A lot of life for us at Tenwek is living daily routines –
hospital work for John, which includes patient care, teaching trainees and
various administrative meetings, and work at home and in the village for Linda
involving women, Bible studies and administrative meetings and
correspondence.
We love our days, packed
full of relationships and meaningful endeavors,
but like life anywhere, the pauses to
celebrate, encourage, and be comforted add richness as we recognize God’s
faithfulness, together with God’s people.
PAUSING TO CELEBRATE
Another class of Clinical Officers celebrated the completion
of their internship in March.
These are
the trainees John and other consultants pour their lives into day and night
after day and night…. And it is wonderful to see their growth in clinical
skills and faith during the year of training.
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| Seated from the right, Bishop Langat, President Uhuru Kenyatta, VP Ruto - Can you find John? |
After years of work and prayer, the Tenwek Eye Dental
Building opened in January and was commissioned in April with the President of
Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, presiding. It
was a day of great celebration as we recognized that God works in His way, in
His timing to accomplish His purposes.
A very late Christmas outing with our friends and workers
Peris and Robert and their families, turned into a birthday celebration for
Robert’s first-born daughter, and a graduation from college party for
Peris’s son Abednego. Milestones to
celebrate as we contemplate God’s goodness in their lives.
PAUSING TO BE COMFORTED
A Kenyan tradition we have been deeply touched by is the
practice of visiting friends who are grieving.
Since returning from the States in January, multiple groups of Tabitha
leaders and friends have visited Linda to share her grief, and encourage her to
trust in the Lord in the aftermath of losing her dad the end of December. Visitors come not only with words of
encouragement and prayers, but also with gifts from their
hearts and homes – sugar, flour, vegetables, beans, cloth, eggs, fruit…. Their love is palpable and sincerely appreciated.
Linda misses her dad. Besides loving all of us so well, he was our most faithful prayer warrior over the years. She misses her regular phone calls with him, where he would delight in the stories of answered prayer in individual lives, or in progress in projects we were involved in. We would swap stories, Dad sharing God-conversations with people he shared life with in Nebraska, or God-sightings in our family or in his church. His deep faith in God being at work, even in the hard times, encouraged us so often. What a legacy he leaves us with. We thank God for his 95 years, and his alertness and faith to the end of his earthly life.
PAUSING TO ENCOURAGE
We are proud of a young man orphaned at a young age, and
shifted between relatives almost like a piece of property for years, who is blossoming in
his faith and in his academics. Elisha is
resourceful, loves Jesus, and is committed to doing his best with where he
finds himself now. He has recently
defied his uncles’ threats and come to live with his aunt, who is a godly
influence, and the mother he has missed for most of his life. Last month during his school break we shared a meal together and he presented this wall hanging he had made to thank us for our prayers and our help to him. God's transforming grace is so evident in his life. We pray he will continue to lead his class in his
studies, and in his life lived for the Lord Jesus. ("Mum" is the Kenyan English for "Mom")
