A Safari to Lake Elementaita

 Happy New Year to all of you... our friends and supporters!!  God has been SO GOOD to us this past year and given grace and courage to face the unknown.  I'm glad we don't need to have a repeat of 2015 and the huge learning curve... language classes, culture shock, and much more!!  But God's faithfulness in the past spurs us on to embrace a new year and the challenges we are sure to face.  

  

   This past week has been a blessing and refreshing for us.  On Tues. morning we left for Nakuru. It was a pleasant drive and the scenery along the way was spectacular!!  When we rounded the corner into Tony's compound Jamie and Ayla were sitting outside their gate waiting for us. :)    We had beans and chapatis for lunch... which we love!  And then we all piled our luggage and food for our "safari" into and on top of the van and headed for Lake Elementaita, which is about an hour's drive from Nakuru.  I was amazed at the scenery close to the lake.  It looks like Mexico in some ways but also VERY much like Arizona!!  We arrived at Oasis in good time and found a cluster of thatch-roofed cabins in the woods.  There are nice rocky trails between the cabins and also a trail leading down to the lake.  We had two cabins.  They are very rustic but met our needs well.  We ate all of our meals outside and the fire in the evenings felt so good since it was quite cold!!!  Jamie and Bradlyn were in their glory...  they loved running the trails and "hiding" in the woods and just being boys I guess.  I was so amazed at all their energy!!  I can't imagine running around and playing hard all day like they can!!  After unloading our things in the cabins we walked down to the lake.  Its BEAUTIFUL there!  The only thing that would've made it better was if there would be nicer trees.  For some reason there are a lot of dead trees around, but the water is SO nice!  There were flamingos off at a great distance and also many pelicans. We were hoping to see hippos but from what we found online they are no longer around the lake there.  It was a quiet peaceful place to be and after life in the city it's a real blessing to experience life in the woods and by the water!  When I got back to our cabin I soon saw that something was amiss!!!  There was an onion on the floor and I was sure we hadn't put it there!  And Judith had a nice pan of apple goodie in the kitchen ready for our dessert that eve... but lo and behold SOMETHING  had neatly peeled back some of the tinfoil covering the pan and eaten a portion of it!!  It made a nice even (trail) on the edge of the pan.  Hmmm... what is going on!!! And OH what are these "piles" all around the cabin?  It didn't take Tony long to figure out what it was!  MONKEYS!!!  We had seen some on our way down to the lake and obviously while we were gone they had a party in the cabin!  They climbed through a very high window upstairs that was open for ventilation.  No problem for a monkey! :)  I was really beat out that they ate my onions because I wanted to saute peppers and onions together for our breakfast burritos the next morning!  I was happy later to find that the one onion was on top of a bunk bed in the girls bedroom.  The monkey had peeled it and taken a small bite but it was still salvageable. :)  Tues. night we slept pretty well but I was rather cold, especially my nose!!  I was glad when the sun came out the next day and we could warm up again.  After a yummy breakfast we headed down to the lake where we spent most of the day.  I read quite a bit and we played some bocce ball.  Some of them played corn hole as well.  A monkey came to visit us once and the girls had fun throwing him some nuts and watching him eat and scratch himself. :)  Wed. eve. Tony grilled some yummy chicken and Judith made runion french fries that were wonderful!!!!!  Thurs. morning after a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and some not so yummy Kenyan sausage we headed back to Nakuru.  It felt good to have a really nice shower and relax again in the afternoon.  That evening Tony's and us were invited to join a few families from the Nakuru unit who were not on vacation or elsewhere.  All the CAM folks were there... Luke and Jamilla Kurtz, Brian and Maria Wagler, and also Joe and Marilyn Kuepfer with their newborn twins!!  Joe works with the "Open Hands" program in Kenya and they live in Nakuru as well.  Marcus and Wanda Burkholder were there also as well as Dave and Rose Stoltzfus.  Mark Payne was there as well, he is from South Carolina and I believe he is the auditor that AMA and CAM use.  We REALLY enjoyed the fellowship and were happy to get to know some of these people better.    On Fri. morning after Tony served us some yummy omelettes we headed back to good ole Kisumu.  Wayne thought I should drive part of the way so I agreed since we had Marlin Stoltzfus' van and it is automatic.  It felt weird to be driving again after close to 5 months!!!  And it's very strange indeed to drive with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side!!  I kept "hugging" the left side of the road and I think I made Wayne a bit nervous.  I had to learn where my wheels were.  Sometimes when I tried to avoid potholes I was sure I was straddling them but then we would LURCH and I had hit them!!  I still can't understand it!!  I finally had to concentrate on staying close to the middle of the road and then it went better.  I enjoyed the speed bumps!  Its fun to see how "smooth" you can make them. :)  Kisumu looked wonderful to me when we came back and our house just felt like home!!  It was a wonderful feeling to realize that yes I do like it here and home is where the heart is I guess.  That afternoon and the next day were spent putting things away and taking care of a HUGE stack of laundry!!  Fri. eve. we enjoyed watching the volleyball game and catching up on news around here.  We enjoyed seeing Javan and Nora; Steve and Martha's son and daughter in law, as well as Carolyn's two brothers, Elmer and Ethan, who are visiting right now.  

   Our service this morning was good.  Teaching Sunday school is going better for me I think.  I was rather discouraged with the language barrier sometimes but if I have a good translator it goes much better.  Wayne preached a message on "Seeing God in History" and looking ahead to a new year... knowing God will be faithful as He has been in the past.  We had a number of visitors which always adds spice to the service.  

    Blessings to all of you!!  Clara for the Yoders

Kenyan Ford Truck

Tony's Cabin

Relaxing on the lake shore

Ayla herself!

Lake shore panoramic

Playing Suspend

Boys will be boys...

Landiani Highway,The road we often take to Nakuru

Hmm...  who are these guys??

Hey Ruth, those flamingo's are on the far shore (at the horizon 300 miles away) lol

Our borrowed chariot (Marlin's Toyota).. A lot better than Ford trucks!!!

Roses from Nakuru... How about 3.00 for 20 roses!!

The Kuepfer Twins, Roxie and Evie

The Kurtz Twins, Steele and Strauss

Walking to Happy Cow to buy cheese

Clarissa and Josephine.  Clarissa made the little dress for a Home Ec project and took it to church this morning.
It fit Josephine perfectly!

Miss Carolyn's class

Miss Charity's class

Kenya Mission Academy

Close to Lake Elementaita

Be of Good Courage...

 "They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage."  This verse struck me this morning as I was reading in Isaiah 41.  It went right along with the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head.  Its my constant prayer that we could be a blessing and encouragement to those around us.  I know from experience how much it means to have family and friends shower us with encouragement and prayer.Our Church at home was constantly encouraging and affirming us, and showing love and support in many ways.  We were richly blessed! And I now look at that as a luxury! But I think God is wanting to teach us something... maybe He wants us to feel a bit of what He feels at times when people take for granted what is done for them and don't remember to thank Him.  We are learning to do thankless things... remembering that God is the only one who sees or cares. After all its HIM we're serving, so why should we care if our church folks show appreciation or not.  I'm thinking that maybe the encouragement and blessing that the family of God is to us, is just a side benefit on our way to Glory.  Our primary focus should be on Kingdom work without thought of praise or thanks from men.  On Christmas Day, after the service as we stood in the back to greet the people as they filed out, we handed them some small gifts... a kitchen "scrubbie" for the ladies, a bar of soap for the men and youth, and toothbrushes for the children.  I think they were probably thankful for what they got but I was amazed how few of them said, "Erokamano" (thank you).  In fact, a few of them wanted something more or something different than what they got.  It kind of took away some of the joy of giving.  But when I think of Jesus and how many people are "throwing away" the gift of salvation, it grieves me too.  How can we cultivate thankful hearts here at Lela rather than, "I'm poor, you owe it to me" attitudes.  Don't get me wrong!  There are times when they do thank us... they really appreciate visits in their homes, and transport when they want to go somewhere, etc.  but I'm still disappointed with how often they "beg" for things.  Oh we need the wisdom of Solomon!!  One thing I noticed about these people is that they can really identify with pain.  When I had surgery on my toe and had lots of pain, they were very sympathetic and touched by that.  They often asked me how I'm doing, etc.  Well... enough of my ramblings...

   Thurs. morning I went over to the house that Tony's vacated  to see if I can be of assistance in cleaning the house that Steve and Martha Esh planned to move into that afternoon.  As it turned out, Becky and Stacy were almost finished cleaning already and had things well under control so I just went home again and started cleaning my own house.  Since Wayne is the Principal at school we were responsible to have the Agape carport ready for the school program that eve. so I helped prepare for some of that.  Clarissa and Janette did a great job of decorating that afternoon and I helped get the food table set up for the abundance of good food we had that eve.  The program was very nice.  It was definitely different than what we are used to at home.This is a much smaller school, but they did a great job nonetheless and we certainly were blessed and encouraged.  Charity and Carolyn worked hard, as well as the music teacher, Marjie, and we much enjoyed the results of their hard work!  We also enjoyed meeting Steve, Martha, and Julie that eve.  They have been a real blessing already and we look forward to having them here for several months.  Steves brought us some treats from family members at home!!  What fun to receive new books, and some yummy things as well... such as BUGLES, PEPPERMINT PATTIES, etc!  Some of the things that were fairly common fare at home have become luxuries here.  When we came to Kenya I brought a pack of oreos along and stuck them in the freezer for a special time.  I decided that since its Christmas now we can eat them.  And I don't think an oreo cookie has EVER tasted so good to me! :)  We can buy oreos here but they are expensive and our budget doesn't allow such luxuries very often.

   Friday did not seem very much like Christmas.  It was a warm day and we're not used to going to church on Christmas.  It felt so much like a Sunday. Our service was a bit different...Wayne had a short message and we did a lot of singing (a lot in Swahili) and then we opened it up for individuals or family groups to share.  We have lots of widows here and they sang a song for us.  Some of the ladies who sang solos put some extra motions into them which added some smiles and interest. :) Christmas evening was very special!  MANY THANKS to the Marlin Stoltzfus family for making it a memorable day for the Compound.  They invited all of us to their house for the evening meal... and what a feast it was!!  Meatballs, chicken, gourmet potatoes, individual plates of lettuce salad, beautiful layered jello salad in goblets, pie, hoho cake, and an ice cream dessert, as well as date pudding!!!  It was a huge treat and I hope God blesses them real well for sharing with us. The tables were set beautifully and we had a nice time of relaxing and visiting for hours after the meal.  They youth so kindly washed the MANY dishes for us.  

  Wayne continues to be quite busy... he was out visiting a number of people last week and it seems there is always plenty to do here in the Compound as well.  We are so thankful that the sidewalk job is basically finished now.  Some large tree roots had made a big mess of things but it looks much better now.  

   We had our share of homesickness this past week!!  I haven't seen our girls missing home so much as they have lately.  I think the Christmas program at home was the hardest thing to miss.  And the future looks a bit dismal to them I'm afraid. :(  Their best friends are all planning to head back to America in the next 6 months or so.  We are hoping desperately that the new families will have some children for ours to fellowship with.  I have a feeling that fellowship for our children could be a big deciding factor in how long we stay in Kenya.  But its all in God's hands and we are making it a matter of prayer.  

   We trust you had a blessed Christmas and we wish you a wonderful New Year!!  Thank you for being our friends!!!  Clara for the Yoders

Another week in Luo land...More Pictures

Little lads at the church gate (wedding)

Ayla and Jerolin sitting on the grooms chair

John and Sheryl's wedding

Kenyan Nativity Scene (Talent!!)

Youth and Bishop's singing

Little Boys Moving Company

Brad and the Gingerich boys with "chicks"

Another week in Luo land

 Its a beautiful evening in Kisumu!  We've had so much rain, so it's a blessing to have sunshine all day!!  And the temperature is about perfect!  

   Thanks to all of you who remembered me on my Birthday!  It was a special day!  Wayne told me he would stay home all day and do whatever I want to. Wow! :)  We ended up going to town and getting some needed supplies... to the little duka where we get bread, to the meat shop, to a pharmacy to get plasters, (bandaids), and to Nakumatt. Its always an adventure to go shopping! :)  You never know what amazing sight you will see next.  After school, Wayne and I took the teachers some cold Pepsi and sat down to chat a while.  We just wanted to make sure things are running smoothly and talk a bit about the Christmas program coming up this week.  In the evening our family went to the Yacht Club to watch the sunset on Lake Victoria.  It was relaxing to sit by the water and watch for hippos. :)  We still haven't spotted any and the sunset wasn't very great because of clouds but we enjoyed our time anyway.  After we got home the single ladies from the compound joined us for cake and ice cream.  We had a great evening and heard some interesting stories. :)  

    Bible study was at Peter and Benter's house on Wed.  They are probably the most "well to do" folks in our Church... a number of their family are school teachers.  I had a comfortable couch to sit on and maybe thats why I had a terrible time staying awake for the Bible study. :(  Peter's house is a more permanent structure than most of the houses... looks like block walls outside, and they even had lights on in the room since it was rather dark outside.  

   Wayne had a very tiring but rewarding day on Thurs.  He was asked to preach at a large school 3 1/2 hours from here where a Pentecostal Assemblies of God youth conference was being held.  I think there were around 600 youth there.  The main reason they wanted someone to come was so that they could get Bible story books for all the attendees.  Wayne personally handed out all the books.  He was told that he could preach for 3 hours but he told them it wouldn't be that long.  He ended up speaking for about an hour and a half. Everything was translated into Swahili.  We hope and pray that the message they heard will bring forth fruit.  The students heard TRUTH and now realize the importance of the decisions we make and how it affects our eternal destiny.  Wayne says the trip was "brutal".  The road was terribly rocky and rough... into the interior of Africa!  I was so glad he was not alone... 3 of our church brothers, Jacob, Maurice, and Walter went with him to give moral support.  Needless to say, I was VERY happy to see him come home safe and sound that evening!!  I thought he might be too tired to go to Prayer meeting at Tommy's that evening, but he was okay.  We really enjoyed the lovely singing.  We also got to hear the youth and Marlin and Lavina practice songs that they were asked to sing at a wedding on Sat.  The singing was GREAT!

    Friday was a very busy day!  In the morning my washer quit working so Wayne and the "little boys" traded it for the guest house washer.  Wayne went to the Lela Church again to spray fleas, since the first spraying session didn't seem to do any good. :( He also went to Zilpa's house a bit to take something she needed, and chatted with some neighbors that live close to the church.  We're thankful that we can have a good relationship there and the unfortunate episode with Kevin didn't cause too many problems for us and the church. I did laundry, some cleaning, and made food for Tony's, Joe Fisher, and the single ladies from here for supper.  Tony and Joe had a food drop again in the area here so we were glad to have them here again. Judith and the children came along too and they stayed here overnight.  As we were enjoying our food on the carport it suddenly became very windy and stormy, so we had to go inside to finish our meal.  Tony's salad blew off his plate!  The power went off for a little while too, so we sat around with candles, and the gas lantern. 

    Saturday was the wedding of a young couple at the Oroba Church.  Wayne and I had plans to go,as well as most of the compound families, but Fri. night Wayne decided that he should stay home because he had nothing prepared for Instruction class and the message on Sunday.So Clarissa and Shonda went and Wayne and I got some needed work done around here.  Judith and the children went to the wedding as well and were met by Tony and Joe later in the day. Wayne went with Jake that afternoon to pick up 200 chicks to be raised here in the compound.  The girls reported a VERY bumpy, hour long ride to the wedding and then a long wait for the wedding to actually start.  Tommy preached a very interesting message and then there was another long wait til the food was served.  They had a typical Kenyan meal... Rice, beans, ugali, and sukumu.  The girls came home very tired but they were glad they went.   

    Wayne preached a message from Matt. 5 this morning on "Meekness."  It touched my heart as well as others and brought some tears and confessions.  We are thankful for our Brothers and Sisters at Lela who seem to be strong, but also willing to admit failure.  

   Christmas blessings to all of you!!  :)  We will really miss being with all of you, our dear family, on that special day, but we will do our best to make the day special here in Kenya as well.  Love to all,  Clara

I"m having trouble adding all the pictures to this post so I will create a new post with more pictures. Wayne

Men working!!

Lady cooking!

Part of the youth conference crowd

Passing out 101's

This and that................

  Good evening from Luo Land!  Its been a very unusual day here... We didn't see the sun at all! :(  In fact, I believe its the first time in the 4 months that we are here that my laundry didn't dry.  And since there is no dryer to use I will let the clothes on the line and hope for sunshine tomorrow!  Its a bit chilly as well and I have been wearing a sweater most of the day.  

  Its been a fairly quiet week in Kisumu.  We have had plenty of family time which is, by the way, a real blessing about living in Kenya!  I treasure these times even though I really miss home and all the interesting things that are happening there.  I remember how BUSY the month of December used to be and I'm amazed at how low key it is here.  I just found out today that I will have some added responsibilities now since Wayne is the school's Principal.  I will be in charge of the meal or snack that is served after the Christmas program next week.  We will be hosting the event at our house and decorating for that as well.  Clarissa and Janette have agreed to take care of the decorations so that's a big load off of my shoulders, especially since decorating is NOT one of my gifts!  I won't need to make all the food either, but just make plans and help organize I guess. 

  Wayne had a fairly busy week.  On Wednesday there was a work day at church.  Much work was accomplished with most of the members there to help.  It was a very warm day but went well.  The ladies hauled water from the well to wet the gravel church floor.  Then Wayne went back the next day to spray the floor since there is a bad problem with fleas there. :(  They did a lot of weeding and "mowed" the grass with slashers.  They hoed the prickers out of the driveway and weeded around the little house, etc.  The ladies cleaned up the little house that had been ransacked.  Afterward everyone was treated to chai and mandazis.  Wayne bought 80 mandazis and they were all consumed!  

  I didn't go to Church yesterday since Vanessa wasn't feeling well and my toe bothered me so much on Saturday that I knew the best thing was to prop my foot and rest as much as possible.  Its so hard for me to do when there's lots of work to be done.  Wayne reported a good service for the most part.  People showed up late because of mud and cloudy weather I guess.  Then there were some relationship issues between two of the ladies that needed to be worked through.  They didn't even have Sunday school so that they could work through some of those things.  Amazingly the message went very well with the problem on hand, and God worked in hearts and reconciliation was made. PTL!!  The testimonies lasted a long time then and so our lunch was quite late again.  

   We are glad to have our youth home again.  Most of them attended the CBYC (Christian Believers Youth Conference) in Nakuru this past week.  Sounds like they had a blessed time!  Mark and Mary Ellen Beachy were very involved in that this year.  Mark was the chorus director and Mary Ellen taught some classes for the girls.  Marks stopped in here a bit on their way home and we enjoyed their short visit. Marks are excited about flying to America tomorrow for their furlough!!  It must be a wonderful feeling!!!!  :)  

   Fri. eve. was a special evening for Wayne and I.  Joseph and Becky invited us, as well as Tommy and Marji, to join them at Simba Club... a nice Asian restaurant with a buffet.  Our children all stayed home and enjoyed themselves here.  We got home late since they don't start serving until around 9 pm.  The food was GREAT!  And the fellowship was too!!  I can easily see why people who have served in Kenya together seem to have a special bond.  Please pray for us with all the changes coming up...  Its just so hard to think of Tommy's and Marlin's leaving... and then Marks as well!!  But we trust God will provide and life will go on...

   I went to the hospital this morning to have my stitches removed, finally!!  I thought the Dr. was going to do it last week but when he looked at it he said it would just rip open again if he would do it now, so he waited til today.  Marji took me to the hospital since Wayne was at Pastor's meeting.  Bradlyn and I came home by tuk tuk, which was fun! :)  Its a pretty neat way to get around.  You have to watch those drivers though... they like to try to take advantage of the fact that we're mzungus and try to charge too much.  I had to wait on the Dr. quite a while this morning.  I think the rain slowed everyone down.  The removal of stitches was NOT FUN!  It hurt like crazy when he yanked the thread out of the nail. Oh well... I'm so glad that's done!  It looks pretty nasty now... pussy and a bit swollen.  Hopefully it won't get infected.  It really bothered me that the Dr. didn't wash his hands before taking care of me and didn't wear gloves.  He didn't bandage it for me afterwards either so when I got downstairs to a waiting area I put a tissue around my toe to protect it from germs and keep it from rubbing my sandal.  Its hard for me to trust the Doctors here but God is helping me to relax as much as possible. I just pray about the germs and try to take care of my toe the best I know how. 

Blessings to all of you in this Holiday season! You are all special to us and we're blessed to have you as friends!!  Clara  

Sand Mining (these guys in the river dig sand off of the bottom and through it up the bank)

Visit with Vincent Bonde (R) an 87 yr old blind and hard of hearing church brother. (He's still got the joy of the Lord!)

Neighbor lady washing in the church yard

Little guys at "Vincents"

Pouring the last of the chai on work day (who needs a 30,000.00 kitchen?)

Mary Ajode weeding around the church house

Monitor Lizard

Hannah Gingerich and friend!

Hotel beside our compound.  Try this for scaffolding!

Sermon prop from the message on Sunday