Home

Home is something I’ve been thinking about lately. For one, I miss it and the people that make it what it is, especially this time of year. And since being married, I have two families that I sorely miss. For two, we don’t really have one in the literal sense of the word. We haven’t really had a home since the end of July. But by the grace of God, we have had the opportunity to notice and be blessed by the homes of other people who have deeply loved and cared for us. This is a profound blessing I would have never been able to experience otherwise. There’s some serious reflection, praying, and self work to be done when you don’t have a home. You’re never quite comfortable…and yet at times I’ve grown to like that about our lives. I think God has been showing us the uniqueness and faithfulness of His character that longs to give and bless and heal. And I’m grateful. 

I think in the human heart there is always a deeper longing for home. It helps us feel whole. This time of year I’m reminded of the wholeness we have in the hope of a Savior who wasn’t born in a comfortable place. Joseph and the very mother of the Redeemer of the world frantically search for a place for him to be born. During the chaos, the unsettling, the lack-of-plans is WHERE HE COMES. I’m realizing now that there is spiritual cushioning I experienced in the states, where all was generally well if I was in my home. I could relax easily and be very contented. My family and dearest friends were only a phone call or couple of hours away. Here, my personal contentment has no choice but to come from within my very being from the Spirit. Or it doesn’t come at all. My carefully laid out plans and places of comfort aren’t here to make me feel better or distract me from the holy details of this life. I have to take notice. There’s so much need to take notice of here. I have felt the Spirit’s presence in new and powerful ways. I have felt the movement and action of people's prayers from across miles, bringing us His peace that passes understanding in times that are frustrating and hard. Author Frederick Buechner from his book Telling Truth puts it this way:

I believe that it is when that power is alive in me and through me that I come closest to being truly home, come closest to finding or being found by that holiness that I may have glimpsed in the charity and justice and order and peace of other homes I have known, but that in its fullness was always missing. I cannot claim that I have found the home I long for every day of my life, not by a long shot, but I believe that in my heart I have found, and have maybe always known, the way that leads to it. I believe that Buttrick was right and that the home we long for and belong to is finally where Christ is. I believe that home is Christ's kingdom, which exists both within us and among us as we wend our prodigal ways through the world in search of it.

What’s great about this season is the reminder and Truth that Jesus himself is the Prince of Peace, the very peace we all long and hope for during the whole of our lives. This is the season of his coming. Psalm 90:1 says, "Lord, YOU have been our dwelling place." I can confidently say that I have never known the weight of what this verse means until now. Of course, I have come near to God in prayer and seen his faithful workings for years, but I have never known the depth of what it's like to only have Him and the clothes in our bags. The Lord alone IS our REFUGE and strength. Refuge is not merely having a place to be and rest after a long day's work or internship. Ruminating on what home means, reminds me of college days and the sweet friends who sang with me there and those who made King College what it was. Abbie, Cassie, and I always liked trying to sing three-part harmonies together, mostly songs from the Wailin' Jennys. One of our favorites we sang together was called, "Heaven When We're Home" and I'll provide the link underneath the lyrics if you're interested in listening. Please disregard our banter at the beginning of the recording. My favorite part of it was always the chorus:

It's a long and rugged road

And we don't know where it's headed

But we know it's going to get us where we're going

And when we find what we're looking for

We'll drop these bags and search no more

It's going to feel like heaven when we're home

https://www.dropbox.com/s/336n20oaveu5huw/14%20Heaven%20When%20We%27re%20Home.m4a?dl=0

It's true. We have no idea where we are headed, but we have the hope that he is forever with us. And, ultimately, heaven is the home we are longing for in the end. We have no idea where we'll live in Kimana, yet month to month we have found the place where we can settle in and take each day at a time. This has urged me to think more intentionally of those who experience their own uprootedness this season and beyond, at far greater sacrifice, and/or those who have lost someone significant in their lives. Dear friends, I have to thank you for the fact that I am experiencing this unsettling. And I genuinely thank you. Because of it, I have done a greater amount of both wrestling with and resting in who God says he is. We can believe what he promises. I am thanking him for the small things this month like the ability to get a hot shower, snuggle and read on the couch, and am using this time and season to thank Him for his goodness and mercy to us, those same things that he offers to the people of the world in his coming.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

The Creative Solution

This morning I was reading in Luke 16 when I came across something confusing. As I have re-read the gospels lately, there seems to be a lot of things that seem more confusing than they once were. However, I guess this is a good thing because in Corinthians 8 it says, "If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not know as he ought to know." So I guess it's a good thing I am learning that I know nothing... It's funny because if you read the gospel quickly and glaze over, it seems simple. But as you seek to delve deeper many times it gets much more confusing. I think this is what Christ was referring to when He talks about hardening hearts, or people having ears but not hearing. It is not until, as He says, we seek, that we find; that we knock, and it is opened to us. So as I started reading my passage in Luke, I began to seek to understand it, and in comparing versions I came across this is the Message, and it presented it to me in a new light. So if you are interested, read it in your own version, and then follow along.

Basically a master tells a manager he is getting fired because he has not done his job, so the manager goes around cutting peoples debts, collecting half the amounts so they will like him when he is fired, and the manager gets some of his stuff back. In Luke 16:8-9 "The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”

In Kenya, as well as in the states, people are obsessed with looking after themselves. Keeping an eye out for number one! Sadly number one, should usually be the last one we should really be focusing on. Often people are so concerned with surviving, or not even that, but the superfluous stuff that they equate to survival, that they neglect others. We push away others in need to get at the stuff that doesn't even matter. Which raises two questions in my mind, what is needed for survival (what is our daily bread as Christ teaches us to pray for), and where should our focus be?



Daily bread is something I have been learning and reading a lot about lately. Christ teaches us in the Lord's prayer to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread". Give us daily our daily needs. This does not say what is needed down the road, in advance, so we don't have to rely on anyone, but what we need NOW, at this moment, for this day, to get us through. This doesn't say that God will not give us more, or far and beyond what we ask, but we are not to be concerned about it. For the Father knows our needs and takes care of them (Matthew 6).  In order to really trust God, you have to be in need of Him, and often we try take care of ourselves so well that we are never really in need of Him.  So in waiting on Him, and not doing ourselves, we learn to rely on Him daily for our needs.

I am pretty sure that at times God works within whatever parameters we give him. (Of course he is always at work!) What I mean though, in my mind at least, is that if I say, "God I am waiting on you, but while I am waiting I am going to start the process of figuring out fill-in-the-blank". He may show something, but I have limited His operating parameters. Whereas if I say, "God I am waiting on you. It is completely in your hands," He acts without anything I can and would have done, in His way in His timing. It is a difficult thing though to FULLY trust. Most people say, you have to do something and leave room for God to work, don't just sit idle, but I am not sure this is true. Sure we should not be idle, but I think we should be focusing on what God requires of us, the poor, sick, hungry, those in need of the gospel, and let him sort out the extra stuff: car, housing, etc. Not sure it makes sense for both of us to be caught up in trying to sort out the trivial stuff! If we spend more of our time focusing on others, on kingdom work, and not on ourselves we solve the problem of sitting idle and not becoming too caught up on our own needs.  I am trying to learn that balance, and not to wear myself out on stuff that is not kingdom oriented. He knows our needs and that's all I can ask for. For He is the Giver of all good things. So seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and pray, "Give us THIS day our bread." Let us trust on the Lord in "creative" survival.

The Toilet Paper Incident

I am sure many will laugh at my ridiculousness during and long after this post but, beneath the humor lies something I am still struggling with (at home too, but especially here in Kenya).  I also want to preface that I deeply love and cherish each of the Kenyans I mention too, and in no way mean this to put anyone down or talk badly about them.  I merely write this to highlight the cultural differences and how it has caused me to struggle with what Christ has called us to as servants. I also do not think this is a struggle I alone wrestle with, but one of many westerners in a cross cultural context of poverty and communal societies.  I will also say that despite the struggles I am about to mention, Kenyans, the Maasai especially, are some of the most gracious hosts and givers I have ever met, and I hope to be more like them in this regard someday.

I wouldn't say I am a stingy person, frugal maybe, strategic with my resources, definitely.  I also struggle with people who think they are entitled and people that take advantage of others.  However, in Kenya, as a missionary, it becomes a bit more complicated.  First of all, Africa in general has a completely different mindset for so many reasons I do not know, cannot fully explain, and do not have room to list.  If you have been to a third world communal empoverished society, you are likely to have experienced it and understand what I am talking about.  For a good book on the matter, African Friends and Money Matters is excellent in highlighting the African and Western thoughts on matters of ownership and money and explaining the mindset behind each view.  It helps one understand why the other thinks the way they do, not that one has to agree, or that each culture does not have their weaknesses that Christ within us transforms, but only that it helps us understand the other.  

I can only explain this experience in a variety of examples that again are in no way meant negatively, but there is frustration behind some of them I am still working through in God's loving grace as He transforms me.  In Vincent Donovan's book, Christianity Resiscovered, about taking the gospel to the Maasai he writes, "A missionary is essentially a social martyr, cut off from his roots, his stock, his blood, his land, his background, his culture.  He is destined to walk forever a stranger in a strange land.  He must be stripped as naked as a hiking being can be, down to the very texture of his being... so that he can be a naked instrument of the gospel to the cultures of the world". This is the stripping that is taking place.

I first noticed this different sense of ownership on one of my prior trips when my jacket was taken and worn by a Maasai man, I think without any intent to ever be given back.  On the one month of this trip however, I have noticed this theme more readily.  A lot of these have happened when driving, and you just can't help but laugh at the context, and how they all add up.  For instance being told, "Do not pick those people up on the side of the road." However, this is only because a little further down they have their own people that are in need of being picked up (none of which is said, you just figure it out 10 miles later when your car is full and you weren't supposed to stop for anyone but you have a car full of cousins.)  Or, it is implied that you need to empty your car before leaving for safety's sake (and the fact we have a ton of stuff somewhere we need you to bring back from the market that we forgot to mention).  There seems to be a culture of things left unsaid until the last second.  

Our special chocolate bar we bought for a treat after not having sweets was eaten mysteriously. We have been asked on multiple occasions to loan money up front. Folks call us on our cellphones only to hang up when we answer so we will call them back and use our minutes instead of theirs. People go without because it is just the way it is, but when we buy that something everyone else wants to use it because they shouldn't be without.  A whole slew of things that just boggle our American mind and make us say, "This can't be right! Can it?" As I said, none of these things are bad in their own right, and I hope I would happily do any of these for anyone that was in need.  Yet, as they become constant and repetitive and build on one another with details left unsaid, it becomes more difficult to serve with a joyful spirit.

With this context I bring us to the story you have been waiting for, the toilet paper incident.  I had (and still am but God is at work) been frustrated about feeling used and taken advantage of over our time in Kenya.  It all started one morning with a knock on our door, a Maasai man that was working for us (who lived about a kilometer away) knocked on our door, said hello, came inside, looked around the room, picked up our toilet paper, rolled off two good handfuls and left.  We were a little confused, but just figured he really had to go, no big deal.  Second morning, same exact thing, maybe he ate some bad meat.  Third morning, again. This is happening.  After the forth morning I was hiding the two pieces of toilet paper we had left.  On the fifth day he asks, "Where is the toilet paper?" After leaving sad and empty handed, I felt dirty (as I am sure so did he), did I really just hide toilet paper from a Maasai I felt called to fly across the world and serve?  So I asked Audrey, "Was that wrong?  Are we being taken advantage of?  Don't we need toilet paper too?  Doesn't he have a toilet at home?  What would he do if we weren't here?"  What would Jesus have done?  Does Jesus need toilet paper?  Did Jesus poop?"  All are deeply theological questions...

Later that evening, I was reading Christianity Rediscovered and it began to talk about that if someone ask you to go the extra mile, go two.  If they ask for your shirt, give them your coat too.  Jesus is turning our whole system of ownership, possession, and entitlement upside down.  I again began to feel convicted, not only should I probably not have hid the toilet paper, I probably should have given him a roll to take home.  But, but, how does that effect every other instance that I have listed?  Does it?  Can I have my chocolate eaten, phone minutes drained, money borrowed, and be used as a taxi and shuttle all for Christ, all to show love?  Is it ultimately hurting to give in to these demands, or is that even our concern?  Do we merely act in love, and let Christ hold them accountable for their potential misuse?  Am I being taken advantage of?  Does it matter?  What about our needs?  

All are challenging questions and I do not believe there is any easy answer to any of them.  There are books that give one answer, churches that give another, common sense may tell us one thing, and then Christ goes and flips it all on its head.  I was reading in Matthew 6 today and I was again convicted.  I am adding what I heard, so you may want to read it in your own version. Do not store up toilet paper on earth where feces and flies corrupt and where it can be easily taken. Give it away freely, beyond what you are asked.  If you store it, you have to guard it. Then you are just wasting your time and resources when they could be better used elsewhere, doing something more important of eternal value, for the kingdom.  For where your treasure is, the things you put guards on to make sure they stay yours, is where your heart truly is.  These are the things that mean more to you than what should mean the most and best guess they are not eternal. Most times they can be easily flushed without a second thought.  I love to give gifts when nothing has been asked of me, but as someone continually asked for something I feel my giving spirit shriveling. Yet, this is not what Christ calls us to; he calls us to give freely beyond what has been asked.

Then Jesus hits us with one last zinger.  Do not worry.  There are better things to spend your time on.  The birds do not build store houses, plant a garden, or tuck away food and I provide food for the birds. I clothe the plants, and you are more precious to me than they, what are you worried about?  I will provide every need. It may not be in the form of triple-ply and extra cushy, but I will provide your needs. It is all Mine, why are you trying to hold on to what I have already given you?  Do you not trust I will again provide?  And what good would worrying even do? Does it make you feel better?  Add time to your day?  Make your problems go away?  God knows your needs, so let it go. Seek the kingdom and His righteousness. Let Him sort out the rest.  Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself, each day has enough trouble of its own.

So this is us, stripped bare, cut from our roots, strangers in a strange land.  We are struggling at times, but Christ is making us new so that we can be naked instruments of the gospel to the cultures of the world.  This is only through what He accomplishes. Father, give us a spirit of humbleness and overflowing love. Eesai.

The Cheesy Thanksgiving Post

I am not sure why I am constantly amazed at God’s provision; maybe it shows my lack of trust.  At every step of the way in my journey of life God has provided, exceedingly and abundantly.  Yet, whenever I get in a tight spot, I get worried (just like the disciples when the storm arose, Luke 8:22).  God consistently shows me, as He did with disciples, how little my faith can be, after everything I have seen I still doubt and fear.  Ever since I have arrived at Kenya, and even before in the process of getting to Kenya, God has been teaching me hope and trust and to fully rely on Him.  From raising funds, buying an airplane ticket, and going before our team was ready, He was already there. In each of these He provided His way and answered the little trust we were able to muster exceedingly and abundantly with His provision.  We raised almost all our yearly funds we needed just before we left, our trip went smoothly, and ever since we have arrived God has provided partners, friends, and opportunities, as we anticipate our teammates arrival and embark on the mission we originally had planned in Kimana. 

After being in Kenya a few days and adjusting a bit, we headed out to the only real place we knew of (besides where we will be long term, we decided to wait and go there until our teammates had arrived) where there were Maasai and we had some contacts and friends.  God used and blessed this time richly as we started our language, reconnected with old friends, and worked alongside the church.  During this time we made connections with four other missionary families that have each encouraged, enriched, and blessed our ministry in many different ways.  Towards the end of our time there we went back to Nairobi and spent a few days at a guest house, planning on leaving to go down to Olepishet (an area another missionary set up for us, completely a God thing, for we could have never found it on our own).  I came down with some food poisoning, but again God provided a place to stay with this missionary family and blessed us during the recovery, after which we headed down to Olepishet.  Here God again blessed us with a wonderful language helper who understood well the language and culture we were trying to learn, as well as a wonderful house, safety, and health over our month long stay there. 

Within the last couple of weeks, we began to feel our time there drawing to a close, both as we finished some of our language learning recordings and as we were starting to grow eager to visit with some other missionary families and begin the rigorous car search.  With Thanksgiving around the corner, we were again blessed by God’s hand and were invited to spend a few days with a medical missionary family and have an American Thanksgiving dinner.  In coming here to Bomet, we were blessed richly with new friends, reconnecting with old acquaintances, great food, hot showers, a toilet, and even cold drinks!  We have better Internet and phone reception and are able to make a few phone calls to friends and family, check our emails, talk with our organization, and also discover that almost all of the money for our car has been raised!  We are still not exactly sure how much is needed since we have not found a car in particular to buy.  But God has provided far more than we had planned to buy a sturdy vehicle.  To Him be the glory.  Continue to pray as we re-start the search for a car next week.  In the last week, we have been connected with some good contacts whose mission is to help find missionaries safe, sturdy, and affordable cars.  Again, he has answered our specific need.

Lastly, we are excited to report that the Strangs will soon be joining us in Kenya towards the end of December.  We are still trying to find some people and things to connect with until their arrival, but this morning were encouraged by a phone call of a missionary friend who invited us to stay with her for a couple weeks until our teammates arrived, leaving just a few days unaccounted for (yet only to us). God has already accounted and planned each of our footsteps, so we just wait for his guidance and vision (Psalms 37:23-24).  We are excited to see what he has for us next as we are overwhelmed by His provisions. We stand in awe as we look back at what he has done and are still struggling with our meager trust as we move forward with our tiny, childlike faiths. 

Refinement

God's constant theme in my life lately has been that of refinement and renewal. With all the moving and goodbyes and road trips and transitions, we really haven't had a "home" since late July. Due to this and the lack of plans present for the next month of our lives, God has been eagerly drawing me back to Him, my true Life Source. When home is gone and you rely on God's provision day by day, there is no choice in being refined. It simply has to happen. My security can no longer be complete in a home, a plan, friends, family, or Chase. It's no secret that uncertainty and changes shift our focus. We are forced to rely on someone Greater. My friend Marcy told me once, "Gold is mined out by force." I have found it to be true! Not many things in a Kenya go as planned. It's just not how it goes. Flexibility is the name of the game. Life here can be packed, yet there is also a slow pace to it. There's a large amount of time available to talk to God here and to realize that he is indeed the Sustainer and Life Giver. Twice now, in different churches in different locations, John 15 has been the topic that was preached. I considered that not to be a coincidence. 

With all the changes and new challenges here, I have had to get back to the basics. Will I trust in myself or the Creator? Will I find ways or fills voids to fill myself up it will I allow him to fill me? What aspects of my personality or identity will I allow him to reshape so that I can love others more fully? God makes it clear that we are mere branches of the true Vine. We can't survive well without his influence and very being flowing through us, but we have to be awake. God will not force his way on us, but rather we must be open to his pruning and reshaping. "Remain in me and I will remain in you," (15:4) he says. "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy  may be complete." (15: 9-11) "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. (15:16) Jesus says that he wishes for us to be connected. When we are, we will truly bear fruit. My friends, we have to remain awake! For me, it is so easy to coast through this life without being changed or allowing ourselves to be changed by him. Being refined requires both diligence and discipline I have found. It requires that we are attentive to what is going on around us and to who is around us. 

To each of you reading, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be refined by your prayers and your generous sending of us to this country and to the people we love. I LOVE you all. And, when I forget, please remind me, too, to stay awake so that the Image Bearer himself will continue to prune and refine who I am. 

No brakes. Flat tire. No worries.

Driving in Kenya, and I assume in any just about foreign country, is an experience.  Not only do you have to learn which side of the car to enter on when you are driving (or riding as a passenger in the front, you have to learn to casually act like you did not try to enter on the wrong side), learn to drive on the opposite side of the road, learn where the blinker is (not the where the windshield wipers are, giving the American windshield wiper salute every time you try to change lanes) learn to navigate roundabouts, roundabouts with traffic lights (which I think defeat the purpose) then roundabouts with traffic lights with cops directing people when to go (which I think negates the purpose of both of the other two and causes more harm than good).  If you are as fortunate and unfortunate, as we are to have a manual vehicle, you must learn to shift with the opposite hand, and as with any big city, get your calf workout with the stop and start traffic and your trusty clutch.  There are no real traffic laws that are enforced or behaved (except when someone one decides enforcing them may give him and extra dollar in pocket), and the biggest ugliest car usually wins.  Good thing for us we have a big an ugly car... We are currently borrowing a big white manual 80's Landcruiser that, as I wrote in a previous post, has been nicknamed the white buffalo in Maa.  A very apt name for our bohemoth with 4wd, snorkel, dual spares and batteries, locking hubs, roof rack,  high lift jack, and alas no power steering.  Not a big deal most of the time, you just power through the turns, however it does make bush driving a bit more difficult.  If you are not paying attention you can yank your arm out of socket, or if very unfortunate, you could break your wrist if you do not have a firm grip on the wheel when you hit some of these ruts.  This combined with the play in the steering wheel leaves a lot to pay attention to: potholes, ruts, rocks, thorns, glass, animals, nails, people, dust clouds, matatus, other crazy drivers, all along while having someone who does not speak the same first language trying to give you directions.  Quite the physical and mental workout.  

Since taking the road from Narok to Narosura we have not made the journey without getting a flat tire or worse...  Tires aren't too bad though, changing one is just as much hassle in the states (just a little dustier here).  Our jack is a little rusty and gets hung now and then but no real problem.  We have two spares, and getting a tire patched here is actually quite a bit cheaper than in the states (often under $5) large plus on the Kenyan side!  You have to find an honest mechanic, again the same as in the states, and haggle for a price, but it only takes about 15 minutes (another plus).  

The other day, however, on our way back from Narok getting groceries, I encountered something a bit more challenging.  As I approached one of the many bumps in the road I went to slow down and the brake pedal went to the floor with no resistance.  "Hmm..." Thinks I, "No brakes".  The next bump comes and goes and Audrey comments, "Hit that one a little fast didn't you?"  Still trying to decide what to say and if my brakes are completely gone, I decide to let her in to my secret, "I don't think the brakes are working too well".  She shoots me a worried look, but I assure her it will be okay, we'll just drive slower. So we do, and this is where one of the big advantages to a manual vehicle lies, the downshift.  If ever you are in a situation where you don't want to or can brake, the downshift can slow you down in a jiffy. So that's what we do, drive at a slower pace, downshifting, down the dirt rutted road with no brakes or power steering.  I did not let the rest of our riders into my secret until we arrived in town at the mechanic and I left to find some more brake fluid (nonsense to worry the locals).  The mechanic did not have the part that broke so we simply tied that brake line off and decided it would work okay with the other three, once we added some more brake fluid.  So now we await our missing part being brought in from a bigger town.  When we arrived back home we found we had a slow leaking tire as well.  Makes for a long day and an exciting story, but God's sovereignty and protection were with us at every turn and bump in the road, much like life.  Amen.

Farm to Table

I consider myself a decent cook.  I have had to cook for myself for a while now, having worked a few jobs in food prep and food services and having lived on my own, and I still continued to cook quite a bit the last couple of years when Audrey has been working hard at school.  She always cooks when she can and helps out in whatever way is asked. She just has been busy the last couple years, so we have shared in the cooking.  I would also consider myself a decent backpacking chef, although I may not make fresh biscuits and sausage, or pork chops while on the trail, I have never gone to bed hungry, and usually come up with quite the assortment of concoctions to feed and please my taste buds.

However, cooking in Kenya has proven a bit more challenging, so I thought I would theorize some of the reasons why that is and walk you through our typical meals in the bush.  The factors are (as I believe): availability, storage, planning, and equipment.  Let's start by combining planning and availability.  In America, one typically writes out their menu for the week, goes to the store, picks up the items, checks out, and goes home.  Sometimes people will comparison shop or go to a second store, but rarely does anyone spend more than a couple hours in their grocery shopping unless they just enjoy it (like my father, he lives in the grocery store).  But if you are like Audrey (who hates it) you plan out your list, wait for the perfect time (when no one is at the store) and then you speed through like the Indy 500 (unfortunately for her this means going back at least once more in the week because something was overlooked or forgotten).

But in Kenya, in the bush, you plan.  The closest "store" is made of mud and is about twenty minutes away and sells (on most days, if they happen to have in stock) local produce (tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cabbage), flour, rice, maybe eggs, sugar, and tea.  So this is helpful if you happen to run short of something, or are cooking a soley flour and rice diet.  The next closest store is close to an hour away (down a very bumpy, rutted road, and driving through a few waist deep streams).  In this town, Narosura, you can find wash buckets, cookware, soap, butter, eggs, bread, clothing, phones and a variety of other things.  There is even a local market on Wednesday, however, sadly enough, no samosas (my favorite Kenyan food, sort of like a ground beef triangle egg roll with spices and onion).  However, if you are really low on stuff the closest actual grocery store is 2.5 hours away in a town named Narok, down a road that I have not yet driven without getting a flat, or worse (but that is for another post).  Here you can find some meat (butchered and canned corn beef), pasta, pasta sauce (although not Ragu), other sauces such as soy and Worchestershire, oatmeal, muesli (not as good as the granola), samosas, large jugs of water, a variety of fruit such as apples and tangerines, juice, and chocolate.  Alas, if you need those harder to find items such as granola, dried fruit, Ragu, a wider variety of canned and smoked meat, and other supplies you go to Nairobi 4.5 hours away (we've held off on this one).  

We have been trying to plan our shopping excursions at least a week and a half a part, which means lots of planning, and using every bit of our supply before we get more.  This means making a menu, diagrams are drawn, routes are planned, schedules are set, spreadsheets are made (my friend Tim would appreciate this), and money is acquired (you have to carry enough for all you groceries, and any possible repairs your car may need along the way, and there's not always a good place to acquire money, so this too takes planning.)  Now that we have discovered the closer small store we may be visiting it weekly for fresher veggies and making meals of things we can find more readily.  This also means stockpiling. I bought three times the amount of pasta and sauce that we had last time in case we got in a tough spot. We like pasta, a lot (right now that is)...  

Another big factor in cooking and shopping is storage.  There are some things that last forever like pasta and rice and flour.  However, within four days bread is molded and the potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and peppers are withering and wilting fast.  With our nomadic lifestyle, we have not yet acquired a fridge or a way to cool things. This means no real milk or cheese for Audrey, no meat for me besides canned or smoked (which is a big deal since my foodgroups back home were cow, pig, and chicken).  So far we have found some "salami" in Nairobi and canned corned beef in Narok (2.5 hours away).  We do usually have eggs though, so I am thankful for that.  Also, surprisingly, if eggs are never refrigerated, they can last without being refrigerated for a long time.  You can't do many things left over, that we have figured out yet, since most food doesn't last more than a day at room temperature.  So we usually only cook one big hot prepared meal a day for lunch. That way if there is something small left, we can try to eat it at dinner and we don't go to bed on a full stomach, which I hear is unhealthy and would probably make us the only fat Kenyans. 

Although a lot of the items in stores may be similar to what is in the states, there is a fair bit that is not there too, and without refridgeration this cuts it down more.  Think about planning your menu without using anything out of the fridge. How many meals a day could you make? If it were me in the states, maybe one.  Another reason a lot of my meals from back home are ruled out is because we have no oven.  Cooking on a gas top burner (ours is literally a propane tank with a burner coming out of the top, and a metal ring that sits on top of the propane tank that a pot can sit on) is harder than I thought. It requires patience, a steady hand to inch the gas down to a setting where the flame does not blow out, or not so high that you charcoal your food.  It seems that most time the gas top has three settings: off, hot, and hades.  So suffice it to say, we have burned a lot of meals starting off, and had a hard time cooking things that take time and patience such as rice and beans (a staple here) well.  Although in time we have learned to inch down the burner, use lots of oil, and add water as necessary.  Also, because I used to be such an instant chef back home (not much do I make from scratch, mainly because as my old boss used to say (ain't no one got time for that).  I do like fresh from scratch food, but I what I like better is food that tastes almost from scratch that takes half the time and effort. It is also hard to cook some of these things without the instructions on the back of a package I am so used to reading and then ignoring back home.  

This all being said I have enjoyed relearning to cook, and to make new things here, and none of this is meant as a complaint, just an exaggerated explanation of what our cooking entails in Kenya.  Our current menu consist of (for our "cold" or quick meals of breakfast and dinner): egg sandwiches, eggy toast (nicknamed almost French toast), toast, jam sandwich, tomato and butter sandwich, salami sandwich, granola (when we can find salami and granola), oatmeal (hopefully with dried fruit when we can find some), apple sauce, guacamole, and eggy flour (close to crepes).  For lunch, our hot prepared meal, we have hashbrowns, and an egg, potato, tomato concoction I made up, rice, lentils, onion and peppers, rice, onion, garlic, tomato, and potato, corned beef, cabbage, and potato (recipe still in progress), and flatbread garlic chipates.  Over the last three weeks our cooking has greatly improved, and thanks to friends sending us some new ideas we have some new recipes in the works.  Although we are still always trying to find more variety as we find new recipes and ingredients (with these conditions aforementioned in mind).  So if you have any ideas, good recipes, or can think of something we are overlooking, shoot us an email.  We would love to hear from you, or to bounce ideas around with you!  Thank you so much!