Kisumu Yoder'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