And it rained!

Becca enjoying a walk no matter how wet…

Our days are filled with interruptions… some of which we have grown to love, others are a source of irritation, and yet others are a privilege -but the cause of great sadness. One of these kinds of interruptions occurred the other week when Hennie (the only person able to swim well enough) was asked to help find the body of a young man who had tragically drowned in a reservoir which had filled up during the excessive rains of late.

At the crack of a cold dawn, Hennie, with the help of a pair of worn out flippers, spent 2 painstaking hours dredging the floor of the pool. Eventually Hennie found the body of the young Maasai man who had gone to wash, and sadly hadn’t come out again. He managed to drag his body out and put it, with the help of several men in the community; into the back of the ambulance and drive to the family for burial….He was the husband of a very young woman with 2 small children whose life will never be the same again…

Helping a few old Maasai cross the flooded river.

The heavy rains have brought untold difficulties for many in this part of Kenya. 

The dirt roads have turned to quagmire, making necessary journeys to our nearest town Narok and to Nairobi nothing short of treacherous! (Which can be fun but can also be a bit of a nightmare)…. On one such day, we were to go to Narok to collect vaccines and I was to attend a meeting with a potential customer for our beadwork…We skidded precariously on the mud and got horrendously stuck, we then had an unfortunate encounter with a hyena… so we were several hours late! Fortunately the woman with whom I was meeting was accustomed to these logistical nightmares and had put aside most of her day, so our meeting was successful!

Daniel, the champion who makes the ambulance go to the remotest villages no matter the weather.

Things seem to moving very quickly forward for the beadwork. Our products are improving and we are managing to sell in America, Australia, Kenya, South Africa and the UK. We have grown our number of women, and are now trying to adapt to the increased work load by creating good systems and management. This is not an easy task and we could do with prayer for this!

Busy beading!

Jasmine, Caleb and Taliah have to wade through mud up to their knees to get to their little Maasai school every morning which doesn’t seem so little anymore…. We are working on getting toilets built to cater for the growing number and a kitchen too. We would love for teachers from England (and beyond) to come and help train our teachers here. They are really committed and long to grow in their skill.

The children are receiving new colourful furniture.

The funding of the school is an ongoing challenge, so we are looking at different ways to generate a sustainable income through local business as well as a sponsorship program. A photographer recently came to stay and photograph the school, and a number of children we hope to gain sponsorship for.

Jasmine, Caleb and Taliah seem to be growing and changing so quickly. Jasmine is very thoughtful and often has her nose in a book. She loves visiting Maasai villages and consumes copious amounts of their piping hot sweet smoky chai (tea) as often as she can. Caleb still bounces around in his friendly and highly energetic way babbling Swahili confidently to whomever he passes – and won’t touch Maasai chai! And don’t mess with Taliah or she will quickly tell you what’s what and who’s who! With her lisp and blanket tucked under her arm.  They love the freedom of this place and the adventures they find around every corner

A tree game with “game” grazing around.

Hennie continues to meet and pray with the local pastors who so value the input as they are hungry for God and long for training and development.

Florence and Daniel continue to faithfully visit the remotest villages in Olorte with the mobile clinic. The service is developing and improving with the help of Hennie, Fadi and Ray from St Pauls.

We are coming towards the end of our fourth year in Maasai land. It has been an exciting 4 years where we have had the privilege of seeing God’s blessing for this community through the projects we have been developing. It has not come without its challenges but we are learning that everything seems to work for good when you trust God.

We are coming back to the UK in June to visit family and friends, and have time to re-charge our batteries ready to continue our work in Maasai Land in August. We will try to arrange a ‘get together’ or two so we can catch up with as many people as possible.

A big thank you to all of you who have generously supported us financially, with prayers and encouragement- it is very much appreciated. 

We really need your prayers in these areas:

• For the love of God to be communicated through everything we do here.
• For us to stay close to God and to hear His voice and will for our work here.
• We have had some really difficult issues to deal with in regard to the organisation which has rapidly grown and developed. The changes that have inevitably come have been hard for some on the ground here. Pray for wisdom for the way forward and for God to clearly guide our steps.
• For Pelua and I to establish good systems for the bead work to enable it to grow in a healthy sustainable way.
• For teachers to come for a longer time and help with training of teachers and development of the school.
• For sustainable ways of funding the school.
• For Becca to continue to paint.
• For our children’s education.
• For the development of the clinic.
• For God to bless the meetings with local pastors.
• For protection for all of us working here.

When the friends come and play – they go wild.