Training and Sunday Service

Saturday was our first day of training with the teachers. We went in with kind of an idea of what we wanted to accomplish because the teachers provided us with a list of felt needs. Building off that we focused our first day on discussion of using iPads in the classroom. We talked about the successes they’ve seen and the challenges. It’s always interesting to see how similar their challenges are to ours.

Working off that, we spent some time talking about how they can effectively manage the iPads they have. They have problems that all teachers with limited resources have. How do they fairly share the iPad with each child? We shared ideas about ways to provide equal access to the iPads centered around using stations during math and reading instruction.

This is how we connect to Wifi. Lots of arm strength and patience.

Loading up on internet using Safaricom cards 

Charging for the next day

The last part of our day was focused on meeting their need of a system to synchronize and share data. So we introduced them to Google. Using Drive, they are able to share and edit from anywhere with internet. The problem on the CPA campus now though is access to reliable internet. This is a problem that they’re working diligently to solve, but it isn’t as simple as calling Verizon.

Sunday was a relaxing day. Gary headed to Mwi’Hangiri for church service while Brittany, Lindsay, and I helped teach the kids church lesson. We focused on the attribute “Worthy” and how only God is worthy of all the glory. The story we taught from was the magi visiting Jesus. The magi recognized that only Jesus was worthy of praise and Herod was an impostor who was trying to steal glory for himself.

That afternoon, we loaded into the back of the Land Cruiser and went to Rift Valley Fellowship in Maai Mahiu town for church service. This is a church that we partner with at The Village Church, so it was really great to see the work that they’re doing in the town. Maai Mahiu is a pretty dark place and most of the churches there do little to push that darkness back. RVF is faithfully proclaiming the gospel and they are seeing incredible things happening. At their service last week, they had 127 children and 200 adults, all of whom were able to hear the gospel preached by Pastor Isaac. I’m excited to see what the Lord is going to do through RVF in the coming years.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been on the ground here for a week and we head back in two short days. Pray for our remaining time, that we would use it well.

Animals and Alternators

Boniface told us to be ready to leave at 4:30. AM.

We were ready at 4:30.

Our ride didn’t pull in until 5:30. It was an appropriate start to our day.

The ride to Lake Nakuru National Park is an hour and a half with no traffic. But it’s Kenya, so expect an overturned truck or a police stop with spike strips. Things just take longer here. And traffic laws are more like traffic suggestions. We got there in good time, though. Just as we were pulling into Nakuru, our driver Davies realized that his alternator belt had broken.

Uh-oh.

It was still only 7:30, so our options were limited. He said we could drive around looking for a mechanic, or we could risk it and try to make it through the entire day without an alternator charging the battery. He exchanged a few words in Swahili with the first mechanic that we stopped at. After promptly backing out of the mechanic’s driveway, he explained to us that he considered himself “street smart.” We asked him what he meant. He explained that the man might be able to help us, but was drunk, so he didn’t want to risk it. Oh, well that’s great.

The second mechanic we pulled into seemed like a better bet. They popped the front seats off and got to work. To get the new belt on, they had to jack the alternator up to give them slack to work it on. After getting the belt on, Davies paid the mechanic and we headed out. We pulled into a gas station where Davies realized that while jacking up the alternator, the starter had broken off. Great. Now he had to have a rolling start to pop the clutch and start the engine.

Through all of this, Davies had the best attitude. This guy is a professional, and even though we had a horrible start to our trip, he didn’t even appear fazed.

As we pull into the park, Davies is aware enough to back into a slope so he can roll out of it to get the van started. After paying, we enter the park and immediately see four ostriches running down a mountain. I’ve seen ostriches before, but never running down a mountain. The best part about having Davies as our driver and safari tour guide is his encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Seriously. Point at a plant and he’ll tell you what it is and what it can be used for. Point at an animal and he can describe every detail that you care to know. Not only that, but he has an eagle eye. He spots things I couldn’t have seen if you gave me five minutes and binoculars. He'd dominate Where's Waldo.

When we stopped at Baboon Point, a lookout with a view of the entire park, Davies took off his shoelaces and used them to secure the dangling starter to the engine. Talk about MacGyver. He just shrugged it off like it was just a part of driving a safari van.

Baboon Point

A while into our tour, Brittany asks Davies the odds of seeing a lion. He just tells us to cross our fingers. (It’s pretty rare to get to see them.) Just a few minutes later we come around a corner and see a few vans that have stopped. Davies asks “Are your fingers still crossed?” We pull up, and not 75 yards away are two lions shading themselves under a small tree. Pretty awesome. But Davies, out of habit, killed the engine when we stopped. So guess who got to get out and push start a van while two apex predators were 75 yards away? This guy! And Gary.

It’s at this point that Davies decides that if we want to see lions, he’s going to find us some closer lions. He pulls onto a side road that doesn’t look quite as used as the main road, then he pulls onto a smaller, much less defined set of tracks. This was the definition of “off the beaten path.” We drive through brush and over small bushes and trees. It’s at this point that we see giraffes. Not just a couple. A flock, a school, a herd, whatever you call them, a lot of giraffes. Easily fifteen giraffes are up ahead. We drive through the giraffe herd. I kid you not we are less than twenty feet from some of these giraffes. I’ve seen giraffes. But to see them this close in the wild was a pretty cool experience. After we pull back onto the actual road, Davies got out to make sure his starter hadn’t fallen off. This would become important later.

It’s getting close to 1:00 by this point. We’re getting hungry, so we get on the road that leads to the lodge where we’ll eat lunch. As we stop to look at some rhinos in the distance, Davies realizes that he can’t find his phone. He has another driver call it, but there’s not enough signal in the park. He looks everywhere in the van for his phone. We suggest that maybe it fell out somewhere. We help him mentally retrace his steps and decide that it could have fallen out when he stopped to check the starter. We head all the way back to the spot that he stopped and get out to look around. We get probably fifty yards from the van when Davies starts calling for us to get back in the van. Apparently, you aren’t supposed to get out of the van on an African safari. We obliged. As we pulled away, all of our eyes were trained on the side of the road that Davies got out. Just as he had given up and started to accelerate, we all simultaneously yelled, “STOP!” His phone was lying on the side of the road, exactly where he had gotten out. Finally something good happened to Davies. It was a relief for everyone that we had found his phone. He called ahead to the restaurant to let them know we were coming.

As we reached the spot we stopped to look at rhinos, we saw a disabled van with the driver underneath. Davies got out to ask what was wrong. Apparently the pin that connected the gear selector to the transmission had fallen out and he didn’t have another. Cue the Americans. Gary explained that the cotter pin was missing, I asked if anyone had a bobby pin, Lindsay had a bobby pin which was exactly what the driver needed to secure the gear selector. A bobby pin. We all felt like MacGyver then.

Coincidentally, the exact same thing happened to our van as we were leaving the park. Luckily, Lindsay had another bobby pin.

One of the many times we did this.

Davies felt terrible about the day. We assured him that we had the most memorable safari anyone could have.

Davies being a boss

Everything that happened could be traced directly to that belt breaking. If the belt hadn’t broken, the starter wouldn’t have come off. If the starter hadn’t come off, Davies wouldn’t have gotten out and dropped his phone. If we hadn’t gone back for the phone, we wouldn’t have been there to save the day with a bobby pin. God is sovereign and has authority over everything. I’m not 100% why the alternator belt broke, but it certainly led to a memorable day.

Davies being an awesome guide

Christmas Eve

The team headed out with Mary to have breakfast at Café Ubuntu in Maai Mahiu. We’ve visited here before, but they have great food and drinks. We spent a couple hours talking before heading back to Naomi’s Village.

The view from Cafe Ubuntu.

Around 11:00, we went with the older kids to give presents of food supplies to their neighbors. This was a great opportunity to share the love of Christ with these people who are immediately around the NV property. Last summer, when we visited the slums at Lunga Lunga, I saw a kind of poverty for which I had no framework. 

(Quick disclaimer: I recognize that I'm experiencing everything with a particular bias. I am American, so I tend to view the world through an American lens. I apologize for any errors in interpretation or cultural misunderstandings.)

Visiting the surrounding homes was a different kind of poverty, but just as significant. Homes were sided with mud and there were open pit latrines with no sort of outhouse around them. We visited a small stone building that had several “apartments” that were rented to families. These apartments appeared to be one small room each. You entered the complex by stepping through a gap in the six foot security wall. The small courtyard was strung with clothes hung to dry and in the corner a small pot was set over an open fire. The children quickly surrounded us – me, Brittany, Lindsey, and about six NV kids. Eventually a couple of adults met us there. It was clear that these people have very little. It was at this building that we learned that the mother of one of the families had recently passed away, leaving the responsibility of caring for her children with the other families in this building. I have absolutely no way of understanding in the smallest fraction how difficult life must be for these people. It was simultaneously encouraging and sad to see the NV kids hand these bags of food to the families and sing them a short Christmas song. To see these people being ministered to was exciting and encouraging, but to know that this same scene of abject poverty is repeated innumerable times in this area and around the world is disheartening.

Uncle Boniface holding the rain off

Delivering Christmas gifts to neighbors

Delivering gifts with Esther

In light of the Advent season, our only recourse as believers is to put our hope in the fact that Jesus is coming soon, and with his return he will make all things new.

As I write this, it’s Christmas morning in Kenya. This is the time of the year when Christians look back at the Incarnation. We reflect on how the God of Everything wrapped himself in flesh and weakness, making himself like us in every way that he might provide reconciliation to the Father.  

But Jesus’ coming 2000 years ago isn’t the end of the story. He is coming again, but not in weakness. He will come clothed in power and glory making all things new. 

He will destroy the effects of sin and death once and for all.

He is our Great Hope.

____________________________________________

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

Revelation 21:3 – 4

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:20

A Quick Update - We've Arrived

We flew in on Monday evening. We had a flight on Emirates through Dubai. Our plane was the new A380. Super nice, but fourteen hours is a long flight.

We stayed at Gracehouse in Nairobi which has a great breakfast. It's English style with beans, sausage, and tomatoes. They also have crepes and omelettes. Sooo gyood.

We swung by the currency exchange office and the grocery store to pick up some supplies for this week. While we were there we stopped at Java House for some malindi macchiatos. What.

We drove out to Maai Mahiu and went straight to Mwi'Hangiri - an IDP camp. An internally displaced people group is a people from Kenya who have lost their homes for whatever reason. A lot of these people lost their homes in the violence following the elections in 2007. We were able to watch as the kids and staff of NV handed out gifts of food to their neighbors at Mwi'Hangiri. They held a worship service in their church building and played afterwards while everyone ate samosas and chapati. It was a great way to start our trip.

While we were outside a thunderstorm rolled down the mountain toward us. It was a really cool moment. Even though this has been my third trip within eighteen months, I couldn't help but think how cool it was to be watching this thunderstorm in the Great Rift Valley. It was a great reminder about how extraordinary this opportunity is.

My hope is to update each evening. Thanks for reading.

Technology, Hippos, and Hikes

This is going to be a picture blog because I'm tired.

Friday was our technology training with the CPA teachers.

Building towers out of dry spaghetti, tape, and string to introduce 21st century skills

Familiarizing themselves with the iPads. They quickly discovered how to distort photos using Photobooth.

Using the iPads for a sample science activity. Taking pictures of living and nonliving things.

Saturday we drove to Naivasha for a walking safari and hippo boat tour.

Crumplers versus folders

Sunday we had church service then drove up to Kijabe for a hike down into the valley.

After the hike. (Photo credit: Jacob Anderson)

Ripped Pants and Bruised Egos

Today, I was able to sub for grade four. I was looking forward to this because last year I subbed for this class when they were grade three and I like them a lot. We spent a lot of time working on telling time in long form using the terms "past" and "to." So, if it's 2:15 it's fifteen minutes past two. And if it's 7:38, it's twenty-two minutes to eight. Even though this was review, they struggled with it. We worked on this for a total of close to two hours.They were done by lunch time.

Ng*eya - grade 1, ecd, songs, soda and mendazi w/ teachers, pants, face

(I use an asterisk in the school's name to prevent this blog from appearing in any Google searches of the school.)

After lunch, we went to Ng*eya Primary School with the CPA teachers. We visited Ng*eya last year to see what an average public school looked like, but it was still a great opportunity to see another level of education in Kenya. So we saw a school that's poorer than poor in Wells of Joy School in the slums, an average school in Ng*eya, and a stellar school in Cornerstone. Although, Wells of Joy might have been poorer than Ng*eya, I feel that the teachers, staff, and even to an extent the facilities were better at Wells of Joy.

Ng*eya is huge. It's a K - 8 school with a student population of well over 1,000. In each of the ECD (Kindergarten) classes we visited, there were 80 - EIGHTY - students per class. That's the story at the school - terrible student to teacher ratios. I was paired with another teacher from our team to visit a first grade classroom, but the first class we visited had no teacher. Prefects were leading the class in lessons. We asked to see a class with a teacher and the second one we visited, the teacher was taking care of a child that looked to be her own. He was too small to be in the first grade. So she was preoccupied and we were awkwardly standing at the side of the room. I asked to be shown an ECD class and we joined up with another small group of our team that were being sung to by the kids. This was a blast. Those kids were so excited to see a bunch of visitors. Just making eye contact with these kids sent them into a fit of giggles. After hearing the songs and speaking with the teachers, we met in a classroom after dismissal to share sodas and mendazi (sp?) with some of the Ng*eya teachers. 

We were sitting at desks that were barely being held together with nails that weren't hammered all the way in. So when I sat down on one of these nails, I promptly ripped a hole in the back of my pants. It wasn't as bad as I initially thought, but man, those are my favorite pants. As we were opening sodas I thought, I know, I'll pop this soda open on this loose nail on the side of the desk. I'll be resourceful. No. As I worked the head of the nail under the cap, it exploded off the bottle and hit me square in the face. Great, I've ripped my pants and now I have a bottle cap shaped welt under my right eye. This is going great. The cap was moving quickly enough that it still had enough momentum to hit the ceiling after hitting me in the face. I was humiliating myself in front of these teachers. After talking with the Ng*eya staff for a few minutes, we said our goodbyes and loaded up to head to Cornerstone's newly purchased land. Oh, and as an aside, later on that night, the button on those ripped pants - my favorite pants - popped off. I have some serious pant surgery to do when I get home. :(

CPA land - Bob and Julie story

We drove to the land that CPA purchased a couple weeks ago and on which they plan to build their new school. This was awesome because this was something that a lot of people had been praying for for a long time. I won't spend time on the details of how they acquired this land, but here are some bullet points:

1. They were expecting to pay at least 400,000 shillings per acre. They paid 375,000 per acre.

2. They were looking at five to ten acre plots. Their plot is twenty acres.

3. They wanted something easily accessible from the highway. The plot runs along the highway for 260 meters.

4. The land they purchased was frozen from being sold by the goverment since 1988. Just this year, the government lifted that freeze.

5. There are giraffes across the street.

God is faithful. Not only did He provide what he promised he would, He provided it in a way that no one can take credit for except Him. The goal is to break ground by October and be in the new building by January 2016.

Listening to the story of the acquisition of the land

Bob and Julie are still raising capital for this project. Please contact me if you are interested in donating.

Finally, we ended the night with chapati (thick tortillas) and samosas (Kenyan Hot Pockets) from Fave Grill. I love that stuff. We listened to Boniface, the spiritual father to the kids at NV, tell us the story of how he met his wife. We heard this last year, but he's very funny and it's a pretty incredible story, so it was worth hearing again. 

Boniface's son, Kevin, and I being tough

(Thursday, I sat in on math training which was great. But, not much else happened, so I won't be writing a separate blog for today.)

Personal pizzas with handmade dough, pineapple, and tomato

Current CPA school building - this was a cow barn a year ago