (hence the unwillingness to make friends), hands held out wherever I go asking for something (kids yelling at the truck as we go by “how are you sweet?” because they want to greet us but yet want to get it out they want a sweet before we go by them), missing my kids and friends.  I simply did not want to learn the language and communicate with people.

Maybe not learning the language was my way of saying…I’m not staying or I don’t want to stay.  Either way, my feelings have softened a bit.  I don’t feel as angry or bitter but an acceptance of where God has put me and with that comes a desire to begin really learning the language.  Then the guilt came on, “have I wasted an entire year?”  Perhaps, but the other day I asked that question to God and I didn’t really get an answer but a feeling of lightness, forgiveness.

It’s time to move forward and set my feelings aside and concentrate on learning.  Once I accepted His forgiveness the next day my devotional read “Those who get wisdom do themselves a favor, and those who love learning will succeed.”  Proverbs 19:8

A new student?

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Tarrin and I spent Tuesday at Nice View Academy.  She was given the grand tour, introduced to all the classes and then sat in on a few!

Tarrin is introduced to Milky Way and tries petting her ear! Milky Way was having none of it and finally just put her ear back!

We observed the Class 8 English class and Tarrin had high praises for the teacher and her methods...I simply thought it was a good class!

Today, Wednesday, we’ll be at the property…construction is still ongoing so you need some updated pictures!  Thursday we’ll be at the Academy again to visit a couple more classes.  Friday will be pizza preparation day so Tarrin and I will be staying home that day :)

I have to say it’s been so wonderful having her here but I have to stop torturing myself thinking of her departure….enjoy the time I have NOW with her and experience the blessing God has given me TODAY!

Now it’s been over a week!

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We are back in Tala!  It was a whirlwind week and just to emphasize that….Tarrin arrived on Thursday, we visited the property on Friday and settled our plans for the safari, Saturday was birthday party day (go here for that blog entry), Sunday we packed and got ready to leave, Monday we left for Nairobi, Tuesday we were on our way to Masai Mara where we spent 3 days, left on Thursday back to Nairobi, saw a movie on Friday (Kung Fu Panda 2-very cute!), returned to Tala on Saturday and Sunday we visited HOREC (Hope for Orphans REscue Center) and met up with a high school friend!  Now I give you that synopsis to tell you this story (then I’ll get to the photos!).  On our first day of safari (Tuesday afternoon) we were in the safari truck (by the way I have a wonderful connection now for trips within Kenya!) and Tarrin says “this is so cool and I can’t believe I’ve been here over a week and a half!”  To which Chuck and I both looked at her and said “you’ve only been here 5 days!”  We had packed so much in her first week she felt she’d been here a lot longer!  Now, however, we can say it’s been over a week and more to come!

With no further delay here are photos from our safari:

We got real close to the wildlife!

have to give Tarrin the credit for this fabulous photo!

at the border of Kenya and Tanzania (Masai Mara is on the Kenyan side, Serengeti is on the Tanzanian side)

after some rough roads through the Masai Mara-but our driver, Moses, did a great job!

out for our first game drive

very colorful lizard

mom and baby preparing for a nap on the beach

picnic lunch on the Mara

visitors during our picnic lunch...forget ants we got giraffe!

checking out the view (and giraffe) during lunch

no need for telephoto lens...this guy was right next to the truck!

Hippos and crocodiles live in harmony...until the migration begins then the rules go out the window!

We were also given the opportunity to visit a traditional Masai village during our safari (would highly recommend doing this is you ever get the opportunity):

I was shown how the ladies make the ornamentation...my old eyes are not good for this type of work but they had no problems with those tiny beads

one of the many children running around at the village

Tarrin had fun with the little kids

During the safari I was awed by the amount of space set aside for these animals (over 1000 sq km’s for Masai Mara and over 11,000 sq km’s for Serengeti) and the beauty and variety of God’s creations…not only the animals but the variances of people groups living within Kenya.  Such rich traditions yet seeing how they incorporate modern technology – while sitting in a Masai home our guide’s cell phone went off!

We ended the hectic week on Sunday visiting HOREC and meeting up with a high school friend who we haven’t seen in 30 years (our 30 year class reunion is actually sometime this month!) and he just happened (totally a God-incident!) to be approximately 2 km’s from our construction site at HOREC.  We have interacted with HOREC in the past and was thrilled to visit with them once again.

this little guy was a total ham for the camera

some kids had whistle pops, this kid didn't but he made his own whistle!

thankfully the whistle pops were staying with the kids!

handing out sweets

love that these kids are used to "whites" visiting!

Tarrin made new friends...

...while we met up with a friend from the past (great seeing you Jeff!). I think Chuck and Jeff could have walked down memory lane for a long time!

lunch time at HOREC

Jeff and a part of his crew came to visit the construction site for True Vine Children’s Home since it is so close to HOREC!  Talks, plans and ideas were flying and I’m excited to see what God has in store for all of us!  After we dropped them back off at HOREC (they were heading out for safari the following day) we visited Anastacia for a bit before coming home and relaxing with cheese burgers and a movie.

nice way to end the day...with a sweet!

I haven’t written much about our experiences (those will come up in later blog posts) but you can go to our Photo Gallery for more photos (click 2011 Kenya > Life) and you can read Tarrin’s blog (she’s much better at describing experiences) and see more of her photos.  Also be on the look out for a video…Masai dancing, cheetah stalking and much more!

Construction update

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I know, I know you were expecting safari photos but Tarrin and I are coordinating our blog posts so you can read them both and get immersed in our experiences!  Those will be coming tomorrow…I always love a suspense story anyway!  If you’d like to read Tarrin’s perspective of our trip to Nairobi before the safari you can go to her blog.

But for now here is an update (before we left) of the construction.

new doors and windows for the north end site of the property

Tarrin finds a unique rock!

discussing site plans

walls are coming up!

Chuck is at the site today getting things back in order – walls are higher but one wall and several re-bar columns were knocked down by a lory and other such things that make you wonder what the heck was going on!