Reflections on the Infestation Investigation

I'll tell you what. For being here only a few days over a month, we have some good stories for the books. Perhaps you've already heard about our car overheating and getting lodged in the mud. In our traveling here to Olepishet, we got a flat (we've now had two)...and Chase will fill you in on additional details in another post. Thursday, I woke up feeling a little itchy and even had the marks to prove it. Chase was a little skeptical not being itchy at all himself. I wasn't overly bothered, just a little annoyed. I was actually more annoyed with the flies that continued to welcome us to the area. So, I started a game where I exterminate them with our scrub brush. It's quite fun, actually.

Anyway, another night falls and I find myself waking up and scratching. The next morning, Chase gets a small sheet from the third room in the structure where we are living that houses bunk beds, linens, and wool blankets. He had planned to use the sheet as a curtain, as one of the windows in the main room is broken out. Just being curious, I walked up to the sheet. Sure enough, there were at least four little jumping creatures. That confirmed my suspicions and that morning I was really itching. 

Chase and I decided it was now time for a complete washdown and a room spray down. A friend we met at the guest house in Nairobi gifted us with a can of "Doom" as a house warming present. 😉 It came in quite handy. I had been using another sheet to cover my clothes, so most of my clothes, our sheets, pillows, blankets and all had to be washed. Two friends came and helped with the washing since it takes a bit more time and effort these days. There was a rainbow of color as clothes and linens lined the barbed wire and bushes. I am still unsure as to why clothes are hung wet on barbed wire, but I won't ask questions. My Kenyan friend explained that fleas visit often and I wasn't quite sure what to say. Was I being a baby for trying to get rid of them? I wasn't sure. He told me that his family washes all linens weekly in an effort to keep them at bay. In a community where animals (cows, sheep, and goats) are everything, it only makes sense. I also read in a medical manual from my training that fleas only like certain people. In a family, only 10-20% even get bit. Well, I guess I fall in the percentage and provide a tasty meal for the critters. 😊 Needless to say, Chase and I changed our routine a bit and bought some "Sevin Dudu Dust" in Narok when we went for groceries yesterday (Saturday). Strange name, but we've found that it works so far! 

I realize that in the scheme of life, this is a painfully small challenge. What it's reminded me of though is how little we are in control and ultimately, what a good thing this is. This same day, Chase and I were nearly out of food. We were we were headed to Narok the next day to get groceries. Our bread was out, as well as our veggies and fruits. That left peanuts, flour, water, and some orange drink mix. We had been asking our friends about the ingredients that went into making chapatis, a local flatbread that Kenyans make. We realized that we didn't have enough flour or the eggs to make it happen. 

Chase, being the determind person that he is, decides to try anyway. The whole time I'm thinking, "Why try without all the ingredients?" With just flour, water, sugar, and salt we ended up having the most delicious dinner: almost chapatis topped with salt and garlic power (close to garlic bread, right?) and others with sugar and cinnamon. On the night we wondered if we'd go hungry, God provided and we were full of delicious bread. I'm not sure why it still surprises me so much. Now, isn't it a good thing we aren't in control? If it was up to me, I might have gone hungry or eaten peanuts for dinner. Thankfully, I have a determined husband and a very faithful Father. Even though there seems to be a lot that DOESN'T go as planned in this new life of ours in Kenya, as one of my favorite movies Dan in Real Life says, "Plan to be surprised." I would add, "and thank the Lord you aren't the one in control". 

This is me posing with our "du du dust". 😊

Careful what you pray for

I once was supposed to meet an ex-girlfriend of mine after having broken up a few days earlier.  A killer storm happened to hit right as I was about to leave and I decided not to go, texting her "I can't come because of the rain."  However, as life and auto-correct do, they played a cruel trick on me and my sentence was corrected to "I can't come because of the pain"... Didn't hear from her for a while...  

I have always known that during the rainy season in Africa you have to be careful where and when you go places because the roads you go in on may not still be there when you want to leave.  However, one would think it safe to assume they would be in tact in a time of drought, in a tough 4wheel drive 1980's Landcrusier.  However, as you can guess, one would be wrong.  We left late one evening just before dark (first mistake) I disobeyed my first rule, don't go out at dark in Africa.  However, I had made an exception because the wife of the family that was hosting us had been away for quite some time with her new baby and had not yet seen her mother.  And as all mothers can attest, I have heard this is a big deal (see ma, such a good boy you raised)!  So we left semi-late just to stop by, reunite mother, daughter, and granddaughter, have a cup of tea and return home.  Soon as we started to pull up to the house the rain started. This was an answer to prayer, as we had been praying for rain the whole week, the Maasai were in severe drought, animals were dying, malnourished, no grass was to be seen, and there was not a lot of water for people in some areas; this was a great thing.  That was when the heavens broke loose with torrential downpour. We sat and waited and waited. About two hours later we decided we were going to have to leave because the rain was not going to stop.  

The father assured me, he too had a 4x4 truck, I would be fine with the Landcrusier.  In fact, it would probably be best not to even take the road back because of the deep ruts, take my shortcut instead...(second mistake) Anyone who has seen a bad horror movie knows that is how it starts.  The man we were staying with said he knew the path so instead of asking the father, I loaded up and headed on our merry way taking my directions like a champ.  My friend David will love this, knowing how well I take directions, and how much I pride myself in my off-roading ability.  Having been to Kenya and experienced this first hand, taking directions from a Kenyan is no easy task.  My mother won't believe this but off-road I am actually a good driver.  I take it slow, I avoid potholes, ravines and the giant craters in front of me. I maneuver around the giant acacia thorns.  But Kenyans don't see it that way, any slight deviation to avoid something in your path that changes your direction from where they want you to go they will tell you, "No not that way, this way."  But I just want to turn 3 inches left to avoid that giant rock and then I promise I will turn back - No not that way!  Okay but there is a giant hole there -yes, that's right, that way.  It can be very distracting, especially in a downpour, in the dark...

So as I am taking my shortcut following directions I get a glimpse in the dark of something that seems to be two large ravines filled with water coming together at a point.  So I ask the question I knew the answer to, "Are we sure this is the right way? It seems these ravines on either side of us are joining together." "Oh, we must have gone the wrong way, can you turn around?"  "Can I turn around?" To answer that question you need some context.  The Landcrusier I am driving was aptly nicknamed the white buffalo and is neither fast nor graceful.  It has no power steering and had no chance of making a neat 3 point turn in the 15 feet allotted to me, on pavement, in the best conditions, much less in the terrential downpour and mudslide of 3 inch deep wet black cotton silt soil, between two giant ravines filled with water.  But as always I am up for a good joke so I will give it a try.  But alas after much trying, praying, and rolling around in the mud, getting both myself and the drivers side thoroughly disgusting everyone had given up besides me.  Big surprise right?  Finally I was convinced it was indeed time to stop trying and move on (I could have gotten it though...probably not).  

So we gathered my wet and muddy self, Audrey, the couple we were staying with, and the baby, covered ourselves in a shuka (piece of thin cloth) because only the guy had a jacket, and used our cell phone as a flashlight, because none of us had one of those (man I would have made a bad Boy Scout) and headed towards the house. It was a mere 2 miles away through the mudslide in ill equipped shoes that were either sucked off by the mud or collected an extra 10lbs and grew to twice the original size of the shoe.  Initially there was crying, then hysteric maniacal laughter, and I was afraid we might have had a pschotic break, but it turned out to be okay. When faced with the ridiculousness of the situation, and that we were safe, it became quite the funny sight and story.  I told this to my Maasai friend as we were walking, "This is a story to remember". "I don't want to remember this one," she said.  However, I think now she would. As I said despite the circumstances, we were safe. I returned and retrieved the car in the morning and pulled off about 30lbs of mud of the bottom.  This reminded me that even when we do stupid things, and wind up very stuck, beyond ourselves, we are in His hands, that God answers prayer, though it may not be in our timing...

Life in Olepishet

Life in Olepishet is another new adventure. We are staying in a three room facility that normally operates as a place for oral Bible training. The place is equipped with bunk beds and linens, four plastic chairs, and a wood table. One metal bunk bed frame has become our shelf for language learning resources and materials, our food items, and a plates and utensils drying rack. In one corner sits our gas canister for cooking and the wall opposite the door are colored basins lining the wall filled with water used for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. In the middle of the room is the table that serves as our meal prep table and language learning desk. Our bedroom contains our belongings and two bunk beds pushed together with a mosquito net covering our little sleeping area/bed fort. 

     

After language learning, Chase and I prepared a fine meal of pasta and cleaned up in preparation to go on a walk. After walking a bit, we realized I had left Chase's Nalgene water bottle on the steps outside our house. We quickly hiked backed realizing there was a good chance it may have been taken. Sometimes things like to disappear. Thankfully, the bottle was sitting where I had left it. The previous day's market adventure had reminded us just how necessary these bottles were after an entire day in the hot sun and Landcruiser. (Of course, we had no idea it would take all day long, but we were waiting on an intertube since we ended up with a flat the day we arrived here and we didn't want to drive all the way out again the following day.) 

Chase and I continue to practice language with each other and people we meet and are thankful for each other's company in a place where we get lots of smiles and also lots of stares. To get a phone signal, we have to walk a bit to go and stand near this certain rock. We can only get texts or call people when by that rock and even then it's a gamble. Our experience to check and send emails proved to be an interesting one. We drove about fifteen or twenty minutes and when we parked, children and young people were eager to see who and what was happening with the people in the car. As I called my mama, she could hear people laughing and asking us questions in the background. Other than the words, "Give me ten shillings" and "What is your name?" we couldn't understand what they were saying. We answered and smiled back, but my heart sank with questions. How do I portray my love and care? Is it by giving shillings or is it by praying that God will shine through my smile when I have no words to speak? Or is it both? These are the delimmas of a missionary, I guess. One thing is for sure. You learn to rely on and ask for God's grace more than ever before. 

From the hills of Ngong Valley to the bush of Olipishet

As I first suspected a blog a week may have been a bit ambitious, but we are still going to try. While we have written some things to post later (they will come out of order) it has been hard to submit them to the electronic form and get them sent off for a variety of reasons.  The first of which may be evident from Audrey's last post but I will elaborate.  In Kenya, all phones and cellular Internet run off of SIM cards.  These SIM cards come with a phone number and pin code.  As an American, I only thought it right to assume after entering the pin code initially and unlocking the phone I was done with that code, or I could enter a new one and put away all that old information I no longer needed.  How wrong I was... Turns out, that this little code is needed any time the battery dies or the phone is switched off.  This of course did not happen until we had gone about two hours away from civilization and left the code locked in a guest house store room.  It also just so happens that as Murphy's law states it happened at the convenient time of the car overheating and breaking down, so calling for assistance was a bit more difficult.  But alas, we got moving, got to where we were going, and all was well.  That was SIM card lock number 1 (unfortunately the phone with all our African contacts), however we still had Audrey's phone and the IPad. That, my friends, was SIM card lock number two, I had also turned off the iPad.  So we were without my phone and Internet from iPad, no big deal you say, just call someone, they should be able to fix that. Think again, TIA (this is Africa).  We called several times to customer service from Audrey's phone with no answer or to wait on hold and get hung up on. Finally when we asked a Kenyan friend to call from his phone they picked up first try right away.  Pretty sure someone was screening the American's calls...  And believe it or not, easily enough we got my phone unlocked, but as for the iPad... Well, you have to know the phone number to unlock a phone and since we were not using the iPad as a phone we didn't know the phone number.  Later on we tried to go to the store and use my ID to find the number, but that too was impossible since the clerk who sold us the numbers entered an extra different symbol at the end of my ID number on each different phone number making it impossible to find.  So, we ended up buying a new phone number for the iPad, and have since that time saved all phone numbers and pin codes in a secure space.

This was reason one for our delayed response, but I have more excuses too, ha!  Cellular signal was not great when we were in the city, but especially now where we are for language learning in the bush it is non-existent, if we drive 15 minutes or so in one particular direction there is a hope, so maybe you will see this blog, or maybe I am just writing to myself.  Thirdly, power for charging devices is always a challenge but we may have enough generators and solar chargers to sort that out now.  Our last excuse I believe would be time and self care, our weeks in Ngong were wonderful but taxing on our mental and emotional health to some degree.  We were traveling to many houses and churches, visiting many families, and constantly having people to come visit us, that rarely was there a time besides at 11pm where Audrey and I could just be and process the day's events, much less have a quiet time. By the time we had made it back to the city for our two days of "rest" we had pictures to edit, audio of language helpers to edit, update and prayer letters to write, and shopping to do before we headed out to the bush.  Needless to say, we didn't get much rest. I say this not to complain about anyone or anything, because I have loved everyone and every moment I have had here. I only say this to explain and to share a glimpse of our life here.  However, one great thing about Olipishet where we are doing our language learning now is that most days (with the exceptions of market day and Sundays) we are not visiting anyone, just cooking, doing language learning with our one helper, cooking, practicing, maybe having a small conversation with the same language helper in the evening, but we are able to have some rest.  We can process, we can just be in His arms without the added on cultural stress. Of course stress will come and we are exited to interact with people, but we are still getting our feet under us and our beaks wet. Continue to pray for us to have grace and love, to be filled by Him who sustains us and to be at peace as we learn and get adjusted.  We are trying to come up with systems to better disperse our blogging and editing of media so it doesn't all happen on our rest days so be in prayer for that as well.

A quick devotion before to center us again before I sign off only sharing my angst and complaints, ha!  Matthew 5- Beatitudes: blessed are those who are at the end of their rope, who have lost what's dear to them, who hunger, who are persecuted and who love unconditionally -for their trust is in God.  Those who are prideful and striving for their slice of the pie now, are getting it.  But it is the humble and loving who put their faith in God, that are rewarded.  The second part of the beatitudes is what hit me though, I have always read this and it has probably hit me in part before, but I got more of the blow today.  Jesus says and I am paraphrasing, "For you, my followers, are the salt of earth, if you do not have these characteristics listed above, if you are not enhancing the flavor of the lives of others, how will they see Me in you?  Huge cities can't hide at night, you can see their lights from far away (can I see yours, from a distance, all the time?) I did not make you lights just to cover you up when it was inconvenient for you to shine, or when others were going to make fun of you.  I made you lights so people could see Me in you.  I have a hard time with this. It is easy at times to hide or to blend in when people are making blatant statements about Christians because of the hate and anger that some have shown them. It's easy to just stay quiet and look away.  However, it does not seem to me that this is what Christ calls us to here. So be salt, be light, all the time, from a distance, and wear the weather good and bad, for this is who we have been made to be. 

Unexpected Day of Rest

From a journal entry on Ocrober 13th, 2014:

After yesterday's worship at AIC Oreteti Church and Maasai cooking lessons from a twelve year old friend named Raeli, we had a good night's sleep. This morning started out differently than the previous ones. Chase's stomach wasn't feeling great so he took some visits to the cho (a bathroom, essentially an enclosed area with a hole). Benson, a long time friend, graciously offered to take us to the nearest town to get the car inspected. We began having issues the day we arrived here as we drove in sight of our friends' church. After some suggestions were made at the mechanic, we had a cup of chai with Pastor Benson in Kiserian, checked our emails quickly for 16 KSH (about 20 cents) and came back home so that Chase could rest. We suspected that his stomach was cramping due to something he'd eaten the night before. While he rested in our bedroom at our friend Jeremy's house, I read a book called Accidental Missionaries about some missionaries named the Grindolls to the Maasai in the 70s. Inside was a picture of Samuel Pulei, who we learned is our friend Moses Pulei's uncle. The book covered the tensions, joys, and challenges of the developments in the Ooloshoibor area, not far from where we are staying now. There were a number of familiar names and places in the book. The copyright was dated 1990, which seemed weird to me since that's the year I was born. 

After Chase's rest, we went to visit Jeremy's parents who live in the neighboring compound. His father, Sailoji, was dressed in traditional attire with reds shukas covering his chest, cloths draping his body, and beads dangling from his stretched earlobes. His second wife, Maria, was working diligently on beadwork to sell in the Nairobi Maasai market. The colors of her beads, the stark contrast of her beautiful white smile against her perfectly dark skin, captured my attention. I couldn't say much more than a greeting, but I think she knew I was admiring her. We tried our best to explain that we were going to see the sunset. We said "Olesere" (goodbye in Maa) and went on our way. 

As I watched the sun fall behind the mountains over the Rift Valley, a deep comfort filled my spirit. Although we are mourning in some senses the loss of the familiar and our families, friends, and community, God is lavishing us with reminders of his sovereignty, his grace, his faithfulness, and his ability to meet our every need. Emesisi Enkai. (Let us praise God). 

(For pictures showing things I have mentioned in this post, take a look at my last FB post of pictures!)

We're Quick Learners, But Only Because We Make Mistakes

Let's just say that we've learned a lot in these last two weeks...

1. Always bring a razor. By the end of the two weeks, Chase ended up looking like Robinson Crusoe and my new adolescent Kenyan friends were all so astounded by my leg hair. Really, though, people it had probably grown at least a centimeter long. Whoa.

2. Remember or save your Safaricom pin numbers. If not, you will not be able to get into your phone and internet connection when the devices turn off until you get back to Nairobi. Whoops!

3. Have a flashlight handy. You never know when you'll get stranded somewhere because of the downpour and have to walk two miles home in the pouring rain.

4. Egg is not an adequate substitute for cooking oil.

5. You can't light the gas canister without it first being turned on. Just holding a match there won't do the trick. 

6. When a shopping center has a male and female security guard at the door, it is culturally inappropriate to follow Chase into the line with the male security guard. 

7. The passenger's side is on the LEFT. Let me practice saying it so I can remember... it's on the LEFT.

8. NEVER cut a hot chili pepper and then wipe the edge of your nose. In fact, I'm not sure I'm ever cutting one again.

9. Extra water is pretty important. It is good to keep hydrated, if you do not you may overheat, it is also equally important to keep the car hydrated, because if you don't it too will overheat.

10. Don't drink beverages after 6pm. If you do, you'll be forced to go out alone in the dark to the cho  (the bathroom ie. a hole in the ground) in the middle of the night or wake up a grumpy husband to accompany you.

The (Bear) Necessities

Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities, old Mother Nature's recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam. I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree, to make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants and take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few. The bare necessities of life will come to you…
So just try and relax, yeah cool it, Fall apart in my backyard
'Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh, you're working too hard
And don't spend your time lookin' around for something you want that can't be found.
When you find out you can live without it and go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true, the bare necessities of life will come to you

Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities, that's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

I love this song, I have since I was a child, although I have always found it strange that Baloo was a bear in the jungle where there are not many bears are to be found. On top of that, this bear was singing about the bare necessities, which always gave me a homophonic chuckle.   So I wanted to play on that some today (yes I know I spelled bare wrong in the title) as I myself am struggling with some bare necessities, and noticing what a bear and a burden those can be if one does not bear them correctly.  Still with me?  So if you have just woken up and are on your morning coffee, clicking through your morning tabs, blogs, or emails, you may have to give it a second read, but it will come to you, they’ll come to you…

Over the last few days, through our Kenya preparations, our packing, weaning down to the essentials, and our first couple days in Kenya, I am refocusing and relearning on what the bare essentials are for me.  I have noticed in the last few hours that often the main essentials I focus on back home are only a piece of what I am focusing on here because the others are not as readily met here.  While others struggle with their needs being met in the states, I typically do not.  For I have the basic needs easily met, due to the privileged life I have been blessed with and I am thankful for this.  I have never had to worry about my next meal, nor where I would rest my head, but there are many of those who have and who do.  So I do not write this as “This only happens in Africa”, but rather that I am experiencing a piece of it here. 

I have found myself in the last few days like a laptop.  Traveling for 24+ hours has completely drained my battery to the reserves and I have gone into power save mode.  Being in need of a charge leaves me asking what are my critical functions, and how can I recharge?   To some it may seem obvious we should seek recharging from something or rather Someone above ourselves, but I must admit this was not my first thought or choice after not sleeping for almost two days.  I went straight to embrace of the nearest bed, once I awoke though (I was thinking more clearly) and did what I should have done first, thanking God for where we were and what He has done. 

It has come to my attention, and I believe Fred Foy, David Bevins, Will Brimer, Blake Patrick, and myself were joking about it last time we were in Kenya, that as a man we do not have many needs.  However, two needs that are at the very top are food and sleep.  Without these two I tend to not be as cordial as my normally charming self (ha).  My wife has noticed this too believe me.  Food, sleep, and time with My Creator, I would say, are some of my essentials that are at the top of the list.  Those three also affect my fourth very big essential, which is amplified if those three are not met, which is quiet.  As an introvert, and I am sure many other introverts can attest to my plight, until all my systems are at full operation level (and sometimes not even then) I do not care to talk to another living person.  It takes too much energy to keep up a conversation, and when you are drained, it is not happening. 

As a man, and a married man at that, I have also learned that I tend to hear my wife’s processing (talking out loud) about what is going on around her, as a “to do” list for me or something to fix.  Many of the times it is not meant that way at all, but as a guy that is how it is processed in my male, fix-it, can-do, brain.  This too can cause stress, since there are many things that are new and different that need to be processed by each of us, which means my brain is working overtime fixing things, that do not need, nor or really wanting to be fixed. 

So what are the essentials for me as of now?  Sleep (getting back on a normal routine, making up for lost sleep, and overcoming jet lag.)  Food (again overcoming deprivation and introducing new things to my sensitive wazungu stomach).  Quiet (the need to sit, be still, reflect, pray, and come to my senses.  Not necessarily alone, but in silence.)   I think honestly this is it for me right now, and may be for most.  I think back home I only tend to ever struggle with the need for quiet since the other two are so easily met.  However, they are all needs and are of different importance for others in varied contexts.  Yet when they are drained we re-evaluate and must go straight to our Power Source and begin the recharging process.  Then the bare necessities of life will come to you, they’ll come to you…