Christmas Hope

Hello All,
We had a nice, fairly quiet Christmas.  Hope you did too.  It was a wonderful time to remember what Christ did for us.

The day before, we went to deliver "Christmas Hampers" as the school calls them.  They are gifts of essential items like Ugali (corn based flour), sugar, tea, rice, beans, matches, soap, kusuku (oil), etc.  We went to 6 homes about 6 kilometers away.  Since the night before it had rained, it was pretty treacherous getting to all the homes.  The mud here gets slicker than ice when it is wet.  Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

It was a humbling experience. These families were so grateful for the few items.  We try to buy extra things each time we go to the grocery store, but we give them to people that come to the door.  I think we may have to make the effort to get some of that up the hill.  I have been thinking about these families in the nights when it has been raining here.  All of these people are grandparents taking care of orphaned grand kids.  In some situations, the children had died but some the children just left.  It is a very common thing here.  It is extremely difficult for these aging parent to care for the grand kids and get them an education.  I have mentioned before that now the government pays for school up to 8th grade, but in High School it costs money.  But, it is not just about getting to school.  There are many things we take for granted about that whole process;  clothing, shoes, food.  These basic necessities come before even trying to find the money for tuition.

Please pray for their struggles.

 

We took Mom over to Lake Nakuru National Park this past Thursday.  We had a great day and saw some very cool animals.  We took a picnic lunch and grilled out on the cliff overlooking the lake.  Here are some pictures:

 

Blacked Headed Heron

 

White Fronted Bee-Eater

 

Flamingos in the Lake

 

Blacked Faced Vervet Monkeys

 

Greater Blue Eared Starling

 

Lion

 

Black Backed Jackal

 

Hoopoe

 

Mom, Jullie, Trevor, Sallie and Timothy

 

White Rhinoceros

 

 

This last Rhino spotting was an adventure!  He got on this road that was between the water bodies just in front of our car.  As he moved down the road, we followed at a distance (he was much bigger then us)!  This road was created because the lake is so high right now.  As he got further along, another car started down the road coming towards us!  He tried to turn towards us to get by, but it was too narrow and he got very nervous (us too).  He also tried to get into the water but it was too deep for him.  Finally, the cars in front backed up to where the land was next to the road and he was able to go on his way.  This whole evolution took about 25 minutes and we ended up following him for about 1 kilometer.  It was very cool being that close to a Rhino!

 

Mom leaves for home (Arizona) today.  We have had a great visit with her.  Can't believe that it has been 27 days already!

 

The kids start school next Thursday.  I love my kids, but I will be rejoicing!  The first few days of the week will be time off, but we will start gearing up for the new year.  There is so much to be done in the coming year:

• Bethany Kids Wing
• Septic system (Phase II - oxidation pits)
• ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) building
• SHAK (Spina bifida Hydrocephalus Association of Kenya) guesthouse
• New water supply tanks
• CT Scanner completion (get the bugs worked out)
• Writing procedures for the Hospital Engineering Department
• Raising funds for the Master Plan buildings
• EMI Team in June/July for Maternity wing renovation design.
• Medical Gas building and relocation
• Storage and Receiving building completion
• Possibly starting an education housing complex if the grant funds come through
• Helping an organization in Naivasha build a kitchen and dining facility.
• Putting on Banquet with Trevor's class

That is all I can think of for now.  I am sure there will be other things that come up!

 

Please pray for people around the world that live in deep poverty, not having access to clean water, nor proper shelter and food.  It is an overwhelming problem in the world that we as Americans are oblivious to.  Timothy was able to come with our group to deliver the gifts last Monday, and he really had his eyes opened.  He commented later that he was going to pray for these people.

 

Hope you have a great New Year's celebration!  We are going to be here and have chicken wings (Jim's favorite if they are hot) for his birthday that day.

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.