African Halloween

Well, to be honest, it doesn't exist. There is not even a mention of the event. Not to worry though, we celebrated it anyway. I am too tired to explain now, but I promise a full explanation will be given tomorrow.

For now, enjoy YOUR Halloween, and be safe.

these kids..

I have always known that children, especially ones who have suffered or are suffering, have a special place in my life. There is nothing more heartbreaking then a child who is suffering due to circumstances that have nothing to do with them.

For the past couple of days I have been working with some kids who have been through more tragedy and heartbreak then anyone that I know. I have been collecting their stories, and histories as well as their ambitions in order to create a book of their profiles, for use in sponsorship, and records. It is impossible to express the suffering that these children have experienced without hearing it from them, and watching as their eyes begin to tear up. Steve has planned for each of them to have a profile with their picture on it, as well as a short video of them all, in order to document their story.

Surprisingly it hasn't been their stories that have moved me most. I hear similar stories almost everyday, not to say that that in anyway degrades their story, But it is their faith, and love of the LORD, that moves me. Through all that these children have been through, the betrayal, the tragedy, the abuse and the all around suffering, they have unwavering trust in the LORD. I want that faith, I want to be able to look to God through anything and thank him, to just be happy with being loved by him.

Here are a couple of the kids:






This morning I went to hang out with the Oasis kids for a couple hours. My friend Kamao (spelling?) decided that he just wanted to hang out in my lap all day; and that was fine with me.

Dr. with the Robinsons

Every morning I wake up, and I have some idea of what the day will hold. I usually know the general "skeleton" of everyday. Most of the time things are going on that I don't know about, and that is where "mom" (Allison) comes in, she knows about everything. Today was a great example of this.

I woke up knowing that on Tuesdays we go to Oasis in the Morning and then I go to Purpose driven Academy. What I didn't know was that we were having dinner with Sister Freda and Richard. I was so excited when I got home and found out that Daina, the house cook, was making Lasagna. I love to eat food that isn't rice and beans, so this was like the ultimate meal.

We ate, laughed, and had a great time. I love the Robinsons, that is their surname, because they bring so much life, and peace to any situation. There are some great pictures from the night, and they can be found here, on Daina's blog.

I love you all, and hope God is doing amazing things in your life, he sure is doing them here.

FOOTBALLERS

Today was a typical Monday. In the Morning we went to Oasis, where we talked a bunch about some issues that are going on. I love hanging out with those kids, they make me so happy.

Later in the day the boys from house one and two and the Oasis center street boys teamed up to take the boys from the Showground Primary school. We had a great time hanging out with the other boys as well as watching the team play with all their hearts. They are a great team on the train tracks, but a large field is a bit of a struggle for them. They played well, but lost 2-0. We are going to practice and take them on in a couple weeks, I am confident that we have them next time.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

Today it hit me, I live in the future. All of you back in the States are Ten hours behind me, that is awesome. That means I get to experience EVERYTHING before you.

Then I realized that that is not true. All it means is that the sun rises and sets first here. Whatever, for those few brief moment that I believed I had somehow traveled in time, I felt so powerful, it was worth it.

Sundays are some of the most predictable days that we have here in Kitale. Every morning we go to church, then we go to the coffee shop, and I hang with the kids (and distract them) as Allison helps them with math (or maths as they call it over here).

Today was a little different though. As I was hanging out at the Coffee shop with the kids, James (my Kenyan friend who is coming to the states for school soon) called me up and told me that he was going to watch the Chelsea game in town. Being a fan of the Blues I was so excited to go watch them play against Liverpool at home.



The game was great, although Chelsea lost, ending their 86 game winning streak at the bridge, but the place that we went to watch it was even better. The place was called "Line Moja" which means, Line One. It is just a mud hut, with a tv connected to satellite, and benches where around 100 dudes sat watching the game. It was the most hilarious clash of technology, and simplicity. This place was just another example of why I love Kenya.

Purpose: Adventure

Happy Birthday Allison! Today, as you may have guessed was Allisons birthday. we had such an amazing day, there is no way for me to describe it except through pictures.

Allow me to set the scene: We went to a place called Captain Davis', it is a sort of tiny safari farm, and resort. They have some animals, and ssome great things to do which we did. My favorite part about the day was when I signed the guest book and under purpose of visit I wrote, "Adventure", because that is what we were looking for. Here is what happened:

Talked to this guy

Saw a rhino

Saw some zebra

Saw a treehouse


Drank a Coke

Saw a nest

Saw a Giraffe

Saw an Ostrich

rode an ostrich

Alice rode an Ostrich (So did Daina but I was to scared for her life to get good pictures)

Some great times were had by all, and all in all it was an absurd day. I hope that Allison had a great birthday, I know I had fun. Happy birthday my friend, you are an amazing person.

Dog-gonnit

Oh today was great. Daina and I went to sister Freda's to hang out with the kids, and paint a little bit, while Allison went into town and made some copies for here math tutoring that she is doing. It was a nice, typical day here in Kitale, but when I got home that is when the real good news arrived. WE GOT TWO DOGS! I was so excited to have two new friends to hang out with. They are little Rottweiler puppies, and they are so great. They don't have names yet, we are going to wait and let Steve name them. All in all they are probably the best news that I could have gotten today.