Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Merry Christmas from Kenya.

We have had a busy time during December. We first had a wedding of two of our staff. It went very well except the bride and groom were 4 hours late for their own wedding! It took one hour for the men to come a short distance...they walk slow....then it was the ladies, and many flower girls' turn....they were slow dancers, too. Just as the bride came out of the car, it started to rain(good luck,here) so they had an umbrella over her, as she walked to the tent. Everything was outside. Two tents were put up. All of the girls were allowed to wear their Christmas dresses(where else is someone going to wear it..otherwise,except at church). Some of the boys wore their new African made shirts, but the trousers were not ready yet. Of course, the highlight of any wedding is the food. The food was chapatis, rice, potates, soup, pork, kuku, and sodas. The cooks at Mercy Home did a very good job staying up late to make sure it was all done. Amazing!
Some of the children got to come to Kitale for the library. Most of the Secondary students got to read and study, and actually got a library card.
The next week the children were given a home visit. Some went to relatives and some stayed with friends of Mercy Home. It was like a ghost town out at the farm. We had the joy of having our sponsored girl, Alphine stay with us. She had a great time with David and Candice, and enjoyed new foods and experiences. One day we went to Eldoret(an hours drive) to renew our visas for another 3 months. They enjoyed that outing too.
This past week we have been busy doing sponsor letters, and we had a youth conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had a guest speaker from a local church. I had the joy of talking to the young girls ( 8- 13 years) in three separate workshops on what puberty is. We had some interesting discussions. The bigger girls were also present.
This week we are preparing for Christmas at the Centre. The birthday party will be tomorrow, so yesterday we had to organize our suitcases full of toys, to make sure each child has something small, to celebrate Christ's birth. It was an exhausting, but rewarding day!
Tomorrow we are having the Christmas/Birthday party, with popcorn, bread and jam, drinks and a small gift. On December 25, we will have special meal, with meat, rice, chapatis, potatoes, and bananas for dessert. We look forward to seeing all the kids, and their new dresses, shirts and trousers. All the college boys are home now. What awesome young men they all are!
Christmas is all about Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour we have.
Being here for Christmas is a gift from God. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Canadian Christmas you can really see better the meaning of the holiday. Of course, we miss our family and friends...but God is good....and we feel His presence with us each day.
Merry Christmas from the Kenya team.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like quite the wedding! Avril Taylor read a brief update at church this past Sunday. Ed and Nancy, thanks for the Christmas card. We neglected to send one to Kenya, but Marilyn and I send Christmas wishes to the Gibsons team and all the children and staff, with a special wish for Maxwell, our sponsored child. I'm still doing the Mercy Home cans and recently made a deposit of about $180. Fong's Market continues to be the best source of donations, by far, but Trudy and Dane's video store and the "old" Wheatberries are also reliable. I'm thinking of adding about five new locations to replace ones that have asked to have their donation tins removed (e.g. Subway - company policy) but I'll check with the Mercy Home board first. We had a wonderful church dinner on the 13th, probably 150-plus people, probably half non-church regulars, with wonderful food, music and Justin Rees' fascinating monologues giving a different slant on the familiar Christmas story. Blessings to all of you this Christmas and in the New Year. Love, Vern and Marilyn Giesbrecht

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