Monthly Archives: February 2012

Oh no! Oh yeah!

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Seems I have a knack for hitting the “publish” button on the blog a wee bit early.  Take yesterday for example, just after I hit the “publish” button for the blog we were told the pump stopped working.  Drat!  They waited for about an hour to see if it would start up again (maybe a heat issue) but it still didn’t work.  A call was put into the repairman and he said he’d be here Wednesday morning.

On our way to C4KK this morning (Wednesday) we get a call saying the pump is working (repairman hadn’t shown up yet).  Seems it was working but not well (no pun intended) so the repairman was still needed.  He came, looked at it, did his thing and left us with a working pump.  It doesn’t seem to be quite as strong as before, but pumping water.

Other news from C4KK:

Many of the secondary students are coming home tomorrow for mid-term break.  They’ll be here until next Tuesday.
(If anyone is interested in helping with bunk beds we could use the funds)

Cricket invasion appears to be less and less each day

Electricity seems to be pretty consistent today

That’s another day in Kenya folks!

 

 

 

Oh yeah!

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Needed to get to C4KK early again today for a meeting which was supposed to start at 9 and guess what?  It did!  However, when we got to C4KK the electricity was off so nothing could be printed (if needed) during the meeting.  Also the guys went to the neighbors for water again and this time I got a picture:

The electricity company was called and we were directed to another number.  The person calling ran out of credit on their phone so instead of interrupting Chuck in the meeting or me reading (well, that could be dangerous!) he waited until I asked him about it.  At which point he told me what happened, I gave him Chuck’s phone and within 40 minutes the call was made and electricity was back on!

During the time electricity was off, Lewis arrived and had stopped by the repairman’s office to pick up the pump….it was finished at 11 not 2, that was a surprise in itself!  Once Chuck was out of his meeting they got the generator set up to test the pump and it worked!!!  Then as they were getting set to put the pump back in the well, electricity came on (as mentioned above).

 

Thank you to all who prayed for this situation to be quickly remedied.

Pump update

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Today we were able to take the pump to get repaired…or so we thought.  We headed up to C4KK early in order to have the pump to the repairman by 9 or so.  Ended up being around 9:30am so not too bad but then the fun began.  Chuck, Lewis, Bosco and repairman went into his office at 9:30am and I continued reading The Hunger Games (can’t seem to put that down!).  I was basically lost in reading when I realized I was getting hungry, looked at the clock and saw it was 11am and they still weren’t out of the office.  Hmmm, was he repairing the pump right now?  That would be highly unlikely.  So I continued reading, ate a Snickers bar (I can actually get these at our local grocery store, who would have thought!?) and waited.  Finally around 11:30 or so they all came out of the office and then began talking next to the truck.  I wasn’t really paying attention so I got the story later from Chuck.  While in the office the repairman gave all sorts of excuses as to why the pump couldn’t be repaired but we just needed to buy a new one….nope not gonna’ happen.  Then he said oh, ok then you can rent one from me while this one is repaired…rental price plus the repair on the old pump would have been equal to buying the same model pump brand new…nope not gonna’ happen.  Finally he said he could repair it…ok now for negotiating price.  That’s when the conversation came to the truck and basically they went over this same conversation over and over again….that’s just how Kenyan conversations seem to go.  Finally an agreement was made and the pump SHOULD BE repaired by tomorrow at 2pm.

Whew!  Then it was off to buy some lumber.  Stop at the lumber place, ask if they have the right lengths, wait for an answer, get the answer (no), then ask about other lengths (yup) and finally pull the truck back and the lumber is loaded (4 pieces of lumber, approximately 35 feet of lumber).  An hour long ordeal…but we were able to purchase some yummy pineapple, watermelon and bananas from a passing vendor :)

Once we made it to C4KK it was lunch time, skuma and rice.  By this time I’m ready to head home (actually wanted to get back to reading!).

I’ll keep you informed when we actually get the pump and we are praying it is tomorrow as the kids need water.  Thankfully our neighbor has allowed the kids to haul water and yesterday they actually pushed the ox cart down to the neighbors, loaded it with bottles of water and lugged it back home.  That would have been a great picture…boys hauling the ox cart like little oxen!

Change of plans

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One attribute I tell anyone looking to go on a missionary trip is to be flexible.  We’ve worked on the mission field in Phoenix, LA, NYC, Mexico, Kenya and places in between and each of those experiences needed flexibility.  Yesterday I left you with the “plan” which we would be heading up to C4KK today to fix the water pump….stay flexible here….as soon as I hit the “publish” button on the blog I found out the repairman didn’t want to meet until Monday.  Then it was time to figure out what the kids would do for water today. Normally Roman isn’t around on Sundays but he said he would stick around and help get the kids’ water supply for today.  God bless you Roman!

I also remember telling you in yesterday’s blog that our Sabbath’s were mainly “moments” not full days.  I’m not telling you this next part for sympathy, just an explanation.  Last night I had one doozy of a migraine…throwing up, head pounding, unable, or I should say unwilling, to move my head.  Thankfully Chuck was there to hold my hair (ladies you get me, right!?) and help me finally settle down.  But the reason I tell you that is because God worked it out for us to have a full day of rest today and after last night I needed it.

Back to the flexible part, making plans isn’t necessarily a bad thing it’s just making sure the people involved, especially those accustomed to making plans and having them go through smoothly, understand many times on the mission field plans do not go as planned!  Be sure to allow yourself to stay open to the directing of the Holy Spirit and let God work out the details, whether they are in the plan or not!

More glamour

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Yesterday I gave you a look into the “glamorous” life of a missionary….it continues today.  But today I have photos!

Woke up this morning to no cat poo…yeah!  But woke up feeling extremely tired.  Not sure why but as the morning went along I felt nauseous and had a headache.  I laid down for a bit and the nausea faded and once I got up and moved around the headache left too.  So I decided to head up to C4KK with Chuck.  Just before leaving he got a phone call from Bosco saying the water pump wasn’t working.  One more thing to add to the list of to-do’s today.

We made it to C4KK and I began setting up my computer and ready to start the day when I heard a cricket.  A few days ago Bosco had to rescue my desk from being overrun with crickets but they weren’t by the desk today.  I kicked a shoe box that was on the floor and this is what greeted me:

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry but I wasn’t in the mood to stick around and have one of these yucky critters jump at me or on me!

Once the plague of crickets was handled Chuck went outside to check on the pump situation.  They had to pull up the pump to check it and found out the pump was not working for some reason.

Doesn’t sound too bad, right?  Wrong!  Finding someone to fix it is another issue altogether.  A few calls later and we found someone in a nearby village (Ruai) who can work on the pump, but he’s in Nairobi today.  He agreed to come back to Ruai after hearing the pump was for a children’s home, but the question is when exactly.  He’ll call a friend, that friend will call us and then Chuck and Bosco can go to Ruai with the pump and see if he can actually fix it.  So I have no idea when we’ll be leaving today.  Luckily the crickets have moved along and I don’t have to fight them…so far today.

As I came back into the office I found a group of kids in Ann’s room.  They were discussing who needed their hair cut.  Good time to talk with the primary girl students about their hair.  I had mentioned to one girl she needed her hair cut.  She shook her head and said she didn’t want it shaved.  I let it go but figured she didn’t want it shaved because she wants to get braids or a weave or straightened during school break.  Ann and I agreed the primary girls are too young to have any of that stuff done with their hair.  Let’s see who gets shaved or who stays “shaggy” as they call it!

Then Chuck took the boys over to the neighbors to hand draw water…no pump repair yet.  Today was supposed to be cleaning day but with no water it will have to be put off until the pump can be repaired.  They’ll draw enough for drinking and cooking, it’s definitely not an easy job.  Here’s a photo of the kids coming back from drawing water….they love riding in the truck!

It is now 5pm, electricity has been going on and off throughout the afternoon, sun is beating in on my computer (needed to shut a curtain but that stops the wind flow), the pump repair guy hasn’t even called yet and the kids have hauled in all the water jugs…enough water to last the evening and into tomorrow (no bathing tonight).  Found out the repair guy is still in Nairobi.  Trying to work out a time he can come tomorrow, meaning we’ll be here tomorrow.  Someone asked us once about a Sabbath….we normally get more “sabbath-like” moments rather than full days!  This isn’t a 9-5 job but kids’ lives and each and every day things need to be attended to, fixed, purchased, etc.  Yes we are working on “self-sufficiency” but there still needs to be hands on help.

Ah yes, another glamorous day in Kenya!

Oh what a glamorous life….

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As a young girl while attending church I heard several missionaries recount their exploits on the mission field.  I heard about miraculous events, healings and other “yeah God” stuff.  What I didn’t hear was the ordinary living that also accompanies being a missionary.  Today I thought I’d give you a glimpse of my “glamorous life” as a missionary!

Woke up to find my cat had poo’ed all over the hall and bathroom rugs….picked those up and set them outside to deal with later.

Cleaned up the poo that had been stepped in (by the cat) and stamped on various tiles in the hallway.

Walked into the bathroom to wash my hands and to take a closer look at a clump of dirt on another rug.  To my surprise it moved!  Realized it was a tiny frog!

Removed the tiny frog from the bathroom to the outdoors where it belongs.

Put my clothes in basins to soak…looks to be a good day for outdoor drying, very windy.

Went into the kitchen to begin breakfast and looked in the corner to see what I thought was a pile of dirt.  Upon closer inspection it was another, albeit larger, frog!  I felt like it was the plague all over again!

Removed the larger frog to the outdoors where it too belongs!

Washed my hands yet again.

Began breakfast with Patches (our cat) talking to me the entire time….yes I will get you some milk, eventually.

Now one highlight of the morning was hearing from our son Mark.  We talked with him for about two hours through robotic voices, static, being cut off and straining towards the window (best place for reception on the phone) to hear him.

Around noon, after we were off the phone, I got around to washing the breakfast dishes.  I had to towel dry them as I need this same sink to finish washing my clothes.

Chuck pointed out why he thought the frogs were coming in….you can see light shining through in the bathroom where the wall meets the ceiling.  I guess they have their own entryway now.

Brought the basins out to the kitchen and began the hour or so chore of washing and rinsing my clothes.

Took the clothes out to line dry.

Emptied the cat box…yes there is one in the house and why Patches didn’t use it is beyond me <aarrrgh> and refilled it with sand (no cat litter here)

Visited the new kittens next door.

Gave the rugs to the ladies for washing.

Began preparing items for pizza night – slicing pepperoni, mushrooms and ham and grating mozzarella cheese for the pizza and cheddar cheese for everyday use.

Sat down for a few minutes to catch up on my devotional reading…hard to get into the whole clean/unclean, numbers stuff.

Finally got onto the computer for a few minutes to see what’s happening on Facebook and get this blog post written….all as the electricity has decided to shut down!

I’m not saying we don’t have those “yeah God” moments.  Everyday the kids are eating, going to school, have clothes to wear and are in a loving home are “yeah God” moments, but we also have these “glamorous” moments too :)

 

 

Construction

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The final level of the tank stand should be delivered later this week….it’s been “coming” for a couple of months now!  But work continues on Roman’s room (farm manager) and the guard house.

These next two photos are the proposed site for the home/mission home.  The first is looking at the site into the shamba and out to the cows.  The second is looking at the site towards C4KK Children’s Shelter.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Settled

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Saturday I wrote about a student who had a few items stolen from him at school.  Yesterday we visited him and basically calmed him down.  He was pretty distraught over the incident because he has a strong sense of morality and a genuine fear of God.  He couldn’t understand why a fellow student would want to do this and kept saying “he has no fear of God.”

We explained to him these things happen in a fallen world and our options are to either be angry about it (which I admit I was at first) or know that God is in control and ask for His help throughout (made it to this point very early Sunday morning through prayer).  His foot locker needed to be replaced because the thief couldn’t break the padlocks on it so instead broke the hinges.  We happened to have an extra foot locker at the house, thank you God!

He was given enough money for a new uniform shirt and transport back home at mid-term (both of which were stolen).  He is planning on giving his transport money to the school accountant for safe keeping!  Once he saw things were working out, we weren’t mad at him and we could all move forward, he was much calmer and you could see the stress leaving his face.  He is currently #1 in his school and we encouraged him to let this go and focus once more on his studies.

Yes it was a bummer we had to pay to replace stolen items, that the incident happened in the first place, a trip had to be made to the school and he was stressed for a few hours but I thank God He worked it all out smoothly, or as smoothly as it gets here in Kenya!

What to do

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Today we received a phone call from one of our secondary students saying his foot locker had been broken into.  His pocket money and second uniform (along with other various items) had been stolen or broken.  I understand theft happens everywhere but what frustrates me is the school will most likely do very little to investigate. (I will let you know if I hear otherwise) They will search for the stolen items but more than likely they have already been sold.  The school will make no offer to reimburse for any stolen items nor give any explanation as to how this happened in the first place.

And trying to get information (cost of another uniform) is worse than pulling teeth. Then getting the items back to the student is another “adventure”, one which looks like we may be embarking on tomorrow….yippee, Kenyan road trip (using my sarcastic voice, forgive me).

Seems no day goes on without some sort of wrench being thrown into the mix. Praying for God’s continued mercy as we work through yet another situation.