Can't believe it is Birthday week end already! Trevor will be 18 on the 18th (isn't that a special day), and Sallie will be 10 on the 18th. These are big numbers for everyone, so it is really a special deal. Trevor and "the gang" are going to form a MEAT club this afternoon (Men Eating Animals Together). They are going into Nairobi to a BBQ place and pretty much all they have is meat - 15 different types of steaks and they just keep serving until you cry "Uncle!" They took the scale with them too - for a pre and post weigh! We celebrated Trevor's birthday dinner last night with ribs that we found at a local place. Jim put them in the pressure cooker for several hours and they were very nice. We will have our last cake (hopefully) tomorrow night! Birthday week end is fun but it sure is a lot of calories.
The Bethany Kids wing is moving along well. They made a video this past week that shows the progress. There is a link to it here: Bethany Kids Video. Jim went into town this past week to order tiles. I let him go alone because I had been in previously and picked out the colors with him! It is 18 tons of tile! They are going with a simple white in the bathrooms with a blue accent tile at the top and the bottom. It should be easy to keep clean and have a simple look to it.
We have been busy trying to sort out some education issues with Kenyan friends this week.
For Yvonne (Rose's granddaughter): She is now in class 3. She is doing so well. She continues to be at the top of her class of 33 students. We have not put out the call for her support in a while, but I have enough funds to get her through class 5 term 1 (out of 3 terms). So, I was able to see the director yesterday and work it out such that we put all that money into their account and they will write us a letter saying she is paid up till 5th grade term 1. I was so glad to get this done. You think these things would be easy, but they are not always. Communications are hugely difficult at times. But, the director was very nice to talk to and he understood what I wanted to do and agreed. This brings up another aspect of living here. Some people back home don't understand how we can be missionaries and still have a house helper. They think this means a cushy life. That is a whole conversation, but one aspect of this is that when you take on someone like a house help, you take on responsibilities for their family. This includes medical issues (which we have had this week), and education and other things. We heard a missionary from the south pacific speak about how 20 years later, he is still involved with his house helper and her family. So, it is not about sitting back and not having to clean the house and do laundry that takes hours or other chores. It is a commitment to them and their lives that you make when you take them on. A bit different aspect of hiring someone to clean toilets I think!
Anyway, Yvonne is doing so well and we are proud to be behind her.
Another situation all together is a young lady we were trying to help in high school. She had switched from one school to another when we first got involved (last year). Now she wants to switch again! She is having issues at the school and actually got expelled. Jim went there (Naivasha) to talk to the head master and she was willing to take her back. We thought this was really good news, but to this young girl, it was not. She refuses to go. We have told her we will not support her if she chooses to go to another place (this is a more complicated story than I write here), but is seemingly choosing the route of no education. It saddens us, and has been a huge challenge for us. Please pray that this will resolve this coming week and she will concede to go back to school.
The Upendo Village project is very close to finishing! They thought they would be done by the middle of May, but will at least finish before their scheduled time of June 2. This is amazing! We are in the process of trying to hire this same contractor to finish the RVA Art Center for us. Please pray that these negotiations will also go well (they happen first thing Monday morning).
The Upendo Village project almost complete!
Something that I have been waiting for all year happened this week! The map of locations of all the chosen colleges for the kids in Trevor's class is out! It is so much fun to see how they will be scattered everywhere!
This is just the East Coast section.
See that northern most name?
That is Trevor - going to MTU! Does someone know where we can find some warm clothes?
Sallie and the elementary kids had a field day this morning. They play all sorts of games. She is kind of getting bored with it all (how many times can you play ring toss?), but went anyway. We had a good time and she got to have her face painted with a unicorn.
Sallie and a friend with face paint and a chameleon
Not sure if you have heard about the travel warnings for Kenya lately. The British have even come to evacuate their citizens from the coastal area of Mombassa. There was another bomb attack in a neighborhood in Nairobi this week and a few weeks ago, there were 2 attacks on the coast. We have the Senior Safari scheduled for a few weeks from now on the coast. Please pray that we will get the all clear from the administration to go. It sure would make several unhappy Seniors to have to spend their safari time on campus! Also this week, the head of the police announced that "as of today" which was last Wednesday, there will be no tinting on car windows. Not sure how he can just make laws and declare that they will be in effect "today," but he does. So, that all to say, we pulled the applied window tint off and it is just the factory applied stuff left. We don't want to give the police an excuse to stop us. We feel like just hunkering down here and not going anywhere! Hey - movie and popcorn tonight I think!
Hope you all have a great week. We are down to 9 more weeks of school and then 5 days and then home (not like we are counting or anything).
In His Hands,
Jullie T
Here are some interesting pictures:
Need to haul a lawnmower around?
Make sure YOUR funeral home has the best refrigeration!
The view out my bedroom windows - see the Sykes?
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