The Little Things.....

Greetings from the land of the sun!  I don't recall that there has ever been a day in Kisumu since we came that was cloudy all day.  We've been having rain almost every day but mornings are always sunny.  We rejoice with the nationals who are happy because of the rain that is watering recently planted crops.  We were a bit chilly last weekend when we were in Nakuru.  Socks and sweaters felt good.  We very much enjoyed our weekend with Tonys and Rachel.  Tonys definitely have a different life there than they had here in Kisumu. They are the only Mennonites in their compound but they're within walking distance of the other Nakuru families and the school, so thats really nice for them.  They have a 2 story house and have done a beautiful job of fixing it up, furnishing, and decorating it.  Judith has a unique way of decorating with very simple things.  The cheery paint colors on the walls add a lot too.  We had a relaxing visit... we ladies spent some time cutting out flannelgraph pictures while Tony, Wayne, and the little boys worked on hooking up a water tank outside.  We also walked over to Jamie's school and took pictures.  Mahlon and Ruth lived in the house that is now the school around 15 yrs. ago.  Its very interesting to see the changes that have taken place in Kenya since we were here to visit Mahlons in 2000.  On Sunday Wayne preached at the Engashura church.  Marcus Burkholder was scheduled to preach there but when he heard that we were planning to be there he asked Wayne to preach.  We enjoyed the Engashura folks.  When Wayne told them that he knows Randy Lapp (their former pastor), it caused some ripples in the audience.  It was obvious that people loved their pastor!!  After a delicious lunch of chicken, rice, and beans, and even cheesecake for dessert!! we headed home again.  We had a fairly uneventful 3 hr. drive.  There is some awesome scenery along the way.  We took a different route than missionaries have often taken over the years.  The road is very nice except for many speed bumps some places.  We drove through some mountainous places that reminded us of scenery you would see out west in the U.S., especially Phoenix.  

When we got home we were blessed with a tote full of goodies that my dear sisters, Ruth and Marla, sent over for us with Marlin Stoltzfus'.  Some of the items they sent were things that I wished I had brought along from home.  It was delightful to have a "touch of home".  Thanks a million!!!!!  Another huge blessing when we walked in the door that night was a brand new fridge!  We had been told soon after we came that ours will be replaced sometime soon.  The old one didn't cool well and it was a "power waster."  I constantly had to wipe up puddles of water inside too which was rather annoying.  We feel indebted to all of you across the "pond" who take care of our needs here.  When we first came to Kenya the adjustments were huge... such as the lack of conveniences, no microwave or recliners, water troubles, lack of hot water, etc.  I guess we were just way too spoiled in our new house at home.  But the longer we are here the more I realize how VERY blessed we are and I feel unworthy to say the least!  I'm finding joy in little things.  No, my house is far from fancy, but its amazing how simple little things, like cute little clay pots, that we bought for less than a dollar each, can make my day. We spray painted them black and now they look so pretty with ornamental grasses in them.  Some cheery hedge flowers in my kitchen can really add color and cheer my day.  Clarissa has blessed me many times with her creativity. She has made all kinds of things out of toilet paper rolls! :)  Little things... like power when we really need it is something to thank God for!!  Our power has been going off almost every day, at any hour, and for several minutes at a time or for hours at a time.  I feel blessed when its there for us when we need it!  It can be stressful when I have something in the oven that is partly baked... I'm so thankful for Marji who is next door with a gas oven and she so kindly allows me to use it.  Another little thing that has been a huge blessing to us is a good sized rug that we have in our living room that we brought along from America.  Its the softest spot on the floor anywhere in this house and we use it SO much!  I think I've been more thankful for this lil rug than I ever was for our wall to wall carpet at home.  Yes, the little things in life make a BIG difference!!  Our compound family has done many "little" things for us to show us that they care in our time of adjusting and language classes here.  They have all become very special to us!!  

This past week was a special time for the men and boys of the Nakuru and Kisumu units.  They all went to Wendo... a beautiful place not far from Nakuru to go camping. There are also indoor games to play, etc.  They reported a good time but sad to say it rained a lot of the time and the night in the tents was quite miserable for some.  Poor Wayne only got about an hour of sleep that night. :(  But in spite of it all they seemed to have great fellowship.  We ladies took advantage of this time to do some special things as well, such as shopping, partying at Becky's house, and swimming at a large pool!  Shopping at the market was quite an experience!!  Its the largest market in Kenya and one of the largest in Africa!  There were so many amazing sights to see that I wanted to just look and look, but I had to constantly be looking down to see where I was walking because there was mud, food scraps, and all kinds of junk, to detour around.  Sometimes I wanted to hold my nose and sometimes my ears!! Vendors were overly eager to sell to us!!  Once I heard someone say, "Welcome to Kenya!! Americans, Welcome"!!  The sun was hot and it was so chaotic that I was glad when it was time to go but OH, what an experience!!  Some of these things are just priceless!!  And so much fun to do with friends!!  We ate at Java House then, partly in honor of Cynthia who will be leaving us soon. :(  We are sad to think of Jasons leaving... they have done much for us and trained us in well... not pushing too hard and yet covering the bases well.  We are starting to feel the weight of the responsibility ahead of us.  Very soon we will be on our own here and we need the wisdom of God so much to know how to meet the needs at Lela.  Please pray for us!!  We had a blessed time at Bible study on Wed. afternoon at Wellington and Benter's house. These people are becoming familiar and more dear to our hearts all the time. After leaving Wellington's house we went to a chemist and Jason got some medicine for an orphan who we found out about who had a staph infection in his foot.  The Dr. sent him home with only pain killers!!  I was horrified!!! It seems its important to have at least some medical knowledge before coming here because sometimes you kind of have to be your own Dr.  

  On Sunday we had Communion at Lela.  I helped fill lil cups with juice like I was used to at home but in a VERY different setting!!  We use chapatis for the bread so its really nice not to need to make unleavened bread!  Bishop Marlin was there and preached a good message for us.  At the end of the service Wayne and I stood up front while Marlin officially charged Wayne to be the new pastor at Lela.  It was touching... and oh such a responsibility has been handed to us!! God help us to make wise decisions and to be what these people need! We feel like the church is accepting us well and that means a lot!  They will miss Jason and Cynthia very much!!!! After church Marlins, Jasons, Carolyn, and us were together for lunch.  In the eve. we were all invited to Deans for finger foods and fellowship.  Jason shared some of the things he has learned here during their 4 yrs. of service.  Very interesting!!

 God bless your day!  Clara

This is how Brad and buddies hang up their "trunks"!

Chy and Nessa making chips on the jiko

Leadership transfer at Lela

Story time with Rachel in our yard

Judith, Rachel, Clara and Shonda relaxing!!!

Tony's House

Nakuru School house (where Mahlon's lived)

Pumping water for feet washing at church

Miss Carolyn with children after Bible Study

Kenya hillbilly!!  Christian Wagler

Girls tea party at Tommy's

Life in Luo Land

Greetings from Kisumu!!  It feels like its been a while since I wrote.  Thanks to all of you that have been praying for us especially over the difficult time when Dad was in the hospital.  I'll admit I had some very tough days and really struggled with God's call to Kenya.  Yes we felt peace about coming but then when things happen at home (or don't happen), such as Dad in the hospital, our house still not rented, etc. it makes me question whether we really did the right thing.  But we have committed all to God again, and since we are here we may as well make the best of it and trust God to take care of everybody and everything at home.  We definitely feel needed and well accepted here but there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!! I feel very responsible to take care of our parents too and its a very helpless feeling to be so far away and unable to do anything except pray. For those who don't know... Dad is fighting an e-coli infection in his blood. It appears that the infection came from the kidneys or somewhere in abdomen area. We are SO grateful that Dad is out of the hospital and doing fairly well now.  Our hearts go out to Marlin and Lavina in the loss of her father.  What a shock it must've been for them.  We're so glad they were able go go home for the funeral.  They plan to be back in Kisumu by tomorrow eve.  We are so ready to have them back!!!

  Rejoice with us!!!!!  Language classes are over!!!!!!!!!!!  :)   I can't tell you how relieved I am and its amazing what all can be accomplished in a day without spending 4 hrs. in class.  We still try to study Luo words every day... I certainly don't want to lose everything we have learned. What a shame that would be.  I was inspired by one of the Nakuru ladies... people say Debbie Miller knows Swahili quite well and its because she spends about 15 minutes a day studying.  I think I need to do that with Luo because I was reminded again today at Bible study that if I don't know how to communicate with them at least a bit in their language, I won't get very far with relationships. :(  Please pray that we could be a blessing here at Lela.  It kind of scares me to have Jason and Cynthia leave next month.  They do an excellent job of passing on the torch (training us in) but its unreal how much there is to learn. There are all the church folks names to remember and all their places to find... out in the bush. There are unique cultural practices to learn, and oh!! Driving in Kenya is quite an experience!!!!!  I don't know when I'll have the nerve to try it.  Lavina waited 7 or 8 months I think.  I'm limited to only a few vehicles in the compound because most of them are standard shift.  I don't know how to drive standard and Kenya would be the most awful place to learn how!!!!!!!  It will be a wonder if the left side of our van doesn't have a hole worn through the floor from me "braking" for Wayne by the time we leave!  I have finally gotten the hang of getting into the left side of the vehicle when we go somewhere.  I used to always go to the wrong side!  Wayne definitely has the hang of driving already!  He drives like a Kenyan! :(  :)  Ya'll pray for us!!  We have some amazing rides!  Today we came up to a place where the road was blocked and so we "blutzed" through a ditch and through someone's yard and then held our breaths again while we bounced through another ditch and onto the road.  Whew!!  These vehicles go places we'd never dream of taking our American vans through... only 4 wheel drive trucks.  

   Wayne is out with Jasons visiting church folks again today.  We were out on Tues. as well and yesterday afternoon we had Bible study at a native home. We were served mandazis and chai everywhere we went.  I decided to stay home today since we need to get ready to host prayer meeting at our house tonight and tomorrow we plan to head for Nakuru to see where Tonys live!!  :)  We are excited about that!!  We plan to stay til Sun.  Rachel plans to go with us and we're happy about that too!  

     As I mentioned before, one thing we love about Kenya is the way we can almost "live" outside. My washing machine is outside the back door and we also eat most of our evening meals on the carport.  There haven't been any days since we came that I couldn't dry laundry.  Even if it rains afternoons there is still plenty of time to get stuff dry in the morning.  Big towels and jeans usually dry in several hours... such a blessing!!  Bradlyn spends a lot of time outside which is good because he has very few toys to play with here.  He mentioned recently that he would like to be back in America because of all the toys. :)  But I think he would really miss being able to be outside so much, especially winter times!!  Yesterday our girls were together with Tommys children making chips over the fire.  They peeled potatoes real thin and dipped them in salt and vinegar.  They say they were very good! :)  They are definitely making memories!  The girls seem happy here.... they really like their friends and are happy with the school teachers.  But one big adjustment is the different curriculum at school.  Their work load is a good bit heavier that it was at home. They have bigger Bible memory assignments, book reports, and also in order to be on the honor roll this quarter they must know all the States and Capitals.  Their teacher was surprised that they didn't know those before!  So that's something they've been working on in their limited spare time.  I guess I will need to get them up earlier mornings so they can study. Its not unusual for all 3 of them to have homework when they come home from school. By the way... Wayne was recently appointed to be the Principal here.  So I guess he's not getting a break from school here either. :)  I don't think he minds though. He enjoys being involved at school.  

  My little boy is begging for a story and its time to get some cleaning done!  Blessings to all of you!!  And many thanks for your prayers!!  Clara 

Of Good and Evil.....

Tommy and Margie leaving for Bible study

Greetings to our friends on the other side of the "pond".  Well the great chicken slaughter is over for awhile again!  On Monday we were initiated into this experience.  We processed around 216 chickens from 6:00 - 9:00 a.m.!  Wow, what a bloody smelly mess!  Thank God for experienced hands to work with. After we were finished we enjoyed a great breakfast made by Barbara Jean. On Tuesday evening we tasted some of the fruits of our labors at Marlin Stoltzfus'.  The grilled chicken and mashed potatoes were wonderful! We survived another week of language ( 6 days) and we have 5 more days to go!!!!  No its actually not that bad... we enjoy Rosemary and we learn many cultural things from her as well so its definitely not time wasted.  We plan to go out to her house on Tues. and she plans to cook for us.  I want to make ugali and sukuma (sp.?) soon.  Maybe I will get to help her so I can learn from her.  We compound ladies enjoyed watching Josephine (our first language teacher) make ugali on the stovetop in Jake's house on Friday.  She doesn't measure ingredients... she says their eyes tell them when its the right amount of cornmeal.  We ate it with our fingers then and it was very edible!! :)  Rosemary has been telling us stories about the huge snakes they have seen at her house recently.  I think the one was a puff adder and the other two were huge pythons.  One eve. William was on his way to the cho in the dark and he saw a huge snake.  He killed it and then they burned it. The other day Rosemary's children were out by the well when they started screaming because there were two huge pythons playing with each other there.  Rosemary is terrified of snakes and just screams and screams when she sees them.  William wasn't home and even the big boys that were around there were too scared to kill them.  They watched them play for about a half hour and then they built fires to kind of trap the snakes because they had gone into tall grass or the hedge.  The one snake came out cause of the fire and the boys killed that one, but the other one was no where to be seen.  They finally gave up and Rosemary was pouring water from a jug onto the fire when suddenly the other python charged the bottom of the jug she was holding!  Rosemary was so terrified she just fell over backwards.  Her children quickly got her out of there and then the boys killed that one too.  I asked Rosemary what happens when someone gets bit by a snake since there are some extremely poisonous ones around. I was shocked when she said "you just die".   She says, "the hospitals don't have anti venom" either so there's nothing to do but trust God to protect us. (Which is what we want to do anyway.) Rosemary has already accidentally stepped on the head of a deadly snake and while she was screaming people were telling her to stay right there while they killed it.  The tail of the snake was hitting her leg while she was on the head. I guess if you need more to pray about you can include a prayer of protection from snakes. :)   Rosemary also told us about some brutal killings that have taken place in the last several weeks. We heard of at least 3 different ones.  Wayne also saw a man lying on the road who appeared to have just been hit. I don't know the story on that one... Three weeks ago a young man in the Lela area was caught by the mob and disposed of. He reportedly had abused a woman and slashed two men. Also, last week, out along the highway not too far from Rosemary's house someone found a body in a sack.  It was all cut up into pieces.  She didn't know the story on that one yet.  The people in the area did not seem to know the victim.  At the Rabour market on Wednesday, there was a man going to buy cows to pay dowry and while he was there someone shouted "thief", and the mob grabbed him.  Someone's piki piki (motorbike) had been stolen and the person who had it stolen saw this man and mistakenly thought he was the thief. They brutally killed him and gouged out his eyes. They also took off with around 35,000 shillings,  ($350 USD) that the man had on him.  So sad that the innocent one had to suffer!!  Please pray that the powers of darkness could be defeated here and the light of Jesus Christ could shine brightly.  The longer we are here the more we discover that even some church members still struggle with bowing to cultural practices over the Word of God.  Of course not all the cultural practices are wrong and evil.  Next to no one in this culture will deny that there are real evil powers that are active in the lives of people today.  Many of these people have for generations been in bondage to cultural practices that are "fear based" or used to appease the "spirits of dead ancestors".  May God give us wisdom to know what to accept in the culture and what is evil and satanic.  

  One day last week we found out about a 6 yr. old boy that comes to our church named, Sharif, who swallowed a shilling.  He was taken to the hospital because it was stuck in his throat but by the time they did the xray it had moved down into the stomach or wherever... The Dr. told him to eat plenty of bananas.  The boy seems to be doing fine... he was at church this morning but as far as his mother knows the shilling hasn't passed yet.  Wayne went to visit them one day and took this pic of the boy and a friend or brother.   

 I was so blessed again last week by friends who care and just seem to know when I'm in need of encouragement.  Barbara Jean is one of those special people.  I was having a hard day Thursday. We were taking care of Isaiah, Jason and Cynthia's 4 yr. old while they went to Uganda.  Isaiah is a very good, sweet lil guy but that morning he was really missing his family and started to cry.  I was sitting there holding him and trying to comfort him and then I just "lost it" too.  I guess I was homesick too and I was struggling so much with some of the inconveniences and things that just don't go right here.  I'm ashamed of myself... I know I shouldn't be longing for the  "leeks and garlics" but I guess I still have too much of America in my blood and its hard to forget what I used to have and enjoy.  When I think of what our Kenyan friends have compared to us I'm so ashamed of myself. But it seems I just can't make food taste right here.  The honey has a strong flavor so anything I make with that doesn't taste right.  Also the milk tastes more like a cow and so anything made with that tastes a little different too.  I just didn't think our pizza tasted right last night.  The funny thing is that when I eat other people's cooking it tastes SO good... like home.  Anyway... Barbara Jean came to my rescue Thurs. when I was really struggling and offered to make the hot dish for our meal that eve.  I was so touched by her kindness that I cried again and oh the food was so good!!  Her kindness will long be remembered!  

  We enjoyed having Tony at our house on Fri. eve.  I told him it just felt right to have him here but not with a suitcase.  Brian Wagler was here for supper that eve. as well and the next day Tony and Brian did a food drop.  It sounds like this will happen some more so we look forward to seeing Tony's once in a while.  We missed Judith and the children though!  Saturday evening Marlin's blessed us with some of their homemade raspberry ice cream!!  What a treat!! God bless ya'll with a good week!! Clara and Wayne

Bradlyn riding the gate separating our lawn from Tommys

Selfie with Sharif (on left) and a friend when I went to visit Friday.  The little guy in the middle got a huge kick out of seeing himself on the screen!

See the 10 bob shilling! (about the size of a nickel)

Brad, Logan and Christian drinking the lemon grass tea they brewed while we were having language!

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

A New Normal...

Another week has gone by and I wonder... have we made a difference in anyone's life?  My constant prayer is that we could be a blessing to the church at Lela where we have been asked to serve, as well as in the compound here where we live.  It feels like we have been in Kenya now for a long time and I think we are actually beginning to feel like this is normal life... a new normal.  The new normal includes many interesting and unusual sights, smells, and sounds.  I wonder if I will ever be able to go down the road without being amazed by something I see. This morning as I was sitting in church there was the cutest lil mother hen with 6 lil chicks that came close to where I was sitting.  They were pecking away for anything they could find to eat and I marveled again at the huge difference in the church setting here compared to at home.  No one here acted like it was unusual to have chickens at church but at home that would make quite a scene! :)  I'll admit that it is a bit distracting not to have walls in our church.  Sometimes we can see men herding cows, or trying to push a big cart out of a ditch. People walk along the road a lot and I always feel sorry for the ones who appear to be crippled.  Last Sun. Rachel saw 2 men fighting... I didn't see that but it would've been kind of interesting to watch.  Wayne found a big lizard in the "cho" this morning... at least it wasn't a snake!!!  We are beginning to remember names better and recognize those who regularly attend Lela. Wayne taught the Instruction class this morning for the first time.  On Tues. of this past week Wayne went with Jasons to Lena's house to do an Instruction class interview.  Lena is a nice looking lady with an adorable lil girl.. maybe a yr. old, named Josephine. Lena was born in 1974.  She is a widow... her husband died last yr. of HIV.  She has had 10 children I think, and 4 have died (miscarriages or still births I think.wy)  Our hearts go out to her so much.  She has a hard time finding work in the rice fields sometimes and its very hard to support her family.  We simply can't imagine a life like that.  Makes me wonder why I was born to an American family who always provided well for us and who loved us so much.  I should never complain about anything!!!!!!!!!!  

  On Wed. and Thurs. Wayne spent 2 long days with Jim Harries learning language and culture.  Jim is British.  He is single, and has lived in Kenya for over 20 years. He cares for orphans and is a very educated man who cares for the Luo people and lives like they do.  He is very concerned about bringing Western (or American) influence to these people.  Wayne said he could've easily driven the Patrol up to the house or church that they visited but Jim didn't want to because he doesn't want that "image". In other words.. he didn't want to take an expensive vehicle in there since those people could never afford one. By the way... it is a strange feeling to go to church and the only vehicles there are mission vehicles.  Everyone else walks... and some from long distances!  We are just so blessed!  And so Wayne and Jim walked a LONG ways in the direct sun.  Bradlyn and I had plans to go with them on Thurs. but when Wayne saw how much walking they did he knew it would be too much for me so we stayed home.  I have still been studying Luo some every day and I think this week now we will be doing Luo classes with  Rosemary, who is a member of the CBF church here.  It felt so wonderful to have a break from classes all week!!  I felt like celebrating!!  I wanted to do what Fannie Peachey (Aarons) said she wanted to do after their language was over!! Marjie told me Fannie said she wanted to stand on the roof of the house and holler!! :)  Fannie you must be a woman after my own heart!  I'd like to dance a lil jig up there too. :)  Janice and Carolyn would like to join me too!!

  I spent my days getting caught up on baking, making pizza sauce, and some of those things that get neglected when we're in class.  On Wed. I made Vanessa's birthday cake and then since the children have a half day of school that day, Clarissa nicely decorated the cake that afternoon.  On Fri. Wayne and I went to school for Nessa's party.  LaRay Stoltzfus (Marlins) also had a birthday so Marlin and Lavina were there as well.  It was fun to see where our girls spend their days.  Charity and Carolyn are doing a great job and have the rooms decorated nicely.  Charity has a Dr. Seuss theme with lots of interesting sayings... :)  Rachel and I also spent a bit of time one afternoon helping Judith clean her house.  Judith is going above and beyond what she would have to do to get her house clean and decluttering "junk" that has collected there over the years with people coming and going and just letting things there for the next person.  I sure don't know what we will do without Tonys!  And we will miss Jamie and Ayla so much too!  But we're just SO glad that they were here to help us through these first weeks of huge adjustments.  We had an interesting day yesterday.  In the morning all the compound ladies went to Java House to have brunch with Judith as a farewell.  After a nice meal Janice, her mother Lois, Charity, Marjie, and I went to Ochumi's... the grocery store in the lower level of the same building.  They have a nice amount of stuff, but not as much selection as Nakumatt has.  I'm slowly learning how to cook around here I think, and how to substitute ingredients.  We're all learning to be content with less than the best too, which doesn't hurt us at all!!  After getting home from Java House I had to rush around and get ready to go to Mark and Mary Ellen Beachys house.  Tonys, Joseph and Becky, and our familly were all invited to their house for supper.  We were really glad for the privilege of seeing where they live.  They're the only Mennonite family who live in a compound much closer to the church where they minister.  It took us close to an hour and a half to get there and as usual we saw many interesting sights along the way.  We saw the road where you go back to where Obama's grandmother lives.  In a village close to Marks there is a sign that says "The village where Obama's father was born." We took a pic of the sign but it didn't turn out well.  Marks have fixed there house up very nicely with plenty of African decor.  Its very livable in spite of concrete floors, etc.  Mary Ellen has a special touch and one thing I really liked was all the scripture and nice sayings on the walls. I would describe Mary Ellen as an "encourager".  She reminds me a lot of Mary King.  She has certainly blessed me often already.  We were served a delicious meal of ricardo chicken, rice and beans!  Our favorite!  Also a nice pineapple coffee cake for dessert.  Thanks SOO much to those of you who take time to write.  We always eagerly check our email during the day and love to hear from HOME SWEET HOME!  God bless you!  Clara

Story time with "Aunt" Becky

Jim Harries himself at Yala falls

"Bishop" on the new 'toy'!  Sorry I couldn't resist that one! :)

Masai Indians with their punga's  inside Nakumatt.

The chilins don't have a lot of toys but they love to play in mud!!

Vanessa and Ayla with the cake

Marks in front of their house

Here's the sign that says, "the village where Obama's father was born."

Sheep at church this morning

                       Sound clip from Bible study with Jim at a indigenous church

Of Snails and Dholuo....

Bible Study at Helen's

Greetings on this rainy Sunday afternoon.  The rains seem to be coming earlier this year they say.  Its been raining almost every afternoon.  Its a nice break from heat and dust but the down side is that the power often goes off for a while.  I think we are kind of used to it now... and thankfully we still have water when its off. We have a big gas lantern that lights the place up pretty well. Last eve. when the power went off Tony sent a text that said... "another night with the Amish." :)  I don't have much time to write this afternoon so I guess I will keep this short and mostly send the pics.  Tonys are in charge of planning the Sun. eve. activity for the compound so they asked Wayne to preach the message he preached at home just before we left... titled "Hope for the Journey."  Wayne also has something planned for the children.  We will have food afterward so we are making 2 pans of breadsticks.  The folks here hardly ever hear an English message without an interpreter so that is why Tony planned this.  We hope and pray that people can be encouraged and strengthened in our journey here in Kenya.  We need lots of support from each other here.  I don't know how we'd make it without these dear people all around us!  
  Rejoice with us!!!!!  Our 3 wks. of formal language school are over!!  They were very intense weeks and now we look forward to a change of pace this week.  Wednesday during language Wayne saw something strange hanging from the porch rafters.  Upon investigating we discovered the huge snail (pictured below).  This old fellow was probably 5 or 6 inches long!  Our language teacher almost became unglued for fear it would drop down.  :)  Learning a new language makes us feel rather snail like...  It's a slow, hard process.  We have off Mon. and Tues.  On Wed. Wayne will be out and about with Jim Harries who plans to help us understand culture and language.  I will probably go along on Thurs.  We also plan to spend time with Rosemary, a member of the CBF church here who teaches language.  We plan to go out to her house for classes and I think she will also introduce us to cultural things.  
  On Thurs. eve. we hosted the prayer meeting at our house.  It made for a busy day but thanks to help from Clarissa and Rachel the house got cleaned and we enjoyed the eve.  Becky made yummy donuts for everyone in honor of Jake and Janice's arrival.  I think she had help from Judith and Rachel.   
  On Sat. we were invited to the home of one of our church members at Lela.  Her name is Silpa.  She is a fine Christian widow who has a celebration every year on the Anniversary of the day she was anointed with oil when she was very sick and nigh unto death.  She wants to remember that special day and give thanks to God for another year of life that he has granted her.  She invited Jasons family, our family, Marlin and Lavina, and Carolyn Rodes.  We had a feast!  Potatoes, beans, ugali, cooked cabbage, beef, and chapatis.  Cynthia worked long and hard to make 36 chapatis over a small giko.  It took hours and it was very warm.  We enjoyed the food and fellowship in spite of the heat.  Sometimes days like that feel like a "test of endurance" for me since I'm still a "soft" American I guess.  Hopefully I can toughen up soon and long days in the heat won't bother me so much.  By the way... please pray for Wayne. He has been struggling with migraine headaches almost every day this past week.  Hopefully that will get better now that we have a small break from stressful language classes.  We miss ya'll so much!  Thanks to all who encourage us with phone calls and e-mails!  God bless you!!  

Its amazing how much stuff they can haul on a piki piki... here's a couch and 2 chairs!

Herbert the snail... some people paint them bright colors so they can keep track of where they are.

Bradlyn hauling chairs.... and Ayla :) 

Weaver birds building nests

Trying to peel potatoes at Silpa's house with a big "pala".  Didn't work too well.

Enjoying the feast...

Church service this morning

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Speed Bumps, Pot holes, and Answered Prayers...

Greetings from Kisumu!  It was another nice day here... Wayne mowed the lawn this afternoon for the first time since we're here, and I'm enjoying the nice trim look.  I really like the plants and trees in our lawn. So many of them look like the house plants people have at home.  Barbara Jean has a HUGE geranium in her flower bed.  I was wishing my sisters could see it.  We also have a big poinsettia thats about 8 ft. tall. Amazing! 

  We have been enjoying some meal invitations from others in the compound.  Its a good way to get to know people better and oh what a blessing to have a break from cooking... especially with 4 hrs. of language daily, 5 days a week. Marlins invited us one evening along with the singles here and another day Tonys and us were invited to Dean and Barbara Jeans house.  The food was GREAT at both places.  I hope I will learn to cook well here soon.  I'm struggling to know what to serve with my main dishes because I'm used to having lots of applesauce and pickles on hand.  Here we have neither of those things and I don't have corn, peas, or green beans in the freezer, or baked beans in a can that can quickly be opened.  Does anyone have ideas for quick side dishes?  I used to ask Gina a lot of food questions... what do you suggest? :)  Maybe after language is done I can find time to make some refrigerator pickles.  I was talking to Martha Kauffman today (Thanks a million for calling!!!!!!) and she said she has made freezer pickles already.  That would be a nice idea for here!  I think I need to start planning meals in advance a bit more so that I have stuff on hand that I need.  The girls come home from school at noon every day so its a must to have something quick. People are so kind in sharing food with us.  Today I was blessed twice.  Marji gave us a pan of banana bread with powdered sugar on top.  So yummy!  And then Rachel stopped by with some pudding and a raspberry dessert!  Very American!  It was such a blessing because I was tired... and I wonder how they knew I needed to bake today!  God must've told them....  By the way... I am really enjoying a break from packing lunches and driving school children. :)  I have to look on the bright side... right?  The girls seem to like school now and I don't see that stressed look on their faces anymore when they come home.  I really think we are starting to adjust! We're starting to feel like we belong here.  I think every day is getting better and life feels a bit more settled down and routine.

  In language class today Josephine was teaching us about time. Luo time is different than ours.  I guess its like they did in Bible times.  7:00 is same as 1:00 our time.  The Luo day starts at 12 which would be 6 am on our clocks.  I was really struggling to keep everything straight and I mentioned to Josephine that "this is hard!"  She said, "no,no its very simple!"  She says you just turn the clock upside down and then its right.  I thought that kind of describes life here... kind of upside down.  But no, not really.  Its all in getting used to new things I guess.  Josephine asked us questions like... "what time did church start yesterday? And what time did you get up this morning?"  We had to answer her in complete sentences.  Talk about frying your brain!!!!!!!!!!! If I want to say "the time is 7:25 am I would say. "En sa achiel gi dakika pier ariyo gabich gokinyi."  Sounds simple right???  Well not for this dumb American.  Oh well... we're all in this together and we are definitely learning something cause it makes more sense than it did at first! 

 Oh I should tell you about our living room lizard. I wish I'd have a picture of him.  Wayne decided that we could name him "Larry the living room lizard. :)  Sorry Mr. Kurtz.  No offense!  

  Jake and Janice's family and her mother Lois have arrived safe and sound.  We're so glad they are here and hope to learn to know them better soon.  We only met them once since they are here.  

  On Sunday morning soon after we got up the power went off.  Oh no!!! What about our Sunday chicken?  I went ahead and made rice and beans on the gas burner and then put the chicken in the crock pot before we left for church and we hoped and prayed that the power would come on soon.  Well it was not so to be.  We came home to cold chicken and disappointed children.  I quickly put the chicken in a skillet and cooked it on the stove top but we had to exercise patience while waiting on it.  The power was off about all day then.  It was off the other eve. too during our prayer meeting at Tommys.  But we made out fine with gas lanterns and the singing sounded great even though we had to compete with the pounding of rain on the roof. Instead of going to the Lela church on Sunday we went to Oroba with Joseph and Becky to assist with Baptism there.  I wasn't sure if I could go along or not because I was suffering from my rib problem that causes me pain once in a while.  How I miss Dr. Tommi!!!  Since we knew there is no way to go see a Chiropractor we prayed and Wayne treated me the best he knew how.  God answered prayer!!!!!!!!  I was so amazed that I got over it so quickly... it was clearly a blessing from God!  He is so good!  Sunday morning I had almost no pain and even on the horrible roads to Oroba I didn't suffer much.  Our family took Tommy's Nissan Patrol since we need a heavy duty vehicle on those roads, and we followed Josephs to church.  It was so much fun to be alone as a family on the way to church!!  It took a little over an hour to get there and OH what an adventure!!  How I wished that ya'll could somehow get a glimpse of all that we were seeing.  Its better than a movie cause its real life!:) The amazing sights we see are priceless! Its so far from boring here... you really need to come and see for yourselves!  Wayne was having the time of his life maneuvering around potholes ( I mean craters!)  One time we hit a bump so hard that Bradlyn's back side was as high as the top of the seat and his head hit the ceiling.  The girls roared with laughter! :)  We went through some mud holes but nothing bad since we're still mostly in dry season.  Wayne is doing a great job in driving I think, although I thought he seems to be getting a bit too confident already. :(  Ya'll pray for us!  Driving here makes driving in America look very safe and roads like Johnny Lane look quite mild.  On Sunday we drove through sugar cane fields.  We tried to remember all the twists and turns so that we would be able to find our way home again on our own.  We actually did then! PTL!  One thing I can't understand is why on earth these people make speed bumps on dirt roads that are already extremely bumpy. There are LOTS of speed bumps on the paved road as well.  If they decide they want a bump where there isn't one they will just make one out of dirt, right on top of the pavement. :)  I have actually been glad for the speed bumps sometimes.  It really does keep traffic slowed down but the bumps on bad roads is a mystery to me.  Oh well... that just adds to the adventure I guess. :)  I love all the cows, sheep, and goats that roam everywhere and anywhere.  As we got close to Kisumu yesterday I saw some cows laying down on the street. They seem to have no fear of vehicles and drivers just maneuver around them... only inches from hitting them.

  We enjoyed the Oroba church.  A 15 yr. old girl was baptized and several others who had been excommunicated were restored to church fellowship.  The one was a former pastor, Eric I believe.  One thing I really liked was the singing.  They have a choir there and some of the men actually sang tenor.  Sounded nice!  After church Joseph and our whole family stood in the back, along with those who had been reaccepted as members and then the whole church filed by to shake our hands.  I especially love the little children that come shake our hands... some are probably only 2 yrs. old... so cute!!! :) We rejoiced with Oroba in the adding of members.  Its a blessing to see them thriving.  Well this is long enough... Blessings to all of you!  Keep praying! Here's just a few miscellaneous sights...