Hello friends!


It's been a while since my last update. Actually, this is the longest break I've taken from the blog since I started it. It's been great to be back home and it's going to be even better to settle down this week.


For those of you who are new readers OR just need a refresher:

Mark Dawson and I arrived back home this month from being in Kenya visiting Ah-gah-pay Mercy Children's Center. He was there for the first three months and I have been there for a little over 5 months. We went to develop a relationship with John and Nancy, two Kenyans who are running the orphanage. During our time spent there, they gained our trust and respect.



Bloom Church and Ancient Paths in Denver along with Grace World Outreach Church in Enid Oklahoma sent Mark and I. We had a major support group from various friends. Through these connections we raised enough money to start an income-generating project of mango harvesting. I left them almost a month ago with John overseeing the mango business.



NEWS
There's big news at AMCC, and unfortunately it's not all good. A few weeks ago the mango truck was in a serious wreck on it's way to deliver the load. The driver was drunk and hit a cemi-truck parked on the side of the road. The truck was laid over on its side. Because of the current situation of drought and poverty in Kenya, people didn't hesitate to take the mangoes which were spilled all over the road. The driver died shortley after the accident.



The loss of mangoes eliminated AMCCs only way of making income to pay for food. Fortunately a certain family donated $600 after hearing about the accident. This donation allowed AMCC to pay off their debts and buy food up to the 9th of September. John, Nancy and the kids were extremely thankful for the donation and it proved to be very encouraging to all of those at AMCC despite the recent tragedy.


In the meantime, here in the states, I have presented at Grace World Outreach and at Bloom Church about AMCC and my time there. I also got to meet back up with Mark Dawson, whom I hadn't seen in over 2 months! We talked about a gameplan and what the next phase will look like. Our major priority is to raise $25,000 dollars to establish a chicken house for AMCC. With this chicken house, AMCC will be able to pay for food, rent, school fees, medical bills, their own salaries and for much needed hired help.

Some of the other things we are involved in currently are:

1. Renewing and updating the official AMCC website
2. Setting up a bank account for donations
3. Establishing a safe and secure way to transfer funds when neccessary
4. Social networking and fundraising for AMCC
5. Presenting to groups of people that are interested in partnering with AMCC

As soon as we have the $25,000, one or both of us will go back to AMCC to ensure the building and implementation of the chicken project. Grace World Outreach has decided to set up it's own account specifically for the chicken project! Praise God for that!

Our friends at AMCC are all doing well and in good health (relatively). I'll be talking with John in the next few days and will be updating the blog again as soon as anything happens.

That's about all the new stuff at this point.

God is GOOD!

Unfortunately there's been a terrible accident with AMCC. The mango

Bloom Grace World Outreach
431 S. York St. 2502 W. Elm
Denver, Co 80203 Enid, Ok 73703

I'M BACK HOME!!! I know it's a bit of a surprise but there's good reason for me not announcing my leaving on the internet. Let me give you a brief rundown of how the last few days went at AMCC.

A week from yesterday, I invited people over who have been instrumental in sustaining AMCC for fellowship to show my appreciation before I left Kenya. John's parents came along with the Mutwangu's and Daniel and his wife, Virginia, the shop-owners and even the Asst. Chief. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel couldn't make it on Sunday but came the following day. Njau (pronuounced "jow"), the butcher, couldn't make it either but sent us some me at with his brother. In the picture above John's dad is sharing some words of encouragement and wisdom to me and the children, which each person had an opportunity to do. It was one of the most encouraging times in my life and nearly the entire time I was fightin back tears. All the kids ate a hearty meal with us in the courtyard. It was an awesome day. In this picture the kids are raising their hands in response to John's question of who wants to grow up to be a doctor and help people.

The next day when Mr. and Mrs. Daniel came over, the Mutwangu's came back as well. We had a great time together eating and enjoying fellowship. I was happy to see them all hanging out together. They spoke in their vernacular because the Daniels and Mrs. Mutwangu don't speak English. Even though I couldn't understand a word, I felt at home amongst family. I enjoyed just being there and knowing that these people saw me their son and brother. They spoke more words of encouragement and thanks to me and then prayed over me. They also gave me a bunch of pure Kenyan coffee and tea to take home with me!

I was to leave on Wednesday so I made sure I got up early to see the kids off to school. This is a picture of them holding my bags and saying good-bye. Before we let them go to school I told them i wanted one more hug and for me to pray for them. The next picture is of me praying a blessing over them and asking God to continue to provide for them as He has for the past two and a half years! He is so good and faithful!

We stopped back by John's parents house, whom I now consider my parents in Kenya, to say goodbye to 'mom' and to pick up 'dad' so he could escort me to the airport along with John and Nancy. Here we are in the bus from Nairobi to the airport.

It was two and a half looonnnggg days of travel with a night in the Dubai airport, getting about 4 hours of sleep and none on the 10 hour plane ride the next day to D.C. After another four hour flight to Denver and feeling the tiredness set in, I was pleasantly surprised by my wonderfully amazing and beautiful girlfriend who flew into Denver two hours before I got there! What a welcome home! To add to the excitement of seeing the people I love and miss so much, I got to go to Bloom Church last night and see those who laid hands on me and sent me out about six months ago. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Oklahoma where I'll get to see my precious family along with so many loved ones from Grace World Outreach.

I have to admit that it feels so good to finally be home! As far as "the mission" with AMCC goes; It's really just getting started! Don't think this will be the last blog by any means. There's still a lot to be done from here so stay tuned! And THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for reading this and for caring and praying with us as the Lord continues to bring the Kingdom!

Another site seen daily here in Kimata. These women are carrying napia grass to feed their cows at home.

Speaking of home, Nancy's back! Upon her return, she brought with her various types of food including maize, avocadoes, potatoes, tarrow root and beans! These were donated by her family. I asked her what the best thing about going home was. She said that fixing her parents kitchen, which was days away from being totally destroyed, gave her great joy. The kitchen, by the way, was made from mud and sticks. Though the new one isn't permanent either, it is a great improvement from what they had been using. Maggs and I were very happy to have her back after two weeks.

About Maggs, SHE"S GONE! All of us here at AMCC were sad to see her go, though no one as much as me. She gave a speach to the kids before she left and they all hugged her to the point of collapse.

However, before she could depart, we welcomed Barbara and Chris who had just flown in from Holland. Barbara is the missions director from Grace World Outreach. Chris is her cousin who leads a college-aged ministry in Arkansas. As soon as they got to AMCC we put 'em straight to work pickin beans! (Not really; John and Nancy are way to hospitable/Kenyan to do that. I was the one who had to initiate the bean-pickin.)

It was a bitter sweet couple of days. I was excited to see a mentor of mine (Barb) but sad to see Maggs go. Of course the kids gave Barbara and Chris and even Maggs and I a warm welcome when we arrived. It was a huge hug-fest! When they wrap their arms around you, they don't let go until you pry em off or you're on the ground.

Mark's parents sent us a package! Thanks guys! The spices were much appreciated! It's amazing how a few spices can change a meal entirely. They also sent some good books for the kids to read and some biblical and educational decks of cards.

In other news, Paulo, the youngest got chicken pocks! Or small pocks, I'm not sure. Anyway we're countin on all the kids getting them in the next couple of weeks. This will be kind of a bummer deal but I guess they all gotta go through it sometime. Please pray that the Lord would bring quick healing and finances for the medical bills.

Finances! We have delivered our first mango order! We got a profit of 10,000Ksh which will help AMCC not to be in such great debt. Because the system is a bit different than avocado harvesting, we'll have to wait a week before we get the check. We didn't make as much as anticipated but we've got about 6 and a half months to figure out how to increase profits.

Bloom church in Denver sent AMCC a couple of letters, which were super encouraging to the kids. In response, the kids will have the oportunity to draw or write something back the Bloom this Sunday. THANKS BLOOM! You guys rock!

This guy is Robert Quiring. Mark and I met him I think the 1st week we were here. He's from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma! Robert has been instrumental in my psychological well-being while in Kenya. To have another Okie around has been tremendously encouraging. He was in Kenya for about a year and has been involved with African Evangelistic Outreach. He's also opened up his place for Mark and I whenever we needed it. This pic was taken a few days before he went back home. I'm gonna miss ya Robert!

That's about all I know at this point. God is so good and faithful! May he lead our hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance!

I have been withheld from publishing a new blog post yet again until today. The reason this time, I won't give right away but you'll find out as you keep reading. This week I've taken pictures of what I've been doing from my standpoint in hopes to allow you to "see what I've been seeing" in a way. They are placed arbitrarily throughout this post because most of it is about one topic.

This boy's name is Dennis. Late Saturday night when most of the kids had gone to bed, Dennis and a couple others were finishing up with their kitchen duties. I was just entering my room when I heard Dennis scream and then yell, "to be burned". We hurried to put his foot in cold water to ease the pain. Evidently as he was scooping boiling water out of a large saucepan when it tipped over and poured on his foot.

After Maggie had nursed him, I took him to the hospital where he was admitted for three days. One of the doctors there became suspicious and was wondering why Dennis was working in the kitchen at all. He notified the Criminal Investigation Department, whereupon John was summoned and drilled with questions for nearly two hours.

At first I was kind of mad at the doctor for notifying the government, but later realized that he was doing what any good citizen would do who suspected child labor. The question arises, "Is there 'child labor' going on at AMCC?" To answer this question, we have to look carefully at what "child labor" means. One thing is for certain, no one is working here for any type of monetary compensation for any person, not even John and Nancy. The children are not involved in any type of money-making activity whatsoever. The "labor" they are involved with consists of: pulling their own water for laundry, bathing, and cooking; participating in general cleaning on Saturdays and keeping their dorms clean throughout the week; separating edible maize and beans about once every other week; and for the older ones, carrying out basic cooking duties about every third day.

This type of "labor" is comparatively lax when considered that the children at AMCC would be doing actual "child labor" or involved in the sex industry if they weren't here. Also, many children who live with their grandparents or single parents have the same chores, if not much more. In other children's homes in Kenya, children are working in fields harvesting after school and over the weekends. This however is not considered "child labor" because most schools have an agriculture program.

Also it would be a very different story if AMCC had the funds to give John and Nancy salaries or had some type of sufficient income. Obviously the most ideal situation is for AMCC to hire a cook, but currently that is impossible because of lack of funding. Hopefully, we'll be able to change that one day.

So John passed with flying colors with the Criminal Investigation Department. For each question asked, he gave very detailed descriptions and explainations. And after each question, he would ask if they needed further clarification. He's also the type of guy who wouldn't flinch in this sort of situation. He's very calm and collected and he always speaks the truth. However, they've given him "2 weeks to think about it". I'm not sure what this means. I think they're suggesting that John hire a cook or they'll shut him down, in which case they would be acting like the criminals for forcing these children to turn to child labor and the sex industry.

Why are they so harsh?, you might ask. I suspect that they think we (the white people) are paying AMCC and that John is withholding the money. There are not many things in this world that frustrate me more than ingnorance. Because from ignorance are concieved racism and prejudicism. But what can you do? Maybe I can have a chat with them, that'd be a hoot! Anyway, please pray about this situation because it is pressing and they don't seem to be messing around. God is good and He has a plan!

So guess who's got malaria!! This was the reason I wasn't able to write this until today. But today I'm thanking God because He has brought healing and I'm feeling great! For about three and half days I was out of commision and looked like this. Simultaneously with contracting malaria, the four and a half month span of eating getheri for most every meal caught up with me as well. Evidently I'm suffering from some "erosion" somewhere in the middle of my digestive track. All I know is that I was waking up at 3:30am with a lot of pain in what felt like my upper stomach. The doctor is telling me that getheri is out now, so I'll have to find other stuff to eat. I'm not entirely dissapointed but it will be a pain trying to always eat what no one else is. Because of this "erosion" in my digestive track and the malaria, this is a lot of what I was looking at last week each time I had to hurl. So while I pukin and loungin all day, Maggie has been a rock-star girlfriend and missionary. She jumped right in to doing everything from taking kids to the hospital, cooking almost every day, and traveling to about every village in our district. It's clear that God brought her at the right time.

I also promised John and Daniel that I would put up a post about Daniel (the shopkeeper next door) and his family. He has very much deserved some recognition. This is Daniel and his family standing in front of their small "duka" (shop). God has used this man and his wife numerous times for the sustainability of AMCC. They are just next door so any time we need salt, sugar, bread, tea, maize, beans, kerosine, phone credit, ...you name it, they have given without question. They've allowed AMCC to go into great debt in it's times of greatest struggle to keep the kids fed. The Lord has really used this man and his wife for countless blessings for AMCC. There's no doubt he deserves a shout out. I just hope he'll be able to see this picture one day.

OH YAH! I almost forgot to mention, WE GOT OUR FIRST MANGO ORDER!!! This is huge! We've been praying that the Lord would provide and He has heard our prayer! He is so faithful! Please please please pray that the Lord will bless John and his brother Bogwa as they put their hand to work in this business. We're hoping that the profits from this will be able to carry AMCC until we can establish a year-long self-sustaining project. God is so awesome!

There's more exciting news about next week, but I feel if I make the blogposts too long people will become board with reading them! So I'll let you know all about it in a week. Thanks for reading, careing and praying. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perserverence!

Nick

Friends! First I'd like to appologize for not updating my blog in about 3 weeks. A few things have happened which have kept me from doing so.

I've had some blogging complications that you will be recieving an e-mail about. The other reason is because for about 4 days Maggs and I went to climb Mt. Kenya! This was truly a blessing because we didn't think we would have a chance to do it.

Not much has changed here lately, except that Maggie and I have had a few days where we are the only two running the entire place. Thanks to the $100 that Grace World Outreach gave a couple weeks ago, Nancy has ceased the opportunity to go home for a break and bless her family with the money. This has been a long time coming. The last time she was able to go home was about 7 months ago. The Pastor is still working hard on the avocadoes and can spend some nights away from AMCC leaving Maggs and I to pick up the slack. Recently AMCC was blessed with avocadoes from some of our neighbors whose original avocado harvesters didn't show up. The children had a good time helping to collect them because the farms were so close.

Here at AMCC, and all of Kenya along with most parts of Africa, children are caned more often than those in the states. They seemed a bit more disciplined that most kids in the U.S. as well. It's very different for me culturally but I've become a little more used to it. I found that the children don't seem to feel oppressed or threatened by caning, however, Maggs and I have been instiuting some other ways of discipline. Here you can see David sitting on top of Jerald with their arms around each other. This was the consequence for their hitting each other. After a while sitting there, I asked them if they were brothers and if they loved each other. They both responded postively to each inquiry.

Njau the Butcher (pronounced "Jow") is a noteworthy person in our small sub-district. This man doesn't speak English but has a servant's heart that speaks louder than words. He owns this small butchery in Mukarara, a village that lies about 3 kilometers away from Kimata. When we have the money, we buy meat from him. He's always been faithful in allowing us to charge our cell-phones and any other electronical device for free. He plays a huge role in supporting AMCC in this way. He's also been super helpful for me to practice Swahili with.

Recently the rains have been scarce, forcing the children to hike to a nearby river to draw water. This is a picture of the kids hiking back up the side of hill with jugs full of water. None of them are fat.

The next picture is of a technique that John and Nancy use to get the children's attention when telling them something very important. You can see Nancy grabbing her ears as she tells the children to do the same. I know it looks a bit militaristic but don't worry, the kids are all laughing at this point.

This is another noteworthy person in Thika Town. Her name is Sho-sho (grandma) Victoria. She has a small shop in Thika where she sells a variety of fruits and veggies for a living. She loves the Lord and has always been an encouragement to Mark and I and helpful in supporting AMCC.

This man is Samual Mwangi. He deals with coffee in the area and has brought by a sample for us to ship to some friends in the U.S. The coffee that is bought in our region is going for about 25 shillings. The same coffee in the U.S. is being bought by 1200 shillings. Of course there should be a price gap from the famer to the consumer, but not a gap of 50 times the selling price. AMCC hopes to be able to buy the coffee from the farmers at a greater price than the Kenyan buyers. We're hoping this will give Kenyan farmers a hand in getting out of the cycle of poverty while helping AMCC pay the bills.

The last picture is of the four staff members walking to a celebration one Sunday afternoon. A lady that is a cousin of John was healed and the church she is a part of decided to celebrate by meeting at her house and eating together. I wish we did more things like this. The people here seem to have a cool spirit of thanksgiving. It was a great time hangin out with people who were so appreciative of the Lord.

The only other news is that we should be getting a mango order sometime next week. Please be praying that we can actually get the order and that all goes well with the new business venture. Nancy should have a few more days off befor her return. Also, pray that the Lord would give Maggs and I wisdom in how to love and discipline the children here while the Pastor and Nancy are out.

Mungu Akubariki!

GREAT NEWS! Both for me and for AMCC... Maggie is here! I'm so excited for her to be here, not to mention the kids. When we arrived late on Wednesday night, they were all waiting for us. As we walked in they went crazy with screaming, laughter, clapping and tons of hugs! I was proud of them for giving her such a warm welcome. I had them sing a song and do a few of their chants.


I have to give a shout-out to the Bannisters. Tim and Diane are neighbors from the north (Canadian) who have been in Kenya for about 20 years. They offered their home as a "refuge" for Maggs and I before we came back to AMCC. For me as a refreshing break from Kenyan culture and for Maggs as a transition from the Thai culture to the Kenyan. Now we're refreshed and ready to go.

We wasted no time in putting Maggs to work! The first day she was here we cleaned the maize for the kids to eat that night. She came right in the heart of it all (the experience that is). Tomorrow we'll have no more beans to eat so we're praying that God provides from the delivery of avocadoes that John is making today.

Here's a pic of us in our really cool aprons. She has inherited the one that Mark was using, which is appropriate because Mark's was marked with an "M". Haha, God knew all along she'd be here.

Yesterday I took Maggs to the Chief's Camp to meet him and the Assistant Chiefs of our area. This is a neccessity when a "stranger" enters the territory. The Chief must know who is coming and going in his territory. But before we went, Maggs needed to iron some of her clothes... Check this out. That's a fully metal iron, except for the handle, that we opened and put hot coals in from the fire! Neat deal.

Anyway, when we got to the Chiefs, we spent a few hours there. He was super hospitable, as are most Kenyans, and showed us his shamba (small farm) and took us to a nearby shop and bought us a soda. We sat in the sun and enjoyed "Bitter Lemon", a soft drink that tastes a lot like grapefruit.

On the way back we passed a school where the kids were just getting out. Talk about feeling like a celebrity. They had never seen a white woman before. They went crazy! They crowded around us and occasionally one would be brave enough to touch Maggie. When this happened they would all burst into laughter and excitement as the one who touched would run away. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture! Maggs did though and she'll put up a pic of it on her blog.

That night we went to watch the kids pull water at the well. Some of them were havin a good time seeing how many Stephen could carry on his back. Here you can see Euticus on the top and David sandwiched in the middle. This is usually a good time for the kids to practice acrobatics and horse around.

As far as news with AMCC, we've decided to switch to the mango business! Or at least we're gonna try. Bloom Church in Denver has agreed to pay the extra funds needed to continue. We feel like the return on investment is gonna be much greater and that harvesting mangoes will allow John to be back at AMCC more often. Currently we're waiting to hear whether the buyer is going to give us an order or not. Please be praying for this. If we can get into the line-up, the profits could take us easily into the next year.

Thanks for reading!