The Taylors came to visit!

Who are the Taylors you ask? They are friends from Georgia that Denise has known for a number of years. In fact Donna Taylor was working with Dream for Africa in 2005 when the Crystal Cathedral sent the 350 missionaries to Swaziland. She was one of the three women we met with on that fateful day in April!

Donna's husband is Steve and two of their three children were here - Maggie is 17 and Pete is 14 - we thoroughly enjoyed their visit! Donna is working with Heart for Africa and is right now 'in between' teams so her husband and son came to Kenya to join her and Maggie. The whole family left on Monday this week to fly up to Northern Kenya and they will be returning Thursday evening and stay with us again until they join the second Heart for Africa group this Sunday.

But - the story I want to tell here is about Ugali! Who is Ugali you ask? The question is not who but what...it is actually a staple food for many of the people of Kenya and is made with maize meal. These first two photos were taken during a teaching session. That is Tabitha teaching us all the art of making Ugali. We all decided that it is very hard work! Tabitha insists that making this small amount is quite easy...much easier than cooking for 100!Looks to me like she is using much elbow grease here!
Ah - now for the good part - eating the Ugali! Can you see it on the table in front of Tabitha? We also had fried beef and greens that night...no forks or spoons on that table...nope - we ate with our fingers...I love that! You just cut a slice of Ugali and then grab a bit in your hand, roll it in a ball and use it to pick up your food...after much practice I am actually getting pretty good at it!
I just love this family - one thing that struck me was how well the kids get along! How many 17 and 14 year old brothers and sisters sit together on a couch when they do not have to - there were plenty of other places to sit! I have told Donna that I think it is because they have such great parents - she gives God all the credit...I think it is a bit of both!
Here we are at the airport...now I have heard of weighing luggage before checking in, but have you ever weighed your whole self (plus all carry ons, including water!) before boarding a flight? Me either! Maggie was quite pleased that her weight was the lowest!
Here they all are together...Maggie, Donna, Pete and Steve...bye for now!
We have been praying for them every day...and look forward to hearing all the wonderful stories from their four day adventure!

Below is a photo of Isaac and Naomi. Isaac is a Social Worker with an organization called Missions of Hope International. Naomi has a business selling chips (French fries) - why are they together? Because Naomi's business was made possible by a Micro-enterprise loan she received two months ago through Missions of Hope!

Isaac and I visited Naomi as he was showing me around the village that the ministry serves. Just a few short months ago Naomi, who is HIV+, was bedridden and unable to even care for her children. The people at Missions of Hope found the care she needed to get her back on her feet, then supplied her with a loan to start her own business. She shared with me that now she can take care of herself and her children, and she even traveled recently to help her mother who was diagnosed with Diabetes get the care and medications she needed. I call that a success story!On Monday the 14th of July I met with Keith Ham, an American missionary with Christian Mission Fellowship (CMF) to chat about working with him and his team. CMF partners with Missions of Hope through four dynamic initiatives. One is the Micro-enterprise program designed to give people like Naomi a jump-start to becoming financially self-sufficient. They also conduct community trainings call Community Health Evangelism; a four-pronged outreach designed to guide people to have harmony with God, self, others and the environment. In addition to these two programs, they offer child sponsorship (two of Naomi's children are sponsored) so that the children in the village can attend school. And - they offer HIV/AIDS care and support groups.

This is a very shallow overview of the many services offered through this ministry. I am excited to begin working in August with the CMF team alongside the staff of Missions of Hope.

As Isaac walked me back to the project, these two little girls decided they wanted to be my friend. A visiting intern, Brett, snapped this shot of the three of us.

Above and below are shots of the compound - to the right (above), I believe are the offices and to the left (below) are the classrooms of the school. The building is not complete so there was lots of construction activity going on while I was there.

The children just love the camera!

This young man insisted that I take a picture of him alone...so I did!
I am sure I will have lots more to share once I begin working, but I wanted to keep you updated on what I am doing. Please continue to pray that the Lord will guide me to find just the right place to serve His Kingdom.

Amani Graduated!

Remember Amani? Several months ago I wrote a blog entry entitled "Two Students". I profiled two people that I helped in school. One of them was Amani! She is so passionate and enthusiastic about serving the Kingdom that I just felt I must invest in her future - so you and I together helped this young woman achieve her dream! She now has a Diploma in Christian Ministries...the Graduation Ceremony was on Saturday the 12th of July. These kids entertained us with song and dance as we waited for the program to begin...fun!

Here she is! I think she is excited, what do you think?

As it turns out the Senior Pastor (well, former Senior Pastor) of our church was also graduating the same day...with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies.

Here she is receiving her degree and being congratulated...

And here we are together...I am so proud of her!

Several friends and family members helped her celebrate afterwards...here she is with friend Lydia...I think there were about 20 of us in all...we enjoyed good food and excellent fellowship.

Shepherd's Home Sanctuary and Academy

On Monday, June 30 I rode with Mac Kiiru to the girls' home in Sigona - about 1/2 hour west of Nairobi. After spending a delightful afternoon with some of the girls, I was picked up from the Home by Mac's wife Nelly and taken to their home just a few blocks away.

Mac and Nelly opened a home for boys and a home for girls in response to the growing number of children left as orphans by the spread of HIV/AIDS. They invited me to spend two weeks with them to learn more about who they are, what they do and the vision God gave them...

As we approached the Kiiru residence I snapped this shot so you can see what a nice home I was blessed to stay in!

This room used to be their master. They have recently added on to their home to accommodate guests from out of town and from across the world...so their new master is in the new wing. I so appreciated having such wonderful accomodations, including my own bathroom!
This is a shot of the building that houses the girls rooms down stairs and class rooms upstairs. That's Nelly in the doorway.
More of the building and a bit of the side yard with some of the students during break time. Most of the orphans attend this school (there are a few in Secondary School who attend boarding schools in other towns) as well as children from the community. In all there are about 100 kids in attendance...from Baby Class (3-5 year olds) to Class 8 (equivalent to 8th grade)
I spent some time in the baby class - enjoying the little ones as they learned about family. Here they are drawing a mom, a dad, a brother, a sister and a baby...I also visited the preschool class where they were learning Kiswahili - I got an education too! Did not have my camera so no pictures - sorry!
I had the privilege of working with the orphan girls one evening as they read and answered pen pal letters from kids in CA. It was fun to help the girls understand foreign concepts like "over the summer" and "hanging out"...below is a class teacher and the head teacher helping the youngest child (who happens to be a boy!) with his letter.
Afterwards some of the girls changed out of their uniforms and came up to visit and have fun!
What follows is a series of pictures taken on Saturday the 5th of July. Mac and I along with 3 others drove for two hours to attend a 'pre-wedding' celebration. Mac is the officiating pastor for the wedding. After sitting for two hours in a restaurant (and having two cups of tea) and then another 1/2 hour outside of another restaurant waiting for all the people to arrive, we drove for almost an hour over a bumpy dirt road.
This is a photo of Mac giving a blessing/prayer at the location where we thought the celebration was to take place! As it turns out the 10 cars and 3 matatus were simply caravaning to the groom's home to pick up his grandfather and 3 other family members! After several people spoke and Mac prayed, we all climbed back into our vehicles for another long drive over the bumpy dirt road to the real location.

Upon arrival we were greeted with singing and dancing which lasted until every guest had arrived.
We were then escorted through the gate where the 'bride price' was presented to the bride's parents...
The function was actually quite well organized (although the getting there wasn't!)...with plenty of chairs for all to sit and plenty of food for all to eat.
Above is the bride and below is the groom...many family members of both bride and groom were introduced as well as friends of the bride's parents (of which Mac and I were two). It was a fun but long and exhausting day!
On Monday, the 7th of July Nelly and I drove to the town of Gilgil, where the boys' home is located...below is a photo of the town...in the forground you see a very common form of transportation...these bicycles are actually taxis, carrying people to a from their destinations.
A shot of the beautiful valley on the way from town to the boys' home...
Here is the home and you can see one of the school rooms off to the right of the photo. Mac and Nelly bought this property several years ago and used it as a vacation home, until the Lord impressed upon them the need to help the orphans in this area...so they converted their vacation home into a sanctuary for children who have no homes.
Just a shot of my room...it is the room Nelly uses when she comes to stay here...as you can see, there is a need for a wardrobe in the room! But I was comfortable and had a great view.


These two shots are of the boys doing some of their chores...the one below was taken from my bedroom window.
Every evening a team of boys chops cabbage or other food for the next day's meals.

Nelly took me on a tour of the classrooms, above is Class 1 and below is Class 6. Very small class sizes...

Two shots of the classrooms from outside - above building used to be staff quarters and below used to be a garage!

Nelly is quite proud of this bridge. A few years ago a church in the states sent a couple to Shepherd's Home to find out what the greatest need was. At that time the greatest need was for a bridge...until then kids from across the river had to balance their way across a water pipe - you can see that the bridge was built around the pipe.
Here are four kids from the 'other side' running down to the bridge after school...

'Before' and 'after' shots of the sunroom on the back of the house. Nelly is having it enclosed to be able to house 10 to 12 more boys - this room will be used to board students and will generate much needed income for the ministry.
This is a field behind the home - Nelly has plans to add one more cow and many more sheep so that she no longer will need to buy milk or meat for either the girls' home or the boys' home. She also plans to grow maize and other food as well, to keep food costs down.
Below is a series of photos chronicling our 'sheep buying' day...I was fascinated with how they tie the four feet together to transport them!
They are carried like baggage to the back of the truck...in the foreground is Edwin - he is the grounds keeper for the home and actually carried one in each hand! Both Nelly and I were amazed!
Below is the process of Edwin 'offloading' the sheep and then untying them...

Watching the process is Edwin's little girl who is just two.
As he untied each, he attached them to his legs until all three were standing...
Then he herded them to their new home...we found out later that two of them escaped the next day, but were eventually found and brought back...
The next day we went out to buy trees! Nelly plans to plant them below the property to stop the soil erosion that is taking away much of the land in the area...

More pen pal letters! This is teacher Mary, who helped me both nights...first with the younger boys...

...then with the older boys...
One morning as I was sitting in the sun, the kids came to visit on a break from classes...

At the end of my stay Mac drove me into Nairobi to another school, Dayspring, that they founded with 6 other couples in the early 90's. They have over 600 students from Baby Class to Class 8.

Here is a future soccer field on site...
I very much enjoyed my stay with the Kiiru's and am especially impressed with all they have accomplished in a short time. They are truly touching the lives of many children, through the homes and in the schools. Both husband and wife have exciting visions for the future of the schools and have an amazing commitment to pour into the lives of the children the Lord has put into their charge.