Rafting the Nile

Well it has been an eventful last few weeks here in Africa. I was invited last minuet to go rafting with a group out in Uganda. I found out I was going on Monday, and had to be back in the city by Tuesday to catch the bus. We all headed out early Wednesday and took the 10 hour bus ride to Jinja, Uganda. I was not sure what to expect, other than what my friend Clayton was telling me (terrifying me). Clayton has rafted the Nile something like 18 times, so he gets cheap entertainment from terrifying those who have never been. I have rafted before, but never have I been dodging class six rapids. We stayed at this place called "nile river explorers." What a fantastic place. The man that started it is from South Africa and has been running the place for over 14 years. The staff there was also great. We spent a week there, so got to know some of them well. There was Josh from New Zealand, Jessie from Australia, Jack from South Africa, Adam from Scotland....ect..just people from all over the globe that has a passion for kayaking. So, they decided that they would just move out there and live it everyday. They were a blast! Rafting takes all day, so we woke up early Thursday morning and rafted the Nile. I have never has so much fun. My adrenaline was pumping faster than it has ever before, I was shaking before every rapid, and it did not help having Clayton trying to freak me out either. We flipped a few times, but non of the falls were too bad...well, non after Bujigali Falls.....we flipped on this class five and non of us came up for a good 5 or 6 sec.. now this sounds like nothing, but when you did not catch a breath on your way under and keep hitting the raft when you try to come up for air, it feels like eternity. I was pretty freaked out, but I was not going to let it stop me. So, we continued down the nile. We got done around 5:30 ish and they had this great barbecue waiting for us. We spent the rest of the week relaxing and doing absolutely nothing...it was fantastic. Uganda is such a beautiful place. Everything is so green and lush. There were these wonderful tea farms on the way in that stretched for miles and miles. It was a site watching the workers with their baskets picking the leaves, it was beautiful. It rained at some point everyday..which if you were in Kenya, you would understand why it was such a big deal. Our roofs were made out of tin, so i was rocked to sleep every night. We made our way back to Nairobi on Monday and this time the ride was a bit longer..12 ours or so, but still not bad. Most of us had been up all night hanging out, that we slept most of the way back. I am not in the city staying with a family here and headed out to Kamulu either Friday or Monday...we will see. I hope all is well back home and that Fall has started a new season full or love and energy in each of your lives. 

Catch up with writing

Learned to make chapatti

Got attacked by bugs

Bathed three times

Found more bugs

Tried to go to the Dr. because of the bugs

Cleaned my house

Washed and dried my clothes

Almost started a fire trying to dry my clothes

Slept all day

Watched “big momma Jack”

Hated “big momma jack”

Caught up on emails

Changed a diaper

Learned that they use toilet paper in Africa rather than wet-ones to change diapers

Drew the line at changing diapers 

Trimmed banana trees

Checked on the orchard

Learned all about drip water irrigation

Let the girls paint my nails

Hated my nails painted

Took the nail polish off

Braided my hair….again

Called Sarah

Finished a book

Started a new book

Walked at Windsor Country Club

Watched the Jetsons

Watched the news

Walked around Nairobi city

Ate some incredible Indian food

Played with children

Worked on the pre-school plans

Discussed security after yet another break-in

Looked into safari’s

Took pictures

Met some pretty cool YOUNG people

Got rest

Had quiet time

Going to bed

Love you all!!

Being in a place where I do not speak the language has really been an eye opener for me. I have been frustrated for the last week with people not understanding what I am saying. I hate repeating myself two or three times in order for someone to get me, I hate doing it even once. Yesterday morning Irene called me to tell me that there had been a break in teahouse and I needed to wake the other dorm mother and have her go get the girls that were down there working. I did as I was told and waited at the gate for her to come out. 3 min later I realized that she has no idea what I was talking about. I called Holley to ask if it would be ok for me to go and get the girls on my own, she advised me not to and Larry translated for me. Not only did I feel helpless, but I also felt like a complete idiot for not being able to convey the message. This got me to thinking about myself, and how I deal with communication. Well, what I came to realize it that words fail. Sometimes we can let all our feelings and emotions out on words and they simply fail. I have realized how much this happens in my life. How my words fail me so many times. But I think the true concern is not about how they fail me, but how they fail those receiving the message. What kind of damage is MY inability to communicate causing those around me, even worse, those that I truly care about? A simple message of “I love you” or “I will miss you” can turn into “I regret knowing you and I am glad you are finally out of my life.” I realized that the problem is fear; fear of being made a fool or the fear being hurt. I have noticed that fear has held me back from saying so many things that I have wanted to say and instead of just keeping silent, the opposite words come out. I guess that is why God calls us to be silent a lot. It allows us to think through our emotions before speaking them out loud, before completely ripping apart the ones we love due to our own inability to be honest about the way we feel, let fear go, and be raw before them. He asks us to find Him in the silence because it allows us to hear His voice, to spend intimate time with Him. So why is it that we find no time to question our own emotions? To take the time and let ourselves get to know…well ourselves..by asking questions and being truly honest with our emotions. This is probably one of those blogs that speaks truth into what I am writing because my words are probably failing me now. I am not good with being raw and open before a lot of people.. but I think God is working on me…or at least I hope He is. I hope my communication skills will improve so that I can be sure and honest about things when I say them and not have to apologize later..after all the damage has been done. 

Summary

Got sick
Spend the weekend in Nairobi
Went to “easy church”
Played with babies at the inner city center
Had a Mountain Dew
Bought cereal
Drank real milk
Called some friends
Failed at calling friends
Almost threw my computer for not allowing me to call friends
Got sick
Taught class
Laughed really hard I almost fell off the toilet when I read the label on the toilet paper- wrapper.. it completely lies, it really feels like sandpaper
Thought of a really funny line in a Joe purdy song about the toilet and almost fell again.
Played with babies
Found rat poop all over my house
Got sick
Listened to Lightning 100’s top 20
Got home sick
Ate chocolate to help with the homesickness
Realized I still hate chocolate
Craved satco.
Thought about just coming home, calling britt and having her meet me at satco
Danced with the girls
Watched Kenyan tv all night
Realized I really need to learn Swahili
Irene and I practiced dancing in front of the mirror ..failed
Taught class
Took my kids on a walk
Cleaned my house
Found dead rats while cleaning
Laughed out loud while reading Caroline’s notes for the third time
Had quiet time
Called Britt
And now I am ready for bed.. Sorry its short but its all I can do for now. I will update later. LOVE!

I AM in silence

I am back in Nairobi at the house of the wonderful Conway family. I have been a bit sick this weekend, so Holley took me in and has been taking care of me. She doesn't even know what her crown looks like in Heaven...but it is pretty big and pretty beautiful. Today we went to "easy church" which is a church held at the private christain school that Micah Conway attends. THe sermon was all about silence and finding God in that silence. So, this blog is about what He spoke to me in church.
For those of you who have not heard, I am having a bit of a rough time here in Kenya. I am home sick and struggling with the job have been assigned at work. But the biggest struggle that I am facing is hearing about everything going on back at school. God is moving in a big way..everything I have been praying for in the last two years. I have been struggling with Him on why He took me out, just time for Him to show up. Well, today at church I got my answer. As the preacher was talking about silence and really listening to what God is saying in that silence.
So as I was running back through all these questions, God began to heal the pain and answering those questions. He began to talk to me about how He has been around the whole time. That He is here in Africa.. Alive and active.. just as He is back home. He showed me that He is not (in my situation) in the wind or in the fire, but rather, in the gentle whisper that can only be heard in the silence. The speaker started talking about Elijah, which fit right in.
1Kings 19: 11 "The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 "
All along I have felt as though I am missing out, but I was only missing out because I was not willing to find God in all ways. He has shown me the fire and the wind, and now wants me to focus on the silence. It takes a certain dicipline to be in this place, dicipline for me. I love to talk and witness the miracles and wonders. But it is time for me move on to from the "milk"and to the "solid" foods.To see another side of His character. I now understand intimacy, when He doesn't have to shout at me or flag me down in order for me to understand or hear. But rather, to simply be silent and listen. He is in that silence and will respond. That is how simple He is, how gently and kindly he treats His children. One does not need to see fire fall from the sky to experience the whole being of our Father (although it is really nice and not mention pretty awesome). So, here is where I am at. Hearing and listening in the silence to see where He wants me next. Maybe it is home, maybe it is staying in Africa, but either way I find joy and comfort knowing that He is here, He is the silence, and He is in control. I hope that you sit for a while today and enjoy the gentle and soothing whisper of our God.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23t6z_jason-upton-in-the-silence-live_music

...

Well Linda left today so that officially makes me the only American out here in Kamulu. I am not going to lie, it has been a hard day. After five days of no hot water and bucket showers, the electric guy finally came to fix it... as he was walking in my door, the power shut off!!!! So, he could not fix my shower because he did not know what the problem was. I just had to laugh it off. I am getting one of the girls to braid my hair tomorrow night so that on days when I cannot wash my hairs I will not feel completely filthy. Reality started setting in a little more today. I got to spend time with some of the girls and hear their stories. One of the girls was sexually abused so much as a child that now she has bladder problems. The doctors say that it is physiological which means that something that happens during the day terries her so much and brings back suck horrific feelings that she literally wets herself. There are more stories like that, but I will leave it at that. Yesterday Jackton took us into town and we went shopping at the Maasai market. We had to find our way back to Kamulu which is about a 45 min ride from Nairobi. Well, when we got to the "station" we caught the right bus to take us straight there, but little did we know that we had to wait till the bus was completely full!! We were the first in a 45 passenger "bus". We ended up waiting there for an hour with no windows open, the exhaust from the bus blowing in, and the smell of 40 Africans who were definitely not wearing deodorant. TIA!!! After 2 1/2 hours and about 5 calls from Jackton checking on us, we finally made it back to Kamulu... it sure was an adventure. My good friend Caroline wrote me some sweet letters before I left and they have really gotten me through this week. It is funny how God puts words in other people's mouths so that they will speak them to you and one can literally hear His message to you. Anyway, this one letter starts off with a quote from william McGill, 

" The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him." 

This really got me thinking because for the last week I feel as thought I have prayed God's ears off. There are so many questions, doubts, fears, and definitely concerns. But through it all I have learned to not only spend time in prayer, but also silence. In time where God can respond, heal, and comfort, and He has definitely covered all the bases. Well, I better head off to boil my water for a shower...once again. I will never complain about bad water pressure..ever! Be blessed by Him today! 

One Week In Africa

It has been a full week here in Kenya and I am more homesick than I have ever been. It has, however, been great. I spent the weekend with an american family that lives in the city right next to the U.S. embassy. They are great people and such a blessing. Sunday afternoon we took a long walk at one of the private golf courses in town. This place was beautiful! It look liked something one would have seen when the British first lived in Kenya, very " Out of Africa". there were monkeys all over the trail and we got to see one of the prettiest and most breath taking sunsets I have ever seen.  Church Sunday was interesting, not to mention long. They worship for a good hour and a half before the sermon even begins. But they do love to dance and sing, so it makes it interesting, not to mention entertaining. We spent the day today in Eastleigh with the street kids. That was also a great experience. I got to worship with the teen mothers and then play with the little ones. After work we ate at this great Ethiopian restaurant. In there we met a man who turned out to be a professor at yale. He is of Kenyan origin, but had studied at Oxford and then Yale. He was a smart man! It was interesting though because we were in this tiny tiny room which someone decided would make a good place for a restaurant. It probably only for ten people, at most. But man, the food was amazing! I had a huge wake-up call on the ride back out to the camp. I was sitting in the van and felt the release of all my senses working overtime. When one is in Eastleigh every part of your body is working overtime and one is always alert that once you reach a place where you feel a little safe, you can truly feel the difference... it is exhausting! Honestly, it makes me really thankful for home and does not help with the homesickness. Well my hot water heater broke on sat so I have to go boil my water for my shower..everyone reading this better go and take the longest shower of their lives and be extremely grateful for it!! Till later..LOVE 

It has been an easy week here in Kenya. VBS finished up on Friday, so next week we will get to work. While Linda has been here she has started a Friday night devo for the girls, so I got to sit in on it last night and get an idea of what they are like, for I will be taking over them once she leaves. Not having electricity half the week has not been too bad. The only time it is a struggle is when its cloudy and gets dark at around four, and the electricity doesn’t come on till six thirty. To be completely honest, I am a bit homesick and am not sure if I will make it the whole four months, but we shall see. I think I will be distracted a little more once my classes get going. People take their down time here pretty seriously. Saturdays is a free day for the students and man do they mean down time. Usually I can hear the girls at around six A.M. during the week, but I didn’t hear a sound till around ten this morning. I got a chance to walk around the grounds today and just kind of get a feel for the area. The way the place is set up is that the girl dorms and where I live, the study center, and the teahouse are pretty close to the main highway. About half a mile( or less I am not good at estimating distances) is the boys dormitories where some of the staff also live. So, they are not too far away. Then there is the twenty acres plot of land where the skilled students also study. That is about a mile and a half, if not two,from the girls place. Not many of the students go out there unless they are skilled students and have class out there. To them, walking a mile is like spending three days with no water in the Sahara desert. Not big fans of exercise. So I got a good feel of where everything is and what students are suppose to be where and when. Irene is the girls head resident. She is in her mid twenties and has been working for MITS for a few years, very sweet girl and very beautiful. So I will be helping her out with the girls a lot… it is one of my duties. Last night she invited me to go watch a show at her place, so I got a good taste of what really bad tv is all about. If you think American daytime television is bad, you would be in for a rude awakening. Better yet, you know how all Americans make fun of Spanish soaps.. well here their soaps, or as they like to call it, “great tv” are Spanish soaps dubbed over in English. So one has the terrible acting, unbearable drama, people talking really fast, and mouths moving ten times faster than the words are coming out of the speakers. Just not a good combination for anyone involved… but they appear to enjoy it, so that is all that matters I suppose. Tomorrow is church and after that we are going to stay the night in the city with the Conway's.. this American couple that lives here. I am pretty excited because I need something to cure this homesickness. Anyway I think that is all for now. I will update more after this weekend. God bless!

 

update

Well VBS is going well. We finally got my computer to work so all is good thus far. Philip and I sat down today and worked out a schedule for me. I will be teaching English, Advanced English, bible, science, and advanced science. I will also be working inner city on Mondays, which I may have mentioned before. Things are going well so far. I am still having trouble adjusting my sleep schedule and the rooster outside my window doesn't help. I have gotten to know some of the kids a little better but am still struggling with some of the names. I hope it will all come to me. My roommate leaves on Wednesday, so that will leave me being the only American here for a while...Kinda freaking out about that one. I got to hang out with Eliza yesterday. She was in the program last time I was here and is now married, with a son, and works for MITS. She has this adorable little boy who I got to spend all day with at VBS. I think that is all the updates for now. Sorry that my writing is bit choppy but it is 4 am and I am trying to hurry before my electricity cuts off. I love you all and ask that you continue to keep me in your prayers. 

Sara

Well, after 18 hours flying I finally made it to Kenya. All of my connecting flights were late so I had no time between flights. I was off one plane and directly onto the next. Luckily, due to my lack of sleep these last few days, I was able to sleep through all but an hour of the trip. I landed in Kenya around 6 pm (11 am Nashville time) but did not leave the baggage claim till 9! It was a mad Easter egg hunt. They don’t have assigned belts per airline, so all the bags were together, some from flights that had come in hours before mine. There were at least 900 people in this room looking for bags that were jut thrown all over the place. It literally took me three hours to find my two bags and they were on opposite ends of the baggage claim room. But, I will not complain because luckily both my bags got in. Joel picked me up from the airport along with six of my new students and we spend the next hour in the car teaching me how to speak Swahili. They are determined that I have it down by next week. By the time we reached the MITS complex I am ready for a shower and bed. Well, I come to find out that Nairobi is on an electric hold. Which means that we only get electricity three days a week. Monday/wed/fri are our off days and we do not have power those three days. Not a big deal except that I have to teach a class in candlelight..not very efficient. I can do with only showering every-other day, but I have 15 students and only three candles. So, this will be a challenge. Other than that things are great. I had good company on all three of my flights and made it here safely! Thank you for keeping me in your prayers and please continue to do so.

My day today began with a pot bath. We didn’t have electricity when we woke, so we boiled water and showered with it…oh how it brought me back to my childhood. This week is a little different due to VBS so I will not be teaching this week, which will be nice to transition in. I am doing crafts with Kennedy and Vasa as well as leading singing with Joel… Jackton thought that would be funny seeing as I cant sing. I will be doing inner city work with street kids on Mondays with Anthony and Kennedy, which I am very excited about. I will be handling the creativity stations for the primary education students (just what I love!) So I will be going into the city at least once a week. Well I better get to work. Hope all are blessed!

Thursday:

We have a MAJOR rat problem..more to come about that later. Moses fixes my computer..he is wonderful!