Don't Ask For Diapers

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a response- SIXTEEN COMMENTS?!! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and encouragements, and I really mean that. We read your comments on Michelle's Blackberry while we were driving in the Scott matatu (think VW van, but way smaller) to the orphanage this morning. It was very entertaining. Oddly, most of the people to whom the comments were directed were in the matatu with us. Twelve of 26 team members were with us, after all. You might wonder how that is possible in such a small space. I'll try to post video (because of course I documented it on film).

I don't want to leave you hanging too long about my blog title (it is a little weird sounding, I know). So I will start with a funny story here at the beginning and then get down to the serious stuff:

Yesterday at lunch, James N. told me that the word for napkin here is serviette (French word, thank you very much!). He also told me that the word "napkin" means diaper, so we should not ask for napkins- ask for serviettes instead. I promptly sat down and started telling the people at my table about it. WELL, not surprisingly, one person misheard me... I don't want to name names, but he's head of the art department at TCA (ahem). Anyhow, that person told Michelle T. that napkins were called "diapers" in Kenya. So when Michelle's table ran out of napkins at dinner yesterday, she went to the kitchen door and shouted:

"Hey, do y'all have any more diapers in there?"

That is NOT made up. I am hoping that story is as funny to you as it was to us. I'm sitting here in the super serious Scott library trying to stop my church giggles.

Okay, breathing deeply and moving onward...

I think the last thing I told you was what we would be doing in the afternoon yesterday, so I will start there and tell you about the 30 or so hours that have passed since then.

Yesterday afternoon, we were split into three groups: one group went to a local hospital, and two groups went to schools. The group that went to the hospital visited several different types of patients, from mothers who had just lost their babies in the maternity ward to people with HIV, tuberculosis, and even a few terminally ill patients. They were able to talk with these people and also to present the Gospel. All of the team members who went said it was a deeply moving experience and that they were so grateful to have gone. I was on one of the teams visiting schools, so I will tell you about our experience. We walked from the Scott campus about a mile or so to St. Valentines School (a boarding school with about 160 students). Drew D., Frances R., and Brian M. gave their testimonies- all three were VERY powerful, especially considering both Drew and Brian were giving theirs spontaneously (neither were slated to go yesterday). We also presented the Gospel at this school.

Not long after dinner, we set back out on the road in the trusty old Scott bus up to a private boarding school for girls called Halley's School for Girls, I believe. It was WAY up in the hills behind Machakos in a town called Ndelani. Catherine M. gave her testimony, and she did an amazing job. Some of you may remember David, the son of Stone (groundskeeper at Scott), who we've talked about in years past. When we were here in 2007, David tagged along with us on all of our school visits. He got saved one night while we were at a high school ministry that year. Yesterday, he asked us if he could share his testimony at one of our ministries, and of course we said yes! It was particularly moving for him to be sharing his testimony about getting saved at a high school ministry in a situation that was so similar to the same one he experienced two years before.

And now, TODAY'S LATEST!

This morning, we split up into two groups: one group did a VBS at the Springs Of Hope Orphanage, and the rest of the team members continued on the work project (moving stones into the girls dorm, chiseling them into shape, and creating walls out of them). VBS with toddlers is probably always a challenge and I clearly planned the wrong activities (having never done a VBS for such young children). Egg hunt? Epic fail. Red Rover? What was I thinking?! But I think the most important thing was that we were able to love on those kids and give them hugs. That's all that matters in the end.

Next, while the work team continued to move stones and build walls etc, the VBS team had about an hour before Bible school for the children of Scott students and employees. Lots of those kids have been around since I started coming in 2005, so it was pretty fun to see that they still know the songs we taught them before! When we finished VBS, even those team members pitched in on the last part of today's work project (everyone except for me, since I needed to write the blog before the library closed).

The work team is amazing- they lift those three foot by one foot stones like they weigh only an ounce. Unbelievable. I havent't see how far they'd gotten but someone just told me they are about halfway done. Hopefully, we will be able to complete it on Monday. We do not (at present) have any other conflicting activities going on the whole day, so all 26 of us will be able to work. If you think about it on Monday, please pray for lots of energy and few mistakes. That will help us complete our work before we leave here on Tuesday for the next part of our journey.

Right now, it is nearly six p.m. here, and we are about to have dinner. After dinner, we have our annual social with the Scott students, where we provide the soft drinks and Cadbury chocolates. It is always really fun. Tonight's feature is... Prince Caspian. Yes, again. We can't get enough of that bear that screams "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Ha ha. No wonder those students the other night had strange reactions! :)

I don't know if I will be able to post tomorrow, but I will try. Jon informed me today that there is WiFi in the chapel/cafeteria (who knew?) so I am going to take my IPod Touch tonight and see if I can get it to work in there. If I can, maybe I can at least get something short typed out for you guys tomorrow. But in any case, here is what we are doing:

• The majority of us will be going to one of three church visits (Bomani, Masii, and... ??? the third one escapes me). James N., Jon M., and Brian M. are preaching. The rest of us will all end up telling our testimonies, too, because that is just the way it is on these visits.
  

• Drew D. and Tyler M. are each going with a Scott student to preach at one of two nearby boys' schools. They are a little nervous but I've heard them both give their testimonies, and they are both totally cool under pressure and speak with conviction. They will do great!

• When we all get back from our church visits (which will be about 3 p.m., since we are always invited for lunch afterwards), we are hoping to go to the woodcarvers' where we usually go while we are in Machakos. It is about an hour away from here.

• I think tomorrow night we are setting up the tables with clothing, shoes, supplies, etc for the Scott community to peruse and take on Monday during the day.
  

And in case I don't get a post up here tomorrow, Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there on behalf of your kids, and a special shout out to my own dad... I love you, Jaaaaaaaamie! We'll be thinking about you all!

That's all for today, folks. Hope your eyes aren't too tired.

In Christ,

Jill/Miss Cox