When we entered the dining room for dinner tonight, we were greeted with the sights and smells of a traditional African meal. More like several meals for a typical African family – they would never eat that much food all at once, unless having a party.

The food was being kept warm in traditional food pots placed on warmers that look more like the fire pots they use to cook outside than standard food warmers.

The food in traditional African serving pots

The cook that had been serving us since we arrived was went back home yesterday (they stay for two weeks and then get a week off). He came back for this special meal. They set a long table for us with linens – really went all out. Even had a “live” banana tree!

The table set with linens

Lining up to get our food

The green mashed potatoes

Moriah serving herself some porridge

The food was:

- Fermented Porridge (it was sweet)
- Goat (tender)
- Chicken (cooked in some citrus flavor)
- Green mashed potatoes
- Arrowroot (like potatoes)
- Traditional Greens (lentil leaves?)
- Traditional Greens coked in fermented Milk (spinach?)
- And for dessert a special fruit pudding

A little of everything

I liked it all, though others had trouble with some of it. We felt very special, and there was no way we would have even thought of asking for something like this. They have treated us so well.

After dinner we called all the cooks out, as we well as the bus staff, and gave them astanding ovation. We received hugs and handshakes from them all.

Our wonderful chefs

God has really blessed us on this trip!

Mark and Moriah in front of the banana tree

Another work day, so I’ll continue to catch you up on our first few days in Kenya.

We finished our first day in Kenya by taking a quick tour of the construction site where we are working. Then it was back to the campus of Africa Nazarene University, only a kilometer away from the DOOR site. I was hoping to stay up until about 9pm, but started nodding off at 8 – 35 hours after waking up in Burundi the day before.

Saturday and Sunday were set aside to attend two celebrations.

The first was for the Dedication of the Kenyan Sign Language Bible. This is the first official deaf translation of the Bible, and has been authorized by Wycliffe. The name sign for Wycliffe is neat – both hands make the sign for the letter “W” and then make the sign for “change,” because Wycliffe is changing things around the world.

DOOR President Mike Buus Speaks at the KSL Bible Dedication

Missionary Paul (deaf) speaks

Tears came to my eyes as they prayed for the translation team and unveiled the translations. I have seen videos of other celebrations like this one, and it was so exciting and moving to see it in person.

The KSL Bible is presented for the first time

Following lunch we toured the current DOOR facility so we could see the difference between it and the new facility. It seems so much smaller than I even remembered it after seeing the 3 acre area that is fenced in on the 10 acre site. And especially the tiny yard that I have a picture of Moriah and Mike measuring two years ago when Mike realized there was no way to expand on the current property.

It brought back lots of good memories to see it again.

On Sunday we went to the construction site where a tent was set up and had a Deaf worship service. The teaching was on Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit. It was a lot of fun to see the service, and I think I had a bit of an anointing as I was able to communicate (on a very basic level) with many of the deaf. I could understand them, and could get across my ideas to them pretty well. I had not used sign in about two years, but it came back fast as I watched the deaf sign, and interacted with various staff and other deaf.

Deaf worship leader at the DOOR site celebration on Sunday

Some of the CCC team at the celebration

Tom and Linda Clinton, CCC Missionaries with First Love attended

Ready for Communion

Sharing the Lord’s Table was a highlight for me today. I was glad we had that because I knew we were missing that at Goshen Church in Burundi. I prayed for their service – especially the baptisms in Lake Tanganika. I look forward to seeing the pictures/video.

Almost all the deaf asked about our work project and seemed impressed and happy that we were coming over to help build this new facility that they are so excited to have. It must be almost impossible for them to imagine that hearing people, those who typically look down on them and use and abuse them, would spend all this money to bless them.

Our group with the construction leaders and Josh Cadd in front of the building that will be the men’s dorm

Samiyah Strickland and Moriah with Missionary Paul and his wife

Hard to believe our time here is almost done. Only two more days of work, then most of us are off to a safari. We’ll be home in less than a week. It’s been a great trip so far, but I am also looking forward to being home again.

Thanks again for all your prayers and comments – keep them coming!

Mark (and Moriah)

Today was another work day – not much to report – so I thought I’d go back and catch up a bit on days we missed before getting our laptops configured for wi-fi.

We arrived in Kenya at about 5am. Moriah slept on my lap most of the way, but I stayed awake. We left the plane and crammed into a tram that shuttled us to a ramp that went up to the terminal.

Because of the luggage problems our team had in Bujumbura, I was concerned about what might happen to ours if we left it for too long while we waited for the Kenya team to arrive. Our flight was about a half hour early, so we had an hour and a half to wait.

Before you get your luggage, you have to fill out your visa application and pay for that as you go through customs. Since Tim had all the cash for us to pay for our visas, and since the team would be looking for us, I did not want to do that early. So I thought I would check to see when their flight was coming in and what gate they would arrive at.

Unfortunately, the Kenya airport only shows departures on their board. So we waited in line to ask some questions. I was told that our luggage would just be moved aside if we didn’t claim it right away. I did not know what airline the team was flying, but knew they were due at 6:30. The best answer they could give me was that the flight would disembark from the other side of the airport, and that they would probably use the baggage claim ramp near gate 11.

So that is where we camped out. Moriah was still tired, so she slept some more on my lap, and I told God that I would simply trust Him to bring the team to us.

At about 6:20am a Kenya Airways plane pulled up to park at gate 11. Pastor Tim was one of the first to come out after first class exited. Praise God – He can be trusted!

At this point I had been awake for 21 hours straight.

Once everyone made it off the plane, we all made our way to customs. Tim gave each of us $25 (US) for our visa anad we got in line. Some on the team noticed that even though our $20 bills were brand new, they were dated 2004. But when we got to the agent, he was very efficient, only glancing at a few things in our passport and visa applications, and didn’t even look at the bills beyond seeing that it was $25. He even said he did not need our Yellow Fever Vaccination cards (even after I pointed out that we came from Burundi).

Everyone found their luggage, including us, and we walked through the final checkpoint without having any of our luggage checked – including the two locked rubbermaid cases full of tools we are using and donating to DOOR.

Josh Cadd recognized Tim and I – which kind of surprised me since I had not emailed him since March or April. We loaded the bus with luggage and most of the team, and Tim and I rode with Josh in his van.

We unloaded at the African Nazarene University Guest House, on a beautiful campus, and had a short orientation before Mike and Linda Buss, and Harry Harm showed up to take us on a tour of Nairobi.

We first went to the Baby Elephant Orphanage, and then the Nairobi Giraffe Center, both of which we visited two years ago. Moriah grabbed some pellets and immediately put one in her mouth to receive a giraffe kiss. Everyone started taking pictures.

I am glad we had already seen these places, as we weren’t able to spend as much time at them as we did two years ago.

In between these stops we went to “Sister Pat’s,” which is what Mike calls a restaurant he can’t remember the name of, where he used to meet a nun for lunch. There is a curio shop there and some bought souvenirs there – though most of what we saw there can be purchased for less at the market we will visit next week.

By this time I had been awake for over 24 hours, but was feeling fine.

I think I’ll stop there and post some pictures, taken by Moriah:

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Another work day tomorrow, and then dinner out, so I’ll probably do another catch-up post.

The end, for now…

–Mark

Today we had a great time of worship at Karen Vineyard Church. Josh and Audra Cadd, along with several other missionaries as well as native Kenyans, attend this church. It was good to have an “American” service after worshipping in Burundi, with the deaf, and with the workers earlier this week. While I thoroughly enjoyed those times of worship, it was good to let myself go in worshipping God with familiar choruses. The focus of the entire service was on worship, and the worship pastor brought a message to remind us (among other things) that worship is about God, not us.

After church we had lunch at an Italian restaurant. We ate outside on beautiful grounds. Moriah and I had pizza, Italian style. It was very good. I also tried a lime cordial, which is a syrup that you dilute with water to taste. It was like a fancy kool-aid, but now I know what it is.

A cool thing happened at lunch. A DOOR staff member (Jeremy) and his family, who have recently come on the field joined us for lunch. It was his wife’s birthday (Whitney) so we celebrated with them. We got to talking and he asked why Moriah and I had been to Kenya before. I told him that last time we were there to shoot video for DOOR that ended up being used in the Seed Company video that can be seen on the homepage of the DOOR web site (it’s the one labeled “The DOOR Partnership”). Jeremy got a big smile on his face and said that he used that video to raise support to come to Kenya. He gave me a big thumbs up as he thanked me for helping him get to the mission field.

Following lunch we made a long, dusty and bumpy trip to Kitengela Glass, a Masai glass blowing place. We enjoyed watching them blow some glass pieces and then they let the children – Josh and Audra’s, and Samiyah and Moriah – try blowing glass.

They also have a suspension bridge that crosses a beautiful gorge. We went down to take some pictures, but did not walk (very far) on it. They charge a small fee to do so anyway.

Enjoy some pictures:

The Italian restaurant.

The bridge was out on the way to Kitengela Glass…

So we went around.

Signs at Kitengela Glass

Glass blower at work

Blowing Glass

Moriah blowing glass

The resulting “bubble”

Moriah responds to her first glass blowing experience

Suspension foot bridge over a beautiful gorge

Shyla snapping a picture of her daughter Samiyah, along with Moriah, and Raeleigh & Gabe Cadd on the edge of the bridge

Moriah with Raeleigh Cadd

Mark with 5 year old Gabe Cadd

Thank you all for your prayers and comments. It is good to have a link back to the states. Tomorrow we resume working at the DOOR site. The Site Coordinator was at church this morning and said he was very pleased with our progress. We are doing things that were on his secondary list (and finishing them) and he is coming up with more things to do. This weekend was a good time of refreshment and we are ready to get back to work!

Mark

Well I am not going to tell much since my Dad has already wrote some about today, but I will add on to what he has said. As he said we went to Amani Ya Juu which is a place we went last time.
I was glad first of all because i had been wanting to go but then the lady who greeted us I recognized. This time we got to go on a tour of where they make everything. Last time we did not have enough time to go on the tour.

Maggie and I at our first “meeting”

And me and Maggie today meeting again

I will have to tell you more later but now it is getting late and I must be going.

~Moriah

Today we had a day off from working so we could do some souvenir shopping. We were told the first place we were going we could use credit cards, and then we’d be able to exchange our money for Kenyan Shillings before shopping at an open market. After picking up Josh Cadd (who works for Wycliffe Associates coordinating work teams like ours) we pulled into the first place and Moriah recognized it as Amani ya Juu. We were so excited because we wanted to go back after having been there two years ago, but didn’t think we’d get there since we were just going where Josh took us. It turns out he likes to take groups there because we are supporting a good cause, helping Kenyan women. You can read more about our time there two years ago in our Kenya 2007 blog.

In addition to shopping, this time we were able to take a tour of their workrooms. Maggie, our tour guide, was very enthusiastic and really helped us understand more about the purpose of this project. And she even remembered us from our visit there two years ago. You can see her in the link above to oue previous blog, as well as in some of the pictures below.

Josh Cadd and his family, wife Audra, daughter Raeleigh, and son Gabe.

Maggie and Shyla after hugging as if they were long lost friends. She hugged all the women that way...

Moriah in front of the Amani ya Ju sign/mosaic on the building where the women meet and sew each day.

The women learn to sew on these Singer treadle machines. They then move to electric machines and other needle crafts as they get more skilled. This pat year Amani ya Juu was given a quilting machine that helps greatly with their work.

–Mark

Since internet access in Burundi was slow and mostly limited to using a public machine, we didn’t get to post many pictures. Now that we have more consistent and faster access we can get caught up.

This post takes us back to the orphanage in Burundi. We went back a second day and gave each child a backpack with a jumprope or small football (soccerball). Because it was so crowded, I wasn’t able to get pictures of the gifts being passed out, but I did get some of them enjoying the jumpropes.

Nissa, one of the children, took a liking to Moriah.

This is Ananas, which means Pineapple. She has an infectious smile.

Christian enjoyed jumping rope.

We tried to do Double Dutch, but the ropes were too short and light to get it going.

Even Pastor Bigimba took a a turn.

Later that night we went to worship – you can see a bit of what the service and church looks like below:

We had to make a quick exit to get back to our house so Moriah and I could quickly pack up. Then it was off to eat at a hotel restaurant -
all others were closed as it was getting late. No one from our team wanted us to leave, and we agreed that our time in Burundi was too short.

The road to the airport was full of water – the river was overflowing. I was a bit nervous we wouldn’t make it to the airport, but we did. Everyone came in and Bigimba even talked his way into the first luggage screening area, but they wouldn’t let him go any farther.

The plane arrived early, and we left early for a 25 minute flight to Kigali, Rwanda. After about 45 minutes we left with more passengers for Nairobi.

More later.

Mark (and Moriah)

The highlight of today was a short time of worship with several of the workers during their lunch hour. On Wednesday our bus came back a few minutes early and I noticed several of the workers walking back to the job site, with several of them carrying Bibles. I walked over to them and asked if they met every lunchtime and if I could join them.

They were happy to have any of us come, so Shyla, Peter and I attended today. We each gave a short “testimony” after singing some songs with them, and then they had a teaching. We ended by holding hands in a circle and they asked several people to pray. They asked me to pray, too.

I was looking forward to it all morning; it is always a blessing to worship with other believers, especially from another country.

Shyla encouraging the workers at lunchtime worship

Work continues to go well, but I think we are all looking forward to doing some tourist things tomorrow, including shopping at a market for souvenirs.

I’ll try to get another post with pics up shortly.

Mark (and Moriah)

We had a short work day today so we could visit the Kibera slum and the First Love Kenya Orphanage property in Karen. We picked up Tom Clinton, the founder of First Love, on the way and toured the slum. It was not quite so shocking this time, having seen the abject poverty and filthy living conditions. But you never get used to it. Here are a few pictures of the feeding program at the Raila Education Center, and the slum.

Lunch for the students

Shyla, Samiyah and Moriah with some of the students

Shyla is surrounded by children

Walking through the slum

One of many piles of garbage – you can see some smoldering near the center of the picture.

Laundry day

A view from the railroad tracks that run through the slum.

More later.

Mark and Moriah

This was an ape in a cage at the beach in Burundi that I fell in love with. It was so cute and playful. It pulled on my skirt and would not let go when I started to leave. It was so sad to see it in a cage that small.

This was one of the many snails at the rental house in Burundi. You had to be very carful not to step on these small creatures (and you did see them squished in some places sometimes )

Just a few of the beautiful plants in the front yard garden of the rental house. Many more to come in future posts.

Well that is all for now. It is late here so I need to get to bed.

Moriah

P.S. all pictures were taken by me except the first one.