So, school is officially out for the break! The kids are very happy. They have 4 weeks and 2 days to enjoy freedom before having to get out the door at 7:30 every morning again. Hopefully, they will not drive us crazy with boredom!
Trevor got back from Zanzibar on Wednesday. He looked tan and island like. He had bought an island shirt, sunglasses and island pants. I don't have pictures this week, but he is in charge of putting together the group video, so I hope to get some next week - Pole (Sorry). He said they had a great time. The meals were good but they had to wait over an hour each (things move slowly there), they got to swim and see dolphins and they went to the spice fields and the spice market. I came away with some vanilla beans, saffron and other spices and a mango tea that is just wonderful!
Another friend went on a photography trip with some kids to the Masai Mara. She loved it and shared this photo of a leopard.
She certainly learned something about photography!
The hospital held a couples dinner last night. They have never done anything like this and are trying to do some things that will help the staff bond. It was fun and we even did the Virginia Reel with about 60 people! It was hysterical! The Kenyans really know a beat and how to sing and dance but this kind of dancing is a foreign thing and it really showed. It was a hoot! The speaker was pretty funny. He told a story about a wedding. The groom wanted 1 John 4:18 put on the top of one of the wedding cakes. It says:
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
But, when they went to cut the cake they read the passage and found that the baker had made a mistake. He went to John 4:18 (forgetting it was 1 John): This says:
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
This was quite funny in a room filled with so many married couples!
But, he did say some things that made sense. He talked about how we marry the one we did because we loved them, and we now love the one we are with because we married them. I like that. Marriage is a lot of work. We commit to something and ride the rough times as well as enjoy the good. No one is perfect and we will always find something "better" if we are looking. God gave us not the best one but the right one. The one He made for us is the right one. Many people now a days want to "try on" the person without the commitment. It is very easy in our society to return the item if we have no buy in. He also talked about how we Europeans also practice polygamy but in a different way. He was at a conference in Europe recently and a man introduced a lady as his second wife. He thought that was quite odd thinking that a European had 2 wives (but he didn't say anything, thinking that was rude). Then another man later introduced a woman as his third wife. OK, now he had to ask some questions. He did not think it was common practice especially among Christians to have more then one wife. He then realized that the Kenyans practice polygamy in parallel, as we practice it in series! Even if you divorce a person, you are still bound to them in many ways. You will always have a tie with that person, so some of us have many spouses, just in series!
I want to say "Happy Birthday" to a special friend. He is turning 60 today and I sure hope will have a great one! That is a milestone, and God has many more adventures in your path to complete. Have a great time with your family!
Bethany Kids: We had a big contractor/architect meeting this week. There were a few heated moments, but all in all it went well. The contractor is behind a bit (2 + months), and not sure how they plan on catching up. But, we are almost out of the ground with the columns and can start working on the ground floor. That's a good thing since the rains have come.
Pretty columns!
working on the form work for the ground floor
We are happy to get to this point. The new program of works has us finishing up in Mar or so of next year. Just hope they don't push it too much more as we are leaving here in July of 2014!
Timothy had a band concert this week. The elementary school does their concert for a half hour at the end of the school day. He did great! He is the only French Horn and I am very proud of him:
The Choir also sang. He has an amazing voice. In 3rd term, he is in the play and has a solo song!
I got to work on a building this week (designing on the computer). That is always fun for me, but most of the time the work is urgent and we are under the gun to produce something. This project was no different, but it was fun never the less. The hospital wants a TB/HIV/AIDS clinic outside of the main building. That in itself is a good thing, but our constraints are a bit frustrating. It will get done though and hopefully will help many people.
This little town changes when school closes. So many people go away or hibernate! There are a lot less activities and many more people (Kenyans) coming to the door with problems because of the lack of income. Please pray that we will handle it all with grace and compassion even if we don't have the funds to give out.
sunset over Kijabe
Hope you have a great week!
In His Hands,
Jullie T.
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