Week One!

Jambo from Siyiapei!

I am so sorry that this blogpost has taken so long. We actually don’t have internet at our house in Siyiapei, so we had to wait until the weekend when we could go to an internet café. This week has been such a time of spiritual growth for each of us, as we have been stretched outside of our comfort zones in almost every way possible. We are learning so much about God’s goodness to us, even in our weakness and complaining. We cannot even begin to tell you how faithful He has been in meeting us where we are! I think many of our thoughts are summed up by Lamentations 3:21-41! We urge you to go now, pick up your Bibles, and read it. We are memorizing this passage together as a team and have received so much strength from its words.

African culture is very different than American culture, which has definitely been an adjustment. We were aware of this coming in, but have daily been struck by the contrast. Our new friends here have been incredibly gracious and patient with us. On Wednesday, we were excited to have our friend Orpha (the nurse at the clinic and our next door neighbor) allow us to enter her kitchen and watch her cook dinner for her family. This was a huge deal, as most Africans are incredibly hospitable and want you to relax in their living rooms at all times, usually never allowing visitors in their kitchens. We were incredibly honored to be givenMaasai (the tribe we are primarily working with) names! We were amazed to have a Maasai man and two women agree to take a picture with us, since many still hold their cultural belief that a picture taken of them will steal part of their soul. Even though our cultures are so very different, we are learning from each other and building relationships with the people, by the grace of God. Bwana asifiwe (Praise the Lord)!

God is also taking care of us physically as well! A man came today and fixed our water, hopefully giving us hot water for showering! The spider count has seemed to decrease, possibly from seeing the large number of bodies that have already had death by flip-flop. We are well-fed with homemade guacamole and rice. The electricity was out all day, but has just now come back on, right before the sun had fully set. In an attempt to create thankfulness in our house, we have created a “Thanks Wall” where we post things we are thankful for. I was reading 2 Chronicles 20:21 the other morning, which proclaims, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” We are choosing to fight our flesh daily and obey this command!

We are so very thankful for the prayers on our behalf, and have felt them daily! Please continue to pray that we would have more opportunities to share our faith with our patients. Also, please pray that we would become more comfortable in our surroundings and that we would have joyful spirits in all circumstances. We are also praying that God would increase our love for the people here, and that we would love as Christ has loved us!

We love and miss you all very much and are praying for you all back home as well! Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Love,

Namunyuk (Janie’s Maasai name, meaning “blessing”), Naserian (Alyssa’s name, meaning “peace”), and Nashipae (Janessa’s name, meaning “happiness”)