Maua News
	7 August 1999 Dear Friends and Family, Since I wrote last we have received so much love and support through your emails, cards and letters. Thank you so very much. Your prayers have helped greatly over the last two weeks. There have been good days and bad days but always God's love and presence and your concern, encouragement and prayers have given us the strength and peace we needed. On 31 July 1999 was my daddy's Memorial Service in Santa Fe. It was difficult not to be with the family and many friends who gathered there to celebrate my daddy's life. We were so grateful that our daughter, Corrie, could be there and speak on our behalf. Her husband, Brent, sang. As Bill and I sat quietly in our living room between 11pm and 12 midnight (the time of the memorial service) praying and reading the Bible, we felt united to our family by love. Many years ago, at Uncle Pete's funeral, Corrie, who was then about 5 years old, was trying to figure out what happened when someone died. She had stood for a long time and looked at Uncle Pete in his casket. Finally, she sat down and said, "I understand now. Uncle Pete's body stays here but his love goes to heaven." Sat. night, July 31st, my daddy's love and spirit united us with our other family members. Though we couldn't be there in person, we rediscovered the power of God's love and human love. We are so grateful for the knowledge that "there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God" and my daddy's love is part of that love now. Today is the one year anniversary of the US Embassy bombing in Nairobi. Today in Nairobi there are prayer services and many remembrances of what happened. Today there was a special section in our paper about the bombing. The article that caught my eye was called "Healing and Hope." It reminded me that on the Sun. before our family arrived, Bill and I were in Nairobi for a missionary meeting and attended the Kariokor Methodist Church. During the service, a lady who had been seriously injured in the bombing and was back at church for the very first time, was asked to come forward and give her testimony. As she walked to the front of the church, she moved slowly with a slight limp. Her face, arms and legs were scarred, but her smile and testimony spoke only of healing and hope. She shared that last August 7th she was in the Ufundi House when the explosion occurred. All she remembers is that she kept hearing people say she would not live. She then pulled herself up a little taller and with a beautiful smile said, "But today I stand and even walk because of the goodness and love of God and others. It has not been easy but I am so grateful to be alive, to be able to walk, and to know and love God." There are many in Kenya that have been able to turn that horrible act of hate into healing and hope. St. Augustine said "God can permit evil only in so far as He is capable of transforming it into a good." God is capable of turning evil into good no matter where it happens, how it happens or who it happens to. Hope and healing. We are so thankful to be surrounded by both at Maua Methodist Hospital. It is our prayer that where ever you are and what ever circumstances you face, you will experience God's hope and healing. He is our day spring, Jerri and Bill   15 August 1999 Dear Friends and Family, Greetings to your from Maua. May each of you experience God's presence in new ways that allow you to live with joy and peace and especially to love those in your life. Life is ever so busy in Maua. Bill is daily doing data entry for the accounting department. No one that works in accounting department has ever found time to put the data in so he decided he would need to do it. Along with that, he is supervising the construction of a guest house that is being built (for short term mission workers --- like doctors that come to help us). Bill designed the guest house so he is the right person for this job. He is also supervising the painting of our neighbor's, the Lindoewood's, home while they are on furlough. Sr. Mubichi, the Principal Tutor at the School of Nursing, has been very ill. She has had a blood clot on her lung and in her leg. She was hospitalized in early July and will not be returning to work until Sept. 13th. Please keep her in your prayers. We are all most concerned for her health. Mr. Ojwang and Sr. Mgoria, tutor and clinical supervisor, are on leave this month as is Kendi our secretary. Mr. Muringi, a fellow tutor, has been quite ill with malaria and a leg infection and has only been at work a few days this month. (I am pleased to report he is doing very well now.) Thus, Sr. Limberia, Sr. Barbara, who is still part time, and I have been extremely busy. Sr. Limberia, Alice, and I are on call every other week along with our daily activities. In the last two weeks we have written two resit exams for Set A and Set B, invigilated (monitored)and graded them, invigilated the Kenya Nursing Exams that our 10 Set Y students have taken, worked with all the Sets on the units and especially with the three Set Y students that were referred for six months, and made some very difficult decisions. Starting last week I began to do Nursing Care Assessments. I have five to do this week. On July 31, 1999 was our Set B (our newest students) dedication service. The parents and friends of those students were invited to attend a worship service held in the Chapel, followed by a meal and a parents meeting. The dedication service includes music, a sermon, and an explanation of the nursing program. The students are called up individually and given a candle which they light from a candle held by a clinical nurse. They stand in front of the congregation with their candle and say the Florence Nightingale Pledge (which I will include) and sing the hospital hymn. "I solemnly pledge myself, before God and in the presence of these people, to pass my life in purity, and to practice my profession faithfully. I will not do anything that is mischievous and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to elevate and maintain the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty I will aid the health team in their work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care." It was a wonderful service and as the light from their candle reflected on their faces, one could see the joy, enthusiasm, and wonder. Please join me in praying for our Set B students. They have great potential and Kenya so needs good nurses. This morning Bill and I spent a few minutes in the chapel with the 100+ two to eleven year old boys and girls that were attending Sunday School. I can't tell you what a joy that is. The children are so enthusiastic as they listen to a Bible story, sing and pray. Their attention is riveted on their teacher and the room is completely silent except for the teachers voice. When the singing begins the children stand and move their small bodies in praise and adoration of God. How we need the church, the church universal, to continue to tell the old, old story of the love of Jesus to the children and to the adults. Since my father's death I have had an intensified hunger for the word of God and the opportunity to be in prayer. I have begun to read Carlo Carretto again. This past week I have been trying to love more. I have been praying that God would help me as it is easy to talk about loving more but difficult for me to translate love into daily action. I am a visual learner so God has shown me acts of love done by my Kenyan friends. Yesterday I took call for Alice as she had a function to attend in Meru. She had told me she would take over again as soon as she returned. At 9pm I got a call that two medical students from Denmark had arrived. We were at the Mwalimu's home for dinner, so I left to pick up the key. I met Alice on her way to relieve me. I told her what I was going to do and told her to go have her dinner as she had just returned from Meru, but she refused. About 1 1/2 hours later she came back to say the students needed towels as they had not brought them. Alice had been to the Maternity ward to see if she could borrow any towels but they were locked up. I gave her a set to lend the students. She told me she had settled them in their rooms, then walked them to a kiosk, a small shop, to buy some things they needed and then gone to find towels for them. I told Alice I would take the towels to the students but she wouldn't hear of it. I was amazed at how much she had done for them when it was so late and she was so tired. When I said that to Alice, she just laughed and said, "They have traveled all day and are so tired. It is the least I can do for them." But what I found most amazing was her attitude. It was an attitude of love and care for these two strangers. She was acting out of love and concern. Thank you God for Alice and showing me how and the attitude of love I need. Shortly before Bill and I left to pick up my family for their visit, Sr. Mubichi had shared with me a dream she had. The work team that came from Houston in July separated the hospital kitchen from the student nurses kitchen. This is a requirement of the Nursing Council of Kenya that had to be done. However, when done, the students kitchen would have no equipment. Sr. Mubichi had traveled to Nairobi and seen some equipment that she was so excited about. Two stainless steel sufarias (enormous cooking pots --- 25 gallon pots that are especially designed to use much less wood than the normal type of sufaria), a stainless steel sink and a stainless steel tea dispenser. She had been praying about them and decided she would order them with faith that the money to pay for them would come. When my father died, my family decided they wanted to do something with one half of his memorial gifts for Maua Methodist Hospital. We talked about different projects and decided that buying the equipment for the students kitchen would be perfect. On Aug. 3rd a man from Nairobi came and began installing the sufarias. They are cemented into the floor and mud bricks made to maintain the heat. A pipe system for the smoke was then created. This past week he completed his work and now the cement and mud must dry. It has been such a joy to watch this process. Soon the equipment will be used daily. A very big thank you to everyone who has helped with this and for those gifts to mission and the Service Fund in my father's name. You are all in our prayers. Please keep praying for us. We love to hear from you and so appreciate what you have done for us. Comforted by God, Jerri and Bill   22 August 1999 Dear Friends and Family, Greetings to each of you in the name of the light of our world, Jesus Christ. I am going to write this now but our phone is completely dead so I'm not certain when I will be able to send it. This past Monday when I came home for lunch Bill was quite excited about a phone call he had received from Abrahim, a man who introduced himself as someone involved with the street children. He asked Bill to meet him the next day. For those of you that are new to our email family, in April or May Bill became the official hospital mailman. When he began making at least daily trips to the post office to collect the mail, he began to have contact with some of the street boys in Maua. Bill began feeding about four street boys on a daily basis. He would buy them half a loaf of bread and a banana and tell them that God loved them, "Mungu akupenda". After a while the boys would tell Bill "Mungu akupenda" when they received their bread and banana. Over the months that group has grown and the number usually ranged from seven to eleven boys. Once when Bill was feeding the boys his contact lense was irritated by dust in the air and the boys became especially concerned about Bill's eye. Every time the boys saw Bill they asked if his eye was better. The few times I accompanied Bill to the post office on Saturdays, I was amazed with the street boys behavior. Rather than being the rude, offensive boys I had come to know, they were polite and grateful. Bill met Abrahim at 11am on Tues. morning. Abrahim explained that he worked for an Non-Governmental Organization that the government had requested work in Maua with children. When he began working with the street boys they told Abrahim about Kiambi, the man who fed some of them every day. Abrahim decided he needed to meet Kiambi. (The street boys call Bill "Kiambi" or "Savuto". Bill really never knew what Kiambi meant. He asked Abrahim and he was told that in Ki-Meru it means, "the one who loves and solves problems"). Abrahim explained that there are four parts to his work with children. The first is working with AIDS orphans. His major responsibility for them is to make certain they have a home, either with family members or others. He also has been given authority by the government to buy these students uniforms and place them in a government school at no expense. (We are so thankful the government is taking some initiate in this enormous problem of AIDS orphans. In the past the children have always gone to other family members but with such difficult financial times in Kenya, this is putting unbelievable strains on families who desperately need some help.) The second part of Abrahim's program is as an advocate for children who are abused. He stated that parents can be put in jail for abusing their children. There is much child abuse here and any steps that can be taken will be helpful. If only to raise the awareness that child abuse is not acceptable. Female circumcision is one area Abrahim is most interested in changing. (This past week a 14 year old girl was brought into our hospital following female circumcision. She was in shock and died before we had the chance to save her.) The third part of the program deals with children's rights. This is more of a community education program as most of the rural people in this area would not believe in rights for children. When Bill visited Abrahim later in the week a young mother was in his office. Her husband had just died and the husband's parents had taken her children (this is a patriarchal society and if the husband dies the children can be taken by the husband's family.) Abrahim was in the process of trying to reclaim the children for the mother. The fourth part of the program is to work with the street children. Abrahim has been working with about 30 street boys. He has found that the majority of them are the sons of prostitutes or single family households where the mother does not have enough money for food much less school fees. The boys range in age from about 8 - 12 years. Abrahim has started a center in one part of a large abandoned coffee factory. It is by the Mboone River (that flows through Maua). He had asked the boys to come bathe everyday and have some literacy lessons and counseling but it was hard to get the boys to come as he has no money to provide food. Abrahim asked Bill if he could provide food six days a week for the thirty boys and bring the food to the center rather than feeding the boys in town. Bill said yes. Abrahim sent word for all the boys to come to the center and Bill said that very quickly 30 street boys arrived. When they saw Bill they began to run and hugged him. Abrahim allowed the boys to make some decisions. They decided they wanted to bathe first at 10am, eat at 11am and then have their literacy lessons in Ki-Swahili (the language of the times). At 4pm daily they will play soccer in the stadium. Abrahim has found a local volunteer to teach and referee the soccer games. They also want to run with Bill (Bill runs 4 miles four times a week at the stadium). They decided that they wanted bread and orange squash every day (orange squash rather than bananas). Once a week Bill buys them all milk. (We did decide to continue buying them bananas along with the orange squash. Bill also bought them all a cup that will be kept at the center.) Later this week Abrahim was also able to arrange for a local pastor to visit the children's center twice weekly for spiritual guidance. We pray that the entire program for the street children will give them a glimpse of a loving God. Needless to say, Bill is so excited to be a part of the ministry to the street children in Maua. Please pray for the 30 street boys, Abrahim and his program, and Bill. God's hand can be seen so clearly in what has happened with Bill and his small band of street children. We praise God for this wonderful opportunity. We are so appreciative of your continued emails and cards, encouragement, love and support and especially your prayers. We are so grateful to God for the love and prayers that surround and uplift us daily in our work and lives here. Asanta sana! Guided by the light, Jerri and Bill   Plymouth Park United Methodist Church 1615 W. Airport Freeway Irving, Texas 75062 (972) 255-4185 E-Mail: ppumc@airmail.net Copyright 1999 PPUMC