Mahali Pa Watoto

Last week I (Lindy) got the priviledge of helping some ladies at our church put together bags of food for a preschool about 15 minutes from us. This school is very poor. A british banker built it for the poorest of the poor in that area. The first day it opened over 300 children were just dropped off there. After much planning, discernment, and meeting with families it was narrowed down to the neediest 70. Wednesday we packaged the food then Friday we went to their Christmas party, blew up some balloons, watched the cutest Christmas play ever, and gave out their bags (which included Chai, sugar, flour, corn meal, tea biscuits, drinking chocolate, salt, butter, and oil- these are important cooking ingredients for basic Kenyan foods) I left a little early to help Su with a church event hosted by our church that night, but what we got to participate in, we really loved.

These pictures are courtesy of Su's iphone. I pretty much stole her pics from facebook, but she wouldn't mind! Apparently after living here for a while no one takes their camera with them any more. We were looking around at each other saying "Does ANYONE have a camera?"

We were honored with aluminum foil sashes and Christmas cards made by the kids.

Here come the angels and sheppherds

This was during the Christmas program. Do you see the little long-haired-nappy-headed white baby doll that was "Jesus?"

You can see it here just a little better. Look next to the orange donkey with the blanket on his head. When "Mary" had that baby I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was so precious yet so hysterical. My bible study leader, Stephanie, and I decided we MUST get them a black baby.

Su forgot the facepaint back at the house, but when we got there everyones' faces were already painted. This little girl was one of the several who "graduated". We never did figure out what the gingerbread was on the graduation gown.

0 to 53 in 6 months!

Since we returned near the end of May, we've had 53 guests spend the night at various times and with various teams. We've enjoyed the Saint Boys staying with us on 3 different occasions. We've conducted "Home Group" here each week for the past 2 months where between 2-12 people have been present. We've been blessed by the company of South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Sudanese, Ugandans, Welsh, English, and Kenyans within this home. There were Americans from North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Nebraska, Montana, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Idaho, Arizona, Florida, and Sneads Ferry (joke - it's in North Carolina). We celebrated birthdays of friends and solemnly prayed for suffering ones. There were cookouts ("Bries" as our South African friends call it), movie nights, Bible Studies, and intense volleyball matches. There were 5 different interns who served across a 4 month span (thank you Kevin, Lauren, Grace, Brooke, and Justin - aka 'Dynamite').

That means that Lindy and I had a total of 2 weeks where there were no guests, no events planned, no large meals to prepare, and no needs to be met. It is so incredible to look back and see how God has truly used this place, this team, and our family to allow others to be also blessed. What we enjoyed for the last 6 months, most people never are blessed by in their entire lives! Our God has opened the door time and time again for others to come, see, and serve while they visit Kenya. We probably were not as obedient as we could/should have been, but we do hope that each person left with a deeper love for their Heavenly Father and a deeper understanding of what it looks like to serve others.

Thank you all for coming. Thank you for serving. Thank you that you were not afraid to get dirty, slaughter chickens, love on street boys, teach others, clean dishes, make beds, fix meals, share testimonies, fellowship, worship, sing praises, build, and disciple. As you honor God, you've encouraged my family and I. Our door will always be open for your return. And our team welcomes you back!

For those of you pondering a time to serve in the foreign field, let me encourage you by saying, "This place, this house exists for you to do just that." The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few...

Feel free to write a caption for Jaba. Best caption wins a firm handshake!

They came and went...

Chris' Dad came on November 2nd along with Jenny Uzzell, a very good family friend. They stayed for 10 days and it went by SO fast. Some of the things they did while they were here include:

Teaching the St. Boys

Sharing their stories with them...

Doing Crafts with the boys...

... and teaching them bible stories.

singing songs with them....

(I think he's so cute! But then I know I'm partial to my Father in law.)

doing more crafts. I had no idea Butch was such the craft expert!

Teaching them American Football...

...And teaching at the bible college.

Butch taught an amazing class for 3 SOLID hours. Yea, he's my hero. I need some lessons from him. Everyone was so attentive and really enjoyed it.

They were so much fun to have around. So much so, that I didn't even take a time out to blog!

The boys had their first ever Bible drill where they got some awesome candy from Jenny and Baba Chris for answering questions about the Bible correctly. The finale was even cooler prizes (i.e. small soccer ball, Jenga, Chinese Checkers, etc). In the finale Butch would say any Bible verse and the first one to find it, stand up. and read it won a mark. Once they got 3 marks they got their prize!

i just LOVE this pic of James and Deo.

Baba Chris loved the boys... just a little. ;)

He is already talking about coming back next year after the baby is born. Not just to see the baby but to serve as well. He's even talking about going to Sudan, if it's possible, teaching at the Bible College again, and of course spending some time with his grand-boys. :)

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Baby Update:

Sorry I haven't talked more about this on the blog, but as you can see we've been so busy wanting to spend EVERY minute with family. Also- we are still processing it. We are 10 weeks and due June 10th. We had one ultrasound done and got to hear the heartbeat. It was most definitely one of the highlights of my life thus far. My parents will be coming for 3 weeks (I'm praying for 3 rather than 2) after baby arrives. Since I will be down for the count a few weeks and with family coming, the guesthouse will not be available for mission teams until at least August barring baby comes on time.

Sneek preview of the Pea in the Pod.

Puppy Update:

Our new guard dog has arrived! He's just a little fella right now, but don't let that fool you. He's a full-blooded English Mastiff! When we were in Tanzania seeing the Helsby's they were telling us about a Canadian they knew who had some English Mastiff's. They were just trying to find them a good home. DONE! We'll take one. He was too young to take back then so we waited until the Tanners were coming to NBO. Thursday night we went to pick him up after dropping Dad and Jenny off. He's SO awesome! Very obedient, sleeps all the time b/c he's growing so fast, and almost house broken. From what I've read English Mastiff's are very loyal dogs protecting their masters at any cost. They were originally bread to guard castles. They are great family dogs as well. The down side is that they eat so much! BUT... you know I take pride in saving money, right? Well, I feed both dogs and our cat for $2.50/month! I even save our eggs shells to grind up into powder form giving them some extra calcium. We've tried to train our dogs not to take food from anyone but us b/c people will poison them. Some friends that live in Ngong town (up the road from us) just had their big guard dog poisoned by some thugs. He was an Australian Ridgeback given to them. So sad.

Here is another sneak preview of this little cutie pie.

He was sleeping with his tongue out. Must have been dreaming of food.

A Big Surprise for the Boys....

Hope this is clear. If not... maybe you should watch the video again.

I bet we were just as shocked as you all are!