A week in Kijabe with precious MK’s

by Rachel

       I went to stay up the hill from Naomi’s Village, to a town called, Kijabe, for one week to stay with my 2 nephews and 1 niece while my brother Dan, and his wife, Courtney, led 16 seniors on interim, touring and ministering in other parts of Kenya, learning more of the culture and land. 

What a fun, memorable time we had together.

Ethan age 8, Evie age 4 and Nate age 6. (from left to right)

JJ came up to stay the first 3 nights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)  with her cousins and I. Then Ann hiked up with Dale Thursday night.  She stayed Thursday thru Sunday night with me.  Dale and the other 3 kids came up Sunday night and we all were together. Popcorn supper and movie night, unfortunately I didn’t capture that with a camera. Then Lizzy stayed with me Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, the pictures below are to share some of the memories with you.

Cuddling bunnies.                   Caring for Chicken Nugget, their one and only chicken.

     

Princess time!

Chef Nate cooking Green Eggs and Bacon on St. Patrick’s Day!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Lollipop’s from the duka.

Very THANKFUL for this QUALITY TIME with these precious kids!

Just to name a few memorable events in the week:

I began the time together having a surprising mango fruit allergic reaction, then Ethan suffered an ear infection with throwing up.  We also had a night with missing “Chicken Nugget”, put some sad kids to bed.  We prayed for the chicken’s safe return and to our surprise, he did return by morning at 9:15am.  Our faith grew in this experience, a chicken surviving outside in Kenya isn’t likely. We stopped and praised God for answered prayer. We had lots of time drawing animals and doing some crafts. Each nephew lost a tooth the same night. I baked in a new oven that registers only in Celsius. I learned to make tortilla chips.   I picked my nephews up from school at 3pm each afternoon.  I became familiar and thankful for the student health center, getting myself some Benadryl and my nephew antibiotics, decongestant and a nausea pill. Lunch at Ebenezer Restaurant with new friends. We all went to church together at RVA. We played basketball at Tichtie Court (I played one on one against Ethan, excellent ball handler)  and swung on the swings with Evie at the playground. We walked to the duka for fresh veggies and some souvenirs (and lollipops). One evening we had a few prankster kids come to the back door knocking & scaring us. ( I think they thought Coach Schmidt was home) We were invited to “supper swap” Monday night, at Aunt Tiff’s home with great fellowship and great food.  I did one 6am yoga workout in the Tichtie music room.  We had lots of cuddle times on the couch together. Had fun reading “Sticky Situations Devotional” each evening and praying together. On Sunday we had moring pancakes and popcorn/ “Movie night”. We had to borrow eggs from “833”, neighbor Ashley, in order to have enough eggs for our pancakes. “833” was my 911 number for the week, thank the Lord for friend Ashley, she was very helpful and approachable. On St. Patrick’s Day, we made Green eggs with bacon.  I made mac n cheese from scratch with the cows milk they get 3 times a week, delivered. I learned to pasteurize the milk. Enjoyed fresh english muffins and sweet rolls from Elizabeth who delivers them on Saturdays. I learned how to give directions to the house helper on what tasks (laundry, chopping veggies, washing dishes, sweeping/mopping, cleaning bathrooms) to do for the day while she worked around us from 830-4pm. Making a list for her was not what I was very comfortable with but quickly understood that this is her livelihood,she needs the work & wages.  She is a mother of 2 boys and a husband, she walks 50 mins to get to Dan and Court’s each morning. Veronica, is her name, she is special woman of God. 

A very special, eye opening, growing, stretching week. Thank you Lord for this opportunity.