I have been officially initiated into Nairobi traffic life.  On Friday I was in a car accident.  I am praising God that the boys were not with me at the time.  A big school bus hit the side of my vehicle, impacting the door behind the driver seat - the place that our oldest boy, Petr sits.  The impact caused the window to shatter and glass covered both of the boys car seats.  Upon impact, the car started to spin in the opposite direction of traffic…but I was able to correct it and safely pull over.  You can imagine my relief when I realized that the car had been hit where my two precious boys are usually sitting.  I was perfectly fine, a little shaken up, but fine.  Then I noticed that the bus driver was approaching me with another guy, the bus monitor, saying the accident was my fault.  I clearly stated it wasn’t and that HE hit me.  However, it was two against one.  I started to get nervous I was going to be the one blamed. Not sure of how everything is handled here in Africa, I pictured myself being hauled to the police station.  I quickly called Paul but could’t get through because he was in a leadership conference.  Thankfully, I was able to contact someone who sent word out to missionaries nearby who could come and be with me.  Waldo, who just happens to be our mentor (along with his wife), showed up on his motorcycle moments before the police man walked up to the car.  His motorcycle enabled him to get through the heavy traffic and come to my rescue.  I was relieved to have a man present.  Waldo has been here for many years and knows how the law works in Africa. Paul arrived shortly after with his motorcycle (the only way to get to the scene of an accident quickly - I am very thankful for those motorcycles!).

I was not hauled to the police station that day.  The evidence was clear.  God showed me favor as the police man looked at the sight of the accident. The positioning of the broken glass in the lane, along with the point of contact, proved it was the bus driver’s fault.  Then the policeman told us to wait for another police man to come and take our statements.  He left before the other policeman came.  I was pleased to find that the next policeman agreed with the first.  The bus driver was hoping to make a deal with us instead of reporting the accident to the insurance companies.  We informed him that we had to go through insurance.  He went on to talk about how he was going to be fired and would be unable to feed his children.  It was a hard situation for us.  We knew that he was most likely going to be fired and it would be difficult to find another business that would employ him as a driver.  I told him that if the damage to the car was only cosmetic, we would be fine with driving a bad looking car.  But you can’t drive a car with a broken window and a door that won’t open or close.  It was hard to walk away from the man as he realized that there was no other way.  I continue to pray for him.  There are times in life when it is hard to see why a situation is the way it is.  I can only trust in the Lord and lean on His understanding.  I am glad I serve a God that is in control of every situation, One who knows best, has a plan and a purpose for it all.  I know that I learned things that day.

The entire incident was over in about an hour and a half.  I drove the car, nervously to say the least, to Paul’s work as he followed with his motorcycle.  We were greeted by guys who work with Paul.  They cleaned the glass and patched up the window with duck tape (got to love that stuff!).  We got home and hugged our sweet boys who were graciously sparred!

Oh, and the next day I had to drive through the same traffic circle…this time the boys were in the car.  I thank God for His protection!!!

We went through what seems to be a rite of passage for missionaries here in Nairobi.  I have been at a conference all week, so Cammy was on the way to the hangar to pick up some packages that had just cleared customs.  At the one big roundabout near the hangar she was hit by a school bus. Thankfully she is well, and the boys were at home finishing their nap and were not in the car.  The accident threw glass all over the boys’ seat in the car. The damage was almost completely limited to a single door, so hopefully we will be able to replace that without too much hassle.

Cammy did not enjoy dealing with the bus driver and his assistant who were trying to convince her she was at fault.  Waldo Goosen, a 20+ year missionary fluent in Swahili, was able to meet her quickly from the hangar, and I was also able to arrive not much later, thanks to having a motorcycle. (That may be a whole different post, I have never, ever, seen traffic like what I had to go though to get there.)

We continued on to that hangar, picked up the packages and got lots of help cleaning out the glass from the car.  I do not think it has been that clean since we have owned it.  The AIM Air mechanics even got some great plastic to cover the window and some aviation duct tape to get it on there.

On Monday we will begin the fun process of going to the insurance company and the police station.  I think that should be a really interesting experience.  God has been so good in this so we trust we will see Him with us on Monday as well.

I took a trip quite a while ago to Uganda and I finally got around to posting the pictures.  Sorry it took so long.

Unfortunately I did not have my camera out at all the best times like when we were 3 men on a motorcycle (which did not seem odd at the time).  I also did not get any pictures in Kampala, but it is a very neat city, especially if you are not in a hurry.  The whole downtown is so impacted with motorcycle and minivan share taxis.

Most of the pictures are of the house I stayed in near Entebbe and the AIM Air office there.

It was my birthday, and I had bought myself a Dr. Pepper.  They are only 79 Kenyan Shillings per can! (Ski resort prices…)  Cammy made pizza, but we are still searching for the right kind of cheese.  This stuff didn’t grate or melt… yet it almost tastes like cheese.  Go figure.

I went to Lokichogio this week to help out a little at the AIM Air base there.  They had a couple of computer issues that I wanted to look into as well as understand how their operation works.  I had done a similar thing in Entebbe a few weeks back (I still need to post the pictures from that trip).  Unfortunately, the pictures were all taken with my phone, which does not have a very nice camera.  But at least it is better than nothing.

I got to ride up in the jump seat on the DC3.  I call it the flying rivet machine.  It is just about a 2 hour flight and we landed in scattered showers. I had been told that Loki was hot and dry, but my visit left me with the wrong impression.  Everything was soaking wet when we landed, and the river was rushing.  I have been told most of the time it is dry.  They said it had been a particularly wet year and everything was so green and there were bugs everywhere.  I even got to play with some kids catching katydids and grasshoppers.  I even managed to catch a butterfly with my hands, but that was a mistake because then all the boys wanted one.

Thursday was declared a national holiday in Kenya to honor Obama’s victory in the US presidental election.  So I decided to take a walk through the town.  The local people are the Turkana, and every male seemed to be carrying a stick and a ekicholong (a stool/headrest).  All the elder men were sitting in circles discussing things.  Later in the day when we drove through town, almost no one was around.  I think because of the heat, they do business in the mornings and late afternoons.

On the flight home we landed in Kitale and then headed back to Nairobi. I was able to get a great view of our home and Kibera from the left side of the DC3.

I was kind of late posting Cammy’s post about Petr’s bike because I had to upload the photo and we had some “issues” with internet for a while (in addition to the normal internet issues).

Anyway, in the mean time we got a bike for Andrej.  He and I rode around the neighborhood on our bikes.  He was having a lot of fun, and I am braking in the engine.  Everyone benefitted

Here is a picture of Petr on his new bike!  The bike was given to us by another missionary family.  Petr is very glad to have a bike since we left his in America.  He is riding on the streets of our estate.  Andrej is waiting for a bike of his own, asking for one every day.  We know that the Lord will provide one in due time.

The Gamboa Family

We were able to visit with a family, the Gamboas, from our home town!  They are close friends with Paul’s sister, Bonnie, and her husband, Bob.  We have had the privilege of getting to know them in past years.  The Gamboa family stopped in Nairobi on their way to Sudan, visiting another missionary family we know.  Currently, the Gamboas are living in Switzerland. We were very glad to be able to spend some quality time with them.  Paul and I were encouraged as they shared about their last year and a half in another country.  We laughed about some of the cultural differences, shared some of our struggles, and spoke about lessons learned through the grace of God.  Our visit lasted until 1:00AM!  There was something very comforting about being with people who are familiar to us, people who remind us of home.  I will cherish our visit for a long time.

And they gave us one of the best gifts possible, Swiss chocolate!  Yum!

Today was Kenyatta Day, a national holiday in Kenya, honoring the first president. Paul had the day off of work so we visited Morning Star Children’s Home. We delivered some letters that were mailed to us from Calvary Chapel of El Cajon, our home church in America. Our boys decided to write cards for each of the children that didn’t get a letter from America so no one felt left out. Petr and Andrej decorated the cards with bright colored stars and had me write, ‘Jesus loves you’ on them. We also brought some tennis balls to give as presents for the children to play with. They were so excited to get their personal letters from the kids in America and cards from our boys. The children walked around holding them for the rest of the day. I noticed that the four kids who received letters from America were passing them around, proud that they had a special friend in America who loves them. We also came with a special gift of money from Gabriel Serban, one of Petr’s best friends in America. Gabriel is the son of Jenny Serban, one of my best friends from high school. When Gabriel heard that we were moving to Africa and going to be spending time with the children at Morning Star Children’s Home, he went to his room and found money that he had been saving. He handed the money to his mom saying, “This is for the children in Africa.” The money turned out to be $1.10 in coins. Gabriel gave all that he had. And it was more than enough. Today we handed the money over to the Matron of the home. She was deeply touched by a five year old boy’s heart to give. We had Petr hand the money over for the symbolism of a giving child. I will never forget how precious the moment was – a child giving to children in need. Thank you so much Gabriel! You touched hearts today!!!!

Andrej takes a swing at the piñata

On Saturday we attended a birthday party for Andrej’s friend, Jonas. Petr and Andrej were very excited to be going to a party. Andrej picked out some toys for his friend from the local Nakumatt (kind of similar to Walmart). He chose a motorcycle, those of you who know Andrej will not be surprised by this choice. He also picked out a monster truck and some tennis balls (I wrote this just in case you were wondering what you can buy for a gift here in Kenya – I would be curious). The party was at Uhuru Garden, located near Wilson airport, which is Paul’s place of work. Because the airport was so close, planes were passing directly over our heads at low altitudes. This was perfect entertainment for a boy’s four year old birthday party. Also, there was a piñata! Who could ask for more? Well, some kids did. They were kids who were not invited to the party. Soon after the celebration started, we were joined by a group of kids who looked homeless. They were eying the hot dogs on the barbeque. As you could imagine, the hostesses of the party were a bit uncomfortable. No one had the heart to tell them to go away. After making sure that all of the guests received their share of the food, the hostesses gave the rest to the kids. As one might expect, the kids stayed through the entire birthday party. They waited for the left over cake – huddled close so they wouldn’t be forgotten. The group rushed in for candy when the pinata broke – a bit of a problem because there wasn’t enough candy for all of them, and for the ones who were invited. The kids kept asking me for water, but I had none to give . It was a difficult thing to deal with in the midst of a celebration. However, that is life here in Africa. There are so many who don’t have….and there are many who do. I asked where the kids stayed and they told me they came from the Kibera slum. This is the slum that is very close to our house. I watched in amazement as the kids distributed the food they received evenly amongst themselves. They modeled sharing and it touched our hearts deeply. I believe the most beautiful thing in African culture is the sense of Community. These kids were family, even if they weren’t blood related. They looked out for each other. We should all do the same – even if it means one less hot dog.