Final Days in Kenya were Sweet

The final weekend was brutal on Kyle as he was on call Thursday, Friday and Saturday night after working all day.  He is a trooper as he saw more sick and needy people and deaths than the previous week.  He worked most of the night on Sat and until after noon on Sunday and was ready for our break as we headed off for a few days of relaxation.  The rest of us attended a worship service at a sister church of the large AIC Church in Kapsowar.  I had been asked to preach again even though it was International Women's Day.  As I began speaking I told them I would have to do as the woman preacher of the day and they all laughed.  At the end of the service they thanked me for being the women preacher of the day and said they felt like it was a great message for the whole church.  They lined up and all filed by shaking our hands and continued the line till everyone shook everyone else's hand.  A great way to greet one another with the right hand of fellowship.  What a gracious and beautiful people.  It is amazing to me that so many of them knew English, but also Swahili, Kalagin and a few other languages.  The songs they sang that day were beautiful and in each of these different languages.  I was challenged to learn more than just English .

Off to Sunrise Acres about 3 or 4 hours away. The roads were rough and windy and many times a bit dusty.  Kyle said he was going to invent a video game called "Kenya's roads" where all kinds of things pop up like pot holes, donkey's, chickens, cows, monkeys, matatu's (taxi's with people packed deep and high), goats, dogs, people and of course the secret police (speed bumps out of no where).  You can not relax on these roads and you feel like you have driven for hours even if it has been less. The video game would be a great way for you to support their ministry, so keep a look out for the release!

Sunrise Acres is a place set apart by a retired missionary family to serve other missionaries.  What a great ministry and we appreciated the break and time to just enjoy one another's company.  Marv and Jan (Marlene's twin brother and his wife) met us there and had a great meal prepared when we arrived.  On Monday morning we took a drive for about an hour and half to a resort to use their swimming pools for the day.  One was hot spring fed and the other fresh water.  We had it to ourselves as no other guests were at the hotel that day. 

The next day we went to a tented resort near Nakuru National Park where we really got to enjoy being pampered with three great meals and gracious service.  During the night we heard eerie sounds as some lions nearby were enjoying a fresh kill.  We felt safe as armed guards patrolled the area around the grounds. The next morning we entered the national park for a drive.  Nationals can enter for a mere $11 per person, but Marlene and I were tourists and it cost $75 per person.  It was a fabulous time as we saw, giraffe, gazelle, water buffalo, flamingo, rhino, zebra, hyenas, monkey's and even the fresh kill of a water buffalo the night before by the lions. Not much was left and we did not see the lions but later in the day we talked to some other people in the park who did see 4 lions in the area of the kill.  It is a beautiful thing to see these creatures roaming around in the open.

We stayed in a small hotel right outside the park before heading back to Nairobi.  We stopped at a tourist trap "welcome to our store, no pressure, just great souvenirs and great prices"  Of course the pressure was intense but thankfully Jan would not let us pay too much for the items we picked and we got the price down to a reasonable rate.  A really cool opportunity arose for us to talk about a relationship with Christ with the workers as we were the only ones in the store.  A young man by the name of Alex was extremely interested and ended up inviting Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.  I shared a tract with him that had a Spiritual Birth Certificate in which he wanted to have a copy and signed it in front of me.  He asked for my contact information and then said he would call me to learn more about Jesus if that that was OK.  Interesting that many people in Kenya have cell phones and they can call us in America for about 3 shillings a minute which is about 4 cents a minute, compared to us calling them for about $2.00 a minute.  Can you imagine that?  What is wrong with our phone charges in America.

Off to Nairobi, the city full of traffic and pollution. But it was great to be back at Marv and Jan's home. We took Vanessa and Kyle out for dinner at a nice restaurant and Marv and Jan took care of the boys.  The place had all you can eat ribs for about $12 per person, we even had ice tea which was a first in about a month.  Ice is not too common as most Kenyan's drink pop without any ice. They think the cold would crack your teeth. 

The morning we left the hugs from the boys were tight and long.  They feel like the call that is on their parents is a call to missions for them as well and they handled the good byes better than Marlene and I did.  We are thankful for this opportunity to serve along side of them for the past month.  We feel blessed to be a part of what they are doing to serve these beautiful and precious people.

Pictures coming soon for this post.

The needs are overwhelming at times – God is good all the time, all the time God is Good!

 The past few days have been especially hard with the hospital packed with patients and even more deaths than we have seen since we have been here. Kyle has be on call and goes in all hours of the night. One patient passed away as he was working on him, another was brought into the hospital with her twins, one already passed away and then the mother passed away, one young 13 year old girl tried to poison herself and passed away right after getting here. It is a great reminder of the fact that life is short and we do not know when our time will be when we pass into eternity.

Each day I have had the opportunity to visit with groups of people and individuals. I spoke to the Nursing School students one morning and spoke to them on The Character of Jesus as seen in His own words from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and then His final words in Revelation 22 – “Surely I am coming quickly”. I visited the girls school and spoke to the teachers and a classroom of students, and then took a tour of the future AIC Kapsowar School of Theology, visited with Robert the pastor of the main Church at the hospital where they have a Christian school for about 300 students and quite an outreach in the community with church planting, outreach to other schools and training young people and others to understand their faith. The thing that came out in each visit was needs that they made available for us to consider. The needs were from $350 to over $20,000 to meet the immediate needs. Then there had been the ones coming to us and Kyle and Vanessa's home daily with needs from just small amounts of shillings to meet their needs to larger amounts. The requests are never ending. I trust that God gives wisdom and that He loves a cheerful giver. What a great opportunity we have had to be here these past few weeks in Kapsowar and see what God has been doing though these saints here in Kenya.

I had a most exciting experience on Friday as I got to experience a surgery of a man who had lost most of his left hand in a grinder. It was a two hour reconstructive surgery in what some have said is the 2^nd worst surgery room in the world. Thankfully `Kapsowar has received a gift to build a new double surgery room which should be open within a few months. I visited with the patient later about 4 in the afternoon and he was one of the most gracious people I have met. He was so thankful for the surgery and even my follow up and prayer with him. I took many pictures during the surgery as many years ago I had two employees working for a company I worked for that were de gloved just like this man. I find the patients at Kapsowar so thankful and also so needy. Each day I have had the opportunity to share Christ with patients and have seen not only the patients that have prayed to receive Christ but also some of their family members. We have loved the whole body ministry that Kyle and Vanessa have here in Kenya

Saturday was Hudson's 6^th birthday and 29 African children came over for the party. It was a wonderful time and Hudson said it was the best birthday ever. The gifts were few and a few homemade including a stick with a couple of lids nailed on the end of the stick to roll around. The kids loved the games, the cake was wonderful and it was a delight to see them enjoying the simple things of the day. We were reminded that gifts are not what birthdays are all about. Little Hudson gathered all the kids at the end of the day and thanked them for coming and invited them to stay as long as they wanted.

As Kyle and I went into Center (which is the main street in town) we were approached by the Pastor of the main church in town to tell me that I am preaching on Sunday morning at one of their sister churches. We leave for a few days of vacation with Kyle and Vanessa and the boys Sunday afternoon. Kyle has been on call for the past three days and worked lots of hours. Pray for his strength and ongoing ministry to these precious people.

Life in Kenya

We are learning more and more about Kenyan culture here at Kapsowar.

When invited to someones home, you wait for them to “release” you. It is rude to say “We need to be going home now”. And Kenyan women don't ever talk about their pregnancies. They even tell their children they are going to “buy a baby”, when the wife is full term, then show up with a baby.

I think some Christian women are realizing they need to just be truthful about it though, thankfully.

But culture is hard to change.

On Sunday we went to 2 services. The first was at the hospital chapel, where Kyle preached, then it was on to the Kenyan church where they normally attend. Travis preached at this service. Just for the record Travis only preached for 30 minutes and had been asked to cover 7 chapters of Nehemiah. Then, since we were guests, they presented us, along with the other medical students who were guests, with gifts. All of this took a very long time. Kenyans are so warm and welcoming, and were very gracious to do so much for us. After the service they invited us to stay for Chai and bread. We walked back home at around 3:00 I think.

We have been invited to people's houses quite a bit. On Monday night we took Agnes (Vanessa's house helper) home. She is so sweet, and a big help with Jude and Isaac while Vanessa does homeschool with Hudson. While there, the car got stuck in a hole, and without prayer for wisdom, it could have been a disaster, because the car wanted to keep sliding forward whenever Kyle put it in reverse to go back up the hill, but by putting the emergency break on, and then slowly giving it gas while letting up on the brake, he was able to reverse and go up the hill.

Tuesday night we went to 2 other homes for dinner and sodas. Both homes were very small typical Kenyan homes with a separate mud wall kitchen with a fire hole for a stove.

But all are so kind, and loving and hospitable. We walked home in the dark up and down the dirt road, with flashlights, stumbling ocassionally.

Today, Wednesday, some of us went on a community outreach trip. We took Jude with us. Vanessa stayed with Hudson to do school work, and to get ready for her ladies Bible study which she leads on Wednesdays.

We went to visit the village of Embobut. Travis and I and Jude and Kyle, andHaley (a medical student) and 2 Kenyan Christians went along. It was a 2 hour drive on some pretty treacherous and dirty bumpy roads. No one threw up this time, which was a good thing!

They were able to minister to about 75 -100 people that gathered and sat in a field for almost 3 hours. Each member had a chance to share a message including a gospel presentations, health education and encouragement as to how to better their lives by developing skills to help them. I was able to visit with 2 women who know the Lord. One has a sewing business and opportunities to share about her faith with her students, and the other a school teacher who was excited when I shared a children's bible tract with her and left it with her. She said she would use it in her class.

We made it home in time for me to see and participate in the women's Bible study.

We are thankful for the opportunities God is giving us each day. Travis goes part of each day to the hospital to make rounds with the Chaplins visiting and sharing and praying with patients and giving out Bibles. Thank you for your prayers. We will leave this area on Sunday to go with Kyle and family to meet up with Marv and Jan, to enjoy some fun and relaxation.

Adventures in Kapsowar – Home of Kyle and Vanessa and the boys

 The hillsides are flowing with beautiful people, shamba's (gardens), huts and homes and fields with children playing with homemade toys (like tires being pushed with two sticks) a simple but very hard life compared to what we are used to. Our first day in Kapsowar was meeting neighbors, making the rounds with Kyle – whom they call Doctari Johns. They have a hard time saying Kyle and I have become known as “father of Johns” since Travis is hard for them as well. Kyle and Vanessa host the medical students working at the hospital each morning for a time of Scripture reading and prayer for the day. This week we had resident and student doctors from USA, Germany, Australia and Singapore. What a great way to start the day! The next day I spent with the chaplains and we had the opportunity to visit many sick patients in the hospital. It was exciting to greet and pray with the patients and many times with their families. Marlene and I attended class with Hudson in the little school right by the hospital in the afternoon. Hudson looks so cute in his little uniform. When I got down on the kids level many wanted to pinch me and I found out later they wanted to see if this white skin was made of plastic. Some even wanted to touch my gray hair as that is a rarity around here.

Wednesday was a fun day for Marlene and I as we were invited to watch a c-section being done in the Theater (surgery room) and just as we were finishing an emergency c-section came up so we watched two in a row. Neither of us passed out and both boys came out very healthy, however one breach so his little legs were trying to stay up by his head for a while. Kyle is an excellent surgeon.

Marlene had prepared some gifts to give out in the children's ward and I got to continue visiting the patients with the chaplains. We have seen a large number of the patients accept Christ into their lives this week. One of the main chaplains is blind and has been since 1993. He is amazing as he makes his rounds around the hospital without assistance. We joined he and his wife at their home for lunch on Saturday and it was amazing that the Kenyan Power and Light Company showed up at his home to install a transformer during our visit. They had made the request in 1990 so it has been 21 years since they made the request and today was the day when they finally got electricity for the first time. They were praising the Lord and laughed so hard and said “you have brought light to our home for the first time today”. The people of Kenya are so thankful and each visit in their home is followed by multiple thank you's. Pastor Charles thanked us he said from the floor of his home to the top of the sky for coming to their home and for Kyle and Vanessa serving with them in Kapsowar. We were humbled to say the least.

This evening we visited Chaplain Taita who we met in Tenwek 3 years ago. We have had the opportunity to assist him with some schooling over the past 3 years and his parents wanted to meet us and share their thanks for helping their family. They came 5 hours by public transportation which is very tough just to meet us and again we were humbled by their overhelming thankfulness toward God and toward us.

Some lessons we are learning – we have a very special son and daughter in law who serve here with servant's hearts. Life is hard - just cooking meals, preparing water to drink, hosting so many Kenyan's and guests from all over the world, living without electricity off and on all the time, no running water at times, walking most places, being the spectacle as they walk the streets of the community, being on call for needs of patients all hours of the day every day of the week and being admired by everyone that gets to know them. We are so proud to be part of their family. The people here are most thankful, even the widow mother and the children at the children's home we visited ,where a simple game of American football was a highlight of the day with the kids. The patients are so thankful for any small gestures and always have a smile and a handshake. People are open to the Gospel and many are receiving the Lord as their personal Savior. Please pray for these

new believers that they would be discipled and taught about Jesus.

We feel honored and blesed to be here in Kapsowar this week. Thanks for your prayers

Pokot Adventure

Kapsowar is beautiful they say.... but we arrived there after dark on Friday night and hit the sack at about 11, rising up at 5:30 and heading out to the Pokot Tribal village in the bush some 4 plus hours away. Kyle had arrarnged this medical trip with a group of 18 of us. The road was steep and rough and very dusty. We arrived in the village called Lodengo where we were greeted by many people who were so excited to see the whole team. Kyle had been given the name Losilicol which is a bull with brown and white spots. Kyle is valuable to them since he is white and works with brown people, a means of saying they honor him. They kept saying he was their brother and he was a man of promise, as he brought his family to see them as well. The temperature had risen from us wearing light jackets when we left Kapsowar to now close to 110 degrees. What do you do when you are hot? The Pokots say medicine for being hot is to drink something hot! So we had Chai (hot tea with milk and sugar), then out came the boiled goat meat, fried bread, boiled cabbage and ugoli. We were treated as honored guests and thanked over and over by the pastor, regional pastor, some of the locals and the Chief. They told us over and over “thank you so much for coming to our community to offer help to our people both medically and spiritually.”

We set up the clinic and then all the people were gathered together and introductions were made, Kyle (Losilicol) shared a mesage with the people and invited them to invite Jesus into their life. He told them he had been raising money for a local clinic for them but wanted them to help so that it would be a shared project. They clapped often as he spoke. The clinic was then opened for those that had needs and it went on all afternoon. The men of the village went under a big tree and talked about how they could make some better decisions as leaders in their village. Kyle came over for a little while and really challanged them to step up to the plate as leaders in the clinic project. When I came over they gave me the seat of honor as I was the oldest person in their village. They even asked me to speak to the men. I shared the story of Nehemiah and how he had lead his people in a big project and God blessed it because he was a man of prayer . I encouraged them to become men of prayer. Two hours later the chief told them it was a lot to take in and that they were ready for a break. Don't know what that meant because it contined for several more hours. One of the pastors told me they had taken it to heart to embrace the project and were talking about how they could help. This is rare in Africa as the men are not normally leaders in the village other than taking 2-3 wives. One of the men told me that it makes them feel young with a young wife. Most of the men in the village have more than one wife. The Christian men do not normally take more than one wife.

After dark we gathered back to eat some more goat meat, ugoli and this time some rice. We were totally exausted and sought out places to sleep. Kyle and the team set up some tents for the men and women workers to sleep in, with some small pads to sleep on the ground. Since Marlene and I were the oldest people in the village, we were given a small room in the house. Rest went quickly and the roosters were going to it at probably 4 in the morning. Morning chai and then Kyle brought some goat spray for villagers and so they fashioned a pen with cut branches and we began spraying close to 500 goats. Some brought their camels and we sprayed them as well. The spray helps to keep the ticks off the animals and is a much needed value to these people. They are so thankful for Losilicol and thanked him over and over every time we got together. After spraying the animals we gathered for breakfast – yes you guested it goat, rice, ugali and cabbage. As the oldest member of their village now, they gave me a gift – the liver of the goat. I was taken back and said oh that is alright I did not need to take that, but again as the Kuka (grandfather of the village ) they wanted me to have it as the honored one. I did eat some and then one of the men offered to cut it up into some smaller pieces. It was like about the size of a large patato. I enjoyed sharing my gift with some of the men of the village and also some of the women that helped cook our meals. For some reason our team did not take much of my gift. It was really pretty good and it was fun to see the expressions on the faces of those I shared it with. I felt honored and I believe that it came as a result of their great love for our son and his heart of ministry to these people. They honored Marlene as well as the grandmother of the village and called her Guga. They were always making sure she got enough to eat and wanted to give her a better place to rest for the evening. We felt really blesed to be a part of their community.

After breakfast we had a call to worship and it was wonderful to hear their singing, praying and testimonies of God's blessings to them and especially through the work that Losilicol had done for their village. I was introduced as the grandfather of the village and preached a message to them. I spoke on what the Christian life is all about. I gave them 4 short statements when added together make one sentence. The life of Christ, reproduced in the beliver's life, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to the Word. The service lasted a full two hours, and yes I only spoke for 30 minutes including giving a clear gospel message. It was a beautiful time and a great time of worship together.

We headed back to Kapsowar through the rough and dusty roads the next 4 hours. We stopped at a school in another small village where Kyle and Vanessa have sponsored a 9^th grade orphan in a semester of school. His name is Justin and he was delighted to see his guardians. He is loving school and growing in his faith.

We got back to Kapsowar just before sunset and oh was the dinner that Vanessa made delightful. We are looking forward to a great couple of weeks working with Kyle in the hospital and the community.

Just a side note, while we were in Nairobi we knocked off the computer from the desk and broke it so we are without a computer here in Kenya. We will be borrowing others to make updates.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

After 2 nights on a plane, we are in Nairobi

We arrrived at the Tulsa Airport at about 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday and landed in Nairobi on Thursday at about noon.  Interesting times with lots of delays.  As we began to leave London on the way to Nairobi, a man on the back row started screaming at the top of his lungs "Please God, get me off this plane, please people help me, we are all going to die, please they are hitting me, they are hurting me, please help"  Kind of a frightening thing on a plane these days. Five large men were holding this man down as he screamed for 20 minutes.  The stewards came by and said he was being deported and he did this last time they deported him and it will be Ok, not to worry as these men were trained to take care of him. But after constant screaming, they finally decided to take him off the plane.  The rest of the trip was quiet, but made for great conversations.  We prayed for this man and his well being and the 5 men who were with him.

On arrival Marvin (Marlene's twin brother) and his wife Jan took us to there home at the Africa Inland Mission HQ where they live on the compound. It is gated and guarded.  The guard (Daniel) liked the picture I took of him and asked for a copy.  He sells eggs off his bicycle after he gets off for about $3 for 30 eggs. 

Jan fixed a nice lunch and we took a short nap before Ishmael and Moline Okuku came over for tea and some plum pudding at 4.  They have a ministry called Shelter of Hope Centre in Nairobi where they operate a center to minister to homeless, orphans and widows.  Ishmael has been in my parents home in Kansas and my mother loves and supports his work with much prayer.  You can see their work and pray for them as well.  http://www.shelterofhopekenya.com/

Marv and Jan fixed a fabulous dinner and we caught up on their 30 years of ministry in Kenya. Since Marlene and I kept nodding off, they graciously said we should go to bed.  We obliged and look forward to tomorrow as we meet with the AIM staff for morning Chai and then off to El Doret by plane where Dr. Kyle will pick us up to take us to Kapsowar for the next few weeks. WE will get to see the grandson's again. See their blog under Jones House Happenings. We will be going to the Pokot Tribe for a medical clinic and then speaking at their church this weekend.

Good Day or I should say Good Night
Travis and Marlene

Snow Storm of Feb 2011 and off to Kenya for an escape

Travis and Marlene will be heading off to Kenya soon to visit our son and his family.  Going from record snow fall and record low temperatures in Oklahoma to 8,500 elevation on the equator in Kapsowar Kenya.  Keep us in your prayers.  We will keep this blog updated beginning next week.  The photo was taken in our front yard as Marlene played in the snow.  The temperature in Kenya will normally be in the 70-80's in the daytime and 50's in the evenings.   Our first week will be visiting the Pokot tribe and ministering to these precious people that Kyle and Vanessa have begun a work with.  Check out their blog and keep up with our trip.  http://www.joneshousehappenings.blogspot.com/    scroll down our blog to review previous trip to Kenya 3 years ago with Kyle and his family.