Thoughts n’ feelings from John

Thoughts n’ feelings from John
We’ve been here 7 weeks now and this last week has been a hard week for us,,,,we both have homesickness  for all things familiar,,,,,we tell you this not to draw sympathy but just to say how things are,,,,,,we miss Ben and all of our children,,,,our family our friends our church our home everything,,,,,,I don’t know who caught it from who but with all sicknesses with couples the very least you can do is take turns,,,,,anyway that’s enough about that.
The next thing is that the budget we were led to believe and on which we based our costs bear no relation to the cost of living over here and so the plans we had established in our minds are completely redundant,,,,,,,,oh well,,,who did we think we were anyway
We are also living the curse of the rich and people who you think may be your friends for who you are , are sadly rare,,,,,,,,,all kinds of adjustments need to be made without becoming cynical ,,,,,,,,,we will get there, it just takes a little time.
So here I am speaking in a little church 2 hours from Kisumu,,,,,,in the middle of nowhere,,,,,it’s a small church but packed,,,,,it has a metal roof , dirt walls and floor and you think you are in a sauna,,,,,,,Im talking about equality between men and women when this little boy of about 2yrs gets up , drops his shorts and pees in the aisle,,,,,,the people behind the boy just smile at me and I smile back and continue as if nothing happened.:)
There are so many contradictory messages coming from these churches. they appear to be a community and yet a boy called James with a significant learning disability is hobbling around with Jika,,,,,a major foot infection caused by a certain flea that buries it self into your foot and lays eggs that then eat away the flesh causing permanent damage.
So we drive to the nearest town for medication which costs a dollar to treat this problem and when we get back we wash James feet with the whole village watching and soak his feet in the medicine,,,,,we then discover that his siblings are infected,,,,,,,their mother is dead and the father is oblivious to the needs as it womens work.We gave the medicine to the father with instructions and said we would be back at the end of September,,,,,who knows what to expect.
We share our house with Maasai and a man called Jackson and many geckos,,,,,,they seem to pop up from anywhere,,,,,,,,,we believe they eat mosquitos and because of this they are very welcome,,,,,talking of mosquitos,,,,,,they are not as bad as we imagined they would be,,,,,,but Im not saying we are “BUDS”,,,,,but when God cursed the earth with mosquitos He gave us respite,,,,during the day we are rarely bitten,,,,,,we know that as dark falls that is their time not ours so we go in,,,,,,,,,and at around 12ish the female come out and she is the one that carries malaria,,,,,,,and at 12 you probably have no business being out anyway,,,,,,God is Good I read that people used to think that it was the smell of the swamps where the mosquitos breed that made you ill hence the word, malaria ( mal=bad aria=air),,,,,,,,,interesting huh?????


We are extending our ministry into hospitals and prisons,,,,,,,,we were at this hospital last week in the children’s ward,,,,,we went in with a bag of fruit and a trusty prayer,,,,,and were blown away with 2 or 3 children sharing a bed ,,,,,,,,they had pneumonia, typhoid, meningitis and I don’t know what else, mothers were doing the caring as was the occasional father,,,,,,the heat was suffocating and the dirt unbelievable,,,,,,its enough to make you cry,,,,,,we went out for 2 more bags of fruit and then prayed over every child,,,,you had to be there