By Plane, Ferry and Train!

Hello All from Italia!
We made it here after about 31 hours of traveling by car, plane, plane, car, ferry, car, ferry, car (in that order)!  We only had one small breakdown by Sallie as she tried to wake up after being up for about 24 hours and then only sleeping for about 1 1/2 hours!  Can you blame her?  Here are some pictures we took along the way:

Sunrise in Amsterdam

Sallie at sunrise in Amsterdam

Timothy at sunrise in Amsterdam!

Me and Sallie and Timothy - the first Gelato for the kids (that Timothy and Sallie remember!)

Timothy on the Ferry from Civitavecchia to Sardegna

Sallie being cute!

Cynthia and Reno are wonderful!  They seem to be doing great and are very busy here with life in LaMaddelena.  I had forgotten (not really) how beautiful it is here.  We went strolling through the town and had cappuccino and gelato!  The kids were in heaven.  We only have 3 days here and leave for a short 2 day stay in Rome tomorrow (Sunday).  We plan on seeing the Vatican, Colosseum, the Forum and what ever else we can.  We have been there several times and Trevor has too, but he would like to see it now from an almost adult's eyes and not those of a 3 year old!  I can't blame him.

Lela, Me and Theresa at sunset at the Cabin

Nick, Timothy, Sallie, Anya, Tia and Xavian

A wonderful Italian dinner

Jim, Timothy, Trevor, Me and Sallie at the cabin

Reno cooking Pancetta and Salsicce

We went to the beach yesterday and we are like bright shining lights compared to the dark skinned Italians, but no one laughed at us (at least not out loud)!  Minimal burning was had due to the copious amounts of sunscreen applied.  Here are a few pictures:

Jim and Trevor trying to get some color on those white bodies!

Sallie and Dad

Nick, Timothy and Sallie (Nick is a new friend who lives in Michigan!)

We plan on packing up today (oh joy!) and heading to another ferry to take us to a car to take us to a ferry to take us to a train to take us to Rome tomorrow.  It should be fun.  We tried to travel light on our way to Michigan, but we have had to pack bags inside of bags as we will be loaded down on our return to Kenya!  We have one computer with us and were scheduled to have 2 returning, but just in the last week things have changed and we will now have 4 returning!  Jim is a computer buying nut!   It's a good thing there are 5 of us traveling and most are now pretty useful as baggage carriers!

We will be back in Michigan on Wed afternoon.  We depart from Rome at 6:00 am and arrive in Michigan at 1:00 in the afternoon.  How does that happen with a 2 1/2 hour trip to Amsterdam and another 8 hour trip to Detroit?  Jet lag should not be as bad as if we were coming from Nairobi.

Trevor has decided he wants to learn Italian and is working on an angle to come back and stay with Cynthia and Reno for a time!  I think he would enjoy that!

Being here in a land of plenty, we are so reminded of the stark contrast with Kenya.  People here have sidewalks, they adore their kids (and show it), they have cars and can eat gelato.  Sometimes when there is enough, people tend to forget where all of those blessings come from.  Please don't forget!

 

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel home to see family and friends.  We are looking forward to it!

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

In His (Protecting) Hands!

Hello All,

I wrote earlier that we were heading to south east Nairobi (we are on the north west side) to pick up the kids from camp.  Well, it was only by God's protecting hand that we actually got there!  We were on the highway and there was an accident in front of us.  A flatbed truck had pinned a bus to the guardrail.  So, the traffic, which wasn't much, was going around it to the left.  We ended up at the end of the line (Nairobi drivers are very pushy) and were just at the back end of the flatbed, when a truck came screaming up behind it.  It crashed right into the flatbed and crumbled right before our eyes then started to twist to the left (right over our car).  Amazingly, no one was seriously hurt!  Just seconds before the crash, there was a man crossing the street right there walking through the slow cars and the driver of the truck was higher up then the flat bed so he was not hurt.  We were able to move the car right out from under the twisted cab of the truck with out a scratch!  If that truck had crashed into us instead of a sturdy, empty flatbed, we would have been in serious trouble.  God surely protected us today!

Rose, our house help, told me an humbling story the other day.  I bought a cup with a rose on it a while back and so that is her cup.  I get a cup of coffee for her every morning and then either she or I make chai in the afternoons.  That cup is very special to her because someone thought enough about her to give it to her.  In her past, someone that she worked for actually served her and another worker chai out of a plastic tub (kind of like a margarine container but bigger).  She felt like a "nothing."  Just the simple act of seeing someone and thinking about them can be an amazing blessing not only to yourself but to others!


We have had progress towards getting a contract signed for the Bethany Kids of Kijabe Hospital Children's Center.  Looks like they will sign a contract early next week.  We are going to delay the start until we get back from the states though.  So, mid September we should actually be taking a shovel to the ground!  How exciting is that!  At first, we thought our timing of leaving for 4 weeks was not very good, but as it turns out, it will be OK.  We will look forward to actually building this pediatric wing we have been working towards now for the last year and a half.  Things sure move pretty slowly around here, but you know, all in perspective, when we look back 10 years from now, who will know?

The kids had a great time at camp this week.  They came home very dirty and smelly with lots of laundry! 
Here are a few pictures:

The girls of Sallie's group

Sallie's Cabin

The Girls of Suswa

A very dirty Timothy and Sallie!

Jim and Timothy

We are getting ready to leave here next Tuesday.  We will head to Rome and spend a few days in LaMaddelena with Cynthia and Reno.  We are so looking forward to the get away!  On our way out of there, we will spend 2 days touring the city.  Not looking forward to the heat and the crowds, but looking forward to showing the kids the sites.  Trevor has seen the city several times but all from a stroller, so this time it will be a little different!  We will be back in Michigan on Aug 1 and stay for 3 weeks.  Looking forward to seeing you all!

Here is a picture of a tree/vine that I took today.  It has a Weaver bird nest on all the ends!

Here is a bougainvillea, amazing!

We sure are glad to be heading home!  Hope you all have a great week and rest in God's Protecting Hands!



In His Hands,
Jullie T.

School is Finally Out!

Hello All,
Oh, Happiness for the little things:  I am sitting here with a cup of Chai (almost gone though!) and kids quarrelling in the background after sleeping in till 700 and doing my blog.  Life is Good!

This was a great week for us.  We had progress on the Peds wing, and the sanitation system, the kids got out of school, we went to the graduation of a good friend from a local Bible College and got to hear/see Trevor playing in the Jazz Band and the Wind Ensemble:

Peds Wing:  We met with our potential contractor this week, who, by the way, is an Italian (big plus for them in my eyes)!  We had a good meeting and are zooming in on an agreement (regarding price).  The Bethany Kids Board is meeting on Sunday to discuss the matter and hopefully ratify the agreement so that we can sign a contract with them.  If that happens next week (before we leave) it will be because you all are praying for it!

Sanitation System:  We had a design meeting this week with the professor that we have contracted to be our consultant.  We are very close to the solution for and locking in the design.  I am not happy that I will be leaving just as we are mobilizing digging crews and pipe crews.  But, our Engineering and Facilities Team here is doing a great job and I am sure will get things done.

School is out!:  The kids finished up on Thursday.  They are all excited to be done.  This past week was what they call "dead week" for the High School though, so there was really not much going on.  Graduation for Seniors is today.  We are not invited though.   You have to be blood related to get a ticket!  There was (and is) a lot of crying going on up there this week as everybody says their "good-byes."  Some of these kids have been here since 5th - 7th grade!  Here is a picture of Timothy and some friends as they did the final flag lowering ceremony:

Our good friend Patrick Saruni graduated with a diploma from the local bible college - Moffat Bible College.  This was 3 tough years for him.  He is a Maasai and just getting through to a high school diploma without any money was an amazing accomplishment.  But now that he is a pastor, he will be able to go back to his people and help them understand God's love.  He is so excited!  He will actually return for one more year to get a higher diploma so that he will be able to work with the African Inland Church.  Here are some pictures of Graduation day:

Jim, Patrick and another friend with her baby.

Who is that old lady on the far left?

We are very proud of Patrick.  He calls Jim "Mzee" (which is old man in Swahili).  It is not a put down though, it is a sign of respect.

Band Concerts:  Last week end all the bands and the Choir performed.  It was great!  The jazz band played for about 1 1/2 hours on Sat night and then the Wind Ensemble was on Sunday night along with the Choir.  Trevor has gotten so good on the Trumpet.  He has an amazing teacher (Mr Taylor) here and has improved so much.  He had a solo in Jazz band and just blew us away with the sound.  He had been talking about how Mr Taylor wants him to start looking at buying a better trumpet for college that will cost $600 - $800!  I was a bit taken aback, but after hearing him play with this trumpet, it makes me want to get it for him!  This picture is rather dark but I like it all the same:

Here is another picture of Trevor that I found on Face book.  It was at the Sophomore Restaurant where he had the role of Maitre D'.

He Looks very happy between these two beautiful girls.  But, he says he was "forced" to smile! I don't believe him!  Here is another picture that I found on my phone of Trevor and some of his class mates while we were delivering valentines day sale items:

 Here are a few more pictures from the past weeks:

Jenelle and Sallie with Puppies - Girls and Puppies  - How Happy is that?!

Have you ever been this close to a giraffe?

Sallie at the Giraffe center - Their tongues are so smooth!

And their eyes are so gentle

Hope you have a great week ahead.  We are getting the kids ready to go to camp (Timothy and Sallie).  And, because of that, we will hopefully have a quiet week around here to wrap up some things before we head out.   Please pray that our contract for the Pediatric wing comes together and also that our Sanitation system project stays on time and in budget! 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.



Riding with the Giraffe and Zebra

Hello All,
Awhile back I mentioned how some lady friends and I went riding out in Naivasha with the zebra and giraffe, et al.  I now have some pictures of that day to show you:

Me on Sparks with the Zebra in the background

Christina and Dorothy (German Friends) and our guide

Baby Giraffe

The Giraffe were just lazing in the sun

It was so cool to just ride right up to them

We even saw a blacked backed Jackal

Dorothy, being a good German, brought a proper snack for the end!

We had a great ride, but nothing beats having your own horse so that you know all of his buttons!  Miss you Meeko!  I don't think Meek would have done so well riding with the zebra though.

Trevor had exams this past week.  Glad that is over!  But, in the middle of it all, he got to go to the US Ambassador to Kenya's house with the Jazz band to play for about 1200 people!  The ambassador had a big 4th of July celebration and invited the RVA jazz band to play.  They had a great time and I am sure "wowed" the crowd and got to eat real hamburgers!  We had a cook out with some of the Americans up at the school.  Last year, the 4th just came and went and it was just a regular working day.  So, when someone wanted to have a gathering and BBQ, I was all for it.  It is one of my favorite holidays and my whole year was messed up by not celebrating!  But, it was definitely different having to wear your fleece and warm hats.  It is the winter here and it has been cool.  I have seen the thermometer down to about 54 degrees.

Back to the Ambassador:  We were shocked last week when he announced his resignation.  It was something to do with "differences in leadership style and priorities."  Scott Gration was Jim's last boss in Stuttgart, Germany.  He is a good man and has ties to RVA and Bethany Kids.  We will be sad to see him and his wife go.  Also, the seniors have been invited to his house for the last 2 years for their end of the year celebration.  I am sure that will come to an end too!


Last week, RVA held a baptism during church.   They have a baptismal out back in an amphitheater.  Nine kids dedicated their lives to following Christ.  It was inspiring to listen to them.  But, it was very different to have the baboons fighting in the background!  There have been many baboons that come through Kijabe lately looking for food from the trash bins.  They apparently wanted the same thing because we heard a huge fight going on.   Life here does bring some surprises!

We are still moving forward on the Sanitation project and we may even have some money next week!  The design should be done in about 2 weeks and we can actually get started digging trenches to bury pipes.  I have been sitting in front of my computer for several days working on the project plan (oh Joy!).

We are almost to the point of picking a contractor for the Pediatric Wing.  We have a meeting on Monday with the Quantity Surveyor and the Architect to sort things out.  We should be able to contact the 2-3 contractors that we are zooming in on and talk to them too late next week.  It will be exciting to actually set a contract with someone and start moving with timelines and cost schedules!  As they say here, Pole-Pole (po-lay, po-lay) (Slowly) things get done!  The problem is that we are coming to a head here just as Jim and I (and the kids of course) are heading to MI for a break!  We leave in 2 weeks and that is when the sanitation project and the contractor hiring will be in the thick of things.  Timing is not so good right now.  But, I figured that I got my tickets first (back in Feb) so we get to leave!

The kids finish school this coming week.  They are so excited to be done.  Then we have 1 week of quiet (because Timothy and Sallie are going to camp) and then we pack up minimal things to head to Italy then Michigan.  We will all be ready to soak up some warmth!

Have a great week and we pray that you are standing in God's Grace! (New book by Harry Kraus, Breathing Grace).

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Crowd Funding

Hello All,
We have had another good week thank God!  Can't believe there are only 3 weeks left before we head home for a visit.  The seniors at the school are getting pretty anxious and restless as seniors do!  This coming week will be finals week and then the last one will be the typical nothing week.  Trevor had a big paper due yesterday that he has been working on for the whole term.  Glad that is over!

Many people are leaving at the end of the term either for good or for a year or so.  But, with all the commotion going on, it is hard to find proper time to stop and visit with these people and say goodbye.  We had a pot luck dinner last night to do just such a thing.  We are losing our radiologist that came here 2 years ago.  He and his wife are very nice people and they live in Waterloo Canada, near Michigan, so at least we will get to see them again.  Joshua Tjong was the person responsible for getting the CT Scanner project going.  He had found a used one and some people to donate to the cause and got the whole thing started.  There were many bumps along the way and it is still not operational (we are waiting on a piece of electrical gear), but as people here say, "In a years time from now we will have an operational CT and no one (except Jim) will remember that we were late by 6 months or so!"  They don't really say the "but Jim" part, but I do.  We will miss the Tjongs.  One good note out of it though, looks like we will be babysitting the dog that they are babysitting until the real owners come back in Jan or so. Here is a picture of the Tjongs from the potluck last night:

Felicia and Joshua Tjong

Here are a few other pictures from the get together (only because my mother demands that I add pictures - even if they are not great ones!)

The Teenage section

Good friends - Sue Bird, Tom Bouve and Thomas Renner

Sallie and her friend Miller

Have you ever heard of "Crowd Funding?"  I guess it is the wave of the future for small start ups and other organizations looking to raise money. It is using the social media aspect of our lives to reach lots of people and raise needy funds. I guess Social Media is even an educational degree you can get now days!  There is a pediatrician here that just raised over $6000 for some CPAP machines that are needed to be able to ventilate the new borns!  They put out a call on their blog and within 24 hours had enough money for not just one (which was what they wanted $2000) but 3 machines!  You can visit their blog and read about it at www.steeres.com  We have also seen this at work but would not have had the same name for it.  We put out the call last year to help Yvonne with her school fees and within a few days we had enough money to get her started and continue for 3 years!  And, when and orphanage in Naivasha needed a new cow, we had a donor very quickly.  I have seen that there are many people in the west that have extra money and want to donate, but have trouble finding the cause and the assurity that it is worthy or legitimate.  We are going to try a Crowd Funding campaign with the Sanitation Project through the doctors and other missionaries at the hospital.  We are moving forward with the project, but funds are a problem.  They have some money, but not all to complete it.  It will be interesting to see how that turns out!  We (the sanitation project team) took a long walk this week down the valley to see the out flow of our sanitation (or lack there of) system.  We did not see any snakes, Mungu Asante (Thank God!) but we did find that things are running amuk down there!  It was good to walk it with the whole team so that we are all on board with the why and some of the how of getting it fixed.

I mentioned earlier that we are going to babysit Pepper the dog for a while.  We are already babysitting another named Toby.  He is a great dog and we enjoy having him around.  This kind of things happens a lot around here as people come and go all the time.  We have decided that babysitting needy dogs is better then having one of our own!  This way, we get a variety!  Here is a picture of Timothy and Toby:

Timothy and Toby Dog

Last week, the Titchies (elementry school) had a talent night.  Timothy's whole class did a song and dance presentation.  If you would like to see it, you can go to this link at you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EimueQ9jhZM
He and his friend also did the song "There's a hole in my bucket, Dear Liza, Liza" and it was great!  Jim has a video of that one too, but it is not on you tube yet.  Timothy has a wonderful voice that he is just discovering.

We were reading in Luke this week about the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27).  It seems that when your relationship is right with God, and he has given you so much, that you need to do something with what he has given you and not just sit around with it in your own world or because you are afraid.  This theme has kept coming up with me in the last few months.  Looks like I need to get up and do something for God!

Thanks so much for all you do!  We love you all and can't wait to see those of you who are in Michigan this summer.

In His Hands,
Jullie T and the rest of the family:

Timothy, Jim, Trevor, Jullie and Sallie

The Joy of Leftovers!

Hello All,

Hurray for leftovers!!  Remember I wrote a few weeks ago about the Sophomore restaurant that we put on?  Well, we had one of the sponsors of the class that was in the states till early June bring back banana peppers for the salad bar and one pizza.  But, in the end, there were some left over!  The day after cleanup revealed a box with 6 jars in it!  We were overjoyed when they were offered for sale at their $1.60 Wal-Mart price.  We have actually been searching for these for a while here and you just can't find them.  I have some sun-dried tomatoes and the combination of the 2 on a pizza is to die for!  So, for the last 2 Fridays, we have had a sun-dried tomato and pepperoncino (banana pepper) pizza.  Try it sometime and you will be pleased.  Oh, the joy of leftovers! 

We also were down to our last 1/2 bag of chocolate chips yesterday when the man coming for dinner brought a small gift of a bag!  God's timing even in chocolate chip delivery is amazing!  We should have enough to last the 1 more month before we head home.

Last night, we had 2 extra kids, our Masi friend and a Dr. friend over for pizza.  The Dr. friend is a neurosurgeon that had just finished performing a surgery that has never been done in Kenya before.  These men and women that come here to serve this mission hospital are amazing, not only in their willingness to serve but also in their skills.  Jim and I feel like round blocks trying to fit into a square hole when we are with them all at gatherings.  But, there is a place for all of us and hopefully, we are making things better for them to be able to do their jobs.

Jim took a hike up to the eMI spring this week.  It is one of our sources of water.  This is the one that was gone for a while because of the landslides taking out portions of the piping.  They repaired the sections that were broken, but you can see in the pictures how challenging it is.  And, due to the deforestation that continues, the ground is terribly unstable.  The team is considering options to protect the piping from vandalism and landslides, but it is a challenge. 

People will go up there at night and cut out sections of the piping in order to sell it.  It is hard to judge these people because they are not stealing to become rich, they are stealing to feed their family for the day.  We had a conversation about this earlier this week thinking about how much theft there is here. But, on that note, we think we are safer here than our family back in Michigan.  Jim read a news story this week about Flint being the number one city in the country for crime rate!  And Detroit was a close number 2.  So, we are worried about you all being there.  Please come to Kenya and be safe!

We had a meeting this past week to open the bids from the seven contractors for the Pediatric wing.  It was very exciting to actually see the numbers.  We had 6 in hand, and all were higher than the estimate we got from the Quantity Surveyor.  Then, one came in late, and was the lowest and slightly under the estimate!  This is a problem as the process for opening bids is very formal and above the table for all involved.  Corruption here is a common thing, so the process is very rigid to keep it above board as it should be.  But, the QS is going to go through all the information in the next 2 weeks and digest it all so that we can actually negotiate with people.  By the middle of July we should have a contractor selected.  That will be a huge step in the process for us!

Timothy has talent night tonight.  He is going to sing "There's a hole in my Bucket.." with a friend.  It should be very amusing.

Please continue to pray for our sanitation project.  It is at the top of the list right now and we are working hard to get things lined up.  I have been studying and using Microsoft Project to map out the process.  Jim actually brought a book about the program with him, so I at least have a resource to go to. It has actually been fun!  Next year, Trevor's class has a big event that they have to put on in February and we will be planning it from September on.  I think I will be able to use this program to get us organized!

I was talking with a Kenyan friend this week and he wants to get a soccer league started with the local kids.  He was having trouble figuring out what to do to get started.  I think he talked to the right person!  Looks like I might get my hands involved in starting something for the local children.  I haven't told Jim yet, so after he reads this I am sure he will want to talk about how little time I have to do things like that - O well!

Take Care and Thank you again for all you do for us!  We are privileged to have you all as supporters!

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Faith - Work Required - Huh??

Hello All,
We have had another great week! That is 2 in a row with actual good outcomes.

Sophomore restaurant:  Last Saturday, we were finished serving over 200 people and all cleaned up by about 10:30 that night!  We thought we would be there till 1 in the morning, so we were very happy.  The kids were great and did all their jobs wonderfully.  Some have realized that they never want to work in a restaurant.  The salad bar girl was in a panic most of the night and vowed to never work in the food service industry!  It was very funny.  Here are a few pictures:

The main dining hall

The fountain

Us serving up pies at a frantic pace

More Pies!

At another venue, we set up something for the little guys, serving bread sticks and marinara sauce with coke floats.  The kids were very happy!

The little guys were a wild mob and that was Jim's area!

At the end of the day, most people were pleased with the food and the service.  There were some issues, like the servers that were serving pizza, would go to their friends first and forget the adults sitting toward the back!  Lesson learned; brief the kids better and keep a better eye on them!

Something funny happened with Thursday night's dinner:  I was making pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) using Nonna's recipe (from LaMaddelena).  We were so busy that day dealing with 2 important issues that, after dinner was eaten, I was cleaning and found the bag of pasta that I was going to use in the pasta e fagioli!  So, it was bean soup instead.  Just goes to show that when you get old, you forget things!

At the ladies bible study, we have been going through David Platt's series on Faith.  You can access the material at:
http://www.radical.net/media/series/series_list/?id=59
He is very challenging.  We are looking at the book of James.  James talks about having faith but doing deeds along with it.  What?  Romans 3:28 says, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."  and in James 2:24 it says, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."  Being saved in Christ is not a matter of doing things to get you there.  It is a free gift.  But, (here comes the hard part) once you get there, James is saying that you should work for His sake.  James 2:14-17
14 Dear brothers, what's the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren't proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? 15 If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing, 16 and you say to him, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty," and then don't give him clothes or food, what good does that do?
17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn't show itself by good works is no faith at all-it is dead and useless.
We have had some great discussions about this topic, but it really convicts us that we can't hide under the wing of God's mercy.  We can rest there, but there are things that need to be done and sometimes they are not so easy.  Moving out of your comfort zone to get those things done for Him is not always easy, but there is joy on the other side.  We watched a short video this past week called, "Mama Heidi."  It is about a family's missionary journey to Mozambique.  You can access their web site at: http://www.irismin.org/
It just struck us as awesome people doing an amazing work.

We are still moving forward with the sanitation project.  Things have happened this week (slowly) but none the less, have happened.  Jim and I are going to have established roles in the process that will actually allow us to have a say and enforce it.  The Engineering and Facilities Department here is doing a great job and we are all going to work together on this thing to get a properly working sewage system.  Have you ever know someone who gets so excited about sewage?!

Here is a picture of Sallie and her friend Janelle.  They are both ADHD and so much fun to have around together!

Thanks so much for all of your support.  We will be heading home in Aug for a short visit and will be happy to see as many people as we can.  We will also be sending a letter in July or so explaining our situation and asking for support (the money kind) so that we can remain to finish the project.  We will need only about $20,000 for the next 2 years, but that is still daunting enough that we are putting that one in God's Hands!

In His Hands,
Jullie T.