Africana Mama

Well, well, well... you just never know what unexpected turns your life makes on the mission field! As you may know, we are in the process of hiring new, permanent parents at the Children's Home here in Kitale. Our temporary parents' departure was intended to be April, but due to some oversight in our hiring process, and due to the fact that we are struggling to make a decision because our choices are limited, we don't have new parents to replace the temporary ones yet. One set of our current parents has agreed to stay anyway, because they are hoping to be hired on permanently. The other set, however, is past ready to go back to their home and get on with their lives. This is where I enter the picture. Tomorrow night I will move in to the Home to be "mom" to our 14 girls who live there. I am a little nervous about this venture, as are the girls, I think. So I would appreciate your prayers very much! On the other hand, this will also give me ample opportunity to "clean-up" some things administratively that need to happen before we settle into a normal routine with permanent parents. All in all, I think it will be a good experience-- at least a learning experience!

Nairobi Pics

Nairobi

Whew! It has been a while, and once again, I apologize. We were in Nairobi for a week and I only had one chance to check my email… and I’ve been meaning to get this blog updated, but I’ve been busy catching up from being out of town for so long. So anyway… Nairobi was awesome! Carrie, Kelly & I had never been before, so we were excited to go to the big city and see what life was like there. We had heard so much about it from our missionary friends here in Kitale. All the rumors were true. Nairobi is like going home to the U.S. Shopping centers, movie theaters, coffee houses, water parks, highways, stop lights and high rise buildings abound in Kenya’s largest and capitol city. These are things you take for granted on an everyday basis. These are the things we had long forgotten about.

Greg & I took the bus, “Easy Coach” from Kitale to Nairobi and Carrie & Kelly drove the truck in case we found any good deals on furniture or appliances we need. My first experience on the 3rd world bus system was not so bad. We did switch buses twice due to break downs, and drove through a big storm with fog so thick you couldn’t see anything at 80 kph passing other busses and semi trucks, but we made it to Nairobi on time, by golly!

For the first 5 days of our trip, we stayed with Larry & Judy Niemeyer, missionaries who have been in Nairobi for over 20 years and in Africa for 30 years! We had a great time getting to know them and their ministry. Their example of faithfulness was an important message for us rookies to learn. Every morning after breakfast we started the day with a devotion and prayer time together. They warmly opened their home to us with Judy’s great cooking, friendly conversation, and a place to rest, watch movies & play games. They also took us to Nairobi’s famous restaurant, The Carnivore, where we feasted on grilled meats like crocodile, ostrich, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, and lamb. Mmmmmm!

One of the main reasons we needed to go to Nairobi was to get our work permits finalized. We sent all of our documents to Nairobi with a representative from the Kenya Church of Christ in November to begin the process. Upon our arrival at the immigration office, we were told we couldn’t check on anything without a receipt for the documents that had been submitted. After tracking down the guy with the receipts, we found out that he had just submitted the final letter from the Kenya Church of Christ needed to accompany our documents the day before we arrived in Nairobi. We learned that our work permits were several more weeks away from being completed, and we were a bit frustrated with this discovery! But, TIA, as we say… This Is Africa!

We had been told that there were several places in the big city to shop where we could find imported American & European foods, so we scouted out the city for these shopping mecca’s and struck gold several times. Our most favorite place we found to hang out though, was this place called the Nairobi Java House. You may have heard of this wonderful place. It's even better than what you’ve heard. This place would give Starbucks a run for its money here in Africa! The Java House has several locations throughout Nairobi, and serves coffee & espresso drinks, tea, along with pastries and a full Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner menu. The coffee & food provided comfort reminiscent of home. We also found a business that specializes in purchasing furniture from missionaries and other foreigners leaving the country and resells them. Fortunately, they had just purchased a washer and dryer from a couple and were selling them for the best price (and actually in our budget!) we had seen yet. With the rainy season coming, we at least wanted to find a dryer, but when we found the pair for such a great deal we decided to purchase both.

The last couple days we spent in Nairobi, we moved across town to stay with Jaime & Ginger Swift and their three girls: Hannah, Autumn, & Gabby. Jaime is the Managing Director for the Nairobi office of Good News Productions International, a ministry that produces Christian media materials all over the world. The Swifts have been in Kenya for about 10 years, but have just recently moved to Nairobi within the last year. We had so much fun with them, and wished we could have stayed with their family longer. They live just down the street from the UN and the US Embassy, which was good, because we needed to take our passports into the embassy to have more pages added already! So we were able to do that while we were at their house. We also got to spend time at GNPI with Jaime and a Kenyan Christian hip-hop group who call themselves Cubanotics. These guys are on the cutting edge of ministry in Kenya, reaching out to the youth in their own country through their convicting and message filled lyrics. It was fun getting to know their hearts for God & for their people.

As much fun as Nairobi is, I must admit it was nice to come “home” to Kitale. The bus ride back was MUCH more smooth… we could actually see the road the whole way and we only used one bus! We found everything at our house and at the Children’s Home just as we had left it, which made coming home even better. I’ll write more soon about how things have been going since we’ve been home & the exciting things that God is up to! Thanks for reading…

Love,
Alita

Some more of Kisumu...

We just had such a great trip down there that I wanted to show you some more of the pictures we took...


Here's me washing the walls before they paint.


These are the staff from Ring Road painting the roof of the boys' dorm.

Here's the old roof, being taken off.


Old Front Steps...


New Front Steps!


We visited the Lakeside kids at their primary school and encouraged them in their education. Here's the group with Jared & me. We're holding up the "Tume Chill" sign, which means "we have chilled", which means "we're abstaining from sex until marriage."

Extreme Makeover: Lakeside

Just when I was beginning to question the meaning of my life in Africa, God gave me an amazing week that reminds me of why I'm here & how much I love what I'm doing!

Greg & I spend the last 4 days (Thursday-Sunday) down in Kisumu, overseeing renovations made to the AIDS orphanage, Lakeside Children's Home, and spending time with our friends and co-workers from Ring Road Orphans Day School.
The roof was replaced on the main house, the roof on the boy's dorms was repaired & re-painted, 3 new outside doors were installed, all of the rooms inside both buildings were painted , the front steps were repaired, and some other minor cosmetic repairs were made as well. We captured all of it on a video we filmed as "Extreme Makeover: Lakeside Edition." Northwest Church members, who paid for the renovations should catch the episode in coming months! We had so much fun working with the staff from Ring Road Orphans Day School, who volunteered their time to help out with the renovations. It was great getting to know the leadership of our ministries down in Kisumu better as well. I got to spend time with Mama Postina, the female staff who stays with the kids at Lakeside. She let me help out in kitchen, preparing the food for the kids' lunches as well as the workers. I am working on my African mama skills! As you can see, Mama Postina is the epidomy of an African mama! I also reviewed the financial reports given by the team in Kisumu, and will continue to do so in order to hold them accountable for their finances. Saturday night we took the leadership team, who is Jared & Schola Odhiambo, James & Lauryn Were, & Thomas & Irene (don't know their last name!) out for dinner at a restaurant called The Grill House. They acutally had real hamburgers there and they were SO good! This was a treat for them as well as us, and we had a great time together. Left to right is James, Thomas, Greg & Jared. These 3 guys run the Ring Road school, the Lakeside orphanage, and are also hoping to start a VCT center in Naylenda (Kisumu's slum, where the school is located) to help raise awareness for HIV & AIDS, providing counseling & testing to their community. It is a joy to work with them because of their energy and commitment to serving the Lord whole-heartedly. These are not your typical Africans!
From left to right in this picture is Irene, me, Schola & Lauryn in front of The Grill House.
On Sunday morning, Greg preached at the Ring Road Church of Christ, located on the same compound as the school. His sermon, as usual, was about AIDS and how we, as the church should respond to the pandemic in our communities. His message is usually met with by a shy, quiet audience who seems nervous and uncomfortable. The congregation wasn't much different this Sunday. Kisumu has the highest rate of AIDS than any other city or town in Kenya, however. Greg's message needs to be heard there more than anywhere. Our mission is unlike that of the missionaries who have gone before us. But what we are standing for and against is still being met with opposition. People don't like change, and that is what we are asking them to do. To change the way the treat HIV infected people around them. To change the way they respond to sin & sinners. To change their habits of infidelity, and to remain abstinent until marriage. Greg made a good point in one of his recent sermons. AIDS isn't killing us, our behavior is killing us! Please pray for us, and for Africa, that people's hearts would be softened to changing their behavior, in order to stop HIV/AIDS.
Like I said, this week God reminded me why I am here, and that it is worth it. Thanks for all your support & prayers. God is good!

Love,
Alita

The Struggle

When I was home, I wanted to be here in Africa SO much.

Now that I'm here, I want to be home. Probably not as badly as I wanted to be in Africa before, but there are days when I dream of being home & what I will do when I get there.

What is it that makes us content with our lives, no matter where we are? Why is it that we pray and pray and pray, asking God to make something happen in our lives, and when He does, we long for something different? I know its not a physical location, but instead a location of the heart. Just when we think we've got something figured out about God, & our relationship with Him, we seem to come across something new and confusing.

I guess this is the way we grow. I guess this is the way we become closer to our Lord. We struggle, with ourselves, with others and with God himself, until one day the struggle is ended. But just around the corner another struggle awaits.

I thought life in Africa would be much more simple than life in the States... but I am coming to realize that its not at all. Yes, people live in mud huts and eat the same food, day in and day out, but they still deal with political, social garbage as well. Everywhere you turn, you are faced with corruption. The water company charges astronomically, unrealisticly high consuption amounts. The phone company takes 6 weeks to set up your phone line. People steal, lie and cheat their ways through life, because they don't believe there's any better way to live. I know life in the States is marred with the exact same downfalls, but it seems a lot easier at home to not see it on such a daily basis.

At the root of it all, whether you live in a high rise in New York, a farm house in Central Oregon, or a mud hut in Kitale, Kenya, I believe the problem is a spiritual one. What is in a man's or woman's heart, is what comes out in their lives. Even a heart transformed by the power of Jesus struggles, however. This is what I'm trying to figure out... where does true contentment come from? I believe the answer is in Jesus, but its going to take a lot more struggling to figure it out!!!

Thanks for reading.

Take care...

Love,
Alita

Reality

Hello... I know it has been too long since I have written a blog. To be honest, my motivation to do so has been lacking. Life here lately has been crazy busy, with hosting our first guests from the states, working at the Children's Home, and trying to settle into our new place. As of yesterday, we have been in our house for only one month. I feel as if we have barely had time to settle in, since we have been so busy. I don't mean to complain, but I'm just trying to keep it real; I am feeling very scattered! So please, forgive me for not being more proficient in the blogging arena. I want you to know a few things, which I consider worth mentioning for the time being: Milt & Barbie's (our pastor from Northwest & his wife) visit with us was great. It was so encouraging to have them here. We shared a good balance of playing and working with them. Also, while they were here, God opened up some doors to us starting a Volunteer Counseling & Testing (VCT) center here in Kitale. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to have. We will receive more extensive training than we did with TASO in Uganda, and we will be able to run a center where free counseling & HIV testing is performed. Through the VCT program (sponsored by the Kenyan government) we will also have access to free ARV's (HIV/AIDS drug treatments).
Our work at the Children's Home continues to go on. I have decided that raising 2 or 4 children after this experience will be a piece of cake! Every day God teaches me more & more how to say, "no", how to manage finances properly, and how to work with people better.
I appreciate your prayers for us this month, as we continue to settle into our homes, our work, our new culture, and our relationships with each other.
Love,
Alita

Workin' It

Well, I am officially another year older! Here's what it looks like to turn 25 in Kenya... nothin' else to do but stuff your face with a home made brownie cake! *smile*
We hit the ground running when we arrived back in Kitale from our Christmas vacation on January 1. We have been extremely busy settling into our new compound, which is a beautiful, peaceful blessing in our lives. Our two homes are surrounded by magnificent flowers, banana trees, and lemon trees. We have a dog, who we have lovingly named, “Loco,” because, well, he’s basically crazy! He doesn’t really bark, but he loves us and he’s fun to play with. We are looking forward to purchasing real guard dogs when we have the money. We still have a lot to do to make this place home, like purchase furniture and hang curtains, but we are just so grateful we have a nice place to live!

Our work at the Children’s Home as kept up extremely busy as well. We are now in the process of hiring new, permanent parents for the Home, as the ones we have now are only interim. This process is very important to the success of the Children’s Home, so please pray that God will provide the right people and that we will be sensitive to His will. Also, our work as “administrators” is basically a full time job! We are still becoming familiar with all the normal expenses of the Home and learning how to make and stay within a budget. This is much more difficult than I ever imagined it would be, but I’m so grateful for this experience. Not only is it for a worthy cause, but we are learning valuable life lessons (particularly in the area of finance) that we will be able to carry with us throughout the rest of our lives. We have a few renovation projects at the Home starting this month as well. We will be replacing the roof on the Home this month, before the rainy season starts at the end of February. The kitchen will also soon receive a new roof, along with a new stove for cooking and re-plastered walls. Currently, the cook uses an open fire to cook on INSIDE the kitchen. As you can imagine, this has created a much less than desired environment for the kitchen. The walls, beams and ceiling are coated black with soot! Also, we are hoping to construct a water tower with a well underneath very soon. We have had many problems with the (corrupt) water company here in Kitale. We already have a bore hole on the property, which we will construct a water tower over with a large tank on top. The water will then be pumped from the well up into the tower, and then from the tower down to the Home. One of the missionaries who helped found the Children’s Home has risen over $13,000 to fund these projects. Praise the Lord!

If you would like to receive my email updates/prayer reports & requests, please email me at alita.tombleson@gmail.com. Thanks for reading! :)

Holidays...

Hey there! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. The holidays here are just about as busy as they are at home! We finished out the first year and our first quarter as missionaries very well. We were able to purchase many gifts for the Children's Home and celebrated with them a few days before Christmas. The girls got new dresses, the boys got new jeans and shirts, and we also purchased some soccer balls, candy (of course!), and some other items the home needed, like kitchen wares. The kids and the staff alike were very happy to receive even the simplist of items. This is Gina & Brenda with their new Christmas dresses. The kids were very excited to get their pictures taken with their new clothes on. (Notice the tag still on Gina's shirt?!) After we "wrapped up" Christmas at the Children's Home, we loaded up and headed off to Uganda to spend Christmas with Shawn & Linda Tyler and their team in Mbale. We have grown very close to this team and were looking forward to spending time with them over the holidays. Our Christmas was complete with caroling on Christmas Eve night; fresh, homemade eggnog; stockings on Christmas morning; and a BBQ Christmas supper with a White Elephant gift exchange.
During the week in between Christmas & New Years, we went to Jinja town, where the source of the Nile River is. (This is Rebecca Evans, a teacher for the Mbale team's kids, with me at the source of the Nile.) There is another Church of Christ missionary team there who we had met and wanted to get to know better, so we crashed with them and enjoyed pizza (delivered!), mexican food, real espresso drinks, and white water rafting down the Nile River. The couple days we spent with them were very refreshing (emotionally as well as physically... nothing like getting dunked by a class 5 rapid on the Nile to revive your life!!!)
For New Years, we headed back to Mbale. We spent the last few hours of 2005 eating and visiting before we prayed in the New Year. It was a very calm, but fun way to ring in the New Year. We got up New Year's Day and headed back to Kitale. We have now officially moved into our compound, which has kept us very busy. We are so greatful for how God has blessed us with such a beautiful place to live. We still have many things to do and to purchase to make this place "home", but we're on our way. Yesterday Carrie & I baked our first batch of cookies (peanut butter!) and made pizza for dinner. There's nothing like home cookin' to make a place feel more like home! :) Well, I guess that's all for now. We are in the middle of doing a lot of work at the Children's Home, so I will update you more this coming week on how that's going. Blessings!

Sunday

This last Sunday we attended church in village outside of town known as Tongeran. One of the four local church leaders for the Church of Christ is acting as an interim house parent (along with his wife) for us at the Children's Home. He wanted us to come see his village, his home and church. To the left is the footpath we drove down to get to his house! "Hakuna Sheeta": no problem! He had a very nice, newer home built of mud, of course. We took many of the children from the children's home with us, who enjoyed feasting on the sugar cane that grows on his farm. I also had my first sugar cane experience, which was very fun! There's a picture of me on Carrie's blog enjoying my treat, for those interested.

After we had our chai & scones at Johnstone & Elizabeth's house, we headed back down the footpath (in our truck, mind you) to go to church. Here's a picture of what going to church looks like here in Kenya. This church is a very nice church, for the village. In fact, the cornerstones of this church were layed by Milt & Barbie Jones, Sandy Roberts and Shawn Tyler last February! There were many visitors on this particular Sunday. We had about 5 different denominations represented. We think word spread that the wazungu (plural for mzungu)were going to be in attendence!

Worship, in the Churches of Christ at least, in Kenya typically involve a woman, sometimes a man, who leads off by standing and starting a song. Everyone joins her or him in clapping, but waits until she finished the first verse to join in. The congregation usually sings the chorus only; the leader sings the verses. Most of the songs are fast, but some are slow. Most of the time, people join her in standing. The woman standing in this picture is the afore mentioned Elizabeth. We have not caught on to many of the songs yet. They sing so fast, its hard to catch the words!

Work

This pic is for you, Jim Nichols! *smile* I was interviewing a CRF sponsored child and her mother in this picture, updating her file. Which reminds me, I have been meaning to post about our work on here and keep spacing it!
We have been consumed with work at the Kenya Church of Christ Children's Home in Kitale. The situation at the home was much more bleak than we realized coming in, so we've been spending a lot of time fixing things up a bit. The main thing I've been involved with is re-structuring their financial system. I created a new way of keeping their books, since our team is currently acting as the administrator for the home. I wanted to create something simple that we will eventually be able to train a local person to take over and run the home with. If you know me very well, you know that math & finances have never been my strong suit, but it seems that God has suddenly given me the ability to understand what I need to be able to understand in order to do a job that involves finances, so I feel very blessed! Everything here works on cash basis, no credit or debit, which I've found to be a lot easier to work with. We've also been seeking out ways to farm the land at the Children's Home to cut some of the food costs. Carrie & Kelly have been the primary workers on that project, while Greg & I are focusing more on the business administration side of things. We have quickly learned that the more skills a missionary team has, the better. Missionaries have to know how to do all sorts of things! We have already encountered situations in which we needed to use skills like business, mechanic, medical, computer tech...the list goes on!
Our work in AIDS education is getting off to a slower start than we anticipated. The problem is more vast than we can even imagine; and there is no simple solution. We have discovered that our training needs to be more than just the basics. It needs to involve marriage and family training, general health education and basic life skills as well as address spiritual maturity issues. We don't want to re-invent the wheel OR put the cart before the horse, so please pray for us as we prayerfully decide each step we take toward fighting the AIDS pandemic.

More Kisumu Pics

James, Lauryn & their daughter, Sandra.













Lauryn's African home cookin'!

Kelly, Carrie & me on Lake Victoria.

Kisumu

Last week was filled with lots of traveling, great food, and good fun! We started out the week by attending church in the border town of Malaba, about 2 hours away from here. The Churches of Christ were having their annual national meeting, so we joined them for Sunday service and got to see our good friends, Shawn Tyler & Stephan Shelburn from Uganda. Shawn was the special speaker.
Monday morning we got up early to head down to Kisumu to visit our CRF works going on down there. TEN hours later we arrived in Kisumu, which was only supposed to be 2 ½ hours away! Yeah…we got a little lost, but we got to drive through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Rolling hills of tea, dotted with little white houses for the tea workers. It was incredible. We decided to practice our P.M.A.’s that day… Positive Mental Attitudes instead of our “Where the heck are we?!” attitudes! :)
When we arrived much later than expected, we were still very welcomed by James & Lauryn (last name escapes me) and Jared O. James & Jared are leaders in the local churches in Kisumu and run the Christian Relief Fund programs there as well. They are very cool people! Lauryn, James’ wife made us an awesome meal of Fried Tilapia, Rice, Ugali, Sukuma, Beef, and onion & tomato salad.
Tuesday we spent time meeting with James and Jared about CRF finances and checkin’ out the CRF works, which are both going really well. We also got to “see” the equator! We ended the evening by enjoying delicious Chinese cuisine at “The Oriental Restaurant” (original, huh?!) in Kisumu.
Wednesday morning we got to meet a bunch of kids in the CRF program at a party that the CRF school threw for them. We also got to meet many of the teachers at the school. Northwest Church pays their salaries, so we were introduced to them as their “bosses”…I laughed in my head, wondering what they though about that! After the party we went on a “cruise” on Lake Victoria…the four of us, James & Lauryn, and 3 Africans in an old, small wooden boat with waves 2-3 feet high…I was a little freaked out! But it was all worth it when we saw Hippos swimmin’ around about 200 feet from our boat. For being one of the most dangerous animals in the world, they sure are cute! We also got to see King Fishers, and some other birds. Thursday morning we finished up some “big city” shopping and drove home…2 ½ hours later we arrived in Kitale!
But the traveling was not over for the week. Friday morning Kelly & Carrie spent the day down in Eldoret, about an hour away, learning more about farming goats and how to use a wood burning oven for the children’s home. Greg & I spent the day traveling around Kitale running errands, which included loading 10 large bags of maize into a Subaru Legacy wagon. The Kenyan Red Cross donates to the Children’s Home every year around Christmas. That was both a blessing and an adventure! On Saturday, Greg & I met with the parents at the home about how the budget for December was going, and then we ended up spending the rest of the day with the kids. I got to play volleyball and football (euro syle) with some of the girls, which was REALLY fun! These kids are so sweet. It was good bonding time for us. Then, we ate a really yummy traditional African meal that John, the cook at the Home prepared for us. Chicken in a special sauce, rice, chapatti (like thick wheat tortillas), ugali, potato soup, and onion & tomato salad. Oh, but the good food part isn’t over! Saturday night we went out to eat with some missionary friends at this awesome Chinese/Indian restaurant here in Kitale. We didn’t even know it was here, so we were pretty excited that we could get really good Chinese food in Kitale and not have to drive to Kisumu…even though we now know exactly how to get there! :)

Words

Some of my first Swahili phrases, and why…

Habari!
This is the traditional Swahili greeting here in East Africa. It literally means “How are you?” Most Africans use this phrase more than “Jambo,” which means “Hello.” What we find really funny is that when an African greets us in English they almost always say “How are you?” instead of “Hello.” And when we greet an African in English, they usually answer “Fine,” even if we just say, “Hello!”

Nzuri
This is the typical reply to “Habari.” It is the same as saying “good,” or “fine.” I typically get it confused with “mzuri,” which I just learned means “beautiful.” Fortunately, mzuri is still an acceptable reply. It can also mean, "good."

Mungu Akubariki!
When we first arrived in Uganda, George & Diana Franklin of See Ministries had also just arrived for their annual trip into East Africa to do eye glass clinics. We helped them with many of their clinics and had a really great time witnessing with our own eyes the joy of people being able to see clearly for the first time. Many times as people were leaving they would say “God bless you” to us, but many people knew absolutely no English, so I asked Shawn how to say “God bless you” in Swahili. He wrote it down for me on a piece of paper: “Mungu (God) Akubariki.” I kept this on the table next to me until I had it memorized. It was neat to see their eyes light up for a second time as I spoke to them in their language instead of mine.

Sawa sawa
Africans say this ALL the time. We hear it in almost every conversation between them and with us, so much so that we have started using it, partly as a joke, but also because its fun to be able to integrate a little of the Swahili in with English. “Sawa sawa” literally means, “ok.” So there ya go! A little simple Swahili phrase you can also integrate into your conversations at home! (Pronounced: S-ah-wah s-ah-wah.)

Jina lako nani?
This phrase took me forever to master. My dyslexia kept trying to change the words to “Lina jako nani?” This is an important question, especially when working with kids. It means, “What is your name?” Greg has this question mastered from the first time he was here so I asked him over and over again how to say it until I finally got it. The kids usually smile shyly and answer with a muffled voice. Everyone here has a Biblical or Western first name, followed by their African surname. However, the surname is not given based on what family one is from, but according to which month one was born in. So usually brothers and sisters have totally different last names, which is really confusing!

Toka kwa lani yangu! Haraka, haraka!!
Upon arriving in Kitale, we were handed the key to a ’99 Toyota pick-up truck that is owned by the Children’s Home. Shawn wanted us to take it and use it as our own, as no one at the home has a driver’s license, anyway. This has been a huge blessing to us, especially since Greg & Kelly have been living at the Children’s Home until our compound becomes available to all four of us. Carrie and I drive the pick-up and the guys drive the Daihatsu. One day Carrie and I were down town running errands and upon coming out of a store we found one of the many street children who is constantly begging us for money (while sniffing glue at the same time) sitting in the back of our truck. We immediately started shaking our heads and saying, “No!” motioning for him to get out of the truck. He jumped out but as soon as we got in, he jumped back on to the bumper and gave us a challenging, yet glazed over stare. I jumped out of the cab and started yelling, “No sawa! (in an attempt to yell, not ok!) Off! Get off now!” I don’t know if he understood me or not, but he eventually got off and we were able to leave. The next day I told Boaz, our house worker what happened and I asked him how to say “Get off my truck!” in Swahili. He loves telling us new Swahili words. “Toka kwa lani yangu,” is what he told me to say. Smiling, he added, “haraka,” which means “hurry.” I have yet to use my newest Swahili phrase, which is probably a blessing, but a little disappointing and the same time. I would just love to see the face of the kid after I reprimanded him in his own language!

Home Sweet Home

This is the guest house on our compound. Carrie & I are living here now until the big house (below) is available for us to move into. We are all excited about the move. Carrie & I can't wait to settle down and Greg & Kelly can't wait to have a place of their own. They've been living at the Children's Home since we've been here. I think the kids have the better end of that deal! :)

This is the house Carrie & I will move into in January. It is a little big for two people, but we are looking forward to hosting many people here over the next 2 years. We have plenty of room for you to stay...all you need is a plane ticket!






This is the outside of our compound. Doesn't it look inviting?!

A Day in the Village

The caravan comprising of our blue ’84 Daihatsu and silver ’99 Toyota pick up truck rumbled out of the driveway of the Children’s Home in Kitale at about 9:15 am Sunday morning. We were on our way to Bugoma, a village about 60 kilometers from Kitale, for church. Church in the village is an experience that cannot be imitated anywhere.
After riding on dusty, pot-hole ridden dirt roads, listening to the only tap we have, the “WOW Gold Album,” for about two hours, we arrived at our destination.
The countryside we have just driven through is absolutely beautiful—almost indescribable. Rolling hills of farmland, dotted with tall, beautiful Acacia trees and other African greenery greeted us at every turn. Flowers of all sorts, in different shapes, sizes and colors beamed at us from the side of the road, as if welcoming us into their nook of the world. As we neared the village we had passed a field brimming with sunflowers that were on the verge of blooming into full force. It is nearing the end of November here in Africa, which means summer is just around the corner.
We pull into a yard that has a few mud buildings around the perimeter. The closest one to us is the church building, which, with its mud walls and sheet metal roof, we consider quite sophisticated for an African church. (Last week we met under a tarp made out of sewn-together rice bags, which did not hold up when the torrential rains came in the middle of the sermon!) As we unfolded ourselves from the trucks, we were met with broad smiles and warm hugs and hand shakes from many of the church members. “Welcome, welcome! I love you,” our first greeter exclaimed. This was the first time we had been welcomed with such outright veracity from a stranger. We soon learned her name, Christine, as she ushered us away from the church building toward another, which turned out to be her home. We sat down on hard, wooden furniture covered with embroidered pieces of fabric, kind of like doilies. After a short wait, Christine brought us mugs, cocoa mix, sugar, and hot milk, accompanied by bread and some traditional African sweet breads, known as mandazi. We made our own cocoa and munched on the breads. By this time, it was already after 11:00 am, and church hadn’t even started yet. We knew it would be a long time before lunch! Christine’s home was very nice for a village home. It was very large, about 800 square feet, with a few different rooms. The walls and floor were mud, and the ceiling was sheet metal, held up with beams made out of small trees. She had windows that closed with small wooden doors, and had managed to hang framed pictures of her family along the main wall of her living room. She had swatches of material that resembled valances hung along the top of the walls. As I observed her decorating I smiled as I thought, women are women, no matter if they live in mansions, ranch houses, or mud huts! After our mid-morning “tea” time, we walked back across the field for church. Many of the members were already seated on the narrow benches waiting to begin, women on one side, men on the other, children in the front, on the women’s side. We, as the guests of honor, took the chairs (with backs on them!) in the front of the room on the men’s side. While it felt a little uncomfortable to be sitting smack dab in front of all those strangers, here in Africa it is a sign of utmost respect to put the visitors at the front of the room.
The service began with a gust of singing. The songs were a capella, usually with a woman leading by singing a phrase and the rest of the congregation following. We clapped along with almost every song, which was good, since they were all in Swahili and we couldn’t sing along! After a bit of singing and an opening prayer, they had us introduce ourselves. We had come along with four church leaders, Johnston & Elizabeth Kapa, who are leaders in the Kitale area churches, and James and William, two pastors from the Mbale, Uganda area who have been studying at a Bible school here in Kitale for the last six weeks. After the introductions were made, we sang a few more songs before James brought the message to us. He spoke in English while Johnston translated into Swahili. James is a very good preacher, which is good, because the typical African sermon lasts at least an hour! He spoke on the subject of Micah 6:8: “He has shown thee, o man, what is good: but to do justice and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The African style of preaching differs greatly from the American style. They expound on each aspect of the text so deeply, giving great historical background, reaching into other passages of scripture, as well as making each point relevant to the congregation’s current situation along the way. After each point is strongly made they state, “Buona oh safiwe,” which is echoed with a resounding “Amen!” from the congregation. (This means Praise God in Swahili.) About half way through the sermon, my backside started going numb, which I am starting to realize will be a normal feeling on Sundays from here on out. After the preaching, William got up and did a mini sermon on giving and tithing to the Lord. Everything important in Africa is repeated and illustrated in many different ways, to get the point across. For an American, this is difficult to get used to, as we are more familiar with the concept of saying it once and getting on with it so we can move on to the next thing. Time, over all, plays a much smaller role in the life of the African than that of the American. Church is the agenda for Sunday, and nothing else. (It’s a bit refreshing, actually!)
After the offering was taken, Greg was asked to get up and provide the talk for the communion. His “preaching” was a bit more brief than that of the two previous speakers, but I (and especially my backside) was very grateful. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand to sit on that hard chair in that hot room! After communion was passed and taken, Johnston and some of the local church leaders shared some encouraging words concerning the sermon and then Greg was asked again to approach the pulpit and share why we were here in Africa and what we will be doing over the next 2 years. The congregation was very grateful and pleased with our ministry and expressed that they would like to have us back to teach them about AIDS. So far we and our mission have received warm welcomes, which is very encouraging. After Greg shared, James ended the service with prayer and the service was over.
Many of the church members greeted us whole heartedly, shaking our hands and welcoming us whole-heartedly. As soon as I could, I dashed outside into the bright sunshine and light breeze and took a deep breath. Africa is so beautiful. The pastor of the church had a camera and before we knew it, Carrie and I were being pulled in every which direction by the women of the church wanted their picture taken with us. Greg and Kelly were virtually ignored, as us girls became their objects of affection. If you ever want to feel like a rock star, just come to Africa for a while and your desires will be fulfilled in no time!
When we were finally able to break loose from the haranguing mob, we were escorted back to the house we had taken cocoa in. One of the pastor’s daughter and another girl greeted us at the door with warm water and a basin to wash our hands with. We sat back down in the living room and a short time later, our meal was brought to us. Heaping bowls of white rice, beef with soup, sukuma weaky (cooked greens), ugali (the staple food of Kenya made out of corn meal), and chipati (flat bread) was spread before us. It was delicious! As we ate, we listened to the Kenyans talk with animation about the controversial elections that were to take place the next day. It was all in Swahili, so we had no idea what they were saying exactly, but we could catch a few choice words that clued us into their subject matter, at least. Not being able to partake in their conversation, either by hearing not by speaking, made me realize how central the ability to speak is to any society. I want so much to become fluent in their language; I feel lost without the ability to participate in conversation, even if it is just to hear and understand what is being said. After the meal was cleared, Christine brought us a plate of fresh cut avocados. Most of the produce in American cannot hold a candle to the fresh produce of East Africa. Oh la la! When we finally finished our glorious mid-afternoon meal, we graciously thanked the women who had prepared it for us and geared up to head home.
With every passing day in Africa (it has been 2 months already!) I feel more and more like this is a place where I could settle down for a while. There is something about this place and its people that are enticing and comfortable at the same time. There are many difficult aspects about life in Africa, which I will definitely expand on in another blog. Initially, however, I feel a great sense of fulfillment, enhanced by a sense of adventure and a huge amount of joy about being on this African road.

You Know You're a NEW Missionary When...

The team helped me come up with this fun list. I thought it would give you a humorous insight into what our lives are like over here. We finally have internet, so I should be posting more regularly! God Bless~ Alita

So, you know you're a new missionary when...

YOU GET WORSHIP SONGS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THE WORDS BECAUSE THEY’RE IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.

YOU HEAR A WEIRD ACCENT AND YOU REALIZE IT’S YOUR VOICE. (sorta like a cross between british/american/african.)

YOU HAVE TO ASK WHAT KIND OF MEAT YOU’RE EATING.

YOU START WASHING AND SAVING ALL YOUR ZIPLOC BAGS INDEFINITELY.

YOU LEARN HOW TO PUSH START A DIESEL.

YOUR ONLY SOCIAL OUTLET IS TEAM DEVOTIONS.

YOUR NEW IDEA OF A GOOD TIME IS PLAYING SCRABBLE BY CANDLELIGHT.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS…LIKE GETTING A PHONE INTSTALLED AT YOUR HOUSE.

YOU CARRY TOILET PAPER EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MINORITY.

HAVING A SALAD IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR WEEK.

YOU SUDDENLY DEVELOP A PHOBIA OF MOSQUITOS…FOR FEAR OF GETTING MALARIA.

YOU DISCOVER THE JOY OF READING BOOKS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU CAN’T FULFILL YOUR CRAVING FOR A DOUBLE TALL HAZELNUT SOY LATTE.

YOU ACTUALLY KEEP CANDLES IN YOUR HOUSE OUT OF NECCESITY (FOR WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT) NOT JUST BECAUSE THEY MAKE NICE DÉCOR.

YOU START TO DEVELOP A HABIT OF LOOKING FOR SNAKES EVERYTIME YOU TURN A CORNER.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU KNOW WHAT A CELEBRITY FEEL LIKE BECAUSE EVERYWHERE YOU GO PEOPLE SMILE, WAVE AND YELL, “MZUNGU, HOW ARE YOU?!”

YOU START TO CONSIDER RENAMING YOURSELF “MZUNGU” FOR THE SAKE OF SIMPLICITY. (mzungu means, “white person”)

YOU REALIZE THAT PASSING ON TURNS AND HILLS REALLY ISN’T THAT BIG OF A DEAL!

YOU KEEP TRYING TO GET INTO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE CAR TO DRIVE SOMEWHERE, OR THE RIGHT SIDE TO BE A PASSENGER.

YOU KEEP REACHING WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND TO CHANGE GEARS.

YOUR NEW BEDTIME IS 9PM, AND YOU REALLY ARE TIRED ENOUGH TO GO TO SLEEP!

THE FIRST PHRASES YOU LEARN IN SWAHILI RANGE FROM “GOD BLESS YOU” (MUNGU AKUBARIKI) TO “GET OFF MY TRUCK!” (TOKA KWA LANI YANGU!)

YOU REALIZE YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO HAND WASH YOUR CLOTHES.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE, EVERYWHERE YOU GO PEOPLE ASK YOU FOR MONEY, INSTEAD OF YOU ASKING PEOPLE FOR MONEY!

Journies in Kenya

The life of modern conveniences has passed. Gone are the days of fast food, Starbucks, automatic transmissions and constant access to the internet! If you have not traveled outside of the U.S., you do not know how incredible you have it. I have enough news to post on here everyday, and I’m sure all of you are sitting at home just waiting with anticipation whenever you log on to hear all the latest, hottest news from Africa. J Well, even if you’re not, I will do my best to tell you about the highlights that have happened since the last time I posted. We spent last week visiting our future home of Kitale, Kenya, which is absolutely beautiful! All four of us are looking forward to settling in to life in Kitale. It is 6200 feet above sea level, at the base of Mt. Elgon. The climate is much cooler than the “normal” African climate. We wore jackets every night by dinner time. Some of the highlights were: meeting the staff at the Kitale Church of Christ Children’s Home, staying at the Kitale Club (a nice resort-type hotel), and looking for houses. Out of the three compounds we looked at, one was a perfect fit. It has two houses, one w/2 bedrooms and one w/5 bedrooms. It is newer and much nicer (at least at first impression) than anything any of us would probably be able to afford back in the States, but the rent is affordable and we especially like the fact that there are 2 houses on one compound. This arrangement would work perfectly for us economically as well as security wise, so please pray that we are able to rent this place! There is one couple ahead of us who might take it, but they might not as well. We will find out later this week. Whether or not this option works, please pray that the Lord will provide a housing situation perfect for us. We also met a team of 6 people from College Heights Christian Church in Joplin, MO. They are in Kitale for 2 weeks making many repairs to the Children’s Home, for which we are very grateful. Please pray that they make it home safely this week. We also finally saw our “new” car, an ’84 Daihatsu 4x4, which we purchased from some now retired missionaries in Kisumu, Kenya. It is very loud, but it runs! We’re trying to find a good name for her; suggestions are welcome! J Other than all of this, our time was also filled by helping George & Dianna Franklin of SEE Ministries (www.seeministries.org) conduct eye glass clinics. Carrie & I also had several chances to get to know each other better while we hung out in our hotel room in the afternoons after work. As a team, however, we struggled a bit. We still feel as if we are vacationing as we haven’t begun our work, which has caused some tension, mainly between the boys and us girls. We met together and prayed which helped, but please pray for us that we will continue to come together as one, and that Satan wouldn’t use little annoyances to tear us apart. Over all, we had a very successful trip to Kitale. This week we have started our training at TASO, but I will leave that for another posting. Thanks so much for your love, support & prayers—know that your prayers for protection and blessing are being answered abundantly, so don’t stop! We don’t want to loose the momentum. All my love—alita

Worship at the Mbale Church of Christ.