This January another class of general surgery and orthopedic surgery residents graduated from the PAACS Tenwek Surgery Residency Program.  To God be the Glory!  It is so encouraging to see the knowledge and passion for taking care of patients with excellence in the name of Jesus expanding.

The Tabitha Bible Studies are continuing to bring light and life and give joy....and that's just me to me!  We are focusing on personal quiet times of studying and sharing testimonies while we are together.  We also started studying the book of Luke in February.  I am always in awe how the Lord can knit people together with very little in common, except Jesus.  I am so honored to be part of these women.

I think THE MOST EXCITING THING to say about the last three months, is that this wild child has chosen to give his life to Jesus.  He prayed with us to ask Jesus to forgive his sins and be in charge of his life.  Eden asked how could he understand those concepts at such a young age.  I don't know.  But I do know that he talks about Jesus and the bible and God with new understanding and zeal that he didn't have before.  If you would have asked me three months ago if he was getting anything that we have been talking about in our morning bible time....I would've said, I doubt it because every answer he gave had something to do with legos or pirates or some kind of other unrelated thing.  We praise the Lord for this awesome good gift!!!!! 

Lastly, Eden and her dad had been training for a bike race on Mount Kenya Valentines weekend.  It was 26 miles!!!  They camped out on Mt Kenya at 4,000ft.  Then took a vehicle up to 10,000ft and rode down to the finish line.  This year it was so muddy that a lot of people dropped out.  The mud kept getting stuck in their ties and the wheels wouldn't move.  But they persevered!!!  And FINISHED!!!!  They passed gazelle, zebra, a herd of elephant and a RHINO!!!!!! I think that's a story that Eden will be telling for the rest of her life....I know I'm going to be bragging about it for the rest of my life!

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  God is using your faithfulness to move mountains!

Looking for a different kind of gift this year?  Here are a few ideas!!

We flew back to Kenya a month ago today. It seems like yesterday....and it seems like a year ago.  Thank  you for your prayers and encouragement while we were stateside.  We are grateful for the people we could see and sorry for those of you we missed. 

We hit the ground running at Tenwek....Here's a quick look at what's happened since we landed.

​Mike's first weekend on call was not uneventful.   He had three patients who came in having been shot in the face with arrows.  This isn't as common as it used to be at Tenwek.  Thankfully, all three are doing well.

The renovations for the Children's unit at the hospital is now underway.  We are so, so very excited when we see the facilities for the kids being improved!

Eden and Caleb started back to school three weeks ago (fifth grade and kindergarten).  We had been praying for the teacher to be here for the opening of school to help with some of the co-op classes.  She has been waiting for her visa from immigration which still has not been issued.  

(This is what happens when the kids get to pick their first day of school wardrobe!)

This is our MK crew this year!!!  We love all the energy and enthusiasm this crowd brings.

We were able to go out last week as a family with Peris to bring a solar powered audio bible in Kipsigis to a man named Richard who has been blind since 5th grade.  He had such a strong testimony of God's faithfulness to him when things have been hard.  "There has never been a day when God has not stood with me."  He and his wife had been married for 27 years!! 

We had our September Tabitha meeting and it was so good to be back together again.  I have really missed these ladies.  We are working through the book of James and will be finished by the end of this year.  Its such a blessing to me to learn together with these women every month.

We are so glad to be back in Kenya, and so grateful for the support and prayers that make it possible.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!

Thank you for praying us back to the states.  We've been traveling and adjusting and consuming all kinds of foods that aren't available in Kenya!

Since our time is so short, we are trying to have a few open house times of sharing both in Springfield, MA and the Albany, NY areas to get to see as many faces and hug as many necks as we can.  Message us if you'd like more details about either of those.  We are sharing on Sunday Morning at Cornerstone Church in East Longmeadow, MA on July 14th at 10:30am.  We are also giving a short update at Loudonville Community Church in Loudonville, NY on Aug 4th at 10am.  We'd love to have more time in each place we are visiting, but we'll take what we can get this trip.  

We are headed out for a short trip to the US this summer. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends. We haven't completely figured out when we'll be where, but we'd like to have a few gatherings to catch up with friends and supporters during our brief time. More info to follow.  Would you please pray for us as we travel?  Mike has been traveling a ton in the last couple months and is still jet lagged from the last trip he took and a bit sick. We fly on Saturday and these last few days are always crazy!!!  Thanks so much for lifting us up.

In 2017, I visited a place called Kuresoi that is about three rough hours from Tenwek with the most senior Tabitha bible study leaders.  Word spread to this place near the forest about a bible study in which women could earn a bible in their mother tongue and study for themselves.  You can read the full story here.  Last weekend, I had the chance to go back!!!!  They said more women had memorized the 17 verses required to earn a bible.  They were ready for our leaders to come and listen as they recited.  AND I GOT TO GO!!!!

At first, I was impressed with how many women were able to complete the required verses.  But the more I talked to the ladies in the crowd, I realized something more impressive, more inspiring and convicting.  I began asking how they got to the meeting that day.  Their answers were astounding!!  After talking to a few women, I began asking each one the same question,

​"How far did you travel to get here today?"

"We walked a half an hour to get here.  We will not be tired in the work of the Lord."

"Footing it is a half an hour."

"I don't know how long it took, but I know it cost 200 shillings."

"Just one hour walking, half an hour on the back of a motorbike."

"Two hours walking...."

"We rented a vehicle and came from four hours further to be here today."

This woman walked three hours to get to the meeting.

(White head scarf) Four hours.  On foot.  One way.

"I don't know how long it took.  I started walking yesterday, slept along the way, and continued until I arrived this morning." (blue head scarf)

​
And after all that, this is the sacrificial gift I was given for making the journey in a comfortable vehicle to the meeting.

The Lord is doing amazing things in these hillsides of Kenya!!!!!  

​One hundred and eighty-eight women earned their bibles that day.

"Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done."
Psalm 105:1

Things have been busy, so we haven't slowed down enough post anything here recently.  We are still here.  God is still on the throne.  And there has been a lot happening!!  So at the risk of having an even longer silence here, I'll just share quickly some of the things that have been going on.

​First and most exciting is that we are halfway through the homeschool year!!!

 Caleb and I are working through a preschool curriculum at home.  But he has two age mates here who are from Germany and have different required material.  So I have been doing 2-3 days a week of a co-op with all three of them for socialization and language learning.  It's been SO MUCH FUN!  We go back and forth talking about words in english and in german.  They really are the cutest.

Once a year we have a snow day for the kids.  A teacher or parent calls the kids early in the morning and says there's NO SCHOOL and we do snowy activities all day!  So, of course, sledding down a hill in a cardboard box is on the schedule.

​We were able a few weeks ago now to go to mud a house together with the older missionary kids (MKs).  It's always a long, hard day, but so rewarding and fun day.

I love when Eden comes out to the village with me.  This time all the older MKs went together and the first layer on the house was done before 1pm!  That's the fastest its gotten done on any of the times I've been out!

Yup.  That happened.

The top Tabitha Bible Study leaders are still meeting together once a month here at Tenwek.  We just had my favorite meeting of the whole year.  The month of January is set aside to study a specific Psalm together.  The final week of the month is set aside to put the Psalm to music to help with memorization.  Then when we get together in February, each song is presented to the group.  We then vote on one of the songs to be the theme song for that year.  It's so, so exciting to hear all the different versions of the same Psalm and then carry that song with us to open each meeting for the year!!  I absolutely LOVE it!!!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, the pediatric bronchoscopy equipment that Mike has been working on getting here for two years finally arrived this month!!!!!! It's like christmas all over again!!!!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those who prayed and donated and worked on logistics to get this vital equipment here.  We are so grateful!!

This mama saw her newborn baby for the first time after her surgery.  She didn't believe that this boy to the left was her son, he had changed so much since she saw his face!!

In the midst of the dancing and singing, this mama gave thanks to God in her own way.

Asunta (above right) hadn't seen her daughter's face, Elizabeth, in over a year.

"Today, God gave me a new eye.  In heaven, I'll get my new teeth!"

"What is the first thing you're going to do when you get home?"
​"I'm going to cook my boy some food.  From now on, I will be the one taking care of my household.  He has been feeding me, but now I will be feeding him.  He has been grinding the seeds and cooking.  Now I will do it for him.  My son will never cook again."

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them..." Gen. 1:27