We await the opportunity to work from our own computer so we can upload some more photos. In the meantime there are some at www.flickr.com/photos/laurzy.
We leave Perth in 24 hours and travel for 20 hours to Heathrow, then a bus ride to Camrbidge.... and reunite with Marty and Annika. We are truly blessed.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Brownhill Connection
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Sunday, March 8, 2009
Visual Turkana
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Here is a wee taste of Turkana visially.
We are now in Perth with Jen, Caleb and Thomas awaiting Bubs #2. We spent the first 5 days here at the beach getting over jet lag while Ron battled a bug he picked up the day we left Kenya.
We are missing our team in Kenya very much but lovng the enfolding of the Brownhills and the YWAm group.
We are also enjoying a good internet connection on the base!!!
Our accomodation is in a house about 5 blocks from the YWAM campus with 2 couples who are doing a crossroads DTS. They are leaving for Papau New Guinea in a couple of weeks time. They have had an amzing expereince here in Perth and are looking ahead with great anticipation. Hopefully we can stay in touch with them and hear about their outreach.
Keep watch for some baby news! JEN IS READY!
ENDING A CHAPTER
‘There is nothing like a good book’ ….however….. experiencing the ‘real thing’ is definitely richer.
When Ron and I married some 35 + years ago, we did not fully recognize our mutual love for adventure…. As that spirit grew over the years, it fortunately grew in both of us …..so here we are living some amazing adventures.
Beyond the sights and sounds of a new place there is a pulse …. a heartbeat. Becoming truly involved in the lives of locals in Kenya has brought us to the emotional heartbeat of this place. It has been an amazing blessing.
But back to good books – we read an ‘out of print’ book while we were here called My Kenya Days. We enjoyed it not for its literary brilliance but for its ability to engage us in Turkana back in the 1960s. It gave us a way to connect many things to the realities we experienced there in 2008/2009!
Still speaking of books, we purchased a Safari Guide to East African Wildlife after being on Masai Mara and were thus introduced to an amazing photographer - Jonathan Scott. The book we bought is not his best photographically speaking, but if any of you who like photography can find one of his books in the library – be sure to check it out! He has a web site which is worth finding and his wife, Angela, is also an excellent photographer.
Back to ending a chapter - a good chapter … it makes you want to go the next…. but that one of course is not yet written in the physical realm….. although God knows it well. We do not know if we will return to Kenya again but we are surely willing!
So, how to describe the chapter which has just closed? It was surely full of surprises, challenges, new sites, rough roads, hard paces, and some pretty uncomfortable beds. There were those poisonous spiders in our hotel room, a few unidentifiable meals and other inconveniences. But these are not the things we will remember. That which is clear in our minds eye is all amazing:
· Travelling to what initially felt like the end of the earth and finding there neediness ….but also perseverance, commitment, adaptability, determination, faith, and sharing.
· Wonders of creation including the most beautiful sunrises imaginable
· Opportunities to serve, connect with, mentor and work alongside some of Kenya’s finest individuals.
· The challenge to the heart and mind when there are far more needs than possibilities and to move forward without becoming discouraged
· Adapting to travelling with armed security escorts when our basic leaning is to not get close up and personal with guns of any kind!
· The privilege of sitting under an acacia tree with the Turkana women listening to them chatting and sharing womanly things without using words.
· Dancing with the locals and hearing their laughter (at us!)
· Listening to the people sing in their own language a song which declares –‘we don’t now the future but we know that God will guide us’.
· The inward ‘embarrassment’ of watching tiny women who eat only one small meal a day pick up a 50 kg sack and walk off with it on their heads when I cannot even lift it off the ground without help.
· Witnessing the Turkana people who sit and wait patiently for food for many hours in the blazing sun and blowing sand.
· Being humbled to be given Turkana names – Akal (Lauris) – meaning Place of Rest and Ewoi (Ron) (aye whoi) meaning Acacia Tree. This is an act of love and acceptance and we were indeed honored.
· The generosity of people who have little….. sharing their possessions in blessing to others, including ourselves.
· The blessing of being loved and respected while simultaneously agonizing over farewells to colleagues who will be forever in our hearts.
In the midst of one chapter now closed…. there is also anticipation of the next and the next and the next. God is good – He holds the future – He makes us willing. His grace is sufficient. He supplies our needs. Praise be to God and thank You for a great chapter!!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
TIME OUT
This blog is on hold until at least March 2009.
I have made a personal decision to commuincate only by email for now.
Hope to hear from you! Lauris
I have made a personal decision to commuincate only by email for now.
Hope to hear from you! Lauris
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Life Kenyan Style
Ordering from a Menu – the list may be long but, like travel in other parts of the majority world, only a few items might be available on any given day and the very tastiest item of the day may not be listed. So (Sa sa) it is best to ask for a recommendation and dialogue a little before you place an order. We have enjoyed some particularly tasty chicken stews. It is customary to eat with your hand – I must confess I still prefer a spoon or fork. This leads me to hand washing.
Hand Washing – In many restaurants and in private homes you are offered the opportunity to wash up … a jug of water and some soap or perhaps sliced lemon or lime appear and a basin held beneath your hands while the water is poured for your wash up. I like it! There is such a sweet attitude of servant hood that goes with this. After the meal, the same courtesy is offered.
Drinking chai – I have grown fond of drinking chai here – a thermos (usually very large) containing steaming hot milk arrives at the table along with tea bags and instant coffee. I stick to the tea. The Kenyan sugar is lovely and chai is usually consumed sweet. I may have to take this habit home with me! Sometimes the chai comes premade in the thermos … it is a real treat.
Greetings – Kenyans are very friendly people and there is plenty of time to shake hands and greet each other. I particularly love to offer my hand to the little ones who shake it and say ‘mzuri’ meaning fine. We were in church on Sunday and a very small boy (maybe 18 months old) came up to Ron to be held…. Very sweet. Some of the children are rather terrified by our white skin. Some cannot wait to get their fingers in our grey hair!
Time – there is North American time for some things, Kenyan time which is less definite and Swahili time which is totally different …. It keeps things interesting!
Courtesies – Kenyans ask about your well being and your family regularly and genuinely want to hear from you. Mothers are given a special place and to be introduced to an adult person’s mother is special. We have met some lovely mothers.
Age – I cannot do well guessing peoples age here - life is hard for many and a person of 50 might look so much older to me. I will not guess! Many women have their first child in their teens. The carry heavy bags on their heads, a baby on their back and other items in their hands. I cannot.
Driving – Drive on the left, right, or best side … drive beside the road or off on a track through the sand, through river beds ….. and in Turkana you will average about 35 Km/hour. We pray before we set out and give thanks when we arrive….. it is an adventure for sure!
Post Comments - sorry we have been unable to read your post comments but we will as soon as we have a good enough connection! We have posted a few photos on flickr if you care to look. Again not all have captions due to internet limits. But we HAVE internet!! Yeah!
Hand Washing – In many restaurants and in private homes you are offered the opportunity to wash up … a jug of water and some soap or perhaps sliced lemon or lime appear and a basin held beneath your hands while the water is poured for your wash up. I like it! There is such a sweet attitude of servant hood that goes with this. After the meal, the same courtesy is offered.
Drinking chai – I have grown fond of drinking chai here – a thermos (usually very large) containing steaming hot milk arrives at the table along with tea bags and instant coffee. I stick to the tea. The Kenyan sugar is lovely and chai is usually consumed sweet. I may have to take this habit home with me! Sometimes the chai comes premade in the thermos … it is a real treat.
Greetings – Kenyans are very friendly people and there is plenty of time to shake hands and greet each other. I particularly love to offer my hand to the little ones who shake it and say ‘mzuri’ meaning fine. We were in church on Sunday and a very small boy (maybe 18 months old) came up to Ron to be held…. Very sweet. Some of the children are rather terrified by our white skin. Some cannot wait to get their fingers in our grey hair!
Time – there is North American time for some things, Kenyan time which is less definite and Swahili time which is totally different …. It keeps things interesting!
Courtesies – Kenyans ask about your well being and your family regularly and genuinely want to hear from you. Mothers are given a special place and to be introduced to an adult person’s mother is special. We have met some lovely mothers.
Age – I cannot do well guessing peoples age here - life is hard for many and a person of 50 might look so much older to me. I will not guess! Many women have their first child in their teens. The carry heavy bags on their heads, a baby on their back and other items in their hands. I cannot.
Driving – Drive on the left, right, or best side … drive beside the road or off on a track through the sand, through river beds ….. and in Turkana you will average about 35 Km/hour. We pray before we set out and give thanks when we arrive….. it is an adventure for sure!
Post Comments - sorry we have been unable to read your post comments but we will as soon as we have a good enough connection! We have posted a few photos on flickr if you care to look. Again not all have captions due to internet limits. But we HAVE internet!! Yeah!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
DODGE BALL
One of the few PE activities I was reasonably good at a young girl was dodge ball. If you don’t know the game, half the class stood in a circle throwing a large ball at other half of the class who were inside the circle trying to ‘dodge’ the ball. It was not rocket science to excel at the game but it was an achievement for me none the less.
I thought of that game as we were discussing prioritizing the tasks before us. Just as in doing business at home in Canada there are urgent tasks, important tasks, busy work tasks and curve balls ( I was never good at dodging those ones). We want to give our best to the relief work we came to help manage. We want to be wise in the use of our time. We want to invest in encouraging and mentoring the wonderful promising bright lights of Kenya – well at least a few of them.
Kenyans are a fascinating people and I have great fun trying to adapt my North American accent to be clearly understood. Many Kenyans speak at least 2 languages – often 3 and sometimes additional local dialects on top of that. I am not particularly good at picking up languages. I have to concentrate on my English pronunciation, realizing how I often run one word into the next and drop endings!! I am improving. I try to use a little Swahili.
I love how Kenyans take time to warmly greet each other – looking at you with an big smile and recalling the last time you met. I love the custom of stopping in somewhere just to greet a person you have previously met. I love how even very small children will come to shake your hand. I love being wished a ‘safe journey’ and ending a conversation with ‘sawa sawa’ which loosely translated is something like ‘OK’ or ‘it is all good’.
I love buying vegetables in the local market and often gladly pay the first price I am given because it is an OK price in my eyes and it helps out the vendor. Sometimes we barter seriously; sometimes we barter and they pay a higher price because we want to…it is all part of living in another culture.
I love coming back to the house where we are stay in Eldoret and looking at the photos of the coast of Vancouver Island which we left on the walls here last year in December …. I love thinking about our family, friends, neighbors and church .. I love connecting with people here too and knowing that a part of us will always belong to Kenya!
I thought of that game as we were discussing prioritizing the tasks before us. Just as in doing business at home in Canada there are urgent tasks, important tasks, busy work tasks and curve balls ( I was never good at dodging those ones). We want to give our best to the relief work we came to help manage. We want to be wise in the use of our time. We want to invest in encouraging and mentoring the wonderful promising bright lights of Kenya – well at least a few of them.
Kenyans are a fascinating people and I have great fun trying to adapt my North American accent to be clearly understood. Many Kenyans speak at least 2 languages – often 3 and sometimes additional local dialects on top of that. I am not particularly good at picking up languages. I have to concentrate on my English pronunciation, realizing how I often run one word into the next and drop endings!! I am improving. I try to use a little Swahili.
I love how Kenyans take time to warmly greet each other – looking at you with an big smile and recalling the last time you met. I love the custom of stopping in somewhere just to greet a person you have previously met. I love how even very small children will come to shake your hand. I love being wished a ‘safe journey’ and ending a conversation with ‘sawa sawa’ which loosely translated is something like ‘OK’ or ‘it is all good’.
I love buying vegetables in the local market and often gladly pay the first price I am given because it is an OK price in my eyes and it helps out the vendor. Sometimes we barter seriously; sometimes we barter and they pay a higher price because we want to…it is all part of living in another culture.
I love coming back to the house where we are stay in Eldoret and looking at the photos of the coast of Vancouver Island which we left on the walls here last year in December …. I love thinking about our family, friends, neighbors and church .. I love connecting with people here too and knowing that a part of us will always belong to Kenya!
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