Dad is here!

February 18-March 8

There has been a lot happen in the past two weeks so I will do my best to try and catch up on all the happenings since I wrote last. The big news is that my Dad is here with us! Crazy I know! We’ll get there…

    Tuesday evening I spoke to Ricklynn for quite a while about some family things. I also spoke to Ben Ashioya on the phone about coming to the coast to teach a class for Dub with ABA media to film. We made all the arrangements and planned for his arrival the following week. I also spoke to my dad and was able to book his tickets to come see us. There were two options one was in May the other was the end of February. He took the one in February and I made the reservation.
    Wednesday February 19 I spent some time studying. I spoke to Emanuel about the church in Jimba and some concerns he had. I encouraged him to communicate his concerns on Sunday at the church and if the church needed me I would be happy to come and visit with them. I also went by and worked on Clayton’s immigrations paper work. We got our dryer belt in the mail and I installed it.
    I spoke to Juma and he had to take his wife Mercy to the hospital because she fell out of a stool onto her pregnant stomach. Then while he went to get money to pay for the hospital his 2 year old daughter went home with his sister and she drank some Kerosene and they rushed her back to the hospital. Juma was having a rough day to say the least. Thankfully Mercy was ok and Juma’s daughter did not ingest enough to hurt her. 
    I spoke to Ben on the phone again to confirm everything and send the money for his trip. I spoke a little to Daniel about the building in Jimba. Clayton also called and we had a good visit he also told me he was MARRIED! He and Lindsey married a couple months earlier in order to get everything done on her name changes and paperwork before they move over in June. 
    Thursday I spent working on my sermon for Sunday. I also emailed Heather an itinerary for the Texarkana Baptist Orphanage Trip that is scheduled for March. I also sent a detailed email to Mike Vickers about the possible internship they are wanting to do with us this fall. I was able to send out some text messages concerning Bible Institute classes and to church members. Before we left for Bible study I spoke a little with Getrude about starting a Bible Study near her place and she seemed really excited about the possibility. She said she would talk to her husband about it.
    We went to Bible study and had a good devotion from Godfry. After the Bible study I spent a few hours talking to Godfry and Ricklynn about some family matters. When I finally got home I called my dad to talk to him about his trip and the details of his flight on Monday. He was excited and ready to go. While I was on the phone with my dad the dogs killed a huge RAT. Kenya and Sadie said it was huge, but I thought, sure it was big, but they were right it was HUGE! I never seen a rat that big. It made a great meal for the dogs…

     Friday I worked in the office then made ten or fifteen calls to talk with church members that have been out for a while. I also talked with Obed to see how he was doing since he was poisoned. Thankfully he is doing better and his wife came in to take care of him. After the phone calls I caught up on some emails. I tried to confirm the evangelistic outreach with Alfonse and when we finally got connected he said he needed to cancel again.
    Saturday I made calls again to a few more church members then we went to the church to work. I taught Bible study and answered questions. It was a great study time and we had a good turnout. After Bible study we went to Taheri for lunch. We took Dub and Joni’s daughter Chloe with us and she loved the Chicken Tikka. We also went out for some Ice cream! When I got home I finished up working on the Sunday Sermon.

 Sunday we had a great service both at church in Malindi and in our evening worship time. We had several visitors and I think the message went well.   
    Monday was our day off.
Tuesday February 25 Josiah and I ran to Mombasa to pick up my dad from the airport and Ben Ashioya from Ely’s house. We went by for Josiah’s orthodontist appointment first then picked up some toner for the copy machine.
    We had an interesting incident happen while we were stuck in traffic. Two guys tried to jump in the car to snatch my iPad that was sitting between Josiah and I in the Land Rover. They used a trick that is common in Nairobi. One guy bangs or gets your attention on one side of the car while the other reaches in the window from the other side. Back in 2000 during our initial survey trip Kenya’s purse with her passport was stolen by thieves using this trick in Nairobi.  I told the guy on my side of the car to stay away from the car after he initially grabbed the door handle like he was opening the door. He came close again and I warned him not to touch the car again he backed off then I saw his buddy out the side mirror so I covered the iPad with Josiah’s backpack. I thought it was all over and they tried again. This time the dude on Josiah’s side started to stick his hand in the window and I drew back on him to punch him and he ran off. It was a close one…oh and it all took place about 100 feet from a police officer at the roundabout…. It was a nice try but thankfully we knew the trick.
    We picked up Ben on the way to the airport to get my dad. My dad got in safe and sound. It was his first time to fly out of the country and he did great! I could not believe he made it all the way with no problem. Praise the Lord. We headed for the Malindi. When we got home we grilled out burgers and I spoke a little to Ben about classes and notes and also got dad all settled in.

     I felt bad but we had classes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the church in Malindi with Ben Ashioya teaching on comparative religions. Dub got all the sessions on video for us also. I know dad was bored but he was able to come in and out and see what all was going on. He said the thing that was weird to him was seeing me speak Swahili with everyone. We went to class each day from 9 to 5 and Ben did a great job teaching. We also had a good turnout each day. On Wednesday Ben and I had a meeting with Ricklynn’s family and Godfry’s family to settle a matter. I was grateful for Ben’s help in the issue.

     Saturday Dad, Josiah, Ben and I loaded up and left for Miritini at about 6am. We had classes until about 3pm. Ben taught on giving to the guys in Miritini and did a super job. Josiah and dad kept busy with playing ipods... Ben did one section in English on sanctification for the students and for my dad's sake. It was really good. I appreciated Ben reaching out to dad.  Dub left out to go to Turkana to be with Eddie  for a video project and to film a class with John Wanyoni. After the class time in Miritini Josiah, Dad and I left and passed by and watched a movie on our way home.

     Sunday we had a big day with a baptism and business meeting at the church. We had several things to do so the meeting ran a little long. We finally pushed one item to next week for the sake of time. It was a good, productive meeting. We had a good evening Bible study. However dad did not join us for Bible study which was a little disappointing, but I know that he does not attend church regularly. Pray for him that we will be a blessing to him and he can see real faith lived out.
    Monday was a good day off just playing and relaxing. I took dad to the doctor to have a cyst removed from the back of his head. They had to cut it out and send it off so he has stitches in his head now. He has needed to get this done for a long time.  And since it was so cheap here, I am glad we were able to do it. The procedure only took about an hour and the doctor said the test results would be in next week.
    Tuesday we headed out at 4am for a day at the Game Park with my dad. It was a fun day and we saw all kinds of animals. We saw lions and dad even spotted a cheetah. The cheetah was really cool! Unfortunately we did not get any pictures in all the excitement of seeing the cheetah… It was a full day and we were all pretty wore out. I spoke to Ernie Hopper on the phone about scheduling teachers for the ABA Media project. I think we got it all sorted out for the rest of the time Dub is with us. We are going to have a lot of material on video for future use. These classes will enable the school to continue even when we are on furlough!

     Wednesday I talked to a few folks at the church about teachings and prayer needs. I ran dad back to the doctor to have his head looked at to be sure everything looked good. While we were out we dropped the van off to have a window welded before it fell out. We decided to walk back to the house on the beach and visit. It was a nice walk although we got toasted and wore out. When we got to the house I worked in the office on finances primarily. There were a lot of receipts and things to get together.
    Dad got pretty over heated during the day and even burnt the tops of his feet being on the beach walking so he was not feeling great. He went to bed pretty early. I think also it was a little home sickness.
    Thursday I worked in the office most of the day working on emails and lessons and taking a few breaks to talk to dad off and on. I know he is a little bored with the kids in school and me doing things in the office but we have some things planned this weekend to do with him. I spoke with Eddie and Dub about John Wanyonyi in Turkana and it seems they are doing well up there. They had to modify the videoing of the classes because the Turkana church members needed the Swahili teachings translated into Turkana. Eddie and John decided to do the teaching at his house on Saturday in Swahili so we will be able to use them in the other churches.
    We went to Bible study in the evening and had Shukarani for supper. It has been fun watching dad play with the kids. He is pretty crazy!