Marvin & Miriam
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Safely Back
We arrived yesterday from Amsterdam where we spent the last 5 days. We had a wonderful time there even if the weather was a shock!
The last two days in Kenya were a wonderful ending to a wonder filled month! We visited a primary and secondary school sponsored by the Kenyan Children's Fund. It is providing hope as well as education to some 700 students. This is an organization that is supported in part by Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church. It is an amazing school whose leader, Jane Njuguna, has a love for these children that permeates the organization. Check out their web site at http://www.kenyachildrensfund.org
So the bottom line is that we were and are blessed to have had the opportunity to learn and serve. I learned again that faith, hope and love are central to all of our lives and that healing requires all these components, but the most important is Love. We saw that Love manifested in the lives of those who have dedicated their lives to that calling.
Thanks again for your prayers and support.
Marvin
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Last day at Tenwek
This is our last night at Tenwek. It has been a hard day. We lost 2 babies in the nursery. The moms are here all by themselves, their husbands either taking care of the other children or working usually an hour or two away. The chaplains do a great job, but it is very lonely. It is also hard on the nurses and doctors who give so much of themselves to nurture these tiny ones.
It is difficult to say goodbye to people with whom you have spent so much time. It is a close community. Right now Marv is playing cards with the medical students who are here for a month or two. Simple pleasures in life take on new meaning.
Today we had lunch with the Meidemas who are here for 3 months....she was Christie Sweetman and he(Ed) grew up in GR. The Rupkes were also here....she is Mary Smedes Rupke and he (Stu) is the son of Lenore and Ed Rupke who were shirt tail relation(through Aunt True) of ours in Ann Arbor. It is amazing the number of Calvin alums who have passed through here this month. Must say that am proud that so many of them are serving internationally. Who says that you can't play Dutch bingo no matter where you are! No comments please.
We will go to Nairobi tomorrow morning and spend the next day and a half visiting the orphanage that John's church from Mt. Pleasant is going to work at in June. We will also do some shopping. Marv is really looking forward to it!:) We leave for Amsterdam early Friday morning and will spend about 4 days there touring the "motherland". I am sure that we will have culture shock. I will be fun to see family when we get to RDU next week!
I have kept this blog as a journal of some of my memories. I don't know if anyone has read it as there have not been many comments. If you have, thanks for sharing this experience with us.
God bless you all and we will see you soon.
xoxoxo
micki and marv
nana and poppy
It is difficult to say goodbye to people with whom you have spent so much time. It is a close community. Right now Marv is playing cards with the medical students who are here for a month or two. Simple pleasures in life take on new meaning.
Today we had lunch with the Meidemas who are here for 3 months....she was Christie Sweetman and he(Ed) grew up in GR. The Rupkes were also here....she is Mary Smedes Rupke and he (Stu) is the son of Lenore and Ed Rupke who were shirt tail relation(through Aunt True) of ours in Ann Arbor. It is amazing the number of Calvin alums who have passed through here this month. Must say that am proud that so many of them are serving internationally. Who says that you can't play Dutch bingo no matter where you are! No comments please.
We will go to Nairobi tomorrow morning and spend the next day and a half visiting the orphanage that John's church from Mt. Pleasant is going to work at in June. We will also do some shopping. Marv is really looking forward to it!:) We leave for Amsterdam early Friday morning and will spend about 4 days there touring the "motherland". I am sure that we will have culture shock. I will be fun to see family when we get to RDU next week!
I have kept this blog as a journal of some of my memories. I don't know if anyone has read it as there have not been many comments. If you have, thanks for sharing this experience with us.
God bless you all and we will see you soon.
xoxoxo
micki and marv
nana and poppy
Monday, February 9, 2009
Women and Water
It seems that most of my time here in Kenya has been spent with women in the nursery and learning the importance of water in a third world country. It doesn't take long to realize how very very blessed we Western women are and how difficult the lives of third world women are. Women here spend alot of their time getting water for the family. This often involves walking long distances with heavy jugs often on their heads. Then the water must be boiled or at least it should be. Many homes, including the guest house and the missionary homes, have large rain barrels. Having one is a sign of prosperity. This is where I get our drinking water before I boil it each day.
In many areas of Kenya there has been drought, the Rift valley, where we are, has gotten plenty of rain of late and everything is very green. Washing, most often by hand, is another reason to get water or to bring your wash to the river. You use rocks to scrub and then hang the clothes either over the rocks or cart it home and hang it on the fences. Water which we take so for granted is such a necessity and such a blessing in this and all third world countries.
On Saturday, I took a long hike to a beautiful lookout and then had lunch at a Kenyan home. The family provided such hospitality. Most kitchens, even in "middle class" homes are separate detached rooms. The food is cooked over an open fire in that room. Again, cooking is a major time committment as you can't run to Mac Donald's if you don't feel like cooking tonight! Rice and beans are the prevalent diet as they are in most third world countries. The women also do most of the planting and farming .....need I say more. Their days are long and hard. Unfortunately, and I am not trying to be sexist, the men in this culture do not help much. Hopefully this is changing some.
It is very hard to start saying good bye to patients and staff. We have made some wonderful friendships. The problems here are so overwhelming and yet there is so much hope. Their is also alot of trust that God will provide. We often say that, but these Christians really practice it. Today a widow with six children who works as household help came to say good bye and told me that she doesn't know where she will get the money to send her daughter to secondary school. The girl has qualified but the mother must pay the fees before the school will take her. Secondary education here is private and the parents must pay. She needs 17,000 shillings which is about 250 dollars to send this girl to school for the year. I was crying while she was telling me, but she said that she has faith that God will answer her prayers and find a way for her.
I believe that He will too! This is the sort of need you face everyday and it is so hard not to say "Yes" to everyone. I can see where missionaries can burn out because it is very tiring to know where and who to help.
I don't know if I will blog tomorrow, our last day here. We will spend a few days in Nairobi, and in the Netherlands before coming home. This time has been such a blessing in my life. I can never repay the Kenyans Christians that have taught me so much about how to live. I hope and pray that I can remember them and what I have learned when I get back home. I would hope that many of you might have a similar experience someday.
I do miss you all and am eager to see you
love and hugs,
nana and poppy
micki and marv
In many areas of Kenya there has been drought, the Rift valley, where we are, has gotten plenty of rain of late and everything is very green. Washing, most often by hand, is another reason to get water or to bring your wash to the river. You use rocks to scrub and then hang the clothes either over the rocks or cart it home and hang it on the fences. Water which we take so for granted is such a necessity and such a blessing in this and all third world countries.
On Saturday, I took a long hike to a beautiful lookout and then had lunch at a Kenyan home. The family provided such hospitality. Most kitchens, even in "middle class" homes are separate detached rooms. The food is cooked over an open fire in that room. Again, cooking is a major time committment as you can't run to Mac Donald's if you don't feel like cooking tonight! Rice and beans are the prevalent diet as they are in most third world countries. The women also do most of the planting and farming .....need I say more. Their days are long and hard. Unfortunately, and I am not trying to be sexist, the men in this culture do not help much. Hopefully this is changing some.
It is very hard to start saying good bye to patients and staff. We have made some wonderful friendships. The problems here are so overwhelming and yet there is so much hope. Their is also alot of trust that God will provide. We often say that, but these Christians really practice it. Today a widow with six children who works as household help came to say good bye and told me that she doesn't know where she will get the money to send her daughter to secondary school. The girl has qualified but the mother must pay the fees before the school will take her. Secondary education here is private and the parents must pay. She needs 17,000 shillings which is about 250 dollars to send this girl to school for the year. I was crying while she was telling me, but she said that she has faith that God will answer her prayers and find a way for her.
I believe that He will too! This is the sort of need you face everyday and it is so hard not to say "Yes" to everyone. I can see where missionaries can burn out because it is very tiring to know where and who to help.
I don't know if I will blog tomorrow, our last day here. We will spend a few days in Nairobi, and in the Netherlands before coming home. This time has been such a blessing in my life. I can never repay the Kenyans Christians that have taught me so much about how to live. I hope and pray that I can remember them and what I have learned when I get back home. I would hope that many of you might have a similar experience someday.
I do miss you all and am eager to see you
love and hugs,
nana and poppy
micki and marv
A Common Faith
Thanks to my wonderful daughter, we were sent this affirmation of faith that was used at White Memorial Presbyterian Church on 2/8/2009. The affirmation of Faith was written by Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Revisited, Orbis Books, 1978, p. 200. He was a missionary to the Masi tribe in Kenya.
Affirmation of Faith: We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. God created people and wanted them to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in the darkness, and now we know God in the light. God promised in the book called the Bible, the word of God, that all nations and tribes of the world would be saved. We believe that God made good this promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and people, showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed--hands and feet-- to a cross and died. He lay buried, but the hyenas did not find his body, and on the third day, he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord! We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive! He lives! This we believe. Amen!
Affirmation of Faith: We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. God created people and wanted them to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in the darkness, and now we know God in the light. God promised in the book called the Bible, the word of God, that all nations and tribes of the world would be saved. We believe that God made good this promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and people, showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed--hands and feet-- to a cross and died. He lay buried, but the hyenas did not find his body, and on the third day, he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord! We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive! He lives! This we believe. Amen!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Jars of Clay
Clay jars are an important visual metaphor for the Hages. It was at John's ordination that Lewis Galloway visually introduced this idea.
Yesterday, I was informed the "Jars of Clay" also represent an American Christian Rock group that is here in Kenya for a concert. They are in partnership with other Kenyan musicians with the purpose of promoting HIV testing for a million of Kenya's youth.
That same day, I heard a mock thesis defense by one of the Family Medicine residents on the promotion of HIV testing in rural Kenya. His bottom line is that physicians need to promote HIV testing.
So the point of this story the the "jars of clay" is that there are other unique responses to the HIV crisis and that improved and expanded testing is one of the important strategies of prevention.
Marvin
Yesterday, I was informed the "Jars of Clay" also represent an American Christian Rock group that is here in Kenya for a concert. They are in partnership with other Kenyan musicians with the purpose of promoting HIV testing for a million of Kenya's youth.
That same day, I heard a mock thesis defense by one of the Family Medicine residents on the promotion of HIV testing in rural Kenya. His bottom line is that physicians need to promote HIV testing.
So the point of this story the the "jars of clay" is that there are other unique responses to the HIV crisis and that improved and expanded testing is one of the important strategies of prevention.
Marvin
Saturday, February 7, 2009
My last few days.....
Sorry not to have written for awhile! The computer has been so slow that I haven't been able to get on the blogsite. Roadrunner will be so fast it will be scarey!
It is Saturday and I have just retuned from an awesome unbelievable walk. It was 3 miles up to the top of the highest hill around here called Montego. It was very hard but whileworth for the view at the top! This area has such rich soil and with the rain of late everything is so green. All the little farms dotting the hillsides are newly planted and thriving. On the way back we stopped at the home of a lady who works in the library here at Tenwek. It was such fun to meet her husband and family and to be in a Kenyan home. They were so hospitable and what we thought would be a short visit ended up being lunch and a three hour visit. My 3 mile walk began at 10 and ended at 4PM. It was well worth it and they are delightful people. They have 9 children and have taken in an orphan so now have ten. They really value education ....they have one son in medical school in Tanzania, one daughter awaiting scores to be able to enter medical school and others in high school here in Kenya. They are so hard working and hopeful; a real joy to be with.
Yesterday I went with a group to an orphanage where we read the story of Jesus' washing the disciples feet and then did that for the orphans before giving them a new pair of tennis shoes that had been donated by a group from Charlotte. It was a powerful experience. You can imagine how thrilled the kids were and how proud!
I have still been working in the nursery . My twins have gone home and I wonder how they are doing! The census in the nursery is down, but the number of really sick babies is up. We have had two babies die in the last couple of days and Marv has had 3 maternal deaths. Life here is very difficult. We are so blessed.
The days go so fast as I have been so busy doing all sorts of odd jobs. I typed a dictated letter for the medical superintendent the other day, helped shred old documents from which they make bricks that can be used for burning, cooked 7 pizzas for the medical students that are here (with the help of Sarah, the sweet lady who is household help here) among other things. They stretch you here which is not a bad thing for an old lady.
More later as someone else wants to use the computer.
Lots of hugs,
mom and dad
micki and marv
It is Saturday and I have just retuned from an awesome unbelievable walk. It was 3 miles up to the top of the highest hill around here called Montego. It was very hard but whileworth for the view at the top! This area has such rich soil and with the rain of late everything is so green. All the little farms dotting the hillsides are newly planted and thriving. On the way back we stopped at the home of a lady who works in the library here at Tenwek. It was such fun to meet her husband and family and to be in a Kenyan home. They were so hospitable and what we thought would be a short visit ended up being lunch and a three hour visit. My 3 mile walk began at 10 and ended at 4PM. It was well worth it and they are delightful people. They have 9 children and have taken in an orphan so now have ten. They really value education ....they have one son in medical school in Tanzania, one daughter awaiting scores to be able to enter medical school and others in high school here in Kenya. They are so hard working and hopeful; a real joy to be with.
Yesterday I went with a group to an orphanage where we read the story of Jesus' washing the disciples feet and then did that for the orphans before giving them a new pair of tennis shoes that had been donated by a group from Charlotte. It was a powerful experience. You can imagine how thrilled the kids were and how proud!
I have still been working in the nursery . My twins have gone home and I wonder how they are doing! The census in the nursery is down, but the number of really sick babies is up. We have had two babies die in the last couple of days and Marv has had 3 maternal deaths. Life here is very difficult. We are so blessed.
The days go so fast as I have been so busy doing all sorts of odd jobs. I typed a dictated letter for the medical superintendent the other day, helped shred old documents from which they make bricks that can be used for burning, cooked 7 pizzas for the medical students that are here (with the help of Sarah, the sweet lady who is household help here) among other things. They stretch you here which is not a bad thing for an old lady.
More later as someone else wants to use the computer.
Lots of hugs,
mom and dad
micki and marv
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