Nairobi

Time for an update from Nairobi
Adjusting is going well—every night it seems the children sleep a bit better. Linah helps around the house 5 days per week and is a real blessing. We have a little courtyard where we bathe and then talk under the stars. Our house is more than adequate (empty rooms—hint) and, unlike nearly everywhere in Nairobi, we have plenty of beautiful yard space, cultivated by skilled gardeners.
Transport is either time consuming or extremely expensive (and sometimes both). We are trying, however, to get out, meet people, and see the city as much as possible. We are amazed at the raw extremes of human experience—everyone has a story, it seems, that stretches our categories: of hope, of tragedy, of injustice, of generosity, of faith. A few examples we have listened to in just our few days here.
--a worker in Sudan, her husband shot in an ambush (she dragged him out of the car into the bush and miraculously escaped) when she was 3 mos pregnant. The child is now Priska’s age, and she is returning to Sudan.
--A DOVE friend trapped in Kibera slum—out of water, threatened day and night, without outside news, ehe entire slum surrounded by GSU (national guard) troops. He escaped only by pretending to join one of the larger skirmishes long enough to push back the police and slip through.
--Refugees being taught to tithe once they find work, the money being used fund relief for others and microloans to rebuild businesses.
--A refugee woman carrying her brother’s decapitated head in a bag, fleeing back to her native homelands.
--In the work with the refugees, a number of quite spectacular healings: a child with a bad heart valve, a runaway with mental problems, a woman with a leg swollen so badly she couldn’t walk.
--Some churches have new Christians every week, others have all but disappeared after they supported one candidate and lost credibility, or were destroyed(one woman's house was burned by the boys in her Sunday School class).

Evil is active. God is more active. Every day we meet ordinary people, pressed into heroism. We are jumping into all this as we are able. Anything we can do to refresh and encourage the everyday heroes will be time well spent.

Pics are still hard to upload—I’m working on this.