Luo Land Happenings

Greetings from Kisumu!!  We are enjoying another relaxing Sunday afternoon at home sweet home.  Yes its feeling more like home all the time.  There are hard days when I miss our dear family, and church at home, as well as our "new" house that we enjoyed for 8 years with all the comforts and conveniences that it had to offer.  I miss good, REALLY good, food and Walmart.  But when I see our friends here in Kenya and realize what we have compared to them, I feel smitten and God forbid that I would ever complain.  These poor people have so many aches and pains and cannot even afford simple Ibuprofen to help them feel better.  A lot of them have no idea how to use a real toilet.  Why was I born in America?  I don't know, but all I can say is lets do what we can to relieve pain and suffering where we can and point people to Jesus, the one who is the answer for all our needs.  Even though we miss home there is a peaceful feeling in our hearts because we know we are where God wants us.  I wonder why I resisted the call to Kenya for so long. By the way... have any of you ever read the AMA newsletters and noticed with great relief that all the Kenya positions were filled?  Well thats exactly how it was for me, for years already.  If that is happening to any of you it may be that God is calling you here!  Since we're here we realize what a blessing it is when people are willing to answer God's call.  As most of you know, AMA is desperately needing two more families to come.  I almost get a panicky feeling when I think about the fact that someone should be coming in Jan. so that Tommys can leave in March.  I hope I'm not praying selfishly but it would be such a huge blessing if the new families would have children close to our childrens ages.  We will sorely miss Tommys and Marlins when they leave!  They're the ones that have children for ours to fellowship with and I don't know what we will do without them!!  We were invited to Tommys Fri. eve for supper, along with Marlins, and enjoyed the fellowship very much!  We miss Tonys  already too!! :(  I was sad to hear the horn blow as they drove out on Thurs. morning.  Its so quiet without their cheerful presence.  I especially missed them Fri. eve. when we sat out on the lane to watch the volleyball game.  They were always faithful attendees at activities.  We're anxious to go to Nakuru now and see where they live. We would've liked to go with them when they left and help them get settled in but we couldn't because of language classes.  It was a hard adjustment for me this past week to get back into classes!  I was spoiled when we had off for a week and it was hard to get into "gear" again.  Rosemary is a nice teacher though and doing a great job.  Josephine taught us the proper, professional way of speaking Luo but Rosemary is teaching us how Luo's actually speak.  They shorten many of their words and phrases so its good to learn the actual way of speaking.  The thing that makes this language so complicated is that many words have 3 or more different meanings.  And just the tone that it is pronounced in can make the difference in which meaning is used.  I wrote some Luo words on my kitchen tile with a dry erase marker and Wayne printed out large words on papers that are now hanging around the house.  Maybe someday we'll actually master this but we still have a LONG way to go!!  

Our church service this morning was a bit longer than usual.  Wayne and Jason and Cynthia left an hour before the rest of us did to be there for Instruction class.  The rest of us went with Marlin and Lavina.  Marlin is the Bishop of Lela so he was there to take charge of the members meeting.  Wayne preached his first sermon this morning titled, "Life begins at the Cross".  I thought he did real well considering the challenge it is to speak with an interpreter.  We were saddened that one of the members, Milkah, needed to be excommunicated this morning.  You may have read the nice story that was written about her in the AMA newsletter.  Since that was written she has been deceived and is living in adultery with a pastor from one of the Repentance and Holiness churches.  Please pray for her restoration to God and the church.  

  Monday was a special day for the compound here.  It was family day and there was no school.  Tonys, and Rachel and us went to Jennifers Gardens.  Its about an hour and a half from here and a very interesting drive through some mountainous country.  It reminded us of scenery we saw in Costa Rica years ago.  The tea fields were so beautiful and its so interesting to watch the way the workers pick tea and throw it behind their backs into a basket strapped to their backs.  The gardens are a lovely, quiet place to relax and enjoy Gods creation.  The many beautiful flowers, trees and bushes make it a paradise!! And we saw monkeys again!! My favorite! :)  Most of the pics added to this blog were taken at Jennifers.  If you ever come visit we want to take you there!!!!!!:)  We enjoyed mountain pies for lunch.  Yummy!  Judith shared some of their precious ham and sausage that came all the way from America.  

  Wayne and the children made mountain pies again this eve. and they are finished now so I must run along and join them.  Please continue praying for our protection, physically and spiritually.  I'm constantly reminded of our dependence on God when we're out on these treacherous roads.  Last eve. we went to Nakumatt after supper and traffic was unreal!!  I've never seen the likes!!  Tuk tuks, piki pikis, bikers, people on foot, and matatus all in one big jumble, just inches from each other. Wayne thought it was funny but I thought it would be a miracle if everyone gets out of that mess without getting hit!!  PTL He kept us safe once again!!  We're depending on your prayers!!  Thanks so much and God bless!!  Clara

You never know what you'll see next around here!! 

Tea fields

Jennifer's Gardens