Holiday (also known as vacation)

December 17-21 we went for holiday (vacation) to Nairobi. We had a nice time. I (Jenny) had two good doctor appointments. The babies are growing, hopefully about 3 pounds each (as of Dec 18). I'll have another ultrasound and doctor appointment after the boys and I get settled in Karen, a western suburb of Nairobi. The boys and I move to Karen on January 9th. Bed rest didn't happen as much as it probably should have while we were in Nairobi, but after the bumpy ride home, I've renewed my efforts at laying around or "baby protection," as we have decided to call it.

Picture of Jessica and Max after recessional.
We went to our first wedding in Kenya on Saturday, Dec 19th. There are some differences. Two weddings were scheduled at the church that day. The first for 10:30am and the one we were to attend at noon. There is Kenyan time and mzungu (white person) time. The bride for the first wedding showed up at the church for her wedding at 12:10pm. If Jessica had been there already, the pastors would have married them first. But people were on their cell phones and Jessica and Max decided to go for their pictures since they knew the first bride was late. We were also talking to people at the church and when we heard about the delays, we stopped and picked up lunch for a whole bunch of us. We arrived just after 12:30, but several Kenyans who hadn't called to find out how things were progressing showed up at 1pm. I heard another missionary asking them how they knew that they could come at 1pm for a noon wedding. I didn't hear their answer, so I asked my neighbor. She said that instead of being time-oriented, Kenyans are event-oriented. They know that they can show up later than the scheduled time and be part of the event.

Max, Jenny, and Jessica
A difference that I had not seen before was that Max and Jessica had to sign their marriage certificate in front of everyone as part of the ceremony and then Jessica had to put it in Max's inside suit coat pocket and button his suit. (She didn't rebutton the suit at first and the pastor whispered to the best man who walked over and told her to buttton it). Then they were able to continue with the ceremony.






Another difference was that when they placed the rings on each others fingers, they had to hold the hand above their heads to show no ring and then the placing of the ring. A difference leading up to any wedding that we know about from attending church is that for the three weeks prior to a wedding, an announcement, also called a bann, must be given at the churches each of them attend. That is to allow any current spouse that may not have been disclosed to say, "Hey, I'm already married to the person." It sounds funny, but things like that are usually done for a reason. Wedding banns have been announced around here since the time when the British controlled the area, but it has continued as a church requirement and we've met people here at Scott who grew up with fathers who are polygamists.

Isaiah and Nate looking "smart" (dressed up).
Isaiah did a great job as the ring bearer. Max and Jessica had a lovely wedding. We were worn out as a family after the wedding and reception, so we decided to extend our stay in Nairobi by a night. On Sunday, Dec 20th, we had a great relaxing day. We went to a swimming pool. I enjoyed feeling weightless!! The boys got to splash and play and laugh. We really needed a restful day and are so thankful that we got to have one as a family.






This is our Christmas picture for 2009. We were all dressed up for the wedding.

It's December and it's HOT out.

Hello everyone!

We are finding it hard to believe that it's December already. The weather is getting warmer. We are still in the rainy season and we are getting occasional rains. We praise God for every bit of rain that we get. Since we live in an agricultural society, we have become MUCH more sensitive to how the weather effects livelihoods. Farmland and gardens surround us and people depend on that food to grow to be able to eat.
Mangoes are coming into season, so fresh mangoes will be readily available. A gardener also informed us that the largest tree in our backyard in a mango tree. He also said that because the tree is old, it may only produce a small number of mangoes and that they won't be very sweet. We learn new things all the time. Avocados are not in season now, but we enjoyed approximately 13 cent avocados regularly when they were in season. (The avocados went well with the homemade salsa and homemade tortillas that I learned how to make).
Another reason that it is difficult to believe it is December is that we are not bombarded by advertising. We don't have a television (and we don't miss it, except for watching college football) and the stores don't seem to be decked out for Christmas. Most of the "holiday" advertising that we see comes through our email accounts. I must say that it's a wonderful relief to not be bombarded by materialism. We have set up a nativity scene and are in the process of making some homemade decorations. We don't even know if it is possible to get a Christmas tree, but a wreath would work too. (We improvised with a wreath at seminary one year and survived quite well). :)
For family updates, Todd has completed teaching and giving final exams as of yesterday. He is surrounded by stacks of papers and finals to grade. Yesterday he took the boys up into the big tree house in our backyard to celebrate being mostly done with the semester and to take a break. We are hoping to take a tiny vacation next week to Nairobi. Our initial hope was to take a two day safari and see big game. After asking my doctor, we were strongly advised against going on safari for the sake of the babies, and have decided to follow the doctor's advice.
I (Jenny) am starting on bedrest or "rest as much as possible" with my feet up. Things are looking good with the babies. I had 6 different meetings last week, including another ultrasound. We are as positive as we can be that both babies are girls. They measured at approximately 2 pounds each. I got to interview a pediatrician who agreed to attend the delivery (Kenyan law requires a pediatrician to be present at delivery and it was strongly recommended to me that I find a pediatrician and not take whoever might be assigned). I really liked the pediatrician and I think he's English. I'm trying to keep this experience as international as possible. :) My physical health is doing very well at this point in time. Though the doctor is concerned for me and the babies this last trimester. He is keeping a close eye on me and so the boys and I will move to Karen, just outside Nairobi, on January 9. I have 2 househelpers now and will probably need 2 or maybe even a third for overnight, depending on how strict bedrest becomes. It has been really special to see how God has been providing everything. In Karen, we will live at a guesthouse on the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology campus. The boys will have space to play outside (within a gated community) and I won't have to deal with any stairs or mosquito nets (Nairobi is higher in elevation than Machakos, so Nairobi is essentially a malaria-free zone). I had been praying that God would allow a student named Jessica to be the nanny for the boys in Nairobi and God has said "yes" to that prayer. She will be done with school here at Scott tomorrow and gets married next weekend. She is from Oregon and is marrying a Kenyan man named Max. Jessica and I have delevoped a friendship during this time that I have been here and Isaiah and Nate love her. It is such a relief to me to have someone who knows how to work with kids, likes my kids, knows how to cook American food, and who I can easily communicate with be willing to work for me for a couple of months. I'm really thankful that God has allowed this opportunity to work out to my benefit because Max has been unable to find a job so far. I'll have to shift my prayers to allowing Max to find work, starting in March.
Isaiah and Nate are doing well overall. They are having some troubles with all of the adjustments. I overheard Isaiah telling someone, "My mom can't do that because she has babies." It's been difficult to adjust to no wrestling with mommy and no rough-housing. I haven't been able to carry the boys or chase them for quite some time. I remind myself that this is only a season. They don't understand that some things will change back. Though we will have to come up with a new normal (if there is to be such a thing as normalcy) after doubling the number of children we have.
Isaiah and Nate are growing up so much. We have been working on Scripture memorization with Isaiah and Nathanael has learned the verses too. We were practicing with Isaiah at the dinner table the other night and Nate ended up prompting Isaiah. We were slightly shocked and decided to test Nate. It was amazing. He has been listening and learning! Both boys love to pray. Nate's standard meal prayer is, "Thank you God. Amen. For food." Isaiah prays much like Daddy.
Well, I think that will be all for now. I'd better post this before I do anything else. We hope and pray that everyone is doing well and enjoying a not-too-busy holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Thank you for your prayers for us.

Isaiah's Accident

Isaiah decided that he wanted to get his first stitches while in Kenya. On Monday, October 26th, he was spinning in a swing on our porch and caught his ear on a brick. He was bleeding and screaming. We decided that we needed to take him to the hospital to see if he needed stitches. I didn't think a band-aid would fix this wound. He was very brave, even though he was in a lot of pain.







The doctor looked at his ear and said that Isaiah did need stitches. He was given IV sedation that did not completely knock him out. Given Isaiah's age and the location of the tear (an extremely sensitive part of the ear), the doctor did not think Isaiah could hold still for the numbing medication. The doctor was correct, it still took 2 of us to hold him down while he was partially sedated. Isaiah got 2 stitches, then they taped a bandage securely enough for it to last 3 days on a 3-year-old. I was impressed!



Here is Isaiah's ear after we got to take the bandage off. The doctor did a nice job of "tying his ear back together" as I explained it to Isaiah. It did not get infected, thankfully. Though it is still sensitive and sun-burning more easily than his other ear.










Isaiah's ear after I took the stitches out. Barely noticable! We can actually see the scar, but it's not bad and we told him that he will have a fun story to tell later in his life. Besides, "chics dig scars." At least that's what we tell our rough and tumble boys.













Isaiah demonstrating that he's all better and having a good time too!



Love to all! Happy Thanksgiving and we will try to get a blog published for Thanksgiving Day too.

Too long since we updated you

Hello everyone. Time seems to be flying. We have been busy and haven't updated you as we would like. I'll try to fix that now.

Todd has been busy with visiting ministry sites and dealing with ministry situations that have come up with the students he mentors. A few Sundays ago, he was able to go visit Boniface's church. Ngiluni (n-gee-lu-ni) AIC. (Shown Below)

He left Scott around 6 in the morning to take public transportation (Matatu) about 50 Kilometers. The trip took nearly two hours. After getting off he and Boniface started walking. Overall it was about a 6-7 KM walk in the hot sun, in dress pants, a tie, and sports coat. They went down into a valley and across a dry river bed. Then started walking up a large hill. All along the way Boniface greeted various people. When the rains are heavy it fills up the river. At times, Boniface has to swim across the river just to get to church. Boniface has been the pastor there for over 5 years in two different assignments. (He was there, was assigned another congregation, then was assigned to go back again.) The congregation consisted of 100 women and 6 men (including Boniface and Todd). Many of the men of the area are not Christians and are deeply involved in tribal religion. Some of the Christian men do not come to church because they don't see the need in going. The service was a good service but Todd didn't understand a word of it since it was all in Kikamba (the language of the Kamba people). Todd got home after 5 that evening.

The youth.
After the service Todd was asked to "give them a challenge." Thankfully, Todd was able to give the challenge in English, since they have studied English in school.










Some of the girls dancing after church. The church stays open for about an hour after the service and the girls dance the whole time. It was great to see. Notice there is hardly any "adult" supervision.

The next Thursday, we allowed the Fellowship Group that meets in our home every Friday morning to have a party at our home. There are 3 ladies in the group and they were to do most of the cooking. They arrived at 2 pm with 3 live chickens. Here is a picture of one chicken before it became dinner. This might actually be a rooster, I have trouble telling the difference until the rooster crows.







Here are the first two chickens shortly after being killed. They were put into very hot water which helps their feathers come out easily. This was the first time I had ever seen chickens killed and plucked. The gentleman who killed them was very humane and sliced their necks and let the blood drain into a hole he had dug by my banana plants. I buy frozen chickens at the grocery store and the ladies let me know that getting live chickens is much fresher and very easy. I'm still planning to buy frozen, plucked chickens. Though, for Thanksgiving, if we want turkey, we have to buy a live one. Someone else is preparing it for us.


Two of the men in the fellowship group setting up jikos (jee koes) or cooking stoves. This type of stove is what most Kenyans cook their meals over. We have a propane oven and stove, which I did the cooking over because no one there knew how to use it. They were shocked that we did not own a jiko. I think we used every plate, pot, and utensil that I own that day. Thankfully the cafeteria is next door and the students were able to borrow all sorts of things that I could not supply. I will say that the vegatable peeler that they borrowed from us was a big hit. After Todd showed them how to use it, they loved it. The last people left at 7:40pm that night. We were so tired that we put the boys to bed immediately and Todd and I were in bed by 8:10pm. Some wonderful cultural experiences also wear you out. The next morning, the whole group (about 14) came again. I usually bake something for them, but I put out biscuits (store bought cookies) instead. One of the group members told us after Fellowship Group that this is the best Fellowship Group he has been part of during his time at Scott. They feel very welcomed at our home. We were thankful to hear that because we have never seen how a fellowship group works, we were just told that every teacher is assigned a group for the year.




Praise and worship at our Friday fellowship group. This photo is taken in our living room.













Isaiah with Simon and Samuel in our tree house in the giant mango tree in the back yard.



Much more has happened since we last posted a blog. I will try to do another one with pictures soon. We hope you enjoy this one and being able to "see" a little more of what we are doing.

Updated Photos

First UP: Flora from around Scott's Campus


For all of our friends in the Midwest who have been experiencing the fall, and snowfall, we've got some wonderful "spring" pictures of a campus that is in full bloom.



We think these are called Jacaranda Trees. They have gorgeous purple blossoms and are throughout the Machakos area. They've been in bloom for a few weeks now and are starting to lose their blooms leaving behind a purple "carpet." When they are in bloom the whole tree is purple. You can see some spectacular images (better than I can take with my point and shoot) if you look on line. But here are some from around here.









This one is across the football "pitch." Too bad I don't have a better zoom lens.



Isaiah holding a fallen blossom. This photo was his idea. Not bad for a three year old. The photo turned out well.













One of our purple carpets beneth a Jacaranda tree.











This one is right outside our house. This was the first morning after it rained.
















Now for some real flowers from around campus.








This pink beauty grows on a bush outside of the asministration building. (How's that for a guy who has never been interested in botony, but appreciates God's beautiful creativity?)









Same Location, different bush.










Jenny, in her Anniversery Dress, staning beside one of the flowering bushes just outside our home.











This one is in our own back yard.













This one too. But We even have these kind of lilly's in the US as well. You just don't get to see them like this in October!








Some Other Photos.












Here's Jenny and the girls! - Yes that's right, it seems as though we are going to have two girls. The best news is they look healthy. This is Jenny at 20 weeks along and looking great!







The first rain came last week. This was the first time it has rained since we got here. We've been praying for rain almost every day. When the rain started to fall Isaiah ran outside and said, "Let's thank God right now!" So we did. We've had a few good days of rain and now are seeing our first green grass since we arrived in Africa almost three months ago. The last three days have been dry, so keep those prayers for rain coming. We've had a good start, but we are still far short of what we need. Thanks for praing for rain.









Isiaiah also thought it would be a great to play in the rain, so he ran inside and got dressed in his swimsuit (We had no idea what he was doing). He came out dressed like this and proceeded to play in the downpour for about 10 minutes. It was a wonderful way to celebrate. Nate got his swimsuit on too, but stayed under the roof because he didn't want to get wet.












Nate and Isaiah being boys. They love to climb!












Our Mini Safari


About two weeks ago we had the chance to do a mini-safari with some other missionaries who were on campus doing some training. We invited ourselves to go with them and had a great time. There are the boys driving their Safari Truck. It was a run-down 1930's era pick-up. They loved it.







One of the monkeys we saw. Isaiah even fed a few of them. We learned on our Safari that most Africans view monkeys the same way that North Americans view rats. Monkeys are pests. Well, we are still North Americans so we though this was a cool pest to see.














Some Wildabeast.














We saw several giraffe. The drought was still so bad that these giraffe had to bend down to eat other. We also saw some Impala and other animals. It was fun to be on the Safari.








Just a wonderful shot of our Nathanael. He's getting so big.

















One final shot of Nate. This is him playing in the ash pile in our back yead. He's covered from head to toe in ashes and loving it. Brings new meaning to "ashes, ashes, we all fall down." The only part of this he didn't like was having to be hosed off outside.

Stories

First, I should say that we got rain last night. PRAISE GOD!! We have been praying for rain. Yesterday, we found out that there are two camps in Kenya, those who say that the rains come starting Oct 10 and those who say that the rains will start Oct 20. This year, at about 7 pm, the rains came on Oct 10. It sounds like we were having a crazy windstorm and I opened the door to find it down-pouring outside. Todd ran to get the boys and we all went out on the porch. Isaiah said, "We need to thank God right now. Dear God, thank you for answering our prayers and sending rain..." It was a very sweet prayer, then we all put our hands in the rain and got wet. It would be best if the rainy season lasts for 1 1/2 to 2 months.

Now, I have bug and animal stories. We found our first gecko in the house. The boys were delighted to watch him run around a bit. I have been hoping that we would have some geckos because they eat mosquitoes. None of us are taking anti-malarial medicine and I'm especially trying to avoid getting malaria. Africans view malaria similar to how we view the flu. One of the attitudes we have noticed is, "Why are you so concerned? People get malaria and then you treat it." We have spotted two mosquito-eating machines in the house and I'm not chasing them out.

How about a string of yucky bug and food stories? Sometimes the local grocery store sells frozen fish. It's quite expensive and sometimes has questionable quality and/or packaging. We bought fish for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The fish went into a plastic bag and must have thawed a bit before getting to the freezer. That trip to the grocery store we also bought a flat of eggs (30 eggs). My pantry started to stink! I got the eggs out and discovered that I had tiny ants all over the cereal boxes. (By the way, eggs don't have to be refrigerated until after they are first refrigerated. Eggs sold in grocery stores here are not refrigerated because they don't need to be and almost no one has a refrigerator. With how often we were losing power, it's much easier for us to not refrigerate our eggs either). So, my pantry started to smell a little better with the eggs out and I killed a whole bunch of little ants.

The eggs stayed on the kitchen counter and mildly stunk up the kitchen until Nate and I found the rotten egg. It was so funny! We now know where the phrase "bad egg" comes from. I was making corn bread and Nate was helping me. I cracked that rotten egg and black slime came out along with the most potent stink. Nate started yelling, "Stinky! Stinky!" I almost barfed and got that egg outside and into a plastic bag as fast as I could. It smelled so horrible that it really was comical. I was in a hurry that morning because I needed to serve a snack to about 14 people and prepare some food for a funeral. (So, I forgot about the bag of rotten egg just off my porch). That evening, I'm outside trying to figure out why I have 100 flies just sitting on the bush outside my door. It was almost like they were drunk, if flies can be drunk. They wouldn't fly away when swished and they were slow when they did move. Then I saw the bag and almost gagged again, while realizing it was my fault that the flies were everywhere. They loved the rotten egg!

But the pantry only started smelling a little better with the eggs gone. The day after we bought the fish and other meat, my refrigerator broke. We had to move our frozen things to another missionary's freezer and later were allowed to use a small fridge in the guest house. (We were without our fridge/freezer 1 1/2 weeks, not bad). Since the fridge broke, we had to start making several trips over to the guest house per day to utilize our cold foods. I'd often grab a bag out of the pantry to help me carry things. On a particular day, I thought my mom might call so I grabbed my phone and tossed it in plastic grocery bag to walk over to the guest house. Then a stink hit me. I opened the bag and looked in and was hit by a smell that made me want to vomit again. (Good thing my stomach is much sturdier in the 2nd trimester or I'd have been cleaning up even more yuck). I pulled out my phone, which was completely slimmed and had a maggot crawling around on it. It turned out that the plastic bag that the fish had been in ended up in the bag of bags in the pantry. The fish juice that leaked out into the plastic bag rotted and attracted maggots. My phone is cleaned up and usable again. Now, thankfully, my pantry has a lovely, neutral smell. And, only a few small ants have dared to enter this past week. No mercy, I squish all ants on sight.

A fun thing that the boys do at home is to go on "fly safaris." We happen to have 3 males and 3 fly swatters. Dinner time can be an especially annoying time for flies. It seems that the flies all invite themselves to dinner. Todd started a game where the boys each get a fly swatter after dinner and get to run around trying to swat the flies. They do jump swats and everything. It's hilarious as long as they don't hit each other.

I'm sure that I have more stories, but I will save some for a later post. To whet your appetite, we did a mini-safari on 20,000 acres on land this past Friday afternoon. We will post pictures with that blog posting. We did see our first giraffes here in Kenya. Spectacular! Have a great Sunday everyone.

TIA

There is a saying here in Kenya. "TIA" or "This is Africa." Mostly this is used by westerners to describe the unexpected ups and downs of life in Africa. To all of our church family at Calvary CRC, you now have first hand experience with this. We were having a lovely conversation during worship, but the generator shut down and we lost power and internet connection all at once. By the time we had power and internet again, it was too far along in the worship service to try and connect again. Sorry we didn't get to give you more of an update on ministry here, but with life this week we are glad we even got a few moments to connect with you.

This whole week we lived "TIA." For Tuesday through Friday the Internet was intermittent at best. Although we had power on Saturday we were too busy to get on-line. Today we had perfect internet (for most of the day) but no power! :) TIA. Anyway, we like it here and these are things we are already starting to laugh about. Can you imagine Americans whose power was just randomly shut off for a full day. Talk about angry, especially on a Sunday for NFL football and the final day of the Baseball season. Here in Machakos, it's just part of life. TIA! :)

Well, it is late already and we need to get to bed. I give my first mid-term this week. We will try to blog more later in the week (unless we have another TIA week).

Friday Candy Tradition

Every Friday the boys get to buy candy. Inevitably they will pick an "Obama Sucker." As you can see, President Obama's face is on the wrapper of the suckers. As you probably know President Obama's father was Kenyan so the country is VERY proud of President Obama. The candy is intended to be in respect.









Isaiah eating the Obama sucker without the wrapper on. One of his favorites.


















This is Auntie Karen and Uncle Jack (Jack and Karen Mitchell). They are another missionary couple serving here at Scott this year. Jack teaches Bible and Theology. Karen works in the office. They are delightful. They are here for a one year break from the ordinary missionary assignment in Hungary. They serve with "Pioneers." Isaiah and Nathanael LOVE Auntie Karen and Uncle Jack. We do too!

Overwhelmed by the need

As promised, here is an update on the needs of the students and the college. One of the most difficult and surprising aspects of our stay at Scott is the overwhelming need all around us. The drought in Kenya (at least this part of Kenya) is greater than we ever imagined. Most Kenyans are telling us that this drought is the worst they've experienced in 20+ years.

We have experienced tremendous needs on all levels. First of all, the college is in massive need of financial support. The students' fees only cover about 60% of the costs of their education at Scott. The rest is subsidized by giving from African and Western friends of Scott. But with the global recession, the giving to Scott has decreased dramatically leaving the college $60,000 in the red after last year and having to operate this year with a $60,000 budget deficit. The administration made a number of cuts for non-essential programs and services but still can't balance the budget. Right now the principal of Scott, Dr. Jacob Kibor, is traveling in the US in part to raise funds for Scott - we would appreciate prayers for him.

This situation is even more dire at Scott because of the students' inability to cover all of their fees. This is the third or fourth year of drought in Kenya, so many of the students have no way to raise their support. Their crops are dying, their animals are dying, and they have no other income source. The school has sent home more than two dozen students who cannot return this year because they failed to pay their fees (tuition plus room and board). It was painful to see those students leave. Some of the students were hanging around (hiding) the campus because they know while they are here they can get some food. If they go home there is no food.

Another significant percentage of the students have only paid enough in school fees to be around for a portion of the semester and they are hoping they can somehow raise the fees to remain for the rest of the term. It is altogether possible that we will send home another dozen or more students before the end of the term. (FYI a typical student pays about $1200 USD for the semester including room and board.) Many have only raised and paid less than $500. That, of course, puts an even greater strain on the college to raise the money that was budgeted from student fees. The school barely had enough money to pay faculty in August, raised some more to cover September bills, but is still unsure how it will pay all of the bills in November and December. That means the African faculty are suffering and may be forced to go for several weeks or months without pay until the school finds the money to pay them - a very difficult situation for many of these teachers.

But that's not the end of the need. We have learned that some of the married students (who are not on a meal plan) do not have food to eat at home. Their husbands/wives and children are going without food on a periodic basis. We eat three good meals a day and it is hard to live so close to people who are regularly going without. Thankfully the dean of students has started receiving donations for staples like beans, rice, flour, and sugar. He is working with some student representatives to make sure the most needy students get enough food to eat. We are contributing to that as we can.

We have had several students ask us to help them pay school fees - or to find a sponsor in the US who will cover their fees. We've regularly encountered children and widows in town who ask us for money. We've even had a young girl come to the door asking for money so she can buy a pair of glasses. Our house helper, who sees the abundance in our home, has even shared some of her needs with us.

All of this need is very challenging. Of course our heart goes out to all of those who are in need, and we feel a bit guilty for being so well provided for. "Why us Lord?" We want to help everyone but not only is that impossible, it is not good since we don't want to create dependency.

We ask you to pray for the school, for the students who need school fees, for the many others who don't even have food to eat, and for wisdom for us as we try to meet some needs as God leads us.

Why we are here.

It has been far too long since I (Todd) gave a blog update. But today I have time, and this week I have good reason to give an update.

We have chapel four days a week here at Scott. That gives us an opportunity to hear the testimony from all of the new members of the community. As a first year teacher, I gave mine the first full week of class. Anyway, this week several more of the first year students gave their testimonies. One student in particular made me say, "Yes! This is why we are here." This particular student is from the country of Sudan where, as many of you know, Christians are in the minority and can experience severe persecution. At any rate, this student began his testimony by saying, "I do not come from a Christian family, and my life before I met Christ is not something I am going to talk about. But the day I gave my life to Christ I sold my gun!" This young man went on to tell the story of his conversion and ended his testimony by saying, "I know God is calling me to be at Scott so I can learn and go back to Sudan and teach others about Christ. I want to teach the Bible in Sudan."

That is exactly the reason we are here in Kenya teaching at Scott. We cannot travel to the many countries and regions our students are from. We cannot meet all of the need here in Africa, because the need is too great. But we get the privilege of equipping men like this student to travel throughout Africa and train others to be Christ's followers. It is a joy to have that very student in one of my classes and I pray that the Lord will multiply my efforts through this young man when he returns to his homeland to teach others the good news of Jesus Christ.

A few other thoughts that I want to share with you. We attended our first Harambe on Saturday. Harambe's are fund-raisers where the whole community pulls together to support something financially. Scott Theological College is in desperate need for financial support this year (but that's a story for another blog), so they held a Harambe. While we saw the various individuals giving money to Scott, I couldn't help but be thankful for so many of you who have pulled together to support us being here in Kenya. We could not do this without you and I gave a special prayer of thanksgiving for so many of you yesterday and today. I don't have the words to express my thakfulness to all of you for your prayers and financial support. So I'll just say, "Thanks."

Also, I gave my first quiz on Wednesday. I was nervous because I want to challenge the students but I also want to be fair. I'm learning that Scott is serious about preventing grade inflation. The mean grade is supposed to be a B- for every class. Anyway, I was pleased with the results. Although two of the students scored a D or below, I had one A- and at least one student got each question right. The mean grade was a C+. That made me feel fairly good aobut my teaching so far.

Hope you all are well. I will try to post another update (about Scott's financial need) later in the week.

-Todd

Our First Video(s) from the Harambe

Here are the two youngest choir members of Scott Theological Choir! :) They had great fun at the Harambe (fund-raiser). This reminds us of FamJam. Everyone else thought it was great. We were asked, "Why did you make them sit down?" The blazing sun and 85+ degree tempretures and their fair Scandanavian skin had something to do with it. Anyway, enjoy. We sure did.

And by popular demand. Here is a photo of Todd (He's usually behind the camera).

Pregnancy update

We made it safely to Nairobi and back. Yesterday was busy and good. The doctor's appointment went well. Both babies had great heartbeats and as I was assuming, I am growing well. I'm about 4 months along and measuring as if I'm about 5 months along. Dr. Patel was pleased and we are so thankful that everything seems to be progressing well.
After the appointment, we were able to meet with a woman named Jennifer who has been a missionary in Kenya for 25 years. For the past 10 years she has been volunteering as a doula, which is a birth coach or maternity support person. Jennifer was wonderful. She will help me with the cross cultural issues of having an Indian doctor and Kenyan nurses. She has worked with my doctor for a number of years and speaks very highly of him. His wife happens to be the anesthesiologist that will give me the epidural for the c-section that I will need. Jennifer said that Dr. Patel's wife is also a great doctor and that she herself would allow Dr/Mrs Patel be her anesthesiologist any day.
Jennifer had many great suggestions for us. We already need to start making calls and reservations for me and the boys to live in Nairobi closer to delivery time. We can always cancel a reservation, but we may not be able to get one if we try too late. I will also need to hire house help in Nairobi and possibly a nanny. Todd will continue working at the college and we are going to do what we can to help me carry the babies to term (latest c-section date would be February 18). Any and all prayers that I can safely carry these babies till February 18 are appreciated. Anytime in February would probably be fine, but the bigger and stronger that they can get before delivery will hopefully mean fewer complications for them after birth.
I must say that we are really excited to have twins. What an unexpected blessing!! We are sure that we can't imagine the work load or how little sleep we may get, but that is probably a blessing in disguise too. In a little more than a month, I will have another ultrasound and we hope to find out the genders of the babies.
Overall, we are doing well. We will continue to keep you updated. Love from the Hilkemanns.

A variety of new pictures

My house-helper Mbula and I made the largest main dish, pasta casserole, that I've ever made. The dish filled one 9x13 pan and four 8x8 pans. It was for a faculty potluck. The only "unfortunate" part of the dish was that I didn't know that a "casserole" is supposed to be a dish to serve over rice. There was plenty of rice and not enough dishes to serve on top of rice. Oh well, I think, I tried. All I can do is smile and try again next time.






Nate's chin injury a few days into the healing process. It is up for debate whether the drool helps the healing process or not.

















This is the best picture of Isaiah's black eye that I could get. It's all better now. He does have a nice scrape and bruise on the other eye and cheek now. He looks like a happy, healthy, active boy with his multitude of bruises and scrapes.














This event was a staff and student get-together party where everyone got to participate in games. Our team name was pin pop (lollypop). We are passing a very full water balloon over our heads. None of our balloons broke, thankfully.










Nate and I are clapping for another activity. It was a nice side shot that Todd got of me, so I thought I'd add it. I'm already a couple of weeks bigger.


















"Hello everyone"












Todd got to participate in a game where handfuls of water had to be passed to the end of the line then poured into a Coke bottle. This is Happiness explaining how she thought it would be best to pour the water out of his hands into the bottle. The team with the fullest bottle at the end of two minutes won the game. We didn't do so well. Todd had about four other also telling him how to pour and too much advice doesn't always help.

















This is Isaiah "fixing" a vine-like tree off of our porch. He often walks around campus carrying a bag of tools. It has earned him the nickname of Fundi (worker).














Isaiah and Nate being goofy and loving it!

















Nate is trying on a pair of rain boots that were left for him. He was very proud trying to march around the house in them. They are all dusty because Isaiah often wears them around campus. Two pairs of boots were left for them and a pair fits each boy. What fun!!