Stens

We've had an evenful trip and are on our return now. We spent three days in Kitale/Liavo teaching at the school and spending time with the orphans at the Children's Home. Florence took good care of us. Gary and Timothy have spent endless hours on the phone trying to resolve the shipping issues of the containers. The broker is attempting every delaying tactic most likely for a bribe. Gary fired him and now is working with a woman who is at least attempting to resolve issues. Besides the school building we had so many books and supplies to distribute to various places in the ministry. So we are disappointed with that setback. We enjoyed the drive to Kisumu. The city is in a lush valley on the shore of Lake Victoria. From there it is only ... read more

We made it to Kakamega last Sat. after a 9 hour trip from Nairobi. Roads were the usual so it was often slow going. We picked up two of the nurses in Nairobi so now have a three nurse team, along with our five construction workers and four teachers. We are staying at the Shey Wey guest house. It reminds me of a 1940's hotel but when the water and electricity work we are thankful! Last Sunday we split up and visited various churches. Gary and I went to Eldoret. The church is small and housed in a tin building in a slum. The fellowship was sweet and the five hour service went quickly. The pastor and his wife invited us to his home afterwards. Since then we have spent everyday at the school building site. ... read more

This morning before sunrise we were already in the game park. We observd nature at it's finest as we watched a pride of lions feasting on a cape buffalo. At one point there were 15 lions in view and we were less than 100 feet away in the safety of the safari van. Though the tents we stayed in were on the primative side all had an amazing time viewing many animals. Giraffes, hippos, wildebeasts,hyenas,zebras to name a few. Another exciting moment was the bull elephant who thought we were too close and trumpeted at us. As his ears were back our driver quickly manuvered out of there! Our driver, Edward was also able to skillfully cross a flooded creek with the help of some Masai boys pushing us through the knee deep mud. The 230 ... read more

We keep finding ourselves drawn back to Kenya. This trip will be short in time but we hope much can be accomplished in the three weeks. We are traveling with Don and Mary Greven from Wisconsin and Larry and Joyce Falldorf (our sister-in-law) from Alaska. The first three days we will make a quick trip to Masai Mara which is Kenya's largest Game Park. Then we will be traveling north to Kakemega with Pastor Timothy to begin our work. A construction team will arrive shortly after us to begin building a new school in this village. I can already imagine the excitement of the kids as they see the building begin to take shape! Gary will be working with Pastor Greven as 50 to 60 pastors will travel in for a week's seminar. The women will ... read more

As we see and experience the overwhelming needs of the people we are working with we are finding that the simplest things bring so much joy and thankfulness. We have shook thousands of hands and have been met with wonderful smiles. Everyone wants to meet us. It’s hard to believe that a few soccer balls for a school of 650 students, a soccer team, and an orphanage could be met with so much gratitude. Or how about the worman I met at the grocery store? I let her use her points card for my purchases. You’d think I had given her a hundred dollars for the thanks she heaped upon me. One of the drivers for the ministry couldn’t afford the $12 it would take for his wife to come to the conference by bus. ... read more

The first rule when traveling around Kenya with Pastor Timothy is to always bring everything – just in case. Though I know this rule from our previous trip I’ve now broken it twice and had to make due with no materials. On March 31st we traveled by Timothy’s Toyota truck to the Kakemega area, which is about three hours away. Here is a private Christian school that is run by GCM. It is named GCM Academy.It is a primary school with about 120 students. Seventy of these children are orphans. This area has a high rate of aids and the children are suffering. Dorcas, one of Timothy’s daughters, works as an aide at the school. In addition she is the primary care giver for 17 of the orphans from the Children’s Home. They stay in rented ... read more

We continue to be impressed by the people of Kenya. Their willingness to accept us with such graciousness is very humbling. They are so kind in their hosting of us and meeting our needs to the best of their ability. Four are staying in their recently completed guest quarters and Karen and I are staying in Timothy and Florence’s house. Our quarters are quite comfortable and we have been able to take hot showers! The food is prepared very well over open fires and we have more than enough. Elizabeth, their daughter, is on break from nursing school, and has been given the task of taking care of us. She brings hot water to wash before every meal. The best part is her Godly spirit in serving and the joy she brings to each task ... read more

I thought visiting the equator would give us 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. How quickly I’ve forgotten that the work of the day can start at 5:00 am and last until midnight! Along with hearing the cattle, geese, and roosters outside our window, Pastor Timothy’s alarm goes off at 4:40 each morning. Our bodies are adjusting well but for a little tiredness. To catch you up on some of our activities our adventures started quickly on Monday morning when our driver and Pastor Timothy picked us up from the hotel in Nairobi. Timothy had hired a van and driver to take us on the 6 hour drive to Katali. How to cram 15 bags and 8 people in a small van was the first task. I didn’t catch the driver’s name ... read more

This week of March has been spent in preparations to leave on the 26th for Kenya. We will once again be returning to Kitale/Liavo in the Rift Valley and working with Pastor Timothy in the growing ministry of Helping Hands. In 2007 this was known as Glory of Christ Ministry. It has grown by leaps and bounds since our last visit. Many new churches have been planted in Kenya as well as house churches established in Uganda and Sudan. We will be staying at the main headquarters outside of Kitale where the Liavo church is located as well as the Children’s Home that now houses 80 orphans. This time we are not traveling alone as our pastor, Paul Larson, his wife, Dawn, and Pastor Craig Jennings and his wife, Laurel will be traveling with us. The ... read more