Heading back to the ECD Guesthouses - March 15th

Today was Howard's 79th birthday! His second time to celebrate in Kenya with us!

Much to the dismay of the group I got them up bright and early (actually it was dark....)They loaded the truck at 5:15am and had breakfast at 5:30am, but 6:15am we were on the road headed back to the Division Guesthouses. They had two options, take one truck and head to Kajiado Rescue Center with me to visit the students there and have a brief tour of the school, or head back with Stephen straight to the guesthouses with a short stop over at the airport to pick up someones luggage that they had forgotten when they landed (wont mention any names - SMILE) The group was almost divided exactly in half.

Stephen's group picked up the suitcase without any problems and made it home in good time. Enjoyed some showers and unloaded the truck. My group had a blast at the Rescue Center. The girls that are sponsored through MDP gave them a tour of the classrooms, kitchen, dorm room, and sang to them! Lots of hugs and smiles were shared before we headed back to the guesthouses at the Division.

It has been a very busy afternoon! Unpacking all the supplies and repacking, sorting, washing water jugs and refilling them and loading up all the kitchen supplies and food! The day seems never ending - it's 1am and I am still baking muffins for breakfast this week for the group! There is an energy that comes when I am working in Kenya..... is is from the heart, and I love it. I feel very passionate about the people here, and am very blessed to be able to do what I do. Thanks for making it possible.
Keep us in your prayers - we head out tomorrow once again bright and early (5:15am we will be loading up) and we will be doing clinic tomorrow in Olgume - in the Great Rift Valley.

kim

Sunday's Clinic - March 14th

Mt Kilimanjaro was beautiful this morning - the sun coming up cast a pinkish glow on it and there was not a cloud in site! Everyone was anxious for the first clinic and seemed to be up and ready to go early! After breakfast we headed out - stopping for some great pictures of the mountain! The entire mountain was clear - and seemed so close to us!

There were a few people already in line when we arrived at Namelok - after prayer with the lay workers we unloaded the truck and set pharmacy, medical, dental and wound care. We were not able to do optical at this clinic but will be able to at the rest of the clinics.

Wound care had their share of cuts and infections, from cuts all the way to the bone between the thumb and pointer finger, to barbed wire shredding a man's shin.

Medical had us taking young boy to hospital who needed immediate care - the kind we could not offer. When clinic was over we drove him and his mom (who is a widow) to the hospital in Oloitokitok.

Dental had plenty of patients and Mat and Zac were able to pull some teeth, and the toy department was kept busy with lots of little kids. Everyone did a great job!

After clinic was over we spent a little while playing with the kids, they love bubbles, playing volley ball, soccer, and just having stickers put on their foreheads! It was a great day - and everyone was tired out when we got home. At supper time Don realized that he had lost his hearing aid and so the drivers and I went back to the clinic site to see if we could find it. I was hoping to be blessed with a night creature on the way there - and had to be satisfied with a great big tarantula crossing the road. We found his hearing aid within minutes of getting back to the clinic - the Lord is good!

Sleep was needed for all! The day was a blessing.
kim

Sabbath March 13, 2010

We woke up to Mt Kilimanjaro in our back yard! It was beautiful, but the clouds came in fast. We ate breakfast and headed out to Namelok for church service. It was a little over an hour drive, and we stopped along the way to take pictures of the Mt Kili. The little church was packed and we crowded in a sat on little wooden benches. The walls and roof were made of tin with no windows and by the end of church everyone was quite warm.

I took the little children and went under a tree and told stories and sung songs with them while Gwen Edwards did the sermon. After church we greeted everyone and wished them well then headed back to Kibo Slopes cottages for lunch and some R&R for the afternoon.

About 4pm about half us headed up to have a tour of the hospital in Olitokitok. It was amazing to walk through the labor and delivery rooms and see the equipment and the condition the room was in. It was like you had stepped back in time.

Saturday night we sorted meds and repacked them for clinic in Namelok before finally falling into our beds for another good night of sleep.
kim

Friday March 12

Most of the morning was spent packing up the supplies we needed for the clinic and loading them on the trucks. Just before noon we were done and were able to head out with a short stop for most everyone to exchange dollars into shillings. Then we were on our way.

The roads were great for the most part, and traffic was not too bad as we went through Nairobi and out on the Mombasa Rd. We stopped briefly for a bathroom break about half way and then turned off the main road and headed towards Olitokitok.

The group got all excited as we passed giraffe, zebra and thompson gazelles. It was not long before we saw Mt Kilimanjaro rising up out of no where! The last 15k of the road were under construction so we bumped around in the trucks for about 30 minutes or so before crossing the last boarder patrol before Tanzania - and turning down our little road to Kibo Slopes Cottages - nestled in the trees on the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

There was just enough time to unload our goodies, shower and head to a hot supper. We opened the Sabbath hours with worship and then headed to our rooms for a good night of sleep.
kim

Group Arrives

It's Friday morning and the world is still asleep. The group came in last night with almost no difficulties - other than Norbert Schwer missing one suitcase - but it will catch up to us somewhere along the way. It is nothing we can't live without. As soon as we got to the East Central Africa Division everyone unloaded and moved into their guestrooms. Some took showers, others waited in line for the phone, some ate, and some went to bed..... and some did not go to bed until 1:45am! It was so much fun to sit in my guestroom with some of the academy kids and listen to all their stories about the last 24 hrs! I felt like I needed an extra pair of ears - they all talked at once!

Today I will have everyone up and going within the next hour, breakfast will be served, worship and orientation will take place, sack lunches will be packed and we will sort through all the goodies that everyone brought! (I think there are 2,999 beanie babies.... SMILE just kidding - but am not sure if there are any left in the US at this point) We will reload the two trucks and jump on board - heading to Oloitokitok on the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro for the weekend. Sabbath we will be visiting a Maasai church in Namelok and then the group can catch up on some R&R Sabbath afternoon, plus there will be an optional visit to the local hospital. Sunday clinic will be at Namelok and then back to Kibo Slopes Cottages (that is where we will be staying for the weekend - if you want to google it you might enjoy reading about it and seeing some pictures)

Monday we will load up REALLY early, did I say REALLY early? Not really - about 5am only and head back to the East Central Africa Division with the options of going on one of the trucks to visit Kajiado Rescue Center, while the other truck goes back directly to the guesthouses.Bobbie Bishop, who is on the trip with us sponsors a young girl through MDP there and will have the opportunity to meet her.

So it might be that once we head out you wont see us on the computers again till Monday evening. This is a great group to have here - full of energy! I can't wait to get them out of bed this morning and watch them experience their first day in Kenya -it will be awesome.

Thanks so much for all your prayers - keep them coming!
kim

March 2010 Medical/Dental Clinic Begins

Am busy doing last minute preparations for the groups arrival tonite. I am so excited! There are 36 of us and we represent the following places:
Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Arkansas, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and South Korea. There are 2 Dentists, 5 MD's, 4 RN's, 1 Highschool Teacher, 1 Retired Farmer, 12 Academy Students, 2 Elementary Students, 1 Social Worker, 1 Occupational Therapist, 1 Hospital CEO, 1 Pre-dental Student,and more!

Tomorrow morning we will sort and re-pack all the goodies that everyone is bringing and then we will head out to Oliotokitok on the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The rains have come to Kenya and that land is green. Last March the trip was very dusty -so am hoping the landscape will be a little greener - but not muddy!

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel about - I will update you after the group arrives tonite. Thanks for all you do! We could not do this without each of you!
kim

Proclaimer Radio-Faith Comes by Hearing

The following is a report written by one of our MDP lay workers, Immanuel Tumpes, serving in Oloitokitok District. He received a Proclaimer Radio when they were donated by my sister, Cherry Goodridge in May. These radio's are both battery and solar operated and have the New Testament in the Maasai language. To find out more how you or your church can get involved in this program go to the following website: FaithComesByHearing.com

Enjoy the report.

Truly Faith Comes By Hearing
by
Immanuel Tumpes

The “Proclaimer” radio has been a great blessing to my people and relatives since I received it. Many of my relatives have enjoyed listening as the Word of God is being read, book to book and verse to verse to all in our own language.

Here is an amazing story of the Proclaimer impact to society. A father in-law of my elder brother is blind. According to available information, his blindness was caused from an eye infection during childhood. Although his wife is a devoted Pentecostal church believer with some of her children, the father is a fulltime drunkard. One of her sons is our church member since earlier this year. Therefore I usually visit the family and discuss the Word of God. Yet the Proclaimer created another huge bridge to the salvation of this family.

One day for visitation I planned to visit the elder with the radio and have a time to listen with him who is a very good listener with very sharp hearing. I first tuned into the epistles of John, which in large content talks about love. He appreciated it very much and we exchanged views about how love should be cherished and practiced by all. The elder urged me to spend more time with him listening. But because other family members were out for duties, I promised him to come another day. I hereby got a new chance and style to talk to him especially about his serious problem. After some months of conversation, he changed greatly and dramatically his habits. Different from the past, he can now spend one to two weeks without getting into drunkenness. When he is not in the situation he comes to me, asking for the Proclaimer.

More amazingly, he now tells everybody that his church is only “Sabato”, although he has never attended. But what I receive with more appreciation is that two others of his sons have been discussing and studying with me the Bible truths. They have accepted the message but their mother, who is a leader of an evangelical church, was pressuring them, causing an obstacle for them to join the church. However, the elder of the family who had been listening to the Proclaimer, supported them in their decision and they now have a right to worship with us. By now the two young men although still students are our church members, ready for baptism. Whenever they are at home they attend all of the church services.

What I have learned is that many people are ready and willing to listen to the Proclaimer rather than to devote time to reading for themselves. Because so many of the Maasai people are not educated and cannot read, the Proclaimer is a wonderful tool for witnessing.

The great challeng is this:

If anything now days happens anywhere in the world, it will be known very quickly all over the planet because International Broad Casting Stations are present throughout and everywhere, even in the most interior areas like Somali land.

The same is true to the Word of God. If the Proclaimer radios can be found in every home, many learned and unlearned will be very blessed by the light of truth and will come to Jesus, “They Way of Life.”