The former UN secretary, Kofi Annan, has been in Kenya this week along with other influential world leaders attempting to moderate a plan for peace. The violence has been decreasing for a day or so with only sporadic news of riots and bloodshed. I can tell the mood is hopeful because we were given permission to leave the hospital compound for a brief excursion.

I went by foot with Mrs. Linda into a nearby village to visit, Rachel, one of the ladies involved in her weekly Bible study.  We walked about fifteen minutes outside of the hospital into the village on the side of the sloping mountains to visit Samuel and Rachel’s home.  They met us atop a hill to walk us the rest of the way.  Rachel has been in poor health lately suffering with leg problems related to her diabetes.  She hasn’t been able to attend any of the meetings and needed some encouragement.  Samuel, admittedly, has had problems with drinking.  After Rachel became a Christian, the women in Rachel’s Bible study group began praying for his salvation and he eventually came to know the Lord.  He is a fairly new Christian, his walk has not been easy and he still struggles with the temptations of alcohol. Today he is at home, sober and very hospitable.

We were warmly welcomed into their two room stick and mud hut. Rachel and Samuel have 6 children, 3 grandchildren and many great grandchildren, many of whom live in or around their house.  Samuel farms and sells his crops to provide for his large extended family.

I could tell this was a special visit for Rachel and that she had made special preparations for us. She had a doily spread across her simple table and plenty of handmade wooden stools ready for us all to sit.  She had prepared chai and had her best mugs ready for us to use.

We discussed the state of Kenya, their hopes for peace, Rachel’s health, their children and their financial difficulties. We ended in a time of powerful prayer and thanked them for their hospitality.  It is the custom here in Kenya for each guest to say a word or read a scripture and address the hosts.  I thanked them for letting me share chai and fellowship with them, and told them that I knew Jesus was indeed the answer to all of their needs and He would provide. I told them I would share their story with my church at home and we would remember them and their family in our prayers.  As a special request to these sweet people, I asked for permission to take their picture to share with you.  They graciously agreed.

Please pray for the Kenyan people who are coming to know the Lord and are growing in their faith while overcoming poverty, addictions, sickness and, now, violence. Pray also for the men and women who are sharing their faith and encouraging them in their walk with the Lord.

Today I glimpsed into a family with struggles not unlike the kind many face all over this nation.  The difference is—someone introduced them to Jesus, the hope of the world.  I came away feeling so glad that I can pray for them and be confident they are safe in His hands and He is watching over them.

~Jenn

Good morning America! How’s it going?

Everything is great here in Kenya, we have just gotten back from church. I was so honored to be able to play a piano special at church. I played “All in All”.  It went well, everyone enjoyed it. Church itself was great, each week there are different speakers and this week the Kenyan dentist spoke.

Dad has been so busy in surgery; sometimes I think I’ll go crazy. The last few days he has been able to make more meals though…there has not been a single thing that I haven’t liked here (food wise). Everything is great; especially the pineapple.

Much love,
Georgia Grace

Hello…everything in Kenya is starting to feel normal again! Some of the head ‘people’ in Kenya have agreed to share equal power (I really do hope that works).  It could lead to peace or just the opposite. Yesterday we had a huge soccer game, everyone played! And after that we played a football game. That was so much fun! Oh my goodness we had a blast. At 6:30 we started to head over to Dr. Russ and Mrs. Beth’s house. There we had a Friday fun day. We ate pizza (homemade) and played Apples to Apples.

It is so different to have my dad come home at an unpredictable time everyday. I feel almost overwhelmed sometimes, because I am so happy for my dad. He is doing what he loves to do and I get to be apart of that. I’ve never seen this side of my dad before…I am so proud of him. And not to mention my mom, she has been incredibly patient with us! At times it gets hard we have to make due with what we have…and what we have isn’t much.  But we are making it anyway- just fine!

~Georgia Grace

It is Wednesday late day; we are nine hours ahead of Texas.  It is very windy and looks as though it is about to rain.  This is the first moment I have had to sit all day and I have found that writing you is very therapeutic for my soul.  We see, hear and feel so much in a day that it is nice to process it all by putting the emotions and experiences into words.

Last night Enoch, Rachael and Elijah’s son (Mosop Orphanage), came to visit Dr. Chuck and Amy.  He brought a gourd full of a special drink in Kenya called Morsic made from warm milk which curdles mixed with burned bark of the Wattle tree. Yummy!  His parents sent it to thank us for coming to play with the children at the orphanage awhile back.  Amy called me and said we should go up to the nursery (which is overflowing right now) and share it with the moms.  So the two of us went up at the 6:00 nursing time and took small disposable cups.  The women were so grateful and loved it- apparently this is a real treat for them, a delicacy.

Because I consider myself adventurous, I went with every intention of partaking in the morsic…………….however, after serving this charcoal/buttermilk type drink to about 25 moms nursing their newborn babies in a very warm, small space…………. I changed my mind.  Thankfully it was not perceived as an insult since the women did not originally give it to us.  Whew!

I took the opportunity to take some nursery pictures.  All the incubators have been handmade and as you can see the room is wall to wall with them along with infant beds.

Today the girls made cookies again but this was a not-for-profit project =). This time we took them to administration and thanked everyone there for all their hard work.  They are a little short-handed and one of the missionaries mentioned it might be good to encourage the people in that department.

Afterward we took stickers and coloring sheets to the pediatric ward.  Jackson loved this!  He and his friend Luke blew bubbles and we all sang a few songs.  Jackson entertained the children with his outgoing personality and the Kenyan moms were giggling at his choreography to our singing.

The bottom has fallen out of the sky and the rain has poured down for about an hour.  It has dropped quite a few degrees and is very chilly, but a new wonderful, after the rain smell fills the air.  The girls just dashed across the field from playing football and are completely soaked.

It has been a busy and fulfilling day.  I am thankful for even the small opportunities we have been afforded to share His love.

~Jenn

Hello America!

I hope all is well in the US.

You have heard, I am sure, of some division over here in Kenya. Yes, it’s true…but you have only had an adult’s perspective of the situation.

Here is mine:

At times I feel a bit frightened about all that is going on around here. It truly amazes me how people can hate one another. They destroy things, kill others, but what they don’t realize is that they are hurting themselves too! It isn’t safe to go down to the waterfall by yourself anymore, or for that matter to go to Bomet which is the city closest to the hospital. It is CRAZY!

Well, let’s get on a good note, a night ago at two o’clock in the morning we went to another doctor’s house to watch the Super Bowl! Okay…stop and think…Super Bowl…Africa….does that make sense to you? It didn’t to me at first. After the first two quarters I started feeling really sick, so my dad took me back to the house. And today I am still feeling a little sick. Please pray that I would get better! We have been praying for God to touch my health and He is.

~Georgia Grace

The hospital we are at is very resourceful and careful with literally every bandage that is used. Things are not as disposable here in Kenya because things are not as accessible. If, you will notice in one of the photos all the ambu bags and oxygen tubing have been washed and hung out to dry and these are used over and over, in America these are used one time. Gloves and masks are reused if possible. Paul uses a mask a day instead of one per case in surgery.

In the U.S. things for surgery are often packed in bundles (with most everything being disposable by our standards), the O.R. opens it but may only use one item and the rest is thrown away. Those thrown away items are just what this mission hospital desperately needs. We brought several duffels of suture with us when we arrived. We purchased some as a gift and one large duffle was given to us by a physician friend (Thanks Dr. Todd) who collected suture that was going to be thrown away.

If you can see any IVs hanging by the patients in the pictures- those are glass bottles. Every IV solution is made by the hospital staff and put in glass bottles that are sterilized and reused, no plastic IVs here.

I think we have grown to appreciate even seemingly small conveniences at home, like clean running water, so much more. Here we are gathering rain water, boiling it for ten minutes and then waiting for it to run thru a filter before we can have water to drink and it makes me conserve every drop! Water bottles are coveted; we have refilled ours a hundred times already!

I spent this afternoon in the grassy yard of Mrs. Linda, where some of the women who attend the village Bible study walked (many for hours) to recite their scriptures as a requirement to get a new Bible. There was a good turnout, about 20 women, considering what this area has gone through over the last few weeks. I sat for about an hour and half and listened as each woman one by one recited all 16 scriptures in Kipsigis. Many sat resting in the sun, some prayed, others whispered quietly and a few tended to the babies on their backs waiting until every lady there was finished. I am honored they allowed me to join them and humbled at the same time.
I celebrate their accomplishment and am happy each will receive a new Kipsigis Bible!

As I looked up the scriptures to make a list for myself, none were new to me and many I have memorized, but each one has taken on a new meaning as I read them through the eyes of these Kenyan women and the life they lead.

Thought you might like a list of the scriptures they recited from heart:

Luke (Luka)1:37 Mark(Mariko) 8: 34
Philippians (Philipik) 4:6, 7 I John(1 Johana) 1:9
Luke 2:52 Luke 6:22, 23
Isaiah (Isaia) 43:4 Luke 6:27
I Corinthians(1 Korintoek) 10:13 Hebrew (Hebranik)11:1
Galatians (Galatiek)5:1 Romans(Roamnik) 5:8
Mark (Mariko) 8:34 Luke 8:15
Psalms (Tienwogikab Kalosunet) 46:1 Psalms 145:8

~Jennifer

Last week was a really long week full of ups and downs.  If I could describe the feeling of the situation here it would be unpredictability, the feeling that you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  Things are still safe here on the compound but the violence inched its way closer with fighting and violence within every city within 10 miles of here.
We thank God that he surrounds us like a fortress and we remain safe in His care.

This week one of the long-term physicians decided to return to the states with his family.  His wife is close to the end of her pregnancy and they feel, for their safety and peace of mind, they should leave now while the window is open and travel is allowed.  The staff also lost one of their beloved staff members and leaders in the church when he and his family received death threats and had to leave town this weekend.  These losses are huge to what is a small, loving, tight knit family here at the hospital.  Please continue to pray for unity at the hospital and peace as each family makes decisions and goes through change related to the situation here.

For Jackson this weekend was boy heaven.  Mr. John, from hospital administration, took a group of kids to explore the bat caves by the river.  Jackson has counted the days until this adventure.  On Saturday afternoon a group of men and children went spelunking!  Paul said that Jackson and his friend Luke were the first ones in the cave with the bats flying inches over their heads and were not deterred!

Church was standing room only this Sunday.  Dr. Russ preached a message based on Hebrews 11:13-16.  He reminded us that we are foreigners, pilgrims and strangers here and that our citizenship is in another country- a heavenly one.  This was a timely reminder for all of us that as the body of Christ we should see no skin color, no tribal affiliation or nationality.

Even in Kenya Super Bowl Sunday is a huge event, it takes a little more effort but die hard football fans can make it happen! Last night at 2:00 a.m. the alarm went off, Paul and the girls woke up and walked up the hill to Dr. Russ’ house to join other missionary families to watch the Super Bowl.  They ‘rented’ a satellite from town and then rigged a projector to watch the game on the wall.  They made popcorn and sweets and completely forgot it was the middle of the night.  What a memory!

There is a bridge over the river that many villagers have to cross to come to the hospital and over to this part of the mountain.  Everyone here calls it the “Rickety Bridge”.  We walked this Sunday afternoon to see it for the first time.  It basically is a bunch of stick nailed together and put over the top of the river to make a bridge.  I was very nervous watching my family cross it yet hundreds of children have to cross this bridge to get to school everyday.  While we were there many women crossed over with goods on their heads and children on their back.

One of the long term missionary physicians, Dr. Ben, has a work team from his home church planning to come in March who is volunteering to replace the bridge with a sturdy, metal one over beams that are anchored and cemented below the water.  Dr. Ben’s dad will be heading up this work team and we pray that they will still be able to come and do something so simple but impactful that will make things easier and safer for the people in this area.

Hope you are enjoying the photos and can piece them together with our blog entries.  Continue to pray for peace in Kenya.
~Jenn

Last night at 1:57am I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock named Trusty Pinky. I made some coffee and then woke Dad up. Me, Dad, Georgia and Sophie were going to The NFL Super BOwl in Africa! As we walked through the starry night to a friend’s house we told each other how awesome it was that we were in Africa and were about to go to the Super Bowl party. A party we have every year in Houston but never thought we would have in Kenya! When we Got there, Dad and I were welcomed by a pack of Patriots when he and I were the only Giants’ fans.  Sophie was for the Patriots like the rest of the people at the party)! (Georgia got tired and left before halftime. As we quarreled about who was really going to win the Super Bowl, we watched intensely at the projector waiting for kickoff.

In Africa they don’t have the same commercials as we do in America, So we watched some of the most bizarre commercials I have ever seen in-between plays! We had tons of homemade popcorn, cookie cake, cookies, salsa and chips and Coke non- stop until we couldn’t bear them any longer, Although, both The Patriots and Giants played amazingly… the Giants scored a touchdown in the last 20+ seconds and WON the Super Bowl!!!!

GO GIANTS!
~Liv

Hey Guys,

Yesterday we sold brownies, mandazi (homemade cake donuts) and Kool-aid and some more crafts! We just wanted to say our total ended up to be 3142 KSH (that’s about $45.00 in US money). Isn’t that awesome??!?!

Love,
Liv and Soph

I’m sitting on the upstairs veranda of our mission housing overlooking the beautiful rolling hills of western Kenya.  It’s about 70 degrees with very little humidity.  We’re at 7000 feet above sea level and on the equator—so it’s absolutely perfect weather and the most lush, green place I have ever seen.  From my view I can see all these little village homes with gardens around them.  In the distance I can see several tea plantations creating a beautiful deep green patchwork on the distant hills.  There are so many birds with such different calls and sounds—one, we hear at dawn sounds just like a flute—it’s beautiful.  At night you can see more stars than you can imagine.  All through the night we hear donkeys “honking” and owls hooting and dogs barking at each other and people in the surrounding village singing and laughing.

The food here is really incredible as well.  There are all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables here—from bananas to pineapples to cabbage.  We have a man who collects food and helps cook for us during the week and he makes some of the best cole slaw I’ve ever had.  It’s interesting too, that the custom here in Kenya is to start work early and then about 10 a.m., everyone breaks for “chai”.  This is a Kenyan recipe for boiled milk with sugar that is then mixed with tea.  Trust me, it is awesome.  It is a great time to sit and fellowship with our Kenyan brothers and sisters over a cup of Chai each day.  Then, at 1 p.m., everyone breaks for lunch—which is the big meal of the day and then return to work at 2 p.m.

You’ve all been reading about the violence and conflict here in Kenya—much of it just a few miles from where we are.  Unfortunately, much of what you are reading about is very true—we are taking care of a lot of the wounded from the areas of conflict around us (more about that to follow).  But I don’t want you to get the wrong picture of most of the Kenyan people.  The people I work with day in and day out at the hospital and the ones we minister to are some of the kindest, most gentle, respectful godly people I have ever had the privilege of being around.  Their inner joy is reflected by their beautiful, radiant smiles.  There is a custom here at this hospital to pray before every operation.  Many times I will pray, but often I will ask them to pray—mainly because I love to hear their words.  Prayer for most of them seems effortless and reflects a real relationship with Jesus and a dependence on Him for everything they do.  So, whatever you see in the news about Kenya, remember that isn’t a reflection of most of the Kenyans.

The reason I haven’t had much time to write a journal entry is because I have been VERY busy over the last few days.  I have had to make several adjustments—getting back into the “saddle” of doing surgery, navigating a new culture, a new hospital and a new way of doing things.  All that on top of this being a very busy time in surgery here.  I left for the hospital just before 7 a.m. yesterday, did “rounds” on probably 40 patients, did my first operation at 9 a.m. and finally walked back to our cottage at 6 a.m. after doing eleven operations!  I started with an arrow injury to the chest (9 a.m.), and ended with an arrow injury to the back side (5 a.m.)!  In between, I operated on a 5 month old with a bowel obstruction (intussusception for you medical types), a 6 year old with burns, and a whole host of other general surgical problems.  From 1 a.m. this morning until almost 5 a.m. I operated on a man who was stabbed in the abdomen and had a huge injury to his stomach, and smaller ones to his small bowel.  Never a dull moment.

One of my main prayers has been for my surgical skills to come back to me quickly.  I have seen God show Himself faithful in that regard.  I have relied on His strength instead of my own.  It sounds so simple but it when we try to do things in our own strength, we struggle.  When we depend on His strength, there is an “ease” in doing what He calls us to do.

The kids are having a great time.  They do their school work in the morning and play with the other missionary kids in the afternoon.  Jack seems to have made friends with the whole mission compound.  It’s not unusual for him to go missing for 30 minutes only to be found visiting some of the older ladies who have become his newest friends.  Jenn continues to be the anchor that holds our family together.  Her peaceful demeanor keeps a steady calm to our family life.

Despite all the violence and unrest here in Kenya, there has not been a moment that we haven’t experienced a “peace that passes understanding”.  With all the violence so close to us, it made no sense for us to not have fear and worry and apprehension.  We are so thankful we have a refuge, a fortress and a hiding place knowing He is our shield and our protector.

Well, it’s 2 p.m. on Saturday, and after being up all night I’m “running on fumes”.  I feel a siesta coming on!

Many thanks for all the comments and encouraging words.  Thanks to some of our long lost friends making contact with us (Steve and Lori!).  We appreciate you prayers.  We know that the reason we are doing so well is because there are a whole lot of people praying for us.  We do not take you for granted.

Blessings to all this weekend,

Paul