Even though my mom grew up on a farm, I (Jenny) do not have much farm experience. I'm a suburb-girl, so-to-speak. Well here at Scott many of my neighbors raise chickens. The poor economic situation is wide-spread, so chickens may not get fed. I'm learning to cook with gas and I have two very messy eaters. In an effort to waste less, I asked my nearest neighbor if her chickens would eat some bread that went moldy. She was so appreciative that I thought it might be a good learning experience for the boys to help me give the chickens our bread, muffin, pancake, and other scraps that are burned or hit the floor. In my embarrassment of how much I felt like we were wasting, I asked if we might be able to just feed the chickens ourselves. Milka was agreeable. She said to open the cage and feed them quickly so that none of them get out. The first day we tried feeding the 3 chickens went just fine.
The second day, the chicken who looks really mean because she doesn't have feathers on her neck, stepped on another chicken's head and pushed her out the door while I was emptying the bag. Uh oh! I don't know how to catch a chicken! I've never had to catch one before. The boys start yelling and laughing because they were so excited that the chicken had escaped. That scared the chicken and she started running. I called for Baraka (the 7 year old son of Milka) to come help me. He had been watching out the window as we were feeding the chickens. He comes running out of the house with his 4 year old sister and 4 friends. They all start yelling and kind of herding the chicken and kind of chasing the chicken around. After about 15 minutes they all got bored and left. I'm still stuck with a scared chicken who is not in her cage. I sent Isaiah home for another burned donut to try to entice the chicken closer to the cage.
After another few minutes that seem like a very long time, another adult sees the situation and has pity on me. He enlisted 2 boys who were closer to 12 years old to help me. That chicken continued to elude us for at least a half hour. They had to catch her hiding in some flowers. They held her wings so she couldn't flap and then held her legs together, then picked her up and safely put her back into the cage.
Even though I have now seen how to catch a chicken, I'm not excited to try to feed them again. Maybe I have to get over my pride and hand over my burned and "wasted" food.
The big boys who helped me were rewarded with the biggest suckers that the nearby candy shop had. That cost me about 25 cents. What a huge blessing to me! That chicken is worth way more the my neighbor than 25 cents. I got to talk to her later and she smiled, she had of course already heard the story.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Photos around Scott Campus
This is the single men's dormitory on campus.
This is the newly renovated and enlarged library. The section on the right of the photo (with the new blue roof) is the new part of the library. In addition to two floors for books/ carrels/ periodicals/ and study rooms, the lower level has about 5 classrooms, including a theater with a power-point projector for large lecture-oriented classes.
We're pretty sure Kenyans don't give their livestock names. But Isaiah calls this goat "Carter" after his good friend in Minneapolis, Carter Schwitters.
This is "Eli" the goat. Isaiah named this goat after his good friend Eli DeKam. Both "Eli" and "Carter" live on and around campus. The boys enjoy seeing them and we even bring them some clover and grass from our yard from time to time.
This is one of Scott's dairy cows. The college raises five cows to produce milk for the students. This is an example of great Stewardship. Scott has more than 50 acres of land and they are using some of it to produce food for the students - and for these cows.
These are some of the banana trees on campus to produce bananas for the students. This project was largely due to the passion of the late Julius Ithsanzu - the student who recently died. His legacy lives on every time a student eats a banana. Thanks be to God.
Scott has also recently started a hatchery. They are growing Talapia (once again to feed the students). So far they continue to grow but are too small to eat. We hope to have our first harvest at the end of this year or early next year. The students pray regularly that God wil protect these fish.
I'm so thankful to be a part of a school that is involved in "sustainable education!" You can see Isaiah at the bottom of the photo. He wants to "go fishing." I find this funny because we never even went fishing in Minnesota. I wonder if it counts as "fishing" if you are dropping a line in a hatchery? Does a 3 year-old care? :)
Once again here is Isaiah. He's standing by some of this year's corn crop. As you can see the crop this year was a total failure. No corn. There was no rain so the plant never produced any ears. Now they are using the dried stalks to feed the livestock and to burn for cooking.
It is also sad because when we left Nebraska, the corn was taller than me (Todd). Amazing what a good season of rain can do for a crop.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
"Work" starts tomorow
Believe it or not, we've spent all this time in Kenya and I haven't even "begun" work yet. In other words, classes start tomorrow. I'm teaching five days a week in addition to mentoring a yet to be determined number of ministry teams and individuals (up to five of each). It is new for any of the teachers to teach five days a week, but because Scott is switching from a term system to a semester system, the scheduling has been a real challenge.
It is also interesting because I have not yet received class rosters or even the number of students I will have in each class. I have to guess based on the "anticipated" number of students in each class. For example, we anticipate 47 4th year students in the BTh program. But not all of them will be able to pay their fees this year so that number might be less or might shrink throughout the semester. That means I should anticipate 47 students for my Church History class - but I may have less. No one can really tell me.
What is also interesting is the effect of the economy on enrollment. As I stated we have 47 4th years, but as of now we only have 7 1st years as part of the "anticipated" number. Amazing for a school that has been growing so steadily. I admire the Kenyan faculty and staff so much. Men and women who continue to labor just as hard as everyone else - with no guarantee there will even be enough money to cover salaries this year. Even with all of the extreme cuts the school has made they are operating this year on a $60,000 (USD) deficit budget. We are all living by faith that God will provide.
If you are so inclined to pray for the school's financial needs you can pray for Dr. Jacob Kibor - the principal (president) of Scott. He is traveling for the next month and a half to the US - in large part to try and raise support for the school to continue to operate this year. We pray that God will continue to provide for the amazing work going on here at Scott.
Finally, we've gotten an excellent connection to the internet thanks to the expertise of Nicholas (the I.T. guy on campus). We have been enjoying video conversations with family over Skype. When we have power the connection is wonderful. If any of you have Skype - or are interested in gettin Skype, we'd love to talk with you! Our user name is Jennifer.Rebecca.Hilkemann. Also, check out our newsletter to see our U.S. phone number that you can reach us on via Skype.
Much love to you all - may you have a blessed Lord's Day.
P.S. FYI: The days we are without power are (usually) Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday - but the power usually is back on by 6:30 PM, 10:30 PM Central Time.
It is also interesting because I have not yet received class rosters or even the number of students I will have in each class. I have to guess based on the "anticipated" number of students in each class. For example, we anticipate 47 4th year students in the BTh program. But not all of them will be able to pay their fees this year so that number might be less or might shrink throughout the semester. That means I should anticipate 47 students for my Church History class - but I may have less. No one can really tell me.
What is also interesting is the effect of the economy on enrollment. As I stated we have 47 4th years, but as of now we only have 7 1st years as part of the "anticipated" number. Amazing for a school that has been growing so steadily. I admire the Kenyan faculty and staff so much. Men and women who continue to labor just as hard as everyone else - with no guarantee there will even be enough money to cover salaries this year. Even with all of the extreme cuts the school has made they are operating this year on a $60,000 (USD) deficit budget. We are all living by faith that God will provide.
If you are so inclined to pray for the school's financial needs you can pray for Dr. Jacob Kibor - the principal (president) of Scott. He is traveling for the next month and a half to the US - in large part to try and raise support for the school to continue to operate this year. We pray that God will continue to provide for the amazing work going on here at Scott.
Finally, we've gotten an excellent connection to the internet thanks to the expertise of Nicholas (the I.T. guy on campus). We have been enjoying video conversations with family over Skype. When we have power the connection is wonderful. If any of you have Skype - or are interested in gettin Skype, we'd love to talk with you! Our user name is Jennifer.Rebecca.Hilkemann. Also, check out our newsletter to see our U.S. phone number that you can reach us on via Skype.
Much love to you all - may you have a blessed Lord's Day.
P.S. FYI: The days we are without power are (usually) Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday - but the power usually is back on by 6:30 PM, 10:30 PM Central Time.
Some More Photos
An orphaned baby elephant. This one is for Emma and Kayla - Isaiah and Nate's cousins in Chicago. It is also interesting that Elephants are pregnant for an average of 22 months. After carrying a baby that long, it's sad to think something happened to this little guy's mother. This was taken at the elephant orphanage in Nairobi several weeks ago.
Isaiah says, "I want YOU! ... to come and play in the mud with me!"
One of the many beautiful plants in and around our home. Even when it is dry, God has created such beauty.
Isaiah and his new found past-time (climbing trees). He's not as good as his new friends Baraka and Nema. He's got a few scrapes to prove it, but he's getting better all the time and he loves every minute of it!
You can see how dry it is here - most of that brown stuff behind the kids is grass - green when it rains.
Nate, aka "danger baby," has is the youngest kid to get in the act. He loves following his big brother but does need considerably more help climbing trees. He is more content digging in the sandbox, or swinging on our porch swings.
This is a photo of our house here at Scott. It has a beautiful front porch and is really nice inside. It also has both a roof water tank and a rain tank so thankfully we won't have to worry about no water - unless things get really bad. That is Gregg and Kim Okesson's Land Cruiser that we are borrowing for the year. -Thanks Gregg and Kim, driving an automatic is so much easier than trying to learn how to shift left handed! You are a blessing.
We have no idea what kind of bird this is, but we have a few of them around. They are huge and they are very loud- It seems they enjoy waking us up in the mornings! :)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Life is Different
Before we moved to Kenya, I knew life was going to be different. I just didn't know how it would be different. In case you are wondering, I thought I'd share some things.
We have a much bigger house in Kenya. The floors and walls are made of concrete and we have a rusty tin roof. The last family put in a type of self-stick tile floors throughout the family room, dining room, kitchen and a hallway. It's great! The house does not have a heating or cooling system. We use blankets when we are cold (it's winter here). I don't know what we will do when it's hot. There are bars on all of our windows and our door that has windows. Thankfully the bars protect us and are painted an offwhite color. They are as decorative as protective bars can be and I really don't mind them. Everybody has them.
Electricity is supposedly very expensive (we haven't been billed for any yet). One big implication for us is that we only turn on our water heater for 1-2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the evening (if we have electricity to do so). The water heater is insulated by concrete so many days I have warm to hot water. We heat water on the stove for dishes and the boys' bath when we are out of warm water.
In the kitchen, we bought an all gas stove and oven. This means that I can cook without electricity. My oven doesn't have a temperature gauge. There is a big flame and a little flame and I turn my knob between the two to guess what temperature I am cooking at. We have been able to eat everything that I have baked so far. (Update-I found an oven thermometer, but I'm still having trouble keeping the temperature constant).
At night, we sleep under mosquito nets. I thought this might be oppressive, but it's really not. They are light colored and airy. At first, we had to close Nate's after he was asleep because he didn't like it. Now he requests to have his "tight" or closed most nights while he is falling asleep.
It's MUCH easier to get along in Kenya without electricity than it would be in the States. My kitchen only has two electric appliances, a refrigerator and a toaster. I have a big pantry and can often think of something to make without opening the fridge when I don't want to let the cool air out.
Driving is different. The vehicle that we rent has the driver's seat on the right and we drive on the left side of the road. I'm avoiding driving for the most part. I send Mbula, my househelper, to market on Fridays with a list of things to buy. She gets better prices than I would and I can rest at home for a bit.
Ordering at a restaurant is different. For our anniversary celebration, Todd and I went out to eat at the nicer of the two recommended restaurants in Machakos. There was a simple menu and we ordered, but the waiter had to come back and tell us that about half of the items we ordered were unavailable. So, we changed our order until we could get things that we thought we would like. Surprisingly, this doesn't stress us out. We just shrug our shoulders and say, "Oh well."
We live on a college campus next to a building that holds the cafeteria/chapel and at least two other activity rooms. There is music being played everyday, starting around 7am two days a week and music or activities almost everynight, till maybe 10pm. We feel a little old, but we know it's also dealing with culture shock that makes us exhausted, often by 8:30 or 9pm and we go to bed listening to music from the neighboring building.
That's enough differences for now. Life is good. God is faithful.
We have a much bigger house in Kenya. The floors and walls are made of concrete and we have a rusty tin roof. The last family put in a type of self-stick tile floors throughout the family room, dining room, kitchen and a hallway. It's great! The house does not have a heating or cooling system. We use blankets when we are cold (it's winter here). I don't know what we will do when it's hot. There are bars on all of our windows and our door that has windows. Thankfully the bars protect us and are painted an offwhite color. They are as decorative as protective bars can be and I really don't mind them. Everybody has them.
Electricity is supposedly very expensive (we haven't been billed for any yet). One big implication for us is that we only turn on our water heater for 1-2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the evening (if we have electricity to do so). The water heater is insulated by concrete so many days I have warm to hot water. We heat water on the stove for dishes and the boys' bath when we are out of warm water.
In the kitchen, we bought an all gas stove and oven. This means that I can cook without electricity. My oven doesn't have a temperature gauge. There is a big flame and a little flame and I turn my knob between the two to guess what temperature I am cooking at. We have been able to eat everything that I have baked so far. (Update-I found an oven thermometer, but I'm still having trouble keeping the temperature constant).
At night, we sleep under mosquito nets. I thought this might be oppressive, but it's really not. They are light colored and airy. At first, we had to close Nate's after he was asleep because he didn't like it. Now he requests to have his "tight" or closed most nights while he is falling asleep.
It's MUCH easier to get along in Kenya without electricity than it would be in the States. My kitchen only has two electric appliances, a refrigerator and a toaster. I have a big pantry and can often think of something to make without opening the fridge when I don't want to let the cool air out.
Driving is different. The vehicle that we rent has the driver's seat on the right and we drive on the left side of the road. I'm avoiding driving for the most part. I send Mbula, my househelper, to market on Fridays with a list of things to buy. She gets better prices than I would and I can rest at home for a bit.
Ordering at a restaurant is different. For our anniversary celebration, Todd and I went out to eat at the nicer of the two recommended restaurants in Machakos. There was a simple menu and we ordered, but the waiter had to come back and tell us that about half of the items we ordered were unavailable. So, we changed our order until we could get things that we thought we would like. Surprisingly, this doesn't stress us out. We just shrug our shoulders and say, "Oh well."
We live on a college campus next to a building that holds the cafeteria/chapel and at least two other activity rooms. There is music being played everyday, starting around 7am two days a week and music or activities almost everynight, till maybe 10pm. We feel a little old, but we know it's also dealing with culture shock that makes us exhausted, often by 8:30 or 9pm and we go to bed listening to music from the neighboring building.
That's enough differences for now. Life is good. God is faithful.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Prayers for The Scott Community
We are asking for prayers for the Scott community. I learned yesterday (Thursday) that one of the third year BTh students who was traveling back to campus was killed in a car accident. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details about what exactly happened, but evidently he was killed while he was riding his motorcycle back to campus.
I'm still confused as to his name as many of students I've spoken to talk about the incident in a round about way. Yesterday we prayed for "the student who left us." I imagined a student who had "dropped out of school." Cultural differences are interesting when it comes to issues like death.
At any rate we would ask for prayers for this student and his family as well as for the Students at Scott. He was a well loved and well respected student.
I'm still confused as to his name as many of students I've spoken to talk about the incident in a round about way. Yesterday we prayed for "the student who left us." I imagined a student who had "dropped out of school." Cultural differences are interesting when it comes to issues like death.
At any rate we would ask for prayers for this student and his family as well as for the Students at Scott. He was a well loved and well respected student.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Communal Learning/Teaching
Somewhere in my academic background I remember hearing about and experiencing communal learning. Communal learning had to do with working and/or living together to accomplish projects and learn about a particular subject with others. I remember this especially in some of my sociology classes and especially during my summers living at HoneyRock (For all you HoneyRockers my prayers are with you during this difficult time). Communal learning was always a challenge - but usually good. Learning from one another and learning together - with all of its challenges - brings a richness to the learning experience.
Today I experienced - for the first time - communal teaching. The faculty at Scott actually work together to design course curriculum, syllabi, and even finalize the grades in individual courses together. It was a lot of work and it was a long meeting - but it was a fantastic experience. For example it came to our attention that 2 or 3 students had missing assignments or slagging grades in more than one class. So we are going to follow up with those students individually. The consensus was "Humm, something must be happening in so and so's life. We need to find out what is going on." While I can never imagine a faculty meeting in the U.S> to review one-another's grades - I think some struggling North American students fall through the cracks because their faculty never take time to sit down together and compare the grades of all their students at one time.
By the way, having other faculty members look at your grades significantly decreases grade inflation. Several professors were told - you need to "mark harder. Surely ALL of your students aren't B+ or A- students." Grade inflation is a huge problem in North American institutions and I think something like communal teaching and grading would combat that problem.
Cool experience. Thought I'd share!
Thanks for all the well wishes and congratulations concerning the twins. We are thrilled, and I'm encouraging Jenny to make sure she takes some time off of her feet every day. Working on meals can be a full-day affair standing in the kitchen. We want to avoid her being on bed rest and/or having other health issues. Carrying twins is enough work as it is!
Love to you all,
Todd
Today I experienced - for the first time - communal teaching. The faculty at Scott actually work together to design course curriculum, syllabi, and even finalize the grades in individual courses together. It was a lot of work and it was a long meeting - but it was a fantastic experience. For example it came to our attention that 2 or 3 students had missing assignments or slagging grades in more than one class. So we are going to follow up with those students individually. The consensus was "Humm, something must be happening in so and so's life. We need to find out what is going on." While I can never imagine a faculty meeting in the U.S> to review one-another's grades - I think some struggling North American students fall through the cracks because their faculty never take time to sit down together and compare the grades of all their students at one time.
By the way, having other faculty members look at your grades significantly decreases grade inflation. Several professors were told - you need to "mark harder. Surely ALL of your students aren't B+ or A- students." Grade inflation is a huge problem in North American institutions and I think something like communal teaching and grading would combat that problem.
Cool experience. Thought I'd share!
Thanks for all the well wishes and congratulations concerning the twins. We are thrilled, and I'm encouraging Jenny to make sure she takes some time off of her feet every day. Working on meals can be a full-day affair standing in the kitchen. We want to avoid her being on bed rest and/or having other health issues. Carrying twins is enough work as it is!
Love to you all,
Todd
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Never to be bored again!!
So, I had an appointment with my Kenyan OB doctor. We found the baby's heartbeat and that was so exciting. The doctor sent me to have lab work done and to have an ultrasound. The doctor doing the ultrasound said, "I SEE TWO BABIES." Todd and I started laughing. What!!! We are still in a bit of shock, but excited too!! Both babies looked healthy. Lord willing we will have twins in February.
Isaiah says "HI and I love you." Isaiah met two goats and named them Eli and Carter after his friends in St. Louis Park. "I love and miss my friends very much." Isaiah is doing a great job making new friends in Kenya.
Isaiah says "HI and I love you." Isaiah met two goats and named them Eli and Carter after his friends in St. Louis Park. "I love and miss my friends very much." Isaiah is doing a great job making new friends in Kenya.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Musings About Rationing
We are without power again today. Something we are getting used to.
We have learned that this lack of power is intentional rationing. Various parts/regions of Kenya have power shut off during various parts of the week.
It makes me wonder... Who is making the decisions about which areas are rationed when? Is everyone - and I mean everyone - in Kenya subject to the same standard of rationing? For example, are those who live in poor areas like the Kiebera slum, or in rural areas in the north forced to endure a larger proportion of rationing than the rest of us? Do the wealthy and the well connected get their power rationed less? And how do we know? And if we knew it was going on what could we do about it anyway?
I reflect on this in light of what is happening with the debate in the American Health care system. There are no easy answers to these questions. Clearly it seems better if everyone would voluntarily ration their use of power in Kenya - and voluntarily ration their use of the Health Care system in the U.S. But pragmatically, will that happen unless it is forced upon us? Yet it is very uncomfortable to be in the position we are in, in Kenya, when we have no idea who the enforcer is, what the enforcer is thinking and why they are doing what, when, and to whom.
No answers just musings.
Lord bring the rain to Kenya. Lord bring righteous political leaders - servant leaders - to nations everywhere including the US and Kenya. Lord give us all the courage to be disciplined stewards of the valuable resources you give us.
We have learned that this lack of power is intentional rationing. Various parts/regions of Kenya have power shut off during various parts of the week.
It makes me wonder... Who is making the decisions about which areas are rationed when? Is everyone - and I mean everyone - in Kenya subject to the same standard of rationing? For example, are those who live in poor areas like the Kiebera slum, or in rural areas in the north forced to endure a larger proportion of rationing than the rest of us? Do the wealthy and the well connected get their power rationed less? And how do we know? And if we knew it was going on what could we do about it anyway?
I reflect on this in light of what is happening with the debate in the American Health care system. There are no easy answers to these questions. Clearly it seems better if everyone would voluntarily ration their use of power in Kenya - and voluntarily ration their use of the Health Care system in the U.S. But pragmatically, will that happen unless it is forced upon us? Yet it is very uncomfortable to be in the position we are in, in Kenya, when we have no idea who the enforcer is, what the enforcer is thinking and why they are doing what, when, and to whom.
No answers just musings.
Lord bring the rain to Kenya. Lord bring righteous political leaders - servant leaders - to nations everywhere including the US and Kenya. Lord give us all the courage to be disciplined stewards of the valuable resources you give us.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Internet is Good
The first few photos posted so well we thought we'd add a few more. Sorry no good ones of the mommy or daddy yet. We will take more and post more as we get a chance.
We have a great backyard where the boys dig in the sandbox. As you can see, Isaiah is shoeless - against the rules - and completely covered in dirt. You can also note the brown grass. Everything here is dry-dry-dry. We knew from our friends before we came that there was a drought but now we feel the effects.
Nathanael "superman" Hilkemann. Swinging on our huge front porch. All of the neighbor kids like to come over and play with the swings and the other toys the boys bring out. They also like playing with the boys.
The boys climbing in our back yard. So much fun.
Our house helper Mbula or Constance has been at our home the last two days. She is a huge help. She not only is doing our wash, helping to clean, and even making shopping runs for us, she is also tutoring Jenny on how to do "simple" Kenyan things like make Chai.
Todd spent some significant time with students today during orientation. It is good to finally meet some of the students that I will be teaching. They mostly come from Kenya but are many ages and have many stories. I'm thrilled to be working with such a fine group of students. I also completed my first full Syllabus today. Upon approval, my "English Grammar and Composition" course is done - now the hard part - teaching it. I still have two syllabi to go and need to have them done no later than Tuesday of next week. That gives me two days a piece. At this rate, I should make it.
For those of you who want to try and call us on Skype in the evenings, we seem to have a better internet connection now, so feel free to give us a try. Even if you don't have Skype you can call us using a Nebraska phone number. If you want the number shoot us an e-mail and we'll get back to you with the number- we don't want to publish it on the 'Net.
Goodnight.
We have a great backyard where the boys dig in the sandbox. As you can see, Isaiah is shoeless - against the rules - and completely covered in dirt. You can also note the brown grass. Everything here is dry-dry-dry. We knew from our friends before we came that there was a drought but now we feel the effects.
Nathanael "superman" Hilkemann. Swinging on our huge front porch. All of the neighbor kids like to come over and play with the swings and the other toys the boys bring out. They also like playing with the boys.
The boys climbing in our back yard. So much fun.
Our house helper Mbula or Constance has been at our home the last two days. She is a huge help. She not only is doing our wash, helping to clean, and even making shopping runs for us, she is also tutoring Jenny on how to do "simple" Kenyan things like make Chai.
Todd spent some significant time with students today during orientation. It is good to finally meet some of the students that I will be teaching. They mostly come from Kenya but are many ages and have many stories. I'm thrilled to be working with such a fine group of students. I also completed my first full Syllabus today. Upon approval, my "English Grammar and Composition" course is done - now the hard part - teaching it. I still have two syllabi to go and need to have them done no later than Tuesday of next week. That gives me two days a piece. At this rate, I should make it.
For those of you who want to try and call us on Skype in the evenings, we seem to have a better internet connection now, so feel free to give us a try. Even if you don't have Skype you can call us using a Nebraska phone number. If you want the number shoot us an e-mail and we'll get back to you with the number- we don't want to publish it on the 'Net.
Goodnight.
Two quick photos.
We're still having a few internet issues and having a hard time uploading stuff. But here are two quick photos.
Nate at the Mayfield Guesthouse in Nairobi - cool safari Dude.
This is a rare moment as Nate's clothes are still clean even though he is outside. Both of the boys are getting dirty - the way boys should!
This is a photo of Isaiah's "Beautiful" rash. The front side of him looked just as "beautiful." He's fully recovered now.
It sounds as if we will now have three days per week of no electricity, so all of our honest plans to stay technologically connected have changed. Thankfully, we have power most evenings so we do have light in the house.
Good night for now.
Nate at the Mayfield Guesthouse in Nairobi - cool safari Dude.
This is a rare moment as Nate's clothes are still clean even though he is outside. Both of the boys are getting dirty - the way boys should!
This is a photo of Isaiah's "Beautiful" rash. The front side of him looked just as "beautiful." He's fully recovered now.
It sounds as if we will now have three days per week of no electricity, so all of our honest plans to stay technologically connected have changed. Thankfully, we have power most evenings so we do have light in the house.
Good night for now.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Hello everyone!
This is my (Jenny's) first time on the internet since Thursday. What to say? Life is different here. We have had electricity more often then not. We have water, but we have to be very careful. Feel free to pray that there would be rain in Kenya (rain will increase the amount of electricity, food, and water for everyone).
Our boys are absolutely loving playing outside. They come in covered in red dust. They are enjoying new-found freedoms. Nate's coping mechanism for all the changes seems to be speech. He now talks to us (in English) and tries kiswahili words. It has been so much fun to start conversing with him. He also seems to be showing off a more introverted side. When he wants to be done playing with other kids, he wanders over to the sandbox and plays contentedly for 30-40 minutes. Isaiah on the other hand seems to be all extrovert. He is finding lots of children to play with and he is exercising leadership (sometimes bossy would describe it best). He continues to be curious and asks questions of everyone. We learn things through responses that he gets. He will know how everything works around here before we leave.
As for me, I'm doing pretty well. I'm tired often, but I had a good first doctor appointment here in Kenya and I like the doctor. Tomorrow my house helper starts. She will be a huge blessing. Our clothes will get washed and she will help with cleaning all the red dust inside the house. I will be doing the cooking. This afternoon/tonight it took me four hours to make dinner. (And this was an easy recipe for me in the States). I am learning by experience. I needed tomato sauce and made it from scratch. Did you know that a potato masher works very well to mash tomatoes? :)
Well, I'd better go. It's almost 10pm and I'm wilting. I'm so excited to "connect" with friends though. I hope you have a great day and maybe tomorrow I'll be able to see my email or facebook and start responding to people.
Our boys are absolutely loving playing outside. They come in covered in red dust. They are enjoying new-found freedoms. Nate's coping mechanism for all the changes seems to be speech. He now talks to us (in English) and tries kiswahili words. It has been so much fun to start conversing with him. He also seems to be showing off a more introverted side. When he wants to be done playing with other kids, he wanders over to the sandbox and plays contentedly for 30-40 minutes. Isaiah on the other hand seems to be all extrovert. He is finding lots of children to play with and he is exercising leadership (sometimes bossy would describe it best). He continues to be curious and asks questions of everyone. We learn things through responses that he gets. He will know how everything works around here before we leave.
As for me, I'm doing pretty well. I'm tired often, but I had a good first doctor appointment here in Kenya and I like the doctor. Tomorrow my house helper starts. She will be a huge blessing. Our clothes will get washed and she will help with cleaning all the red dust inside the house. I will be doing the cooking. This afternoon/tonight it took me four hours to make dinner. (And this was an easy recipe for me in the States). I am learning by experience. I needed tomato sauce and made it from scratch. Did you know that a potato masher works very well to mash tomatoes? :)
Well, I'd better go. It's almost 10pm and I'm wilting. I'm so excited to "connect" with friends though. I hope you have a great day and maybe tomorrow I'll be able to see my email or facebook and start responding to people.
Quick Updates While we have Internet
We've arrived in Machakos! We have moved into our lovely 3+ bedroom ranch-style home in Machakos, Kenya on the Scott Campus. We have most of our boxes unpacked and are enjoying our lovely home. The missionaries who lived here last put a lot of work into this home and we appreciate their hard work. We love this house. We will try to post a photo or two later this week.
We've been out of communication for the past few days for two reasons. 1) We haven't had power every day. Kenya gets most of it's power through hydro-electric means and because of the drought, we experience about two days a week without power. - This will take some getting used to. 2) We haven't had the access code to get online on Scott's wireless network. But we have that now so I thought I'd take a few minutes this afternoon to give you updates.
We got everything we needed - at excellent prices - and we got it all in our home. Thanks for the prayers. The highlight was buying the refrigerator. We could not buy one in Nairobi because we did not have a big enough vehicle to move it upright to Machakos. So we trusted the Lord to provide us a refrigerator once we arrived in Machakos. Not only did he provide one, he provided one that was larger and the same price and free delivery of the ones we could get in Nairobi. God does answer prayers - even for small things.
However, God's answers to prayers are often puzzling. We asked you to pray for the AIM AIR community after the crash last week. We received news on Friday that Ryan - the engineer who was riding next to the pilot - died early Friday morning. They evacuated him to South Africa to more properly care for his burns and upon arrival they discovered the burns were more severe than they initially thought. His Kidneys shut down and he never recovered. His wife and mother were preparing to leave from Kenya but didn't make it to South Africa before he died. Sadly he leaves behind a young family and a newly adopted Kenyan daughter. Pray for their family. Mercifully Ryan will not have the months/years long battle recovering from severe burns.
God truly is mysterious. He answers our prayers for material items - refrigerators/ stoves/ ovens/ yet answers prayers differently for a young father who dies in a hospital in South Africa - thousands of miles away from his family. We do trust our loving father and continue to see His hand all around us, even if we don't totally understand him.
More later.
We've been out of communication for the past few days for two reasons. 1) We haven't had power every day. Kenya gets most of it's power through hydro-electric means and because of the drought, we experience about two days a week without power. - This will take some getting used to. 2) We haven't had the access code to get online on Scott's wireless network. But we have that now so I thought I'd take a few minutes this afternoon to give you updates.
We got everything we needed - at excellent prices - and we got it all in our home. Thanks for the prayers. The highlight was buying the refrigerator. We could not buy one in Nairobi because we did not have a big enough vehicle to move it upright to Machakos. So we trusted the Lord to provide us a refrigerator once we arrived in Machakos. Not only did he provide one, he provided one that was larger and the same price and free delivery of the ones we could get in Nairobi. God does answer prayers - even for small things.
However, God's answers to prayers are often puzzling. We asked you to pray for the AIM AIR community after the crash last week. We received news on Friday that Ryan - the engineer who was riding next to the pilot - died early Friday morning. They evacuated him to South Africa to more properly care for his burns and upon arrival they discovered the burns were more severe than they initially thought. His Kidneys shut down and he never recovered. His wife and mother were preparing to leave from Kenya but didn't make it to South Africa before he died. Sadly he leaves behind a young family and a newly adopted Kenyan daughter. Pray for their family. Mercifully Ryan will not have the months/years long battle recovering from severe burns.
God truly is mysterious. He answers our prayers for material items - refrigerators/ stoves/ ovens/ yet answers prayers differently for a young father who dies in a hospital in South Africa - thousands of miles away from his family. We do trust our loving father and continue to see His hand all around us, even if we don't totally understand him.
More later.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
We Have Phones!
For anyone who is interested in making an international call, Jenny and Todd both have cell phones. We will distribute our numbers in our next newsletter - due out probably around August 15th or so. However, if you are dying to talk to us before then, we are happy to e-mail our phone numbers to anyone who requests them. Send us an e-mail and we will send you our numbers. We are not sure how expensive it is to call from the states, but as long as you call us, we don't have to pay anything. On the other hand, we still have to find an inexpensive way to call you all back in the States. When I was serving at Calvary, the cheapest way to call our missionaries (besides Skype) was to purchase an international calling card - so you can explore that option if you wish.
Right now the boys are taking their first nap in 3 days. PRAISE THE LORD! Hopefully it will improve their attitudes.
Some of you knew we were supposed to see an OB yesterday to get the initial check-up for the baby. That didn't happen, so we will probably wait about a month or so to listen for the baby's heartbeat.
Tomorrow we would appreciate your prayers for favor at the shopping malls. We have many items to buy - some of which are going to be expensive. We are praying for good quality items at a reasonable price. Thanks for joining us in that prayer.
Right now the boys are taking their first nap in 3 days. PRAISE THE LORD! Hopefully it will improve their attitudes.
Some of you knew we were supposed to see an OB yesterday to get the initial check-up for the baby. That didn't happen, so we will probably wait about a month or so to listen for the baby's heartbeat.
Tomorrow we would appreciate your prayers for favor at the shopping malls. We have many items to buy - some of which are going to be expensive. We are praying for good quality items at a reasonable price. Thanks for joining us in that prayer.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Praying for SERVE
Calvary Church we are praying for you this week as you host the SERVE Team. We pray for a Spirit of Unity, the Joy of loving others, and for a significant impact in Minneapolis and the suburbs. We are so proud of you for hosting this event and trust that the Lord will bless you and honor your faithfulness to Him.
We are praying for you daily.
We are praying for you daily.
Updates, Prayer Request, Cultural Lessons
Hamjambo (hello to you all)!
First some updates:
The last few days we have been busy with our orientation and acclimation to Kenya and Kenyan culture. We are still fighting a bit of jet-lag (especially the boys who seem to have given up nap time). Last night we all slept well, but we will see how today goes. The guest house where we are staying is full full (word repetition in Swahili is a way to emphasize something). There are lots of people who are ending month-long or summer-long mission projects staying in the guesthouse, so with all of the commotion, we think that is affecting the boys some. On the bright side we are thankful to meet so many people with so many different experiences from all over the world. It has been great!
We are actually cold (relatively speaking). Since we arrived we've had one sunny day, otherwise we've had cloudy skies and each day has been cool (highs in the low 60s). Nice, but we did not bring enough warm clothes for our stay in Nairobi (we were expecting lows in the 60s not highs in the 60s). Interesting to be so close to the equator and to be so chilly. We will be happy to be in Machakos and have access to the warm clothes we packed.
Isaiah's rash is gone! We will try to post a photo of it later when we have good internet connections (part of a full guest house means lots of internet traffic - slowing the connection WAY down).
Jenny and Todd have been busy with orientation and taking care of our children. We are doing lots of learning and meeting all kinds of new people. Yesterday Jenny, Isaiah, and Nathanael, were able to go to the Elephant Orphanage here in Nairobi. They saw lots of baby elephants who have been orphaned (for whatever reason). They were there for feeding time which was very cool. According to Jenny, "If the boy's arms were as long as mine, they could have touched the elephants." We have some fun pictures that we hope to post. Emma and Kayla we'll share them with you! Wish you could have seen it too.
Second a prayer request:
On Saturday night our mission organization African Inland Mission (AIM) had a tragedy. Part of AIM's ministry is an avaition ministry AIM AIR- Pilots fly all over the Africa doing various ministries from emergency evacuations, to medical deliveries, to documentary filming. One of those planes crashed in Nairobi Saturday night. The reasons for the crash are still unknown. The pilot, Frank Toeves was killed. His engineer, Ryan ?, was seriously injured and is being treated in the hospital with burns and broken bones. Frank and Ryan both have young families. This is the first pilot who has ever been killed while flying for AIM AIR. AIM would covet your prayers for them as an organization, and especialy for the families of Frank and Ryan. You can also pray for the two passengers (who were riding in the back of the plane). They were photographers taking photos of the area. Neither of them was seriously injured, and there is reason to believe neither of them are followers of Christ. We are praying that they might come to Christ even as a result of this tragedy.
Finally cultural lessons:
Jenny and I are spending between 1 and 2 hours each day with Ezekiel who is teaching us kiswahili. It is stretching and challenging. We have two major advantages 1) the alphabet is the same as the English alphabet, except that Kiswahili does not use x or q. 2) All of the vowel sounds are identical to the vowel sounds in Spanish - so the words are easy to pronounce for both Jenny and me. One thing we are learning is the importance of people and hospitality. That is evidenced in the long Kiswahili greetings. As Ezekiel says, when you greet someone it takes a long time. First you say hello, and invite the person to sit down for a chat. Then you say good morning/afternoon/evening. If you don't know them you would exchange names and likely where you are from. Then you ask about their lives - how is their home? how was their journey? how are your children? how is your spouse? - how are you? Then you might begin your "formal" conversation. I couldn't help thinking about Lord of the Rings in "The Two Towers" when the Ent says something like, "We ents don't think something is worth saying unless it takes a long time to say it." This long process of greeting emphasizes once again the importance of relationships in Kenyan culture. People are much more important than the "task." Something we North Americans need to learn about.
We've also made our first (of what will be many) cultural blunders. When we were introduced in Church on Sunday I announced that Jenny was pregnant. Something that is almost never spoken about in public in Kenya. Kenyans are very private about anything and everything that has to do with sexuality. (As another example when our house help does the wash we must not ask her to wash our undergarments because those are considered too private - we must wash those ourselves). So until a woman actually has the baby, almost no one talks about the pregnancy. If they say anything they will say, "she is heavy." It will be strange not talking about the pregnancy we are so excited about, unless we are at the doctor or with other muzungu (foreigners).
We've also been learning about hospitality. Hospitality is central in Kenyan culture. When they are home, most Kenyans leave their front door open. When someone comes to visit (which often happens unannounced) they will always be invited in and offered tea and biscuts. They will then remain in the home until they are "released." The seriousness with wich Kenyans take hospitality reminds me of the central role hospitality plays in the Old Testament. It wil be a stretch for us to be so open and communal with our way of life, but it will be very good for us to practice hospitality and to consider others better than ourselves.
We do love you all and appreciate your prayers.
First some updates:
The last few days we have been busy with our orientation and acclimation to Kenya and Kenyan culture. We are still fighting a bit of jet-lag (especially the boys who seem to have given up nap time). Last night we all slept well, but we will see how today goes. The guest house where we are staying is full full (word repetition in Swahili is a way to emphasize something). There are lots of people who are ending month-long or summer-long mission projects staying in the guesthouse, so with all of the commotion, we think that is affecting the boys some. On the bright side we are thankful to meet so many people with so many different experiences from all over the world. It has been great!
We are actually cold (relatively speaking). Since we arrived we've had one sunny day, otherwise we've had cloudy skies and each day has been cool (highs in the low 60s). Nice, but we did not bring enough warm clothes for our stay in Nairobi (we were expecting lows in the 60s not highs in the 60s). Interesting to be so close to the equator and to be so chilly. We will be happy to be in Machakos and have access to the warm clothes we packed.
Isaiah's rash is gone! We will try to post a photo of it later when we have good internet connections (part of a full guest house means lots of internet traffic - slowing the connection WAY down).
Jenny and Todd have been busy with orientation and taking care of our children. We are doing lots of learning and meeting all kinds of new people. Yesterday Jenny, Isaiah, and Nathanael, were able to go to the Elephant Orphanage here in Nairobi. They saw lots of baby elephants who have been orphaned (for whatever reason). They were there for feeding time which was very cool. According to Jenny, "If the boy's arms were as long as mine, they could have touched the elephants." We have some fun pictures that we hope to post. Emma and Kayla we'll share them with you! Wish you could have seen it too.
Second a prayer request:
On Saturday night our mission organization African Inland Mission (AIM) had a tragedy. Part of AIM's ministry is an avaition ministry AIM AIR- Pilots fly all over the Africa doing various ministries from emergency evacuations, to medical deliveries, to documentary filming. One of those planes crashed in Nairobi Saturday night. The reasons for the crash are still unknown. The pilot, Frank Toeves was killed. His engineer, Ryan ?, was seriously injured and is being treated in the hospital with burns and broken bones. Frank and Ryan both have young families. This is the first pilot who has ever been killed while flying for AIM AIR. AIM would covet your prayers for them as an organization, and especialy for the families of Frank and Ryan. You can also pray for the two passengers (who were riding in the back of the plane). They were photographers taking photos of the area. Neither of them was seriously injured, and there is reason to believe neither of them are followers of Christ. We are praying that they might come to Christ even as a result of this tragedy.
Finally cultural lessons:
Jenny and I are spending between 1 and 2 hours each day with Ezekiel who is teaching us kiswahili. It is stretching and challenging. We have two major advantages 1) the alphabet is the same as the English alphabet, except that Kiswahili does not use x or q. 2) All of the vowel sounds are identical to the vowel sounds in Spanish - so the words are easy to pronounce for both Jenny and me. One thing we are learning is the importance of people and hospitality. That is evidenced in the long Kiswahili greetings. As Ezekiel says, when you greet someone it takes a long time. First you say hello, and invite the person to sit down for a chat. Then you say good morning/afternoon/evening. If you don't know them you would exchange names and likely where you are from. Then you ask about their lives - how is their home? how was their journey? how are your children? how is your spouse? - how are you? Then you might begin your "formal" conversation. I couldn't help thinking about Lord of the Rings in "The Two Towers" when the Ent says something like, "We ents don't think something is worth saying unless it takes a long time to say it." This long process of greeting emphasizes once again the importance of relationships in Kenyan culture. People are much more important than the "task." Something we North Americans need to learn about.
We've also made our first (of what will be many) cultural blunders. When we were introduced in Church on Sunday I announced that Jenny was pregnant. Something that is almost never spoken about in public in Kenya. Kenyans are very private about anything and everything that has to do with sexuality. (As another example when our house help does the wash we must not ask her to wash our undergarments because those are considered too private - we must wash those ourselves). So until a woman actually has the baby, almost no one talks about the pregnancy. If they say anything they will say, "she is heavy." It will be strange not talking about the pregnancy we are so excited about, unless we are at the doctor or with other muzungu (foreigners).
We've also been learning about hospitality. Hospitality is central in Kenyan culture. When they are home, most Kenyans leave their front door open. When someone comes to visit (which often happens unannounced) they will always be invited in and offered tea and biscuts. They will then remain in the home until they are "released." The seriousness with wich Kenyans take hospitality reminds me of the central role hospitality plays in the Old Testament. It wil be a stretch for us to be so open and communal with our way of life, but it will be very good for us to practice hospitality and to consider others better than ourselves.
We do love you all and appreciate your prayers.
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