Note from a dad

This blog post comes to you from the same place as always, Kenya, but from a different author. Hello readers! This is Kim’s father, Clarence, writing to you during my/our visit to this beautiful country. Accompanying me on this “finally” trip are Kim’s mother, Lois, and her grandmother, Vonnie. Covid devastated our plans to visit in April of 2020, so this visit with Kim, Kris and Dominic has been an answer to a long time of prayer. 

Arriving in Nairobi. Apparently plaid is the preferred clothing for travel in our family!

This is a first time in Kenya for the three of us. Recently we discussed our strongest impressions of Kapsowar and the life Kris, Kim and Dominic are living here and want to share them with you, hoping to give you a perspective from newcomers. We have all been blown away by the beauty and geography of this area; it is so verdant and lush. Plants grow everywhere, easily. Not so easy is the planting, tending, and harvesting of crops due to the steepness of the terrain. There are no tractors hauling plows, cultivators or harvesting equipment here. We’ve seen acres and acres of maize/corn, but all that we’ve seen are managed through hard manual labor. Maize is the predominant crop due to its dominance as a staple food source for people.

Taking a walk around Kapsowar

Livestock, again very abundant, seem to subsist quite well on grasses found on hilly pastures and roadsides. Cows, sheep, goats and occasional pigs and donkeys we saw all appear to be quite healthy, not to mention well practiced at slowing down traffic whenever they feel it appropriate. 

We all notice how comparatively more time-consuming everyday activities are here. Food preparation, milk procurement and boiling, having consistent electrical power, shopping, getting clean drinking water—things that are quite easy and automated for most of us—these things all take more effort and time. I was counting out scoops of coffee grounds for the coffee maker yesterday morning and “bleep!” -the power went off. (The “bleep!” represents the sound the microwave makes when the power goes off, not the word the grumpy grandpa says when he doesn’t get his morning coffee.) In full disclosure, they have a house helper at times throughout the week, but Kim or Kris would have to discontinue or severely reduce their workloads to perform these basic tasks were it not for Gladys’s cheerful assistance. 

We made some special family recipes including popcorn cake and stroopwaffel

And that work they do is so vital! We were able to join Kris at the theology school. The majority of Kris’s students are farmer/pastors. We joined them for worship at their chapel service and for chai afterward. We attended a class on sermon preparation. We witnessed eagerness for learning as well as joy in song and worship and earnestness in prayer. We had delightful conversations with students and felt very welcomed by them. Kris deals with some challenges at the school, most caused by scheduling issues, but those who are eager to learn are faithful and want to improve their mission to their home churches. Another task Kris took up is sorting and shelving books to create a sizeable, workable library on the campus. We’d heard about this work, but were all impressed by the number of volumes there—all or most of which have been donated to the school. 

Trying on new gifts from Beppe (Dominic's other great-grandma) in the morning

One of the reasons we were able to finally visit Kapsowar is that an ob/gyn doctor from Phoenix stepped up and arrived recently to provide help and relief to Kim for a total of 8 weeks. During the first half of our visit, Kim still had a fairly “normal” hospital schedule and was also on call for part of it. Therefore, we’ve been able to witness a number of things firsthand: 

 1. Wow! She’s busy. 

 2. Babies and their laboring mothers and/or women in pregnancy-related distress do not “schedule” their times of need. *See #1 above 

3. We’ve been aware, but now have first-hand knowledge that our daughter really is a doctor! We saw her at her work. Together, we witnessed her perform an ultrasound on a woman expecting triplets. Each of us were able to witness Kim performing some sort of surgery. What a fantastic and humbling opportunity for us, and what a strong confirmation that the work done by Kim and others at the Kapsowar hospital is so important and life-changing.

Getting ready to watch surgery

Kim has written in past blog posts about the need for more doctors in this hospital community. The pandemic has changed a lot of things and it is evident that the talent resource is stretched. But also very evident is the loving and caring community of doctors and staff who ARE there, working together despite limited human and physical resources. They draw on their community of faith and encourage one another in times of worship, study, and prayer. As Kim and Kris’s family, we want to humbly and thankfully offer words of gratitude to Dr. Allan from Phoenix, whose selfless gift of time and talent made it possible for Kim to ease up on her schedule and allow us to visit. Thank you, Dr. Allan! 

Our next adventure begins. Since Kim is free to take a break and the theology school has a one-week recess, we are about to head out on safari. We expect this will be an awesome conclusion to this visit and a special time for our family. 

Four generations in Kenya

For those of you who faithfully read this blog—Thank you! Kris, Kim, and Dominic, their mission community, and their families appreciate your prayers and support more than you can ever imagine. Asante-Thank you. Asante sana-Thank you very much!