Hope

As I write today, I am touched by the many, many folks who have written and even called to make sure we are safe, in light of the ongoing hostage situation in Nairobi.  We sincerely appreciate your concern and your prayers for us and the victims.

We are safe here in Kijabe and we, like you, await more information.  The worldwide news sites, such as CNN and BBC, are as informative and up-to-date as any of the local news sites in Kenya.  In church this morning, it felt a little like attending church after 9/11...except without the incredulity that something like that could happen nearby.  Everyone here understands that something like this can and does happen here sporadically - we are briefed on it before we come and are constantly reminded that we need to be aware in public situations, avoid demonstrations, etc.  Also, we are the outsiders here - we stand out naturally and don't need to do a lot to draw attention to ourselves.

I generally avoid Nairobi on the weekends:  not just from a safety standpoint - I don't like crowds and traffic.  However, I did take Anna and some friends into town last Saturday.  We were pulled over twice by the Kenyan army.  I had no idea why and no one was coming to my car to ask for my license or a tissue to wipe the dirt out of my wheelwell to read a sticker (this has really happened!).  The army was pulling everyone heading in my direction off of the road, but the first time it seemed like they were directing everyone down a "frontage road" (and I use that term very loosely).  Assuming they were directing everyone around an accident, I followed the crowd down this rutted path paralleling the highway and eventually found my way back to the highway.  A few minutes later, I was pulled off the road again.  This time, I asked the officer why and he replied "a state function."  The girls were convinced that the president would be passing by in a convoy, and that seemed reasonable.  As the minutes passed, it dawned on me that I was sitting in the middle of a large Kenyan crowd of vehicles and pedestrians with something related to the government about to happen/pass by....and all the warnings started to come back to me.  Unable to find anything on the local news sites on my phone (have I ever mentioned how our phones are really lifelines here?), I looked around for a way to leave.  When another car pulled out onto the highway, I followed and so did many of the other cars.  Of course, about 3 or 4 minutes later, the president's convoy did actually pass us!!

The Presidential/government convoy.

We speculated that this was the President's car.

I only mention that story to illustrate what life is like here.  You cannot assume that your grocery shopping or birthday party or sporting event will be routine - even returning from a trip to town without being involved in a road traffic accident makes us so thankful.  One of my interns in the nursery right now wanted me to email a lecture to him last week, and he mentioned that he would get it from a friend's computer because his laptop was "lost."  That seemed strange to be nonchalant about losing a laptop, so I asked him about it.  It turns out that he was knocked unconscious leaving a friend's house in Nairobi a week or so ago, and his laptop was stolen.  Indignant, I asked if he reported it to the police, and the other interns smirked ruefully.  They explained their opinion that it wouldn't make a difference and he will never get the stolen items back. 

Things like this can happen anywhere - in any city or small town across the world, including in the US.  But, we don't assume that they will happen in the US.  We live in a privileged world of assumed safety - our infrastructure is maintained, our police force has cars, we have a 911 system for emergencies, we can drink water straight from the tap.  Honestly, it is mind-boggling!  Twice on the cul-de-sac where we were living before moving here, different families called 911 for an ambulance, and they arrived in less than 5 minutes.  FIVE MINUTES!!  It took the airport in Nairobi 2 and a half hours to get the firefighters back to fight the huge blaze last month - it wouldn't even have made the news if they had been there to put it out or had arrived in only five minutes.  

The issues here in Kenya are complex and I can't begin to offer an easy solution, but I do want us to both appreciate the luxury that we live in and not let it corrupt us or make us apathetic about the world others live in.  If we take our privilege for granted, it will corrupt us - we will become haughty and proud...and ungrateful.  If we become apethetic (ex, "It's their problem, not mine."), we will not reach out to help others with our time, skills, and wealth.  The simple interaction I had with the young Kenyans about the stolen laptop belies some of the fatalism that exists here, even among the well-educated that will carry the next generation.  While I am convinced that we cannot help by just giving out money and directing change, we can come alongside our Kenyan (and other areas of the world's) brothers and sisters and offer them hope.  The hope of Christ offers love that does not end and is not based on race, socioeconomic status, or even worth.  Hope gives a reason to enact change and reach out to others, crossing tribal and political lines in a way that nothing else can.  

So, as the world waits for the standoff in Nairobi to end and for more answers, please pray for the victims and their families.  Please pray that this is not the beginning of more attacks in Kenya or around the world.  And please pray for hope to come to this land and the world - to all places where hope is squelched by fatalism.

Love,
Sarah

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; ⁵ and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [emphasis mine]

Luke 12:48
...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

The road less traveled.

Good morning!

On this Saturday morning as I start to write, I am alone in the house.  Ted had an early morning tennis practice after overcoming almost a 50% cut rate to make the tennis team.  Anna is at Junior High Splash Day in Nairobi for the day - sometimes RVA feels like part school and part camp.  

**Several hours later...**  

Emily went to a health fair up at school, where they record each child's height, weight, and vision and have discussions on safety, etc.  Rick is rounding at the hospital - we are splitting the weekend on call, and he took Saturday.  Those activities sound pretty typical for the average American family on a Saturday.  So, what's different?  I hung up a load of laundry on the line while mist from the rain over the crest of the mountain blew down on me.  I had to step over monkey poo several times on the way to and from walking to RVA for the health fair.  I bought grapes from Samuel who came to the door this morning, and then soaked them in a sterilizing solution of sorts.  Our chicken is "broody" (Read:  If history repeats itself in the Gessner coop, that hen will sit on a bunch of eggs, eat half of them, one egg might hatch, and then she won't lay eggs again for 6 months!  Sigh...), so Ted decided to buy 10 fertilized eggs from someone in Kijabe, marked them with a sharpie, and then put them in the nest box where she sits.  I'll let you know in 21 days.  I boiled some bones from a recent goat roast, so Mak can have a gourmet meal of goat-infused dog rice tonight.  Just a few differences from the average suburban activities!

This summer, during my blog hiatus, we were blessed with many visitors.  What an encouragement it was to each member of our family!  A family that we are good friends with from Raleigh came in mid-July, and we traveled with them to the Maasai Mara.  They travel to India every couple of years and told us how they had once gone on a "safari" there.  They traveled many hours to the interior of India and reportedly only saw the hind end of one elephant disappearing into the foliage, so they were thrilled to see the abundant wildlife that Kenya boasts.

***Two days later....***


On another of our jaunts, we drove in 2 cars to a place called Ole Pejeta Conservancy.  We got a kick out of this clever sign positioned before a small bridge.

After spending the day in the conservancy, the afternoon was winding down and we were preparing to leave significantly later than we had planned or hoped.  You know how you plan the time you want to leave (including the buffer), then the time you should leave (to still allow for emergencies), and then the time you must really, really leave - well, we were about 30 minutes after that.  And there was a most impressive thunderstorm raging in the direction we were heading.  Did I mention that we took 2 cars?  That means Rick drove one and I drove one.  So, we headed out to find the turn onto the short cut that we had taken that morning (the green mosque was our landmark).  Yes, the 15-20 miles short cut that seemed a little dicey when the ground was dry now had to be navigated with flowing streams where the cavernous potholes had been that morning...in the light rain and the gathering darkness.  I don't have much experience with 4 wheel drive either, but I certainly got an entire course on the way home.  The photos don't do it justice really, but the guys took a photo of us coming down the road - and those are not superficial little puddles.  It felt a little like a video game while trying to choose the most navigable path before getting my car stuck...except that I couldn't just press "New Game!"

I love this next picture that I stopped to take of the guys' car in the distance.  (They drove a lot faster and, I think, actually aimed for the deepest puddles.  They later said they were only worried about having to pull us out of the mud, if we got stuck!)  This short cut was quite uninhabited and the sunset was phenomenal with the clouds and mist.  Kind of makes me think of Robert Frost's poem about "I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  It also makes me think about how we can get all caught up in our worries and immediate concerns in life, but if we don't look ahead of us at the goal, then we will miss the beauty of it all.  We will either see the mud and the potholes and discomforts around us, or we will see the stunning beauty of the reward that awaits us at the end of our journey.  Let us not miss the chance to take the road less traveled, and let us certainly not take that path mired down in worry.  But let us each one remember to keep our eyes focused on what God has in store for us "down the road," and that His beauty is all around us if we will just lift our eyes to see.

Love,
Sarah


Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14

  

Insights from Africa

You know when you don't write for a while, and then it seems like there is so much to say that the sheer enormity of it drives you away?  Okay, enough excuse making...

We have now lived in Kenya, East Africa for just over a year, and I thought I'd make a non-exhaustive list of insights that we have observed along the way...

Backwards things:

• Turning the shower water down when you want it hotter

• Driver's seat on the right side of the car (We call it an "American moment"  when you walk to the front left door to drive....or turn on the windshield wipers when trying to turn on the blinker.)

• I don't run to the hospital as fast as humanly possible when there is a baby crashing, because I won't be able to breathe myself when I get there (Our house is downhill from the hospital, and Kijabe is at 7200 ft elevation.)

• Seasons - we are just emerging from winter

• Giving up what you cannot keep to gain what you cannot lose - Jim Elliot

Funny things:

• I can tell if whomever picks up the phone in our house is speaking to a Westerner or to a Kenyan, by the accent they use!  (Okay, I can also tell if Rick is talking to his brother on the phone, too, because he picks up an even-more-Southern accent than usual!)

• There are termites emerging from every wooden crevice of our house, and it is a rueful observation when a new tract is discovered - not a frantic call to the pest control service.  (Our house may fall down around us....)

• We can often tell when a chicken is laying an egg from inside the house (maybe not impressive to you folks familiar with farms, but a big step for us)

• All hands on deck to run get the laundry off the line during the rain

 
 New Lingo: (Not necessarily new, but definitely distinctive here.)

• To confirm - to make sure   "Let me confirm about the meeting."

• To pass by - to stop in   "Pass by the nursery and see if the baby is getting its transfusion."  or  "I'll pass by tomorrow and feed your dog."

• Contact info - usually cell phone number, but may be email also

• To pick - to pick up.   "I need to pick some groceries in Nairobi."

• Sawa - okay   "I'll see you tomorrow."  "Sawa"

• Sawa sawa - really okay   "The car will be ready to pick tomorrow."  "Sawa sawa"

• Pole - sorry   "I broke my hand."  "Pole!"

• Pole pole - slowly  "The repairs are happening pole pole."

• Piki piki - motorcycle 

• Cafo - school cafeteria

• Vac - school break

• Chips - french fries

"Only in Africa..."

•  4 people to a piki piki

• Goat being transported on a piki piki

• Soaking disposable CT contrast syringes in bleach solution to reuse

• Waiting 18 hours for a bilirubin level on a baby

• Tapping on the ventilator dial to make it register

• Kids noticing and commenting "This is a smooth road!" (Especially when it is not compared to US roads - it just is relative to other roads here.)

• American food days in the cafeteria (hamburger and chips...see above)

• Vac takes students home to twenty-something countries

• Creative ways to procure Crystal Light, Bacon Bits, and children's clothes!

• The electricity goes off and no one seems to notice

• Goat roasts 

• A pediatrician running a radiology department

Things we miss from home in the States:

• Family and friends - always the most important!

• Convenience - you name it, and it applies.  Having apples or grapes in the house is not a foregone conclusion - you can't just stop by Food Lion on the way home.  If you run out of something, you make-do until the next trip to Nairobi...or someone can bring from the States.

• Smooth roads/quality infrastructure

• Public library

• Local restaurants - I can't wait to hear "Welcome to Moe's!"

• Swimming, and warm weather to go with it

• Ice cream

• Potable tap water

• Dishwashers

Things we appreciate about living here:

• The kids' freedom to come and go in Kijabe 

• Walking to school (Okay, the kids may disagree, but I think it's great!)

• Walking to work

• Only driving rarely

• Much less bureaucracy in the medical world (I had to look that up in 2 dictionaries!)

• Appreciating things more, perhaps, after realizing that so many of the things we have are not rights but privileges

• No tv (Yes, you read that right!)

• Flowers blooming all year long

• The stunning beauty of God's creation on safari

• The view of the Great Rift Valley from my bedroom window

• The emphasis placed on relationships above tasks and schedules (can also be maddening at times....) 

Now that we have lived here for a year, we are starting things again that were new to us last year.  We understand our roles better; the kids are not the new ones at school this year; we know the people/hospital/school/community; we know how to shop in Nairobi, where to get your hair cut, and how to navigate life in general.  In short, life here is not as difficult and overwhelming as it was a year ago, because we have learned the ropes.  Don't get me wrong - life here is difficult compared to the States, but it has blessings in the difficulties and can be refreshing in its beauty and simplicity.  I pray that God is using these difficulties to stretch us and grow us into the people He wants us to be.

Thank you for joining with us during this past year!  We look forward to walking together with you again during this coming year, Mungu akipenda (God willing).  [This is a photo-deficient blog, but the next one will be full of cool animals. :)]

Lots of love,
Sarah

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” –Mark 8.35