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July 12, 2010
Update
Hamjambo,
A week ago we had 100 at the plantation, but yesterday we were down to
70. Some people are beginning to leave as they find work or places to
stay elsewhere. One of our most faithful men was gone yesterday. He is a
permanent worker at the plantation and received a very large
separation check so he went home up country to work on his house.
They say he'll be back next week. Lelenguya, our Sunday school teacher,
asked if I could provide him an apartment at our married dorm at the
college. I have a couple rooms open but they are only for students. I'm
not going to turn the college into an apartment complex, but I think it
shows that the people are starting to get desperate as they face losing
their jobs and homes in the near future. Pray that the Lord will provide
and people will trust Him.
On our way to church coming over the
hill by the manager's house we could see over the next hill beyond the
church building. That section of land has already been cleared of trees
to begin subdividing plots for sale. It is sad to see this beautiful
plantation being dug up and closed, but land prices are so inflated
right now that there is more money in selling than keeping the farm
open. Of course, only the already wealthy benefit and hundreds will lose
their jobs. They will be selling 50x100 plots for around $7,500. The
permanent workers are only getting $6,000 separation pay, which will go
a long way up country somewhere, but not even enough to buy a plot at
the plantation much less build a house.
Yesterday afternoon we
took Jonathan to youth camp at Lukenya Getaway south of Nairobi near
Athi River. It took us an hour and a half to get there. He's in a cabin
with one of his classmates from school and was really glad to see him.
They were already having a good time before we left. They will be doing
white water rafting, rock climbing and paint balling this week. It's run
by Southern Baptists. Please pray that it will be a spiritually
refreshing time for him.
We have an old circular trampoline that
somebody gave us. The padding over the springs around the edge is
getting dried out and cracking in the sun, the net itself is getting
small tears in it and is so weak that it can't hold a lot of weight
anymore. Some of the straps on the edges have torn loose so some of the
springs are out. We only let Ethan and our guard Ezekiel's six year old
granddaughter play on it. Hannah gets on with them sometimes too
(which gives you an idea of how tiny she is. I don't think she weighs
more than 80 pounds if that).
There is one section where five
springs side by side are missing so there is a little dip in the edge of
the net. It isn't big and we didn't think it would be a problem. One day
this week Ethan was jumping and Ezekiel was watching him. Ethan landed
right on the spot where the springs are missing and fell through up to
his neck. Now Ezekiel is a very loyal guard but very simple minded and
while Ethan was hanging there Ezekiel just stood there dumbfounded
stuttering like an idiot and doing nothing. The canvass and the padding
were rubbing on the back of Ethan's neck and under his chin, but because
of the position of his shoulders he wasn't choking yet and he started
crying. Lhey was hanging clothes on the line and ran over to rescue him
while Ezekiel stood there like he was frozen and watched. Well, you
guessed it. After giving Ezekiel a good tongue lashing we took the
trampoline apart and threw it in a shed.
Ethan's skin was burned
around the neck from the canvass but he's fine. One morning he was
sitting on the back door step and he started singing, "Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord." We're not sure where he even learned that. We don't
sing that hymn here much and when we do it's in Swahili. I have it on a
Hymns Triumphant CD, but I don't remember playing that in a quite a
while.
Last November they finally got our main road paved into
our estate. What we feared would happen did. Drivers race down it
like it's a drag strip. Three pedestrians were killed the first two days
after the work was completed, and more have been hit. Especially bad are
lorries, big trucks hauling sand, stones, or other building materials
into the estate. One evening just after dark a lorrie racing around a
curve cut the corner and forced us almost into the ditch. My left front
tire was on the edge and the lorrie only missed us by inches. This
last week the estate association finally got smart and put speed bumps
on our road. We are very grateful for that.
In the meantime, the
road construction on our highway has started working on an overpass at
our estate entrance. A bigger boondoggle you've never seen. The
construction company made no accommodations for our local traffic and we
have to cross the construction area on a dirt trail that cars have just
made by finding a way over the mounds of dirt. Getting in and out of
here now is a major problem. At the wrong time of day it's a huge jam,
just like rush hour in Nairobi. It's going to be great when this
highway is finished, but judging by the speed that the work is going,
it's going to be a couple years before it gets done. They've already
been working on it for a year and a half.
We appreciate your
prayers for our continued safety, particularly on the roads, but just
generally speaking as well. We could have had a serious situation with
Ethan but the Lord was looking out for him.
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