Homeward Bound!

You know you've been on the other side of the world when you've been totally disconnected from internet and cell-phone access. We're back in Nairobi and headed home in 5 1/2 hours. God has been at work in amazing ways . . . probably more in us than through us. Our workdays at the Methodist Bio-intensive Farm in Meru were amazing . . . we broke and hauled cement to clear the way for a new floor; we chiseled through a rock wall to make a window in a store room; we put up a new ceiling and siding as well. We saw how the church is teaching "bag" farming techniques for the growing of vegetables even where there is no ground for farming. The safari time was amazing as we observed how all of God's creatures live together in the open country. Although we've had an amazingly blessed time, we are all ready for home and the many blessings we hope we will never take for granted again. It is our prayer that our hearts have softened and our will to change the world has been strengthened . . . certainly our connections with one another will never be the same again. We'll continue to post as we are able to put our thoughts together about some specific things when we return. But for now, we are so thankful you have followed our blog and shared our trip and we can't wait to see you on Sunday, when we will worship together as we remember our brothers and sisters in the beautiful continent of Africa.

Showers of Blessings

We have enjoyed two nights of rain . . . more than the Kenyans have had in three years we are told! The people are rejoicing and we are glad, even though we are a little muddy from the work sites! The team asks that you send money because we would like to stay longer but are are not certain we could earn our keep!

We continued our work on the staff flats on Thursday, adding a 5 x 9 foot addition to the staff flat of one of the cooks and spreading concrete for the flooring of a new staff housing complex. We have learned many new skills . . . "slushing" concrete; using relcaimed lumber and innovative carpentry techniques; cutting, nailing and sawing with no power tools. Nothing goes to waste here!

The scripture for chapel this morning was Jeremiah 31 . . . "I will love you with an everlasting love . . . I will build you up again . . . I will make you dance and you will rejoice. . . You will be like a well-watered garden and I will turn your mourning into gladness." I love the words of Jeremiah because they remind us of God's care for us when we are in the "exile places" of our lives, but they take on new meaning when we hear them in the midst of persons whose lives are difficult every day. Surely God is here and these are faithful people who depend on these words of God for their daily encouragement. The pastor reminded us that the steadfast love of God is greater than our sin and surely that is true for those of us who take for granted our abundance. We were reminded to "remember the quarry we were drawn from" and to always acknowledge that the person we are serving in created in God's image. How very true we have found that to be as we have served with these beautiful people.

Daily life here is not easy and we are reminded everywhere of the daily burdens of simply living. Nevertheless, the people have warm smiles and are so very gracious in the ways they serve us.

Burning Bushes

Wednesday, October 14 . . . today was our day to lead the chapel service at the Hospital Chapel. Our assigned scripture was Exodus 3:1-7 . . . the story of the call of Moses, the burning bush and the acknowledgement of God's holy ground. We opened the service with Craig leading the congregation in singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", which was actually in their hymnal. Dale McCormick read the scripture and, after Dawne offered a few words about the scripture, team members shared their own "call" to the holy ground of Kenya. It was interesting to hear that several team members had felt called to Africa as missionaries as children. Perhaps our dreams are written on our hearts before we are born! Dawne had the privilege of making rounds with Rev. Alice, the UM Hospital Chaplain, which was a powerful and heartbreaking experience. We were able to pray over every patient . . . several children in a burn ward; those with HIV and other infectious diseases; those with wounds, diabetes, dehydration, malnutrition and diseases from contaminated water. Sometimes Dawne prayed in English, Rev. Alice prayed in Swahili . . . always the patients had grateful, sad eyes and seemed comforted by the promise of God's presence with them. Rev. Alice shared that she was previously a UM circuit pastor in Kenya and recently completed a chaplaincy residency, where she finds here ministry very rewarding. The team finished the first staff house project and moved on to another house where they are building a room addition to extend the kitchen. We had lunch with the hospital administration, who repeatedly expressed their thanks to us for our presence and our support. They reminded us of the many ministries of the 81 year old hospital complex: 300 beds; specialties in Ob-gyn, palliative care, a surgical suite, occupational and physical therapy, ENT, community healthcare, a kitchen garden project to encourage the growth of vegetables, and support groups for a variety of addictions. The holistic ministry of the hospital also includes the Giving Hope program for orhpans, a school support program and the guardian support group for AIDS orphans. The hospital sees over 2000 AIDS patients each month and, as a result, in the eight years the hospital has been treating AIDS, it has become a chronic illness rather than a life-taking disease. Surely God is glorified in this loving ministry. More tomorrow as we continue to be at work with and in prayer for our new brothers and sisters.

Balloons and Beautiful Smiles

We began our day today with the daily chapel at Maua Methodist Hospital. They begin every day with a chapel service for all employees and today's message was the story of God's faithfulness to Hagar and Ishmael when they were banished from Abraham . . . we were reminded that the Kenyans are the descendants of Ishmael and that God is still faithful to them as God was faithful to Hagar and Ishmael. . . God always provides and God never abandons!What an inspiring messge! We started our workday by making balloon animals (ala Dale McCormick) for the children in the chidlren's ward. They were precious, had beautiful smiles and loved the comic relief of our animal making. Even more humorous was our practice session with the balloons the night before. Many of the children were sick from contaminated water and dehydration. After our time in the children's ward, we returned to our painting of the staff houses. We almost completed the house today . . . will return tomorrow for some minor touch up and clean up and then . . . who knows what we will be doing! We have more paint on us than we left in the house, but we are certain God will redeem our eforts! We have responsibility for the chapel service tomorrow, so be praying for us!

Glorious Sunday Worship and Monday Hospital

'The hunger for God can only be satisfied by a love that is face to face, person to person. It is only in the eyes of another that we can find the Icon of Christ. We must make the other person aware we love him. If we do, he will know that God loves him. He will never hunger again.' Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Catholic social activist.

We had wonderful Sunday worship at the Maua Methodist Church . . . we attended the Swahili service . . . about 2 hours of music, song and scripture. We delivered the pictures from our Club Mad and the children loved them. They made recriprocal pictures and we will be bringing them back to our Club Mad Children when we return. After church we hiked up to a local waterfall surrounded by fields of tea and strolled through the busy market full of people enjoying their Sunday afternoon. When we returned we opened our notes from our AUMC Youth and were so pleased with their prayers for us. The children and adults were beautiful, spirit filled and so very friendly and gracious.

We began our Monday morning with daily chapel at the Maua Methodist Hospital, where we learned that the hospital was built first in the late 1800s and the church grew out of the chapel that was held there on a regular basis . . . what a wonderful testimony to evangelism through service a la Methodist Church. The pastor reminded us of God's calling to Abraham to 'wake up from your comfort zone and go, trusting that God is always ahead of us in the calling. He encouraged us to walk by faith and be ready to be used by the Lord. What an appropriate message!

On our hospital tour we learned that there are 1700 AIDS orphans supported directly by a United Methodist Advance program and over 4000 in a weekly feeding program. We learned of a wonderful empowerment ministry through ZOE Ministries that works with over 1000 households with children who are victims of the AIDS epidemic. The purpose of this ministry is to empower the children/youth to become self-sufficient through providing basic food security; education about HIV/AIDS; micro-financing loans that encourage the development of community businesses and legal intervention on behalf of AIDS orphans to ensure their retention of their family land. We toured the hospital, saw a new-born baby, and witnessed the arrival of a woman brutally attacked. We spent the remainder of the day unloading the surgical supplies we brought with us, preparing a staff house for painting this week and sent 3 persons to see the results of the ZOE ministry project. All in all, we are very blessed, thankful that God called us to this place and exhausted by the day. \please continue your prayers and we'll be in touch again tomorrow. God's greatest blessings to you!

We made it!

All ten of us arrived safely in Nairobi yesterday evening . . . missing only one suitcase. We rested comfortably at the Methodist Guest House, are packed and ready for breakfast and then our six-hour drive to Maua, where we will be lodging at the Maua Basin Hotel and working at the Maua Methodist Hospital. . . more on that on Monday. We went to bed with the new experience of mosquito netting and we awoke to the sound of birds singing outside our windows. What could be better than that. Our drivers were very friendly and helpful, especially as we exchanged money, etc at the airport. Please keep up the prayers. We're so thankful to be representing our loving God and you on this trip. More as we have access to the computer! May you be as blessed as we are today!

God Beyond our Planning

Our bags are packed and we look forward to the beginning of our trip TOMORROW! What have we forgotten? Oh my, surely we have neglected some important piece of our journey. Thank God that God's grace is triumphant beyond our planning! We go with the confidence of the prophet Isaiah, who heard God say "I am about to do a new thing . . . I will not forget you . . . I hold you in the palm of my hand." We go trusting that we are Holy Spirit led and heeding the wisdom of the author of Colossians: "Whatever you do, put your whole selves into it" certain that God will be faithful as we witness to the resurrected Christ in our midst.

We are saddened that our colleague, Richard McCarthy, will be unable to travel with us due to illness, but we will hold Richard in our prayers and are confident that God is at work in all things.

Thank you for your continued prayer support for our team, our church, and our world, all of which, of course, ultimately belong to God.

2 Days and Counting

Isaiah 61:1 says "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. . . to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that God might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall reaise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations."

We are so grateful for all your prayers for our journey to Kenya. We go into this far-away part of the world certain that God is leading us there. We go knowing that Kenya has suffered much in recent years and praying that the pain so many people have suffered is like labor pains producing a new nation, free from ethnic hatred and violence. We pray that Isaiah's God (and ours) will again bring beauty from ashes, the oil of joy of rnourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heavniness and will raise, repair and rebuild the destroyed land, homes and lives.

Please pray for our flights on Thursday, October 8 . . . KLM flight #670 to Amsterdam and KLM #565 from Amsterdam, arriving in Nairobi on 10/9.

"Everything that is done in the world is done by hope." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The following is from yeterday's e-mail from Jerri and Bill Savuto, UM Missionaries in the area where we will work in Kenya, who are currently on sabbatical in the US. It is a reminder to me of our calling to the "least of these" and my thanksgiving for our United Methodist understanding of salvation of life and spirit.

"He who waits on God never waits too long." Chuck Wagner

"We have heard that the Mboone River, the river that provides water for Maua, is dry. The hospital has its two wells and is sharing water with the community but the drought continues with the lack of water and food and the horrors of starvation. Please continue to pray. Maua Methodist Hospital is suffering. Over 50% of our patients cannot pay their bill (and you remember that the average 7-day bill is $180). The hospital is unable to pay the staff until late in the month which is a great burden for them. Drug orders are made but not shipped until the cash is in the distributor's hands. The hospital saves thousands of lives each year. It is so important to keep the hospital going. If you are willing to send money to pay the hospital bill of a child whose parents have no money, please go to the bottom of the blog for the information.

As the Quality Improvement Officer for Maua Methodist Hospital, I (Bill Savuto) try to go through our Out-patient/ER departments every 4-6 weeks. Though I receive better treatment than most despite my pleas to treat me as they treat others, it gives me a good idea of what is happening for the average patient/client. The last time I went through the system in late July, I wrote a poem (of sorts) about what I saw. I thought I would share it with you:

And They Wait

They come every day in large numbers.
The poor, poorer and poorest.
Barefoot, with painful feet or well worn flip flops, very old, often rapaired.
They come dressed in used clothing, frayed and torn slacks and jackets,
Not bought that way, but from years of wear and tear.
They come with coins or dirty shilling notes wrapped in their kanga or pinned inside their shirt or pocket.
They come late after selling their gods or food in the market.
They come limping, cut, coughing, with high fevers and body wracking chills.
They come bleeding, with burns, and missing limbs.
They come awake and in a coma.
They come with malaria and tetanus, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, high blook pressure, and asthma.
They come from road traffic accidents, diarrhea, vomiting and night sweats.
They come carried by friends and family, walking on their own, in a matatu or the bed of a truck.
Some come alone, with family, and some with so much famil. And most come to wait.

They wait to rgister and be weighed in the covered porch area.
They wait to pay their fee to see the doctor or clinician.
Sometimes the line is short and sometimes it is very long but they will wait.

Then they wait to see the doctor or clinician, depending on what they paid.
They finally see a clinician/doctor and s/he orders laboratory work and so they wait to pay for the lab.
Sometimes the line is short and sometimes it is very long but they will wait.

They wait to have their lab specimen taken and they wait for the results.
So many malaria tests to be taken they will wait and wait and wait for the results.
Then wthy wait to see their clinician again.

The clinician may need an x-ray and so they will wait to pay their fee for the x-ray.
Sometimes the line is short and sometimes it is very long but they will wait.

There is only one x-ray technician and many clients so they will wait again.
After the x-ray is taken they will wait to take the results to their clinician for the third time.
The clinician will now order medication.
They will wait to pay for the medication.
Sometimes the line is sort and sometimes it is very long but they will wait.

After paying they will wait in a long queue to receive their medication.
All that waiting!
All that time!
The poor they wait.

We fuss because they do not keep time,
And if they did would they wait?
The loud, pushy men or the quiet old woman?
They have walked and walked and walked to come.
They will walk and walk and walk to return home.
But for now they wait.
Most wait patiently, quietly, but some wait loudly and with anger in their voice.
But all wait!

They come - the old, the babies and children, the unconscious, the slashed and cut, they dying and the dead.

They come for drugs, suturing and tests.
They come from pain I couldn't bare a moment.
They just keep coming.

The mothers desperate with their babies dying in their arms, their overwhelming fear overflowing to the others.
No money in hand but the baby is dying and so is admited.
The hosband wasn't home when the mother left oto rach the hospital in time.
Her husband will be angry, the baby is a girl.
Too much money to waste.
He won't come to the hospital and he won't pay any money.
He will beat his wife when finally she and their daughter are released from the hospital.

The children burned with hot liquid or falling into the fire are brought
Sobbing and screaming or too tired and weak to cry.
The days, weeks, months of treatment, surgery and pain.
The weeping goes on and one or ends when the father decides enough has been paid and the child is taken home to die.

But today they come with malnutrition and starvation.
They have measles and TB due to no immunity.
They are so tiny I cannot see them in their layers of wrapping.
Or their body swilling from Protein Malnutrition is so great
I think they are healthy until the legs and arms are unwrapped
And I see the oozing sores and he misery on their face.

They come, they all come!
They come for hope, help, health and life.
Winners all; losers none.
Life or death; health or sickness.

We help them, we pray.
Hope is offered but not always accepted.

They come
Go
Live
Die
But all wait and wait
And wait!
The poor always wait!

Packing

As part of our mission, we will be working at the Maua Methodist Hospital in Meru, Kenya. The hospital was founded in 1928 by Methodist missionaries and serves over 100,000 out-patients and 12,000 in-patients annually and is the only full-service hospital in the area. Our pics show us packing hospital supplies that we will take with us to donate to the hospital. . . . You'll hear more about the hospital while we're at work. Thank you for your daily prayers for our team. church

Kenya Here we Come!

On October 8, our 11 member team from Acton UMC will leave to be in mission in Maua, Kenya. We go, in the name and spirit of Jesus, to offer grace and hope at the Maua Methodist Hospital and the Methodist Bio-Intensive Farm. We go with many doubts about our effectiveness to change the world; we go uncertain about what we will accomplish in our western sense of accomplishment; but most of all we go with certainty that we have been called by God and in that we place our trust. We hope to communuicate with you on a regular basis about our experiences in Kenya. We covet your prayers for our journey . . . asking that you pray specifically that God will be at work through us in a hurting world and that God will be at work in us in our growth as faithful disciples of Jesus. So that you can pray specifically for us by name, our team members are: Karen Isliker, Candy Cane, Marie Blakeney, Dawne McAlpin, Doug and Sheryl Crumrine, Tom and ReAnn McHaney, Crain Inman, Dale McCormick and Richard McCarthy. Thank you for sharing our journey with us . . . we appreciate your prayers and your comments.

"Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man, woman or child whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will he or she gain anything by it? Will it restore him or her to a control over his or her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (freedom) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." ---Mahatma Gandhi