A Man Had A Ruler, Amen

Quick Note:
Dear Dave-
Precious!
Love Michael


Here we are again! Tammi is well, I feel great! A little homesick, but great nonetheless.

I haven't really journalled too much in the past week, but we have been working on the newsletter, and this is a little something I wrote but decided it was more blogworthy:

Almost one month ago we left the United States to become a part of the House of Hope Community. To say Tammi and I seamlessly integrated ourselves would be a lie. First off, we are white, and large, and don’t know a word of Swahili (although we are working on this!). Secondly, we are from the United States and have become accustomed to certain creature comforts that our air conditioned homes, personal automobiles and level roads usually afford us. Am I complaining? Most definetly not! We have been brought warmly into this community despite our differences and were fed, housed and kept warm, not only by the grace of God, but by the Basigwas---all forty five of them, as well as their family and friends.
Despite the warm reception of our new family, we find ourselves homesick at times. This is normal, I know, but we do miss all of you and carry you with us through our everyday lives. Not a day passes where we don’t say to one another “So-and-so would have loved this” or “So-and-so would love this food”, it’s inevitable. Something else has happened, that I thought would never happen: we miss Houston. I have been fighting my love/ hate relationship with Houston my entire adult life. Just before our departure Tammi and I discussed how Houston makes it so hard for people to love it, by systematically removing everything that makes it worth living there (i.e. Astroworld, Cactus Records, and eventually the River Oaks Theater, the Alabama Bookstop, and dare I say, the Astrodome). But as we are driven through the bustling streets of Nairobi, down Kenyatta Boulevard or around the circle of Haile Selassie, I realize a certain chaotic charm that I could get used to. But I still long for my Westhiemer, Montrose, Alabama, and the southbound entrance onto to I-45 off of Allen Parkway at that certain time of day where the beauty of downtown will crush you and your automobile if the oncoming traffic doesn’t first.
I guess that is why we don’t go into the city too often: it is much easier to see beauty here at the House of Hope.

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Another reason my dad would love it here:

The kids are fans of JAG! JAG!?! What next Martial Law?

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And now Tammi's continuing omprehensive journal:

Friday 8/18/06

While I was in the shamba the day before I noticed that my throat kind of hurt, I thought it was because I was freakin thirsty but it was not, I was sick! So When I woke this morning I felt like crap, I had a fever and my throat was killing me. I took some advil and was off. We were planning on going into town so we just went to school until 10am and then we came to the house to meet Silas to go into town. We took one of the aunties with us and we thought it was so she could go on holiday but we later found out it was not holiday, she was fired. So that was weird for us, but Margaret explained everything later to us. So any ways back to our trip to town. We went back to the Africa walmart to get a passport photo taken so we could open up a bank account and both Margaret and Silas both thought it would take hours for them to do but it only took 5 min. so Silas went to run some errands and we went and had lunch and use the internet. Silas came back before we were completely done with the internet and he wanted to take us to the bank, so off we were going deeper into the city to a bank that was big and kind scary, the deeper into the city the more intense it gets. So we get to the bank and Margaret has to sign some papers for us to be able to open an account, and she was not available. Silas just thought if the lady talked to Margaret, then that would work. Well that would be a no go in any country so Kenya was no exception. So we filled out all the paper work and got everything ready but that meant that we would have to come back the next day to complete the whole process. So Silas said he was going to take us yet again to another internet place and drop us off while he went to run errands and to get Margaret at work. So we went to a place that Michael and I would normally hang out at with no problems, a cinema with a bunch of other places in it. But the whole time Silas is telling us to stay close to him and to not leave the internet place. But come on you know us. We stayed for as long as we could and then we went to a restaurant and got a couple of cokes and talked. For the first time ever we felt a little out of place. They served us ok but they kind of treated us different and it felt like people were staring at us. But we quickly got over it and we talked and enjoyed our coke and when we were done we called Silas and he was on his way to pick us up. So we walked to meet Margaret and made our way home. Once home I went straight to bed and I started to take some antibiotics I had gotten from a dr. before we came. So I had a high fever and my whole body hurt and my throat felt like it was going to close completely up. So that meant we missed fellowship night but I could hear some of it as I would wake every now and then. They did it all in Swahili but I could feel it in my heart. Margaret prayed at the end and I could feel the Holy Spirit so strong, it was her voice but you could tell it was God speaking because my whole body could feel it. When she was done you could tell she was tired. I think I will tell her to do it all the time in Swahili because you can feel it more.

Sat. 8/19/06

I did not do much, stayed in bed all day. Michael went to the bank with Margaret to finish up the account and he came back with treats. KitKat bar and some coke, sprit and Mountain Dew! I felt so special. Michael also told me that Margaret picked up a new auntie for the children who looked like one of the children. I woke from a nap to have dinner in the living room and to be back around the children but I still did not feel any where near 100%. I met the new auntie and she did look young but she is 20 and you can tell she is a grown up in her face. Some of the children are still having a hard time seeing her as an adult, but it will come with time.
So, being physically ill and home sick makes for a sad Tammi. The kids could tell I was sick and Olivia told me that she was praying for me. I thought that was so sweet. She later asked if I was going to the hospital,
I said “I am not that bad I will get well soon”.

Sun. 8/20/06

Today was a little rough to say the least (could be because I was still not back to myself). We had some guest today, about 20-25 people from a church youth group that is in South Nairobi. The youth pastor gave an amazing sermon! Margaret had asked Michael 5 min. before we left for church if he could speak for 5 min. or so. Michael was overwhelmed but God told him what he needed to preach about. He addressed the children (who were already asleep by the time he spoke) but it was very good. We don’t think many could understand him any ways. So after church we got to help with the food and serving our guest. For the first time we felt like part of the family, it was very nice. Everyone let us jump right in and help. The guest were a little snobby to us (the whole HofH) but over all they were nice. After lunch, I went to go rest for a bit, we woke when they were all leaving. Good timing on our part. So we came back together with all the kids, you can tell when the kids have visitors, they all act a little bit crazier. They were all over us and all over the place. Margaret had to have a meeting with all of them in her room. They came back a little be calmer. We watched football and went to bed.
Oh I also got to talk with my mom and sister today! It was so good to hear their voice. I love them so much and miss them so much! I think about them all the time!

Mon. 8/21/06

Back to school, I still do not enjoy getting up on Mondays for school. So off we went, my teacher is on holiday again and Faith was back, so we tired our best but the kids over took us. I have good moments and really bad one all in the same day. I have learned to pick my battles I suppose, but it is hard. The kids I have noticed do something kind of strange when they are confronted with something. If one is hurting another or if they are acting out and you get on to them or just say something like “what can I do for you” or “ I am going to need you to work (Kazi) please” or “say you are sorry” They space out, not like the kind of space out that they miss behave more, the kind of space out that takes them to another place far away from where they are. I can’t fully explain it, I think it may have some thing to do with coming for a very traumatic background. So school was over for the day, thank God! Off to the house we went. We ate lunch and took a nap and we were ready to go again when they came back to the house from being outside. We went out side where they were still playing and getting ready for a fruit snack, we got some too. Oranges and mystery fruit (with think it may have been guava) when we asked the kids they said “I don’t know”. So the kids starting taking baths and we went for our walk, when we came home it was getting close to dinnertime. We ate with the children then we went to play some cards and such. I showed the older kids how to play battle. The first time we played it went rather quickly the second time, not so fast. It took forever and it was between Sarah and John Flex. It is funny how kids everywhere will grow sick of the game but can’t quit in the middle of it. So they played on and on until Sarah won! We had our tea and called it a night.

More side notes:
1) If you have not noticed the photos yet, be sure to check them out! All the kids are there, so if I talk about one, you can go to the photos and take a look see and put a face with the story!

2) They have roaches! And crickets (big black ones), Michael found one in the sink one morning and tried to flush but he was too strong, so I peed on him, I was scared he was going to jump up my butt, but I won that battle!

3) I stink all the time! And Michael thinks deodorant takes the place of showering (not much different from when we were in the states)

4) It feels like camping all the time and well I am not sure what I think about extended camping…

5) When ever you are talking to anyone in passing they think you are asking “How are you?” and they say “Fine”, so really you could be saying something really mean or really nice and you will get the response “Fine”

6) Everything we eat gives us gas……

7) The food is very good (except the greens), I find myself looking forward to it!

8) The boys really really like football!

9) We have been here 2 weeks and still no rain! It is the dry season we found out. It rains in Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. (so we got that to look forward to)

10) I tried to explain organ donation to Margaret and you could tell she thought that was way weird.

11) Margaret told us 450 people die every day of AIDS in Kenya alone. These are people that are being reported that live in the city, who knows what the real number is.


Tue. Wed. Thur. and Fri. 8/22-8/25

Well this is when it happens, I guess, I start not writing so much or at least not everyday. Our days are starting to get very routined I suppose. We get up, have breakfast, walk to school, 1030am we have tea time then back to school. Then home for lunch at 1230. Then a nap from 2-4ish and then tea and a walk until 5ish. Play time with the kids until dinner at 6ish then playtime or project time from 7-8 then prayers until 9ish. So that has been most of our days in a nutshell. All of this is not to say that beautiful things are not happening. They are, we laugh every day at someone being silly and I hold someone everyday that has gotten hurt.
For the last 3 nights we have been doing a project over the solar system with the older kids, we did not realize that all of them have never heard about other planets let alone the solar system. Most of them if not all had a hard time reading simple English and then putting the information into their own words. This might have been our biggest struggle. They could not understand that they could not just copy from the little books we had given them. Finally, I just let them copy, the battle was too hard to fight. So the first night (Wed.) they read their book and wrote something about it. Thursday night they made their planet out of art supplies, again they could not really image that they could make it however they wanted so in the end they all looked pretty much alike. So come Friday night they were ready to tell all their other brothers and sisters here at HofH about the solar system. It was long but good. You could tell they were nervous and excited to report back what they had been doing the last few nights in the kitchen. I was very proud of them all especially given the circumstances. It seemed like Margaret really enjoyed hearing them speak and read in front of everyone. So we told her that we hope to do other projects with all the different age groups. All ideas you might have are welcomed!

I think one of the things that I am struggling the most with is finding my place here. Michael can preach, he can teach and he is a male that is with the kids all the time. So I know what you are thinking, you can teach too Tammi, but I am not so sure. I am really quick to get frustrated with the kids and that makes for a really bad teacher. I don’t think I have been all that kind to them in the classroom. I have been quick to grab their hand when they don’t understand, I am quick to pick up the really little ones in the classroom when they are destroying other peoples work. I am well, not that good with them in the classroom. I am really scared about this. I mean some of the worst ones in class will then the moment we walk out the door want to hold my hand. So needless to say Margaret and us have been having talks about all this. I have agreed to be patient with them and my teachers (who still do not talk to me). She has also explained that the children could be having a hard time seeing me as a teacher. They see me as a visitor that they play with. She also said that the teachers could be having a hard time not seeing me as a threat. All in all I am leaning to just role with it and be bolder with my teacher when I am upset or if I think the children are not respecting me. I pray with time I will see my purpose here. This whole place is ran by really strong women and well they are doing an amazing job that it is hard to see how I could even compare.

Michael and I started working on an old Beth Moore bible study that I had brought. I think this is going to be really good for us, please pray that we will find the time to work on it and that the Holy Spirit is with us.

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Amen, Hallelujah, Amen.

Update 18/08/2006: The Big One

Everyone make this last you for a week or so because we are not sure when we will be back to post some more! Hope you enjoy, I know it is crazy long so take it a day at a time. Love you all!

Check our Flickr for new photos!

Michael's Journal Entries:

14/08/2006: Nurturing the Spirit...whatever.

I’m tired. We both are, I am sure of it. Each day we are met with new obstacles: new faces we haven’t saw yet despite living with them for a week now, a new language that seems to shift in our minds on a daily basis (there is a world of difference “chamba” and “shamba”, well, you use one to fertilize the other, so they are similar), and a job that, despite our shortcomings, God has felt the need to assign to us.
We are tired.
But there is something about these children. They come from practically nothing, but they are blessed, and they bless us, continually, everyday that we are here. They are precious, but definitely not little angels. They can be a handful. They scream and fight and make each other cry, but they also lift each other up and hold each other accountable. It’s amazing. Normally when children this age openly worship Christ, I tend to question if they fully understand what they are doing, but not these children. They have a faith that kings would trade their riches for.
It’s inspiring. It makes the late nights, early mornings, and long afternoons completely worth it. I cringe when I am labeled a “missionary”, because these children are the ones spreading the word of the Lord in everything that they do.

15/08/2006: The Night Time:

It gets hardest at night when the children have gone to bed and Tammi and I have retired to our room. There, my most vivid memories of home rush back to me. Some of Tammi and I’s happiest times were just laying in bed doing nothing or preparing t sleep.
These times are still nice and looked forward to, but they are different. There is no Fletch annoying us (how I miss those annoyances), no Doctor 90210 (despite my utter hatred for the show) instead of the Colbert Report, and no leisurely strolls to the kitchen for a late night snack (we do, however, have a cache of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Rolos, and Jolly Ranchers left over from Chicago O’Hare).
These are the times when the weight of what God has called us to do sets in and we feel our most discouraged. We must go day by day and realize that somedays will be harder than others and that the harder days may out number the easy days.
We must be okay with that and welcome it. We must. It’s a necessity.


Tammi's Daily Journal, or, The Big One:

Thursday 8/10/06

Today was hard but good! After we got gas for the van and made our way down the bumpiest road in Nairobi we got to the city. We were in traffic all the way there, and not like Houston traffic more like Mexico traffic. We went past the slums. It was weird and a little anti-climatic. I am not sure what I was expecting but it was not quite what I saw. It was off in the distance we were on a hill or something and it was in the valley. We got taken to a clinic to get medicine for malaria, however all we got was a mosquito net and some cream to rub on our bodies. We were not that concerned about malaria until we met a woman on the airplane that is from Nairobi that got malaria once, so she was sure to freak us out. However we feel fine and safe, so we may or may not use the net and the rub. Then we went to get our currency exchanged we went with $500 and walked away with 36,000 Kenyan Shillings (ksh) which sounds like a lot however gas today for the van was 1,500 ksh and it did not fill it up. The doctor was 3,500 ksh and our phone was 8,600 ksh so needless to say you can do the math and see that things still cost kind of a lot. It is weird to see traditional Africans talking on a cell phone, so everyone has one however at the cell phone counter we looked and acted like we had no idea what a cell phone was. Then we went to the Internet café, for the first time we felt at home.
So we came home to see all the girls washing cloths so I joined them, they had a good laugh and watched as I picked up the wet clothes and began to scrub them with my hands, then all was well and they knew I was ok. So we washed until it was all done, some other girls washed shoes and some boys polished the shoes. It was practical life for real not just models of it. The kids take baths in groups outside, I am not sure how all that works yet. I know that the older children play a large part in that. The boys and girls are really starting to like us. I have had a chance to put two babies to sleep in my lap, Heather you would be so proud. They crawl up in my lap and fell asleep. I LOVE IT! Michael has been singing and dancing with all they children, they love to teach us new stuff. Oh! the books that we brought are a huge hit!!! They love them. I have brought out all of the Dr. Seuss books and there is nothing more beautiful then to see small kids reading to each other. They treat the books with such care, you just look up and see groups of kids around a book all taking turns, how freakin' cool is that! I also showed the kids how to play “go fish” with the deck of cards (grand canyon cards) they can play cards all night long. We sit at night and talk with Margaret. She is so amazing, she always give us time with her. She seems to like us and we really like her. So it is feeling more and more like home every day. We know it will get hard when the newness wears off but for now it is really exciting. The kids are on holiday now, however they still go to school for half a day then play sports the next half of the day. So tomorrow we hope to take the parachute down to the school. We do not know all the children’s names yet, but we are getting it. Michael and I both said that every day we see another kid and swear that we did not see them the day before. We both look at each other and say, who is that and we both don’t know. We also were wondering how do they keep up with all the children and then we realized that they lock up the compound at a certain time and everyone is locked inside, so I guess that is how they keep up with all of them. Also we forgot to tell you that Moses is home, I think he is home for Margaret’s birthday either way he seems very nice. I am sure we will see and talk more to him. We found out that on Friday it is fellowship night here at House of Hope. All the workers and us all sit around and praise the Lord and talk and get a sermon. How cool is that, we have a small group!

Friday 8/11/06

Our first Friday at House of Hope and it was something. The kids are off all of August but God knows that they cannot run free all day long so they go to school ½ days all month long. It was different to say the least the teacher that will be the head of my class is on holiday so her assistant is named Faith and I assisted her in the classroom. She was very excited that I might be able to help her. She was very open to me working with the children. They seemed to be quite a hand full. There were 19 all together and half would work on writing and the other half would work with Montessori material. The class was not set up quite the right way but they make due. The kids are very bright but some material is not all there and you can tell the kids sense of order is all thrown off. I did well with the non-verbal communication, they seemed to understand well when I would just make hand signs and do the action I wanted them to use. We had teatime and then played outside, then back to work until lunchtime. Then we went home for lunch and played for a few minutes then back to school. Friday is board games for the old children and the younger ones play outside again. So that is where I was, Michael got to play board games all afternoon. The sun in Africa is hot but the air is nice. We played until most of the kids were tired and crying. Then home we went. Michael and I had tea (we have tea 3 times a day) and we made all kinds of jewelry out of yarn. The whole process is very overwhelming for Michael and I; it was funny and scary to hear 10 plus kids all saying “Tammi” all at the same time. I keep saying “one at a time”, but you know how that goes. So at the end of that whirlwind Michael and I went for a walk alone to regroup. It was nice to see the sun go down and just walk together. The kids were in the main playroom all playing well so we joined them. A boy (I don’t know his name yet) always wants me to read to him so as I was reading to him he put his face on my chest and begin to fall asleep, I could feel him breathing and my hear melted. He woke and quickly turned his body back around. Ken, (who looks two but is really seven) is very quiet most days and does not speak all that often, worked really close to me today. Later that night he was playing with another boy and they were chasing each other Ken would come and hide behind me, I guess I was a safe place. Michael and I just smiled because it meant Ken was not so shy any more.
Fellowship was something, it is from 9-10 and everyone seemed pretty tired but they are ready to worship the lord. We sing songs (mostly in Swahili) and then someone will preach. The only hard part was when everyone started to pray at once in Swahili, that was really something. I keep asking God to give me the gift of tongues but that was a no go. One day I will understand them. All in all it was nice and everyone was very warm to us.



Saturday 8/12/06

The kids did not have school today and we had not gotten a chance to show them the parachute so, you guessed it, we went to the playground and played with it. We quickly felt overtaken. They all wanted to rip it apart, to say the least. I think they were excited but still very anxious. I think they think everything and I mean everything is limited, we noticed this again when we were handing out paper and pencils to all of them. They want whatever they don’t have. I think I understand and it makes sense, you spend your whole life wanting something, i.e. food and clothes, so that when you get a chance to have something you want a ton of it because you think it will never be their again. So yeah, we did not play with the parachute to long because the young ones were getting hurt. So we went for a walk all along the property and that was nice. Near the end we played follow the leader and Michael was the leader. I have never seen Michael stretch himself so far, it is amazing. Anyways, he was the leader and all the kids were doing just like him, it was so freakin' cute. Even the ladies that were with us to keep up with the kids were laughing and doing what Michael was doing. So we came home and we played for a while until Margaret came home with 3 more kids. They were a brother and sisters to George, a boy that was already here. There mother was the woman who took poison to die but it did not work so she is slowly dying of AIDS. Margaret later told us that the mom tried to give the 3 kids the poison also but the oldest daughter named Leah was strong and told her other sister Beth and her brother James not to take it. So they are here and they seemed to be doing well. I think it helped that George was already here. I am pretty sure they are going to stay. Margaret said they are just here for the holiday and she will talk with the girls and the mom to see if they can stay. So after all that we went for our evening walk and we saw Margaret and her brother, Silas, out in the field near the school so we went and talked with them a bit. They are planning on putting up a soccer field with a track around it, so we are really excited about that. Olivia is from the tribe that wins all of the marathons and she wants to be a runner so she will use the track to train. I am excited about that; maybe I can train with her.

Sunday 8/13/06

Our first Church service at House of Hope! It was amazing, a few people from the community came and that is pretty special to all of us. They have a big vision for the Church at House of Hope. The people were all very excited and the singing was so amazing. I thought of Maegan at Basilica, because the man that did the drum was amazing. It was a circle drum that you wear around your neck and you play dancing around. So we sang the best we could and then at the end Margaret wanted us to speak. I did not say anything but Michael spoke and read from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and I think the group really respected him more because of it. I was very proud of him!
So after church we went into town. We went to a place that had American food and I got pizza and Michael got a hamburger. It was weird but good. We also got COKE, made with real sugar! The place we ate at had Internet access, so that is when we uploaded everything. Anyhow we looked around this huge store that was kind of like a Super Wal-Mart. It had tools and food and well everything you could need. So that was kind of weird. We also found out that our cell phone for some reason cannot text internationally (it now looks like we can’t text any T Mobile customers). We have not been able to fix it and it drove us crazy. We have also concluded that we can understand what everyone else is saying in English but for some reason that can not understand what we are saying (or they don’t want to) because when we went to the cell phone store they only wanted to talk to Margaret despite us saying “hey the phone is our not hers”, and then when we went back to the store without her they told us to call the help line or go to a service center. So needless to say we have no way to text. We can get it but not sent it.

Monday 8/14/06

Hmmm…. I think that today could have been better but for what is was it was good. My teacher came back from holiday and was not that warm to me. I am not sure what she thinks of me, but we will work on things. I wish the classroom were different, more prepared and less crazy. The kids have no sense of order and that is causing many problems. I am hopeful that it is because the kids should really be on holiday. I am thinking things may be different once September comes. So I will hold onto that. After school the kids were going to split up into groups and we decided to just take a nap, yes you heard me right, a nap. So we slept until 4 and woke up for tea and to play. We played and went for our walk and I talked to Heather on the phone, it was so nice to hear her voice, it doesn’t feel like I miss everyone until I talk with someone and it all floods back. I told Michael as I was crying that it feels like we are trapped between two worlds. However I felt better after we went for a walk after my talk with Heather. Then we went back to help with dinner, I peeled some eggs and swept up the floor and laughed with all the girls. We had a great dinner with rice, greens, beef, and eggs and bananas and avocado (they are huge and good!), so then it was time to play and say our prayers and go to bed. Michael and I, once alone, watched for the first time a show (the office to be exact) and it was really nice to lie in a hard bed that is a twin size bed and watch a good TV show!

Tuesday 8/15/06

We have been here a full week. Life is falling into place! We woke and went to school today with the children. Today Margaret’s brother introduced us to all the teachers and that helped with my classroom situation. So my teacher was much warmer to me today. I still do not care for the classroom dynamics but what can you do. You roll with it. So I worked with the Montessori material in the early morning and mid morning I helped some boys in reading. They were using workbooks, which I did not think were that great at teaching reading, but what can you do. When the teacher asked me to work with them, I just said, “well I have never had training with workbooks but I will see what I can do”. So I went and saw that I could use the movable alphabet and it was a huge success! The boys were all spelling words by the end. So when the teacher would look I would be using the books to then have the boys spell things out without looking at the books but rather sounding the words out. So I think tomorrow we will take a few new things down to the classrooms. Michael is teaching mathematics to his class (how weird does that sound) and he is very good. The kids at the end of the day are very excited about what he will be teaching the next day! His teacher seems to really like him and is working very closely with him. She gives them the lessons and then he uses the materials. We are noticing that the standards are not as high as the USA. I keep thinking that my class is suppose to be doing a lot more then it is and some of the kids I feel have the potential to do really amazing things but the material that is in the classroom is not allowing for that. So I will keep trying and maybe in like 5 years the classroom will be well. Sometimes I wish that Michael and I could have our own classroom but then we would not understand the students. So maybe when we can speak Swahili we will be better. However we are doing a lot of things at home. Michael was going over mathematics to some of his students at home and we were asking them questions and the older ones would answer but the younger ones were learning. This peer learning is amazing!!
We got to have dinner with the kids tonight. Most nights we eat really late with Margaret and we just go for our walk when the kids are eating and bathing. So we ate at dinner, it was good but weird. They all eat very quickly and they do not really speak so it is quite and cramped. They have 44 kids plus us so 46 people all in a 14 X 16 room (at most) and well you can imagine how full the space is. But either way it was nice to join them and eat at the same table. They say this blessing before every meal that we have only been able to get the first part until tonight we were able to get a little bit more. Once we understand it all I will pass it on to you. So Michael and I had to wait until almost dark to go for our walk but we did it and tonight we took the baseball and gloves with us. So just the two of us played a little catch out in the field it was very nice.
We took photos of all the kids today. We told Margaret that we would get a photo of all the kids and write down what size they are and if they were a boy or a girl. So we have 28 boys and 16 girls. She wanted to pass all the information on to Pam so they could get the kids more pants. So we took all the photos and we almost know all the names. Michael is better at it then me, but he is better at a lot of thing, I am the worst at names and I had a feeling that I would be no better here.

Random things I have wanted to write about:

1) They have a large staff of workers; with us included it is about a 2:1 ratio 2 kids forever 1 adult. However many workers work in the field and with the livestock and with the house or with the construction so it is not workers for the children. However needless to say they have a really nice size community here.

2) With 44 kids and 28 of them being boys it is hard to go a day without a laugh or two about some bodily function.

3) They have a washer (it is not hooked up yet but will be when the guest house is done) so here is hoping that we will not need to wash until then and if we do things like we did back home it is fully possible.

4) We have not gotten sick at all (keep praying) but no problems with jet lag or with diarrhea. God is keeping us well and strong (maybe a little tired, but our naps from 2- 4 are helping)

5) We don’t really care for boiled milk and water but that is what we get with a tea bag 3 times a day.

6) One of the boys named Ken is really cute and I said before looks 2 in his body but in his eyes and face really looks like he is 67 so we tease him a lot, don’t worry he does not understand us. Michael will ask him how retired life is like, and when Ken leaves the room Michael says, tell your wife we said “hi”. Michael looked at me today and said “ little known fact, Sarah (one of the older girls) is his forth daughter” I laughed so hard.

7) When we went to explore our future home that is still being build we saw a pile of poo and I don’t think a cow could climb back down stairs, so you can figure that one out.

8) We have to rebuild some bridges with the staff. We have some preconceived notions to combat with all the other teachers.

9) They drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side of the car.

10) We use to drink 64+ oz of water a day and really just sat on our butts, but here we drink about 16 oz and that includes our 3 cups of tea and we are much more active. How can they do it?

11) We are realizing that if you do something for one child you have to do it for them all. You can’t just buy one a gift, and you can’t just let one person have a piece of candy and so forth. We had a dream of one day taking a child or two back to the US with us but now, after we have fallen in love we can not imagine not being able to take them all. I was outside with the older girls and they were asking about going to America one day and how they would go to Pam’s house and how they would go to Linda’s house and so forth. I realized at that moment that it would be impossible to choose one of them to go with us. Being equal sucks some times.

12) I realize that when the newness of this whole journey wears out, that my journal entries will lessen.

13) We have continually said that this whole experience is like being in a movie. Well, we pinpointed which movie: Nacho Libre. Michael is brushing up on his wrestling moves to when the children a bus.

Wednesday 8/16/06
Highlight of the day: All the girls painting their nails and having most of the boys join in. When I think of the epitome of masculinity I think of a strong African man and tonight I saw the future strong African men putting on girls fingernail polish. I know one day they are going to think back and remember a white missionary woman who came and painted all their nails. When Margaret found out I thought she would be upset but she just laughed and laughed, so she was a good sport. Benjamin came to me and wanted his thumb pink and wanted polka-dots on his pinkie so I did that and then he came back to me and wanted me to put a letter “J” on his thumb and when I asked what for, why the letter “J” he said it was for Jesus! Gotta love Ben!
Also today at school we saw a Camel farm off in the distance, we asked Olivia if that was in fact Camel farm and she said “yes” and you can sometimes see antelope, Michael said “oh you mean African deer, no thanks”.
School was great, Michael played with the girls at break and they teased him a lot. I had a great meeting with my teacher and we added a few things to the classroom, it is not in the right spot but one thing at a time I suppose.
Carol: you may want to get some knitting recruiters to help, because Margaret loved your sweaters, we showed her the different sizes and she put in her order for 50 of them. 10 @ size 2 and 10 @ size 4 and 20 @ size 6 and 10 @ size 8. So anyone who likes to knit get with Carol and she will give you a pattern that she uses! The kids walked by and saw the sweaters and all wanted one also. So I know that sounds like a lot so get you tons of helpers!
I keep thinking that I am just giving you a run down of our days, and while I think you may enjoy it (oh I hope that you do) I also should talk about where we are spiritually.
Hmmm...this is where it gets hard. We are at a weird place. I think it is because we never have alone time (I hope to work on that soon). But we can see God moving, but it is hard to feel him sometimes, if that makes sense. We want to but yea it is a weird place. We know that we are here because of His well. We know that He is here working in a mighty way, but we are still getting to know Him in a new light. I also think some days are much harder then others, we are starting to get a little home sick every now and then. It comes in waves. One of us will be fine while the other is having a hard time. It is good that it is working that way; I think it is God’s way of letting us work things out with each other.

Thursday 8/17/06
We were humbled today. We worked in the garden with the kids, digging holes and filling up buckets with manure. It was hard stuff and the worse part was not the shoveling manure and having it get on our shoes but we were planting greens and we do not care that much for greens. So yeah the kids were quick to show us up. They are some super humans. They can dig and work for hours and play and stay up all night and still they get up much earlier then us. The best part of working in the hot Africa sun with the kids is that Ben pushed Lukas into a large pile of cow, there really is no other word for it, shit! No joke, everyone started to laugh and Lukas started to cry. Funny thing was Lukas was acting like a show off the whole time before the fall (he got schooled). Also, work in the “SHAMBA” is primarily work for the men, so when the older girls started trying to help the boys started screaming “No girls allowed”, but Michael quickly reminded them about most of them painting their nails the night before (most still had it on), and they begrudgingly allowed the girls to help. So the rest of the day was nice and we just sat around and enjoyed each other.
One of the most amazing things happened tonight, Leah one of the new girls that I am sure you have already read about, was off alone in a corner of the room and I could hear her out of the distance singing “Jesus loves me” and another praise songs that says “Jesus you are a winner”, and my heart melted. Here is this girl whose mother is dying at this very moment and tried to kill her whole family, and she is praising God not because she has to but because she believes it with her whole heart. I felt God tonight I just had to listen.

Another request: Margaret wants a church; we currently have church on Sunday in the preschool class. That is not the best place for many reasons, one is because it is a classroom so everything needs to be moved about and changed and on Monday morning everything needs to be back in place. It is also not enough space for everyone and Margaret also wants a place that can be treated like a hall. So the kids can have teatime in the hall and not in the preschool classroom (which stresses the crap out of me and the kids because the older kids all run into the classroom).

It keeps getting better...

Things are really beginning to click a the House of Hope. The newness of us is kinda wearing off to the kids and they are starting to act more normal around us which what we really wanted in the first place. Some of the older children (Olivia, Rose, Felista, John Felix, Benjamin, and Sarah) have really taken us under their wing in helping us learn Swahili (which means that laugh at us a lot if we say someting wrong).

We are extremely blessed with everything we are being provided. It really is much more than we could have ever expected. For instance, they have a television and the children LOVE Walker: Texas Ranger, seriously. They were blown away when I told them I had driven by Chuck Norris' home in Texas. I think they think we are friends. They are also aware of WWF Smackdown with The Big Show and Chris Jericho, again, seriously. They don't get wo watch it, because Margaret doesn't think it is good. We tend to agree, but for completely different reasons.

This is Tammi during Walker: Texas Ranger last night:


Thank you all so much for all of your prayers. The church service this morning was amazing. The music is breathtaking, it's almost a blessing that my guitar is missing because I would not have been able to add anything. There is talk of me giving the message in the very near future, please, please pray for that.

We miss all of you, but are excited at what God has in store for us.

Michael

First Few Days

A Quick Note to Anyone We Gave A Contact Card to:

The address we put was incorrect, here is the correct one:

House of Hope
c/o Michael & Tammi Rice
PO Box 66339
Nairobi, Kenya

We have a cell phone:
Calling from land line: 011 254 020 0720 133 104
Calling from mobile: 000 254 0720 133 104

That is a crazy long number!


Tuesday & Wednesday:

So much to talk about, my mind is going 90 to nothing. We are in love! Africa is amazing and we have not even seen that much of it. The children greeted us with songs and cake! We have been treated like kings and queens, we are so happy. The food is amazing, they have this cabbage and carrot dish that is to die for, I could eat it forever (lets hope I don’t get sick of it). So yeah, the kids are amazing, we sat and read (2X) “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” The kids did all the reading and I just listened and held up the book. These kids are so smart, they are teaching us Swahili, we already feel like we have learned a lot! Margaret is amazing, she greeted us with hugs and kisses and we felt at home the moment we saw her. She is so wise and peaceful, the children love her so much. The landscape is much like west Texas, you can see hills and mountains in the background but the land is dry and the grass is yellow. You can see goat and sheep and the chamba (aka the garden) is amazing. Heather B. and Holden would be in Heaven there is lots of Spinich and everything is so fresh. Margaret said that sometimes you can see zebras and giraffes on the rough road to House of Hope. Everyone is so warm and we are going in to town soon! We are playing well with everyone!!! We miss you all very much but feel very much at home. We feel we may have packed to many clothes and too many shoes. Everyone here just wears flip-flops, who knew! Other things that you would not have ever thought of is that they have TV and they watch MTV (crazy) they watch the Tyra Banks show (that is too weird) I walked into the room to hear and see Coldplay on TV, it was nice but weird. Oh I forgot to tell you what Benjamin asked Michael for, a Playstation. How funny is that!!

List of things we already know that we would like for the family:
1. A bus and or a car = $15,000 (I know that is a lot but if you do not ask you do not receive)
2. Timex watches = (?) (The boys are in love with Michael’s watch, because it glows when you press the button)

That is all for now, I am sure we will tell you more soon.

We love you and we are exited about tomorrow and the next day and the next day and well you get the picture. Every day seems like a party, speaking of party Margaret’s birthday is on Saturday so fun will be hard by everyone. We can’t wait for our first church service at House of Hope. God is with these people. They know they are blessed and we know we are blessed. We have not taken any pictures yet, we figured we would have plenty of time for that.

Thursday:

On our way into the city we found ourselves out of gas on the side of the road. We took in the beautiful landscape and the cool air. The weather is amazing! It is about
65 degrees!

God bless all of you, and we miss you.

Love-
Michael & Tammi