mid-June post

June 16, 2016 (hard to believe it is already the middle of June!) 

Amidst more school visits the last couple of days, we also visited three adult literacy classes on Wednesday. When I was explaining to Taylor where we were going, he seemed surprised that some adults would not be able to read and asked how they get by. It led to a good discussion about what it would be like to grow up not being able to read and access so much of the world that is opened up through literacy.  The three villages we visited were quite remote and opened our eyes to the ways the Turkana people live outside of Lodwar town.  In the first class, the women danced and sang a welcome song. The drumbeat was lively and the girls all stayed in step together to create such a colorful and fantastic dance.

We continue to have time catching up with friends, being welcomed into the homes of the amazing staff at Share to meet their families, and sharing in staff devotions.  Tuesday night, we shared a meal with David Loreng (whom I knew as a very young boy when I was here in 1994). He had Taylor entranced (along with the rest of us) with stories of his soccer team and about the team he coaches as well. If there ever was someone I’d like Taylor to emulate, it would be this guy as he has a heart of gold. By the end of the evening, we declared that he has a place in the family as an honorary big brother to Taylor (along with Byron in Seattle and Abel on our Global Project team here this summer!).  Introducing Taylor and Anna to some of the people here was one of the things I had most looked forward to about this summer, and I am so thankful they are bonding and finding out why I love this place so much.

Anna and Jason were both sick on Tuesday (but thankfully they are on the mend).  While they were laying low that afternoon, Taylor learned to make chapattis in the kitchen with Mary and Joshua, who have been making our meals for us. They were so good with showing him the ropes in the kitchen, and now Taylor has another recipe to add to his repertoire!

As I hear occasional comments from Anna and Taylor about how it will be awesome to bake chocolate chip cookies when we get back to Seattle and as the attention on them being young visitors (“mzungus”) can be challenging at times, they continue to impress me with their willingness to stay in the game.  Though there are moments that they feel restless, they are still trying to take it all in and we all are finding things each day that really broaden their perspectives of the world. Jason has been the best medicine at times as he provides comic relief and just the right comment when we all need a laugh. We are going to miss him so much when he heads back to WA Saturday evening.

We are heading to prayer mountain tomorrow morning for sunrise. (Many of you know that this is a mountain here in Lodwar that our friend Bishop Kaaleng designated as a place of prayer in 1991. Over the last 25 years, you can imagine how much prayer has been poured out here!)

Kwaheri! (goodbye for now)….