New Beginnings!!

Where shall I begin? So much had happened in the last week that that its about enough to make a person dizzy!  Our lives have changed drastically in such a short time. I think most of you know the story of our awful mistake at the airport so I guess I won't go into detail about that. Suffice it to say we learned our lesson very well and don't expect to ever be late for a flight again unless there are circumstances beyond our control.  I relived the whole nightmare so many times... it was horrible.  I had to think of how it would be to stand before God someday and have the door slammed in your face. That would be SOOOO much worse than missing a flight!  When we finally accepted the fact that we could do absolutely nothing about the situation we decided to make lemonade out of the lemons we experienced. :)  We really enjoyed the opportunity to rest at out motel suite that evening and the children had a blast swimming in the pool. A shuttle took us to Chick-fil-a for supper that eve.  We had a pretty good night and were back at the airport early the next morning.  I was kind of dreading a long day at the Atlanta airport..  our flight to Amsterdam wasn't scheduled until 5:50 that eve.  The day didn't seem very long though because there were so many people to watch and we found some really good places to sit where there was a good view of the runway, etc.  Its the busiest airport in the world so there was lots of action. I had a terrible thing happen to me that day though... it was another nightmare for me and almost caused another panic attack like I had the day before.:(  I had been trying so hard to keep very good track of my purse since there was a lot of cash in there but one time when I went to the ladies restroom I left it in the stall!!!!!!!  When I got back to our gate I suddenly realized what I had done and I ran back to the restroom in a panic.  I knocked on the door of the stall I had been in and asked the lady if there was a purse in there.  She immediately opened the door for me and showed me that it was NOT there.  I was so horrified and didn't know what in the world to do. But then another lady heard us talking and said she had heard an announement about a missing hand bag that was taken to gate F3.  I was so relieved that I gave the lady a hug and then took off for gate F3.  Before I ever got there I saw the purse sitting on a counter behind the ticket agent.  She handed it to me without any questions and then I began thanking God!!  After that I expected anything to happen.  It felt kind of like we were targeted or  something but anyway... we survived.  Just before we boarded our Amsterdam flight, we were surprised to see James and Pauline Miller from Crossville, TN.  They were on their way to the Ukraine to visit Nathan and Polly. After we were on the plane we were delayed close to two hrs. There were some mechanical issues and then a lady a few seats ahead of us started having a seizure and they had to call rescue.  It took a long time to get all that taken care of.  They had to find her luggage and take it off the plane, etc. It was rather discouraging because we were stuck on the plane so much longer than we would've been otherwise but God gave grace and it was ok.  We had some bad turbulence on that flight though... it lasted quite a while and caused me to pray.  Thankfully our children didn't seem too worried so that helped.  Because our flight was so late we didn't have much time in Amsterdam. The last flight was uneventful but oh so long!!! :( We finally arrived in Nairobi and after getting off the HUGE jet we went down a staircase and then had to wait for a bus to take us to immigration. Things went well there but then it took a LONG time to get all our luggage (20 totes and suitcases) collected.  Everything came through except one tote.  We were thankful for that except for the fact that it happened to be a tote that had frozen stuff in it. :(  They flew the tote to Kisumu later and Wayne and Jason picked it up yesterday.  I kept the cheese and pepperoni but threw some other meat away.  We had a number of things that broke in transit.  All of the broken things were in totes that TSA (security) had dug through.  Some of our mottos had glass broken out of them and the most disappointing thing was my favorite Tupperware cereal keeper was shattered.  I have no idea how that happened!!  I guess I can get it replaced someday.  It was with great relief that we finally left the airport and headed for Hampton House.  Luke and Jamilla Kurtz arrived around the same time we did with 30 totes and 8 children.  The two mission vans that picked us and Lukes up were loaded down with luggage on top... it made quite a sight!!  Jason and Cynthia Beachy picked us up and Marcus and Wanda picked Lukes up.  We crashed at Hampton that night!  We slept very well... no pills needed!!!!  It was after 1:00 when we got to bed so it was another short night.  More later, Clara


Hi! Its me again!  I would be much further ahead in writing if I hadnt lost all that I wrote this morning. :(  For some reason I wasnt connected to internet while I was typing... but anyway, no use crying over spilled milk.  I forgot to mention in the last letter that I had been so concerned about making stress for Jasons because of our stupid mistake when we missed our flight.  I hated to think that we probably messed up their schedule badly but to my great relief they were delighted to have an extra day to spend in Nairobi.  All's well that ends well I guess.  After leaving Hampton House Jasons took us to Java House for a good breakfast.  Poor Vanessa wasnt feeling well... probably from all the travelling and fatigue.  She puked on the way to Kisumu. :(  We had to stop along the road to clean up the mess.  But thankfully she felt much better after that and was soon her normal self.  The sights and sounds on the way to Kisumu  were far from boring!! Oh how I wish you could see some of these amazing sights!! I love the cute little donkeys pulling carts loaded with grass and whatever else, people carrying loads on their heads, some crazy traffic maneuvers, zebras, baboons, some kind of deer, etc. I loved the baboons the most!  We stopped along the road where there were quite a few of them. It was so cute the way they hold their babies and I even saw one holding a piece of newspaper in his "hands".... looked like he was reading the paper! :)  We stopped at Lamp and Light a bit in Nakuru.  Ruth, I knew it would give you a bellyache if you knew where we were. :)  The home stretch in Kisumu is amazing... its a slummy part of town and FULL of people, shacks, piki pikis and tuk tuks.  Its hard to believe that all this poverty is right outside our gate. Makes a person feel guilty for having it so nice.  The compound where we live feels like such  haven after being outside in the throng.  The trip to Kisumu took close to 7 hrs. I think because of all the stops we made.  What a blessing to come "Home" and find Tony and Judith, Jamie and Ayla!  They gave us a grand welcome.  Someone had  a bouquet of beautiful roses on the table and a laminated welcome sign with pictures of all the families who live here.  It was fun to explore our house.  The rugs that we had sent over earlier were already on the floors and looked so nice. Its definitely very simple and there have been some big adjustments but God is good!  We have so much to be thankful for.  Becky Hostetler kindly made supper for us that evening and Judith made a few things too.  We ate at Tonys house and then joined the compound families for a snack.  They had a farewell for Marcellus Beachy that eve. and a welcome for us.  They stood together as families and introduced themselves to us.  We enjoyed the time with them but we were oh so tired and ready for bed early.  We slept pretty well and Sat. morning came too quickly.  Wayne and I were anxious to start unpacking our 18 totes and suitcases plus all our carry-ons.  I also had laundry to do.  Its taking me time to get used to this style of washing and it feels like it takes me SO long to get laundry done. :(  We worked long and hard and finally just at bedtime we finished putting the last of our stuff away... at least most of it.  It was a wonderful feeling but oh we were so tired again.  Sunday was our first day at the Lela church.  I was struck with the HUGE differences in the church here compared to the beautiful, clean, air conditioned church we enjoy at home.  We meet in a pavilion style structure and sit on backless benches.  Some of it felt like a test of endurance.  I stood behind the benches sometimes since my tailbone was still recuperating from all the sitting while we travelled around the globe.  The people were friendly but seemed a bit quiet and shy.  I guess it will take them a while to warm up to us and I had to learn how to greet them properly, etc. Cynthia taught me some Luo words which was helpful but it was hard for me to remember to "double cheek" the ladies when they greeted me by touching first one cheek and then the other.  Bradlyn's endurance was tested too and so while I was standing in the back he was sitting at my feet and playing in the dirt.  Church is definitely not a place to dress up in good clothes!  There were visitors from Nakuru at our service... Delores Mast and Kayla Yoder as well at Pastor Matthews and Jacob. (Mahlons they seemed to remember you.)  Matthews preached a good message but I dont see how he survived the heat... he was wearing a sweater vest and a suit coat!!  We took some visitors home with us and were packed in the van like sardines!  Oh how I missed air conditioning! For those who haven't heard we had an awesome surprise when we got home from church.  There was an adorable monkey on the roof of or house!! :)  It ran up the tree in our yard then and I ran into the house to get a banana.  Wayne whistled at him and showed him the banana and he came down fairly swiftly.  I started backing away cause I was scared he might jump on us.  Wayne threw th banana to him which he easily caught and peeled and started chowing down!  :)  I loved every minute and hope he will be back soon.  Marlin Weavers said he came down to their house later that day.  We enjoyed a good lunch of chicken, rice, and potatoes at Jasons house and then we "crashed" for a while.  Tonys invited us over Sun. eve. and Judith served us some yummy bread sticks.  Hopefully someday when we get our bearings we can serve them some meals at our house.That evening Tonys gave us a tour of the compound which was intersting.  Judith has been SO helpful!  I feel like I have to learn to cook all over again.  She shows me what good brand names of food are... the labels here look so different that I can't always figure out what it is.  Today was not a very good day.  I had so much trouble getting my stove to light and the toaster wouldn't cooperate.  It almost feels like more things don't work than do! We've had trouble with getting warm showers and I always wash dishes in cold water.  Marji saved the day for me when she sent us a loaf of fresh bread.  Oh what a blessing! I could hardly find stuff around here that my children would eat. I tried to force Bradlyn to eat what we had for breakfast but it almost made him puke so what do you do?  He filled up then on fresh bread.  I will need to find bread pans somewhere since there are none in  this house.  Maybe I will soon be back to baking bread.  Jasons took us out to the hospital this afternoon so I could get my heart pills.  Its so amazing the way they give these medications without a prescription!!  We went to the market then and oh what a sight!!  We had to wade through crowds and between buses... it was frightful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I certainly don't think I will be as adventursome as Cynthia.  She drives like a pro in crazy traffic and even takes tuk tuk or piki piki rides to the market.  Maybe someday.... but NOT YET!! Well its time to bring this epistle to a close. Tomorrow will be a long day.  Jasons plan to take us to the Lela area to meet as many church people in their homes as we can.  

  Many thanks for all your prayers!! And blessings to those who have e-mailed!! It means so much!  Hopefully someday I can personally write each of you.  Rosy and Ruth, we still don't have our list of contacts set up so would you please forward this to whoever you think would be interested.  Thanks!  Wayne might try to paste this on our blog too.  We love ya'll !  Clara