Sunday, September 30, 2007

Robin updates from Sudan

Greetings from Yei!

I am so excited to finally be updating the blog!!! The internet has been down since Monday *sigh* .We arrived a week and a half ago before lunch after Isaac's FIRST plane flight! He just smiled a lot and was excited to see Yei out of the window. When we reached the turning point to get to the compound we were greeted with a celebration! The Youth and Sunday School Choirs (in their awesome purple and blue uniforms…solid bottoms and tie-dyed shirts) met us with a procession of singing and dancing! How fun! Everyone was thrilled to have Isaac back! *grin* Once we reached the church Bishop had all three of us say a few words to the congregation (he videoed it!) and we had a time thanking God for all he'd done. What a great way to start things off!

We got recruited for our second painting job! When Meg and I (among others) were here in December we painted the clinic (turned computer lab for CWEP [Christian Women's Empowerment Program]…now it was time for the new Sunday School room! We had help from pastors, pastor's wives, Sunday school teachers, and kids alike! So fun! Not to mention, yet again, soaking our hands in diesel to get the paint off… actually, I don't think we've managed to completely rid ourselves of paint! And what can we say about the fumes? Um, they clear out our sinuses?! Yes… Anyhow… It's a bright mustardy yellow room with silhouettes of African style trees and words about faith…really fun…we'll put up photos when we can!

Leapin' Lizards! I really should have paid more attention in December when the widows tried to teach me to say "I see the giant lizard" in Arabic! We were having a great Sunday service, (complete with a baby dedication!) and right at the end I thought Meg had slapped me on the back…I glanced over only to see her hands at her sides… then something on my back moved. Oh yes, a decent sized lizard leaped off my back on onto my chair! Crazy! I jumped… Did I mention that Megan I were sitting in the very front of the church next to Anne Grace? Bishop just said that I should have been nicer to the lizard, it just wanted to have fellowship with me! Overall, we were so happy to be back worshipping with our EPC family; it really brings us joy! The Youth and Sunday School choirs sang; what a great day!

Isaac is staying on the compound in a room not to far from me so I can make sure he's still eating well, healing well, change his dressings, etc… The occupational therapist who lives on the compound is helping me with Isaac!! He's having FUN and doing really well with the exercises! We took him to get his stitches out (apparently they weren't the dissolvable kind like we thought!) on Thursday at the YWAM base (there's a medically trained gal there!) He's doing really well and is incredibly happy to be home, see friends and family, jump back into choir, and eat his fill of beans and rice!

A great surprise on Sunday was seeing Esther… she is back from getting her passport in Juba (Praise God!!!) So the next step is to begin working on her visa for the U.S.; please be praying for that process. (She needs surgery on her heart!) We're so grateful to see God's faithfulness to Isaac and to Esther and we just want to continue to see His hand move!

The last few days in Kijabe were great! We had missionary roommates who blessed us; we hiked 45 minutes up a steep hill to go to church. I was calf deep in mud after it began to pour and Megan and Isaac chose the safe side of the road! Pastor Erik prayed over Isaac during the service; it's such a blessing to have our Kenyan family! We also had a chance to have dinner with Dr. Carter and his wife before we left; just talking, telling stories, etc… lovely!

Our trio lost Megan on Tuesday as she began her journey back to the States! And she should be there now. Needless to say, Isaac and I will miss her! Playing Skip-bo just isn't the same! (We miss you girlie!)

It's been a great week here at EPC. I got to sit down with Ann Grace and begin talking about CWEP (Christian Women's Empowerment Program) and am looking forward to more conversations! Hearing her heart for the women's ministry is absolutely amazing! It's really tugged on my heart. I'm teaching some of the trainers about the Bible this week and am stoked!

Oh, if anyone has children's ministries or adult ministries materials (Bible studies, curriculum, teacher's trainings, etc…) that can be e-mailed or mailed or whatnot, EPC would love to have them. They're trying to find ways to get more materials and you can't pop over to your local Bible bookstore here!

Other than that I've been enjoying watching the rain, reading, spending time with Isaac, and just generally entering in all that EPC's doing.. I leave in a week and I'm already not ready to go! I'm just sitting in awe of God and all He's doing all over the world…WOW! I just keep thinking of how much we take for granted and how often we overlook the little things that bring God delight (for example, do you know how many different types of Lizards I've noticed since last Sunday? What creativity!)

Ok, my class is about to begin! So I'll say g'bye for now and will try and update again soon! Cheers mates!

Love,

Robin

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Whoo-hoo!!! We are blessed!!!!!!!!

Howdy friends!

You know those days when your driving down the road and have to stop because the cart and donkey are in the way? Without anyone guiding them? And people trying to figure out what to do? Oh, really? You haven't experienced that? Well, welcome to Africa!

We've been so blessed in so many ways...Even in just seeing the animals that roam: chickens, donkeys, cows, baboons, and funny little black monkeys trimmed with white flying fur (we thought they were skunks before they began to jump!)...but WOW it's really bringing us all a sense of the wonder and awe of God. We are being intentional about basking in the view of the mountains, the valley and reveling in the amazing artist our God is. Isaac really wants to go photograph the baboons down at the Biblical Training College...somehow that sounds both cool and scary...All in all we think we liked seeing them from INSIDE a car...after all they can be as tall as Megan or I on their hind legs with pretty gnarly fangs to accompany it, not to mention they're NOT shy... none the less, it was really awesome to see them in the wild!

Here's a glimpse at laundry our style... 1) get hot water out of the tap (or if that runs out boil it) 2) Wash the laundry in a bucket...scrub scrub scrub...and try not to get water on the floor! 3) Rinse the laundry in the sink for dear life! And only possibly get all the soap out...if you're lucky 4) Hang clothes on the line and then repeatedly squeeze the water out so they dry faster... and hope there's not an impromptu rain shower! Oh, but we love it. We are extremely grateful that we have hot water from the tap AND that we're not pumping water from a well and hauling it over to do the washing... oh are we grateful!

GUESS WHAT?! It's a little moment of pride...WE MADE TORTILLA CHIPS, SALSA, AND GUACAMOLE!!!!! A little taste of home that Texans and Californians (at the least) alike can celebrate with us. Megan has been making us mouthwatering snicker doodles and I think Isaac is having a hard time deciding whether he likes snicker doodles or brownies more! Yet again, today is brownie day at the edict of Sir Isaac! We aren't complaining!

It's really encouraging to see Isaac hunger for the Bible. We'll sit outside on the porch in chairs and read from the scriptures. We've been looking at Acts, Daniel, and all other sorts of good stuff... the other afternoon he wouldn't even let us get him a blanket (he was shivering, the clouds do unexpectedly roll in) because he didn't want to stop reading. He's sharp in remembering what we've read too. We'll be so excited to see what God's going to do in his life. His future has really been tugging on our hearts, we love and enjoy him so much and want to see God's best for him. We're learning to listen to God and trust him with his future too!

We've been taking walks around the area to help Isaac get his strength up, move around a little, and just enjoy the beauty of Kijabe! I (Robin) was taking the walk the other day and 2 Kenyan girls recognized me from church as being with "the boy with his arm bandaged" so they came back to the motel and played cards with Isaac, talked with us, and gave Isaac an American nickle, and a Kenyan shilling...very sweet! They're going to come over to learn to make snicker doodles on Saturday.

So, speaking of English muffins... we are really really jazzed... not just from eating them (yum!) but the fact that one of the women is going to come over on Sunday afternoon and teach us to make them! Not only will this be a good party trick for us, but more importantly it will be something we hope to introduce to the Christian Women's Empowerment Program at EPC (in Yei). We're hoping the missionary/UN population will gobble up the idea!

Isaac's last dressing change went wonderfully! No pain medication needed for the change and Dr. Carter said he was quiet and just looked at his arm and hand! What good news! We'll see the pins pulled Monday and Isaac is really excited about it. We'll hopefully meet with the therapist to figure out how he can work on getting his arm and hand into excellent working condition.

Isaac's even more excited that we'll be getting on a plane next Wed. (the 19th of Sept. 2007) and flying into Yei! He can't stop smiling! He's anticipating going to choir practice, seeing his sister (who he got to talk to on the phone!), and being back in school... I'd almost put him as giddy! We're pretty anxious to get there too because it will be so awesome to see the people we love and to join them in ministry!

We went down to see Mercy, the children's ward chaplain, and just loved having the chance to love on her, bless her, and talk with her. She was slightly covered in bubbles from playing with the children. God shines through her so much and just a brief visit really brightened our day!

Oh, and apparently there was a show on T.V. that featured something on Christianity in Midland, Texas! Amazing, when you're across the world...

As you read and pray...drink coffee... rumor has it that Starbucks is featuring coffee from the Rift Valley right now, which is EXACTLY where we are...

We keep seeing more and more of God's faithfulness-- he really does watch over all our details and pull things into place in HIS perfect time. HOW AMAZING!!! God keeps bringing different scriptures and ideas up to us in various ways and we know he's trying to teach us lots! Hopefully we are listening as well as we should! It's been great to work together, talk about God, live daily life... The people who he's brought to us are a blessing as well... WOW... God is good... WOW...

We love you all!
Love,
Robin, Megan, and Isaac

P.S. Our respect for our parents, and parents in general, grows in leaps every day!

P.P.S. Isaac is now a champion skip-bo player! wheeeee!!!!!

P.P.P.S. We are thankful for fresh strawberries....Isaac has his FIRST and loved it! In fact, we had a chat with the guy selling who wanted to know about our ministry and really encouraged us in persevering in God! Very cool!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Life at the Hotel

Hello everyone!

We are THANKFUL that Dan's computer is connected to the internet...for the moment at least... we still have a few videos to upload if it ever lets us! And thank you FAITHFUL bloggers, we love love LOVE it! We can't begin to tell you how much it encourages us (please keep it up!) Wish we had the time to write each of you back to tell you how special you are to us, so please accept some lovin' through the blog! yay!

We're getting into the groove of daily life at the hotel. Saturdays and Tuesdays (today!) the village ladies bring around fresh veggies, tortillas, english muffins, fruits, etc... YUM! Let's just say that's what we've been eating. And we've been VERY creative with what we have. Even attempting to cook pizza on a stove since the electricty was out all day...not normal, but it worked! Isaac had mashed potatoes for the first time last night and gave them a BIG THUMBS UP!!! Needless to say, that might become a staple! Tonight is his FAVORITE, however, beans and chipote! There will be big grins at the dinner table! He's already asked Megan to make brownies tonight; won't be too hard to consider that request! mmmmmm....chocolate....mmmmm...

We've been taking walks around beautiful Kijabe! We're beginning to realize that we ought to have our camera on us at all moments since it's so incredibly stunning. It blows us away at the way God creates beauty for us to enjoy-- all we can say is WOW!

Today Isaac will get to watch the RVA (Rift Valley Academy...the largest missionary boarding school in Afica or something like that) soccer practice as long as the weather holds. He'd adore that... but he did enjoy our little excursion up to RVA to see the veggie/fruit/etc ladies with all their things laid out... not to mention the crafts!

That reminds us, he LOVES birds. We have a little alcove on the porch outside our room and he sits and watches the birds fly in and out...He's mesmorized... it's great!

His pain is in control, HALLELUJAH!!!! Dressing change is scheduled again for Friday. We got to see his arm this last Friday and things look good; but he didn't (he was sedated). Hopefully Dr. Carter will pull out the pins sometime the week of the 18th through the 21st and we will be headed back to Yei. YAY! :)

We finally got to go to church on Sunday. We went to the English service at AIC and it was a bit like going to church in the states! It even had a projector for the song words! Crazy! Lots of missionaries here, lets just say that... lots... really...

I think that's it for now...Isaac is enjoying a movie compliments of Dan's hospitality! fun stuff!

Much love,
thanks again for all your support!
Hope today finds you smiling!

In Christs strong grip,
Robin, Megan, and Isaac