We are blessed!

Deuteronomy 28
2"All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: 3"Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. "

God is blessing us in this place in such an amazing way. After rounds at the hospital this morning, it was a day off. We took a long walk through the Kenyan countryside. We walked alongside the cattle being brought to the river for watering. Women were collecting their water and doing the wash. Children were bathing naked downstream from the waterfall. At home as we were taking the laundry off the clothesline we were blessed with this beautiful double rainbow! My heart grows fonder and fonder of the people and this place.

The kids had a much different experience today as Hunter explains below:

We mudded a hut today! I can now check that off my bucket list. We took two vans of our other short-term friends and drove about 20 minutes out. Although it was a short ride, it felt much different than where we live at Tenwek. There were mud huts, tea farms and Kenyans who had never seen white people before. As soon as we got out of the vans, Kenyan children appeared from nowhere. They followed us, laughing and repeating everything we said. 

The 'Mudding Group'

The mud hut was already built, but there are five layers to it and we were working on the third layer. We first had to make the mud. There were five other Kenyan women helping us mud the hut. They were neighbors and friends of the man we were mudding it for. The women were bent over with hoes, tearing up grass and exposing dirt. The next step was to pour buckets of water onto the dirt piles as the women continued to break it up. Then came the fun part. We took off our shoes and jumped in. With the mud almost up to our knees, we tried our best to stomp on it. An assembly line was formed to make the work go faster. A couple of women gathered the mud and then passed it to each person along the first wall on the outside of the hut. For about five hours straight, I grabbed armfuls of mud and slapped it on top of the rough and cracked layer. We had to actually throw it against the wall! We also had to make sure the mud was thick enough for it to stick on the wall, and so our hands wouldn't get torn up as we smeared the mud upwards to smooth it out.

We did all four sides of the hut on the inside and the outside. The inside was difficult because it was extremely dark. There were only two very small windows that let almost no light in.

The whole atmosphere was wonderful though. It was never quiet, although we were all working hard. If you were to stand by and watch, you'd hear us laughing and joking with the other Kenyan women. They knew very little English, but body language and facial expression are powerful!

We took a chai break around noon, but still never sat down. 

Chai time!

Hours later, when we finished the mud layer, we gathered inside the hut to sing a song and pray a blessing over the home. We never stopped working until we had a late lunch of rice and beans at 3 p.m. We went to a neighbor's house to eat. They made 20 pounds of rice! It was here that we met the man we were mudding the hut for. We found out that he is a father of four children and his wife recently passed away. He is very poor and cannot support his children. We were able to eat with him and encourage him. In the normal Kenyan style, each man (the head of the household) stood up and said a few words. Since my parents didn't come, I was the lucky winner to represent my family!

Mudding the hut was an incredible experience! The van ride back was silent because of how tired we all were! I'm not sure how many people can say that they've mudded a hut in Africa :). Not only that, it was an honor and a joy to bless David, the man who we did it for.


Thank you for continued prayers- they are blessing us richly.

Chase