Writing without electricity
again, but thankfully after an all-night rain, the sun is shining and I can see
to work! I’m not complaining, the rains
do bring constant electricity outages, but I did have it over the weekend when I needed
it for a very special treat. One of
my most ‘homesick’ times of the year is around North Carolina WMU’s annual
Missions Extravaganza at Ridgecrest when so many friends are together. But, this year I visited for a few hours via
SKYPE as I helped with a conference on using social media in missions! Even
though it was raining, I had constant electricity and internet throughout both
sessions! Another great example of how
modern technology is a joy and benefit of our and God’s work!
We also were thankful for
internet this week as we viewed photos of our family as our granddaughter
celebrated her third birthday! Thanks to
SKYPE, we even visited with her as she opened our gift – for those of you with
Kenyan ties, one gift was a CD which included the song MALAIKA! Thanks to Facebook, we got to see lots of
photos of her first nursery school program and all her birthday
festivities! Things such as this are a
true source of thanksgiving for missionaries.
When we arrived in ’78, it would take months to receive news and photos
via post, rather than seconds or a few hours.
Although we are enjoying our first
true rainy season in years, it does lead to worries about those living in the
slums and other areas of poorly constructed housing, often in flood prone spots, but this is the
only affordable/available housing for many in Kenya. We also know that the many street
kids/families are also suffering as they seek a dry spot. We also pray for their health as the rains do
lead to lots of illnesses due to the inadequate housing and the walking, an
many must do, long distances to work and school.
Another result of the much
needed rains is that I am still coughing!
I am on a new heavy-duty round of medicine which is working, but leaves
me rather zapped! I’m staying home to
avoid any ‘triggers’ that lead to my allergies/asthma and after 7 days of being
grounded, I’m ready to run-away and I really hate missing several special
events with our ministries. Jack has also missed a few as he chose to stay home
to be my ‘nurse’ as medicines don’t always work as expected on me! But, I keep reminding myself of praises: The IMB provides good medical care for us and
we live where there is good doctors, which many missionaries with other
groups and our co-workers living in other places lack.
The electricity is still off and
Jack is rather frustrated as the screen on his laptop no longer works and with
no electricity, he cannot rely on his external monitor and he is still catching
up on reports, etc. He ordered a new
laptop, but as often happens, when he ordered it from Kenya to be delivered in
the States, the order was canceled due to the fear of credit card misuse. So another prayer item for us and other
international missionaries: Pray for patience
with security problems which can be simple, though frustrating such as the canceled
computer order, and more complex ones such as living in areas with ongoing security
threats.
The clouds are gathering again
and I now have ONE of our trusty rechargeable flashlights illuminating my keyboard,
so it’s time to quit. Possibly due to
the medicines, my ‘guard’ is down today and I have shared more personal items
that usual – but we do depend upon your prayer support and these are the concerns
of our heart! BERT
--- ---
--- --- ---
--- ---
Don’t forget to view recent Prayer Nudges from
East Africa at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/ .
No comments:
Post a Comment