Happy Birthday Johnny!

 It has been a real pleasure to have our friend Jonny  with us here in Kenya.  We have known him since he was a wee lad and now he has blossomed into a professional photographer.  He is working hard here at Tumaini developing more promotional materials.  For those of you who know Jonny we thought it would be good to share with you some of the transformation we have witnessed in him since he has been here...

Although it is very touching to see his maternal instincts displayed in this photo, does he realise it is actually a goat he is cradling and not a baby?

We know at times he struggles to show his face but maybe this is taking covering up a bit too far?

Many of us have known he would make a lovely lady very happy one day, but this wasn't quite what we had in mind!

We have really appreciated his help with child care.  But at times we
are really concerned about the influence he is having over our children.

I mean would you let him near your children?!!!

Maybe his new style of meditation will calm him down

Back to what he does best, the photography and being a local tourist attraction...

But he looks like he really has had enough...

Maybe he can dance the stress away

We love you Jonny and have really enjoyed celebrating your 23rd birthday with you

Visitors Welcome

One of the things that has been really important to us since moving here in January is maintaining contact with friends and family.  John and I obsessively check email and although we are not always good at replying we love receiving news from home!  We are so grateful to all of you who keep in touch so thank you.  There was much excitement recently when one of our friends came out to see us in person for a week.  Ruth arrived laden with gifts, cards, messages and many other things which meant so much to us!  The boys were particularly excited about the Easter eggs, new toys and films Ruth brought!  Aside from all the exciting things Ruth brought it was so great for us to show her around and share our experiences here together.  She was only here for 1 week but we packed a lot in and she was very much at home here.  It was very hard to let her go back but we owed it to her saintly husband!

Ruth helping prepare lunch for 700 kids

Mama Sema (mother's talking) in the village of Timbwani - a group of ladies
who meet every week to pray and learn together

Our Trip To Haller Park

On Saturday we  all set off to a place called Nyali with our Canadian friends Shaun, Mandi and their two daughters Brooklyn and Rosie. They then took us to a place called Nyali Shopping Market where we had lunch. After that Shaun and Mandi were ready to take us to Haller Park this is meant to be the most exciting part of this day out by the way.

 When we got there we all checked in and began to make our natural journey. We started off by walking to the place where we get our tour guide. On the way we had seen loads of monkeys (Vervet Monkeys) they are cute but deadly. When we got there we found a guide. He showed us a MAHOUSIVE tortoise which Me, Brooklyn, Rosie and David could sit on easily but, we obviously didn’t because that would be cruelty to tortoises. Then he took us to a fish farm where there were Talapia fish which they sell to local businesses.

After that, the guide took us to Giraffes where we fed them with little pellets we stuck our hands out and they would just lick it off it felt really slimy. Then the guide took us to a reptile farm where there were snakes there were puff adders, (really poisonous) grass snakes and many more.

The guide then took us to see the hippopotamuses feeding. The staff were feeding them pellets on the floor and they gobbled away. They made a snortling sound.

Finally the guide took us to see the crocodiles feeding. A member of staff dangles meat above the crocodiles and then the crocodiles leap out of the water and eat it. It was amazing when their jaws clamped shut and you heard a really loud pop!    

Here are some photos of our lovely day out.   

Mikey

African Fight Club!

We had a very funny night recently with some friends here with our own version of fight club, think the photos say it all really!  Be assured no one was harmed in the making of this blog

Time Together - 3rd May 2012

It was a great start to the day today as I spent some time praying and reading the Bible with Mikey. I had just come back from a run – yes a run! It was relatively cool at about 25 this morning! In my post run state of near exhaustion I took to reading my daily reading. The book is based on excerpts from the ‘Message.’ As a Christian parent it is sometimes difficult to know how to have a quiet time without it appearing cheesy, forced or very offputting. I was reading and Mikey asked ‘What are you up to?’ I said that I was having my quiet time. I then said – ‘why don’t you get your Bible and we can read it together.?’ So we did, and then we discussed how we ask Jesus to share our burdens. ‘What helps when you feel weighed down?’ I asked Mikey. He said – ‘Jesus.’ We talked some more and then we prayed. It was a very precious time. Here’s the passage that blessed us.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

It has been really nice being around for my family in the morning because at home I never saw them until teatime most days...bit different here!

John

A party and a priest!

Our family were very honoured to join in a major celebration in the local community recently.  Charles and Mary are the parents at the kids home here and on the 21^st April their son, Edwin, was ordained as a catholic missionary priest.

What a well organised awesome celebration it was!  We spent Saturday at a local Catholic church where there was a massive crowd (a few thousand)  to join in this special event.  There was a real balance between reverent liturgy and ancient ritual mixed with vibrant and joyful African dance.  The clothes, the choir, the dancing and the joy was awesome.  Boy do they know how to party! There was food and sodas for everybody and though we left in the late afternoon, the celebrations went on late into the night!  There was so much that impacted me about this occasion.  I was explaining to the boys that we will probably never experience anything like that again in our lifetime.  I loved seeing the massive crowd dancing round whilst carrying Edwin on a real crowd surf – I have never seen that at an Anglican ordination back home! 

  It moved me deeply to see Charles and Mary give him away near the beginning of the service, a real sense of them letting him go to the church.  Later Edwin prayed his first blessing over them as a priest, very touching.  The Bishop who had just ordained Edwin knelt before him and Edwin prayed a  blessing on him too.  We have really enjoyed getting to know Edwin in the last few months and he has such a servant heart so it was amazing to see all the years of work and preparation come to fruition on this day.

The celebrations continued the following day when Edwin was welcomed to his home church in Timbwani as a priest!  We joined the dancing procession round his car who danced him along the road singing, dancing and celebrating with him.  Once again a huge crowd gathered to be there for the first time Edwin gave mass.  Soon Edwin will leave to serve in Spain.  They will be blessed to have him though he will really be missed here by us and many others.