First, our friend Seth stopped by for a quick weekend at Tenwek. He is a good friend from med school that we hadn't seen since then, and he'd planned a trip through Africa after finishing his residency/fellowship (he's an ENT) and started his travels by coming here to Kenya and visiting with us. It was so great to see him again! It was fun to introduce him to our kids and show him our life here. We made good food, walked to the waterfall, played games with the kids, and just talked about life. Seth also served as a consultant for some patients while he was here, and helped with a procedure before heading out. It's invaluable to have other specialists come through Tenwek and offer their expertise!
One afternoon we fiddled around with cameras because Seth wanted to practice using his newly acquired camera before continuing on his journey through Africa. So we practiced in the yard with a chameleon as our subject. I was able to capture this photo of it catching a fly, which I'm rather proud of considering how fast a chameleon's tongue darts out!
Our weekend with Seth went far too quickly, but we were so thankful for the chance to see him again, especially on this side of the ocean! Then, last week we had the privilege of hosting a few women from our church in Duluth. Casey, Anna, and Ann came all this way to visit and encourage us, and also to coordinate a VBS for the MKs. Plus, Ann took photos/videos for some missionary families. It was an immense blessing to have them here, to give them a picture of what our life is like, to answer their questions, and to hear what's going on back in Duluth. And it was rather exciting to receive an entire suitcase full of American goodies that we can't get here! The church decided to spoil us big time, and we are now stocked up with things like granola bars, pepperoni, teddy grahams, and chocolate chips!
The VBS was such a gift to our MK community. We split the kids into two groups, and for three days they enjoyed age-appropriate biblical teaching, games, crafts, songs, and snacks. The ladies planned the entire thing and brought all the material over, and our kids were nurtured and loved on and built up spiritually. It's something that we miss greatly while being over here. Although our church at Tenwek has a kids program on Sunday mornings, it's not quite the same as church at home, and we miss being able to offer the kind of spiritual nurturing that our churches at home can give on a weekly basis. So having these ladies come and engage our kids in that way was such a blessing and encouragement!
And it wasn't just us that they were visiting. Our friends from residency, the Olsens, arrived at Tenwek last month and were able to welcome the crew from Duluth as well! We took turns hosting the ladies for meals, and the last night we had the chance to all be together and it was wonderful. Casey, Anna, and Ann laid their hands on us and prayed over us, which was the greatest encouragement of all. Devoted time to prayer is a powerful thing and they offered that to us before leaving, and we are so grateful!
So now our visitors are gone, and we are getting back into a normal routine, but we are so thankful for the blessing of having these people cross an ocean to see us and experience life first-hand at a mission hospital in Kenya. We loved the chance to put our life on display, with all of its joys and struggles, and to share it with our friends.
