We are entering into our last 2 weeks here in Kijabe before we head back to Texas for our home assignment. The last few months have been a whirlwind. Shane’s parents just got here this weekend for Hannah’s graduation week after next. We are so thankful they were able to make the long journey out here despite some recent health problems. We also had a visit from our friend Cathleen and her daughter AnnaKate a few weeks ago, which was a total treat. Hannah is away on her senior trip to the coast and will be back next week. Mia is preparing for her finals and enjoying her last few weeks with her RVA friends. Moses is looking forward to finishing 3rd grade and moving onto 4th!
Shane’s latest trip with Sports Friends was to Tanzania to meet with 3 different denominations to lay the groundwork for Sports Friends expansion into Tanzania. It was quite the adventure! He came home with lots of funny transportation stories -too bad he couldn’t get pictures. The Tanzanian pastors were so gracious and welcoming and are really excited to be starting their Sports Friends training. Today Lemmy and three other Kenyans went to Tanzania to train 100 new Tanzanian leaders.
Sports Friends has grown beyond what we expected in the last 2 years. Shane is looking to hire another Kenyan and we are also awaiting another missionary family (Wilsons) who are coming to work with Sports Friends. They are still raising their support, so pray that their required money will come in soon. The work has gotten to be more than Shane and Lemmy can manage by themselves.
I (Allyson) am still trying to get my final nursing license “certificates”. Hopefully I can get everything tied up before we leave, but it doesn’t look promising. I will be probably be dealing with it again when we come back in December. Working alongside the Kenyan midwives, doctors, residents and nursing students at the hospital has been a blessing. Some of them have the most amazing stories and it’s exciting to see them graduate and move on to serve in other hospitals throughout Kenya. Kijabe Hospital is a great training ground for so many. The longer I live and work in Africa, the more convinced I become that the best way to affect change is through education. It’s been a joy to pour into these new midwives and doctors. The first group just graduated and moved on to their assigned government hospitals throughout Kenya at the end of April. I just started with a new group in May. The home births I have done for other missionaries have generated enough money to be able to start to buy some new equipment for the hospital. So far we have been able to buy 2 new lights for the delivery room, an electronic blood pressure cuff, and a doppler (to monitor a baby’s heart rate).
It’s hard to believe Hannah is about to graduate! How in the world did time pass so fast? Hannah will be attending A&M studying special education. Graduation at RVA is always an emotional time as we have poured our lives and hearts into so many of these students. Knowing that we may never see some of them again makes graduation really bittersweet. The students are going to universities all over the world. We are so proud of all of them! Friday night was our last Caring Community (small group) with a group of 7 seniors that we have been with for the past 2 years.
We will get back to Texas on July 20th and will be scrambling to get everything done before moving Hannah to A&M in August. We are also planning to visit a college or two with Mia, and will have some academic testing done on Moses. It will be quite busy until the beginning of September. At that point, we will be planning to have get togethers where we can share with you the work God is allowing us to be a part of here in Kenya. Once we know those dates we will let you know. A friend of ours is hosting a graduation party for Hannah on July 25th – we will be sending out invitations for that soon. I will also post something about it closer to the time in case we don’t have your physical address to mail the invitation to. It will be a great way to get to see some of you that first week we are back!
Please be in prayer for us as we wrap things up here and try to leave things in order so our ministries continue to run smoothly while we are away. Also please pray for our whole family as we go through this new transition. We need to find a good school for Moses to attend for a semester while we are in Texas. We will also need to raise a significant amount of support when we are home, both for our own personal support and also to run Sports Friends Kenya (we fund all of the Sports Friends Kenya budget). We are hoping to get enough to cover our next 3 year term. If you know of any churches or groups that may be interested in partnering with us, we’d love to have some leads.
As always, we are so thankful for your friendship and partnership. We do not take it for granted. See you soon… really soon!