Monday, March 12, 2018

A Present



“A Present”

I wore a sweater in Kenya during the day for the first time ever today!  The weather has taken a dramatic shift since our first  couple of weeks here.  It is cold and off and on rains.  We had a wonderful relaxing weekend. We went to a bed and breakfast run by a missionary couple in an area about 4 hours from here called Naivasha.  Their very interesting house had a large patio overlooking a gorgeous valley and Lake Naivasha.  We did a little touring but mostly just relaxed, put our feet up and ate some great food!  We toured an old English colonial estate which is now a sanctuary for animals.  You do not get a feel for the English colonialism around here but definitely could see remnants of it there.  Very interesting!

This week will be busy with saying goodbye to people and working in nursery!  We now have three sets of twins.  One has a “Nanya” or grandmother helping.  I am helping the Mom of the tiniest set and are they tiny.  They are named Joy and Blessing!  The Lord is protecting them so far as they are growing “polepole” or very slowly.  Mom is young and these are her first born children which also makes it difficult.  I think of the song, “He’s got the tiny little baby in His hand, He’s got the tiny little baby in His hand, He’s got the whole world in His hands”!  It reassures me that they will make it with the Lord’s help.

This afternoon was a marvelous experience as I went with my friend Sarah to the new house she has been building for three years.  It is about a 45 minute walk from Tenwek so we took a matatu.  I was so surprised to see all the progress she made this year.  She now has windows, doors, ceilings, and cement floors!  None of this was there last year.  She still has the tremendous expense of a cistern for water and electricity hook up.  It may take her at least another year to afford these luxuries.  She brought tea in her thermos and we enjoyed a pleasant time in her new living room sipping tea and eating her fabulous mandazis.   Her neighbor Alice remembers me from the last few years and so I had to greet her and her husband in their hut.    Kenyans insist that you come into their home and it is an insult if you do not.  They are the most precious couple.  We sat down and he got a well worn Bible out and turned to Psalm 27 and read it to me in Kipsigis,  “the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  I can not tell you how powerful and experience like that is!   Alice and I then held hands as we prayed together and thanked the Lord that we are all one in Him and that He truly is our refuge and strength!   It was another moment that I will hold forever in my heart.   As I left they insisted that I accept a gift of a gourd which is a water jug.  It is so humbling as they have little of this earth’s goods but yet they have everything!  Oh, that I could be that generous and loving!

Our children have arrived safely in the US and for that we are grateful!  They worked extremely hard while they were here and blessed a lot of lives.  It was a joy to work along side them!

Hugs,
Miriam/Micki/Mom

2 comments:

  1. What a beautiful and blessed Sabboth weekend you had!!

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  2. Reading about how it's taken Sarah 3 years to build her humble dwelling. It made me think of this year's Habitat Ecumenical Build. This past Saturday, 10 of us from First Pres applied the roof sheathing on the house we're building. It takes just 3 months to construct a Habitat house. Only wish this ministry were available to the Kenyans you serve.

    We can't tell you what a blessing it is to read your eloquent and inspiring blogs!

    Keeping you in our frequent prayers, Chris & Carole

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