Grace = Ice Cream??

Hello All,

Another busy (over the top!) week.  We are glad to be at the week end and can breath just a bit. 

Jim started an on line class this week working towards a masters in IT.  Hopefully, he will be able to put in the hours that he needs for that, but I think those will be pretty late hours. 

We got a new set of drawings for the Bethany Kids Children's Center and he has been pouring over those.  Lots of details to sort out and understand so that the contractor is kept on his toes!  Jim is good at that.

We had the official turn over of the MCH (Mother Child Health) building this past week.  Many people gathered and said a few words and "wallah" it was done!  It was a year and a half ago that Jim and I asked that the building be put where it is now located (instead of at a temporary place) so that it would be in line with the Master Plan that was drawn up by EMI.  When we first suggested that, we thought it would only take 4-5 months to get the building operational, Well, here we are at 18 months later, but it sure is pretty!  They moved furniture in this week but I have not had a chance to go up there and see it furnished.  Maybe next week I will have some pictures.

Below is a picture of a bird that Jim saw in the yard.  Not sure what it is.  Anybody know?  He said it had a pretty plumage on its head.  Sometimes the wildlife around here makes life interesting.  The other day I can home and there was a whole troop of Sykes monkeys in the Loquat tree.  The loquat fruit is fully ripe now and between the kids and the monkeys, they will all be gone soon!

 

 

 

The local AIC church that we attend is a very large building, but not large enough to hold both the boy's and girl's local high schools.  So, they alternate as to when they attend.  Here is a picture of the boys coming up the hill towards the church.  If you don't get out of the building in time when they are coming in, you get swarmed and can't go anywhere!  Timing is everything!

 

 

We had our first "critique" here at the hospital!  All of you Navy people will know what that is.  It is a meeting that takes place after a problem has occurred to help find out the root causes and come up with solutions and lessons learned.  Jim conducted it and was praying all the night before about how to do it.  In the Navy, it is a pretty bad thing to be the prime object of a critique.  It really means you have messed up and it will be made public to all.  African culture is not one where you point out faults directly.  If someone has done something wrong, you usually tell a friend or third party and they "suggest" to the person that maybe the way they did it was not in line with what the person wanted, etc.  It is never a direct thing.  We westerners don't know how to Not be direct!  But, when the critique was over, it was all good.  We found out some critical details that were previously unknown and we came up with some solutions, but more importantly, the guys involved did not feel like they were being berated.  They all had something to say and some suggestions as to how to make things better, so all was good.  Prayer Answered!

 

We are still waiting to see if the Bethany Kids Wing construction will receive the VAT tax exemption.  This is a 16% tax and represents about $300,000 to the BK organization.  Please pray that it will be granted and we will get word of it soon.

 

We did a bible study this past week with a John Piper video that talked about Grace and Sanctification.  It is a dificult subject!  I always come back to thinking that grace is getting something you don't deserve.  There was a great example someone told on a radio program one day about a kid getting into a lot of trouble (I think is was built on a lie).  She knew her Dad was going to get very angry and punish her and did not want to face him.  Anyway, long story short, he did have a face to face with her and asked if she wanted to go for ice cream!  She was shocked, but it was her favorite thing to do with her Dad.  He explained later that what he did was giving her grace.  He and she both knew that she had done wrong, but the grace is what is given in spite of that.  I don't know if I could do that knowing that the kid had done something wrong! 

 

Hope you all have a great week.  We are going to try and get to Nairobi this week to get our alien IDs renewed.  That will be an all day affair!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

Good bye to Horton

Hello All,
We have had a great week.  Can not believe it is almost October.  The weather is getting really nice here, but the rains may have started.  We had an unexpected evening shower the other night and it has looked threatening in the past few afternoons.  This means it will rain in the pm for the next month or so.  But, all the gardens will grow and people will have food to eat.  We just pray that it doesn't rain too much and damage the roads or piping systems!

Sallie and Timothy had a field day last week up at Titchie.  Field day is kind of a carnival like thing where they have different games set up and the kids go in groups to play each one.  Last week's theme was "Cowboy/Girl."  Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

Well, we finally handed over the site to the contractor this week!  A very exciting time!  We had a short ceremony and then got down to business.  The meeting was shorter then expected (only 1.5 hours) to answer all the questions between the hospital, the contractor, and the architect.  We now have a site representative from Itabuild living here in Kijabe.  Next week, we will continue getting the Quonset hut ready to move and getting the site cleared.  Itabuild will be here in full force in about 2 weeks putting up fencing and clearing trees, etc.  The Bethany Kids organization is very excited to be at the starting point of their new facility (starting point of physical activity, that is).  We are happy for them and look forward to seeing the building actually raise up in the coming year.

 

The sewer system is coming along.  The guys finally got the compactor they needed and are laying pipe.  Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

They had to jack hammer through a large section of rock that was discovered during the digging.  It is amazing how things like that can just show up where you don't expect them.  After the piping gets laid, the next step will be to hire a contractor to make the grit tanks and the oxidation pits.  The area of the pits has grown to about 100m x 200m (333ft x 666ft).  That is a large space!  They have had to cut down some trees that were in the way of the piping, one of which was one of my favorite - the Horton Hears a Who Tree.  Here is a picture of it back in June of 2010:

 

 

 



I miss that tree!

 

We toured the Mother Child Health building this past week looking for final issues.  They are just about ready to turn it over to the department.  The ladies that run it picked some very bright colors for the inside!  Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

The exam rooms are all different colors like pink, turquoise, and yellow.  As we were touring, the men were attaching a white board to the wall in the waiting area for the kids to draw on.  We will turn over the building this week and then the department will start to furnish it and it will open.  They are moving from a space that is 1/4 of the size of this one, so they are very excited. 

 

This past week a man that we are sponsoring through electrical training school started at a school near here.  He was so excited!  This all started when that family invited us to their home for tea.  We got to know them a bit and found out that Patrick, who is out of High School and just working when he can get a job, was very electrically minded.  Another friend of mine found a school for her son that was reasonably priced.  I started looking into it and one thing led to another and he is now there.  I am going to give him my allowance for the next year to make it happen.  I can not feel good about spending my money on shoes or other sundries when I know that that little bit of money will educate this man and change his life.  We are blessed to be here and be able to help a little where we can.  I will get a picture of him later and post it.  We are praying that he will do well and be able to support himself and his family in the near future.

 

Have a great week and I would say to Lean on Him in everything that you do!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

 



A year and a half = Contract Signing - Check!

Hello All,
Well, we had the big contract signing this past week with a company called Itabuild.  They are going to build the Bethany Kids Children's Center for us.  It went well and all were happy by the end of the day.  Jim and the executive director of Kijabe Hospital and the director if BK went into Nairobi to get it done.  I have mentioned before, that when you go into town (Nairobi) it is usually an all day thing.  It was this time too.  They left at 8:00 and got home about 7:00pm.  They got stopped by the president's caravan again too!  It seems when President Kibaki drives through town, he does not want to wait in the traffic, so he has his people stop traffic for him.  It usually messes things up for hours!  They got stuck for a little while, but Jim said he got a nap, so all was well.  Here are some pictures of them at the signing:

 

 

We are so grateful to all and are very happy to be at this point.  The contractor will be here this coming Friday to do the site turnover.  We had a small meeting yesterday with the hospital to check on the preps for that.  Things still aren't done and there is a mountain of work to do, but they are geared up to do it and we are sure that they will meet the deadline.  We are cheering them on!

 

Yesterday was open house at RVA.  So, parents were allowed to come and sit in on the classes.  I went up and found Trevor in his AP English class and Chemistry class.  They were doing equations to calculate energy released from atoms as the electrons fall from one layer to another.  Sounds like Nuclear Power School to me!  Here are some pictures of them outside melting gummy bears:

 

Trevor is the one in the tan about in the middle

 

Melting Gummy Bears!  (Poor Gummy)

 

I also found Sallie practicing for this weeks church service.  It is Titchie Sunday so all the Titchies (elementary kids) sing and perform during the service.  Timothy was in the middle of taking a math test and, since I looked over his shoulder, I could tell he was doing well.  He is also a math wiz like his brother!

 

They started laying pipes on the sanitation system this week.  Jim went out and gave them a lesson on using a string line.   He said the men were very receptive and as he checked later, they were doing all the right things and asking the right questions.  Way to go guys!  Our next big step after getting all the pipe laid will be to hire a contractor to dig the oxidation pits and make the grit tanks that we need.  At least it keeps us employed!

 

Hope you have a great week.  Ours will be busy with site turnover, laying more pipes, the turnover of the Mother Child Health building too the MCH people and some visitors from BK. 

 

I did a devotional last week about Truth and what the Bible has to say.  I am going to paste my note to myself here and if you would like to read it you can.  They are a bit cryptic because they were just notes to myself, but you can get the point.  I got the ideas from a man named Dave Hunt on an mp3 sermon.  Here is a link to the page where I found it:  http://calvarypo.org/BOOKS/Topicalmp3.html  It is The Truth of God's Word sermon by Dave Hunt on 4/18/2004.  You can download it and listen on your mp3 if you are interested.

 



Bible Study Sept 11

Truth

John 8:36 – 37

There are 2 types of truth:  1. Speaking facts as in a court room. Science – Universe had a beginning (sun has not burned out yet.  But some people say no).  2. Jesus has spoken – he claims to be God.  If we think that he is not what he claims to be, then he is a liar or a crazy man.

“Everyone that Heareth my voice hears the truth”  “I am the truth”  “Thy word is the truth”  “The living Word of God” = Bible

Some people say that the can believe whatever they want.  Example of a nurse not following procedures.  Example of a pilot just doing what he wants.  We have procedures in life and for taking care of the body (Nurse and Dr), but what about procedures for taking care of the soul?

We know we have a soul.  Some things cannot be seen but are true.  Look at Justice.  Justice is something but we can’t see it.  Does that mean it doesn’t exist?  The judge follows the law (procedures) but was justice served?  Ideas and thoughts are not physical things, but do they exist?  You are the thinker.  The 2^nd law of thermodynamics governs the physical world – body decays over time and when you die.  But what happens to those thoughts, ideas?  The choices you make in life – you are the choice maker and thinker (comes from the soul).  Where is the thinker when the body dies?

Is truth Absolute or Relative?  In a philosophy class 80% say relative and 20% say absolute at the beginning.  Relative means do what you want because my truth is relative to me!  But, what about procedures?  What about that pilot?  Tolerance – Can police tolerate crime?  Can a doctor tolerate disease? 

Math 23:24  “You strain at a gnat yet swallow a camel.”  Book DaVinci code is example.

People make up their own truths – Mass cards:  can donate and have the priest lay the card on the alter so that a dead relative can get out of purgatory.  Scapular – Whoever wears this will not burn in the everlasting fire.  This was a promise from an apparition of Mary given St Simon Stock.   This promise was based on the Carmelite tradition that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock at Cambridge, England in 1251 in answer to his appeal for help for his oppressed order and recommended the Brown Scapular of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel to him and promised salvation for the faithful who wore it piously.  ^[Does it make sense that one would be with God forever just because he/she wore something?  Sounds like another way to sell lots of things!  John 8:31 -32

John 8:45-47               John 8:24 and 58 – claims to be the “I Am”  But all were angry with him and they threw stones at him. John 8:59 – he hid himself and went out from there.

What does Jesus say about the truth:  John 14:16 – 17  John 16:13            Jesus is not talking about facts of science.  You receive Christ and then you have the spirit of the truth = it grips your heart and changes your life!  John 14:6 “I am the way………..”

Some people say that the Bible can be interpreted anyway you want.  Not true.  Some Islamic’s claim that their religion is Peace = Not true.  They have the words of Mohammad that say otherwise.  So, you if want to make up a religion you can, but don’t call it Islam.  Also true of some “Christian” religions.  Some claim to be Christians, but make up their own rules.

What does God say about us?  Need to go to the Book.

Jesus has spoken and says he is the truth.  We all need an authority to lead us to the truth.

The Bible offers its own truth.  Prophecy – about Israel (bible says they will be persecuted, etc) and about Messiah   There are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus, but none about Confucius, or Mohammad, or Buddha.

The Bible says the penalty has to be paid.  The ticket is written out.  Jesus paid that penalty.  No other religion has this.  Islam says that the judgment is about weighing the good deeds against the bad.  What?!  Can I say that yes I murdered someone yesterday, but I saved 2 people from drowning last week?  Following the law is what you are supposed to do.  You don’t get extra credit for doing what you are supposed to do.  But breaking the law requires a penalty be paid.  Story of Billy Graham and the ticket (if time).

“The wages of sin is Death, but the gift of God is eternal life”  Romans 6:23  It is a Gift!!  You can’t pay anything for it (good deeds, church membership, and missionary work)!  If you do, you reject the gift and insult the giver!   We come as unworthy sinners, worthy only to be separated from God for eternity, but he has paid the penalty and saved us.

Here is a picture of a cool ant type thing that Jim took:

 
Hope you have a great week.  We are moving along here with life and enjoying it.  We are very grateful to all who have supported us.  We are currently 1/3 of the way there with finances to stay till the summer of 2014.  Thank you all so much!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T

 

Projects and more Projects!

Hello All,
This week has been good but busy (as always)!  The weeks just seem to fly by.  I wanted to talk more about the projects this time to catch you up:

Bethany Kids Children's Center:
This is the main project that we came to work on.  We are heading into Nairobi next week to sign the contract with a company called Itabuild that will build it for us!  This is a very exciting point in the process.  Once we sign the contract, we will turn over the site to them after 2 weeks and they will move in and get started.  There are still some ground clearing items that they must do, so the actual getting started on the building will be a bit down the road.  They have to move the Quonset Hut pictured below:

 

 

This will be interesting to watch how they get this done!  The building is actually made up of segments, so it should come down just one piece at a time and then get rebuilt the same way.  They also have to move a fuel pump and knock down a few rooms of the on-call building.  The hospital is really kicking it in to get ready for this (this Quonset Hut is currently filled to the brim with stuff)!  They are working hard to have it all ready!

The Sanitation System:
The hospital is really doing a great job moving forward on the Sanitation system.  So much has been done.  They have trenches dug from the hospital all the way down to the old oxidation pits (about 1/2 kilometer).  The pipes arrived this week and they will get started installing them this coming week.  Here are a few pictures of what is going on:

The men enjoying some Chai

 

A hand washing station

 

temporary small Oxidation pit

 

digging trenches

 

 

As you can see, things are moving along well.  We are still on schedule and Mungu Akipenda (God Willing) we will have a new, functioning sanitation system early next year!

 

 

The New Water Supply:

There is another on going crisis involving water here.  The main water supply tank above the hospital is about to fail.  You can see the bulge in the tank in the picture below!  We think the rubber lining on the inside is all that is keeping it from rupturing.  It is a 300 cubic meter tank (80,000 gal), and if it breaks, that is a lot of water that will coming barreling down on a motel and the hospital.

 

An old picture of the tank

 

The bulge!

 

 

Jim trying to save the world!

As you can see, this is a significant problem!  The hospital is procuring some smaller tanks to be able to replace this if it ruptures.  But, the fix for now is to put a belly band on it to stop the seam from getting larger.  Hopefully, this will happen next week and we won't have "The Flood."

 

Palliative Care (Hospice Care):

The building is moving along nicely.  The Hospice Care team is excited about finally getting to move in.  They are starting to paint the inside this week and should be turning the building over in Oct (maybe even Sept).  Here are some recent pictures:

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

This building will eventually have another 2 stories on top of it.  But for now, the hospice people will have this floor to themselves at least until money can be found to build up!

 

 

CT Scanner:

Looks like we will have the scanner operating by early November.  Some people from the states are coming to help hook it up at the end of Oct.  This period of time looks like some kind of convergence though!

1. Another EMI team is getting together to possibly come at the end of Oct.

2. Our EMI Kampala office wants us to come there (Uganda) at the end of Oct for some meetings.

3. The CT Scanner hook up team will be here.

4.  SAT testing for Trevor happens at the end of Oct.

So, we will just wait and hope that all things line up in series and not in parallel!

 

Jim and I are both fully involved with Trevor's class as they plan for Banquet.  It is a very fancy diner and play prom type thing that the Juniors put on for the Seniors in February.  We will be working every week end from now until then to put it together.  The worst thing about it is that the meetings are every Friday night and most Saturdays.  This wipes out Pizza nights on most week ends!  How sad is that!

 

Hope you are all doing well.  Psalms 46:10 says, God says, “be quiet and know that I am God.  I will be supreme over all the nations.  I will be supreme in the earth.”

Let Him rule your life and He will take you to places you can't even imagine!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.



 

Back Home and on the go!

Hello All,
It has been about 5 weeks since I last posted.  We have traveled to Rome, Michigan (Flint area, Reed City, Traverse City and Petosky) and then a stop over in London and back to Nairobi.  It has been a very busy time, but the break was much needed and there were even some parts that were relaxing!

LaMaddellena:  I wrote some about our trip to LaMad in the July 28 post, but wanted to put in a few more pictures.  We had lunch with Filomena and she looks great!  It was so good to see her:

Trevor and Filomena

Having Lunch with Filomena

 

It was so bright and hot!

 

Trevor and Filomena on the streets of LaMad

 

We spent the late afternoon at the beach (it was too hot to go in the middle of the day), and the kids had a great time swimming with some friends.  Our great friend Cynthia got word that day that her brother had passed away in Pennsylvania.  It was so sad. She had to scramble to get travel plans made to get there as soon as she could.   We feel for her pain and pray that God will see her through this hard time.

 

 

 

This is cow intestines that is a delicacy in Sardinia (I think I will pass!)  But the boys tried it!

Strolling the Piazza at night with all the vendors set up.

 

 

Rome:  We had a short and hot but great stop in Rome on our way home.  We got to see some amazing things.  I will post a few of the thousands of pictures we took here:

 

San Giovanni in Laterino Church

 

The city is built up around the old wall

Approaching the coliseum, Timothy encounters a strange man!

 

Arch of Titus and the Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

 

Sallie looks so small in the Coliseum

 

What an amazing structure!

At the Forum

 

Finding some shade while walking at the forum

Sallie with her parasol

 

Jim and Trevor still at the Forum

 

Trevor and Timothy at the monument for Vittorio Emmanuel II (first King of Italy, 1861)

 

At the Vatican Museum looking at St Peters

 

At the Vatican still

 

From Rome we flew to Michigan.  It was nice to visit with family and friends and get some shopping done.  How many lbs of chocolate chips do you need to last you a year?  Our answer is about 20!  Hope they make it!  Here are some more pictures of our time in Michigan:

 

 

Trevor and Nick building Helms Deep

 

Timothy and Ryan burying a friend (what good friends!)

 

Adults (no kids) at sunset in Petosky

 

Jim and Jullie on the beach

 

Rain came one day and night!  Sallie's room in the tent was underwater!

 

The whole gang camping in Petosky

 

A rough looking bunch!

 

The Griswalds on the move again!

 

Timothy and Ryan

 

Sallie, Ms Sue and Gorden

 

Lunch at Pizza Hut with Rhoda and David (what a treat!)

 

Trevor selling his African Art at the Back to the Bricks car show in Flint

 

 

The Back to the Bricks car show was huge!  There were so many people and cars there, you can't imagine.  Trevor's African Art did OK, but not what he expected.  But, he had a great set up.  We spent the week after that packing and doing some last minute shopping and having lunch with Grandmothers and mothers (what a great time!)

 

We headed back home to Kijabe on the 25th, with a brief stop over in London (11 hours and 40 minutes to be exact).  This was critical as if you are there for over 12 hours you have to pick up your checked in luggage (of which we had 11 at 50 lbs each)!  Hurray for the extra 20 minutes!

 

This week has been a blur.  The kids started school about 7.5 hours after arriving here.  They are troopers!  Jim and I have spent the week getting up to speed on the projects and settling back in.  The sanitation project is moving forward nicely and we are just awaiting pipes that have been ordered.  I will have some pictures next week.  The Bethany Kids Children's Center pediatric wing should kick off in the next month or 2.  We have some work to get done here pretty quick in order to be ready, but by this coming week we should be working at full speed.

 

Fund raising:  We are still working on raising support for our family in order to stay here to see this project through.  We are staying for another 2 years and that should see the project finished and get Trevor graduated from RVA.  In order to do that we need to raise a bit more support.  We would honor your prayerful consideration of supporting us with a one time donation or a monthly contribution.  You can contact us by going to the contacts page, or just go to the donate page at the top of the blog and go straight to EMI to make your tax deductible donation.  Thank you so much.  We really feel led to be in this place, for this time in order to accomplish what God wants done.

 

I will post more about the projects next week.  Things have been such a blur, but I think with some rest (a vacation from our vacation!) this week end, we will be ready to go on Monday.

Over abundance!  It really struck us all as to the over abundance that exists in the states.  Most of you don't realize how much we have, including choices.  I was overwhelmed at the grocery store trying to pick out some vanilla ice cream.  I hadn't had Bryers in 1 1/2 years, so I knew that is what I wanted, but....  I get there and there are 12 choices of just the Breyers Vanilla!  You can choose Natural Vanilla, French Vanilla, Extra Creamy Vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, 1/2 fat Vanilla Bean, 1/2 fat Creamy Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, Creamy Vanilla (full fat I am sure), Fat Free Creamy Vanilla, No Sugar Added Vanilla, Carb Smart Vanilla and Lactose Free Vanilla.  Wow!  I had a headache just choosing ice cream.  I have realized how much stress this kind of thing adds to your life.  When you go to a store and they have 1 maybe 2 choices, you pick it and go, no fuss, no decision making.  Having options is wonderful, but there is a limit to how much I can stand!  And 12 vanilla ice creams I think is my limit!

 

This is a holiday week-end for most of you back home.  Enjoy the last official week end of the summer and we pray that you will hit the ground running with school and all next week.  And, please, eat some ice cream for me!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.