Life Updates: Some good, Some Bad

As we have noted before life here can come at you fast with the highs and the lows. So when good things happen we take time to celebrate and thank the Lord for His blessings.

Wesley and Bradley enjoying a hike in the woods

We very much enjoyed time together as a family in Nairobi. We did some “normal things” like baking cookies, watching "Full House" even a college football game! Then we did some amazing things! To celebrate Emma’s birthday, we visited Nairobi National Park and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to see rescued baby elephants. It was a beautiful day and Emma was a happy birthday girl! We may have even documented a smile from the 16-year old (Greeley) 

Greeley and Clara are enjoying school. Greeley is a part of the soccer team! and Clara's final project in Home Ec. class was baking a loaf of bread all by herself! During the mid-term break, lots of other RVA families were also in Nairobi. We were able to spend time with them and enjoy meetings Greeley and Clara friends.

We got to take Greeley with Noah and Jonah out for pizza and bowling one night.

Now back to Nkhoma we feel like we are in a time of waiting…

...Waiting for the car we purchased to arrive

...Waiting to be in our house 

...Waiting for the building constitution to begin

...Waiting for the rains to start

While we’re waiting, we’re figuring out how to shop, cook, and buy electricity (yes you prepay for electricity and when its out everything goes dark). We are figuring out our homeschool routine. The baby even figured out how to crawl! Barbara and Marcela are figuring out how they can best serve the hospital and have taken up a hospitality role managing two newly constructed guest houses.  

Mark has spent the majority of his time making plans for the project. It has been a good but frustrating process for him. He hosts meetings and conference calls with donors then transitions to scheduling concrete sequences and writing bills of quantities for quotations. He has been going around Lilongwe looking for supplier for cement, rocks and other raw materials to use for the project. He is becoming frustrated with some of the delays but keeps a good perspective on the overall outlook of the project. He finds adventure in it all.

Please Pray for ...

• Greeley and Clara away at RVA 

• For our housing- we are patching and repairing the roof of our current house and then anticipating settling into our permanent house in December

• For the building project - there was a groundbreaking ceremony, but no construction has yet begun. The existing electric lines need to be moved, still. Mark has meet with the electrical company 4 times now. The concrete and steel is ready to be ordered.

• For the workforce that Mark is soon to hire; that they will be men with a teachable spirit, who will be willing to work as a team. 

• For Mark as he leads both at work and at home. 

• For Marcela as she attempts homeschooling with Wesley and Emma

• For rains to start, the river is all dry and there is not enough water