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.