Happy Birthday Anita!

Preach it, Sister! Wish we were in Kenya!

Happy Birthday to Steve and Sarah tomorrow!

Steve turns 45 tomorrow and I turn 45 in two weeks. We've been married 27+ years (since May.) Our baby Sarah turns 21 tomorrow (Born on Steve's birthday and they love it!) We are just amazed to arrive here. We've been adults forever! We've been together forever! We've been parents forever! (Kevin just turned 26 on July 1 and Laura turns 23 on Sept 10.) We are just a vapor and then forever with Jesus! Forever Jesus!

Paul and Noel each need another sponsor

Praying Paul gets that other sponsor

Paul still needs another sponsor. Such a sweet boy. He is in the free Cornerstone preschool because he has no other educational options. His parents died close together because his mother died in a car accident and then his father, who was mentally weak, was so disturbed and died of a heart attack right afterwards. The brother who was in junior high had to drop out of school to be the head of the household for his three younger siblings. No one went to school after that. Finally they heard that Titus was doing the preschool and Paul was able to go to school again and then eventually an uncle took him in. He gets fed at the preschool a small snack of porridge and a lunch of rice and sometimes beans. He doesn't always eat in the home because of the other children. We'd like to bring him in and give him good nutrition and send him to primary school, although he is behind. It is not uncommon in Kenya for children to be much older because there are often periods where they miss their education due to family crisis. Here, we push them through to keep them going, but there doesn't seem to be that same stigma there. I'm sure there is for the individual child, but not in general society. There is a huge emphasis on the importance of education and children are desperate to go.
HE SMILES NOW!!! These are some older photos of him.

FULLY SPONSORED!!!!

Mary and Brendah

Mary and Brendah--both fully sponsored. PRAISE GOD!

On my lap: Mary and Shaline

Mary and Brendah each have a big girl behind them as they dance and sing

Brendah

I was so blessed to have friends contact me to say they want to sponsor. They have been giving regularly and giving a little more periodically and now they want to ad these two precious children to their already full family. They are a blessing!
These girls are dear to my heart. They come from Bulechia Church with Pastor Joseph. I first preached there in Kenya at their church. They are one of the most demonstrative churches, full of praise, full of joy, full of beauty. Pastor Joseph has led them to care for the widows and orphans. We gave him a motorcycle and he used it to organize them more fully into a school and a woman's ministry. They are a very active church and very generous in their poverty. I love them!
And God has blessed them to send others from America to care for some of their little ones. To take up the burden with them to see these children prosper. Mary has no one. Her extended family abandoned her when both her parents died within a couple months of each other due to AIDS. The younger sister was taken in by an Aunt, but not Mary.
Brendah is so precious. When she grows up, she wants to be a driver to take people to and from church. She loves donuts. She can even fry vegetables! She sings in her church.
I love these girls! They are precious to me! I praise God that someone has heard the cry of their hearts.

TGD Building

Now to finish out the inside of the first floor....

moringa and roselle

I was reading a Christian site by a couple from YWAM who live in Kenya. I think he is from Kenya and she is from the Philippines. They have three children and have served different places in the world. They have a good work near Kisumu. I wrote them an email to find out how much it cost them to buy sheep.
In my investigation of their site, I saw that they had widows with AIDS grow moringa and roselle for their immune system and they encouraged or gave them goats milk. Interesting. I am wondering if I can find out more about this. They also have a demonstration garden and I know we need to have one of those, but I don't even know how to plant--so we have to find someone who does! I think Titus and Joseph know about planting.

Totally Blessed

I could not let a cockroach photo be the welcome photo if anyone might happen to visit!

Here are my TGD guys Joseph and Frank. They are busy giving me updates daily (although I did not get an office update today....Joseph?) Frank has been working hard giving me updates on the shipment. The ship was sighted in country today! We are on the final countdown.
I wired what money I could. I pray God makes it all work out! It is not enough.

In this photo, we were trying to get Frank to smile. He said, "I AM smiling." ha ha! No. You are not smiling. But that's okay. We see him smile and laugh plenty in real life. Keep up the good work, men!

TOTALLY GROSS

Titus just sent me a text. Even though Anita, Medine and my mom all stayed at their house, I was the only one to battle roaches. They didn't know why they were coming out except because of the rain. There were seven in the house with several in my room during the 30 days I stayed there--7 roaches in total.
and I am--or I was ---deathly afraid of roaches. I have since conquered my fears somewhat, unwilling to let the devil get the better of me. Roaches do not even bite! In the end, I fell asleep with a live one in my room because I wasn't willing to spray the killing stuff that makes Titus sneeze like crazy. He had Typhoid and I didn't want to bother him.

So today, a plumber has come from out of town to stay with them. He is working on our TGD building. Titus wrote: "he is occupying your room and we laughed so hard because a cockroach just rolled on his chest!!"

oh joy.

Shipping Container update

This has been a real challenge. Working with a foreign government is taxing. Literally! I think Steve and I are needing to come up with better communication skills. Twenty seven years of marriage and we are entering new waters. We speak completely differently (this we knew.) God is with us.

Currently, the estimate is $13,000. They may be able to reduce it to $9000. We don't have $9000, so next week we will find out if we can just give them items with the highest VAT tax. We have donated socks and booties from either Austin Samaritans or Medical Bridges, plus lotion and shampoo. The taxes on those items are over $1000 each. We can live without those. We need the chairs and tables we purchased at Sams Club along with a large fan and some shelving. Those are new items and they have a high fee and we will pay it. Every day brings new demands or questions or fees or decisions. It reminds me of buying our first house. They always needed one more thing each day or week. One more proof of some bill 2 years ago or some crazy thing that seemed so obscure--but everything hinged on it.

For example, today we were asked for the original Bill of Lading. We would need to send it by Fed Ex (which takes FOREVER to get to Kenya--five days to Kakamega) or we would need to call our shipping line and get them to Telex the original. We wrote back to say that the "original" is an electronic document which is already there. There is no original--there is only the first one. Then our TGD Kenya informed us that the Port Authority required a change in wording that cost us $75 to say "In Care of Walter Ingutia" instead of it saying "To Walter Ingutia" (WHATEVER!!)

So there is no change on any Bill of Lading or inventory. Nothing has been changed except that one thing. But we resent everything electronically anyway. I called the shipping line but it is Saturday so i'll talk to them on Monday. There is no "original" in the old sense of the word. We do not need to Telex anything because what is there in the harbor on the ship IS the original and what our team has is the original and they match perfectly. See? Stuff like that constantly.

It's a small price to pay for something so important, but it does grate on the nerves. God gives us grace. God has given us this privilege of serving Him in this way. I can do this and more.

We heard the ship would be in the harbor by Tuesday night (I'm writing this on a Saturday) and that it would take about four days to dock. We expected it to dock any time now. However, it turns out the ship is not even sighted by the country (Kenya) yet. Which is fabulous because it probably buys us another week before the container is in our TGD building. We need to finish out the building and secure it so it can hold all the valuables.

There can be so much to coordinate, plus trying to work on the orphan plans. With everything in me, I give Glory to the Lord and bow myself before Him who created the universe. He can handle the chaos of the whole earth and the horror of death and abuse amongst mankind. He sees the daily killing of one animal by another for the survival of species to endure. He sees our fallen state and the evil in our hearts. Praise God for Jesus Christ who took the sin of the whole world to reconcile man to God through the cross. Praise God that the earth will be restored. Until then, may God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Come Lord Jesus.

Singing

Open our hearts,
To see the things
That make Your heart cry,
To be the church
The You would desire.
Light to be seen.

Break down our pride,
And all the walls
We've built up inside,
Our earthly crowns
And all our desires,
We lay at Your feet.

So let hope rise,
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light,
And every eye will see
Jesus, our God,
Great and mighty to be praised.

God of all days,
Glorious in all of Your ways.
Your majesty, the wonder and grace,
In the light of Your name.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout for your glory.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Our hearts will cry
Be glorified,
Be lifted high,
Above all names.
For You our King,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.
(By Hillsong)

FULLY SPONSORED!!! PRAISE GOD!

I still need 2 sponsors for Sharon. This photo does not do her justice. I realize that. Still, we are Americans and we like photos. The problem is....we like photos of attractive people or children. Sharon IS attractive. NOT in this picture. She is on my YouTube site. My channel is: Stephanietexasrivers (all one word with no spaces)
If you get to my channel, you can find her in the uploads section. I went to her school to talk to her. She is a lovely girl with a stable, although a bit depressed, disposition. I think she is starting to be discouraged but there is still a dim light of hope in her heart. She is an orphan. She lives with extended family but needs shoes and clothes and good nutrition. Thankfully, she's been able to go to school, but children often go without their books, supplies, or daily food. Let's help her make it beyond 8th grade. She has so much potential!

Doreen comes out of the cookhouse to see Pastor Stanley holding his baby, Cliff. Titus' boys, Immanuel and Samuel, sit with him.