Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday morning
Blog 729
Monday morning here as we begin our last week in Kenya. As usual I was the last one up. We had breakfast of fruit, a kind of pancake called chipati, and cooked green bananas. I also had my regular morning ripe banana. When we got the bananas for the banana bread I got a few extra so I am able to start my day in my traditional fashion. Right after breakfast Ryan and Caleb went on a banga adventure whose goal was to find some suitable poles in the brush pile to fashion stilts. Success came quickly and soon Caleb was strutting about on the smaller pair while the rest of the company tried the larger version. Silas' mom even tried. I had flip flops on so have not taken a turn yet. Last time I was on stilts was when Ann and I were on them in MX. Ann was doing laundry so I was tending the hot water fire. That is a job I particularly enjoy. I love to get the big kettle steaming. Today we are invited to have lunch at pastor Josiah's house. It will be an hour ride in our chariot. Silas says it will be nearer the mountains and we will see scenery we have not yet experienced here. He has farm work to catch up with after three weeks of class so be will not accompanying us. Hillary will be our faithful chauffeur and Tony, a friend who has been visiting Silas the last few days will be going along. Time for me to get cleaned up. Have not been doing so well with the pix uploading. If I get to better coverage I would love to upload another church video. Until next time. Art
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday afternoon
Blog 727
Gracie spent many hours in the salon on Friday with very mixed results. The women had zero experience with western hair and despite all their efforts including adding fake hair the braids refused to stay in. Andrea finally convinced them that rubber bands were the only solution. They left the shop with two packs of 300. The job of redoing the ends and banding them began on the ride home that afternoon. With various helpers much of it was accomplished before church today. (Saturday). It is still a work In progress. Friday was the last day of class. I did some printing for Ann and ran out of paper. The last run was completed using one side good. Then I went over to a local market and purchased some local air time for Ann's iPhone. We were able to get it unlocked before we left and purchased a local SIM card after we arrived. Air time for voice or data is very inexpensive here. The way we have been successful in getting computer access to the Internet Is by tethering that phone to the computer and creating a hot spot. In this way I am able to post Ryan's updates. I would not rate this as high speed but it works. Posting from my phone app is super easy because the pix are from the phone and the text is dictated on my notes and pasted to the blog. This morning we all piled into the pickup to head cross country to a large church where a joint service was held to welcome the Americans. Some of the Bible college students attend there so we were among friends. When we arrived a Bible lesson was in progress. We learned later he was a guest speaker who had been invited before the news of the Americans coming had been known. When he finished we sang a song and I was invited to give a Bible lesson. I spoke on the body as a temple and urged people to repent. Silas said I should have given an altar call. An extended time of worship followed which I thoroughly enjoy. Some songs are in English but I enjoy all the music and the choreography. The. Ryan was introduced and he gave a powerful sermon on standing up for Christ Jesus even when it means suffering. There are tribal conflicts stemming from the post election distress of a few years ago. The students have been asking many questions as to how to handle family and tribal pressures on them to exact revenge for intertribal transgressions. Lunch followed. We were ushered into a large room, seated at a table and served heaping platefuls of rice, beans and chicken. My plate held twice what I usually take but it was very good and I finished to the last kernel. Music was being played over a loud speaker so I asked if I could play one from my phone. They were pleasantly surprised by a black gospel group I enjoy called the Dixie Hummingbirds. Rain clouds were threatening so Hillary wanted us to get going before the roads got too slick. There were 15 or 16. On the ride home but by the time we got here it was down to 8 or 9 Today is Sunday. Ryan and I traveled to Ziwa to a small church. We had met Pastor Ben at the market last week and he wanted us to visit. I gave the Bible lesson revisiting my thoughts on the body as a temple from yesterday. Ryan spoke on discipleship. The ladies stayed home to cook more banana and cornbread for the Bible college students tonight. They are here now playing volley ball and we will soon have dinner. This may be our last time with the students although we have another week to wind up marking and final grades. Ryan twisted his ankle in a volley ball game but claims he will be just fine. While we were in Ziwa today we charged up all our electronics. From here on out we may not have reliable power or cell coverage but will do our best to keep you all informed.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Results of tree harvest.
All through yesterday's rain the chainsaws were buzzing turning out planks. 
Silas mom Leah warming herself
After supper is cooked using this charcoal pot as an extra burner it is brought into the sitting room for warmth
Ryan's update
Monday, July 22, 2013
Wow – what to say . . . it’s getting harder and harder to just make observations and tell simple stories. I feel like we’re getting beyond the “it’s very different here” stage to really getting to see into the culture and the hearts of people.
A culture that is so full of smiles and hospitality and warm greetings is brewing with all sorts of conflict and dysfunction and enslavement just under the surface. We in the US aren’t too different. We put on our happy faces and give our warm greetings, but if you get to know us you begin to see our wounds and struggles.
The more we observe families here, and the more we get to know the students of the college, the more we see much pain and heartache. Just like the students in the US, these young men and women have already in their short lives experienced a tremendous amount of difficulty. Some have faced abuse – physical and sexual; some have faced other violence; some have been abandoned; two young men in the class grew up in a local orphanage. One young man was so estranged from his mother due to conflict that the two hadn’t spoken in about five years. One young woman is the only daughter of the second wife of a man. Because of a cultural practice I don’t understand yet, as the only child of this marriage and a daughter, she will never be allowed to marry, but must remain in her parents’ home. Yet she has had five children who must call her ‘sister’ while calling her parents ‘mother’ and ‘father.’ Who is the father of these children? I’m afraid to ask, but I think I can guess.
We’re amazed at the poor treatment of women in this culture. They bear an immense share of the labor required to survive. As far as we can see it is a rare thing indeed to see a husband honor his wife in even a small way or speak a word of appreciation to her. We’ve had some long discussions with people regarding the issue of child-raising. We have not yet witnessed a parent interact meaningfully with a child here, with the exception of mothers of infants. The children roam around completely on their own. They put themselves to bed. Parents do not read to or play with or spend time with their children. Children are not disciplined unless they do something “bad” enough to warrant a beating.
My peacemaking class this morning was to address the topic of forgiveness. What a nerve that touched! The students have, up to now, asked very few questions. This morning, the dam broke. The discussion was so intense that we went right past the end of the class time, right on through break, and all the way to the end of the next two hours that were supposed to be the narrative class. We moved from questions regarding personal forgiveness to difficult questions regarding conflict between the tribes here in Kenya. The post-election violence from a few years before came up with force. All the students raised their hands to indicate they had vivid memories of that time and had been affected. They said that though the tribes today are “at peace” in the worldly sense of having no open conflict, they are far from being truly at peace. They are struggling deeply with issues of allegiance to God versus family and tribe. “What do we do,” they asked, “when members of two different tribes and two different political parties all claim to be Christians, yet they fight one another?” They said, “Ryan, what would you do if your tribe came to you and said, ‘Pastor Ryan, pray for our victory as we go to fight that other tribe – or we’ll burn your house.’?” They talked about the pressures on them to participate in the slander and violence or else be labeled a traitor to their own people. Some of them have faced threats of physical violence if they don’t participate. So I took them to the only place I know to go for answers – God’s word. And we read Scripture about the cost of discipleship, putting God as number one in our lives even above mother, father, wife, husband, or tribe. We considered the words of Jesus that the world will hate His followers as they hated Him. We looked at our call to follow Christ in His example of bearing up under unjust suffering. We looked at the promises of Jesus calling those “blessed” who endure persecution, knowing their rewards are not in this life. We discussed the realities of being ostracized and ridiculed alongside the opportunities for witness to the saving power of Christ. What a discussion! It was the justice of God and the mercy of God and all the other glorious truths of the gospel. It was painful for students. It was hard-hitting, yet so good. My one paragraph here can’t possibly do justice to the discussion, but I can say that the word of God is transforming the hearts and lives of these students. By the way, we also mentioned the temptations of the church in the US to mix our allegiance to God with allegiance to materialism and nationalism. We talked about the temptation for American Christians to hate and fear Muslims rather than love them more than ourselves and take the gospel to them.
The response from the churches to the preaching of God’s word has made an impact on me as well. The basic response is, “This is the kind of preaching we need. It has substance. It knows what it is talking about. It challenges us to respond.” An older man was telling us after the service on Saturday that he is so encouraged by the young people. He talked about the huge change they saw in Silas and how they respect him. He said, “We wanted to argue with some of the changes the young people are suggesting because that’s not how we’ve ever done things before, but we couldn’t argue because they were showing us from the Bible why the changes were right, and we can see the Holy Spirit in their lives.”
The truths of the gospel are so desperately needed in every human heart all around the world to free people from the bondages of sin.
We’ve also confronted poverty and the difficulties of helping people much more forcefully. We learned that two young men at the Bible college were missing class and struggling to pay attention because they had wives and children at home who were crying from hunger. They had no money and no food. Of course, our hearts wanted to bring immediate help to these situations, yet long conversations with Silas were good as we wrestled through how to follow the Scriptural principles in James to do something about physical needs of our family in Christ while also following 2 Thessalonians to insist that people live productive lives and earn the bread they eat. Gracie and Caleb, especially Caleb, are struggling with these issues as they have found in themselves a desire to give everything they own to help and yet are finding it difficult to understand the complex issues surrounding poverty.
We also had a meeting with the still-forming group of leaders for the Bible College. Again, much of the discussion centered around how to do some economic development for the students. In this area, most pastors are not paid at all. Almost no student could expect any financial compensation for his or her ministry in a local church, so if they are to complete the task God would lay before them, they must also learn to support themselves. A micro loan program seems to be vital for the completion of the school’s mission, yet this too must be done with real wisdom. LONG DISCUSSION – I’ll spare you the details.
The college, too, faces some immediate challenges. It’s currently renting rooms in a building, but the minimal tuition and financial status of the students makes it so the college’s income is not meeting its expenses. The school will move to the church building under construction near Silas’s home when it has a roof and electricity. The churches have come close to being able to pay for all the trusses, but they must still raise a significant amount to put the metal roofing needed and install electricity. So, it’s unclear when the college will be able to move. In the mean-time, Silas hopes to generate some income through small-business pursuits that may also employ a few students. He is gearing up to begin well-drilling after this term is complete in a couple of weeks. They are also hoping to revive the printing business if a better printer could be purchased. This business had been running on one small HP deskjet that only printed black. When we arrived, that printer was dead, and we purchased a new color inkjet to meet the immediate need of printing necessary materials for classes. However, printers here are about twice the price in US dollars of the same model bought in the US, so a printer of good quality for a business will probably need to be shipped from there, which spells TIME. By the way, you can purchase a brand new motorcycle here for $1000 US dollars, while the little ink jet printer we bought cost over $200 US dollars. Go figure!!
Speaking of motorcycles, I was on the back of one yesterday. The young man driving was asking me if I found Kenya to be very different from the United States. I said that, yes, there were many differences in almost every way, but that the place I had found the most similarity was in the human heart. People here have the same desires and aspirations; the same things fill them with joy or grief; the causes of their conflicts are the same; the results of their sin are the same. Though the people may live very differently, the human heart is very much the same.
OK, I’d better bring this to a close again. Obviously, there’s a LOT to chew on. Oh, by the way, there is one young man at the college who talked with me today about coming to Montana Bible College. I have previously warned the students about all the difficulties and hurdles to face in this pursuit. However, in Edwin’s case, I think God may be putting something together. Edwin is a standout among the students. Academic performance is not strong, to put it mildly. But Edwin shows an unusual level of understanding and competence. During his years in the orphanage, he was sponsored by a family in the US – in Montana of all places. This family has taken a real interest in him. They had a very active relationship through e-mail and even Skype. About two months ago, the family traveled to Kenya with a team from their church that worked in the orphanage. They told Edwin that they had been praying that a door would open up to allow him to come to the US to study, and they have offered to sponsor him financially. I don’t know any details yet, but it looks as if this could be a real possibility. Edwin had been wanting to study electrical engineering, but now believes God has a call on his life toward some sort of ministry. I asked him what brought about the change, and he started describing for me all the changes that God has made in his life through his study of God’s word at Ziwa Bible College. He is finding in himself a heart and passion to share the word with others, and he realizes he needs more equipping. Also, just a fun tidbit on him – yesterday as we played volleyball with the students at Silas’s home, we found out how true it is that Kenyans love volleyball. Edwin can POUND that ball, and yet he has incredibly soft hands – really fun to watch.
Now I’m really going!
With love to all,
Ryan, for the team here.
P.S. The internet modem was crashing my computer over and over and causing all kinds of crazy virus symptoms, to the point that I finally uninstalled it completely. Last week I tried to connect for over two hours – unsuccessfully. I’ve given up and am trying to send any communication like this through Silas’s computer. So, my communication will stay very limited. I’m thankful Art has been able to blog via his phone.
Friday AM
Blog 726
It was not raining Thursday when we left to traveling the now so familiar route but by the time we were pulling into Ziwa it had started. Ann's Class was working on puppets. I had some initial chores to complete but when they were done I noticed the skies had cleared. I had some shopping to so I made my way to the market. The red clay mud made it a tricky fete to accomplish. A couple of times I almost slipped. One of goals was to get enough bananas for another batch of banana bread. The students enjoyed that so much last Sunday that they requested it again for this weekend. Everyone really enjoyed making their puppets. When class was over we piled into the pickup and headed home. There were extra bodies and suitcases and the back was very crowded as we jostled through the mud sploshed through the puddles. About one kilometer from home a strange noise emanated from the left rear of the vehicle. We were almost across the road from the tire repair shop which was excellent planning because that tire had breathed its last. I for one was happy for the chance to walk. With the recent rains I had not been getting enough walking done. The air is fresh and cool after the down pours and the mud retained on the soles of my sneakers was soon left behind as Gracie, Ann and I cut a cross the grassy path between the foot high wheat and the ten foot high maize stalks. While we waited for supper Ann graded papers while I rested. Then I created a spreadsheet for her grades and entered the ones she had recorded.
It is now almost lunchtime on Friday. I spent the morning sorting things out and doing a cryptogram puzzle. Ann graded papers and got ready for class. It was very quiet here because while Ryan was administering his final exams Andrea was taking Gracie to a local salon to get her hair braided in tiny braids. We are not sure what our schedule will look like for next week so today was a the best day. We have gotten a few comments on the blog and appreciated them immensely. Art
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday July 24
Blog 724
Ann's class yesterday was given the assignment of making game pieces for certain activities used as competitive ways to have children review Bible lessons. It was fun to watch the energy they put into their cutting, marking and gluing of the colorful materials provided. By the time they finished the tables were piled high with zip lock bags each containing the instructions and parts necessary to conduct fun review and memorization activities with children. One of the activities was to make a bean bag. Mary and I walked over to the market to purchase a 25 kilo bag of rice for the insides. Nobody thought the old man (a term I seem to hear more often each day I am here) could carry fifty pounds across the parking lot and up the steps to the college so one of the shop keepers handled the chore. Mary had no idea that the large bag had been purchased with the idea that what was left would be a gift from us to her and her family. The smiles on their faces when we told them as they were getting out of the pickup indicated that our little thank you gift could not have been more appreciated.
The plan for supper was to walk across the fields to Silas' brother's house if it was not raining. It wasn't actually raining but it was threatening and Silas feared the roads would be too muddy. With the new top we have the advantage of rain shield but the problem of getting enough fresh air to dispel the exhaust fumes. On the main road air coming in from the front vented area is adequate but on the muddy back roads the supply of fresh air was a bit marginal. The great thing about being here is that there're always ways to improve make something better out of what you have to work with. We arrived in just a few minutes and were welcome into a small sitting room with chairs and couches lining the walls each one fronted by a coffee table. While we were waiting for dinner Gracie taught Hillary our faithful pickup chauffeur to play Rock Paper Scissors. He is very quick to catch on to our games and was very quickly out in the lead much to the amusement of all the guests. The dinner was served in the insulated serving dishes common here in Kenya. Rice, potatoes, chicken, beans and lentils were on the menu tonight. Silas' sister-in-law is a specialist in cooking chicken. I would share some of her special recipe tricks but we were all sworn to secrecy. We got home well after 9:00 which is long after dark. The day/night ratio is almost equal here year round so sunrises and sunsets vary little from six o'clock morning and night. Walking the muddy roads and paths would have been quite a challenge especially with the kids who were pretty tired by that time of night.
It is now Thursday morning. We left home four weeks ago today. This morning since Ryan left we have been working on making game pieces to help those who missed class yesterday or struggled to finish. Gracie and Caleb joined in cutting and pasting and picking out appropriate stickers when game pieces required them. They are such a big help in so many ways. Kenyans love children and they make a bridge many many times. Time to get ready to go with Ann to class thanks for you interest and your prayers. 
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Wednesday
Blog 723
One of the things that is always interesting to me when I go to a new place is to find out where's north south east and west. In Kenya it was easy because the first morning the sun peaked in our bedroom window as it came up early in the morning. One thing that is a little disorienting is the fact that the sun is in the north. We are located on the equator and that means in this time of year the sun is north of us. Can you picture the southside being the shady side of the building. Although I started this yesterday it is now Wednesday afternoon. Rains have been coming with a lot more regularity. We were very happy to have the top on the little white pick up coming into Ziwa today. I am sitting here on the balcony of the Bible college watching the rain come more and more heavy. Ann andI made the trip to Ziwa this morning make preparations for her class this afternoon. I was at the printer for about four hours straight. Then she and I collated things for the rest of the week and for next week. The lecture portion of the classes will end on Friday. Next week the students will have assignments which will include watching DVDs and filling out worksheets. There will also be assignments from this week that will be due the first part of next week. To talk here is all about there are only two days left out of this three week session. As I'm standing here outside the door of the classroom Gracie and Caleb are standing on the railing watching the rain. They have been loving watching the downpours that are typical here in Africa. Gladys will be leaving Saturday to go to her job which is a different part of Kenya. We are going to be eating at Silas's brothers tonight. Happily that will give Gladys a break from cooking. Silas decided to stay home and take some time to be with his wife this afternoon. That is just a quick update from Kenya for today. We thank God that he is answering your prayers and that all is well here. Until
next time. Art
Monday, July 22, 2013
We got a top on our pickup
Monday AM
Blog 722
It is Monday morning and the sun is shining brightly. The rains of the weekend were a true answer to prayer. The crops were watered and we were able to get out of the back of the pickup Friday before the first drops fell. An added bonus will be not having to travel in the dust on our way to Ziwa. Saturday morning my lesson from Genesis 24 featured a review of the life of Abraham using class members as the characters and walking through his 175 years in about 25 minutes. The application came from the summary in Hebrews and was to walk by faith and when you find your faith failing get back to Bethel and call on the name of The Lord. Worship time is led by age groups. Adults children and youth all take a turn. Two western groups were added. Ann led the children in a song in English and Ryan led us in "Lord You Are More Precious..." Some of the Bible school students came up and led with us. Ryan's powerful sermon from Psalm 29 elicited many amen's and was warmly received. We had lunch at Mary's with some of the church members. Silas and Gladys had some other church members over to their house for lunch. The conversation at Mary's was very interesting. We talked a lot about the sermon and some of the men gave a history of their families religious beliefs. We learned a lot about issues in the Kenyan church and were able to offer encouragement. Later in the afternoon we came back to Silas'. The people he had over for lunch were leaders in the Bible college. We met for a couple hours with them discussing the future plans for progress. We were seeking ways that we could help without being an interference. My conclusion was that it was a very productive day.
On Sunday I slept in. We did not eat breakfast until about nine. Ann and Andrea had planned to make banana bread for the college students who were coming over in the afternoon. This meant getting the charcoal into the oven and getting it heated while they were mixing the recipe. Silas' Betty Crocker cookbook had ingredients for the banana bread which were not available. The creative ladies decided to use the zucchini recipe instead. They just substituted the bananas, made a few other adjustments and were on their way. I must admit I had some doubts but loaves came out looking very very good. The students began arriving about 3:00 PM. Immediately a volleyball game began It started to rain about a half hour later I came inside and started to do a few things but no one else did. Soon I was out standing under the shed roof watching the game continue in this in the drizzle. Two hours later the very damp competitors were still fielding teams while some of the spectators who had been under a tree gradually all shifted to the lean to shed area. It was getting very chilly so I came in for a heavier sweatshirt and began helping Silas and Gladys. Silas summoned the last of the dye hards to the sitting room where Ryan led in almost an hour of songs and prayer. The supper buffet began with a huge pan of white rice. Next to that was an equally large pan of beans. That was followed by another rice dish with herbs and a large lot of mashed potatoes. Smaller pots of greens completed to presentation. The plates used here are of the shallow wider cereal bowl design. Foods are piled high and usually consumed with the aid of a cereal spoon. Seconds and thirds are expected so we start with somewhat smaller portions. When most had had their fill and Gladys was ready to serve piping hot Kenyan tea from a large blue thermos bottle she asked me to serve the banana bread. The mashed potatoes and the "dessert" were an intentional westernization of the meal. There were six loaves of bread which I cut into 8 slices each. After serving everyone a slice I cut the remaining slices in half and started around again. No one refused a second portion even if as in a few instances they had not finished the first. There were also several requests for the recipe. The kids were totally delighted and could hardly wait till breakfast to devour the last existing crumbs. Discussion of Bible classes followed as I fought drowsiness on a couch back in the corner. The evening came to a close near eleven o'clock with most of the group having kilometers to walk home along dark slippery rain drenched red clay roads. A few steps to our room and I was fast asleep.
Answers to a few we questions:
We are offered bottled water when we visit. Silas has it available here. We supplement with water we treat with a UV wand that is rechargeable.
Silas' mom milks the cows twice daily and sells milk to a vender. Some of it is pasteurized on site for drinking and also used in the Kenyan tea.
Menu items not mentioned: fresh pineapple, avocado, oranges,eggs hard boiled and scrambled, ugaly, a cross between corn meal mush and corn bread, pancakes, a fried dough that the kids love called mangazi. It has a pocket I love to open and drizzle in generous amounts of local honey. Green bananas cooked to a potato consistency often in a gravy with potatoes and peas (a personal favorite).
It is almost lunch time and that means time to get cleaned up for the trip to Ziwa to get everything charged and do some printing for Ann.
God's blessings on you all.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Sunday July 20
Blog 720
Friday was kind of a quiet day. I did not try to do much in the morning. I took time to read and pray and get a few projects done around the house. After lunch I went to Ziwa with Ann to help her copy some of the things she needed for her class. I also-needed to get all of our electronics charged up for the weekend. Silas's solar battery has been acting up. Gracie had gone with Ryan in the morning so she wanted to stay home. Caleb wanted to get some more time in on the ponga so he was home also. He and his dad were gutting trees to be made into a lectern for the college. Andrea took time after class to walk over to the market to get bananas. The students from the college are coming over Sunday for supper and she and Ann plan to bake banana bread. We found out this morning that Silas' first bananas of the season were ripe. Did you know that tree ripened bananas taste so much better? We were glad we had gotten some to get dead ripe though anyway.
During the evening I struggled with just how to teach Genesis 24. I had made various plans all week but rejected all of them. I stayed up after Ann turned in and came up with a basic format. At sometime in the night I awoke with additional ideas. There is no chance to do Saturday night prepping here since we worship on Saturday morning. Rising before dawn I made my way to the sitting room with my headlamp. God answered my prayer and the lesson came together in plenty of time I was soon joined by Ryan who was putting the finishing touches on his sermon. He said Andrea was sitting up in bed working on her Sunday school lesson but he had found that too uncomfortable. Ann had heard me get up but had fallen back to sleep. When she was awake she used her beautiful printing skills to do all the visual aids for my lesson on the life of Abraham. We all then walked down to the church building. Young men were putting up the tarps to shade us from the tropical sun. Ryan and I joined into help. When Silas and Gladys arrived he helped too. It is now late Sunday afternoon and supper is almost ready so I will close and continue later.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Friday
Blog 719
It has been a very busy week I have gotten behind in my reporting. If I think of anything important that happened on Wednesday I'll include it at the end. We went to Ziwa with the rest to get some things set up. We had some shopping to do so we both took empty backpacks. In Zela there are commercial vehicles which carry passengers into Eldoret. They are easily identified five broad yellow stripes on the side. It was not very comfortable and we waited over a half hour before the trip began. It was however covered much more quickly than in the white pickup. The poor road conditions only lasted for a couple of kilometers past Silas's place. Then the road turned beautifully smooth. By the time we got to Eldoret my back was feeling a little bit tired. As we neared the center of the city the driver stopped for gasoline. We decided to walk to our destination. First stop was a mall with security guards wanding patrons as they entered.
We hit a very secure ATM on the outer veranda and then went inside multistoried building. I followed Silas to a modern super market. After checking our backpacks at the door we grabbed a shopping cart and began checking things off our list. We spent over 4000 shillings took our collection of plastic bags to the counter to collect our back packs. The heaviest item was a 5 L bottle of orange juice. My pack was the biggest so I started with that. Next we headed for the hardware store. Before long I was wishing we had gone there first. It did not take this long at the hardware store to get the things we needed. Leaving the store we called the driver who had brought us into town to see if you could pick us up. He had already left so we started the long uphill walk back to the lot where the transportation vehicles load there passengers. The area was crowded with vans and busses heading to various places with hardly room to walk between. The next 14 passenger van heading to Ziwa was about half full. Silas decided we should take the second one so we could sit in fromt. We waited about a half hour for our vehicle to move up to first place. And we waited another 15 minutes for it to fill The hour ride home was no less comfortable than the ride into town and we had our heavy packs sitting on out laps. The van had been full for the whole trip but just before we were going to get off at Silas' a couple wanted to get a board. They were Silas's neighbors so we agreed to walk the rest of the way. This meant walking in front of the school near Silas's house while all the children were out at lunchtime. By the time we got Silas's drive kids were mobbing me. While trying to shake my hand they were pulling my arms with grocery bags in them. Having dealt with schoolchildren all my life I was soon free and walking up to the house. By the time Silas helped me out of my heavy pack in the kitchen I was exhausted.
Thursday afternoon I went to school with Ann. She had some copying she wanted me to do with the new printer, scanner. That was accomplished in pretty quick order. The machine was indicting low ink but we figured how to recharge it. Soon after we got home I was falling asleep on the couch. The kids came into play games so I retired to our room. Ann had everything spread out on a bed for her schoolwork but I found a little spot soon was fast sound asleep. After supper we shared some pictures of our wedding and after prayer we were soon asleep.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Ryan's thoughts
Some of the text was lost on my last post. I hope this is more complete.
Hello to all from Kenya on another beautiful Sunday, July 14, 2013.
We finished our first week of teaching, and we praise God for answered prayer so far. We seem to be doing pretty well in understanding, and the best part is that the students are telling us how the Word of God is impacting their hearts. As with students in the US, many of the students here bring much relational baggage with them. As Ann taught about children in the home and mentioned that sometimes parents discipline out of anger and abuse their children, she saw many of the students who had been watching her intently suddenly lower their eyes and heads. One girl wrote on an assignment that she’s tired of feeling angry all the time, tired of feeling constantly unhappy, and tired of always lying. So, the students are hungry for the Word of God. They are eager for truth. What a blessing to teach them!
The printer for the printing business was an HP deskjet. It was giving out, and we weren’t able to print notes for the students. It was finally decided that a new printer was a necessity. Silas spent a whole day in Eldoret and came home without a printer. The one we were after was sold out of every shop. However, we received a call the next day that one had arrived. So Silas made another trip to Eldoret, and on Friday evening we set up the new printer and did our first printing by running it off a car battery. If we have enough electricity, we may have notes to give to the students for their second week of classes.
Transportation has been interesting. The little car that had been loaned continued to have problems. It left us stranded a couple times. The steering linkage started coming apart, and fixing it with pliers was difficult. The front wheel alignment was so off that the wheels were heading in different directions. Thankfully, due to the rough road, we never traveled over about 25 mph. Failing bearings meant we went down the road with a loud squeak every turn of the wheels. Then the fuel line sprung a leak. We wrapped a strip of rubber innertube around it. By Wednesday, the car was abandoned in favor of the little Peugeot pickup of Silas’s brother. On Thursday, we ran out of fuel on the way to the college. We caught a ride with public transportation to finish the trip. They put a little more fuel in the truck later. On the way home, we ran out of fuel again! Fun times.
Silas was so apologetic about the car and the printer and other things. We kept assuring him that we were relaxed and were just fine. We started class 40 minutes late, but hey, we could praise God for just allowing this all to happen! However, I will admit to a moment where I felt very frustrated when, on Friday, the first power strip that was daisy-chained to a second one to give enough length, melted to the second one. When we tried using another outlet in order to use just one power strip, the chord on that one (which was hanging on by a thread) gave out completely. That left us with no projector. I felt a surge of frustration at the sin in societal structures that results in people building such incredibly worthless things and selling them to others. It seriously hindered the teaching because I’ve found that the students do so much better understanding me when they have the gist of what I’m saying in print before them. Since I hadn’t been able to give printed notes, I’d been relying on the projector to put things on the wall for them to see. Without either, I just had to take a deep breath, shake it off, ask the Lord for help, and do the best we could.
So, I guess these examples have given another glimpse into the third world. Now, let me get back to the people.
Yesterday’s church meetings were a combination of the seven churches. Most of the churches still met on their own and only sent some of their leaders as representatives since transportation is a problem. However, there were easily 150 people by the time it was all said and done. Every wooden bench was jam-packed full, and they ended up moving all the children out to make room for more adults. When the Bible study hour began, there may have been 20 or 30 adults and maybe 15 kids. Then people kept trickling in. By the time Andrea was finished teaching the children we guestimated about 40 kids. The Bible Study hour flows immediately into the main worship service. So we went from 9:30 to 12:30. Art taught the adult Bible Study hour from Genesis 24. The pastor over the seven churches preached from Philippians 2 for the main service. Then, all the people stayed at the church grounds. There was a large meeting of leaders for the men’s and women’s ministries immediately following the main worship service. While this meeting was happening, many others worked to prepare food for everyone. They cooked large pots of rice and beans. A second service was planned for 3:00, but since not everyone had finished eating by then, it got started about3:30. I preached for that service, continuing the series on discipleship.
Last night we had a long conversation with Silas in which we discussed all sorts of ideas for how future teams might best be used in Kenya. This was an exciting conversation. One of the purposes in this trip has been for us to “scout” out these sorts of opportunities. I feel like I’m now starting to see real possibilities and to get a realistic picture of the needs and challenges. Please pray that God will give us wisdom as we seek to continue discerning these things over the remaining weeks.
We praise the Lord for good health overall. Gracie was sick early in the week for a day – fever, vomiting, and no appetite, but recovered by the next day. Then, I think on Wednesday, I ended up really sick and had to quit teaching early (if I hadn’t, things would have become very embarrassing for both me and the students!). I spent the rest of that day in bed, but was able to go again the next day. Mom has had touches of stomach stuff, but has been helped by the medicine we brought along.
The rest of the crew is outside right now to see Silas’s bee hives. We had some of his honey this morning, and it was delicious. Later in the morning, the plan is for us all to go to Gladys’s parents’ home for lunch. We got to meet her mother and brother yesterday. Also, another brother of hers is a student, as well as a half-sister. Both Silas and Gladys come from homes where the fathers had two wives. They can readily testify to the fact that God’s design for families of one man and one woman is best.
Yesterday, we again were in the home of a widow named Mary. Her home is right next to the church building and was used as the staging area for all the cooking for the crowd and the place for folks to sit on the grass and eat. Two of Mary’s children are students of ours. At one point in our conversation Art asked how she is supported. She got a huge smile on her face as she said, “It’s just God!” She began relating stories of how she just prays and prays and has seen God miraculously provide over and over again. She raises a garden and has chickens and two milk cows. This woman has a huge heart. She served us meals last week and this week. Later in the afternoon, we observed her giving vegetables from her garden to other women. It reminded me of the woman who put the two little coins in the temple treasury. Jesus said she gave more than all the others. Nancy and Edward, her daughter and son who are our students, exemplify their mother’s kindness. Over and over again I see them serving others with wonderful smiles. Edward is student teaching in a primary school, but especially requested these three weeks off so he could take our classes. (This is Ann—just wanted to add another word about Mary. She and Edward and Nancy have been riding back and forth to classes with us in the back of the truck. It has given me good time to visit with Mary and hear encouraging stories of how God has provided for this widow. I think our experience of widowhood has drawn our hearts together and it is so wonderful to realize that God hears the prayers of a widow in Kenya and so faithfully provides for her needs in amazing ways just as He does for a widow in USA—or anywhere in the world for that matter. Understanding that has brought tears to my eyes on several occasions and fills my heart with overwhelming praise. I treasure several heart to heart conversations I have had with women here. Our culture and skin color is different, but our hearts are so much the same. Even though I can’t really communicate with Silas’s mother, our daily hugs communicate a growing love and appreciation developing between us. And of course the children—many can’t speak English yet—but they recognize love in any language. Andrea and I have enjoyed being able to teach them together with Mary as our interpreter.)
OK, I know others would write about different things than I would. I also know this is getting very long, so I’m going to sign off for now. Andrea and the kids were just out feeding termites to the baby chicks. Andrea has informed me that they are missing me on my one and only free day here. I need to go spend time with my family.
With love to all,
Ryan for the crew here.
Gracie with Janet (on left) and Nancy
Silas's mom Leah
Bean plants with beans still attached are laid out to dry. The dry pods are beaten to release the seeds. The plants are checked for any remaining beans and removed. The bean seeds are dried some more and stored for future use. 
Tuesday AM
Blog 716
When I got to read yesterday's blog I saw the voice to txt translated Ryan to Brian. My apologies to both :)
It is Tuesday morning here. As utility infielder my assignment was to come into Ziwa to print some docs for Ryan on the new printer. Our vehicle has had some carburetor issues and since gas is over $5 a gallon we don't get a lot each time. To make a long story short when we ran out of gas we walked the last mile or two. I am waiting for my computer to adapt to the printer and then I will be printing some docs for Ryan. We bought the new printer on Friday but without electricity at Silas' house other than his solar panel we only printed what the car battery would allow. The power has just gone off here so my usefulness may be somewhat limited. Yesterday we brought the new printer here from Silas' house. On the way here the hoses between the add on ink reservoirs got air in them. Installation to the school computer was unsuccessful as was the installation to Silas's computer so by lunch time no printing had been done. I had been trying to get on line to post an update while the software was loading. I had no service. Finally I shut my phone down completely and voila. I was connected at full strength. I quickly posted a blog and a few pics. I noticed later that Ryan came out of my voice to text as Bryan along with some other errors.
After lunch Ryan went to work on the printer and managed to get it working. I worked on getting Ann's phone to create an online hotspot. With that I was able to post some files from Ryan's computer. I was told his post was cut off mid sentence so we will have to examine and revisit that issue. If you are getting the idea we are at the outer limits of our resources and our capabilities you are getting a true take on the situation. Just as it seems we are getting things going another challenge presents itself. Ryan has been waiting for his class notes to be printed and we now have about half way while I sit here and wait for electric power to resume. Ann was supposed to get some of her docs done on the new printer today but if the power stays off we may not get too far today. I am continuing on Wednesday The power did return. It had interrupted the printer install so my computer acted as of it had a virus. I reset my computer to earlier in the day and after some trouble shooting we started printing. Soon I discovered that we were skipping some pages. We got that straightened out and then the printer was indicating " out of black ink". The printer had been modified to Handle large ink reservoirs which were very full. Time for lunch so I gave up.
After lunch Ryan the younger generation took over. By mid afternoon the process was running smoothly and now it was just a question of playing catch up.
When Ann was finished teaching we all went across the street to the market. Tuesday is market day in Zewa and the market area teems with venders and shoppers. Celeb has had shillings burning a hole in his pocket for a week. He has been in a fever to buy a Kenyan panga. (machete!). He managed to find one with Ryan's help. Both kids bought some souvenirs for friends back home. A mission group from the US was holding forth with guitars and a vocal group belting out gospel songs. When the white pickup headed south there were three in the front and eleven lining the two benches in the bed.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Ryan's update
Hello to all from Kenya on another beautiful Sunday, July 14, 2013.
We finished our first week of teaching, and we praise God for answered prayer so far. We seem to be doing pretty well in understanding, and the best part is that the students are telling us how the Word of God is impacting their hearts. As with students in the US, many of the students here bring much relational baggage with them. As Ann taught about children in the home and mentioned that sometimes parents discipline out of anger and abuse their children, she saw many of the students who had been watching her intently suddenly lower their eyes and heads. One girl wrote on an assignment that she’s tired of feeling angry all the time, tired of feeling constantly unhappy, and tired of always lying. So, the students are hungry for the Word of God. They are eager for truth. What a blessing to teach them!
The printer for the printing business was an HP deskjet. It was giving out, and we weren’t able to print notes for the students. It was finally decided that a new printer was a necessity. Silas spent a whole day in Eldoret and came home without a printer. The one we were after was sold out of every shop. However, we received a call the next day that one had arrived. So Silas made another trip to Eldoret, and on Friday evening we set up the new printer and did our first printing by running it off a car battery. If we have enough electricity, we may have notes to give to the students for their second week of classes.
Transportation has been interesting. The little car that had been loaned continued to have problems. It left us stranded a couple times. The steering linkage started coming apart, and fixing it with pliers was difficult. The front wheel alignment was so off that the wheels were heading in different directions. Thankfully, due to the rough road, we never traveled over about 25 mph. Failing bearings meant we went down the road with a loud squeak every turn of the wheels. Then the fuel line sprung a leak. We wrapped a strip of rubber innertube around it. By Wednesday, the car was abandoned in favor of the little Peugeot pickup of Silas’s brother. On Thursday, we ran out of fuel on the way to the college. We caught a ride with public transportation to finish the trip. They put a little more fuel in the truck later. On the way home, we ran out of fuel again! Fun times.
Silas was so apologetic about the car and the printer and other things. We kept assuring him that we were relaxed and were just fine. We started class 40 minutes late, but hey, we could praise God for just allowing this all to happen! However, I will admit to a moment where I felt very frustrated when, on Friday, the first power strip that was daisy-chained to a second one to give enough length, melted to the second one. When we tried using another outlet in order to use just one power strip, the chord on that one (which was hanging on by a thread) gave out completely. That left us with no projector. I felt a surge of frustration at the sin in societal structures that results in people building such incredibly worthless things and selling them to others. It seriously hindered the teaching because I’ve found that the students do so much better understanding me when they have the gist of what I’m saying in print before them. Since I hadn’t been able to give printed notes, I’d been relying on the projector to put things on the wall for them to see. Without either, I just had to take a deep breath, shake it off, ask the Lord for help, and do the best we could.
So, I guess these examples have given another glimpse into the third world. Now, let me get back to the people.
Yesterday’s church meetings were a combination of the seven churches. Most of the churches still met on their own and only sent some of their leaders as representatives since transportation is a problem. However, there were easily 150 people by the time it was all said and done. Every wooden bench was jam-packed full, and they ended up moving all the children out to make room for more adults. When the Bible study hour began, there may have been 20 or 30 adults and maybe 15 kids. Then people kept trickling in. By the time Andrea was finished teaching the children we guestimated about 40 kids. The Bible Study hour flows immediately into the main worship service. So we went from 9:30 to 12:30. Art taught the adult Bible Study hour from Genesis 24. The pastor over the seven churches preached from Philippians 2 for the main service. Then, all the people stayed at the church grounds. There was a large meeting of leaders for the men’s and women’s ministries immediately following the main worship service. While this meeting was happening, many others worked to prepare food for everyone. They cooked large pots of rice and beans. A second service was planned for 3:00, but since not everyone had finished eating by then, it got started about3:30. I preached for that service, continuing the series on discipleship.
Last night we had a long conversation with Silas in which we discussed all sorts of ideas for how future teams might best be used in Kenya. This was an exciting conversation. One of the purposes in this trip has been for us to “scout” out these sorts of opportunities. I feel like I’m now starting to see real possibilities and to get a realistic picture of the needs and challenges. Please pray that God will give us wisdom as we seek to continue discerning these things over the remaining weeks.
We praise the Lord for good health overall. Gracie was sick early in the week for a day – fever, vomiting, and no appetite, but recovered by the next day. Then, I think on Wednesday, I ended up really sick and had to quit teaching early (if I hadn’t, things would have become very embarrassing for both me and the students!). I spent the rest of that day in bed, but was able to go again the next day. Mom has had touches of stomach stuff, but has been helped by the medicine we brought along.
The rest of the crew is outside right now to see Silas’s bee hives. We had some of his honey this morning, and it was delicious. Later in the morning, the plan is for us all to go to Gladys’s parents’ home for lunch. We got to meet her mother and brother yesterday. Also, another brother of hers is a student, as well as a half-sister. Both Silas and Gladys come from homes where the fathers had two wives. They can readily testify to the fact that God’s design for families of one man and one woman is best.
Yesterday, we again were in the home of a widow named Mary. Her home is right next to the church building and was used as the staging area for all the cooking for the crowd and the place for folks to sit on the grass and eat. Two of Mary’s children are students of ours. At one point in our conversation Art asked how she is supported. She got a huge smile on her face as she said, “It’s just God!” She began relating stories of how she just prays and prays and has seen God miraculously provide over and over again. She raises a garden and has chickens and two milk cows. This woman has a huge heart. She served us meals last week and this week. Later in the afternoon, we observed her giving vegetables from her garden to other women. It reminded me of the woman who put the two little coins in the temple treasury. Jesus said she gave more than all the others. Nancy and Edward, her daughter and son who are our students, exemplify their mother’s kindness. Over and over again I see them serving others with wonderful smiles. Edward is student teaching in a primary school, but especially requested these three weeks off so he could take our classes. (This is Ann—just wanted to add another word about Mary. She and Edward and Nancy have been riding back and forth to classes with us in the back of the truck. It has given me good time to visit with Mary and hear encouraging stories of how God has provided for this widow. I think our experience of widowhood has drawn our hearts together and it is so wonderful to realize that God hears the prayers of a widow in Kenya and so faithfully provides for her needs in amazing ways just as He does for a widow in USA—or anywhere in the world for that matter. Understanding that has brought tears to my eyes on several occasions and fills my heart with overwhelming praise. I treasure several heart to heart conversations I have had with women here. Our culture and skin
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