Kargi, Kenya

Since our trip to Africa was 13 days long, I am going to break up the trip into different blog posts.  I like to tell stories through the pictures.  This one is dedicated to our LONG journey to Marsabit and Kargi.  We left on Saturday morning, May 28 (one day after graduation!).  We travelled on a plane for 25 hours.  We lost eight hours because of the time change!  We were exhausted.

We made it to Amsterdam after an 8-hour flight.  We were tired enough to sleep on a cold tile floor!  We still had another 8-hour flight to go!  "Amsterdamians" are not friendly.

Nairobi aiport... Joseph's guitar didn't make it!  It got lost in Amsterdam

 The guest house where we stayed in Nairobi.  It was a house with bedrooms that people could rent like hotel rooms.  This was a Christian organization so we met a lot of other missionaries, some from USA and Canada.  These were the mosquito nets that we slept under!

Breakfast at 4:30AM before we left the guesthouse

We left at 5AM the next morning to embark on a 13 hour drive on "the beast".  8 hours of the drive was on paved road, and then the pavement abruptly stops and the "fun" part of the ride begins.  We drove down a gravel road for 5 hours of the trip.  Where the pavement and the gravel meet, bandits have been terrorizing vehicle passengers and raiding their cars. 

Luckily we had an armed guard!

 From left to right are Paul (our driver), Reuben (our cook), and Daniel (our guide).  Daniel was wearing a MSU track and field shirt by the time we left!

Along the way, we saw some beautiful scenery.  The country of Kenya has as diverse as a landscape as America does. 

Closer to Nairobi, there is lush greenery and coffee bean fields

There are mountains that remind you of the Lion King

Then you get into the part of Kenya that resembles Arizona: rocky and dry.

If you look closely you will see a dust storm in the distance

 

Paved road...

Turned in to rocky, gravel road

As you get closer to Marsabit, there is very dry, desolate land

A few traffic jams along the way... you can see their "shepherd" if you look closely in the bottom left corner

Joseph slept on our guide

We had to wear masks to keep from inhaling all of the dust, and it got really windy since there were no screens on the vehicle

But by God's grace, we finally made it to Marsabit safely! More to come!



Computer on the fritz

We made it safely back from Africa!  It has taken a whole week to get our sleep schedule back on track!  I can't wait to share all about it with you, but my computer is currently being fixed.  I deleted too many components trying to free up disk space, and now it won't open Itunes or Internet Explorer... so I am currently using my parents computer!  I can't wait to upload all of my pictures! So more to come later!

Trip to Africa!

Thanks everyone for donating and for praying for us as we travel to Africa!  Here is the itinerary to keep everyone updated on what we will be doing!

Flight Information
May 28:   Delta Flight 2209  Leaves JAN at 11:31 AM, Arrives ATL at 2:09 PM
                Delta Flight 238 Leaves ATL at 5:20 PM, Arrives AMS (Amsterdam) at 8:15 AM
May 29:   KL 565 Leaves AMS at 11:15 AM, Arrives NBO (Nairobi) 8:15 PM

June 8:     KL 566 Leaves NBO at 10:30 PM, Arrives AMS at 5:40 AM
June 9:     Delta Flight 175 Leaves AMS at 9:00 AM, Arrives ATL at 12:55PM 
                Delta Flight 2303 Leaves ATL at 3:00 PM, Arrives JAN at 3:27 PM


Trip Details
May 28: Flights

May 29: Arrive in Nairobi 8:15 PM, Head to guest house for the night

May 30: Rise early.  Journey to Marsabit.  Arrive early evening.

May 31: Travel to Kargi in the morning.  Set up camp.  Afternoon medical clinic.

June 1-June 4: Kargi medical clinic

June 5: 1/2 day in Kargi.  Depart for Marsabit

June 6: Rise early.  Depart for Sweetwaters.  Afternoon Safari.

June 7: 1/2 day at sweetwaters.  Depart for Nairobi.  Shopping in the markets.  Sleep in  guest house.

June 8: Elephant and Giraffe nursery.  More Shopping.  Depart for USA!

June 9: Arrive back in Jackson at 3:27 PM

I can't wait to share all the ways God will work!
Please be praying for us!

Meditations in the Night Watch: The Tale of Raven Road: A True Story

Meditations in the Night Watch: The Tale of Raven Road: A True Story: "The Tale of Raven Road O nce upon a time in a distant millennium, there stood a house. She was a lovely house and would be highly prized..."

Miss Mustard Seed

I have found the most amazing blog!  The author is a mom who refinishes old, forgotten, or broken furniture and makes them beautiful!!  I have two pieces of furniture I would like to refinish like she has done...
hmm... I feel a few new projects coming on!

Here is my piece

Here is the piece she refinished!!



Here is the dresser in our bedroom:

 And a chest of drawers that is similar...

It's almost identical to my very favorite one of her pieces...

She went from this:

To This:

She Isnpires Me!!  What do you think?  Should I do it?





Living in the Tornadic South

    Since Wednesday night, my heart has been heavy thinking about all of the victims of the vicious, unrelentless tornadoes.  Since I was a little girl, I have always been one of the weird ones who actually gets excited about thunderstorms and bad weather.  I guess it's because I have always been amazed at the way all the conditions have to be perfect for a storm to begin rotating.  I LOVE watching storm chasers.  It's also because I feel safe and cozy inside my house while all the scary sounds are outside and I don't feel like I can be hurt by them.  After Wednesday, I realize that I have always been very wrong about being safe.  I knew watching Thursday morning that I was witnessing something historic even before the death toll began rising. It's amazing to me that everyone celebrated a beautiful, warm, flowery Easter with family and friends.  We celebrated the resurrection of our savior and the love he has for us.  Then, four days later, people are hunkering down, hanging on for dear life, literally.  Those people had no idea when they woke up on the morning of April 27 that when night time fell, they would no longer have any of their belongings and some would no longer have their loved ones.  It makes me realize how precious life is and how unimportant material belongings are.  The number of people who have died related to these storms has now reached 318, making this the deadliest day for tornadoes since the Great Depression!  Mississippi has lost 34 people with 163 injured.  14 of those deaths happened in Smithville, MS; population ~900.  1822 homes were damaged in MS alone!  Alabama has lost 228 people, 30 in Tuscaloosa alone (2 of those were students).

Here is a link to some amazing stories of people who survived:
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/28/survival-stories-emerge-from-souths-tornado-tragedy/

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 -Matthew 6:19-21


The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
The Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strenght to his people;
The Lord blesses his people with peace
-Psalm 29:10-11

In this world you will have troubles.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world,
 -John 16:33


"Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

These two videos gave me chills






Historical tornadoes from the Associated Press:
In march 1932, tornadoes killed 332 people, all in the state of Alabama
In April 1974, a series of twisters killed 315 people in 11 states
And the largest death toll: March 1925 when 747 people were killed by tornadoes that raged through 3 states; in that outbreak, a single 219 mile long tornado killed 695 people


...What a mighty God we serve

Lent

I have not fallen off the face of the earth!  I actually decided to give up blogging and reading others blogs for lent because I was spending so much time everyday looking at blogs!  So, I am finally back to it.  It did give me more time to spend in the word and to focus on being content instead of having house fever from looking at all of the home deco blogs (which are my weakness)!  So, alot has happened since my last update!

Joseph and I are officially going to Kargi, Kenya in Africa on a mission trip
I got a job at Methodist Inpatient Rehab
I have two more weeks of school left!  The end of seven years of education is finally in sight!
Joseph's track team are district champs and CHS ivitational champs!
I have signed up for my first mini triathlon!!

I have lots of pictures to upload from the past month!

Have a wonderful week!