3 Days till Take Off

Blessings Received and Blessings to Give

Kenyans are not shy about offering words of blessing and I have been the recipient of abundant blessings in the name of Christ these past weeks. Two nights ago, lit by the amber glow of a campfire, utterly exhausted and just thinking about bed, my thoughts were interrupted by a suggestion from a wise and humble mzee (elder), “I don't know how many of you know this, but Jim is leaving Kenya in just a week's time. He has been such a blessing to us and I suggest we take this time to bless him before heading home.” One by one they went around the fire offering words of encouragement and speaking blessings over my life. How humbling. How Christlike. I came to serve them and they are blessing me. They 'washed my feet' with their words.

This wasn't the only blessing I received either. Last Sunday, I visited my friend John's house in Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum in all of Kenya, possibly the largest slum in all of East Africa, over 1,000,000 people living in temporary, corrugated metal homes. John and his family had me over for dinner. This wasn't the first time either, actually the third. Their humble home did not mean humble portions of food. I ate till I could eat not a bite more and Rose, John's wife sent me with 5 extra chapatis! John offers this same royal treatment to anyone visiting Kenya, to show them 'the slums' as he calls it. He will not only share with you an experience in 'the slums' but he will also share with you his God given vision for 'the slums,' to extend the arm of the churches in Kibera through a resource center he runs. In the words of Paul, He welcomed me as if he was welcoming Christ himself.

One of the blessings prayed over me were the words God gave to Abraham, “I will bless you and make you a blessing to others.” I pray this will be so through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mt. Kenya

I have posted a detailed photo album on Facebook. You can find it by going to my profile and clicking albums. If you are not my Facebook friend it is high time we became friends. Mt. Kenya is an experience I look back on with bewilderment as to how in the world am I so blessed. By the few pictures I am posting on the blog you can get a taste of the beauty that I was a part of for 5 days. We, our group composed of 2 Kenyans, 2 South Africans, 3 Americans, and 2 Canadians (I am Canadian in this count to make it more impressive) were blessed with 5 days of perfect weather. That meant sun during the days making views of the summit possible while approaching from below and an indescribable expanse of stars at night. I suffered from some acute mountain sickness at about 14,000 ft. that settled after being administered Diamox. Mountain climbing is the perfect environment to get to know people well and we were a group made up of different amazing people who were all a joy to get to know.

Tanari Newsletter

Here is the most recent Tanari Newsletter. To see the page full size simply click on it and then you will be able to read it. The newsletter gives you information about what we have been up to the first few months of this year. I have had a part, in various ways, in all the events that are written about. I was also responsible for the layout, production and a few articles. My friend and co-worker Grace edited it. Hope fully it is informative. I promise one more post before I come home in a few weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I believe whole-heartedly that without them, these 6 months would have been in vain.

Here and Now

Prompted again by Doey... here is another post. She is the fuel that drives this truck.

I am often shocked when I think I only have two and a half months remaining. I am excited to go home and see family, of course, but I also want to live in the moment and appreciate what God has for me here and now. Two nights ago I read a quote from William Blake, that's truth was very potent. It reads...

He who binds himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses a joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity's sun rise.

I don't understand all of it, but I want to live in the moment and kiss joys as they fly by.

We have just pasted a major milestone in my time with Tanari. Last Saturday we had a graduation ceremony for all of the adolescent ROPES graduates, which amounts to 800 students from all over the Nairobi area. The event went very well, praise the Lord, with the governor spokesman as the keynote speaker. Very prestigious. There is a lot of excitement for this program right now, so the challenge now is to see how we can build off of it. My specific role was to produce a short documentary that chronicled the camps, which went over very well. I also acted as the official event photographer, even with my shoddy credentials, but my price was right.

With this out of the way the office has quieted down significantly and now my focus shifts to the ROYAL program that is currently hanging by a thread because of lack of enrollment. We have two candidates enrolled, and have a meeting tomorrow with parents who are interested. Unless we have greater enrollment we will have to cancel the program for this year and start again the following. I am also exploring possibilities to make the program more attractive for perspectives.

Personally, the Christmas season was amazing! Tom came and visited for two weeks after he was done studying London and we shared some awesome adventures. Just a few photos are posted here from our time but if you want to see them all I have an album up on facebook called "The Grand Adventures of Jim and Tom." We went on a safari together, watched Prison Break, had Ethiopian meals with my neighbors, made chapatis, rode the motorbike, and made plans for future adventures. It was hard to see him go on the 27th but the Lord has been very near. I thank Him so much for all He has blessed me with, and His daily guidance. I have just started listening to a book on iTunes, recommended by Mom called, "Walking with God." As usual God's timing is impeccable and the book ties seamlessly with questions that have been heavy on my heart.

Thank you for your prayers and please write me. I would love to know how you are doing. This doesn't need to be one sided. Until Doey prompts me again to keep up with my blog, Jim.