The Kenyan Election

On Dec 28 Kenya had a general election. There was two primary canadiates for president and during the polls prior to the election the opposition canidate was ahead. The results were delayed and accusations that rigging had occured was voiced. Since the political canadates were tribally aligned the tribes supported each side started rioting and fighting with each other. Last night the results were announced and the president was re-elected. The supporters in the opposition have become extremely violent in their protests. Pretty much everyplace in Kenya as been affected in someway. Nairobi is quite bad as is Kisumu (which is the a couple of hours west of us), Nakuru (our main shopping town about 1 hr 15 mins east of us), Kericho (about 1 hour from us going towards Kisumu) and most other major towns. One of the areas with major rigging concerns is only about 30 minutes from us. Even here in Londiani there has been violence although thankfully none has gotten very close to the mission. We can't leave the mission though because there is road blocks on all the roads leading away from the mission. Since all of this started i have not been outside the mission at all. We are still having our youth camp and we had a wonderful service last night. God was definately there as we prayed for peace on behalf of this nation, He also gave some words of prophesy and encouragement through some of us gathered there. It is difficult at times to not fear when the news around the country and around us is so bad and many of my friends are worried about their families and friends. I do trust God to keep us safe and I'm glad that I'm here at the mission with others who trust God and don't involved themselves in the tribalism and political stuff going on. Please keep us in prayer that God will protect us and also our friends who are not here with us but are in areas where the violence is much worse. Pray also for the nation of Kenya, for the leadership and a peaceful resolution to this situation.

The End of A YEAR

Christmas 2007 is a thing of the past and 2008 is a few days in the future. It has always amazed me how fast a year can go. Has it really been almost a year since I began a year of pursuing God together with some of friends in a discipleship group called “The Remnant”? Has it been a year since I walked nervously into a classroom on my first day as a teacher? Has almost a year past since I took the first step down the path to my dream of becoming a journalist?

This past year was full. Surprises, frustrations, discouragements, amazing experiences, walking closer to God – this year has seen them all. It has been a year of extremes – extreme joy, extreme difficulties, extremely different experiences, and extreme changes in my personal life. The highs have been amazing and the lows horrific. But the best part is that looking back I can say that God has done more in my life in the past year than in any other year of my life. I can only hope that at the end of next year I can say the same thing.

When I started this letter, I had no intension of reminiscing over the past year. Rather I have some specific prayer requests for the last few days of this year. However since I’ve started let me just mention a few highlights of the year.

During the months of January through March, I pursued a short-lived career as a teacher. I taught 9th grade English, 10th grade Geography and tutored 10 and 11th graders in Math, Chemistry and Biology. The school where I taught was the same school I attended in 2005 and 2006. It was a wonderfully interesting experience. From it, I gained so much confidence in my speaking and teaching ability (those who know me well know that speaking in front of groups was a huge problem for me). I also understand the huge job that teachers have and now have a much greater respect for those people who have made teaching their career. However, probably the most important thing for me was the realization that teaching simply is not the life for me.

Instead of returning to teaching in May, I started working for my dad. My role is extremely difficult to explain as it varies from day to day. I helped my dad create a packet to give the Remnant when they leave to try their wings in the wide world. I also wrote updates, character portraits of people around the mission and compiled support information for my parents’ supporters. In the midst of all these jobs, my focus remained on improving my writing and journalism skills.

In August, the Remnant had the wonderful opportunity to go on a mission trip. For the rest of the members of the Remnant it was their first mission trip. We spend two days in Kenya’s largest slum – Kibera. The first day we visited a number of people in their homes. The second day we spent with a group of almost 50 children from Kibera. Even though our time there was short, it made a great impact of each one of us including me. I hope that I will have many more opportunities to minister in Kibera in the future.

In September my family, including Jed and Mercy – my Kenyan siblings, traveled to America. We spend three hectic months visiting as many friends and family as we could. It was so wonderful to reconnect with my family and old friends and to make many new friends. It was also amazing to see God’s hand in my life as He opened up opportunities for me to continuing pursuing journalism. One of these opportunities was a meeting with the founder of WORLD magazine. He gave me a great deal of advice from his wealth of knowledge of the world of journalism. It also opened up the possibility of working with WORLD as I develop as a journalist.
December has been a difficult month for me. We said goodbye to my stateside family on the 11th. This was harder than before because I had developed deep bonds with each of them during our time there. I can now communicate and relate to my siblings as an adult and what a difference that made in our friendships. Although our flights went smoothly, I had a severe case of jet lag – unlike anything I have dealt with before. It took almost a week for me to adjust. Since we have returned to Londiani and Scriptural Holiness Mission things have been especially difficult. The week before we left to go to America God did an amazing thing here with the main members of the church confessing their sins and repenting before God. Because of this, our expectations were high as we returned. With such high expectations, it has been so easy to become discouraged when we hear about some the things that happened during our absence. There were also high expectations for this year’s youth camp that starts today. We had hoped that a number of youth from the church we went with to Kibera and from the Kibera church itself would be able to attend youth camp. Sadly, we found out yesterday that only one young man from the Nairobi church would be coming and no one from Kibera. We can only believe that God knows what He is doing. The past week has also been difficult for me as I caught a cold almost as soon as we returned to Londiani. Aside from a severely stuffed nose, I have dealt with a migraine headache, lack of appetite and general achiness.

So as this year ends please lift up my family in our prayers. We are all wondering exactly what God is doing and how we are supposed to respond. God is truly the only hope for this country. The role we are to take in spreading this hope is at times unclear. Please also pray for me that I will know exactly how God is leading me to pursue journalism. I have a number of opportunities in front of me but I’m not sure which road to take.

The Trip

The Amazing London Eye
(I believe that it is the largest farris wheel in the world)

I'm home - at least in one of my homes. We are staying at the Hampton House guest house in Nairobi. Our travels were relatively uneventful. We had a 12 hour layover in London and made good use of it. A four hour rest at the nearby Renaissance Heathrow Hotel and a two hour driving tour of Central London. It was a whirlwind but very fun. I got some very interesting blurry pictures of London as we wizzed by it. It was fun to see all the Christmas lights in the twilight around 4:30pm.

Tea in Our Hotel Room


Christmas Lights at Harrod's


Big Ben

Our only glitch in the trip came back at Terminal Three of the London Airport - they ad some difficulty getting our boarding passes. It was kinda crazy for few minutes as we cleared security and dashed towards are gates - but we made it in time to settle down for the 8 hour flight. We landed yesterday morning around 7:30 AM local time - aournd 11:30 PM for all to back in the Eastern Time Zone. I slept about 5 hours during the afternoon and sadly only around 5 hours during the night. I'll try to stay awake longer today. On Tuesday we return to "real" life in Londiani where I'll start fitting my lifestyle around the many new opportunities that I have now that I'm back - including taking lots of videos with my new video camera - a gift from a friend and supporter of our work. So be on the look out for some videos in the near future - I might even load them on You-Tube one of these days.

Traveling

Tomorrow I get on an airplane and head back to Kenya. I'm really excited and really sad at the same time. I'm excited to get back and see all my friends in Kenya and get to work on all the project ahead of me. I'm sad to leave because I've reconnected with alot of friends and family. All in all its been a wonderful trip and very fulfilling. I'll be keeping everyone posted from Kenya and soon our mission will have its very own website. More soon - from Kenya.

A "Wedding"

Today my parents celebrated their anniversary today with a beautiful, intimate ceremony at a tiny chapel near our hometown in NC. Only family were present as they renewed their vows which they originally said 39 years ago. After the ceremony the whole family returned to our "home" for a small reception with a few of my parents closest friends. It was so beautiful to witness the celebration of 39 years of commitment. Here are a few beautiful pictures.

Arriving at the Chapel

The Vows

The Kiss

The Family

My Parents

Gary and Cathy

David and Gracie and Ronald

The Girls :)

A New Look

I got a new haircut. I'm still deciding if I like it :)

In Front of the Christmas Tree

A side view

Opps...red eyes

And finally the back