Our First Graduate!

Our first sponsored boy graduated! Just before my grandmother passed away in November, she sponsored our young man, Kadenge, to attend an agricultural school run by Empowering Lives International. 

To be honest, it wasn't my idea to have him sponsored. I didn't think he would make it. I didn't think he would like it. He was a difficult young man and I didn't think he deserved it. I was pretty sure we were setting ourselves up for disappointment. Thankfully my husband had a bit more discernment and went forward with it. 

"Oh Nikole, ye of little faith!" I can hear God telling me from above. 

Kadenge did not disappoint. 

About a month into the course, he gave his life to Christ and for the rest of his time there, he had so many people pouring into his life. When I saw him a couple months ago, he was a changed young man! He was quieter and more kind. He had stopped using drugs and other substances. He treated his mother with so much respect (which was an issue in the past). We were amazed at his transformation. Even the other boys couldn't believe it. 

On top on that, he loved what he was learning! He knew for a long time he wanted to study agriculture but every one kept pushing him into other things. Finally he got the chance to do what he desired and he excelled! Well, I don't think he did well in his class work but he was awesome at his practicals. 

On July 21st, Kelvin travelled across the country to attend his graduation. I was so sad to miss it (but I was at a wedding Canada!) Here are some pictures of the exciting day. 

 Kadenge gave Kelvin a tour of all the work he had been doing. This is a fish pond he had been working on. 

 There he is leading the pack. I think he was loved by many up there because he was so different. Most of the people are from that part of the country but Kadenge was from coast and spoke with a different accent. They affectionately started calling him 'Mombasa'.

 He is the one with his arms wide open dancing with the Children's home choir. 

Graduated!!

 Pastor Peter was so amazing! From the first time I contacted him, I knew that he would take good care of our boy. 

Congrats Kadenge! Can't wait to see where God takes you next!

Why Ramadhan is causing some sleepless nights

It's Ramadhan people. The Muslim's holy month of fasting, purifying their lives, focusing on being good, and getting back to Allah.

Before living in Mombasa, I had never experienced or even heard of Ramadhan but, let me tell you, it affects our lives big time here. Even for those of us who aren't Muslim.

A few things that change during Ramadhan:

- all our favourite restaurants close down for the entire month.
- many shops change their hours in accordance with the prayer calls and fasting.
- muslims make a special effort to dress in their religious attire.
- all of our drunkard friends stop drinking for the month.
- there are a lot more beggars in the streets knowing that muslims give more during this month.
- even though Muslims aren't eating, they are cooking in the streets all day long. And they cook some pretty delicious snacks if I do say so myself.
- our tv programs take breaks to notify us when fasting begins and stops for the following day. Everyday it changes and its different in every city. For example, today in Mombasa, they had to start fast at 5:00am but yesterday they started at 5:01am. However, today in Nairobi, they started the fast at 5:09am.
- our boys stop practicing and most of the leagues we are in take a long pause.
-the general feel of the city changes. People move slower, the mosques are constantly going, no eating, and lots of women wearing black and men wearing white makes for a change in the atmosphere.

Most of these things are easy to manoeuvre around however, this Ramadhan, I have been having a hard time sleeping. In the evenings, the mosques have special prayer calls that go for hours, literally. They just happen to go for the hours that I want to try go to sleep.

Since I have been home, I have had the hardest time sleeping. At first I thought it was jet lag but it didn't really feel like it. With jet lag, I am usually wide awake in the middle of the night or up early. I am not finding myself wide awake. I want to sleep. My body wants to sleep. But those prayer calls are just a touch too loud to allow me to pass out.

They do stop at some point in the night, usually around 11pm I think, but then the Christians step in. Yes, us Christians. I say 'us' knowing that we are all one body (one family) whether or not I really want to be in those moments. The churches around feel like, if the Muslims are praying and fasting, we should do the same. Not a bad idea, but must you do it at night, every night? Yes, they have keshas all night. A kesha is an all night prayer service with lots of singing, praying, and general loudness. They rent sound systems and play tacky keyboard music all night.

They also stop, just in time for the morning prayer calls. Because all the Muslims have the same set time to open their fast, the prayer calls are now all at the same time. A melody of eerie music at 5:01am. They usually eat right before that time in the morning so you can hear they bustling around outside at 4:30am making their meals.

Prayer calls stop and we get about an hour a peace before the construction workers arrive behind our house to start their work. That's usually the start of our days.

I am trying different tactics on getting to sleep. Closing the window is good but then it gets to hot in the room for us to sleep. I turn on the fan but then it gets just a touch too chilly for me and we both wake up with stuffy noses. I have some ear plugs I might try tonight or stuff a pillow over my head.

I just need a decent night sleep.

Nestled back in Mombasa with the Kelvinator

After a looooong three and a half days of traveling, I am finally back in Mombasa. The trip wasn't all that bad. Just terribly, terribly long. 14 and a half hours on a plane? I think I will avoid doing that again. Friday morning I walked off the plane in Nairobi with a new surge of energy knowing that the Kelvinator was waiting outside the gates. I rushed through immigration, thankful that I am a resident and don't have to stand in the ridiculously long visa line, and found my bags immediately. No questions at customs, another big blessing, and through the doors I went finding my hubs waiting on the other side! Reunited at last! 

We took the night bus back to Mombasa and arrived saturday morning. Getting back into my apartment was so comforting. My precious kitten welcomed me in and I cuddled her like no tomorrow. Kelvin had done such an awesome job keeping the house so tidy and organized. I was so proud of him.

I fell into a deep sleep around 9am and had to force myself to wake up around 10 so we could have breakfast and head to our friend's wedding. The whole reason I booked this crazy ticket was so that I could make two weddings in two weekends: one in Canada and one in Mombasa. I wasn't going to sleep through it. 

I am sure glad I didn't. The wedding was awesome. It was fun to see so many of our good friends in one place and celebrate with them all. 

It was also incredibly colourful! The first thing I noticed was all the amazing colours the people were wearing. Take a look for yourselves. 

These wamamas were so gorgeous in their bright, traditional clothing. I also love the kid staring at my in the right hand corner. I was the only mzungu at this wedding.  

 Like I mentioned, pretty much all our closest friends were there including this beauty, miss Eddah. She is my neighbour and shares in my love of all things sweet and sugary. She actually designed and made the bride's dress, the grooms outfit, and the best man and maid of honour's clothes. 

 My favourite part of the wedding is when the bride and groom return from taking pictures and all the wamamas (women in general) welcome them with lots of dancing and traditional songs. 

 Can you spot the bride and the groom? They are in there.

 Beautful, bright colours. Kelvin was amazed at this picture. I didn't do any editing on it. 

Eddah showing off her best moves.

Lots of dancing and joy!

Congrats Alex and Cathy!

Top 5 Questions that I have been asked since being home

If I did a poll over the last two weeks, these would be the top 5 questions that people have asked me. I am blessed that I have so many people in my life and amazed that most of them really do care about me. Here they are: 

1. Q: Wow, you must be so tired and jet lagged from that journey. How long is it anyways? 

    A: As a matter of fact, I am exhausted but the jet lag ain't so bad. It took a full two days for me to get here. The journey was long (and pure torture for me who is a very nervous flyer). It was really expensive to fly through Europe so I had to connect in Qatar and then fly to Montreal which was a 12 hour flight. My flights home are even longer.

2. Q: Hmm, where exactly is Qatar?

(It has surprised me how many people don't know where Qatar is)

  

    A: It's a small country that looks like a little wart that pokes out of Saudi Arabia. Doha, the capital city is one of the coolest cities I have ever been there. Because I had a 10 hour layover, Qatar Airways actually paid for a hotel in the city for me to spend the night. It was all expenses paid for. Super cool! I almost wish I had more time there to explore. 

3. Q: So, how is married life? 

   A: It's wonderful. I really enjoy it. 

 (I want to expand a bit more on my married life but I don't think so many people are interested in all the details. There is SO much to married life and 'wonderful' doesn't quite sum it up)

4. Q: Do you miss Kelvin? 

    A: Terribly! I was ready to go back 3 days after I arrived......(then I get the unimpressed look from my parents.)

5. Q: How is it over there?

   This question has been hard to answer. What exactly is 'it'? Life, ministry, work, marriage, security, politics, what?? Really, I could talk to you for hours about all the 'its'. 

   A: It's not always easy, but I do love it. 

I only have a few more days here in Canada. Honestly, I am ready to get back. It has been harder than I though being away from Kelvin. I am not so sure I will come back again without him. 

Anyways, here are some crazy pics of my parents and I checkin' out the sculpture walk in Castlegar.

Anybody home?

 Let's ponder

 Wouldn't want to mess with this guy

This one was my favourite. If you look closely, you can see all the neat things the artist used. 

I didn't even know Castlegar had one of these crazy head things!

Surprise!!!! Ha, just kidding. I must have done a good job sticking out my gut because we had a friend drive by and ask how far a long I was.

What is man that You are mindful of him?

I sat down to read my daily devotions. Before I left Kenya, I arranged a bible reading schedule for all my girls in hopes that they will actually get into the Word themselves and it would unite us. Yesterday we were to read Psalm 8 and I did. The middle section really stuck out for me: 

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, 

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 

What is man that You are mindful of him, 

And the son of man that You visit him? 

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, 

And You have crowned him with glory and honour."

Psalm 8:3-5

It's the beginning of summer and being outside is simply delicious. The small town I grew up in is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The snow-capped mountains are full of evergreens and the convergence of two major rivers divides and conquers our town. It's truly majestic here. And it's ALL God's glorious creation! He did it all, He made it all, He thought and planned all of it, He maintains it all. So naturally I am in absolute awe as to why He is mindful of little ol' me? Tiny, frail, sinful, funny looking me. How majestic His creation yet He has made ME a little lower than angels and has crowned ME with glory and honour. He has even put all this stuff under my feet. Crazy, I know. 

Anyways, right after I finished reading this passage my brother asked if I wanted to take a walk. I said yes and off we went. 

 

My family kept telling me how high the river has gotten. It's the highest we have ever seen it. This fast flowing river used to be a small dirt road that attached the mainland to a small island. 

If you look closely, you can see that the water is almost overtaking the small bridge. Usually the water is at least 7-8 feet below the bridge. 

 Mark found a nice bench to sit on. 

 And then he decided to walk over the bridge. 

 For those who don't know, our house is actually located right on the river. Fortunately, there is a pretty large bank that separates us so there is no chance of flooding for us. Today, Mom and I decided to go veg in the sun on the new swanky deck/stairs my parents have built down to the river. This was my view.

Momma was on the next little landing.

I have not enjoyed the many creepy crawlers that come out this time of year. Its worse than the bugs in Mombasa. 

Here's me, just below the angels, bestowed with honour and glory - me!

Surprise!

A few months back, my dad emailed me and asked if I would be interested in surprising my mom for her 50th birthday. At first, I didn't really want to. I dreaded the thought of making the 2 day trip to Canada alone again and well, I am still newly married and have a hard time leaving my husband for more than a day or two. However, after some convincing from Kelvin and some prayer, I said yes. I booked my ticket and kept it a close secret for two months. 

Dad was the only one who knew plus a handful of friends. I kept hearing that Mom was telling everyone how she wished I could be there. I played it off as if I was still in Kenya, sending her emails of what was happening in our lives and so on. The last email I sent her, I was sitting in the Calgary airport about to board a plane to Castlegar. I was writing to tell her how Kelvin and I got back to Mombasa safe and wishing her a good party. Little did she know that I was just a short plane ride away. 

So I snuck onto the property and went and sat on a bench in the back yard. Some friends, who were in on it, had taken her down to the deck. As she came up, she was told to look over my way and, well, the pictures will tell the rest of the story.

The ugly cry came out in full force. It was a great moment. Now that I am here, I am glad I came. I will be around for about two and a half weeks then I must jetback to my hubby. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my family!

What happens when the girls take over my camera

I learned my lesson. I can never expect my girls to take decent photos. We went bowling yesterday as a fun treat. I handed over my camera (since these girlies love love love taking photos) thinking that I could get some decent shots. In the past, some of my greatest pics have been when I gave the camera to someone else (like small kids). However, this was not so. I had turned off the flash so most pictures turned out incredibly blurry. As Kelvin was sifting through them this morning, he actually asked if something was wrong with my camera! Funny enough, while the girls were taking photos, they didn't seem to mind that they were blurry. They thought they looked pretty awesome - blurry and all. 

Here are the best of the bunch. We had a blast! Most of them had never been before so it was a new experience. They were pretty hesitant at first but managed to get the hang out it pretty fast.

Most of the girls actually got better scores than me. I believe it is because the gutters were up and their strategies involved hucking the ball so it purposely knocks against the raised gutters and bounces nicely into the middle making a strike. Whereas I am trained to try get it down the middle and not try hit the gutters. They beat me...

 Kayla came down from Nairobi for the day and got to come with us. 

 One thing I love is when the Muslim girls take off their buibuis. They wear them mostly outside and in public but when inside, they take them off. I love seeing their own personal fashion come out. Aren't they cute!

I got a text from Irene in the morning asking if she could wear shorts since bowling is a sport and all. I giggled and told her to wear whatever she was comfortable in. She made bowling look sporty.

My bowling style - all blurred up. 

It was an awesome time!! I just adore these young women. If you would like to support them and our activities, please click the link on the left and donate online. 

It's Canada day today! Happy Canada day to all my lovely canadians! Every year that I spend in Kenya, I am more and more grateful for my Canadian citizenship. I only remembered in the middle of church that it was Canada day and then tried to figure out how I can celebrate. My first thought was food - what food could I make that is distinctly Canadian? The only thing I could think of was pancakes with maple syrup. Since it was an after thought, I didn't really want to put the effort into making it plus I know that Kelvin wouldn't get full on pancakes. So we are celebrating Canada with some good ol' Kenyan ugali and sukuma while watching the finals of the Euro cup. How canadian of us, EH? 

The Best Expression of Love is TIME

.... And the best use of life is LOVE.


I want to LOVE and love HARD. That's my heart's desire. I truly believe the best way to use my life is to LOVE; to love GOD and to love OTHERS.

I just read Day 16 in The Purpose Driven life and it spoke exactly into my life today.

I realized a few days ago that meeting with the girls on Saturdays just isn't enough. Some of them really want to connect during the week. I opened our little centre on Wednesday and was pretty amazed at how many people just dropped in to see me once they realized I was inside. I had a group of young girls from the local primary school walk by and ask if I would play some games with them. I had some other young women ask how my day was. I had a couple girls show up early for our weekly bible study. Then I had one of my young ladies come just wanting to chat. Since it was late, we didn't have a ton of time but, by the way she sounded, I knew we needed to meet again this week just to chat.

So today I went to Kongowea early with Kelvin. It was pretty boring. Kelvin and I bickered over who plays sudoku better and then went on to a mean game of UNO. I was just about to give up and go home when my lady walked in.

I opened our centre next door and got right to asking her what is going on. Well, two hours later we were still chatting. I listened mostly actually. I listened to the crazy things that have happened to her this week. I listened to her as she explained to me how hurt she was when both her parents passed away. I listened as talked about the things she is learning about God (Allah, to her). I listened to her as she tried to explain to me how to make samosas. I did very little talking which, if you ask my husband, is abnormal for me. As we closed up and we went our separate ways, she said, "Thanks Nikole. At least I feel more relaxed now."

I got home and opened my book and read all about LOVE and how the BEST expression of love is giving up some of my time - time that I could be making more money for myself or indulging in self pleasures - and focusing my attention on someone else, forgetting for a little while about myself, my needs, my problems, my wants, my desires, me.

Like I said above, I was about to give up and go home. I thought I would rather be sitting at home on my computer than wasting time in Kongowea. But I waited until she showed up and I am so glad I did.

I really LOVE my girls. I so do. I need to give them more of my time.

Just want to tell you a funny story.

The other week, our topic with the girls was dating. It had come up in one of our conversations a few weeks back and I thought we should explore it better. I asked the girls, "What does dating look like in your community? As in, what are some things you and your boyfriend do?"

One girl piped up, "We exchanged phones."

A little confused, I correct her, "You exchange phone numbers?" thinking she had a problem with english.

"No, we trade phones. I give him my phone and he gives me his."

I started to giggle. "Ok, so why do you do that?"

"You know, so we can admire each others photos and songs on the phones."

I guess its a big thing here like going out for dinner and a movie with your boyfriend back home. Well, that's how my girls do it!!!

Thoughts on terrorist threats

I was laying in bed Friday evening checking emails on my phone just as I was about to close my eyes for the day when a dear friend, who lives in another part of the country, forwarded me a message that the US Embassy had just sent out to its citizens. It was an emergency travel alert urging all Americans in Mombasa to leave immediately. They ordered all government workers to leave the city immediately and they suspended all government travel to Mombasa until July 1st. The reason: they had reason to believe that there was an 'imminent terrorist threat' in the city.

We have been under terrorist watch since October. It's almost old news now. There have been a few random bombings here and there around the country including two in Mombasa. Security has been beefed up. I get checked for bombs everywhere I go now, including church.

 After reading this email, I thought 'no big whoop' but as I tried to shut my eyes, it kept nagging at me. This was more serious. For the american government to be evacuating all its government officials so suddenly means that something must be cooking. I started to get a little worried.

Kelvin climbed into bed and I told him. He looked at me and said, 'are you worried?' I sort of shook it off like, 'Nah, not really.' But it did bother me. I kept thinking about how, the next day, I had plans to travel up and about the city like a mad woman and what would happen if there was an attack. I didn't sleep very well.

Nevertheless, we got up in the morning and went about our day. Around noon, I got another text message saying that even BBC has profiled the US's terror alert. Yikes!! A travel warning for Kenya has never made headlines on BBC. This must be serious. I began to get a little panicked but decided to continue through my day. I prayerfully travelled from one place to another. The crazy down pour didn't help the already tense atmosphere. I made it home safe that evening.

The warning made the top story on all the local news channels striking fear in the hearts of all Americans. Yah, it made me a little nervous. I decided that it can't run my life but I can be a bit more cautious of where I go. I decided to avoid large shopping centres and the downtown area as much as possible.

You know when you are purposely not doing something and then the temptation to do it gets even stronger? Its like when someone says, 'don't push that button!' and then all of a sudden the temptation to push it gets even stronger? So I made this rule that I wouldn't hit up any large shopping mall but I just couldn't resist. I caved and we went for ice cream at the mall Sunday morning. The ice cream sundae seemed to melt away my fears for a while.

Sunday night, a shady local bar was bombed in the outskirts of Mombasa. It wasn't exactly the attack I was looking for. It seems like someone just took advantage of the fear and decided to throw a few grenades.

It's now thursday and all is calm. I have heard of a few americans cancelling their trips to Mombasa but thats it. It's high tourist season now(most tourists being from Europe) so it seems like the white people are streaming into the city instead of away from it. Every time I see one walking around I think to myself, 'don't they know there is a major terror alert!?' They don't seem bothered by it. Security is now extra-beefed up in high tourist areas.

Last night we went to a local bar to watch the semi-finals of the Euro. In all honesty, I thought to myself, "This is where someone would throw a grenade." I kept imagining it being thrown upstairs (where we were sitting). Yes, a little irrational.

The night ended in a penalty shoot out. Spain beat Portugal 4-2. Tonight, Germany plays. I think we will stay inside and watch it from home. Yah, that's a good idea.

One day tournament for the boys

The team got invited to a one day, knock-out tournament put on by a local mission station just north of Mombasa. It was not only a soccer tournament but a whole family fun day for the community. We were among the first to arrive (actually our boys arrived on time before Kelvin and I- they are becoming so disciplined!) It just happened to be one of the few rainy days we get in Mombasa. I loved the rain but it made for a wet, damp, muddy day. I was with them in the morning but had to jet back to Kongowea to meet with my lovely ladies. Here are some photos Kelvin took of the day. 

The crew for the day!

They had camel rides for the kids. Secretly, I wanted a ride. 

They won their first game in a shoot out. Then they won their second game 3-1. Here they are racing over to Kelvin after their second win. They moved on to the finals. 

 So much excitement! And a few bumps and bruises.

The beginning of the final game. Unfortunately, they lost. But it was a great day for them.

 The team came home with a ball, trophy, and certificate. Every boy wanted a picture with them. 

 

All in all, they totally enjoyed themselves. They played well, got out of their community, and got to enjoy a day out together.