Our last two weeks have been marked by several visitors: Fielden & Janet Allison, long time missionaries on Mt Elgon, came over for lunch a couple of weeks ago with their son Chris, their four summer interns and Nathan Holland. Nathan just graduated from Harding and stayed with us for about a week. Mark and Ben took him to the Nakuru game park, saw a bunch of animals and finished their excursion stuck in a mud hole. Another truck was able to pull them out a couple of hours later. Larry & Hollye Conway, missionaries in Nairobi, stopped by for lunch last week with their sons Andrew & Micah, along with three girls who grew up as missionary kids in Eldoret. Andrew spent the night with us the day before.
Our last visitor came unexpected last night: it was Father Joseph Taylor, an elderly Irish priest who has been a missionary in Africa for over forty years. We invited him a few weeks ago over for dinner and to spend the night, but he had to cancel. Little did we know that he had rescheduled for last night. Ben, Chris and I were busy cooking enchiladas when Father Taylor pulled up in his little green Suzuki. We ate dinner, talked about the Roman Catholic Church, then watched a movie on the computer; a great hobby of his. He spent the night and left early this morning after breakfast.
Denton and Mark left for Nairobi a couple of days ago to pick up four of Denton's friends who will be visiting for nearly three weeks. The six of them plan on returning to Chepkong'ony tonight, making our house a bit cozy for awhile.
The rains have finally started, appeasing the farmers' fears that they would lose their crops this year. Once it starts raining, thousands of flying ants come out of the ground, fly for awhile and then lose their wings. These insects are a treat to some people around here, especially children. Last week several local kids knocked on our door to offer Denton, Chris and I some of these ants that they had fried up for us. They weren't near as bad as it sounds.
Our Trooper, Samson, has broken down yet again. Samson must be one of the most expensive exercise machines. Pushing it around, instead of driving it, provides quite a good workout. We brought him to the shop for a radiator leak, but the head gasket was also blown. Samson is supposed to be in the shop for over a week, forcing us to walk a bit more. It's a forty-five minute walk to Flax where we can catch public transportation to Eldoret, which is another forty-five minutes away.
Yesterday Ben, Chris and I went to Eldoret to run some errands and stopped by the cheese factory to stock up for the week. We recently met the owner of the factory, an older British man who also owns one of our favorite restaurants. He seems to be a very lonely man, so we stopped by his office yesterday for about an hour to talk to him. We were able to tour the factory, the largest cheese producer in Kenya. They produce dozens of different types of cheese, but also milk, cream and ice cream.
One of the teachers, Mrs. Pauline lives right next door and has been such a great friend to us. A few weeks ago we went with her to church and then went to her house for lunch. She has a cute two year old kid who hangs out at our house now and then. He got chicken pox a couple of weeks ago and was running around covered in Cortisone yelling "Hey buddy!", part of his very limited English that he picked up from us.
We've planted a small garden with tomato plants, green peppers, hot peppers, carrots, okra, cantaloupe and pumpkin. I really have no idea if it will all grow in this climate or if the chickens will eat the plants before they have time to grow. Before the rains started, Chris and I would have to walk to the well and carry about 30 gallons of water every day to water it. Regardless of whether the garden will be successful or not, we're both happy to be rid of that chore.
Our last youth rally took place the weekend before last in a hilly area about three hours away. The rally was small, but went very well. It got down to the 60s at night and fortunately we were wearing sandals and short sleeves. I don't think that we'll make that mistake again. That night we slept on the floor of a wooden cabin with some of the church elders. The area was so beautiful and resembled somewhat mountains in South America.
Our classes continue to go well. This weekend was the half term break and students should have been back yesterday afternoon to attend the classes that should have resumed today. Consequently, the students will start coming back today and will filter in throughout the rest of the week.
Let us know how you have been doing. Have a blessed week!
In Him,
Nathan
kenyamissions@africaonline.co.ke (Please, no pictures).
www.oocities.org/run4him56/KenyaMission
Chepkong'ony Secondary School
P.O. Box 27
Kaptagat
KENYA