Maybe we will stick to either writing really long posts to catch you up on a weeks worth of ministry for little short snippets. This internet has been a major source of frustration for all of us. Skype? Out of the question. It’s just not strong enough to handle it. And I’m DYING TO see my niece and nephews b/c they are growing so fast! My first contact with my parents was finally this week. But the phone was static. I’m going to get over it though. I look at missionaries that went long before us. They left having no plans to see their families again. They left not knowing if they or their children would even survive their 3 months voyage to “the nations”. Trust me, I’ll get over it. But all that to say we haven’t posted consistently b/c we have sporadic email and we all have to share it.
Lindy! Can you just cut to the chase and tell us what’s new?
Okay, okay...
Chickens:
Good News- Grace and I are getting good at cleaning chickens. I won’t say killing, b/c neither of us has done that all by ourselves yet. (**Don’t read on if you are a lover of chickens… the living kind) The process: you karate chop it in the head (knocking it unconscious and breaking it’s neck then pull it’s neck to assure it is really broken. I have only attempted one chop and Thomas was holding it. It was scary. I think I should probably not do that any more. I truly believe it never knows what hit it. That makes me feel better any way. Plus you all know that Thomas is like the ultimate animal lover and HE IS THE ONE who does it! But he DOES NOT like doing it. He feels bad. But the $$ signs keep him from feeling too bad.
Bad News- we lost 31 baby chicks last week due to the cold temperatures. But Noah and Thomas have it worked out now. But not without a HUGE blow. It was very sad. Grace was such a trooper. She ate dinner super fast so she could go down to the chicken house with Noah and pick out the dead ones and help him bury them. She’s a good woman. Kevin and Lauren? Well, let’s just say they’re going to stick to just eating the chickens. Their gifts are in crafts and other areas. When I asked GK why she actually enjoys helping them she said this: “I think it’s gross, but knowing that it is helping Thomas and Noah become self sufficient and earn a living makes it so worth it. I have to help them.”
You know what amazes me? That we killed and cleaned 65 chickens this morning BY 7:30! We were done before anyone else was even out of the bed!! Yes, there were 6 of us and we started at 5:30, but earlier this week it took 4 of us 6.5 hours to do 40! The reason we did it so fast is b/c we had the professionals here. There are 2 brothers who charge 5ksh (6¢) per chicken to kill, pluck and clean out the chicken. It blows my mind how fast they are. But that is what they do for a living. They were nice enough to slow down and show us how today. I NEVER saw myself doing something like this… ever. But you really have such a sense of accomplishment afterwards. Not to mention the chicken taste THAT much better once you cleaned it yourself. J
Now… I think I’m going to start having milk delivered and boil it myself! It’s WAY cheaper. I’m SO serious people.
Our Sweet Boys:
This week we threw Chris a surprise Happy Fathers Day party. Any excuse to have cake, right?
The boys gave Chris a book with each of their pictures in it as well as their handprint and a letter to him. It was SO precious. I think it’s one of the best gifts he’s ever received. Dennis gave him the book and was SO excited about it. Chris didn’t even get past the first page. He put it down and walked out for a few minutes. I was so proud he came back and finished it with ALL the boys hovered around him. It was beyond priceless.
They are hilarious. They keep us in stitches. Here is some dialog for you:
“James, smile.”
Nothing.
“James, S-M-I-L-E.”
Nothing but a weird half smile.
“JAMES, SMILE! It’s a picture for Chris!”
This is what we got:
We have been working on interviewing each boy to get to know more about their history and specifics about their families and why they are on the streets. That has been so tough. We only have done a few a day b/c it is so much to take in. There are only 2 more interviews to do. Praise the Lord! I don’t think we can handle much more.
Livingston residents:
Chris- Running around like a chicken with his head cut off. (No pun intended) The container finally got here with all the food from Feed My Starving Children. THANK YOU LORD! We only had to go a week without it! (NDI filled in the gaps)
Lindy- Cooking up a storm and teaching Zippy a few things as well. They love being in the kitchen together! LT tries to stay home once a week to spend the day in the kitchen with Zipporah in preparation for the weeks meals ahead.
Grace- As I said choppin' chickens and memorizing whole chapters of the bible!
Lauren- Crafting up a storm. That girl has some real talent in that department! Even when I doubt she can pull off a craft for 300 students the night before with few resources- she is a machine!
Kevin- living it up with those boys. They LOVE him. I feel like every time we go, I never see Kevin walking around without an extra body or 2 hanging off his neck or back. Kevin also work hard making the st. boys video. :)
Pepper (the cat) - Well, freak thing actually. A few weeks ago when the Helsby's were here Pepper started acting funny. We quickly figured out that his belly was swelling and hard. So I did nursey stuff to try and make him "go." Becky and I went and got some caster oil. I can't imagine why but he had no interest in chugging that stuff. Thomas try shoving giving it to him. Somehow I knew it was probably more than that. By midnight Pepper could hardly walk. I figured omething neurological was going on. I walked outside at 5 the next morning and Pepper was gone. I dreaded telling Thomas. Sure enough, Thomas showed up early to check on his 5 year old cat he'd had since he was a kitten. It was really sad, but the thing that got to me was not that Pepper had died, but Thomas. THAT broke my heart. He buried Pepper right next to "Thomas" the scarecrow next to the garden. That way they could hang out all the time. :)
So last week I went and did something I never thought I'd do. I purposely bought a cat. He's a black kitten and he was $8.50 at the Shaggy killer "animal shelter". He has all his vaccines. We brought him home to Thomas who was ecstatic. Thomas named him "Boss". Appropriate. Well, we had him a whole 3 days and he was sneezing and being sick. So Thomas had to take him back. Hopefully he'll get him back next week.
I know... i just spent a whole paragraph on animals in Kenya. Sorry, but Thomas really means a lot to us and we're sad when he's sad. Plus we needed another snake killer! Boss has some big shoes paws to fill. Pepper died with at least 10 snake kills that we know of!
That's it for now, but get excited b/c Kevin made a video of the street boys that is fantastic! Check back tomorrow!
