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.
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