Getting Hit by a Lorry...and Other Forms of Nairobi Fun...

So….the next big news is….

We are not coming home August 31 after all! We have been given an extension of 3 months…so our return date has been changed to December 10!
We are very excited about this, and are so glad for the way this will allow us to continue in our life and ministries here for a little while longer. (and glad that we will still be home for Christmas!)

Thank you all so much for all your prayers on our behalf these last few weeks. God has answered them tremendously, and we are doing much better. We are very thankful to all of you for your faithful prayer support, and feel so blessed that you stood with us during this difficult time.

Another big thing that happened was that we got into a traffic accident last Saturday. Now we feel properly initiated into Nairobi…=) Ha, no, but it could have been so much worse than it was, and nobody got hurt. A lorry (big truck, for those of you confused by the word “lorry”!!) hit the vehicle that we were driving as we were coming out of a round-about (traffic circle =) ), on our way home from Mitumba. The lorry hit the passenger side door where I was sitting, and the window shattered all over me. Other than that, nobody got hurt at all. The events following were quite frustrating…think about corrupted police officers, bribes, being wrongfully accused…I don’t really want to write the details on here, we’ll save that story for when we talk to you in person! =) But it was cause for some stress (especially for Trevor) and a long day. We made it through, though, and are back to a normal life!

One of “our” boys, Amo, had heard about this accident, but hadn’t been told any details. He assumed then that it meant that we had died, and nobody told him otherwise! He said to me, later, “Andrea, I thought you had been killed, and I wanted to just kill myself!” He spent that night not sleeping, just praying for a miracle. The following Monday he waited to see me, but I didn’t come. (with all the chaos with our accident, it ended up being a busy day on Monday, so I had told Pastor that I would not be able to make it to Mitumba, but he had not informed the students why I was not there…) So Amo figured that all was lost, and that it was really true that we were gone. This poor boy had worried for four days. When I came to the slum on Wednesday, Amo came up to the clinic and said “Andrea! You’re here!!” And then proceeded to tell me the story of what he thought had happened. Oh I felt so bad for him. He stayed up in the clinic with me for a big part of the day, just spending time with me, looking at me, touching my arm every once in awhile…

It reminded me of the great responsibility we have to these youth. The way they depend on us and look up to us makes me realize that we need to do right by them. We need to make sure we are there for them. To love them the way they don’t get loved by anyone else. We love, love, love these precious kids, and it has become very evident these last few weeks that the feeling is mutual. After hearing about our accident, we got calls and texts from different youth, and one of the boys showed up at our Church the next day to make sure we were okay. What amazing kids. Amazing, amazing kids. We have been so blessed.

Other than all that…life has settled into a bit more of a regular routine again. Trevor being as busy as ever at work again, but able to enjoy it again these days! Benedicto has been gone all week…he went up-country to visit his wife and children in Kakamega, and to work in his shamba (garden/fields) before the rains stop. Mark is still working on being re-settled in the US, which seems to be going really well. He has had quite a few successful interviews and has high hopes to be able to go to America soon. Steven has invited us to his daughter’s 2-year birthday party in August! We are really looking forward to this! And Rueben continues to show up faithfully every morning, even when he has a really bad toothache! Trevor has been really blessed to be able to work with these four men. They are all really excited and thankful that we are able to extend our stay and that we are planning to come back to Kenya.

I have been still enjoying going to Mitumba…and I’ve had some good times playing football with the boys, singing silly songs with the girls, visiting with them whenever I have the chance, sitting in on the debates that the older classes have been having, cleaning many bloody wounds and wrapping sprained hands, teaching the Bible class, and loving on little Marcy! =) Life is good.

I told them the other day that we are able to stay until December…you should have heard the cheers, and whooping and hollering! It was so cute! They were so happy, and so are we! Like I said…life is good!

We are so thankful to God for all He has done!