Thanking God for new sight!

Today I was surprised to run into Pastor Wilfred a patient who visited our outreach clinic in Likoni, Mombasa last November, 2014. He had lost vision in one of his eyes which made it extremely difficult for him to read and function normally. He had gone for testing in Nairobi and they told him he suffered from blood clots in his veins, which leads to the retina. The doctors in Nairobi told him they could do surgery; however, it would cost him Kshs20,000. Then he was tested again at the FACE of HARVEST clinic and was referred to the Lighthouse Medical Center for surgery which FoH covered. Today he is very joyful as he has new sight. He can now clearly read the Bible; what an amazing gift. 

Aaron
Director FoH Mombasa 

Aaron's attempt at making a crib - Act #1

Our church member, Mama Philomena, wanted  to get rid of some old palates...and the rest is history. 

The palates worked great for the frame, which ended up being the easiest part of the crib.  

Cutting and fitting the slates was one of harder parts of the project. Again all the wood was recycled from the palates, which saved money but that's all it saved. A lot of the wood was warped and or cracked. 

Dama wanted shelves and at first I thought it sounded like a reasonable and practical request, but after hours of sanding and readjustment I was thinking otherwise. 

Thankfully the neighbor kids wanted to help.

I decided to put wheels on it. I figured I had put all that work into it I might as well customize it.

 At last, I think it turned out pretty well. Dama thinks it's great and the baby won't care so i'll give myself a passing grade. There are few things I would have done differently, besides just buying a crib. First, I should have made the slates closer together. FisherPrice says the slates should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart while some of mine are 3 inches. I guess we will find out if the baby gets stuck. Second, I would have purchased an electric saw. Don't worry, I didn't saw everything by hand...I had a friend help me. Third, I would try to use more screws. Again there's no screw gun, everything is manual which makes screwing a lot of extra work. I guess if the baby can knock the crib down, he or she doesn't have to stay in it. I have a lot to learn as a father, but after making this crib I am confident I can make it work :-)   

The Genesis: New Church Plot

We thank God for a new place for the Bamburi church to be meeting. Right now we are renting but with the option to buy. There was originally nothing on the plot but grass, garbage and a tree. Working together we clean the plot up. 

 Then we put up a mabati fence for security and privacy. The plot is nestled in a growing neighborhood. 

 We decided to cement our old blue church tent into the ground. Its currently what we are meeting under every Sunday. 

 This is our toilet. We hired someone to dig it 10 feet deep. There's a women's and a men's.  

 Finally, Sunday morning fellowship with some brothers and sisters. 

The oldest church in East Africa

In the old Swahili town of Malindi one can find the oldest church in East Africa. The church was founded by St Francis Xavier in 1544 as he made his voyage to India, Indonesia, and then Japan. Parts of the original building still remain, as you can see from the photo. As I visited the site, I could not help but wonder what Xavier's impressions of modern church buildings in Africa would be or for that matter the state of Christianity in Africa... 

Some fun with the family!

We are thankful that some of our family from Nairobi came to visit us. We had a great time, besides George losing his swimming trunks in the Indian Ocean...we are sure some boy in south India will appreciate them.