Hell's Shower... A Weekend Excursion.

-
I'm Living at a Sewing Centre:

My house has now also become a sewing centre!  A 9 month dream became a reality  after Jody returned to the U.S. with a mission to gather a team of women to help support one of the aunties of our orphans to start  a business.  Knowing she was a good tailor, the women decided to raise funds through their friends and relatives to buy her a sewing machine.

Three weeks after our auntie received the news that the sewing machine was coming, Jody received word that a boutique was opening locally and requested hand-made purses from Kenya!

So today after getting home from my weekend adventure at Hell's Gate, I heard the whir of a woman working her new machine!  It gave me so much joy to come home to that sound!  With this new source of income, our friend will now be able to support the orphans in her family.
















Conquering Hell's Gate...


...or rather, as I sit here with aching muscles, I'm thinking Hell's Gate conquered me! Pippa and I, my really cool British neighbor, headed two hours up to Lake Naivasha for a weekend of R & R.  Instead of driving into Hell's Gate National park, we decided to park the car and cycle.

Twelve kilometers later, and not to mention, rock climbing through a steep gorge, we returned to the car caked head to foot with sand, dirt in our teeth, and wobbly legs, and one badly stubbed toe (pole Pippa =)  But it was TOTALLY worth it.

The funnest part of the excursion was trying to skirt all the very enthusiastic trail guides, managing to tag along with the funniest team of Kenyans, who I might add, had just participated in a wheel barrow race...in the Bush.  And we topped it off by burning our feet in hot, volcanic water streaming down the gorge walls, and laughing at pumbas (wort hogs) racing away from us with tails straight up in the air and their bums to us.


Lots of humour, lots of sun, and now lots of pain.

Mama Wangari's Mzungu Daughter:

After returning from lake Naivasha, I knew I couldn't end the day without greeting Mama Wangari, my kind and portly landlady.
Knowing how social she was and that her house helper was away, I knew she'd be lonely.  So up I went for a "short" visit.  Two hours later, I had learned how to clean and prepare doma (a type of root, popular with Kikuyus), had coffee with her, washed all her dishes, and had been told that I now qualified to be her Mzungu house helper, more specifically her Kikuyu daughter.  In the spirit of laughter, Mama Wangari phoned her house helper to tease her that she was being replaced by Mama Wangari's Mzungu daughter.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did You Know You Are God's Gardener?

-
Image
What does it take to be a good gardener?  I learned gardening from my mom.  From my earliest age I can remember mom's luscious vegetable garden.  But what was really impressive was her rose garden.  Both these took constant care and cultivating. Before planting, the ground had to have all weeds pulled, then the ground had to be tilled.  Next the seed had to be placed just so far into the ground and far enough apart from each other so that they would grow properly.   Next came the watering, which had to be done almost daily for the first few weeks after planting the seeds.  As the seeds began to sprout, they needed the right amount of sunshine and water, careful not to overwater them. A good gardener has two main qualities time and patience.  Time, because he or she has to wait for the seed to take root and then actually sprout life.  But mostly a good gardener is patient.  They wait and wait and wait until the seed brings forth life.  Then the work of cultivating those young plants
Read more

Jody Returns to Kenya!

-
Image
Hello Friends!  Jody is returning to Kenya in November and Christy will be continuing the ministry in Ohio.  Here are Jody's thoughts.... Dear friends, On November 13 th  I will be journeying back to Kenya, Africa. You may be asking, “Why now?” or “Aren’t you afraid?” I’ve received hundreds of these questions over the last two weeks. “Why now?”   It is time to continue the work. I talked to one of our precious African daughters last month.  She told me what she was learning in school and how she was growing in her faith. I have watched her and our other girls grow from struggling orphans to beautiful butterflies ready to spread their wings. My goal is to train them up in such a way that they will have confidence to teach and mentor others. They will become the women of Kenya and future leaders of the ministry. They will teach other women how to live in the joy and freedom of Christ. This trip, it will be summertime in Kenya. I will have more time to spend with t
Read more

Dancing with Granny and Chasing Bats

-
Image
Hey Friends, after finishing our summer program with the soccer team in Kibera, we had Vacation Bible school with our neighbor's nephews and nieces. From left: Philis, Moody, Evans (in the back), Benjamin, and Dennis (Esther & Eva not shown) We met for two hours every day to teach the children about their foundation in Christ.  They asked some amazing questions.   Here are some of them: Philis: Does God love people who do witchcraft? Eva: Why did Jesus come as the Good Shepherd instead of a general or a manager? Esther: In Genesis 4 God says, “Let us make man in our own image.”  Who is “our” referring to? Our friend, Samuel, came to share his story of growing up an MK in South Africa.  The children laughed a lot especially when he shared how he thought he was African until he saw an Asian image starring back at him in the mirror. We always ended our time together by  sharing a cup of tea and cookies. Mealtimes symbolize forgiveness and reconcilia
Read more