How Awesome God Is

This blog is to show just a little bit of how awesome our God is!

BIDCO came again! Unsusptected and bringing more food! That's right, it didn't come from the pocketbook of the wazungu (whites) but from other Kenyans and ultimately from God! He is the God who answers prayers!

Also, a donor from the U.S. said that they would buy some clippers for the kids. This is a picture of John presenting to the kids the clippers. They're rejoicing cause they're gonna get shaved! They also prayed, thanked God for them, and followed it up with some good ole' Kenyan worship! (loud and in rhythm) Another prayer answered!
We've been praying for God to raise up other Kenyans to partner with AMCC. This is a picture of Mama Mutwangu who allows the kids to pull water from her 240ft well for free! She also donates bananas and other foods often. This woman is a blessing to these kids. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have water for bathing, cooking, laundry and cleaning.

This next picture represents the coolest part of my week. John Matotho is 15 years old. He was asked to stand up and give his testamony on Sunday morning. Instead, he pulled out one of the simplest and richest sermons I've ever heard. He spoke on the fruit of the Spirit. John was awesome and we didn't even know he was going to preach. He cross-referenced and asked questions from the other kids and taught and spoke with authority. I teared up a little just thinking about how the Spirit was using him. This is another prayer answered. Mark and I have been praying for the Spirit to move in these children, and to be the Father to the fatherless. God is raising them for his glory and his Kingdom!

LORD, you are so much more faithful than what we give you credit for! Be glorified Lord through AMCC and thank you Father for your provision!

PMS= Partners Mae Sot

I just can't stay away from Mae Sot. I mean, it is a lovely town- how could I resist? Not really, I just got to tag along again with Kath (here are some of her beautiful pictures) to bring some medicines and learn about a Partners clinic way far away somewhere south of here.

I also painted a meeting room at the office there. My thrilling contribution to the work for freedom in Burma is a calming, mint blue color that will result in wise and peaceful decisions. I know. I will get all the credit when Burma finally opens up.










Oh and don't you just hate it when work just happens to have the tallest waterfall in Thailand on the way? Gosh, we had to drive and see it.







What a fun and relaxing day! And we swam with a monk.

















OH and I am off to Laos for another visa run! This is a crazy month of traveling!

Virtual Tour of AMCC

Hey guys! I wanted to give a picture (pun) of what AMCC looks like.

This is Kimata, the region we are staying in the Gatanga district.

AMCC is the place with the blue doors on the right.

The five blue doors mark the outside of AMCC

The Classroom is where all the kids study every day and also where we eat

The Store is for keeping firewood and food
This is the Office of AMCC

The Church is where we have church on Sundays and worship and pray every night

This is ..."just outside there". I call it a courtyard. The black tank is where we collect rainwater to drink, bathe, cook, and clean. The doors to the sides are the kids rooms and laundry is hung on the wires hanging from wall to wall. In the back you can see the "bafu" or bathing stalls.

The Kitchen is the first door on the left in the courtyard. This is where we cook the food over a fire and inhale unhealthy amounts of smoke.

This a picture of one of the bedrooms. There are nine beds. The ones on the left have a divider on each layer to make two beds. Their clothes are kept in a chest at the end of the bed.

And this is our room. John hangs his clothes on a line and in the back you can see the mosquito nets to help prevent malaria from mosquitoes. THE "CHOO"! This is where we poop in a hole! And the "Bafu". This is where we bath with a bowl!

Well that's AMCC. Now you've seen it! The only thing missing from these pictures is YOU! If you wanna come hang out in Kenya for a while and see what it's like to poop in a hole and bathe in a bowl, we could sure use the help. If you wanna visit, just send me an e-mail or post a comment.

I hope this has been helpful in giving you a better idea of where we're staying. AND I hope to see any of you guys here soon!

Ya don't have to live like a refugee! -tom petty

Well Tom Petty, actually a few people do have to live like a refugee. Count 50,000 in Mae La and in No Poh camp. Here are a few bad shots taken from the car...

Praise God!

Last Thursday John had a meeting with the high-school kids' parents. They brought a bunch of the necessities for the kids (lotion, t.p., toothpaste, soap, shoe polish, etc...). *ANSWERED PRAYER* This is gonna be a huge help. John also informed them of the upcoming fundraiser we are doing on April 26. Please be praying for this! These people do not have much money at all. Mark did the numbers according to his old job and said that it would be the equivelent of him paying about $65 for a two pound bag of rice! They just don't have the funds. However, each parent has agreed to pay 1500Ksh (Kenyan Shillings) for the fundraiser! This is way awesome becuase most only make 80Ksh per day.

NOTE: Currently it is almost 80Ksh to $1.00

On Friday John met with the primary school kids' parents, and they brought a few things as well! We added them to the storeroom and are thanking God for his provision.

NOTE: So AMCC acts as both an orphanage and a children's home. Some kids' parents are deceased and others simply can not afford to feed them.

Sunday was the best day of all and the Lord showed His faithfulness in a great way. We've been praying for rain for a while because Kenya has been in a drought. We prayed Saturday night for rain and the Lord answered our prayers! It poured on Sunday three or four times in the morning! More rain means more growth in vegitation from friends and partners of AMCC, which means more food for the kids! Praise God! THEN, Sunday afternoon brought with it the sunshine and a pleasent surprise. Some employees of BIDCO Oil Co. showing up with cabbages, carrots, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, maize and wheat flour, cooking fat, rice, sugar and even clothes!!! Our God is King over all things! He knows our every need and want! They didn't bring any maize or beans! Halelujah!

We put our faith in Him to give us food and He has! It didn't come from the wazungu but from the God of Heaven and Earth and Kenya and BIDCO and AMCC and us, His people! He is soo good and He is so faithful!

Other than that things are becoiming quite the routine. Sometimes when we finish washing clothes, Mark and I will help to hang them.

Mark by the way rocks my face off! He's the best partner in advancing the Kingdom of God I could have asked for in this situation. We're quite the team and I'm so excited to be here with him. He's so dang smart.

So things are pretty awesome here, except for one incident that happened three days ago. Our landlord's son, Steven drinks too much and seems to cause a lot of problems around Kimata. So on Sunday morning i was awoken by a woman screaming bloody murder. John beat me out of the locked gate in the back of AMCC only to find Steven mauling his wife with a hammer! We ran him off immediately. Mark and I inquired whether we should call the police but John said that Steven had gone to jail many times and had paid his way out because of corruption. This is the only violent thing that has happened around where we live. Please pray for Steven and his drinking problem and for peace with our landlord's family. And for wisdom in dealing with Steven as he is an aquaintence of Mark and me.

Steven's wife had minor wounds and I think she has left Kimata for a while. Alas, God is good and will bring justice! I hope to be writing another blog in about a week. And we're up to 8 followers! Thanks guys! You make this time writing blogs worth while! Till then...

Life Abundant for Mothers and Babies- sounds pretty good right?

I had a wonderful opportunity to tag along with nurses Shaune and Kath and Cindy and Katie as they provided health training and education to children and young adults in another part of aThailand along the border. I was kind of the "games and activities" girl and pulled from years of camp counseling to keep the kids' attention spans sharp!

FYI: Germ tag is going to start a Public health revolution!! I'll play with you any time and then get really excited to explain the microbial world to you!

IMPORTANT!! Stuff To Pray For!

John and Nancy, send their greeting to you all. Both of them, along with Mark and I, have decided to get together and pray for about 2 hours every morning! I have to admit this will be more than I've ever prayed before. At first I was wondering about what we could possibly pray about that would take 2 hours every morning. Well, here it is:

1. House Rent (for which we have no money. It's due in about a week!)
   
2. Sauce Pans (We only have one that doesn't leak and it's wearin away fast)
   
3. Healthy varieties of FOOD (Beans and maize, three meals a day, for three weeks so far w/ occasional fruit)
   
4. Funds for school exams
   
5. Clippers! (for the kids hair. Evidently having anything more than a shaved head is shabby)
   
6. Funds for cell phone use (for social and safety reasons. Remember we have no electricity)
   
7. Firewood (for cooking the food we have)
   
8. Gas for lanterns (especially important for praising, study and eating after 6:00)
   
9. Children's Neccesities (Lotion, toothpaste, laundry soap, bathing soap, shoe polish, t.p.)
   
10. For God to raise up partners, supportors and friends for AMCC
    
11. What to do with the income generating projects (chickens? rice fields? cows? small business?)
    
12. A Self-Sustaining Project (This differs from and income-generating project in that it is something done that may not make a profit but will cut costs instead)
    
13. Upcomming Fundraising Project! (this is mostly for food to last through the year)
    
14. LAND! LAND! LAND! (There seems to be so many possibilities if we only had some LAND!)
    
15. Replacement workers and volunteers for AMCC
    
16. Funds to pay replacement workers
    
17. John Muhika (specifically for his chronic back pain and for good relationship with his family who lives in another town due to children's educational need)
    
18. The enemies of AMCC
    
19. Against any spiritual enemy or power of darkness
    
20. Intimacey in relationship within and amongst the staff and children
    
21. Health for the children and staff (getting sick is a serious threat because there is no health fund)
    
22. Future school fees for the children going to high-school next year
    
23. Wisdom in setting up a bank account
    
24. Vehicle for AMCC
    
25. That Mark and I would be more of an asset to the community supporting AMCC rather than a detriment
    
26. Wisdom and direction in decision-making
    
27. Strenght in Unity, Patience, Faith and Love for each of us at AMCC
    

Please pray with us over any of these issues! I know there's a lot here so I don't expect any of you to pray for them all, but pick a few please! It means so much to pray and it's so good for us to be asking the Lord for His Kingdom to come together.

As the Lord answers these requests and petitions, I will be updating the blog. The Father is so good! Till then...