Friends - A True Blessing!

Hello All,
This is going to be a picture filled post.  Hope that is OK with you.  We had a lovely time in the Abedares, but it was sure weird not to have Trevor with us.  It was a preview of how things will be with us when he goes away to school.

First I want to explain the title.  Jim drove a friend's brother home the other day after a stay in the hospital.  It was a drive about 20 minutes up very bad roads but this man has MS (we think) and is in very bad shape.  He has been immobile for quite some time and was in the hospital due to bed sores.  Pastor Samuel (our friend) is his brother.  He lives with his parents and his sister cares for him.  Pst Samuel really is the bread winner for all of them and more.  He has a job at the hospital so he supports not only his wife and 3 kids, but most of his extended family.  His sick brother also requires a special food (liquid) that is very expensive.  And, you have to realize, that even though Pst Samuel has a job, he only makes about $120 a month.  This is why we have so many people coming to us to help with school fees and other needs.  So, that tells his situation but here is what Jim experienced:  He drove them all home and on the way he said he met just about every African Friend he has in Kijabe!  It was like a drive through his life here!  He would drive a ways and see someone and you have to stop and greet them! Greetings are the first and most important thing.  Sometime they had room and he would give a ride and drop them off then see someone else.  At one point one of these friends said, "Bwana, you are very blessed!  You have so many friends and you know everyone!"  When they dropped off Samuel's brother, the parents were so very grateful.  Jim is probably the only person that they know who has a car.  It humbles us to no end to think about so many Africans in the same situation.  We do what we can and it looks like we are affecting some people.  It is just hard when you can only do so much.  And it is not really about money.  It is time and effort to help people everyday.  Please pray for all of these friends of ours. That we may touch them in a Godly way.

We had such a good time in the Abedares and in Naivasha the week before just getting away to the wilderness.  I am going to post a bunch of pictures below and let you see the beauty of this place:

The waterfalls are amazing!

View from our porch

Leopard print about 2km from our cabin!

Sallie and Eeyore

Jullie and the kids across the valley

Nathan, Sallie Aaron and Timothy in a tree

Us (without Trevor)

a very large mushroom - so perfect!

Sykes monkey

Playing by candlelight

the kids swimming in the collllld water

picnic spot

water buck

Family of 11 elephants - an amazing sight!

See the elephants in the distance?  We stood and watched them for a while.

Mama and her baby

me and Tracy in the "kitchen"

Warthog

Our cabin

Nathan, Aaron and Timothy

 

 

We had a terrible storm last night.  The water washed over the road bringing trees and everything else with it.  It is amazing to think about because we are on the side of a cliff.  Because of the deforestation, the water was just screaming down the hill.  Here are some pictures of the damage.

 

The Bethany Kids Site

The main road by the Petrol station

Near RVA

The railroad on top of the bridge! (the water was flowing over the bridge!)

At the RVA main gate

Near the Matatu gate

 

The Tunnel is blocked (this is one of the footpath areas above RVA)

 

So, as you can see it is pretty bad.  We are hoping that our water supply is holding out because we think some of the pipes have been washed away.  People are still assessing the damage.

 

I am going to finish this post today as there are many things going on here.  There is a funeral going on tomorrow for a missionary who died recently from a rapid, unknown problem.  She was in her late forties or early fifties and her family is just reeling.

 

Please pray for us with the storm damage and how this will affect the building projects, but mostly the people.

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

 

Here and Gone Again

Hello All,
Wow, school starts again next Tues (23rd).  Can't believe this break has gone so quickly.  We are going camping in the Abedares for just a few nights.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Naivasha although the rain was incessant. 

I am making this short as we leave in a few hours and will not be connected until Sunday.  Trevor has elected to stay here and get his school work done!  Seems that when I told him the other day that there was only 1 week left before school starts he was in a panic!  The culture at RVA is proud to call "procrastination" one of their skills.

We are praying for the victims of the bombing this week in Boston.  A Dr friend had commented on her blog about how evil exists in all of the world.  It doesn't matter if you are here or there, evil people will try and do their thing.  The one thing that does matter is the availability of resources to help in the aftermath.  Here, when there is a large bus accident, the 2 doctors on call get others called in and there may be 5 or so for however many patients.  In Boston, at one of the local hospitals, the Dr to patient ratio went to not only 1:1 but 5:1!  This is amazing.  People just came rushing to help.  And hence there were only 3 deaths.  With the extent of the bombings, in many other areas this number would have been much higher if it were not for the resources (people and equipment) that showed up. 

Next week I will post some pictures of the Abedares and Naivasha, but for now we are going off line (in many ways) and heading out.

Thanks for being with us!

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Out in Africa

Hello All,

We have taken a few days off and are staying at the Stocksdale’s cabin in Naivasha (miss you Mom)!  It is so nice to get away.  But, looks like we are stuck here for at least a little bit.  It has been raining every day for a while now and last night it rained all night long.  We were scheduled to go into Naivasha town to the market to buy some shoes for the boys.  They are down to 1 pair each and I loosely call what they have on their feet now shoes!  As we drove here on Thursday, the road was passable but just barely.  The mud is so slick and the one lane road has a pretty high crown on it making you slide down into the ditch on the side.  We got through with the 4WD Prado, but with all the recent rain the bridge to get here is now flooded.  We started walking back towards the highway this morning around 9:30 to deliver a boy that was staying with us to his family.  We reached the highway (about 5 miles away) in about 2 hours.  It was only the first two miles or so that were tough walking, then it got much better.  We made it back to the cabin safely and will probably have to stay until it is dry for at least 8 hours or so.  We are so blessed to be able to come here and decompress for a bit.  It is a beautiful spot and I can’t think of a prettier place to be stuck!  As long as the food holds out we will be good!

Sallie Chris and Trevor at the "Internet Cafe"

Chris working for his dinner

Trevor also working for his dinner

Jullie, relaxing and playing

Sallie and Me after a walk up the hill

where we walked up the hill (you can see us at the top)!

 

We really did need to get away for a bit.  The kids go back to school in 2 weeks so we are taking the opportunity while it is here.  My title on last week’s blog was “I hate it when I’m right.”  That is still the running joke and is an ongoing phenomena!

Water Supply Project:   We are still fighting to get the water supply routed to the hospital tanks.  Supply issues and politics are getting in the way.  Please pray that we will succeed.

TB Clinic:  The contractor was here again to lay out the project.  He did not get it right the first time and just as we were driving out of town he had it finished and wanted us to come approve it!  Jim would not let us stop (right answer) so we left it to our colleague to sort out. 

Bethany Kids Wing:  The contractor has still not provided the new timeline, materials are still hard to get, the site agent did not return to work and the rains are pretty severe right now.  I think that says it all.

 

New Fuel Tank:  The tank is still turned over in the enclosure and floating.  We spent about 1 ½ hours in a meeting this week sorting out the problems and trying to come up with solutions.  This is problem solving at its best!  We did not come to a clear decision but we are getting closer.  Hopefully, by next week’s blog post we can say that it is in position and we are getting it buried properly.  It is extremely close to the generator building foundation and we are a bit worried that it will have an effect on that.

Sanitation Project:  We are almost finished with the piping system that we started back in July.  As soon as that is done we are at an all stop until we get the go ahead to do the oxidation pits that will contain the sewage for the number of days required for it to degrade to something safe to push down the hill.  We had a big meeting last week to come up with some solutions for breaking down the projects into manageable chunks.  We are praying that we will get the go ahead soon to move forward on that project. 

Upendo Village:  This is the HIV/AIDS outreach in Naivasha where we are helping with a new project.  They had a flash flood come through last Tuesday just before we arrived for a meeting.  A part of the wall was taken down and the back end of the property was flooded out causing damage to the underground water storage tank and the animal pens.  All the chickens died but the goats and the dog were OK.  They are looking at starting their project in July.  We had a meeting with the architect to get things rolling with picking a contractor.  Things went well at the meeting as we are moving forward with selecting a contractor, but they were all a bit worried about the flood damage.

Part of the walll that came down

 

As you can see from these updates, we are having a bit of a hard time.  We have to take it as it is and deal with each situation as it comes.  God it teaching us patience and “stick to it ness!”  We came here knowing that God had a use for us.  We are helping where we can, but it feels like sometimes it is just not enough.  Every time I go by the Bethany Kids Ward and see some of the kids that they are helping it renews my soul and I see really why we are here.  It takes so much time but it is all worth it.  I read a short book by Jon Acuff this week called the Hater Handbook.  There was a quote that I liked and it went like this:

“Chase your dreams because that is how you’re uniquely made, not because you want approval or want to prove somebody wrong.”

I love this.  We didn’t come here to prove something to anyone (even ourselves).  We are uniquely made by our Lord and have a purpose to serve.  And this is how we are doing it.  People may approve of it or not, but it doesn’t matter.  When you are where He wants you to be, there is no better place!

I am off to the “internet café” now to get this posted.  This is a bench up on a hill nearby where I can get a signal.  Please keep us in your prayers this week as we get back to work on Monday.  We are heading out again for 2 days next week to go to the Abadares.  We hope to see elephants there and some other cool things before the kids head back to school.

Me at the internet cafe

Prayer Requests:

1.    Water supply project – that we can connect the water and get a contract signed with the company that will supply us. 

2.    TB Clinic – that it will be a blessing to the hospital and the building will go up with out too many issues.

3.    Bethany Kids Wing – We still have 15 months before we leave here for good (July of 2014).  The original timeline was for a 15 month build.  Please pray that things will come together and they will be able to finish the project within the next year.

4.    Fuel tank project – that it gets resolved quickly and the foundation of the generator building is not affected (and no one gets hurt).

5.    Upendo Village – that they will recover from the flood damage.

6.    Please pray that we will be able to drive out of here on Monday and get back to town.

7.    Please pray that we will all follow His calling in our lives and not seek the approval of man (nor listen to the disapproval) as we serve Him.

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

I Hate it when I'm Right!

Hello All,

Zebra at sunset

 

Can't remember if I posted this picture or not.  But it is a good one so I guess it's OK to repeat!

 

 

Are you wondering about the title of this bog?  That is a quote from Jim yesterday.  He came in after talking with the contractor and was very frustrated.  He has hit the nail on the head for at least 3 issues this week and has had solutions, but follow through was not good and the anticipated problems happened anyway!  It is a constant struggle for us.  Seeing things the way they should happen and trying to communicate the issues and making things fall into place.  All we can say is "This is Africa."  And we need to adjust our expectations and attitudes to it.  And that is not a bad thing, it is just different.  God has put us on a learning curve and even after 2 years we are still climbing!

 

Fuel Tank:

So, we had a lot of rain this past week and guess what?  The fuel tank did not like being a submarine!  We got to deal with some buoyancy issues with our 30,000 liter tank breaking its hold downs and bursting to the surface like a submarine doing an emergency blow.  It came up and promptly turned over because of the extra weight of the man hole on the top.

 

The tank turned over

 

 

So, we found the culprits (turnbuckles) and have tried to fix the problem.  Who knew that being a submariner would help in projects around a hospital in the middle of Kenya!

 

BKKH Wing:

The building continues to have problems.  They are trying to keep up with material supplies and manpower but seem to be struggling.  We lost our Foreman (who was very good) this week and we get a replacement on Monday (a lady - Yea!).

 

 

 

retaining wall

 

 

 



The rains continue to delay things also.  But they are much needed by everyone - Oh timing is everything!

 

This coming Tuesday the country is having a national holiday for the swearing in of Uhuru Kenyatta.  He is the newly elected president.  Many people here are excited about him (he is Kikuyu).  But, he has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes from the last election.  It could be trouble down the line, but for now all is well.

 

ENT Building:

They are making great progress on the building.  The stones for the basement area are being laid now.  We have somewhat of a timeline and a budget, but will refine those soon and hopefully we will stay on target for both of those items!

 

Dental building on the right, ENT basement in the middle and the blue fence around BKKH

 

 

TB Clinic:

The contractor came this week to look at the site and lay out the building.  We have quite a few trees up there and since the building is a "U" shape with 3 segments, we are going to break them up into individual pieces so that we should only have to remove 1 tree (Russ - this is in the area where the OPD was going to be next to Palliative).  He is coming to start the layout on Monday and hopefully in 2 months we will have a tin building to house the TB and HIV clinics.

 

The kids are doing well this break.  Sallie and her friend Megan have been hiking and playing till the sun goes down!  They also went up to RVA for a quilting class that one of the seniors was giving.  They each made their own quilt.  She had a blast and it kept her busy.

 

They also made donuts one day with Rose.  They turned out OK and looked great!

We had Dessert Night at our house this past week.  It is our weekly get together with the short term missionaries so that we (long termers) can get to meet them and chat a bit.  It is always a crazy night.  The kids love it and have had such big crowds that they go outside and play in the dark.  Last week with the rains, they got a bit dirty!

before

after!

 

 



We are heading out to Naivasha this coming week for a few days of well deserved (I hope) rest.  We have a cabin in the woods booked and can't wait to go.  I found this picture on FB this week from a lady who lives there.  She took it 40 feet from her porch which is only about 500 ft from the cabin we will be in!  It is exciting to see that the leopards are still in this area, but I don't think we will take any nighttime walks!

One more item.  Do you remember the project we did last year for Into Abbas Arms?  It was a kitchen building.  They are currently having trouble with the leadership at the orphanage and need prayer.  They are searching for someone to run the place while the current leader takes some time off.  This is an urgent need for them.

Please pray for us for:

1.  That we would have patience and continue to grow in grace about getting things done here.

2. The BK wing would gather momentum in the areas of supplies, manpower and team work between the contractor, Architect and BK.

3.  Pray that the country will remain peaceful during the presidential transition.

4. The TB clinic and ENT building will proceed well.

5.  Pray for Into Abbas Arms Orphanage, that they will find someone to run the facility soon.

 

Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers.  We are always encouraged by notes from home and blessed by your prayers!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.