Finding Faith in the Battle

We had mixed feelings coming into this State-side Assignment. Part of us just wanted to stay put--the thought of transition and uprooting the kids, even for the sake of seeing family and friends again, seemed inordinately painful. But the other part knew we were tired, knew we needed a bit of a break from the stress of living overseas in a foreign culture. So we packed our bags and we psyched the kids up for a grueling 36-hour trip to the Pacific Northwest via London and then Dallas. And our first 3 days, with my parents on their small 15-acre farm in the middle of the Willamette Valley, were everything we hoped they would be. Fresh berries and ice cream, hot tubs, slow mornings on the porch with coffee, not to mention showers with good water pressure, no power outages, and drinking sweet water from the tap! Then came day 4. Dad went in for an Endoscopy due to abdominal pain. When he told me of his symptoms (abdominal pain that woke him up at night) I didn't like the sounds of i...

Today is the 22nd of May. We're "leaving on a jet plane" in 2 weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. Compared to the 4+ years we have been here on the continent of Africa, that's nothing. Hardly a blip on the radar of time! No time at all and we'll be cruising on a freeway without speed bumps, grocery shopping outside the hours of 9-5, having uninterrupted power and water, with nothing ever lost in translation. No more abject poverty staring me in the face at every street corner. Not to mention being with family and friends we haven't seen in forever! Introducing our 2 1/2 year old to relatives she's never met. Meeting dear friends' toddlers we've never met. 6 months of peace from the e-mails and phone calls that run my life here in Kenya.  So why am I not jumping up and down with joy???? Why this undefined angst in the pit of my stomach? I've been mulling over these questions over the past few weeks, since the 1-month count-down began. Because ...

The student team and twelve Kenyan students took an mission trip to the southern coast early this month. One of the students, Fred, had only committed his life to following Christ in February. It was great watching him share Christ with street-kids on the beach. Many of these kids come to Mombasa looking for opportunity and end up collect washed-up plastic bottles for cash. Two of these street-kids followed Fred's example and became Christ-followers also. The local people of the coastal regions in Kenya follow a folk-Islam (Islam mixed with beliefs from African traditional religions). It was surprising that so many of these people gave our students an audience. Almost 200 people from coastal ethnic groups heard a clear presentation of the Gospel over four days. Students also prayed over people with illnesses and addictions. We prayed over a Digo woman with an infected foot--the next day the woman was walking around and working in the fields. This wa...

Ethan and I (Miriam) flew low over the amazing land of Kenya earlier this month, up to a city in the north known as Maralal. The Samburu people live here, proud pastoralist people who value their animals and their freedom, but many are coming to know The Great Shepherd! We have a family who lives among them, and they invited me to come do some health teachings. For 2 days, we taught in small rural villages up on top of the mountains--looking for all the world like Oregon. Except for the wood-and-mud church and the women with their beaded necklaces and colorful wraps and the naked children!  We waited for over an hour for more women to arrive before we were informed that an angry herd of elephant had moved into the forest around us and the other midwives were unable to get through. Such is life in rural Kenya! The second day we waited for almost 2 1/2 hours as people trickled in--they had to get their chores done first, and since the rains haven't arrived yet, t...

Pray for Freddy Odhiambo. Freddy is a first year student at the University of Nairobi studying Environmental Sciences. He just committed his life to Christ in February and is in a weekly bible study. He said now that he trusts in Jesus the bible is much more interesting. His roommates wonder why he is reading it before classes everyday. He answers them, "You should try it, then you will see."

Dennis Omondi: Dennis is a first year student at the U of N. Dennis is from the border town of Busia, known for the motorcycle taxi, which is now used all over East Africa and dubbed "Boda-boda." Dennis comes from a Catholic background and says that even though he believed that God existed he did not believe in salvation. In stead, he believed in being a well rounded person. He wanted to experience what he now describes as evil activities. Christianity seemed like a strict code of conduct. That all changed when Dennis was saved in February. He says being a follower of Christ is much more natural than following rules; if you know him, you are changed because of the relationship you have with him.   The really cool thing about Dennis is that he has signed up for our Mission Trip to the Digo People in April. What a testimony to many who are afraid to share the faith. Dennis knows almost nothing, five weeks ago he was practicing the things of the world. Today he is gr...

I came here on-line today, despite 2 sets of tears heard in the background and 1 11-yr old's voice sounding very much like a stern mother (wonder where she gets that from!) to quickly post the February prayer letter and daily prayer guide. Imagine my surprise when I saw my last post dated almost 2 months ago! In all honestly, I did have a January draft, but when I re-read it, it wasn't worth posting. So here we are, into February already, and my silence is shameful. However, I cling to the knowledge that it indicates a totally crazy, full, busy life rather than laziness! All the kids are doing well, back in school. Isaac in particular has really blossomed this year. He's talking about his friends, singing Kiswahili songs he learns in music class, and last week after a doctors' appointment, he asked me not to pick him up early any more because he misses too much! Anya is doing intramural basketball, serves on the Elementary school leadership team, and is preparing ...