Gifts

I just wanted to share some blessings with everyone. Since I am usually in Kenya during Christmas and my July birthday, I miss out on celebrations and often gifts. I'm not asking for gifts, nor am I upset that I don't usually get them on those occasions, but when something special happens, I believe it needs to be acknowledged.

My dear sisters are often in a quandry about what gift to give me that I can carry in my suitcases. It is a dilemma as every article has to be accounted for. This past year Shirley sent me money while I was still in the states and ask me to buy myself a present. It was a wonderful gesture and pictured below is the tripod I was able to purchase. I have already put it to good use and look forward to using it again for many years to come. Thank you dear sister!

Linda, my older sister, knows that I keep a list of "Things to Buy in America". So she asked me last fall if there was something on my list that she could help with. I told her I wanted a good pair of binoculars. She and I went to the sporting goods store and she bought me these fantastic binoculars. I certainly don't need them on a daily basis, but when I do, it is wonderful to have them close by. I will treasure them for years to come!

Next is a very special kind of gift. Jeremiah (pictured below) is the co-founder of Starfish Charities. He has always wanted a pair of cowboy boots! My sister, Linda, lost her husband, dear sweet Bob, in August. Bob always wore boots and cowboy hats, so Linda had quite a collection to deal with. I asked her if it was possible for me to have a pair to offer to Jeremiah as a Christmas gift. She was thrilled, but cautioned that Bob had small feet. Well, I looked them over, chose a pair, and brought them back to Kenya. God is so good! They were a perfect fit and in spite of the sober look on Jeremiah's face, he was thrilled!

My daughter, Rachel, just outdid herself this year. She started taking a stained-glass-making class in September. When I arrived in Houston to depart for Kenya, she presented me with this beautiful stained glass piece she designed and made. The acacia tree looks just this way and she knows how special it is to me. Thank you Rachel for using your creativity to make me something so special, and thank you Ricky for supporting her in this expensive hobby. This window has been highly admired by many as it is the first thing they see when they enter my living room!

And last but not least, a group of ladies in Oklahoma shopped til they dropped and presented me with this beautiful bedding. They bought it last summer and it traveled to Texas in a Rubbermaid tub to be loaded onto the shipping container. The container arrived in October (while I was in the U.S.). I didn't get to see my July birthday present until almost Christmas, but it was definitely worth the wait. They also bought me a shower curtain, rugs and towels. I haven't used them yet, because I had to do some modifications on my bathroom and in true Kenyan fashion, the guy who promised to have it done still doesn't have it done! Oh well, I can still look at them from time to time!

Thank you everyone for making the season of giving such a special time for me. I feel so overindulged!

Children's Fellowship

Jeremiah and I were invited to attend a Children's Fellowship to be held Monday, December 27th at Pastor John Shakai's new home. Pst. John encourages the young men in his church in their desire to pastor a church of their own. Thus far, he has 9 churches that have launched out of his church in the past several years. Its so exciting to see these young men with a passion for Christ and for wanting to impact their communities.

These young pastors and the Sunday School teachers from their respective churches, brought their children to this event. Other than my car, there was only one other vehicle. Everyone else had to walk. Thankfully, they take shortcuts across the hills and fields, but some still came ridiculous distances with those small children. One group took 2 1/2 hours to walk there.

When we arrived we found these ladies making chapatis in the kitchen. A chapati is similar to a flour tortilla and is always present on celebration days.

These ladies are peeling lots of potatoes and cabbage to go into the stew for lunch.

These women are busy making tea. A rough count was 110 children and who knows how many adults. That's a lot of tea!

This lovely young Maasai lady worked hard and diligently to make sure each child had a cup of tea and a biscuit (cookie)

Lunch time! No fancy tables and chairs. Not even grass. They just sat in the dust next to the goat pen and ate their lunch. However, I didn't hear any complaints as the meal was wonderful.

One group arrived in the back of this small truck. This is a very common site in the rural areas.

I don't know his name, but he stayed very close to me all day. He was very curious about my camera.

When these guys realized I was taking pictures, they lined up and said "take me, take me!" They love to see themselves on the camera.

Its difficult to tell in this picture, but these children were dancing when the program began. Any time they hear music, they just begin moving their feet. Its always so much fun to watch their youthful energy.

They sat attentively while the speaker spoke. I had an umbrella over my head to protect me from the hot sun, but they didn't seem to notice the heat.

After the program, they were instructed to line up -- boys in one line, girls in another. Its was chaotic at first, but they eventually got it. It was time to pass out gifts.

A sweet lady in Mississippi donated an entire collection of Beanie Babies to my ministry. They arrived on the container in October. This event was a perfect venue to pass them out. Each girl present received a Beanie Baby.

Most of the children were very excited. One very young girl was given a cat. She first looked at it then flung it away as fast as she could get it out of her hands. She was afraid it would hurt her. I felt sorry for her, so I switched and gave her a bear. In her opinion, that wasn't an improvement! Someone came to her rescue and tried to coax her into accepting something. I'm not sure they were successful. Her panicked little face is still in my memory.

They were all so excited about their babies!

Another man donated small wooden trucks to my ministry. All the boys received them, although I think some of the boys would have preferred Beanie Babies!

However, they were also very proud of their gifts.

And last but not least, everyone got popcorn. I got up very early and made pot after pot of pop corn to share with these wonderful children.

Next, they had a ceremony to honor Pastor John and his wife Maria. They held this cloth wrap in such a way it became a collection point for gifts for the Pastor. We didn't know this was going to happen, but all the other people did, so they came prepared with gifts of coins. It was a precious site to see these children giving.

The adults in the group gave John and Maria gifts that were more personal. A new shuka (wrap) for John, and a blanket. John wrapped the blanket around Maria.

This is Pastor John and his family in front of their new home. What a wonderful family. I feel so privileged to know them.

Daughter of the Heart

Individuals come in and out of our lives for different reasons, but almost always leave a mark, whether it is a long term relationship, a pleasant memory, or in this case another daughter. God blessed me with giving birth to a son, Jeremy and a daughter, Rachel. But when I moved to Kenya in 2002, He blessed me with a daughter of the heart, Violet.

I first met Violet in a cyber cafe. In 2002, very few people had internet in their homes. Most of us depended on cyber cafe's which consisted of a small room full of computers all connected to the internet. You paid by the minute and it was an affordable way to keep up with the other side of the world. Violet was a refugee from Rwanda and lived in a Catholic compound full of other refugees. They taught these young women skills to help them get ahead in life. Violet is the same age as my son, Jeremy, but at the point in time I met her, she had been a refugee for 8 years. She was only 16 when she was forced to leave Rwanda. I won't go into the horrors of Rwanda in this post. If you are unaware of what happened, just Google it and you will learn more than you probably want to know.

She and I developed a mother/daughter relationship during that first year and it continued until she relocated to the UK. She is now married to Rukundo (also a Rwandan) and has given birth to two adorable little boys. Pictured below is the happy couple.

I was privileged to travel to her home in early December. It was a time of celebration and rejoicing to see her and her family again. Her youngest wasn't even born the last time I saw them.

Here they are! David is now 4 1/2 and Samuel is 2. David remembers me from a prior visit, but Samuel wasn't at all sure about me at first. He later warmed up and we had a great time together. Just as my three grandsons in Tulsa, these boys call me Nina.

David is a very sweet little boy. He's very intelligent and easy going. He is well loved at school and very obedient.

Here are the boys with their dad, Rukundo. He is a wonderful father, full of love for his family.

Violet, is a wonderful wife and mother, and an excellent cook! I am very proud of her. She has come a long way since the days in the refugee center. For the first time in many years, she can see a future for herself.

We celebrated our time together with a party. Pictured here is the family, plus Rukundo's nephew, Evode, who lives with them.

Christmas presents from America!

African animals for the boys!

I think every little boy enjoys Matchbox cars.

My time with them was shorter than we wanted, but of course I had to get back to Kenya. God is an amazing God who gives us more than we deserve. I am so thankful He has brought this family into my life. What a blessing they are!

While I was in the states in October, my sister (Linda), my mom and I drove to Arizona where me met my other sister (Shirley) for some R&R.

In my mom and dad's early years of marriage, they lived in California, while their extended families remained in Oklahoma. When they did manage to drive back to Oklahoma they drove right past the Grand Canyon. Mom always wanted to stop...daddy always said "I don't want to go see a big hole in the ground". So in all those years of marriage mom never had the opportunity to see it.

This trip truly was a trip of a lifetime. With me living in Kenya, Shirley in Arizona, Linda and mom in Oklahoma, getting us all together is a feat. None of us were prepared for the grandeur of the Canyon. Wow! Words just seemed to fail if you tried to describe it.

The signposts along the trail said that at certain spots it was 17 miles across to the other side. Its hard to imagine you can see that far so clearly.

The day was perfect! Beautiful blue skies and soft, puffy clouds.

Mom doesn't normally require a wheelchair, but with the uneven hilly paths, we all agreed it was an easier way to get her from place to place.

Sweet memories were made during that awesome trip with my family. On our drive back to Oklahoma we passed through an area with huge rocks! God is an awesome God. Creation bears witness to His majesty.

More than a year ago, the American teen pictured below, Katheen Crow, contacted me in Kenya and asked about helping her with her school project. The "help" she requested was permission to work through my ministry to complete her school project. She elected to collect books to help with a library in a school in Africa. Her request came at a very good time. There is a government primary school near our property that we have wanted to help. I am such a reader I had been thinking about starting a library there, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Kathleen started the process and many others jumped on board.

I decided to make it a broader project and sent out a request to my mailing list for book donations. A Maasai community I work with recently built a small building to house a community library, but they didn't have books. Then another school contacted us about helping them get a library started. My friends and family in America responded big time and I decided to ship a 20' sea container over here loaded with books and other things that can be put to good use in Kenya. My church in Oklahoma sent two vans full of books!

Before we knew it, it was loading day at the warehouse in Texas. How exciting to see these boxes stacking up in the warehouse.

This is the warehouse in Fort Worth that was used as a staging center for collecting all the items to go into the container.

Loading day! Talk about a packed container. These guys worked hard and long on a hot July day in Texas to get this done. Thank you guys for all your hard work!

Loaded and ready to go. Next stop, Mobassa, Kenya! Please pray with us that it gets here on time (September 15), intact, and that the authorities treat it fairly when assessing the cargo. A special thank you to all who made this possible!