Sharing Jesus Birthday

While I was in Kenya on Christmas Day, the newest addition to the Peterson family was coming into the world in San Diego. Kylie Noelani Peterson was born to my brother Sam and his wife Sally at 11:35 am on Christmas Morning. She was 7 pounds exactly and 18 1/2 inches long. I can't wait to see her!

Christmas in Kenya

After a busy December working with returning secondary students and our football club, it was time to get away and celebrate Christmas. Originally I was planning on spending a few days on Zanzibar Island out in the Indian Ocean with some friends. Unfortunately, those plans fell through and I was not able to go. At the last minute I started checking on-line for some flights home because I thought it was worth a shot in the dark to see if I can spend Christmas with family, especially since my sister-in-law was due to have their 2nd child. I was amazed to find a roundtrip ticket home for $700 and I started making my plans. I was so excited until I went to the final booking and realized that the taxes brought the ticket to over $1400. Oops. That was a little too much to spend for only 5 or 6 days at home. So I had to settle for going to Nairobi and spending Christmas with some friends there.

It turned out a little more difficult than I planned. I was riding on public transportation. Only ten minutes outside of Kisumu the police pulled the van over and said they didn't think the inspection sticker was real. So now it is the 23rd of December and I was joining thousands of other people in Ahero Police Station waiting around for an inspector to come and inspect our vehicle to make sure it is safe. It wouldn't be so bad if they consistently enforced these rules throughout the year, but they never do. They just pick out a day every now and then and decide to crackdown. Christmas doesn't seem like the best time of year to do that, but maybe my perspective is a little different. It was an enjoyable three and a half hours of doing nothing, but eventually the inspector came and told us what we already knew (that our vehicle was fine). What made it worse was that it delayed my arrival into Nairobi which then coincided with rush hour in addition to a storm that knocked trees into the middle of the road! Ugh!! Eventually I arrived at my friends around 9:00 pm (I had left Kisumu at 7:00 am).

It was a good Christmas. Vance and Kathy Ficek live in Karen on a compound with their daughter Tera and her husband Tom. They have separate houses in the same compound. Kathy is the principal at West Nairobi School while Tom and Tera also teach there. They welcomed me into their family and we enjoyed the holidays together. We had a lot of time to rest, relax, read, talk, eat, etc. My Christmas gifts were all food. Things like Pasta and Sauce, M & M's, Twizzlers, Instant Mashed Potatoes, etc. Not just food, but American food and easy to cook. Perfect. Couldn't have been a better gift for me since I am still learning to cook without having a fridge to store leftovers.

We enjoyed the time together. It was nice to be around an American family for Christmas and to have a little time away from Mbita.

Boys Growing Up

While the girls were competing in Kisii, the Suba Laker Boys were nearer to home participating in a junior tournament. They swept through their preliminary matches on Rusinga Island and I made it back in time to see them play in the semifinals and finals. They played good football, playing the ball on the ground and making good passes back and forth to get into scoring position. I was also impressed with their discipline when the referee was being unfair and when the other team was getting rough. They scored an easy 2-0 win in the semifinals and dominated the finals, though the 1-0 score doesn't necessarily paint an accurate picture. It was encouraging for them. The Rusinga Island fans weren't happy that we were taking the trophy away from the island and back to Mbita, but they had kind words to say about how our boys played and their character. They even asked me to share a word with all the teams and all the fans during the trophy presentation so I took the chance to talk about the way to eternal life through Jesus. It was dark by the time the boys accepted the trophy and walked it across the courseway back home to Mbita.

This December was the first time our CGA boys competed in football tournaments as a group. The holiday months (April, August, December) are difficult for teenagers in this area with many temptations that can derail their life. For orphan boys it is even more challenging. Once these boys reach puberty, their mothers or guardians have a tough time controlling them and the boys end up doing whatever they want; and that is not usually good for them. Several of them have realized this and took steps to making wiser decisions. It has been fun this December to see them involved with the remedial teaching at CGA and the football training and tournaments. Some of them have even volunteered to work at CGA when they have free time.

They had come to me and asked if they could form a team and have taken most of the work and responsibility themselves. When I asked them what name they wanted, they responded they wanted to be the Suba Lakers Boys, just like the girls. So when the girls win, they can also be a part of it.

It has made a dramatic change in several of their lives to stay busy with positive activities and to hold each other accountable this holiday. I know it will pay dividends in their academic performance next year and in their futures. They have showed good responsibility and have been very grateful for the opportunities they have received. (They are pretty good players too!)

Trophies on Earth and Trophies in Heaven

The weekend before Christmas we took our top girl footballers to Kisii to participate in a nationwide tournament. After the weak competition in Sindo earlier this month, we needed to face some better girls teams, but we got more than we bargained for. We looked great in some games and pathetic in others. I am still trying to find the reason behind our inconsistent play. Maybe we had too much to eat for breakfast, or they were intimidated because we talked highly of the other teams, or they were afraid after one of their teammates got injured and after an opponent broke her ankle, or maybe they were just ready for Christmas. Nonetheless we took third place with a convincing 5-0 win. The girls are always happy when we can bring a trophy home from a tournament, but I expect a little more. With the ending of one year and the beginning of another, it gives us a good opportunity to reflect on successes and failures and see what needs adjusting. Our club officials will take time to do that after the 1st of the year as we look ahead to what God is doing through our Suba Lakers Football Club.

The highlight of the weekend for me was an impromptu sharing of the Gospel on Sunday morning before our matches. One of the female teachers was leading us in a Sunday service when she put me on the spot. The Holy Spirit worked through me and I shared with the girls why God needed to send his only son to save us from our sins. I emphasized God's love for each of us and how nothing can separate us from His love. Several of our players were moved by the message and responded positively. That moment helped me to bring things back in perspective. I would accept poor play on the field every day as long as each of our girls would respond to the call of God on their life and surrender to Him!

A Week of Football

The Suba Lakers Football Club took three teams to Sindo this week to participate in a local tournament. They took a secondary school ladies team, a primary school ladies team, and a secondary school boys team for the first time.

The boys were all secondary students that are associated with Christ's Gift Academy. We felt like it was a good opportunity to keep them busy during the holidays and make productive use of their time. There are many talented boys that graduated from CGA so it was easy to put together a competitive team. Their team was captained by Festus Ochieng and Denis Omondi. They trained for a week before the tournament, but started slowly with a 3-0 loss to previous champions Olando. The next day they came back strong holding Roo to a 0-0 draw but were unable to advance to the knockout stages. It was a good beginning and hopefully it will continue to strengthen over time.

The girls trained for a couple of days before the Sindo Tournament. The talented secondary girls were shocked when their primary school counterparts blasted them 4-0 in a scrimmage. Our young girls have really improved as individual players and have bonded as a team throughout the monthly trainings this year. As we had predicted, there wasn't much competition from other local ladies teams. Both teams breezed through the competition without a loss, routing most of their opponents. The tournament organizers allowed us to face a junior boys team in the final. So we combined our two teams to face the boys. These boys weren't "juniors" though. They were big and fast, probably the same age as most of our girls, or older. The stadium was filled to capacity and the fans had never seen a match pitting girls against boys in football. Very quickly the spectators jumped on our bandwagon, amazed to see the girls take the ball from the boys and dribble around them. The girls fought hard throughout the first half which remained scoreless. In the opening minutes of the 2nd half Pauline Aoko controlled a cross and fired a hot shot that bounced off the goal post and Caren Akeyo missed the rebound shot. The crowd was shocked that the girls almost moved ahead of the boys. In the end, strength and speed won out as the boys scored two 2nd half goals. But it was a great exhibition and opened the eyes of many people around the area as to how strong girls can play football. It was also a good test for our girls to increase their strength, speed and toughness.

So our two teams received prizes as the champions and runners-up. It was a good week, but challenging. Driving back and forth to Sindo for five days with 30-40 players, taking care of their lunches and other needs. We would meet at CGA early each morning to distribute uniforms and talk with the players, then we would arrive back after dark each night and try to get all the players to their homes where they were staying. But it was good preparation.

The girls will be returning this week on Thursday for two days of training and then we leave on Saturday for a strong 2-day tournament in Kisii against some higher level ladies competition before taking a break for the holiday season.

Christmas Celebration

The CGA family celebrated Christmas today. After closing the school year last week, all of the students returned for the morning's festivities. The secondary school students that had returned from their various schools led the program. They enjoyed a nice breakfast before assembling in the big hall. They started with some singing and then a skit about the real meaning of Christmas. Several students read from the Bible about the birth of Christ and why God sent him to Earth. A few of the students shared some encouragement with the others. Before they left, each student was blessed with a shoebox full of toys, candy and other gifts that were sent by Samaritan's Purse.

It was a good occasion that helped them to understand the reason we celebrate Christmas. The ultimate gift was God sending his own son to die for our sins so that we may have eternal life.

Christianity?

Visiting Mfangano Island this weekend opened my eyes to the level of Christianity in many places in Africa. Many dedicated church goers here still hold to their African customs and culture. For example a man comes home from church to his polygamist home. From my perspective it is so strange to call yourself a Christian and have 2 or 3 wives. Other Christians will still go to a herbalist or witch doctor with their problems. Which begs the question, "What do you really believe in?" To me it is all or nothing. You are either living you life for Jesus or you are not. I like to think in black or white though it is not always that easy. It is even hypocritical for me to say that since I don't always place Christ #1 in my life.

Many people in this area still see Christianity as a European or American thing. As a missionary (from America) that is not an easy stereotype to overcome. A big part of our job is helping people to understand that God is over everything and that we should allow him to lead us and guide us in our life. A relationship with Jesus should affect every area of our life. It is not a once a day or once a week relationship.

The Maui of Lake Victoria

Friday morning I set off for Mfangano Island. I brought along a couple of our football players, Dorine and Phenny. Our goal was to visit the home of three of their teammates. I have coached these girls for a couple of years now and they have always begged me to visit their home, but I never have so this was the time. After getting the soles of my tennis shoes fixed and ready for hiking we arrived at the beach before 8:00 and the touts for the different boats clamored to get us to board theirs. After climbing in the big wooden boat we sat in the sun for about an hour waiting for the boat to fill up before departing. I found an old friend in the boat that we sat by and were able to get caught up on each other's lives. Only one of the families actually knew that we were coming, so we were hoping we would be able to find the other two. Luckily, once reaching Sena beach on the island, we ran into one of the girls (Pauline) we were coming to visit. She was actually getting ready to leave for Mbita to attend a burial, but she was so happy to see us coming to her home that she changed her plans. She led us through the bush and up the mountain to the top of the island where there is a plateau called Soklo. It was a vigorous two hour hike with some breathtaking views of the lake and the surrounding islands.

The family greeted us warmly as Pauline's mother quickly grabbed a chicken that wandered into their house and began preparing lunch. Pauline and her brother showed us around their former primary school and some of the other local places such as "network" which is named that because it is the only place in the area that has cell-phone coverage. Her parents are elderly and do some small scale farming to earn a living, mostly from maize, casava and potatoes. The father has two wives and 11 children, but 5 of those have already passed away. Pauline's older sisters were all married after finishing 8th grade so she is attempting to be the first girl in their family to get a High School education. With my player, Dorine, translating for me, I shared with the family about God and explained the importance of putting Him 1st in your life, and described the value of education and what we are trying to do with our football club.

We were able to spend around three hours with the family before we had to set off on the remainder of our journey. This time the hike was a little easier since we were going down more than up, though we were already tired when we started because of the morning hike. It took over two and a half hours to reach Uozi, the home of Leah. We were happy to see her big smile as she took us in the house so we could finally sit down and rest. There wasn't much energy left in us that night; only enough to take a splash bath and eat a hearty meal. We went to bed early. The next morning we hiked down to the lake shore. It isn't very far away, but is is bit steep and rocky climbing down to it and there were swarms of lake flies after the rain had come that night. We were able to see the garden Leah's brother has started with cabbage, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables. We spotted a few monkeys that were trying to enjoy the garden too. Leah's friendly personality draws lots of friends which was easy to see as we walked through the small center on the way to the road. I got to meet her headteacher and discuss her academic progress with him.

Afterwards we boarded some motorbikes and raced to Mauta to see Dorothy and her family. When we reached they were still in church (Seventh Day Adventist), but were excited to see us. The father kept saying that he had planned to come to Mbita in the next week to talk with me. He couldn't believe that I would come all the way out to the island. He took us through the bush to his home and introduced us to his two wives and Dorothy's five sisters and one brother. We hiked down to the lake. It was a beautiful view of the lake with Remba Island in the distance. We sat by the seashore with our feet in the water, talking and enjoying the view. We went back up and took some tea and ate some mandazzis. Dorothy is the girl that we had taken last month to Kisumu to get fitted for hearing aids. She has been hearing impaired her whole life, but now is able to hear through the aids.

The family was disappointed that we couldn't stay the night and that we had to leave quickly because the last boat was coming through. They insisted that we had to plan another trip to come back and spend the night. We didn't get a chance to talk enough about Dorothy and her hearing issues and how it affects her education and her future. We hope that we can go back soon with my speech therapist friend to discuss the best way that we can help her.

While we were sitting outside their house, we saw the last engine boat taxi going by without stopping at the local beach. We had to quickly make our way to the road and find a motorcycle taxi to beat the boat to the next beach so we could travel back to Mbita. Fortunately we made it in the nick of time and were able to reach safely in good time.

Thanksgiving- Mbita Style

Thanksgiving Day was a pretty typical day for us, but at the end of it I shared a great meal with my neighbors and fellow missionaries, the Cochrans. The traditional turkey was replaced with the readily available fresh fish from Lake Victoria so we enjoyed some great fish fillets along with mashed potatoes and cabbage. Delicious! Before eating, we sat down and each shared five things we are thankful for. Mine were:
1) great neighbors (Steve helped to fix up my new house and Judi cooks great meals)
2) my new house
3) a nice, reliable vehicle
4) the chance to be involved with sports by coaching the girls football team
5) an incredible family back home that is always supportive

More Pictures

Walk-in closet is big- almost as big as the bedroom itself

I had a big bed made in hopes that sometime in the next couple of years I will have someone to share it with. It pretty much takes up the whole bedroom.dishwashing station outside Bathroom- pretty handy to be able to use the toilet and the shower at the same time!

Inside My House

Sitting Room

Another picture of the sitting room

Cooking Station

Pantry
pantry

My New House

I have finally moved into my "new" house next to Steve and Judi Cochran on Thursday, November 5th. I have been praying about it since early September when I found out my rent in ICIPE was increasing 50%. I had looked at several places, but quickly realized it was difficult to find a quality place in Mbita. Steve has been a huge blessing to me as he helped to bring plumbing to the house so that I have a water tank, toilet, shower and sink. He also helped me install a couple of 60 watt solar panels on the roof which are strong enough to charge my laptop, power my TV and give me electricity in every room. It is about the perfect size for a single guy like me. I have a nice size sitting room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen area. I love the fact that I now have my own yard,. It is also considerably closer to school. I will miss my 30 mintue walk to and from school each day, trekking through the community and greeting people along the way, but it is also nice that I can make it to school in less than ten minutes. My walking commute has been cut by twenty minutes each way. What am I going to do with all my extra time now?

I have to admit I was a little hesitant at first about leaving my home for the past six years in ICIPE. We had many modern covenciences inside that compound including 24 hour electricity, hot water, plumbing, good security, internet access, television stations, refrigerator and a totally furnished apartment. But the rent had just gotten too high for this area. It didn't seem like a wise decision to continue paying that much money for a place to live. As the days go on, I feel more and more excited about my decision. I was in a bit of a comfort zone and so it feels good to change my daily routine and be stretched a little in some areas. It will be a savings for me and free up my budget a little more for other things, including being a blessing to others. It will also give me more community especially being close to Steve and Judi. We are sharing the same front gate and the same compound, though our houses are separate. Several of my close friends had moved out of ICIPE in the last 2 years so I was feeling a little isolated there.

I am still adjusting to the cold showers and not having a fridge to store leftovers or keep certain "luxury" items (like cheese). My internet modem through a cellphone company has bee really unreliable which is frustering. God remains faithful throughout everything. I am thankful for how he has answered my prayers and provided everything that I need.

Enjoy a couple of pictures of the outside of the house. And yes, that is a basketball hoop on the side of the house. Steve installed it for his daughters to use, but I think I will also be getting some use out of it, as well as some of the other kids. I will try to post some pictures of the inside of the house in the coming days.

Time to Celebrate

CGA's 8th grade class finished their national exams Thursday morning and celebrated the special occasion with an overnight party. The exams had begun on Tuesday with Math, English, Cand Composition. On Wednesday they took exams in Science, Kiswahili and Kiswahili Composition. Finally, Thursday they took an exam with 60 Social Studies questions and 30 Christian Religous Education questions (mostly from the Bible). Except for the compositions, all of the other exams are mutliple choice ones in Primary School. They were sitting their exams at the same time as about 800,000 other 8th grade students throughout the country of Kenya. The students feel very good about how they performed on their exams and their teachers are very confident that their results will be good. They will have to wait until the end of December to see the outcome. Then, in January, they will find out which secondary schools they will be selected to attend.

As is tradition at CGA, the 8th graders hosted an overnight party on the final day of exams. They did all the planning and organizing of the party which included roasting a goat and preparing a nice meals for their invited guests (mostly teachers and CGA staff) and even buying presents and making cards for their teachers. After the excellent meal they presented the gifts and cards and then had a short time for speeches which were hard to hear because of the rain pounding on the roof made of iron sheets. The group then moved to the office to play some games and watch a movie (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). Around 2:00 am everybody went up to the field for a bon-fire. Around the fire, the group sang songs, prayed and had a time for testimonies when several students shared what God had done in their lives. Then they watched another movie (Prince Caspian) before the closing sermon and clean-up after daybreak. It was a memorable night for the 8th grade students and staff at CGA.

Please remember these children in your prayers as they anxiously await their results. Pray for their success and for the future schools they will be selected to attend. The December holidays are a challenging time when many of these 8th grade students across the country get off track. They stay so focused and busy in the months leading up to their exams and so it becomes difficult when they are finished. They now have much time on their hands and they feel they are old and sometimes begin experimenting in negative activities. Pray that our kids will fill their time with positive activities like spending time with God, helping around the house, helping at school and church, playing sports and preparing themselves for the next step in their lives.

After an entire night of celebrating a jumped on the ferry and then rode the bus to Nairobi. I made it in time to watch the last three quarters of the International Schools High School Girls Basketball final in which Steve and Judi's daughter, Bea, was playing in. Unfortunately they lost a close one, but I was happy to get my first chance to watch her play. Saturday we drove out with Steve, Judi and Jenny to Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe and watched their production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We travelled back to Mbita on Sunday to prepare for the end-term exams at CGA.

Survivor Island

On Sunday, I went with the chairmen of our girls football club, Paul Onudno, to visit Ngodhe Island. One of our girls from the football club lives on this remote island behind Rusinga Island. We took motorbike taxis across the man-made bridge to Rusinga Island and then waited at the beach for about an hour and a half for a boat to take us across. The small, old wooden motor boat left a lot to be desired with numerous leaks allowing water to flood in. We were forced to use buckets to scoop the water out of the boat so that it wouldn't capsize. The journey was only about thirty minutes with some light showers to keep us cool. The island could be the poster island for Survivor except that it is inhabited by about 300 people. It is very green and bushy with three big peaks jetting out of the lake

We were greeted on the beach by Caren (the player) and her family who quickly ushered us in the house to do the official introductions and treat us to a big soda and share some beans and chapatis together. After lunch Caren took us on a short tour of the island and the school where the 70 kids from the island get their education. I am amazed by the challenges these young people face. The nomadic fishermen are quick to offer the young girls money in exchange for sex. A few years ago every single girl except one in the upper primary school had dropped out before reaching the end of 8th grade because of pregnancies. The locals finally brought changes to the school to stop this. They now keep the older students in school at night and they even sleep there five nights a week to keep them away from the beaches and the fishermen. The academic performance has increased dramatically and fewer girls are getting spoilt by the fishermen.

My heart really goes out to these young people. If they can survive and succeed in those kinds of situations, it will require the hand of God. I am happy that our football club is able to keep some of these girls busy with positive activities, develop their talents, encourage them in their decision making and give them a hope for a better future!

Blossoming Youngsters

On Saturday I went with our Orphan Overseer, Lillian, through Ruma National Park, deep into the bush in Gwassi Constituency. There are four former CGA students who we placed in two different schools out there. Three of them were siblings who had a pathetic home situation where they were being put into danger each and every day. For their survival and well-being we were forced to find them a new home. The other was a boy who was very mischevious when he was younger, but had tried to change. Because of his past behavior the other students in school always looked at him in a certain way. This made it impossible for him to succeed at CGA. He needed a fresh start and a new beginning. All four have blossomed in their new homes and schools and are being well taken care of. They now have a hope for a good future. It was fun seeing them. They all came running to greet us and were eager to tell us good reports of what is happening in their lives and show us around. We didn’t get to spend much time with them, but at least we encouraged them and prayed for them before leaving. We were forced to rush faster than we wanted because of the rains that were threatening. If it rains, then those roads in the bush become impassable which would have left us stranded. On the way home we were also able to visit two of our secondary schools and spend some quality time with them. It truly a blessing to see the way God is working in some of these young peoples' lives.

Road Adventures

We had postponed our football club's training weekend from this weekend to next weekend, but apparently several of the parents/guardians didn't relay that message to their children. As I was coming home Friday I ran into several players who had travelled far to come for the weekend. It was getting late and the rain clouds were rapidly approaching so I couldn't just tell them to walk back home (10 miles away) or put them on the back of a motorbike which could get stuck in the mud. Instead, I ran home and got my vehicle and embarked on an adventure. We reached the first place with no problem, but on the way to the second place we found a bus stuck in the mud on the road. We were able to squeeze by it with my four wheel drive but I was worried that if another vehicle got stuck there, then nobody would be able to pass and I would be trapped and not able to reach home. Sure enough, after dropping the players, I returned to the same spot where there were now around ten vehicles waiting because a fuel tanker had joined the bus stuck in the mud.

I stopped and got out to assess the situation. The fuel tanker was sideways, but not stuck too deep and just needed a push to get out. There were over 40 villagers watching the "show" but all of them were refusing to help push because the driver wasn't offering any money. I passed the time by striking up conversations with some of the villagers and other drivers, including some German tourists.

Finally after about a half hour they helped to push the vehicle out just as it was getting dark. We passed through easily and as we approached Mbita the German tourists stopped us to ask directions to a certain guest house where they had reservations. I found a local boy to escort them, but on arrival they quickly realized it wasn't a safe or comfortable place to stay. They asked if I could help them find something better so I brought them to Safari Village, but the problem was they had shut down for the night because there were no guests and it was late. They had to call their employees back in and prepare for guests. We enjoyed a nice Fanta orange and good conversation while waiting. Finally after they were well taken care of, I reached home past 9:00 pm. Definitely not the afternoon I had planned, but a good adventure nonetheless.

The Blind Shall See

Here is the second of Dave's two God Stories from his time in Kenya (once again in his own words).

"The blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
those that have leprosy are cured,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the good news is preached to the poor."
Matthew 11:5

I went to the first day of clinic and there were maybe one or two people with the complaint of not seeing very well, but I didn't realize that we had brought any glasses along. At the end of the first day, I walked through the little pharmacy area to see what medications we had a lot left of and review the medicines we had left to give out for the following days. It was then that I discovered we had brought five pairs of glasses. Two of them were prescription glasses, two of them were sunglasses, and the final pair was a thick pair of coke bottle looking glasses with weird yellow writing all over them. There was an L on the left and an R on the right and there were circles and lines on both lenses. The lines could not be removed. I remember making fun of the glasses and putting them on. Others laughed at how funny they looked on me. I didn't think there was any chance that anyone could possibly use them or even more so be caught wearing them. I wondered what kind of joke it was that these had been sent along. I put them back in their case not thinking much more of them.

Late in the afternoon the following day I had a patient come to me with the complaint of not being able to see further than a foot past her face. I didn't notice it at first but when I put my penlight up to examine her eyes I was surprised to see that her left eye did not have a pupil. She told me she had surgery many years ago and she had lost her sight in that eye. The eye was left deviated inward slightly. Her right eye was normal on exam but had minimal vision. So I told her we had five pairs of glasses and I would go get them to see if any of them would improve her vision. To my disappointment when I found the glasses there were only two pairs remaining. One pair of sunglasses and the bizarre coke bottle spectacles. I picked up both pairs and then had a glimmer of hope. This lady had terrible vision and this funky pair of glasses was nearly a centimeter thick. This could work!

I had her put on the crazy glasses and instantly she swung her arms out to the side and said, "I can see!" My translator, Joy, and I sat there somewhat stunned and quizzical thinking in our minds that this couldn't really be true. Joy even grabbed a box of gloves that were sitting on my exam table and held the box about three feet away from the patient and had her try to read the writing on the box. I didn't understand her words as they were spoken in Kiswahili but Joy could understand them and excitedly exclaimed, "She can see!"God can do miraculous things in hopeless situations!

Upon returning home, I received an e-mail from one of the SC teammates. It told the rest of the story. She told me that a patient of hers had given her the glasses to take along. When she saw her patient upon returning to the states she told him the story of the young woman who was in desperate need of glasses and the whole story about me and her and how she praised God when she could see. He then proceeded to tell her the story behind those glasses. The glasses had belonged to his severely mentally handicapped 46 year old sister. He said he did Google earth, got out this big map of Kenya, zoomed in on Mbita, explained to her what a missionary is, and what we were doing there. She wanted to be a part of it so she donated her glasses! The markings were all done by the Optometrist to help communicate to her while he was trying to figure out if her vision was changed and to assess if they were working because it is so difficult to communicate with her. The man said his sister would be thrilled to hear that she had helped in her small way by donating her glasses.

Once again, I am speechless and humbled. All praise, glory, and honor be to our God!

The Deaf Shall Hear

My best friend from college, Dave Brost, served on the medical team that visited CGA a few weeks ago. This is a post from his blog...

Have you ever just stood in awe of how mighty God is and proclaimed that it could only be God alone who works all things out in His way? Every now and then we get to be participants in these stories.

"The blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
those that have leprosy are cured,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the good news is preached to the poor."
Matthew 11:5

This is the story of my favorite patient during my time in Kenya. Her name is Anna.

I first met Anna at the end of the first day of clinic. She was my second to last patient. Her triage sheet showed that her chief complaint was, "Not being able to hear out of the right ear since she was two years old." Anna was now seven. She couldn't speak English nor could her mother. So through the interpreter her mother explained that she could hear good out of her left ear but not the right. She had no pain or drainage from the ear. Looking through my otoscope I examined the ear and could immediately tell that something was wrong. My initial impression was that there was a beetle like bug in the ear canal. Usually I don't clean the wax out of patients' ears because it can be a long process and we didn't have the best equipment available. However, since she seemed to have a foreign body in the ear I thought there was a better chance for removal. I had her lay down and I placed ear wax removal drops in her ear for about 15 minutes while I saw my last patient. I returned and flushed her ear with water using a suction bulb. I also had a small soft tool for wax removal. Unfortunately after about 20 minutes of working there wasn't any change in how her ear looked and nothing was able to be removed. Fortunately it didn't cause her any discomfort. I had her go home with an ear wax removal kit and instructions to put the drops in her ear 4 times a day. She was to return in two days.

That night I thought about Anna and the other possibilities about what might be going on in her ear. I wondered if this could be some type of tumor such as a cholesteatoma. If that were the case it would probably not be advisable to be digging in her ear.

Anna returned to the clinic two days later. I put the drops in her ear again and had her lay down just as the time before. This time when I first examined her ear I could tell that there was something black at the very entrance of her ear canal. Excitedly I scooped it out and recognized it as some type of small black seed. Immediately I was relieved that this was a foreign body and not a tumor! After a few more ear washes a second seed came sliding out.

I hoped that this would have solved the problem. However, when I re-examined the ear I could tell that it was still abnormal. I could not distinguish if there were more foreign bodies or if she had a very abnormal eardrum. I flushed several more times with no success and most disappointing was the fact that she could not hear any better. At this point I was discouraged but did not want to give up hope. I had her leave again with the same instructions to come back on our last day in clinic. I kept thinking about Anna through the next couple of days wondering even if I could remove all of the material from her ear canal if she would be able to hear anyway. The thought came up that this could have possibly been some type of witch doctor treatment to put seeds in the ear. Maybe she couldn't hear to begin with and this was suggested as a possible treatment. If that was the case, all of this work would have been in vain.

Anna returned as the last patient on our last day of clinic. The ear had not changed upon examination. I flushed the ear several times and attempted to remove material from the ear with my tool again. After another 15 minutes there were no results and I had resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to fix her hearing. I was more convinced that this was a much bigger problem than just some seeds in the ear. I discussed with her and her mother the possibility of being able to see an ENT doctor at one of the larger cities in the area in hopes that they might offer some further insight. Just prior to leaving we decided to flush the ear one last time. To my utter amazement and only by the grace of God this time it worked! A small piece of brown material began to exit the ear canal. I scooped it out and recognized it was half of a bean. Amazing!

I looked in the ear canal and saw it to be completely clear. I could see the ear drum completely and it looked relatively normal. I began to test her hearing by rubbing my fingers together near her ear and she pulled her head away as it seemed incredibly loud to her. She and her mother confirmed that she could hear and were overwhelmed with joy.

What an amazing God we serve!

A Whole New World

My friend Jenny in Nairobi alerted me a few days ago that there was a team of ear doctors coming to Kisumu this week. One of our teachers at CGA has a nephew named Ian who contracted meningitis before the age of one and hasn't been able to hear anything since that time. He is now eight and in 1st grade at a special school for deaf and mute children. Along with Ian, there is a 15 year old girl from Mfangano Island who is in our football club. I have coached Dorothy for around three years now. She is not totally deaf because she can hear some sounds like when I clap at her, but she is severely hearing impaired.

We were able to get Dorothy to travel by boat to Mbita this week. So this morning we went across on the ferry with both of them and travelled to Kisumu. We met a team of 16 ear doctors who greeted us with warm smiles and began examining the kids immediatley. Within an hour, they were both fitted with new hearing aides! When Dorothy first arrived, she was amazed to see hundreds of school children who had trouble hearing. Being from the island, she had only met a couple of people in her whole life who had hearing problems like her. She felt good to know that she wasn't so different!

The minute that they fitted Ian's ear with a hearing aide and someone stood behind him and spoke, the little boy's face just lit up with a smile from ear to ear. A few minutes after getting her aides, Dorothy commented that she could hear what everyone around her was saying. When she walked into the supermarket she started complaining that the noises were too loud and had to turn the hearing aides down.

It was a whole new world that neither of them had ever experienced! What a blessing to be able to be with them during this special day.