In memory of . . .

Two summers ago, God blessed me with an amazing vehicle.

Yesterday, I received news yesterday from Kenya that the car had been totaled. Friends at ELI were taking care of the vehicle while I'm in the US. They were heading back from the AA rehab graduation at Ilula when they hit a pothole which led to several overcorrections and finally to the car rolling.

There were eight people in the car. One person had to get just a few stitches. Everyone else got out with only bruises and very sore bodies. They tell me that they do not believe anyone would've survived had they not been in a vehicle as incredible as this one. Looking at the pictures, I believe them.

My car had served me very, very well. It has made me and others laugh. It's sent me on amazing adventures. It has carried me through deep mud. It has carried a corpse, but more than anything, it carried Hope to families like Hannah's and the Sifunas. It brought orphans to new homes. It took groups of recovering alcoholics to share the news to others. It was strong enough to withstand the attack of a mob during the riots*. It wasn't strong enough to survive rolling. But it saved the lives of the eight inside. For that, I am thankful.

I will always have fond memories of this car. I'm sad to say good-bye to it. God knows why this happened. I don't.

In the words of my friend Ellie, "Rest in peace, great metal beast!"

Before




After






* I just realized: I didn't blog about that. The story will follow in another entry later this week.

Catching Up

So much has happened in the past few days. It has been an absolute joy to have friends here, especially Danette and Nan. It's also been a tremendous blessing to get to know other team members better. They have blessed me by simply being here.

On Thanksgiving, Nan and I helped Richard (our cook) to prepare a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for the team and about 20 Kenyans. (Allison and Juli also baked some things for dessert.) We had a great Thanksgiving meal, complete with a turkey (baked in a charcoal oven), cranberry sauce (which I hunted down in Nairobi), and green bean casserole (made with spinach instead of beans!) My favorite dessert was Nan's pumpkin marble dessert. With whipped cream, even. It felt for a moment like we were somewhere in America.

This week, I received some very exciting news. I've been accepted into a graduate program at BGU and will start classes in February! It's a part-time program, and my first class will actually be offered in Nairobi. It's called "Signs of Hope in Africa." In June, I'll have to travel to Seattle for a couple weeks' classes. Most of the work will be by correspondence, though, so it's going to be a good challenge. A scary one in many ways, too, but I'm excited about the opportunity God has brought my way.

The week wasn't without it's challenges, though. Yesterday, as I was driving the team from Kipkaren to Ilula, I heard a knocking sound in my car's engine, and then it died. Since I had just had a major service two weeks ago, I hadn't thought of checking the water before the journey. But it turns out that the insulation between the radiator and the cooler was worn, and thanks to our incredibly uneven roads, the two had been rubbing against each other, causing the tiniest hole in the radiator. The water's been leaking without me realizing it. Bottom line: I spent all of today at the mechanics in Eldoret getting several things fixed. The piston rings had to be replaced, and the gasket head, and two other smaller parts which I cannot remember the names of. The good news, though, is that the engine is fine. The water and oil didn't mix. The pistons are fine. And I got the parts for $600 less than I was first quoted yesterday... In as much as I'm still upset about this unexpected expense, I am very thankful that it turned out to be cheaper than it could've been.

So while my friends were doing a women's conference today and playing with the kids, I was hanging out with the mechanics, staring into my engine for more hours than I ever care to do again. But since it was a new mechanic (though known to my colleague Maru), I thought it best to hang around and watch what they're doing.

Tonight, Melody (one of the team members) had a session for the adolescent girls. Jennifer, the team doctor, also joined, as did Danette, and we ended up fielding a plethora of rather intriguing questions which I won't repeat here. :) It helped that there was no power. In fact, I wanted to turn my lamp down a bit, too, and accidentally killed the flame in the process, but immediately realized the girls were much more talkative when we couldn't see their faces!

What else? I'm really praying that my colleague Mary will have her baby tonight! Jennifer and Danette are happy to assist, and Mary herself says she'd rather have them deliver the baby at her house than have to drive on our bumpy roads while in labor! That would be a fun treat to help deliver a friend's baby!

On that note, I need to head to bed. It's been a grueling two days, and I'd like to be coherent tomorrow.

With love from Ilula,
Me

In One Piece

I'm in Nairobi and in one piece. So is my car. At least, for the most part. Try driving on really bad roads for four hours at high speed and you, too, would understand why mysterious nuts and bolts are found rolling around on the floor. It makes you wonder what may have fallen off/out of the engine... These are the type of roads where you regret it if you forgot to wear a sports bra. (Sorry guys if that's TMI for you. It's reality.)

The last time I drove to Nairobi (en route to Rwanda) my car's turbo gave in. Or does it give out? Not sure. But it's no longer working. Which means that when I even just drive up the 30-degree hill to the top of our training center, I have to engage low 4WD. Which I don't think is too good for the car. Well, maybe having to use low 4WD isn't too bad, but you know it can't be good for the engine when there's a constant high-pitched buzz when you're driving more than 40kmh.

The best time to make the trip to the city is now, since I also have a slew of year-end projects to work on for the office. Projects that would happen much faster if I can plant myself and my computer in a booth at Nairobi Java House, and work uninterruptedly.

It just also happened that Zack and Wendy, two guests to Kipkaren were going to take a matatu to Nakuru and hire a driver to take them on a game drive. "Here's a deal," I told them. "I need to go to Nairobi by car. And the road to Nairobi takes me right through Nakuru. You can catch a ride with me."

We left Kipkaren around 10 am, just as the crowds started approaching our center for Sunday morning service. It was 3:30, maybe 4, when we finally rolled into Nakuru. I've driven that route in three hours -- an hour to town, and two to Nakuru. But the shortest road is so full of potholes that it is not good for any car to drive that way. So we took the longer way, through Kerio Valley, stopping along the way only briefly to bananas fruit from Esther, and to enquire about her husband's health.

This morning, we were inside the park by 7 am. And no sooner had we started our game drive, the morning fog still hanging thick in the air, than a vehicle stopped and suggested we go the other way around the lake. "There's a leopard on the road to Lion Hills."

I swung around as fast as you can with a car like mine on a narrow road, and gunned it. She was still there when we joined the party of about 10 vehicles under the tree. There were no fewer than 100 cameras pointing at this beauty (one of the vehicles was a large overland truck with probably 40 young adults poking their heads through the roof), and somehow, we seemed to have the perfect spot for some great photos. (I didn't bring my camera cable with me, so I'll upload photos from Kipkaren. Sorry!)

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful God's creation is! I sat on the roof of my car for the longest time, just staring at the leopard. And then, the journey continued.

We saw many more amazing sights. A baby white rhino with its mom, the little one nursing happily. Good thing baby rhinos don't have horns yet, I figured, or the mom won't be too happy about the little one poking its nose in under her belly! We saw several Rothschild giraffes. Twelve more white rhinos. A hyena. Lots and lots of cape buffaloes. An amazing number of birds of prey. Tens of thousands of flamingos, and hundreds of pelicans. And then, just as we were heading out of the park, thankful for an amazing four hours of game viewing, Wendy yelled, "Lions!" There were two beautiful lionesses just lounging around this huge dead tree stump on the side of the road! Another 100 photos later, we left the park, thoroughly aware of what an amazing God we serve.

We braved the next part of the journey, bouncing over roads that have more potholes than there are patches of black top. The stretch from Nakuru to Nairobi used to be all of a two-hour drive. Almost four hours later, I rolled into Nairobi. I had dropped Zack and Wendy along the way with a driver who's taking them elsewhere for the next few days.

Tomorrow morning, I'm dropping off my car, trusting and believing that the repairs will be minor. I don't want to have to replace the turbo! It's time, however, to replace my tires. They're all badly cut by the rocks used to fill in our mud roads.

All this to say, I am honestly grateful for life the way it is, that I do get to drive to Nairobi, albeit over bumpy roads, that I got to stop along the way and enjoy God's creation, that unlike most of the Kenyan women around me, I do have the ability to drive, even make decisions about things like tires and turbos, though I know little about it.

And I'm infinitely thankful for places like Java House, where I can go and work tomorrow on the projects on my plate while the fundi figure out how to put my car back together in one piece.

Sniff & Duck!

I have a cold, it seems. Maybe just a sinus infection. My head is throbbing. To add to that, today was a crazy day!

Other than the fact that I have this head cold, a bunch of crazy things happened today.

A snake was killed in my house, to begin with. I didn't get to see it. My sister Sanet found it while I was at staff devotions and had a Kenyan kill it. It was a house snake, it turns out, but nevertheless, a scary sight to see lying curled up under some shoes...

Next, a colony of red ants invaded Sanet and my shoes. OK, I'm exhaggerating, but having around 10 big ants bite you is not funny. Not first thing in the morning. Not ever, actually. At least I found mine shortly after putting on the shoes. Sanet's started attacking only after we were in the car and they were halfway up her pant legs! She got rid of them before I started driving.

Sanet, my colleague Juli and I were going to Ilula today for 3 reasons: We had been invited to a colleague's home for lunch, and I had to take photos of new staff. Plus Juli wanted to go and say good-bye to the visiting team from her church. #2 and 3 could've happened tomorrow, when I have to go to town in any case to take Sanet to the airport. But lunch had to be today. It had been arranged yesterday morning, and though I tried several times to call the colleague to make sure it's OK we're coming, his phone wasn't on, so I just had to trust he'd remember.

By the time we pulled off the main road onto the soil road to Ilula, it was evident that the road was much worse than it's been since I've been in Kenya. But I have a good car, so I wasn't concerned. We just slowly drove through the worst parts till we finally pulled into Ilula.

The worst parts:
This is the worst stretch. Though it looks like it's "only mud", several cars have gotten stuck in this patch in the past week, so there are deep potholes hidden by the mud. Which, in turn, has caused more cars to bottom out and get stuck...

The next worst patch. I found that the safest thing literally is to drive with my tires all the way against the mud wall on the right.


OK, so we made it to Ilula. But it turns out the colleague forgot about lunch. But it also turns out that the team decided to leave a day early due to the road conditions. They didn't want to risk having to drive on that road in the morning since it's been raining most nights.

So I interviewed the new staff and took their picture. I packed a few more things to bring to my house in Kipkaren (like my hair drier). We visited and then had to leave just as the team joined the kids for a lunch celebration for the 3rd anniversary of Ilula Children's Home. We couldn't stay due to having to be back at Kipkaren by 4 for a women's Bible study.

And so we pulled out, back into the mud. By the time we got onto the main road, it felt like something was wrong. It was, indeed. My left, rear tire had been punctured by one of the rocks that had been placed to fill the muddy potholes.

Out we jumped, Sanet, Juli and I, and exercised the most amazing teamwork in changing a tire! I pulled out my super-size car jack, and Juli - bless her heart! - started jacking up the vehicle. Sanet in the meantime hauled rocks over to place in front of the front wheels. And I got dirty by starting to unscrew the nuts.

Keep in mind that we had just passed through mud that was literally as deep as the wheel nuts, so it made for one very messy job unscrewing it all.

Now, this is Kenya. In Kipkaren or Ilula, people would stop in a heartbeat and offer to help. But we were close to town, so no-one seemed to care. In fact, I think we were quite the spectacle! A group quickly gathered to watch the three wazungu ladies change a Land Rover tire.

Just like that, the tire was off and the spare tire was in place. Well, actually, getting the spare nicely in place took great effort. Land Rover tires are HEAVY! Nevertheless, we did it. As I lowered the vehicle and Sanet was tightening the nuts one last time, two men stepped up. One asked if he could help. I do believe he had been watching us and thought by helping at the last moment, he'd make a very easy tip. We politely declined. The other gentleman simply wanted to know if we could give him a ride to town. I politely declined, quite amazed that he would watch us struggle, but then ask for a ride. After all, we were very close to town, on the main road, where it would take all of 2 minutes for the next taxi to pass, and it would cost him a mere 20/= (25cUS) to get to town.

But the craziness of the day was not yet over. Since we all had different errands to run (I had to get the bad tire fixed while Sanet had to buy groceries for me and Juli had to do a few other things) we agreed that I'd simply call the others once I'm ready to pick them up. And depending on how long the tire takes to get fixed would determine where they'd be in terms of their errands.

I first dropped off Juli, then Sanet. It's then when I noticed that Juli had left her phone in the car. I figured she'd figure out how to call me, so I proceeded to the garage and watched a very capable elderly gentleman find the two cuts in my tire and fix them at a cost of just 200/= ($3)! Not long afterwards, I was heading back to town, happy to know that everything's once again fine.

While waiting for Sanet, I got chatting with Kanmau, a street boy. I encouraged him to go and stay at the shelter for street boys, but he wanted nothing to do with that, basically because they aren't allowed to sniff glue while staying there. I took him to the bakery, bought him some bread and something to drink, found Sanet, and we headed to the part of town where Juli had since left a voice mail that she'd meet us. As if planned perfectly, we pulled up just as she came walking with some of the goods she had to purchase for friends back at Kipkaren.

One last stop: Raiply. We're getting some cabinets made for the office, and I needed to buy plywood. They didn't have any at the hardware store when I went earlier in the week, so I was heading directly to the supplier. I quickly learned that it's quite the process getting wood there! In fact, to buy three pieces of plywood took me maybe 30 minutes and I had to stop at no fewer than SEVEN "stations" before I was cleared to take the wood home.

That's when our very last almost-catastrophe of the day unfolded. As the guys were placing the planks on my Land Rover's roof rack and started to tie them down with ropes, a wind came up and blew one plank off the top of the car. All I could do was stand there and watch it fly like a magic carpet, heading straight at a woman! Fortunately, she saw it coming and DUCKED just in time as the plank barely touched the top of her head! The wood landed nicely behind her while the woman kept walking, totally amazed at what had just happened. The guys, in the meantime, were cracking up, while I apologized profusely to the still-walking woman. Seriously, she could've been hurt BADLY had she not ducked!

The rest of our drive was uneventful, though it felt like the security guards at the gate was never going to let us go. They were telling us how the one guy lost all his earthly possessions in the recent floods, and how one of us should come and be the guest of honor at his harambe (fundraiser). We politely declined and were finally on our way home.

Unfortunately, I wasn't back in time for the women's Bible study at 4. I'll plan to join the ladies next week instead. It should be good.

But for now, I still have photos to put on CD for my sister and a few last tasks to do before I can call it the day. We have to leave for the airport no later than 6 am tomorrow. I only have 2 meetings in town, and should be able to be home at a decent hour, and get caught up on lots and lots and lots of work that have been put on the back burner while I was hosting my sister.

It's been good to have family around for a bit. Poor Sanet got to experience the wild side of life in Kenya, though! In fact, just this morning, she asked me if I've often had a flat tire, to which I could say, "Thankfully, only once." But now it's, "Only twice, so far."

I'm glad my dad taught us to know how to change a tire. We're not in the world of AAA. And while I don't have a husband, I'd best know how to change a tire.

It takes a good jack. Some basic mechanical knowledge. And good teamwork.

"Totally cool"

I've enjoyed lots and lots of laughter in the past two days. I really do love God's sense of humor. And does he ever have a sense of humor!

Yesterday, Karen and I were to drive from Nairobi. I also offered a ride to a young APU student who happened to be in Eldoret and was heading to Nairobi, so we started the day in ELI's Isuzu Trooper, driving through little rivers - or so it seemed - to town. We had had lots and lots of rain the night before, and everything was flooded! (I kept waking up in the night wondering if the kids down the road are warm enough!) Anyway, in town we got matatu (taxi minibus) tickets to Nakuru, where my car would be waiting for us. The three-hour drive over potholed roads in a van with very little seat padding was bearable, knowing my Land Rover's waiting in Nakuru...

After waiting for the mechanic to bring the car to a hotel where the shuttle dropped us off, the guy called to say he has bad news . . . as he was driving to meet us, he heard a funny noise in the gearbox!! He said he'd like to take another look at it. Though my immediate thought was "Crisis! No!", I remained unusually calm and decided I'll simply let the mechanic solve the problem. Which he did. He offered a few solutions, none of which would've worked since I had two guests with me and one on her way, so he finally offered us his Land Rover pickup for the journey.

However, his dad was out on "field service" with this car, so he called his dad, who was near Nairobi at the time to say turn back. He gave us their dinky Suzuki (no shocks, small) which they call "The Donkey" and we drove it for the next 90 minutes on the worst stretch of the road with more potholes and detours. But Karen, Ryan and I laughed so much, we hardly realized how long the bumpy ride was! Karen tried several times to take photos out the window of the flamingos on the lakes, but we'd bounce around so much, her pictures were usually of the car roof or the door! Fortunately, when we passed a herd of zebra on the road, there were no trucks behind us, so we could pull over so she could take a decent picture.

Finally, our paths crossed with Baba Riaz, about half way between Nakuru and Nairobi. We switched cars, getting into our fourth vehicle for the day, and laughed even more for the rest of the journey! Riaz is Indian and probably in his mid 30s, and his car is TOTALLY SOUPED UP. It's really not the car in which you'd expect two sort-of-middle-aged white women to be sitting in the front seats. People would gawk at the car, and then to a double-take when they notice it's not a young guy behind the wheel! The only music in the 12-CD changer is Hindi pop music and Hindi love songs, and with a sound system that could broadcast music to all the neighbors, we had quite a cross-cultural experience.

As I drove Karen and Laura around Nairobi today, we continued to have the same reaction from people around us. Young boys would stare. Men would stare. Security guards would hang around close to the vehicle in the parking lots, not to guard it, but to appreciate the sight, I believe. One such guy gave us a huge smile and a thumbs up, saying, "Poa kabisa!" (Totally cool!)

It's been really funny to me to drive into Mayfield, the missionary guest house where we're staying... There are many Land Rovers around, but none look like that one! One missionary looked at me today and said in a monotone voice, "Wow. Is that your car?" I love joking around and saying, "Yeah! Do you like it?"

Anyway, the car will remain here for the next two days as I accompany Laura on a breakaway to celebrate her big 4-0. I am looking forward to the time of R&R. On Sunday, we'll come back here, get the Bling Mobile, and drive back to Nakuru. Please join us in praying that my car will be ready then and we can take it the rest of the way to Eldoret!

Before I head to bed: For those of you who are following The Adventures of Flannel, she's doing OK. My colleague Kierra is babysitting for me, and is enjoying the time in my studio cottage in Kipkaren with the purr ball. And Flannel's loving Kierra. But aparantly, she really is missing me. God's truly blessed me through this little ball of love.

The back seat of a police car is hard.

I know, I know. I've been having bizarre experiences. First, there was the gun incident. If that wasn't crazy enough, I had a brush with the police again last Friday.

Here's the deal: While spending time at a local coffee shop waiting to meet with a family from church, I heard an announcement over the PA system. "Would the owner of a red Chevy Cavalier please step up to the counter." That'd be me. The clerk informed me that someone had just hit the rear bumper of my car. They got out, looked at their bumper for damage, and took off. The eye witness took down their plate number.

I couldn't reach the owner of the car, so I finally did what you're supposed to do with a hit and run. I called the police.

When they came to take the report, it started raining, so the officer told me to get into the back of the car. That's why I now know that the back seat of a cop car is hard. As in fiberglass hard. I guess it's for easy cleanup. Or so angry people can't destroy the upholstery. I'm not sure. I didn't hang around to visit with the officer.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of what people in the coffee shop were thinking. "Check it out! The missionary's being arrested!" What makes it worse is that I've not blogged since then, so anyone that saw the "arrest" and may have checked my blog must think for sure that I've been in jail. :) Not really, but it's a funny thought.

I wasn't going to blog about the experience until I could reach the owner of the car, which took a while. He says there was already a dent in the bumper, so he's not worried about it. Phew!

So, that's it. Nothing drastic. No run-in with the law.