Thursday, May 5, 2016

Company and More Company

"I don't know if time has ever flown faster for me than it's been lately."I said to my husband the other morning. "It's hard to believe it's May already !"  Now today it's right at 8 months that we first stepped foot into our new Kenyan home. 
 Really? Already? And yet there's been so much "water over the dam" since then. I'll try to hit a few highlights from the last month or so.

Eating at Hang-over Hotel. Hard to see but there's fresh beef or something hanging right there in the kitchen behind Hannah.

 Minister's meeting was from Thursday noon to Friday noon. It involved lots of food, numerous topics, and a pleasant time with brothers and sisters from vastly different countries fellow-shipping together. We were privileged to host Marks and some of Markus' overnight..8 people.
 One Sunday we were going to do some visiting in the afternoon so instead of coming home in-between, we took a picnic lunch along and found a spot with a view along a narrow,rough mountain road.
Up on the mountain was a woman who was sick and we stopped to pray with her. Her Step-mother-in-law was there and was quick to reach for my baby. This was a wealthier family and they had a very nice stone house.
The next Tuesday evening Jacob brought the youth out to our place. Dean Millers (our Bishop) joined us for a supper of Ugali, sukuma-wiki, beans, hot-dogs (or sausage), and banana bread (of course). It was a good way to connect with the youth. I was a little apprehensive about some of it but it went well. In the evening we played games, then the boys slept at our place and the girls slept with Stacy in the 2 guest rooms. She had some humorous incidents to relate later. She showed the girls how to use a toilet and they were fascinated with how it swirled down when flushed. She showed them how to use the shower before leaving for a bit and when she came back they were taking turns watching each other shower. They discussed the supper and declared all but the hotdogs as "sweet!" (very good). But the one girl, Marin, declared, "I hope I never have to stare a sausage in the face again!" LOL !! I'd been told that hotdogs are a treat to them but I think it was a first for some of them and obviously NOT a treat. :)

The girl in bright pink is Marin. She's actually the only youth girl at 14 yrs. The others are supposedly 13 (if not at least it was convenient to say so for the occasion;} Amos, in orange is 14 also I think. He and Marin are in instruction class. Brian (front in blue and amos ride to church with us. He is 25 and one of the most dedicated sincere youth ! I think most of the other boys are around 17 or 18. The mazunga in the back is Dean's son and the other is Stacy.

  The next morning I was amazed how most of them had fixed their beds very neatly! After breakfast Jacob had Bible study with them. I wasn't in on that as I was doing dishes and taking care of little boys. Then they were supposedly going to play volleyball Jake had to do a few office and other things for a bit so they were kind of on their own. It sounded like they must be having a great game by the shrieks and laughter but when I looked out the window, just a couple of them were batting the ball around. Most of the others were delighted to use the see-saw, slide, swings, and bike that were out there.
 I did some laundry and the girls were so very intrigued with the wash machine. The girls went on a little walk and sang for the Luo class where Stacy was studying. When the came back they enjoyed coloring some pictures I'd printed out.  
 For lunch Jake picked up some chipotes and beans and put out the rest of the banana bread. Then we loaded up in two vans and headed for Bible study at Esther Jahenda's house. It was the furthest I've driven yet and went ok tho I guess I was holding my breath a bit going back the dirt/mud "road" to Esther's place. Praying and hoping I wouldn't bottom out or roll going over the worst ruts. Actually rut is hardly even the right word. The road was about the same width as the van..a little wider, and at the worst spot the left side of the road (rut) was probably a good 2 feet lower than the other side. But thank God, we made it !
   That Friday Stacy and I were working in the kitchen when Jacob came in announcing, "You've got visitors." Of all things, Marin and her sister had "come public" and come the whole way from Chuliumbo because "Tabitha left her sweater here and Marin was wondering something about instruction class."  Wow. Well, we got the sweater, fed them banana bread and chai and wondered when they would leave. Stacy and I ended up kinda taking turns entertaining them while the other worked. 13 yr. Tabitha played with the big legos a bit but then joined in a game of Memory with Marin, Mahlon, Joey, and I. They also were interested in Mahlon's floor puzzle and a little lego car. They said something about not wanting to go home till Sunday but we just laughed. Finally, not sure how to tell them that they really should be leaving, I said, "Let's have prayer together before you leave." They didn't have much to say to that but after prayer I walked them out to the compound gate. They left around 5:15pm.
  I missed church last Sunday with boys that had been battling the stomach flu. Thankfully they were mostly over it till Tuesday when the Nakuru people arrived for unit meeting. I was in charge of breakfast for 30+ people. The single girls took care of drinks and it's been agreed that we skip breakfast pastries so it was very simple with fruit and breakfast casserole. In the evening us and Winfred and Debbie's from Nakuru went out for supper and Winfred's spent the night. After they left Wed. I mostly had a relaxing day. 2 yr. old Tiffany was down a bit of the morning while her parents are in Luo class. Joshua's been having fever some on and off. Not sure if it's the teething or the flu.
 One more picture..
Joey being a piki-piki driver :)