Can you spell 'Relax?'

Hello All,
We had a very successful week that started with some relaxation.  I wasn't even sure I could spell "relaxation" anymore!  Jim and I left right after banquet cleanup (7 hours to clean up what took a week to put up)!  We went to the Enashipai resort for 2 nights and actually got to talk to each other.  Liz stayed here and kept the kids from dying, except Trevor did get locked out one night and had to search for a place to sleep (thank you to late night dorm parents).  We ate well, slept well, played cribbage and had a cold drink - it was heaven! 
But, as I write we are back to frustrations.....  Jim is on the phone dealing with an issue from the BK wing.  The plumber came and gave the hospital 1.5 in couplings to fix our piping if it breaks.  The problem is that we don't have any 1.5 in piping!  It is all 2 in.  What??  Also, the run that they were supposed to do as a fund raiser was delayed and they waited 2 hours to start and then gave up.  It was getting hot by then and they were tired already and just couldn't go the 3 kilometers up the hill.  You just have to laugh or you will go crazy.

The BK wing:  The columns were coming up like gangbusters this week.  The contractor came up with a new excavator that is functioning and they were making good progress.  They are still behind for the main building but are planning on catching up.

 

 

The Quonset Hut:    The Quonset Hut relocation is going well now.  Jim was able to get them a method that works well to get each section up and they should be done by the end of next week with the 2/3 section.  We split it into 1/3 and 2/3 sections for different purposes.

 

Putting the sections together on the ground

 

And raising them into place.

 

The Fuel tank:  The underground container is getting finished today.  They were able to get the walls up and plastered and finish the floor this week.  This means that we will be able to get our new fuel tank delivered and filled before the Mar 4 elections.  This is good because we are needing to stock up on materials before the elections in case we have to stay put for a while.

 

before plaster

all plastered and working on the floor

 

The Sorely house project:  This is also screaming along.  The contractor is doing a great job and trying to get as much done as possible before the elections.  Tracy is a wreck, but dealing with each issue as it comes.  It is such an adventure building a house especially in another country.

 

Tracy and her contractor Dipu

The plot cleared

Slab and first course of stone

curing the slab

 

 

The HDU Project:  This High Dependency Unit in the Bethany Kids Pediatric wing (existing) was a remodel of a plain room that we finished for them back in Dec.  We just had a meeting to make sure they were happy with the results.  Here are a few pictures:

 

What it was supposed to look like

Close to finishing

 

The HDU in use

 

 

Here are a few more pictures from the Banquet last week.  It was such a blur, but I have reconciled it to the fact that it really wasn't for us, so it is OK that we couldn't enjoy it because we were so exhausted.  It is really for the Senior class.   But it was a fun experience and the kids really worked hard.  I think they learned a lot about projects, deadlines and results!

 

Trevor and his date Elizabeth -  So Handsome and Pretty!

All of the sponsors dressed up - We really do clean up OK.

 

 

Liz, our house guest, is leaving tomorrow.  We will be sad to see her go.  She has fit into our family with such ease and joy.  She has been in a gap year from undergrad to graduate school and is waiting for replies from universities.  She got one this week from Portland State!  She was so happy.  They wanted her to accept or reject by this coming Wed though, so not sure what she is going to do.  You can pray for wisdom and guidance for her as she goes to this next step in life.

 

Liz and Sallie with new puppy next door

Sallie and Liz

Liz teaching at the Kijabe Girls High School

One of the 3 classes she taught

 

Below is an excerpt from a friend's blog post.  He is a man that works up at the school (Rift Valley Academy) and is the school's college counselor.  He has written several books and this is about his latest.  He started a food program for the local schools here after seeing how the kids were laying on the grass in the afternoon with no energy due to the lack of food.  Then he started a program to provide computers in containers that are solar powered.  His latest book is being released in March and I recommend everyone pick up a copy.  He is funny and he tells about life here with such God centered view.  Here is what he writes....

We had a great run of building computer centers for several years, but when the economy collapsed, it was all we could do to continue to operate the ones we had built. We received a large gift recently which enabled us to open another one, and let me tell you, when you wonder if you will ever get to build another one, a new one is especially rewarding.

I asked the headmaster how many of the 700 students had electricity in their homes and he laughed and said `I don't have electricity in MY home. None of them do.' Less than 100 students own shoes; it is pretty grimly poor there.

So we opened this center, and a mother of a little girl came to me and she was crying. She finally got out, `I never thought my daughter would have a chance to learn how to use a computer.' I hadn't been able to say this for the longest time, so it was especially sweet to say, `There are people in America who love your daughter.'

Then she hugged me and we both cried. God is so good, and sometimes if you hang in there and don't give up, He gives you the nicest moments, especially when you have learned not to take any for granted.

Your pal,

Steve

PS. We received the covers of our book today and it looks great! If you go to Amazon, you can find A Dream So Big: http://www.amazon.com/Dream-So-Big-Unlikely-Journey/dp/0310326095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361018318&sr=8-1&keywords=a+dream+so+big

 So, Please go to amazon and get your copy.  It will be refreshing to the soul!

 

Have a great week and remember that God loves you so much no matter what.

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

Banquet - 2013 - Titanic

Hello All,
Blog post is short today, because, we've been working all week on:
Hospital Material Receiving renovation
Banquet Preps
Banquet Preps
Jim going to Tenwek Hospital for 5 days
Banquet Preps
Quonset Hut relocation
Banquet Preps
Final Banquet Preps and
going to Banquet!
Today is filled with:
tearing down the banquet (40 minutes from now)
getting away (Jim and I only!) to Naivasha to re coop!

So, we had a busy week for sure.  We are going up this morning to tear down all that we've been working on for the week and get it organized and sold!  After that, Jim and I are heading off to Naivasha to re coop and get to know one another a bit.  Liz will be here to take care of the kids - Yea!

The ceiling in the making

 A blank slate

 

Starting the ceiling covering

the grand staircase

the Balcony

working hard (organized chaos!)

 

Building the bar (or holding it up)

Trevor is the Captain of the Titanic!  He was amazing!

Trevor explaining to the audience that the designers of the ship had one fatal flaw - they did not install enough cup holders! (It was really funny)

All dressed up!

 

Jim and I at the walk up - felt like we were back in High School!

Trevor and his date, Elizabeth

Some appetizers

Trevor played in the interludes

Trevor and Elizabeth at the front of the ship - So cute! (don't tell him I said that)

 

We did do some things besides banquet preps.  I even managed to feed the kids some times.  The school has this banquet thing down so well that they know we (parents) have zero time at home, that they feed us and the family! 

 

Jim went to Tenwek Hospital to help with an EMI team that was doing master planning.  He was able to help with the aspect of experience here in Kijabe.  He was working with some old friends which was very nice.  There were 3 people from our EMI trip here to Kijabe in June of 2010. 

 

They were able to fix an automatic door that hadn't operated for 7 years!

 

Some local (happy) kids

Aerial view

Working with the septic system (can't get away from that!)

Supply water treatment

They have a hydroelectric power plant!

More supply water treatment

Pretty view!

 

 

The Quonset hut started going up this week!

 

Almost there!

The first ring connected

 

 

We are heading up to the school in just a few minutes (after drinking at least 2 cups of cappuccino) to start tearing down the set.  Trevor gets to sleep in - not sure how that happened!  Some of the kids are coming this morning and some this afternoon, but us parents need to be there all day -not fair!

 

We are still praying for our friend and his mother that I mentioned last week.  She is still in the hospital and needs lots of prayer - her name is Lele.

 

Have a great week!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T. 



 

 



 

Slave to Who??

Hello All,
We have had an over the top busy week and next week is going to be the same!  Life can sure get crazy sometimes.  I just keep thinking "this too will pass."

We had 2 EMI team visits this week.  Rex and company came to deliver our Master Plan that they started back in Oct.  The drawings were really fancy!

 

Now the plan will be to get these somehow in 3D and be able to do some fund raising.  There are 2 small projects we are moving forward on:  1. the ENT building and 2. and Emergency Room remodel.  The emergency room remodel is coming around very quickly.  We have the plan 98% done and even some of the funding came in a large chunk this week by a generous donor in Australia (Yea Aussies!).  We sat down with the main players in the Engineering and Facilities group and came up with a BQ (Bill of Quantities).  This is a list of each and every item in the project and its cost.  So, now we have a cost too.  The guys are doing a great job learning how to put projects together.

Liz, our Seattle visitor, has been teaching out at the Kijabe Girls High School.  She walks down there at 6:00 in the morning to be there between 6:30 and 7:30, which is when they have their study hall.  She is teaching them compass bearings right now and some of them are really enjoying the extra help.  It is difficult, as she is finding out, to get people to ask questions and to get feedback.  We were told by a friend that it starts in kindergarten the idea of NOT questioning the teacher because they "know it all."  So, the kids just do not ask questions freely.  Liz and I went out to the school last Saturday for 2 hours and tutored some of the girls.  Boy that was challenging!  Not knowing where the questions were going to come from, we had to relearn quickly  I had to go back and figure out what a vector was again!

Entering the school

 

But we had a good time with them and did not embarrass ourselves too much!

 

Have you ever heard of John Henry Newton?  He was the man that was a slave trader back in the mid 1700's and eventually came to Christ and changed his ways.  He wrote the hymn Amazing Grace.  I love that song.  Knowing his background, it makes me cry every time I hear it!  Here is a quote from him, "Our pleasure and our duty though opposite before, since we have seen his beauty are joined to part no more.  To see the law of Christ fulfilled to hear his pardoning voice transforms a slave into a child and duty into choice." 

 

John 8:31-32
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
NIV

In the west I am my own liberator.  I decide what truth is.  John 8 says that if we follow Jesus, we are not slaves to sin.
Rom 6:16-18
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
NIV
Freedom doesn't mean having no master.  It means having the right master.  You will serve someone, who will that be?  How do I experience the freedom in Christ?
John 8:36
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
NIV
We need to trust in His power to set us free from the inside out.
Re read the quote from John Newton:  "Our pleasure and our duty though opposite before, since we have seen his beauty are joined to part no more. To see the law of Christ fulfilled to hear his pardoning voice transforms a slave into a child and duty into choice."
Just something to think about.

Picture I took on a walk this week

 

on the same walk down by the Sorley's new house plot

 

The BK site had some issues this week.  The local workers went on a bit of a strike!  They were protesting their wages.  We think we have worked out the problems, but we have lost a little work because of it.  This contractor that we have hired to build the wing, comes from Nairobi.  They have most of their own people, but for unskilled labour, they hire locals.  They have hired 20-30 people. This gives jobs to the local community that are very much needed.  But now they are unhappy with their wages.  I think they are coming to a good compromise, but it is an issue!
They have poured 12 of the 21 or so column bases so far.  By next week we should see columns coming up!

We are working hard with the Junior class to get banquet ready.  I can't show any pictures of what we are doing yet because the whole thing is a secret until next Friday.  And I know some RVA Staff that will definitely see them!  We started yesterday at around 12:00 and worked till after 10.  We will start today again at 8:00 and work till 10.  Tomorrow is a day off and it's back to it on Monday.  Thankfully on Tuesday, classes begin and we should be pretty much done with the bulk of it.  The week will be a lot of juggling details till Friday night!  Jim is here today to help, but he goes to Tenwek Hospital on Sunday to work with an EMI team doing master planning.  He will be gone till Friday, the day we get to attend the banquet. 

Please pray for a friend of ours who's mother is in the hospital with cancer.  She was diagnosed this summer and went through radiation, but they say it is not gone and she is probably not going to live long.  This friend also lost a brother this past summer.  He is having a very difficult time.  He is a Masi attending Moffat Bible College here in Kijabe.  Pray for his mother and his family.

Please also pray for us as we tackle this coming week.  With Jim gone and banquet work to do on top of Jim's and my job, it will be a bit hectic for me.

Thanks so much to all of you for what you do.  We are so thankful to have you behind us on this journey.  It seems like 2 years has just flown by and I know the next 1 1/2 will do the same.

Have a great week!
In His Hands,
Jullie T.