JournalEnd0305

I forgot to tell you yesterday that we took a pregnant girl to the clinic and she almost had the baby in the back of our car! She seriously had the baby 5 minutes after we got to the clinic! It was really funny because somehow Denton ended up in the back with the pregnant woman and her 5 helpers! On the way Ben prayed for the baby and so the mother decided to name the baby Sharon after Ben's mother. And the child's traditional name is Jep Chumba which means "born around white people" it is kinda funny. I wrote this poem about it, it has the same rhythm as the Simon and Garfunkel song you sent.

Jep Chumba

Sprawled upon our Trooper floor
With mingled joy and pain in store
The princess dark, she softly shutters;
Yet though the storm her bright heart utters
The sincerest elation!

We wind up through the dusty downs
Our agile steed who deftly bounds
And swiftly pierces clinic grounds
With riders clothed in anxious gowns
Of pure anticipation.

Now workers quick and calmly wheel
The mother through the door and seal
Relief for this young Kenyan team
Who shortly hear the newborn's screams
And praise the Lord's perfection.

Thursday, Mar. 4, 2004 -- Excerpts from Mark's e-mail to his parents

...We had a chicken the other day and it is not quite the same as American chicken. Did I tell you about that? We cut the head off and then we plucked it and all that! It was crazy, then Shadrach's family cooked it so we didn't have to deal with that. We are going to Eldoret tomorrow morning and I think Denton is going to send a new update to put on the website and we are uploading the pictures. Oh and yes Kalengin is a language and it is the people group in this area of Kenya. There are several tribes in Kenya I think the Kalegin people are about the third biggest tribe in Kenya.
Well we are going to the form 4 classroom to help them with some homework we assigned today. We are involved with a youth rally that is at Chep this weekend. We are all going to be speaking but we are not the only speakers.

Thursday, Mar. 4, 2004 -- Excerpts from Chris' e-mail to his parents

I know I have already written you today, but I just wanted to write and tell you that we got the rat that we have tried so long to get. We knew this rat was big but we had no idea. This stupid rat has been eating all our bread cheese and other food items. We had set a number of traps and he had beaten them all. Finally we bought this trap that has mass amounts of this glue stuff. When you place the food on the trap the mouse gets stuck and can't get off. We sat the trap a couple of weeks ago and didn't think that it was going to work either. Then tonight we heard this high screeching sound and Nathan went to see. The mouse was in the trap and had fallen on the ground from the shelf. It was big. We were so happy to have finally caught that mouse that had haunted us for so long. The mouse measured over 1 foot 2 inches. I know that doesn't sound that big, but for a rat that is eating your food, it really is. We all took it outside and stoned it to death. It was so good! Anyway, just thought I would share our joy with you!

Thursday, Mar. 4, 2004 -- Excerpts from Chris' e-mail to his parents

This morning was pretty exciting. We had our first experience with a birthing mother. We had been told this would happen just because there is no one within miles with a car except for the "white people." Every morning, we all go and have tea with the other teachers. While we were drinking tea, our friend Richard (a local preacher) asked for me to step outside. When I did there were 3 African women asking us to help. We drove to the jut where the mother lives and were very surprised to find out that she was ready to have the baby. We knew that there was no way that we could deliver the baby and we knew it was dangerous. We were told there of a local clinic about 12 kilometers away. That might not seem far, but when you are driving on very rough dirt roads, the 12 kilometers seems to last forever. We decided to risk it and put her in our car and get her to the clinic. About half way there the woman began to yell stop in Swahili. We stopped the car and seriously thought the lady was going to pop that thing out right there. We were just praying this would not happen because we knew our car would probably stink. I ran to the back and asked her to please wait, we were almost there. By this time Ben is freaking out and we are all laughingso hard. I ran back in the car and went as fast as I could on the dirt roads. We finally reached the hospital in what seemed like 10 hours later. Whe we got there, they brought out this old wooden wheel chair. With no exaggeration, right when they pushed her in the entry way of the hospital, Emily leaned forward and the baby popped out as a nurse caught it. It was so incredible. We could not believe it. God really did hold that baby in till the last minute. They don't have pain killers here and the women don't even really look that pregnant. She did it like a pro. It was really neat. After they cleaned off the baby, they checked its heart and some other things on the mom. Thirty minutes later we were back in the car with the Grandmother, the mother, and the baby. The Kalinjin people name their children after what was happening at the time of the birth. When she got in the car, she said in Swahili, "I will name her Jepchumba" meaning boarn around white people. Of course we are proud that we were the reason for an African baby's name. Just a small note: There is a lady here named Mrs. Pauline who just found out that she is going to have a child. She told me the other day that if she has a boy that she wants to name the baby Nicholson Jepchumba. I guess she really likes that name. Anyway, that is our day today. Please pray for Emily and the new baby girl. I am sure this will happen again multiple times, but wow, it was an exciting first time.