Poaching Rhino - first hand look

Hello All,
What a great week!  The kids had a day off last Monday for mid term and Jim and I had a get away in Nakuru.  We came back to the house on Sunday and they were all still here and the house was standing!  

Trevor's camping trip was good but wet.  They got rained on during the night on Saturday but he slept through it I was told in a puddle from the leaking tent!  Timothy camped under the stars and also got wet.  They ran to a friend's house and were able to sleep somewhere there.  We had rain during the night and I guess that is when the poachers entered the national park we were staying in.  We saw this when we were driving out the next morning.

If you look, you will see that it is a rhino with the horn missing.  The hyena were around it but the KWS people were nearby with guns.  When we came back about an hour later, the carcass was gone.  We assume they had loaded it on a truck and hauled it away.  It is very sad.  Kenya has lost many rhino in the past few years to poaching.  Some of the rhino are in national parks and private game reserves designed specifically for protecting the rhino.  It is unfathomable to me that people would pay so much for the horn for reasons that are not even grounded in truism.

Here are a few more pictures from our drive in the park:

Zebra always have their butts to you!

Bush buck running

hyena

Buffalo with a bird

The Art Center up at RVA is pouring the second floor concrete as I write.  We are very excited to be at this point.  We are about 6 months behind on this project so it will probably not be done by the time we leave in July.  Here is a picture from up top:

Jim has had a good week on the BK project.  We are moving ahead with color choices.  We chose green for the roof and are working on the PVC vinyl sheeting and terrazzo inside.  This is the fun part!

The Upendo village project is moving at lighting speed!  They are working on interiors now and should be finished ahead of schedule.  They were shooting for the first week of June but it now looks like May.  This one is looking pretty!

We had the privilege of attending the annual Senior Junior Banquet last night at RVA.  It is an event put on by the Junior class for the Senior class.  Since I am a sponsor of the class, we were invited to attend.  The theme was Alice in Wonderland, and the kids did an amazing job.  It is like a dinner theater since RVA does not approve dancing.  The play was amazing.  The talent in all of these classes never ceases to amaze me!  Here are a few pictures.  I think we clean up pretty well!

Trevor and his date Michelle

Jim and I

The setting

Getting ready

The four of us

Sure hope you have a good week.  We have our last Senior store next week end (and the crowd cheers)!  Can't believe that it is almost March.  Hopefully that will mean that the weather is warming a bit in Michigan!

In His Hands,
Jullie T

Joy in the Worship!

Hello All,
We have had a busy but great week.  Mid Term started yesterday.  The kids were happy to get out of school early and they have Monday off.  Camping trips abound for everyone but Sallie!  Trevor is off with some Seniors camping in Naivasha, Timothy camped with his friend up at RVA under the stars with Raman noodles, and Jim and I are "camping" at a lodge in Nakuru.   I say camping, but our style of camping is furnished with a bed and dinner is supplied!  It is just nice to get away for a little bit.  Sallie was not forgotten!  She hung out with other "orphans" of the banquet preparations and they had a blast!

The Bethany kids project is doing well, but they uncovered a serious problem.  The floor in the basement had cracked.  They dug up a portion to see what the problem was.  Turned out that the hardcore (compacted) underneath had sunk in about 10 inches!  Here is a picture:

This large space is where the hardcore dropped.

Here are some more pictures of Bethany Kids:

So for the basement, they have to hack it up to where the foundation wall is located.  We will see what it looks like there, but it should be good at that point.  But the fill they will have to redo and reset the floor on top.  What a mess!

RVA Art Center:  I don't have a picture right now, but things are looking good for us.  The first floor deck in going to be poured probably next week.  They had to tear this down at the end of Dec and rebuild it.  But now it is straight and going well.  The plumber and electrician are up there now getting all of their support items in.  When they are ready, we should be able to pour the concrete.  That will be exciting!  Only one more floor to go after that!

Esther's house is also going well.  We hired a fundi (expert) to come and build the roof and add doors and windows.  

He thinks he will be done by the end of next week!  It will be nice for them to be able to move in here.

Timothy got a 97 on a paper this past week!  He was very excited about this because the night before it was due, he realized that he had misinterpreted the assignment!  He stayed up till 10:30 working 3.5 hours on it to get it in line with what was required.  It turned out great and he should be very proud of it!

Gratitude:  The pastor preached last week about being grateful for God's gift.  Luke 17:11-19 talks about the lepers:

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"  19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." 

NIV

So, only one came back and thanked Jesus, recognizing that God did this for him. Dependency: We need to recognize our need for Grace.  Leprosy is a terrible disease.  This man was cured and saw the wonderful thing that was done for him.  Like leprosy, sin distances us from society. We need to see that we are dependent on God's grace.

Value:  At what cost is it?  There is a story out of WWII where 1 man saved 18 others by throwing himself on a grenade.  He sacrificed himself.  Three of the saved man recognized the value in what he did.  When they got home, they would come every year to take care of the man's widow.  They fixed the house, provided for her financially and did what ever else she needed done.  They were grateful and acted on the fact that they saw the value in what was done for them.  Sometimes people don't recognize the value in what was done.  We see it as an entitlement, something we deserve.  It is not so.  We need to see the value of the cost and be grateful.

Joy:  We need to find the joy in it all!  My life has been blessed by God's grace (even in the suffering).  True worship happens when your soul reaches past the gift and it is not just about what you have received.  We pray constantly for what we need.  God delights in filling these needs, but He created us to find the greatest value in Him!

We need to:

1.  Recognize our dependency

2. See the value

3.  Find the joy!

Hope you have a great week.  We have banquet next week.  The senior class does not have to do any of the work this time, we just get to go!  What a joy.  This time last year we were working hard on the set and food and all sorts of things to make it happen.  Oh the privileges of being a senior parent!

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

Esther gets a Roof!

Hello All,
We have had a pretty good week here.  It has been raining quite a bit.  We have never seen it rain in February before.  Not sure if that means it will be a really long rainy season or it will rain now and be finished?  The weather is a bit crazy everywhere so I am told.  

I had a good trip to Nairobi this morning with 5 outstanding students!  They have all applied to Princeton and had interviews.  

We had an uneventful trip which was very nice.  Last weekend, the embassy put out warnings for the malls, but this weekend it was quiet.  The interviewer was gracious and I hope they all made a good impression.  Time will tell.

The Bethany Kids wing is moving along.  The "Interior design committee" is at work and we are starting to get to the fun part!  Makes you nervous that it will all come together, but hopefully with some help of some great ladies, we will choose wisely!

I have been working on septic plans this past week.  RVA needs a maintenance plan in place and that is where I have been spending my time.  There is a pit out in the forest where the exhauster truck will take the "stuff."  I went out there to measure it.  I hadn't been there in 2 years, but was able to remember the way!  Here is a picture:

Not very glamorous but someone has to do it!

Our Upendo Village project could use some prayer.  The building is going well, and we are getting the construction committee back together, but there is some tension.  The meeting was cancelled this week, and not sure when the next one will be.  The sisters out there are wonderful and we just need to pray that this will resolve itself.

We found a fundi (expert) to put the roof, doors and windows on Esther's house.  She is the lady we helped put through catering school.  He will get started this coming week and should have it done in a few weeks!  This will be great for them.  The mud hut that they live in now is starting to crumble.  The termites are eating the wooden parts, and it is leaking a bunch.  What we can do will not complete the house - it still will need plaster and electricity and some plumbing, but they should be able to get in and be out of the weather.  

Sallie has been watching short TV shows on her phone!  Not having a TV, she has been amazed at what she can get on youtube.  She has been into Master Chef Jr.  It has young kids competing to make the best, most presentable food.  She made and plated lava cakes with fresh raspberries last week.  They were really good but we think we have to do it again because the "lava" part was a bit too done.  We have been blessed 3 times in the last 2 weeks to be near a raspberry farm that has too many berries!  They package and ship about 1 ton a day to the UK, but when the berries are too red, they don't qualify - so we and I am sure others - get them.  One of the staff goes over there and gets big rubber made buckets full and we all run when he gets back with any kind of container.  My construction partner even used his hard hat the other day!  Wish I had a picture!

But this was very good.  We have been making raspberry lime aid too.  Life is pretty good!

We are making some plans about the summer.  It is really hard to "see" past leaving day (July 22), but it has to be done.  Jim was able to get tickets for us to go to Arizona to visit Mom right after we get home using our sky miles!  We will go for a week and hopefully it will be some rest and we can go visit the canyon, although I think my Mom has quite a few things on her "honey do" list!

I will end here with a few random pictures.  Hope you have a great week.  Jim and I are heading to Nakuru (alone) next week end as a birthday celebration for me.  It is a game park, but we may not even going game driving.  We just want to get away and have some down time!  I will post if I can hook up but we may not have internet.  Pole sana (very sorry)!

The scarves we are buying for the graduating class

Picture from my front yard

Pizza from Friday - Looks good huh?

These are apple mangoes - some of the best!

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

God is not safe - What?

Hello All,
We have had an amazing week - both with the weather and work and school.  Timothy turned 13 a week ago Thurs.  What kid would be happy with Nutella and Olives for a gift?

Timothy with Nutella and Olives!

I also had a birthday this past week.  It was the big "5-0"!  Monday did not feel any different than Tuesday but it sure is weird to say that I am in my 50's.  Jim had a surprise gathering that evening with 6 cakes, 3 tubs of ice cream and lots of friends.  It was so nice to have everybody here and celebrate this momentous occasion with me!

4 of the 6 cakes

Lots of people!

Rose who made the cakes.

I also went to a lady's retreat last week end.  It was great to get away for just a bit and hear the struggles of other missionaries and just be out of the normal routine.  The speaker at one point talked about God's rule book.  We have rules in life, that is a given.  Sometimes these rules weigh you down and are a burden.  Remember back to when you were in High School?  The rules that your parents put on you felt so heavy.  Sometimes we think of the Bible as a rule book.  Some think that God just wants us to follow the rules and is standing there to clunk us on the head when we break them!  Not so.  The Bible is a love letter.  God gives us boundaries because he wants the best for us.  He is our father that catches us in the deep end of the pool when we jump in for the first time.  God is safe?  Not at all.  Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when Susan asks if Aslan is safe.  "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?  Who said anything about safe?  'Course he isn't safe.  But he's good.  He's the King I tell you.   
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

We live in safe houses, in pretty quiet neighborhoods with good families (for the most part)!  But the world is not safe.  It is made clear when you see evil in the world and you live in a place like this.  In the world there is evil everywhere.  We are in danger.  But, God is with us and He will carry us. 1 Cor 16:14 says, "Everything you do should be done in love."  We can only control ourselves; our response to situations and our own actions.  It is good to know that the God of the universe is with us always and we can show his love in the world filled with evil.

The project at Upendo village is going well.  We have a meeting there next week and we think they are just a bit a head of schedule!  This means that they should finish sometime in May.  Wow!  That would be a first for us - having a project finish before the deadline!

This is the front portico with a mahogany slat ceiling and colored stones

The Bethany Kids project is also going well.  Their new timeline has them finishing up in May.  That is probably going to slip, but maybe June??

Picture of the top floor going in

The TB clinic is finally moving along too.  It is a metal structure.  We don't have much to do with this one now except I had a hand in designing it.  What fun!

Trevor did his Banquet asking this week. This is a big deal here on campus!  All the boys pre-determine who they will ask and then have a few weeks to come up with something unique and totally special for the girl in the way of asking.  Banquet will be on Feb 21st, but he was so glad to have it over and she said "Yes!"  He wrote a jazz score, sang a song and had chocolate, raspberry lime-aid and flowers - How could she not say "Yes?"  I was specifically not invited (hence no pictures), but another teacher said that it was the best he has ever seen!  That means a lot because he has been here a long time.  So proud of that boy!  He has an interview for Princeton next week in Nairobi with 4 other RVA students.  You can pray for that one!

Not sure if I posted this picture, but this is the meat market where I go just before every store to buy chicken.  My friend who came with me says this is a very clean market compared to those in Burundi!

City Market

Jim took this picture of a pretty moth

 Hope you all have a great week.  The weather is amazing here right now.  We got a bit of rain about 2 weeks ago so everything is green and the sun is shining and about 80 every afternoon.  Love you all and for those in the cold places, keep warm and read a good book!

In His Hands,

Jullie T.