Transitions

Our new ministry computer is up and running. I started the process of transferring documents from my computer to the new ministry computer. There is still a lot more to sort, mainly sponsorship documents, but at least my computer can retire and the new computer can take over in its stead.

Tara Skarin, the former Kenya team leader, is also in the process of retiring. I have been stepping down more and more from my responsibilities and letting Nancy and Martin take over.

The team went to Kirinyaga and have a fully successful mission week with the 100 or so children at the orphanage there. The team brought our VBS program to the children, teaching the promises of God, and doing various workshops, games and crafts with the kids. The kids learned how to make beaded lizards, baking soda/vinegar volcanoes, slime, and finger painting. Evenings were filled with campfires, talent shows, songs, and roasting marshmallows. The MSTs learned to fetch water from the river, bathe in a bucket, and how to live on githare (beans and maize…or in this case, a whole lot of boiled maize and a few beans). They held baby bunnies and caught baby hedgehogs. At the end of the week, both MSTs and children said their goodbyes in tears.

It was the first big event planned and executed entirely by the team. If they can manage five days in the village with a hundred kids, organizing transport, food, and the program, they are ready to take over the ministry.

They brought home a whole bag of red, ripe apple mangoes. They were sweet and wonderful. The MSTs spent the weekend at Martin’s family home in the village, getting a taste of village life, and they came home with lots of stories of the cows, goats, and the macadamia nut tree.

In the meantime, Ivan came to Nairobi to work on visa stuff and wedding plans. It took the whole week to do the medical appointments, gather the paperwork, and look up all the information on the internet necessary. He had his interview with the U.S. consulate on the 20th. The months of work, paperwork, research, and waiting culminated in a three minute interview and an easy granting of his visa.

He’s still in Nairobi up till now, but not by choice. The embassy kidnapped his passport while they process his visa. It’s a week long process and Ivan is more than ready to run back to Uganda to make his preparations to come to the U.S. for an indefinite period of time.

We bought our plane tickets to come to the states. August 15th I will travel to Uganda and then August 20th Ivan and I will depart from Uganda and start an entirely new season of life. While it’s exciting and we are looking forward to it, it’s never easy to leave home. Ivan has spent his entire life in a ten mile radius in Kampala. I’ve spent the past three years living in Africa. It’s always a challenge to start something new.

We praise God for the support of our family and friends. God has provided us with the visa, the plane tickets, and we even bought a car from an old friend of ours. Things are coming together and that is a wonderful blessing. We know that God will continue to guide our path into His plans for us.

There is a lot to do to prepare to leave. Figuring out how to condense three years worth of books, clothes, and supplies into two suitcases will be a feat in itself. So will getting the sponsorship program department trained in the next three weeks. Then there is saying goodbye to my dear friends here. That is the hardest of all.

It’s starting to thunder and lightning and threatens to storm outside. It poured yesterday, forcing Ivan and I to stay at Java House and drink hot chocolate until it lessened enough to walk home in. The monkeys hide when it rains. I fell in a mud puddle and walked through mud that suction-cupped my shoes and threatened to steal my sandals from my feet. Even in the rain, the lady on the corner was still roasting maize under her umbrella and selling it to passersby. She had my respect.

The whole team is spending the night tonight. We are going to take some time to pray for our upcoming week of VBS with the street boys. I love our worship nights as a team. They are always a beautiful time of connecting with God as a team, not to mention all the fun we have hanging out after our time of prayer.

We had our last regular week of ministry this week. We played football with the street boys and tied them, a first ever victory for our little EAC team. We helped the juvenile boys’ teachers correct their end of term exams. We made porridge for the kids at the primary school and closed their term with a teaching from the story of Elisha. Saturday, we made 133 chapati at the children’s home and warned the administration that we can’t make any more chapati until September.

The end of August will see the four Floridians leave. Beth will leave. I will leave. The beginning of September, Athena leaves too. She’s been with us a year…almost as long as I’ve been with the Kenyan team and just as important a part of a team. It will be quite the month of transition.

Until I leave, my goal is to continue to love every day I am blessed to be here and make the most of every opportunity. I guess that should be my goal no matter where I am though…no matter what country. So, here’s to a life well lived and making every day a great one to the glory of God! I guess that’s what really makes life worth living no matter the circumstances, location, or context.