This is going to be a picture filled post. Hope that is OK with you. We had a lovely time in the Abedares, but it was sure weird not to have Trevor with us. It was a preview of how things will be with us when he goes away to school.
First I want to explain the title. Jim drove a friend's brother home the other day after a stay in the hospital. It was a drive about 20 minutes up very bad roads but this man has MS (we think) and is in very bad shape. He has been immobile for quite some time and was in the hospital due to bed sores. Pastor Samuel (our friend) is his brother. He lives with his parents and his sister cares for him. Pst Samuel really is the bread winner for all of them and more. He has a job at the hospital so he supports not only his wife and 3 kids, but most of his extended family. His sick brother also requires a special food (liquid) that is very expensive. And, you have to realize, that even though Pst Samuel has a job, he only makes about $120 a month. This is why we have so many people coming to us to help with school fees and other needs. So, that tells his situation but here is what Jim experienced: He drove them all home and on the way he said he met just about every African Friend he has in Kijabe! It was like a drive through his life here! He would drive a ways and see someone and you have to stop and greet them! Greetings are the first and most important thing. Sometime they had room and he would give a ride and drop them off then see someone else. At one point one of these friends said, "Bwana, you are very blessed! You have so many friends and you know everyone!" When they dropped off Samuel's brother, the parents were so very grateful. Jim is probably the only person that they know who has a car. It humbles us to no end to think about so many Africans in the same situation. We do what we can and it looks like we are affecting some people. It is just hard when you can only do so much. And it is not really about money. It is time and effort to help people everyday. Please pray for all of these friends of ours. That we may touch them in a Godly way.
We had such a good time in the Abedares and in Naivasha the week before just getting away to the wilderness. I am going to post a bunch of pictures below and let you see the beauty of this place:
The waterfalls are amazing!
View from our porch
Leopard print about 2km from our cabin!
Sallie and Eeyore
Jullie and the kids across the valley
Nathan, Sallie Aaron and Timothy in a tree
Us (without Trevor)
a very large mushroom - so perfect!
Sykes monkey
Playing by candlelight
the kids swimming in the collllld water
picnic spot
water buck
Family of 11 elephants - an amazing sight!
See the elephants in the distance? We stood and watched them for a while.
Mama and her baby
me and Tracy in the "kitchen"
Warthog
Our cabin
Nathan, Aaron and Timothy
We had a terrible storm last night. The water washed over the road bringing trees and everything else with it. It is amazing to think about because we are on the side of a cliff. Because of the deforestation, the water was just screaming down the hill. Here are some pictures of the damage.
The Bethany Kids Site
The main road by the Petrol station
Near RVA
The railroad on top of the bridge! (the water was flowing over the bridge!)
At the RVA main gate
Near the Matatu gate
The Tunnel is blocked (this is one of the footpath areas above RVA)
So, as you can see it is pretty bad. We are hoping that our water supply is holding out because we think some of the pipes have been washed away. People are still assessing the damage.
I am going to finish this post today as there are many things going on here. There is a funeral going on tomorrow for a missionary who died recently from a rapid, unknown problem. She was in her late forties or early fifties and her family is just reeling.
Please pray for us with the storm damage and how this will affect the building projects, but mostly the people.
In His Hands,
Jullie T.
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