Another Birthday

Our BABY is four!  We decided to take a quiet day at the pool to celebrate this one.

 Good thing Meme's package arrived with a stylin' new swimsuit!  Went perfectly with the awesome red lipstick Hunter bought her.

 One chocolate cheesecake (which was really a treat for mama), one giant candle and 3 sparklers later and we had ourselves a party!

 Add a backpack of the Twelve Dancing Princesses Barbie dolls and life couldn't get much better.  

 Except for Hunter who got her present from Mr. Craig...her first real scuba diving lesson!

 She was of course a natural...having been Snooba-ing with daddy for a long time.

 They spent nearly an hour going round and round, up and down.  

Masks on and off.  Regulator in and out.

 We are so thankful for our precious three girls and every year we have had them!  Thank you LORD!

Eight Years Old!

Hunter finished another year of life and decided to celebrate in an Under The Sea way!

 She made the invitations almost completely by herself.

 I am back on my game as far as cakes are concerned!  I feel I have fallen short for many birthdays in a row...so this cake got a whole day of my life!  Ok, the octopus on the cake did.

 Hunter chose to be a jellyfish...

 Avery a dolphin...

 And Braelyn...a starfish!

 That's what an island birthday entails: home-made everything!

 Here's the spread with the beauty!

 The festivities and the friends:

The Scuba Dive Crew even jumped in.

 Everyone was sad to see the party end.  Even Occy.

Happy Birthday my beautiful Hunter!

Halloween Island Style

Halloween came and since there aren't many houses that you can knock on a door here and expect to get some candy...we improvised. The girls said they wanted to dress up and do something "scary".

Hunter was a butterfly princess, Braelyn was a vampire princess and Avery a peacock princess.

When it got dark out, Justin took Hunter and Avery for some spooky/scary night snorkeling in search of octopus, squid and other scary sea creatures. 

 Scorpion Fish

 Cuddlefish

 Avery caught her first octopus all by herself. Did a wonderful job.

 Blue spotted stingray

Star pufferfish

Squid  

Here are Hunter and Avery with two squid that we caught and had for dinner the next day! Overall it was a fun and scary/exciting Halloween. 

Another Empty Place

Little Swalha gave up her fight this morning.  She now lies wrapped in white, beneath this clearing, tucked in a corner of her village.  At least her broken body does.  I am trying to rejoice, knowing she is dancing and running for the first time in her life...right into His arms.

 Her mama is far from rejoicing of course.  As I sat with her today, after we wept together, I was able to open my mouth with words of the One who can heal any thing and save us from everything.  I told her mama about the Son who loves her and wants her to follow Him.

 Of course, a 3 minute conversation with a woman who can not read His words herself are far from sufficient.  But I pray a seed has been planted and in His time it will be watered and tended and it will grow.

 Little Sister Aminia will be eligible for testing next month for the same deadly virus that took Swalha.  Pray with me that she is clear.  That she will have the chance to grow up strong and healthy...and one day become His child.

 It is so hard sometimes...we are working so hard, doing so much, and yet...there is so much to do.  So many who have never heard...will never hear.  Pray that He will sweep down and work in huge, miraculous ways.  That He will bring these people to Himself. 

And life always continues elsewhere...Tornado is the proud mommy of ten beautiful chirpy chicks.  Thank you Lord for new life...and for the reminders of new life in You!

My Happy Place

For my fifth birthday I received a small, beige, plastic suitcase of sorts.  Inside were all the tools to turn an aimless four year old into a five year old with a plan.  It was a toy doctor's kit.  A dream was born.  I was going to be a nurse.  Never looked back.  When I hit 12 I realized that the world was a very, very big place and that there were places in the world that NEEDED a nurse.  A nurse who also loved the Lord.  The dream grew.  I was going to go with Him to the ends of the earth with my little doctor kit.

 What started with a Tylenol here and a blood pressure check there has grown into a twice weekly clinic on my front porch.  Mondays and Wednesdays find me sitting here, in a wobbly plastic chair with 20 or so people lined up waiting.  I listen; I try to help.  You might notice my blue bowl-o-meds (and some hand sanitizer) there beside my feet.  Add my Village Medicine book and my Swahili dictionary and I am ready to tackle the aches and pains and infections of life on this little island.

I know, some of you may be horrified that I, just an RN, am dispensing medicine.  But let me lead you to the alternative.  I drove about 4 miles today to a "nearby" clinic...up the mountain, over the rocks, through the mud pits, around the fields.  There works one man...a "nurse assistant", a midwife (2 days a week) and a small stockpile of government supplied medicines.  I checked out his logbook.  He prescribed amoxicillin and Tylenol for every single patient on the whole first page.  Except where he diagnosed pneumonia and then he gave penicillin shots instead.  Any other ailment...amoxicillin it is.

I am not complaining...he is doing the best he can.  And so am I.  I have to help somehow...to the best of my ability.  I do refer the harder things to a hospital nearly an hour away.  But otherwise, I sit on my porch and glow in being where I was always meant to be.



Good Busy

Would you believe it if I told you we've been here over 2 1/2 years?  It's true.  That means we head home to YOU for a break in about five and a half months!  In the meantime...we are staying busy...pushing ahead to try to finish this term well.

 Homeschool is hard!  What homeschool mom hasn't admitted that I want to know.  Hunter is doing much better this year at being able to move forward with her lessons...when she wants to.  Avery is doing well also, though sitting still is a struggle, as well as writing...just like her sister.  I have been able to print out a couple workpage books for Braelyn to keep her busy for at least a little while, but juggling all three keeps me busy every morning.

 Justin is able to spend his mornings at the office with his students and everyone else that pops in.  Ginger has jumped right in and is teaching at the Upper School and working with the teachers at the Lower School.  Afternoons find us alternately teaching at Pamoja Adult Ed Center and me working a front porch clinic, seeing about 20 patients every Monday and Wednesday.

 Clinic days I can love...when the girls play nicely and I've already started dinner.  I see lots of back pain and head aches and skin infections and asthma and colds.  It's nice to be able to offer a small relief from these daily bothers.  Other things are more serious and then I work with a doctor or refer to a hospital, though my faith in that is limited. 

 As you can see in the previous blog, I did lose a patient for the first time.  I've known him and have helped care for him for months and it was truly heartbreaking.  Pray with me that he understood and believed the truth of the Book he read, and that his family might come to do so also. 

 Of course, we enjoy our weekends when we are free!  These are the times we can get away from the village and the needs and the demands and rejuvenate our souls.  For some of us, that involves a book and a place to lay down to read it.  Others of us prefer a little more strenuous rest time.

And let's not forget the real reason we are here!  These tiny souls are my heart's delight.  Samir on the left is 7 months or so, lives next door and loves to nap on my chest almost as much as I love him to.  15 month old Justin Zahor is Omar's second to last born

(now that his second wife refused to be outdone by his first in the childbearing department).  He has the cutest smile...and is into everything...as he should be I guess. 

 

Please pray for us as we finish this first leg of the race.  Pray we endure, press on, be bold, and shine like stars in the heavens so that they will glorify HIM!  Pray for the hearts here, large and small, that they would long for more than they have...that they would have dreams of HIM, and seek HIM, and find HIM.



The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...blessed be the name of the Lord.

Yesterday evening our mama chicken died.  This morning mama turkey has wandered around, calling, calling, calling.  My heart clenches in understanding and sadness...yesterday morning Suleiman died.

You may have seen him before.  He came to me in the spring with a couple-year-old tumor in his lymph nodes.  I took him to the hospital and got him started on TB meds (the strongest stuff we have here) and he was up walking and smiling and laughing a month or two ago.  But over the last few months he's steadily declined until he finally gave in yesterday morning.

My heart aches with the knowledge of the depth of this loss.  I brought him and his father the Book several months back and the doctor said he read it like crazy.  But was it enough?  I won't know this side of heaven.  Did I do enough?  Should I, could I have done more?  It hurts.

I sat with the family a bit last night...they say people come and sit for 3 days following a death.  They sat and talked and consoled each other.  No one cried but me.  Death is such a part of life here, and they seem to accept it a lot better.  Admirable.  As we walked home afterwards, my neighbor Mariam and I talked about how we can't accept the good from God and not the bad.  We accept both and continue to say He is good.  He loves the children...the chickens...so much more than we even do. 

Pray with me that this knowledge of God's goodness and acceptance of His plan will somehow translate into a seeking of His way.  Their peace in Suleiman's death is my distress over it.  Please don't stop loving them through your prayers.

September = School

And lots of it!  Homeschool is nearing the end of the third week and going well!  Hunter is cheerfully marching away and needing just a little direction here and re-direction there.  Yesterday, when faced with writing her every Wednesday rough draft, she started to pout.  But THEN!  She said, "Hey!  If I write this perfectly today I don't have to re-write it on Friday!"  YES!  So we spent a little extra time making her story spectacular from the start and we were BOTH pleased!

 "Avery is doing well also. There's a lot of material to wade through for Kindergarten, but we will get the hang of it. 

 Braelyn is being a trooper. It's hard being left on your own for hours at a time. Well, it's hard for a 3 year old. Sounds like a dream to me! But I got a workbook made up for her to draw and color and trace in. Today was her first day and it was awesome! 

Speaking of awesome, Ginger has arrived!  This dear friend visited us over 2 years ago and fell in love with the work and the island.  She returned this spring but has been doing language school on Big Island, finally arriving here on Sunday.  Oh how we rejoiced!  She plans to teach... perhaps in our Adult/Teen Education Center, perhaps in the local schools.  We are also praising Him that another addition to our island arrived almost simultaneously...a female Peace Corp Worker!  This is a surprise and a delight as Ginger will have a friend not encumbered by school time and bed time and husband time. 

We finished 2 days of registration for English classes and will begin the first lesson class today at 2pm.  Justin will start the next computer class on Monday also.  It's going to be a busy fall!  But we are excited to pour our hearts and lives out onto this island.

Thanks for your prayers and love! 

Mombasa again

We're back in Kenya!  We found the fasting month of Ramadan to be an exceedingly desirable time to LEAVE our Little Island, so we made our plans.

 But before I get to that, check out my smart 3 1/2 year old writing her name all by herself.  If only I could take credit.  I must assume Avery taught her on all those mornings when I sent the two of them off to "do school" while I taught Hunter.  Nevertheless...cool.

 So anyways, away we flew!  Yes, that's me in the (co) pilot seat, bringing us in for a safe landing.

 And what are we always delighted to find?  FRIENDS!  Our first weekend found us gathered with other workers with over 20 children among us.  AWESOME.

 And let's not fail to be thankful for a wonderful sushi dinner for my birthday!  And the friends to spend it with.

 Oh that they would always walk this way!

 We also got to go to church.  What a blessing...even if it was in Swahili. 

 That's Sweet Ruth there on the right, my friend from years ago when we lived here.  Her and her husband started this church in April.  Pray for them as they lead these people.

 I was invited to speak this last Sunday about the Great Work we have been commanded to do in all the world.  It was so exciting to be able to speak to a church in its infancy about choosing now Who they would follow and how that should look.  Crazy to be standing on a dirt floor under a tin roof talking about being wise with their money!  I pray we all would examine ourselves in light of the Great Call.

Less exciting was the almost 2 1/2 hour wait until I was called up to speak.  It was harder on some of us than others.  But finished. 

 

Oh!  I almost forgot, the REAL reason we came was so Justin could do some language study.  It's going great.  Pray for an open mind and a quick tongue for him, and patience for me and Maggie as we entertain 6 kids everyday.