Another Quiet Malewa Get Away

Hello All,
Well, it will be a short blog this week.  We are up at Melewa (again) this week.  We love to come here and have done so just about every break.  It is such a quiet little cabin in the woods and just a nice place to get away.  Rose says, "We come here to eat!"  We pack so much food that it seems to her this is the reason for coming - which is not far from the truth.

Trevor was accepted into Latourno, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan this week.  Still have not heard from Calvin.  So far we have financials from Latourno and Western.  Western is the leader so far.  We hope Michigan Tech comes in at a decent price.  That is where he will probably end up if their financials are in the ball park of reality.

We had a great meeting with the nuns out at Upendo village this last week.  Their project is almost complete!  The fixtures are getting in and they are finishing the tile and external works.  They think it will be just 3 more weeks.  This will put them 2 weeks before the deadline!  That is a first for us here!

We really enjoy going to the Stocksdale's cabin here in Malewa.  We read (I am on my 3rd book in 3 days!) and cook and play games and walk and drink chai.  It is heaven!  And the bird life here is so wonderful.  You wake up to the sounds of the forest including, today, the colobus monkey.

They are so pretty.  This is not a great picture but they were out in a nearby tree.  They make a hideous sound though.

 Sallie is even learning to cross stitch!

This is what we look like most of the time!

We received a great surprise.  The above quilts found their way to me this week end.  There are some other folks up here that are based in Nairobi.  These were done by the Nairobi Quilt Guild for our Bethany Kids 100 Quilts project.  Aren't they wonderful?  Can't wait to show them to the rest of the crew.  We now have about 13 or so here and another 25 or so coming in May.  About 1/2 seem to be complete at this point!  Yea!

We had a tree fall on the house this week!  We knew it was in danger of doing so, but here it is.  It didn't do any damage, we just had to call housing and have it removed on Monday which was a holiday.  Oh well.

School starts up again on Monday.  I take a deep breath as I say this.  We have 12 weeks of running and then we pack for a few day and are gone.  Please pray that our stamina will hold out.  We are looking forward to settling Trevor's school this week as the deadlines are May 1.  You can also pray that his decision will be where God wants him to be.

Here are some loafs that Rose made - just this side of heaven I would say!

In His Hands,
Jullie T

The Pitcher that fills

Hello All,
It is Easter week-end!  Can't believe we are near the end of April.  School will begin again a week from Monday, then it will be 12 more weeks, about 5 days to pack and we leave from this place.  But, this is not the end, it is really only the beginning.  The beginning of Bethany Kids in their new building, the beginning of Trevor in college life, the beginning of us again in Reed City.  John 10:10b "...I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly."  We are looking forward to the change as we have so many times in the past with dread and also with joy.  But, we try and remember that it is a beginning and not an end!
We are burnt out with the work here as so many missionaries get.  The life and work all melt together and the needs are so many that we get so engrossed in getting the task done and forget to take care of ourselves.  This is where Jim is now in particular.  He says his brain has already traveled home!  Not sure how you function without a brain?  Imagine a pitcher filled with water; fresh, clean, life-giving.  But, this water is nothing unless it is poured into a cup and drunk = life!  God is the pitcher of life giving water.  We are the cup.  We need to be filled so that we can overflow onto the saucer and spread His love.  If we are not filled, we can not give to others.  It is time to listen to His voice and head home.  We have moved so many times, but this one is anticipated the most.  I think because the life here is so tasking.  There is little time to "fill the cup" and pretty soon it is empty and there is nothing left.  This week end is a holiday (Friday through Monday) and we are taking it off!  It is time to fill the cup a bit and not do anything.  There are books to read and good food to make and napping to be done!  Hope I can accomplish these 3 things on my "list!"

We went to the Giraffe Center and the Elephant orphanage this past week.  It was fun to be kissed (actually he was just getting fed) by a giraffe and to watch the baby elephants.  There are about 30 baby elephants at this Sheldrick Orphanage.  They are brought here when they are found in the wild without a mother.  They need mother's milk for 2-3 years!  There were many found trapped in wells that were dug by nomads and not covered up when they moved on.  They have a program where they keep them and feed them for about 5 years.  Then they move them down to Tsavo National park to slowly integrate into a herd.  This process takes another 5-10 years!  It takes that long for the elephants to be accepted into a group.  The handlers are patient and seem to enjoy their job.  Here are a few pictures:

We had a great day and continued on into Nairobi to do some shopping and buy glasses.  I could really tell that the kids had not been shopping with us in a long time as every other step was, "Mom, can we get this. Mom can we get that!"  They did get some pringles and a few other items but it was not a journey without pain!

The Bethany Kids wing is making one step forward and 2 back right now it seems.  They have a May 9th date for completion, but looks more like Nov 9th!  It will be sad not to be here for the opening and if our architect had it his way we would be staying another 6 months, but we can not.  There is an EMI construction manager that is in Kampala that was displaced by the violence in a nearby country, and it looks like he and his wife are going to come to help oversee the rest of the building.  This is a huge blessing to us and Bethany.  EMI has been such a good resource for us.  They have helped in so many aspects of our mission.  

The Art Center at RVA - not too much to report here except that we now have bids from 2 contractors to finish the job.  These bids though put us exactly right back to the beginning as far as money and time go!  It is amazing!  Actually, one of them is about $60K higher than the original bid and it is for work going forward, not the whole thing.  Hopefully, we can sit down this coming week and sort out the details of it all and get moving again.

Trevor was accepted into Michigan Tech this past week.  We are waiting to hear from 3 other schools and then waiting on the financial packages to come in.  I sure thought that by now we would have sorted it all out, but there goes that change in the path of life that you never expect!

Please pray that:
1. The contractor for BK would not loose steam and get the building done.
2. The RVA Art Center will find a new contractor at a reasonable price.
3. That Trevor's school acceptances come in with good financial offerings.

Hope Easter is a good time for you as we all remember what was done for us:  1 John 4:9 By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him."

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Bagels - Very Dangerous!

Hello All,
Well, we are finished with week #2 of a 4 week break!  Survived again - these kids think they can beat us!

We had some board members from Bethany Kids come to visit this past week.  It was so nice to have them here and have them actually see what is going on.  It was also wonderful to be encouraged by them.  Sometimes, a little feedback is a good thing!

Gary and Jerry - thanks so much for your encouragement (and Chocolate helps!)

Encouragement received (notice that the Reese's eggs are almost gone!)

The Art Center at RVA seems to be at a standstill.  It has been lifeless for the past 2 1/2 weeks, but we are really moving forward.  We have numbers now for what is still left to be done and will have some new bids this coming week.  Hopefully, we can sit down with all the players late this week and figure out who will do it and when they can start.  Can't wait to get going again.

We toured Crescent Island last Sunday with the Bethany Kids guys.  It was a nice relaxing walk.  It was the first time I had been there and it was actually cool.  Here are some pictures that Trevor took:

Talking about Trevor - he had a run in with a bagel last week!  He was trying to cut a halfway frozen bagel and got his finger instead!  It did not cut the tendon nor the nerves but it was pretty deep.  Good thing we have doctors near by that have a stash of superglue on hand!  Turns out that bagels are very dangerous.  I read that on Saturday and Sunday mornings many emergency rooms have visiting patients that have had run ins with bagels!  Who would have known?

There is a conference going on up at RVA for teachers.  I was invited to go and have enjoyed it.  The keynote speaker was reminding us about cultural differences.  All cultures have "what goes without being said."  The part that you see and hear in another culture is just the tip of the iceberg.  These are things like clothing, food, houses.  The things like virtues, beliefs, and vices are all the things below the water line and can take a lifetime to understand.  When you are with your own culture, you don't have to say anything to know what to do and how to act.  In the west, we are problem solvers.  We take a problem and just go and solve it whether or not it needs solving!  I see Leland's water issue in this light.  Jim has been working for 3 years on and off trying to get them consistent hot and cold water without having water pour through the roof (not completely successful)!  But, when he talks to the plumbers, they go look at it or do something but it is still not fixed.  One of the reasons is that they don't see it as a huge problem.  So what?  Someone does not have water.  There are many people here without water.  It is not an urgent item for them.  We see it differently.  So, it is more of a matter of underlying differences, not really inability.  Our plumbers are very good at what they do.  We have learned so much since living here, but there really is so much more to learn!

The hospital should have a new 600m3 water tank in a few months.  This is very exciting as it will give them about 3 days worth of supply.  Here is the base being built:

Patrick has been with us for a few days.  His blog address is www.inhisfootprint.blogspot.com
He was able to get his paypal account set up and what a blessing.  My sister-in-law and her office friends were the first to use it and donate to his ministry.  He was so excited to see it actually working and connecting with people overseas!  What an amazing thing!  He also set up 2 fundraisers on fundrazr.com.  One is for the 2 girls we spoke about before that were in danger of  undergoing female genital mutilation if they stayed with their families.  They are now in school and have new uniforms (Patrick said they were so happy to receive these as it made things much easier to be like everyone else - and they had essentials).  He is trying to raise enough money now to keep them in school for the next 3 years.  He also has a campaign going to raise funds for a vehicle.  You can go to the links below to see them (and also a picture of the girls with cool new uniforms)!

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6fwT8

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/2jsV6

Please pray for us as we continue to travel the road to a college for Trevor.  He has applied to 4 new schools and we are waiting to hear from them.
Also pray for Jim and I as we gather our wits (and other tangible things) to leave here well.  Also, that we will "see things about Kenyans that are still under that water."
Please pray for Timothy and Sallie so that they don't kill each other over the remainder of the break!
In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Crazy College Crossroads

Hello All,
So, we are finished with 1 of the 4 weeks of the kids' vacation - check!  Survived!  Only 3 more to go!  They have all endured some of the most boring times of their lives (quote from Sallie), but I guess we all go through that.  Jim and I are working this week and so it puts them on their own.  We are going to get away for just 4 days right at the end of April, but we just couldn't schedule a trip to Mombassa like it seems that the rest of the RVA families did!  We will survive!

The Bethany Kids Project:  It is looking great!  It is amazing to see the walls getting plastered and the door frames going in.  Jim desperately wants to show a picture of the building with the roof on (as it should be at this time), but alas, that is not to be!  We hope soon though.

There are more quilts coming in for the beds.  The contact point in South Carolina says she and another lady have now received 22 plus!  We are going to try and get them here with a man who is traveling in May.

Thanks Michelle and Renee

So fun to see the ladies of Crossroads (our Church in Evart) making quilts for BK!

Thanks Sandi, Delores and Jenny!

Such a fun project and can't wait to see them on beds in the wards.

Crazy College crossroads:  We have had a rough time with the college road for Trevor.  He was denied from 6 schools (4 Ives and Stanford and MIT) and was accepted by Colgate and Wheaton and wait listed for Lafayette.  We received a link to an article from the NYTimes about this whole thing that was really very appropriate for us.  It is called Crazy College Crossroads.

Also, we found out an interesting fact that we were not aware of:  When we do the on line calculator for Wheaton (for example) we get a reasonable number that we will have to pay.  But, when we get the actual financial data from them it is much different!  Why is that?  Well, the fact we have a home that is mostly paid for is a real detriment to our financial aid.  They expect us to take out a loan on the equity in the house to cover college tuition.  We were told by many people that the equity in your home did not matter, but found out that it did.  Apparently, state schools don't normally consider it, but private schools do. Why these schools don't include that in their on-line calculators is a mystery to me.   So, where does that leave us?  We have appealed the financials at Colgate.  Wheaton is just too expensive and they won't accept an appeal.  We are now back in the application process, but have to find schools where the deadlines are not passed.  Michigan Technical University and Central Michigan meet this criteria.  We are even considering the military option.  Deadlines for those scholarships have also passed, but it doesn't mean that he can't apply next year.  This has been a real change in our plans.  But, a friend was telling me this week how it must be what God wants for him.  There are many people she can think of that got into schools like Trevor wanted but she said, "they were no Trevor."  So, God has a plan for him that is a totally different path than what we were expecting.  You can pray that he can apply (again) and be accepted to some schools with better tuition (that don't count equity) and that he will feel good about it all.  When I mention Ferris State to him he just rolls his eyes!  So, not sure where this will lead, but please pray that He will work it all out!

We went to Naivasha the other day just to have lunch.  You have to travel an hour or so to get far enough away from here to find good Indian food!  Here is something we saw on the way home:

That is a couch on the back of a motorcycle and there were two men - one driving the other sitting on the couch!

My thyroid issue (hyperthyroid) is getting better this week.  I actually only missed one workout due to not feeling good!  I had a blood test and the numbers show improvement.  Not sure where this will lead but at least I feel almost normal this week!

Art Center at RVA:  This has been at an all stop since last week.  It is funny to see it so vacant.  We had a few contractors come to look at it and now all we are waiting on are the numbers from the Quantity Surveyor so that they can rebid it.  These kind of things take time, but we just want to get moving again.  Please pray that this will come together.  I am also working on deciphering the water system up there.  Boy what a mess!  It has been in service for over 100 years and has been added to over time, so that "it works."   There is no master planning involved with a system like this!  But, that is OK too, it is just a matter of documenting what is there and making a maintenance plan to go with it.  It has been keeping me busy most of this week and I am discovering things that even the maintenance guys didn't know!

Our friend Patrick Suruni will be coming this week.  You can read his blog here .  He is trying to get a training program done for pastors out in the bush.  He did get his Paypal account all set up!  That was a big step! Can't wait to see him and feed him some Nyama Choma (roast meat) - (he is a Masai of course)!

Please pray that:

1. Trevor's college plans will come through

2. Bethany Kids will get moving on the roof

3. RVA Art Center will get sorted and started back up.

4. My thyroid problem would just go away!

Isa 40:31

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint. 

NIV

Thanks so much,

In His Hands (always),

Jullie T