On Friday night, we got to talk to our dear friends, Mike & Kris Stawski (as well as Cathie, Lesley, Liz and Paul – who were at NAC as well). Not only did we get to talk to them but we got to SEE them.
Skype, I tell you.....it’s a wonderful thing.
On Sunday night, we got to talk to my sweet in-laws and of course, SEE them via Skype as well.
It was great to walk around with the laptop showing the Stawskis and the Stewarts our new home and our puppy Jack.
Having Skype makes being away easier (as well as having electricity, computers and internet) because it allows us to talk and see our friends and family on the other side of the pond. I can’t imagine how hard it was for missionaries’ way back in the day, when they only had snail mail, especially when using a boat rather than a plane to send and receive the letters. I’m sure months and months would go by before they received letters from back home. Being on the other side of the world is a bit easier with internet and Skype.
Teams
Our second team of the summer arrived (our first team was the awesome group from Pennsylvania in the first week of June) on Saturday. There are five men and two women who are from New York State. One of the men, Adam, will be staying here for the next two months to oversee the remaining three New York teams that will be coming through.
This first team is great; they are easy going and hard working, pulling in 12 hour days of work at the site.
They are here to build a children’s home for Kenyan friends of ours who friends of ours in Canada help support the home. There are a total of four teams from New York State; they stay for two weeks, rotating on the second Saturday. As one team leaves, the other team arrives; this is until the third week of August.
It will definitely make the summer go quickly. Then again, half of 2010 has already flown by. Where did the time go?
Safety
We ask for prayers for us here in Kitale. The crime rate has increased quite a bit over the past two months in the area, even in the community we live in.
A lot of the missionary people are getting a silent security system installed on their compounds as added protection. If the security button is pushed, the security company arrives in less than five minutes with five armed men to secure the area and hopefully catch the invaders. It’s definitely a deterrent for the thieves and a piece of mind for those who have it.
Also, I’m sure a lot of you are unaware of a referendum that is taking place on August 4th in the country here. Without going in to it, there is a new written constitution that needs to be voted either yes or no by the people here. There is much confrontation going on between the yes or no sides right now, between Muslims and Christians, between abortion or no abortion.
There was a rally a few weeks ago in Nairobi that was being thrown by the “NO” campaign. While the people were still in this park, rallying, three bombs went off in the crowd, killing at least a half a dozen people and injuring over one hundred. There has been much talk of who did it but who really knows for sure.
Some people fear that it will be similar to the post election violence that Kenya faced in ’07-’08 while others think that what happened a few weeks back is the worst of it. Either or, we ask for your prayers here. We definitely DON’T want to see a repeat of ’07-’08 and so we want this to be a peaceful vote and that the decision made for the constitution is the right one.
Recipes
Now, I would love some recipes from back home. Whether its main courses, desserts, whatever...I would love new things to try. So please, send me some of your favourite recipes and I’ll give them a try.
Until Next Time,
Meredith
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