Jed’s Birthday

Yesterday was Jed's fifth birthday. (And the fourth one that we have been able to celebrate with him).

About 7:50, I was still sleeping and I started to hear, "Sarah, Sarah, wake up." Jed was actually upstairs (I sleep downstairs) hollering for me to wake up. It took me a bit to really wake up but I did get up to celebrate the day with.

Mom gave him a few presents early – a Nerf basketball net and a magnetic Pooh dartboard (where do they come up with these things anyways). He helped her make blueberry muffins (from a box) for breakfast.

After breakfast, he got his BIG present. Dad set it up outside the door and then Mom had him open it and tah dah there was a Bicycle – his first. He spent the rest of the morning riding up and down the porch.

A little before lunch, we had towards town (things were quiet yesterday – thankfully), to one of the malls – The Junction. We ate lunch at Java House (or as Jed used to calls it – Java's House). They didn't have his favorite – grilled tilapia – so he and Mom shared chicken strips. And we all got milkshakes in honour of his Birthday.

After lunch, we went to Alvin and the Chipmunks. The theater was empty except for two other people! (I think it's been showing for a while). Jed enjoyed the dancing and singing chipmunks – at least there was a little love story for the adults.

After the movie, we did a little shopping and rented a few movies – Jed wanted to watch one of the animated Alvin and the Chipmunks, so he got that and a Thomas movie. I got Stomp the Yard and a TV series (life gets boring when you are stuck inside a gated compound for extend periods of time because of unknown amounts of unrest outside – a missionary friend of ours said she finished a quilt last week).

Back at home again; we had hot dogs for supper and then cupcakes (which Jed helped make) and ice cream. He had some problems getting those five candles out – umm I wonder how I'll manage 23 when my turn comes in March :). Then he opened a few more presents – lollipops from Mercy (who couldn't be here), a Thomas the Train watch from me, lots of new books from Mom and Dad.

Then it was time for bed. This was a good thing because he was more active and wound up yesterday than I have ever seen him before. I had to ask my Dad if I was like that when I was 5 – he said probably :). I don't think so – I was a GIRL! (But I did talk as much as Jed!)

Please pray for Jed – the situations around us are affecting even him. Whenever he sees smoke, (many people burn their trash around here) he says that someone's house is burning and he gets all worried. He also has started playing war a lot – something he had never done before. Although we try to be careful what we say around him and about what he sees on the TV, there is no way to shelter him from everything.

More to come

Interesting

I found out something new today J. I can create blogs on Word and post them on my blog. That's very nice and easy and fun. Well maybe I'll post more often now.

Today's To Do List

Wow, I’ve finished almost everything on my to do list for today.

I applied for World Journalism Institute’s May course in New York City. If I get to go it will the first time ever, this girl raised in New York State has EVER been in NYC!! I still can’t believe I lived in NY for 12 years, went to college there and I’ve NEVER been to NYC. Well, I just made it Niagara Falls last year so I guess it’s understandable.

I requested transcripts and references and other stuff required for my application.

I sent articles to the newspapers in my two “hometowns.” Malone and Highlands. And the Highlands Newspaper is going to publish one in their next edition coming out on Jan 31. Wow – I’m up to EIGHT published articles (6 of them in the past three weeks.) God really is doing something.

The funny thing is, this morning I was extremely discouraged. I couldn’t see anything ahead of me and felt like giving up. And tonight, what a different perspective.

Also today I went out with my mom. I got my new glasses (I’ll post a picture soon) and we went out to lunch at Dorman’s coffee café. I got Jed a birthday present (a book about telling time since his other birthday present is a Thomas the Train watch) and had fun browsing around my favorite shop – NuMetro Media Store – a very nice bookstore). Mom and I also did some grocery shopping while we were out.

Its been a good day. Now I just need to finish up the rest of my to-do list – read my next lesson in my freelance correspondence course, work on the assignment, and write a couple paragraphs about my background to send to the editor of WORLD.

On a totally different note:

Pray hard. Londiani is in flames. People from around Londiani have said that most of the town has been burnt. They say that the Kikuyu are burning things belonging to the Kalenjin and the Luo while the Kalenjin are burning property belonging to the Kikuyu. People at the mission say that tension is HIGH and even there they don’t feel safe.

Also pray for Mercy. She had a job interview today at the hospital where she went to Nursing School. She was excepted, of course. But now she has to think about not being with us, her family, for a while and trying to live with the few things that she brought with her when we left Londiani. She has few clothes, nothing for a house, no work shoes, etc. Plus we have to think about not getting to be with her L. I’m trying to get used to sleeping by myself – I can’t remember the last time I slept in a room by myself for more than one week. (It’s been about a year and a half!). I’m definitely missing her.

Pray for me! I need wisdom in making serious decisions about my future – as in March. And those decisions include whether or not I should buy a plane ticket.

Pray for my parents! They are trying to decide whether or not to go to language school, a major time and money investment. They are also trying to get God’s ideas about the direction they should take for the long term future.

Well, thanks for “listening” to my rambling on about my unusual and sometimes plan out weird life.

Speaking of Mercy, here are a few of my favourite pictures of her.

A Few People I Miss

Well, I didn't get to go to Kibera today - I don't know what happened so don't ask for the story. :) Instead I got some other work done, wrote a bit and watched a movie I had been wanting to watch - Its a wonderful movie called Freedom Writers. Its so inspiring. Anyways I though I would post a few pictures of people I miss. Enjoy

Siphira and Evalyne - I miss Siphira's matter of fact attitude and funny stories.

Evalyne - isn't she pretty. I miss her beautiful smile and amazing attitude in the middle of a difficult life.

I think Karen could be a model - she is SO photogenic. I miss going to get milk at her home.

Evalyne and her little sister LaNita (she is named for my mom) - I miss watching them together and how much Evalyne cares for her sister

"My" Nancy - she is growing up so fast. I miss getting to see the process.

Another one of Nancy - Isn't she so pretty? I miss her pretending to be shy and quiet.

LaNita and her sister Vicklyne jumping rope - I miss teasing these two and tickling them

Jane and LaNita - there is too much to miss here. But I miss trying to get LaNita to talk to me.

Another of Karen - like I said... - I miss her smile and laugh and narration about everything

Lawrence Kipchirchir - he's named for my dad. I miss watching him toddle around, greeting me and calling for Jed.

James (do you see why he has trouble with girls?) :) - I miss his smile and advice about troublesome guys

Mischievous Vicklyne - I miss our tickling games

The Remnant - I miss the fellowship

Jane - My BEST friend here. I miss all the fun we have together and the long talks about anything and everything. (Today, we talked on the phone for 30 minutes)

Owino and his girlfriend Ruth - I miss his way of making me laugh and random deep comments.

A Day on the Town

Today after I threw together a 400 word article for Worldontheweb.com, we went out - the the NICE side of town. Gigiri is where the UN, USA embassy and one of the nicest malls around are. There is a JAVA HOUSE Coffee Cafe (kinda like starbucks but more of a restuarant) there with free Wi-Fi. So I'm online - for free not counting the MBs I'm using. Mom and Jed are seeing the Bee Movie at Village Market (the mall) while Mercy, Dad and I are hanging out at Java House. Dad is uploading windows updates and I'm surfing.
Today was to first day I've left the house since Monday when I went out to interview Pastor Simon for my articles this coming week. Since then I've been busy doing follow-up research, writing emails, making phone calls and WRITING. Tomorrow I will do the last piece - visiting Kibera and one of the refugee camps. A college guy from Alabama here doing a piece on displacement - maily focusing on Sudan - visited Kibera during the initial violence and now is willing to accompany me to check things out. I'm looking forward to adding the missing spark to my article. And getting some good pictures. Please pray for me though as Kibera is still unstable and a little bit risky.

Anyways today is a nice break to my job and constantly sitting on my bed working on my computer.

Here are a few pictures from Java House.

Good food, nice enviroment, a bit of work thrown in.


The surroundings

Dad - with a mouthful of fish

Mercy enjoying her food.

Tomorrow hopefully I'll have some more exciting stuff to post. And be on the lookout for my article in the next issue of WORLD.

A few picture of our new life

Here are a few pictures of our new life

This is my new room (I share with Mercy, her bed is in another corner). This is my work space, reading space, sleeping space, thinking space. Lately all my time had been spent hanging out here with my computer on my lap.

Our living room. We don't have alot of furniture so we are using camp chairs. We do get a couple of stations on the TV. We can keep with the news a bit.

This is from our fun family day. That's Jed with the crocs. They smell pretty bad and are pretty ugly. Jed thought they were neat though.

The little pond at the "park" (same place as the crocs). Its pretty and there are tables along the edge were you can eat.

Well I'm glad I finally figured out how to get pictures on here - the normal way hasn' been workign for me. Maybe now I'll get them up more often.

A little Family Fun

On Saturday my family explored our new neighbourhood. We found this neat umm...park...I guess you could say. Its a touristy spot with a resturant and bar but it also has crocadiles, ostriches, a camel and horse for rides and these old manuel rides - a "ferris wheel (its pretty small), merry-go-round. Jed thought they all looked like fun. They also have boat rides on a little "lake" - its really a pond - and fishing if you bring your own rods. It was a very fun thing to find almost literally in our back yard. Then we took this long drive through the Karen area just to see what was there. We found one of our favorite fast food restuarants just down the road - they actually deliver if you want. They have decent pizza and great chicken and once the ice cream machine gets fixed (its been broken for 2 weeks) they'll have ice cream. That was a fun treat (after church on Sunday, we went and got "take away" -that's take out in American English - from there). We also

Still around

Wow its been longer than I thought. I've left everything hanging on the worst day I've had - maybe ever. Things are looking much brighter now.

I'm officially a journalist. WORLD magazine published a report from Londiani in thier latest issue and are publishing another report on their website. I've also been requested to write a followup report on the violence not only in Londiani but also here in Nairobi.

Oh yes, we are in Nairobi now. Living in a beautiful English country house in an upscale suburb. God performed a maricle and we found the house the day after we reached Nairobi. We are all settled in now and are planning on staying for at least one month. God is great!

Plans - right now there are none. We are praying and seeing what God has in mind. Returning to Londiani is on the bottom of our options which include things like my parents attending language training school, looking for property somewhere and starting another mission, returning permentantly to America. For me personally - I'm planning to apply to the World Journalism Institute - a three week course in New York City, in May. I'm also diving headlong into a correspondence course from the London School of Journalism. I completed four assignments yesterday, as well as writing a 250 word report for WORLD. I'm definately getting in the groove. This week will be BUSY as I have a number of interviews to do, phone calls to make, and pictures to take to say nothing of actually writing the report! So look for more news sometime next week. I'll try to document the process. (And get some pictures on here. I miss High Speed Wireless!)

Left With Only Pieces

There have been bad days before in my life - but none like today. Right now I'll admit that I don't ever see how I'll be a journalist if it means intentional putting myself in these kinds of situations. Fear, Anger, Sadness, Hopelessness or this degree are emotions I don't want to experience. I was so afraid - afraid don't even describe it - terrified. I was so angry today I yelled at a man - just because he is Kalenjin. Sadness - how do you explain the sadness of losing your life yet still having to live. Losing your best friend you have ever had and not even really being able to say goodbye because she had to run to reach the vehicle that was taking her away. Saying goodbye to a "daughter" who now has no hope in life. Who is scared and worried. Who wonders if she'll even go to school again. Watching a Kenyan boy cry until the tears drip off his face because his life is no longer stable. Hopelessness of realizing that the past few years have been near worthless. Hopelessness knowing that some of my friends are actually among the group of boys destroying others lives. When we look at the big picture its kinda like just get me out of here but when you look at individuals its becomes difficult. Kenya will never be the same. If things continue like this - the economy will be ruined for years to come. Londiani will never be the same again because so many will never return and those that do will retain an element of fear and hostility.

Exciting News

In the midst of all the turmoil and evil taking place around us God has brought something good out of it. An article I wrote reporting about the situation here is going to be published in WORLD magazine this week. It is an amazing step forward for me in my pursuit of journalism. I hate that it has to come because of all that is going on around me but I am thankful that I can bring a strand of truth to the many misrepresentations made about the situation. Things have gotten worse in other parts of the country but Londiani had a peaceful day. Many Kikuyu women and children were escorted to town under armed guard. Those remaining in the village are still hiding in the forest. Keep praying.

The Latest

Things have seemingly quited down here. There are many many people left without homes or food. Please pray that we will have wisdom in knowing how we can minister to them. The Remnant had a wonderful time talking to the two pastors who were here from Nairobi for youth camp. We talked about our individual dreams and visions and also about what we can do together to bring them to fulfillment over the next year. I have a number of new opportunities that came out of that simply discussion. I am so looking forward to being able to go to Nairobi after everything settles down and exploring some new ventures. Please pray for the people of Kenya. Many lives have been devestated and picking up the pieces will be difficult. Pray especially for the families of those who lost their lives. Also pray that God will reign. My dad gave a word about the spiritual world of Kenya. He said that God showed him, that since the church does not pray that the evil spirits had been allowed close access to kenya and if we would pray that God would push them back so their control would lose its stength. Pray also for the boys who were involved in all the violence. I believe God knows them by name and that Satan has control of boys that God would like to use for his purposes. In our area there was between 200-500 young men burning houses and doing other crazy things. The peace is wonderful as is the absence of fear. I'm so greatful to God for keeping us all safe and even unafraid.

The view from here...

Pictures from Youth Camp

Happy New Year

Good morning and Happy New Year,

We have another beautiful morning here in Kenya. Sadly during the night there were many fires in the surrounding villages. As darkness covered the land last night we started seeing fires in the distance. Many homes were burning in at least 3 different villages (2 to the north of us and 1 to the southeast). Most of the victims were from the Kikuyu tribe which is also the tribe of the "winning" presidental candidate. The losing side are the ones causing most of the violence though there is also possibly some retaliation from the Kikuyu side. So this morning we are greatful that everyone from the mission is still safe even those who are currently in other areas were it might be even worse. Here at the mission last night we have a new years eve service in the church with all the people from the mission gathering in the church and even some people from outside coming to find shelter in the church. Praying, singing and worshiping God continued until past midnight. By that time the fires had died down and all was calm. I slept so well last night and have just woken up. There are many reports already of the violence of last night. I am already starting to wonder what how different things will look when we finally get to leave the mission and see the surrounding area.

Please pray for the youth camp that is continuing on here. It has been amazing to see how God is using each and every person who is here for youth camp to come before Him and cry out on behalf of this nation and the people around.

One interesting positive thing is that I have an opportunity to report on what is going on here to WORLD magazine. I corresponded with the editor yesterday and she requested that I send her raw reports of the events here. I have already started working on the first part of that report and will continue to report what I see, hear, and feel as this situation continues. May God make something good out of all that is wrong about this situation.

By the way if you want news reports on whats going on here the best I've found is the BBC - I believe that they do have a excellent website which should have good updates (here we get it on the radio).