Psalm 124:8 "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth"

I just looked at our blogs and realized that it has been 2 months since we updated. Those months have indeed been full of activity.

We left our home here and headed for London to spend 5 days with Anna and Andrew. We were able to book a hotel right across the street from their first floor flat (actually second floor for us Americans). We had a fun few days with touring and visiting. Kent and I were also able to get complete tours of Westminster Abby and St. Paul’s cathedral which we both had wanted to do. We also booked a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath which, except for the COLD, were also wonderful. Stonehenge is even more spectacular and mysterious than we ever imagined. We left on our trip around 7 AM and returned at 8:30 pm. A long day for sure. We had breakfast at the shard and that was a spectacular view of London. Our last day, Anna accompanied us to Kew Gardens for a nice orchid display. 

Kent, Randy and Raylene enjoying a nice local meal in Moduli

We left for the States on March 7^th from London with a connection in Amsterdam and hoping to arrive in Orlando around 7pm on the same day to meet Randy Alexander who was going to Rafiki Training. All went well until we were about an hour into the flight from Amsterdam and the pilot came on to say we had some engine issues with one engine so we were turning around and heading back to Amsterdam. It was a very windy day and we had to land on reduced power with one engine. It was a bit scary to say the least but we landed safely. Our flight left AMS at 2:40pm and by the time we were back in the terminal it was 5:30pm. We could see that a flight to the States at that hour was not likely to happen. Delta gave us vouchers for 10 euro each for the airport then a shuttle to a hotel for the night. We had dinner and breakfast provided at the hotel. All the direct flights to Orlando were booked for the next day so we were able to get a flight out to Atlanta about 10AM the next day and connected to Orlando to arrive around 5pm so only about 1 day late. Cindy and Larry Renner were so gracious to take us from the airport to our house. Even though we were not quite there, we were “hosting” Laurie’s parents and Randy Alexander who were to attend the Rafiki training for the weekend. It was great to meet Laurie’s parents and to have Randy with us until Sunday morning.

Kent and I were only in the States for 10 days (now reduced to 9) so we had a lot to do in a small amount of time. We were able to accomplish all the needed things and some of the not critical things. Our time visiting was very productive but we were also ready to return on Monday March 18^th. We met Randy and Raylene Alexander in Minneapolis and flew to our home with them.

Randy teaching bike maintenance

Still working on bikes but happy kids

Raylene and Randy waiting for lunch

Our new Biology Lab

We enjoyed the trip with friends but we “hit the ground running” as we returned to only Laurie at the Village. The Nickels were at the “Enrichment” week at Rafiki and would return the next week. Randy had decided to repair all of our 21 bicycles for the children so he knew he must work fast with only 3 weeks to be here. I must say it was a whirlwind but a really special time for the 4 of us.

With the long flights (9 hours to Amsterdam then another 8.5 hours to our home airport) we usually grab a few hours of sleep on each flight. The total time is transit from Orlando to here on this route is 30+ hours. I think I slept about 4 hours total but Kent was unable to sleep at all during the trip. That, coupled with jet lag for an 8 hour time change, sent Kent into atrial fibrillation. He has medicine for this but even doubling the dose did not seem to correct the problem. After 5 days of a heart beat irregular at 100-120 beats per minute, we began to research return flights to the States. We did confer with the cardiologist on the phone also. We had everyone praying and the morning I was to book the flights to the States, the heart decided to cooperate and reverted to total normal rhythm. I know that God is aware of all our difficulties and decided to intervene in this one so a trip to the States was averted. We are still in awe of the God that we serve.  I guess our work here in this place is not finished!!

We have gotten quickly into the new RICE term with about 18 students and we are currently on an Easter break for our primary and secondary students. All but 8 of our resident children went to their home villages for the break so it is a bit quiet around here for now. School resumes on Monday April 30. We can hardly believe how time flies.

While on our break our Scottish pastor at the church we attend in Moshi, was on his motorcycle and hit head-on by a car trying to pass illegally. He has 11 fractures of ribs and both collar bones and after an nearly seven day residence in ICU is recuperating at our house now. It will be a while until he is able to be on his own as he is single and living in a two story house. We are thankful to have him here and to be able to oversee his care. Life on the mission field is full of surprises and we have learned to be flexible in as many ways as possible. 

Our labs are nearly at the point of inspection so we are excited for that to happen this week. We will indeed keep you posted. That, at this point, is the first STEP in the Secondary School registration. Also at this point, we see it unlikely to have our students back at our school until after the June break. It COULD happen but likely we will plan to start with our school together on July 8th. Right now that seems a long way away, but time seems to leap ahead here. 

We are still in critical need for rain. Our “rainy season” typically begins around March 15th and we have abundant rains through May. This year so far to April 22 we have had less than 1 inch of rain. The farmers say that what they planted is now dead and most will not have the money to replant the fields even if the rains do begin soon. Please pray for the the whole area and that God would bless us with rains and crops even for this season. We seem to get more and more days with thunder and lighting and cloudy skies, but still no rain.

We are happy to be here doing the work that God has allowed us to be a part of for now. We love the people we work with and the children around us. Our hearts are full of gratitude for all of our friends near and far that partner in our work physically and financially and especially in prayer. 

Kent enjoying an Easter break :)