GUESTS AND MORE GUESTS @ 29 Jan 2009

I have not written in about a week because I have been covered up in guests! Ernie Hopper brought 16 high school seniors and 2 teachers to Turkana again this year. The school sends the students to various parts of Kenya for them to do a Cultural Field Study...CFS. While they were in my neck of the woods, we slept out in the village of Nakechichok for 2 nights; cut palm branches to help our church members close in the building; ate 2 goats and drank the blood from the roasted carcus; and wrapped up their time with a huge donkey BBQ at my house! It was an awesome time. They gather together as a school and share their testimonies. I was told my many teachers and parents today, this trip was special to many. The kids saw the people, not just the poverty...and they saw their faith. Some even gave testimony that my life there meant so much to them too. It is awesome for me to think that God can use some people in the middle of the desert and an ol' sumter county boy to be a blessing and an encouragement to so many. If God can use me, God can use ANYONE! I travelled back with the group on Tuesday to Nairobi. Chuck and Terry Fernandez came in Wednesday night. We have spent all day getting government paper work started, phones bought and activated, and money exchanged. There is still driver's licenses tomorrow and a few other things...but it is good to finally have them here. Please pray for them as they make the transition from America to Kenya. They will set up house in Eldoret for about 6-8 months while they learn Swahili. Sometime in the fall, they will move to Turkana and begin to help in the work there. In 3 weeks, 23 will come with Mac-Med to help with some medical clinics in Turkana. Pray for this team as well. Like I said, I am covered up in guests! Please pray for my skin. I have developed sun poisoning on my exposed skin. My left leg was the worst. It was swollen and throbbing. The doctors said that my body just can not take the heat of Turkana. I am calling that the lie that it is and am pushing on. I have recovered a bit but am still suffering with swelling and tenderness to the sun. Please pray for me. Also, many have expressed frustration in trying to log in to post comments to my journal. I am sorry it is not so "user friendly". You will need to choose a user name, give your email address, and pick a password. Once you submit that, you are registered. However, the program does not take you back to the journal...nor does it tell you that you have sucessfully registered. But you should be able to post a comment after that. If you still have problems, let me know and I will have my web guy help you. Thanks for loggin on and reading. Much love, Ekiru