We send our warmest greetings from Kijabe! It is summer time here and we are enjoying beautiful weather with the occasional rain, so it’s much more pleasant than the drought we were experiencing this time last year. We have lots of good news to share and hope you enjoy reading about everything that has been happening.
First off, we want to send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated books, time and monetarily for the library project. There are thousands of books that have been donated and the boxing process has begun, preparing those books for their international journey. Every book that has been donated will be cherished and appreciated by the community here and we are so grateful for the generosity shown by so many brothers and sisters in the US. Praise the Lord for providing international ocean shipping through Samaritan’s Purse! A medical container headed to another hospital in Kenya had extra room, so we got permission to add our boxes of books. The container is located in North Carolina, and loading begins in May. More good news: the project plans have been approved for the renovations at the church building, so we will start cleaning up the library space soon! The to-do list is long and we have many locals in the community that we will be hiring to help get the library ready. We are excited to provide work for local craftsmen, as well as see the library space start to come together. (Many pictures will be forth-coming as we start the renovations.)
We are in the last week of the second term of our Preschool Co-op class. It has been so encouraging to see our 7 students growing and learning together. We have such a sweet class and it has been a joy to work with them. I have been so blessed to have 4 other moms help with the teaching/assisting for class times. It has been a wonderful way to build a community of moms with different backgrounds, all coming together with the purpose of enriching the experiences of our young children. Last week, we had a field day with the students. Since it’s summer here now, we had lots of water games and were able to spend our entire class time outside enjoying team sports and encouraging one another. Henry is enjoying school at the Rift Valley Academy and has even gotten to present in church a few times with his class and other elementary students. Since RVA operates on a 3 term school schedule, Henry is looking forward to finishing up this week and having a month long break before term 3 starts.
A few weeks ago, Bryce had the opportunity to attend several days at a PAACS conference held about an hour away. All of the incoming PAACS interns were there, along with many long-term surgical faculty. He loved getting to interact with and learn from this esteemed group of people. It was a great experience hearing stories from different mission hospitals around Africa. He also attended the Saline training course, a course designed to help healthcare providers integrate their faith into their clinical practice. Many people from Kijabe participated in the course, emphasizing the commitment of the staff to placing spiritual care at the center of the hospital’s mission. On the specialty surgical skills day, Bryce taught flexible nasolaryngoscopy, the head and neck exam, and mandibular wiring to the interns, almost all of whom will not have ENTs at their hospitals.
Prayer Requests and Praises:
- Prayers of thanksgiving for how the Lord is providing for the library project. We are so grateful for those in the US helping spearhead the book collections and organization. Please pray that the transportation of the books goes smoothly and that we can complete the renovations in the church without incident.
- Please pray for the doctors strike that is happening in Kenya right now. The funds from the treasury have not been released by the government for the interns to start working and the doctors are striking until the funds are supplied. (These interns have been waiting since December to be placed in hospitals. The hospitals need their help and the interns need jobs!) This means many patients across the country are having to seek out the doctors that aren’t striking to take care of their immediate needs. The clinics in private hospitals, like Kijabe, are becoming much busier and many people without the means to travel to these hospitals will go without medical care. Please pray for the funds to be made available so the interns can begin working and that the strike will end soon and peacefully.
- I am in my 7th month of pregnancy and we are starting to get prepared for the arrival of our baby girl. Please pray for the pregnancy to continue smoothly and for a safe delivery at the end of May. I have a wonderful OB and plan to deliver at a large hospital in Nairobi.
- Unfortunately, our family has seemed to catch every respiratory virus and GI bug that has been going around for the past 3 months. If you could please pray for our health, we would greatly appreciate a break from illness.
- RVA is searching for teachers for next school year. Right now, they are in need of two elementary school teachers and an elementary principal as well as several other teachers and staff members in the upper grades. If you would be interested in knowing more about this, please reach out and I’d be happy share additional information. Please pray that individuals would feel led to come work with the missionary children as their parents serve both here in Kijabe and all across the continent.
We would be honored to pray for you, too! Please reach out to us anytime; we would love to hear from you!
Blessings and many thanks,
Mary Beth and Bryce
Kenya Hear 