Faith

Here is Faith, the younger sibling to Viona that was just placed into the family of house four this past March. It was precious to see the sisters reunite. She was so sad when we met her but her face brightened up as she became at home at Mattaw on the day she arrived. Keep praying that we would find their brother who is living on the streets or in the slums. He is the second born, following Viona.

Keller

And the crazy summer has begun!  We had our first team last week from First Baptist Keller.  This is the church I graduated high school from.  It was a group of five women.  Many were blessed by the love and gifts they brought from across the sea.  Here's their fearless leader who just so happens to be one of Georgie's sponsors.  You can only imagine what a ham he was even more after finding out one of his sponsors was here.  He sure put on the pouty face well when they said goodbyes...

They blessed Mattaw with school supplies and teacher resources galore.  They spent the week loving and playing with the kids and helping in the school.  They also did some painting and mold scraping, servant hearts!  Thank you for all you did FBCK group!

We also have other individuals around.  Keel and Anna came in a few weeks ago.  They came to volunteer for a month last year and were rock stars so we invited them back when they expressed their leading from the Lord to come back.  We also refer to them as the crazy tie dye ladies.  They love tie dye and its not often we see them not wearing it.  Our kids were thrilled to have them back and we are too.  They came in and hit the ground running, helping and serving in any way they can.  I love these tie dye gals!  Pray for them as they will spend the summer with us, helping with teams and with other specific projects around Mattaw.

 Last week we had a group from San Angelo (the place we claim as home in Texas) drop through.  There was a big team we grabbed lunch with and then five of the team stayed back with us a few nights before jointing the rest of their team on Mt. Elgon.  It was good to have Aubrey around a few days.  She was one of our first interns back in 2007.  She was actually living with us when we rescued our sons Dan and Ian. They had become her little brothers so it was neat for her to spend a few days getting to communicate with the boys in english, since they knew about three english words in 2007.

Jesus is moving and shaking around here!  There's loads of testimonies I'll have to share soon.  This past week we were able to locate the siblings of one of our Mattaw girls in house four.  When their mom had died, they were all split up and we are all about reuniting family.  We've prayed for God to bring them back and sure enough He is.  The younger sister Faith, is five and you could see Viona's excitement when we brought her sister out to Mattaw a few days ago.  We just need their brother to be found again.  He was back in the slum where they used to live but has now run away to the streets.

Today we are off to Tar Tar falls, a waterfall in Pokot.  We have a family (Spesh and Bryce) here for a month that love the outdoors so we are getting some time away with them.

Random photo dump

I really haven't had much time to take pictures of the late, apart from what I've taken on my phone.  Between wiping noses, cooking dinner, driving police to take in criminals (happened TWICE this past week, long wild stories), hugging on girls rescued from modern day slavery, repainting the front porch, and prepping for teams this summer... lugging around a big camera just didn't happen.  And updating on here hasn't either.  I know my mom is itching for some new pictures.  So here ya go...

 Elisha was given his first bicycle this past Christmas.  The problem was, he was given it in America.  Since I had an unexpected trip a few months ago to Texas, I was able to bring it back.  Finally last week, Bud got it assembled and he lives on it when he comes home from school!

(excuse the ratty hair)  Claire decided big brother was her chariot and he needed a crown.

Rainy season has come and is in full blown.  Our roads are mush.  And everything is stained red from the mud.  But its also so green and everything blooming.  It's a pretty time of year.

He's a charmer! 

Rainy season also means more milk!  And our promise land has increased with more calfs on the way.

I managed to master the skill of flying both kids on "airplane" (aka, my feet).  It's a good workout.

We have two college girls returning from last year to spend this summer with us, helping out.  They arrive tomorrow!  Keela and Anna are rockstars.  We're thankful to have them back.

We also have a team of girls coming for a week.  Yay for girls!

Our school has started and we've officially implemented the new curriculum.  Its GREAT and the kids love it.  I will talk more about that soon and how incredible it was the way God provided the funds for the material through a jr high girl.

This past weekend I was super blessed to have our friend Maurine from Mercy House in Nairobi visit!  The weekend went TOO fast!

And TODAY is my wonderful husband's birthday!!!!!!  Happy happy BIRTHDAY to you BABE!!!!!  I'm so thankful he was born!  We are getting a few nights away alone, first time in a long time, very thrilled about this!

Turkana!

Didya think we fell off the planet?!  Once you see the pictures below, you might think so!  It's a region and tribe called Turkana.  A place I fell in love with the first year I lived in Kenya, back in 2005.  It's a dessert and the tribe is very nomadic, still dressing in traditional wear.  We've just been patient to wait on God's timing to expand to this area and it came at an unexpected time, in an unexpected way.

This is what the road looked like.  They drove about 5-6 hours to get there.  And that was only about halfway into Turkana.  

If you know us, you know we have three Kenyan "sons" that live with us and are very much part of our family. Caleb is 19, Ian is 14 and Daniel is 12.  You can back track to sometime in 2007 when we first rescued Ian and Dan from living off of the streets in Kitale.  They were considered "glue boys" but we saw them differently through the eyes of Jesus.  No longer victims of poverty, drugs, loneliness, and sickness but sons that would be set free by the name of Jesus.  We've seen them go over mountains and through valleys to get to the place they are now in life.  They are strong young men that love Jesus.  They are still teenagers though and like Lecrae, break dancing, watching action movies, and playing video games.  Boys are boys no matter what the culture.

About a year ago, Ian started mentioning how he wanted to go search out his family. He came into our home with a lot of stories.  We were first told he had no parents but have learned his mom is still alive and dad was killed not long before he ran away to Kitale around 7 years old.  Usually kids from the streets do have many stories.  Often they don't know their age, what day it is, or how long they've been on the streets.  Ian was never addicted to the glue though (the substance most kids on the street huff on to keep warm at night and make hunger pains go away).  Daniel was but we'll get to his story another day.  We feared what the outcome of searching for his siblings would be.  Last year a big drought ran across northern Kenya which caused a lot of hunger and death.  Ian began to really miss his family in Turkana this year and we knew it was approaching time that we needed to search them out.  Bud and I have both been several times to Turkana, its just been several years since our last trip.  We actually went once before we were married.  It was a good test on our friendship, being stuck on a bus for 24 hours with a bunch of Kenyans, crammed in.  A bridge had broke and unexpected rains came and flooded an area.  That's another story in itself though.

So several weeks ago, Holy Spirit really started moving in our family big time.  Let me back up.  A few years ago, God really moved in our hearts to make Ian more a part of our family (Daniel had ran away and was at a street kid rehabilitation center during this time)  So we got him into one of the best schools here in Kitale, which wasn't far from our house.  We got him a bike to ride to school everyday and moved him away from boarding school and into our home to make sure he knew we were serious about making him part of the family.  He hadn't been to much school and was 13 years old in the 4th grade.  It sure boosted his confidence to be number one in his class at the new school!  So this past year we were led to this homeschool/private school material that is now based out of Nairobi, Accelerated Christian Education.  We kept praying and being led that direction.  This week we are actually officially implementing it at Mattaw.  But when we found out about it last year, it was soon after Daniel came home.  We started seeking out the option of putting them both on this curriculum and keeping them home or at Mattaw.  We ultimately let them decide though.  We let them research it online and check out the material.  With this new schooling, they would be able to advance in certain subjects they are lacking in and to catch up with the subjects they are excelling in.  (i know, i need a grammar class, why I blog beats me, for all you english majors- don't hate :) )  The big plus is that they can do schooling on the road and we can take more trips, like to go camping and to Turkana.  They are such eager learners and are dedicated to their education though.  I can't believe how far they have come since 2007!  Glory to God.

So back to Holy Spirit moving in our family several weeks ago.  Its been rocking awesome.  We've always eaten our meals together and checked up on how everyone is doing, ensuring all needs are met and all is well.  But it was time to go deeper as family and grow spiritually together.  Jesus brought some sweet sweet healing and deliverance to all the boys from their past a few weeks ago.  We knew it was Jesus healing so that they could freely go back to Turkana with no fear or anger.  We also find out Ian has a mom, the reason he came to Kitale not so good but its his story so I'm leaving out details.  He was having dreams of her again but now they were sweet dreams of reuniting and God restoring.  He had always told us about him having a sister and brother.  Ian also started to be fired up about sharing the gospel of the Kingdom with his tribe.  He said people will hear about Jesus and say with their mouth they believe but in their hearts, they are far from Him.  We see God using Ian in BIG ways for the Kingdom.  I don't know why we didn't see this before.

Bud felt it was best he go with them first and then I'd get to go the next time.  I was ok with that but surely on edge of my seat to hear every detail, wishing I was there!  They first get there and within an hour find his older sister.  She's now 16 and hadn't seen Ian about 7 years.  Its not common for them to cry so she tried to hold back tears when she saw him.  She was in shock.  Ian soon found out that she was recently married.  It was an arrange marriage.  Something very common in their tribe.  Ian was very torn up about it and wanted to rescue her and bring her back.  Bud was sure to encourage him gently in that we can't do that.  Bud helped him look at the long term goal in going there to share Jesus and if we did that, their community would not like us.  They then found out that the mom had gone with his brother and a group into the reserve about 8 months ago.  So there are people living in little town centers, then there are those that are sent into the reserve to travel looking for water and fighting another tribe over goats and cows.  There's probably more to this but at this point, thats the main gist of it I got.  Before continuing on this part of the story, I'll share pictures of his beautiful sister and them reuniting.

Here  is some of what their houses look like

 There's a few mud huts, but mostly stick houses

 Bud entering in to meet Ian'a sister in her house

 Ian seeing her for the first time in 7 years

 When she smiles, she looks JUST like him

 Gorgeous.

So Ian was determined to go and find his mom and brother.  Bud was worried they could get lost or run out of fuel.  They decided to sleep on it and then decide the next morning if they would go to look for them.  They later found out that one of the elders of the village is related to Ian's mom.  He called everyone together to introduce Bud and the boys.  He said that if he is related to Ian and we have taken him in and cared for him as our son, then we are welcome there as family.  Whether that was said because we are white or because they meant it, we took it as God giving us an open door into this village.  Many of them came to Bud to know more about Jesus and asked for healing.  One little boy was obviously being tormented by demons and Bud just continued to pray and love on him until he was at peace and would sit calmly by Bud.  They were constantly surrounded by people and didn't have a chance to breathe or use the bathroom.  Oh, and no toilets there.  You just use a bush, or squat in the open.  We decided we'd build toilets as a priority one day soon.  Anywho.  So the village came together that night and gave them a goat to roast.  

They do not waste one single part of the goat...

They all wanted their picture taken, which is quite the opposite of the more northern areas we've been to in Turkana.  The women wear beads around their neck.  Each strand represents something.  Sometimes it'll mean if they're married, or they're ready to be married.  Sometimes how many they wear is a sign of wealth.  There's no handbook that I'm aware of that teaches you this stuff.  They do not want to be exploited and are not as open to people knowing about their tribe as others in Kenya, such as the Masai.  They're such a beautiful people group though.

The next morning Ian and Dan were up at 5am, eager to start the day and go look for their moms.  Some people just happened to recognize Daniel the day before and said they knew where his mom was.   The boys were throwing dirt at the tents of Caleb and Bud so that they'd get up and they could get going.  Bud was then eager to find both moms.  There was a woman willing to go and sort of show them the way.  They were then told they would cross a dry river bed but in case unexpected rains came, they might not be able to pass back.  Bud finally decided to just go.  So they went off the dirt road and began out into the dessert.  It looked something like this...

They ended up randomly coming upon the group Ian's mom was in.  Bud said it was literally the middle of nowhere.  They drove over an hour with no roads or signs or anything for that matter.  Maybe occasional trees or shrubs.  But they made it to the group and were welcomed.  They searched though and sure enough, there she was, Ian's stunningly beautiful mom...

She was shocked to see Ian and even more shocked that he is alive.  She said she gave up five years ago, thinking all that time he was dead.  Ian found that she is now remarried and has had three children since he last saw her.  He held no bitterness at all though and greeted them all as his new siblings...

 Ian was really struggling to see how they live.  Bud was trying to encourage him that they are all ok and this is the life they choose, not to get caught up in how different it is from how he lives now.  Ian was wanting them all to come back to Kitale.  Bud kept encouraging him and about that time, his mom walks up and in Turkana language basically tells Ian the same thing Bud was.  How he shouldn't look around and feel sorry for them, this is their way of life.  She encouraged him to go back to his new home and keep on in school and do well.  Ian was then told his younger brother (same mom and dad), was out looking after the goats and wouldn't be back until dark.  Ian was determined to see him too but Bud was hesitant to stay that far out for several reasons.  By the grace of God, while they were waiting around deciding what to do, Ian's brother shows up earlier than usual.  His brother barely remembered him but was happy.  Ian wanted to bring him back but the mom and new dad said he goes to school, watching after goats is his school and if he leaves then there's no one to care for the goats.  Out of respect they left and the mom and dad welcomed us all back and said they would consider eventually letting his brother come to school.  We're in no hurry here.  There is no such thing as time and dates in this tribe.

 Caleb hiding behind a termite mound.  There's a lot of these out there.

So then they had to go and look for Dan's mom.  They were able to pass through another route and make it to the center where they said they could find her.  When they arrived they joined everyone together to greet Bud and the boys.  

Its unbelievable how much Ian and Dan both look like their moms.  I used to think they all look alike but look at the serious resemblance!

 While there, Dan met the other wives to his moms husband.  There's a lot of polygamy.  He also was able to see his grandmother.  They were all happy to see him but they show little emotion.  It was a bit discouraging to Dan and Ian to see lack of emotion since they are used to the culture of love they are constantly in around our home.  But they ultimately understood it to be ok.  The grandmother gave Bud a sheep.  That was a good sign!

So now we have a sheep that roams around our yard during the day and stinks up our garage at night.  Not the typical souvenir ones husband would bring home after being gone.  The boys want to eat it before going back to Turkana on Wednesday.  So yes, on Wednesday we will go back and I'm beyond thrilled to go too!

Here's a few more pics of Bud "becoming all things to all people".  Ha, love it.  

Who'd a thunk, the boys we've poured into and raised for the last 5 years would be the ones to take us back to Turkana and their families would be the ones to welcome us.  God's ways are mysterious and better than any plan I could come up with!  

Our response to Jesus is "here am I, send me". 

Let justice reign and LOVE win.  Love always wins.  

Restored Mary

Today we picked up Mary to bring her home. If you haven't heard about her, you can go back to July and read more details. In short, Mary's mom died when she was young and her dad is an alcoholic. She was one of the least of the least in society with no hope left, barely hanging onto life when we I found her last year. It's one of those moments that I'll never forget the intense urgency to go find her, knowing she was at her last days of living if I didn't get her. We searched for her and finally found the one room rented mud shack her dad moved her to. None of the neighbors even knew she was in there. She was locked away day and night. When we busted through the doors, I searched around the tiny dark room to find her in a corner naked and under potato sacks, in her waste. When Jesus shows up though, the love he is can rescue and restore life to the fullest. These pictures were taken today at the Living Room, a hospice that also takes cases similar to Mary. They've done a phenomenal work with Mary. When we first took her, she was having seizures, foaming at the mouth, couldn't walk, barely said a few words, and eyes rolling in the back of her head. Today we pulled up and she RAN out the front door with so much JOY. She immediately ran to greet me and said 'mama, you've come, im ready, lets go home'. Glory to God!!!!!

In some things she has the mind of about a 5 or 6 year old but we know God can heal her mind even more and restore her. Oh how much Jesus loves Mary!! We have a girls house she will move into this week. More details to come. Thank you all that have continued to pray for Mary and haven't forgotten the least of these.

Building

It's pretty darn wonderful to see the Lord building, rebuilding, and restoring many many things around Mattaw right now.  He is in our midst and out of grace and love for us, He continues to establish and build all that He said he would.  Now I'm really not specifically talking about physically building but we do so happen to have some of that going on now as well...

We've become friends with this precious family that goes and lives in a very rural place to reach a certain tribe with the gospel.  They will at times come rest in Kitale and during that time and we've been blessed to have the husband come work on the roofs of the guest housing that is on its way to being finished.  So great for Bud to have extra hands around that knows construction well.  God always provides.  Here's some of the guest housing.  This picture was taken last week with the stack of bricks and today I saw the walls completely up and ready for a roof now.  Our interlocking bricks are fabulous.  

And here's house five but right next to it where the pile of dirt is, will be house six.  The roof is going up for house six this week!  

And here's our church building.  But our "church" isn't limited to those four walls!  Ha!  Pretty phenomenal what the Lord has been doing in our midst.  Jesus is our foundation, our cornerstone, the Lord over our household and is building away right now.  

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturity), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement.  And this we will do if God permits" Hebrews 6:1-3

"And as you go, preaching, saying "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give"

This morning Bud preached one powerful teaching!  It was beautiful.  I loved watching him bring TRUTH with boldness and in love.  The Holy Spirit fell in power and we saw the love of Jesus meet the needs of so many this morning in many many ways.  People were given the tools from scripture to "all life and godliness" to live an overcoming life in Jesus.  When love shows up so powerfully, how can you do anything but melt into Him and respond?!  The service went until 2pm and even then, no one was ready to leave!  I sure love our church with no boundaries to what the Lord wants to do.  

And here is sweet Joseph.  This precious boy was tormented and living in complete control under so many.  He was "pawned" off by his parents and made to work daily, watching over someones cows.  He has been coming to church for months but would just sit in a corner and could not raise his head to even look at anyone.  The Spirit highlighted him to me last week and I saw through Jesus' eyes of love how much he was after Joseph.  Jesus did miracles because he saw a need.  He was moved by the needs of people and acted.  Because he is love and that's what he does!  Love!  *light bulb  Last week, sweet Joseph was saved, delivered, healed, and set upon the rock of Jesus Christ.  It was beautiful to watch Jesus at work in his life.  By the end of us praying with him, he was finally able to look me in the eyes and his eyes looked at me uncrossed.  We asked if he felt the peace from Jesus, the freedom, the love, and he just smiled and then bursted into laughter.  Who knows the last time he was able to laugh.  This morning he danced and smiled in worship so freely.  I looked over and caught him worshiping and just praised Jesus.  Glory to God!  His parents came today and said he has been testifying this week what happened to him last week.  Yay!  And the parents also agreed to let us put him in school!

Here's our household of guys.  We make sure to have a good 'ol family game night at least once or twice a week.  The guy on the left is our newest member to the Mattaw Family.  We are so thrilled to have him here.  I'll have to formally introduce him but I will give you a sneak peak.  David just moved here from Nairobi to work with us.  He has graduated from University in Nairobi and was sponsored through high school and university by Compassion International.  He also went through their Leadership Discipleship Program.  We have an office in town to run Mattaw administratively and David is now our Office Manager/Operations Manager.  What a HUGE answer to prayer he is.  We've already enjoyed growing with him in friendship and spiritually encouraging one another.  Jesus never lets us go with lack, if only we would ask and just trust!

And lets end this keeping it real.  These are my cake balls I excitedly made last week with Ian and Daniel.  Did you know they now make cake pans to bake cake balls now instead of having to tear up a cake and form the balls yourself.  Of course they aren't as dense with all that yummy icing mixed in but hey, they're pretty and they're easier this way.  And it was fun making the outer coat with Elisha and Claire.  Messy, but kids are messy and more fun.  

Hangin out at Mattaw

Yesterday was just a fun day to be around all our children at Mattaw.  I looked around at one point and realized we have A LOT of children.  Glory to God for all he has done and is going to do.  My heart was bubbling with joy to just sit in the middle of the land and observe His goodness all around. 

The kids are on break from school right now for a month so we have many play days out there this month!  When school starts back up we will implement our new curriculum out there.  

Elisha out playing soccer with the boys

Sweet Johnny boy.  He's one of our newest living in house four.

Chewy, the pet out at Mattaw, just had puppies.  And I thought she was a he, I clearly know now!  Anytime I'm complaining about petty things I figured I'd just look at this picture above and realize things could be worse!

 Boys from house three: Levis, Joshua and Franco.

Elisha being sweet 

Franco being, well, not so gentle.  

For lunch we had the traditional ugali (maize stuff) and sukumawiki (collard greens)

Claire loves this meal

She especially loves chai.  Don't mess with her chai. 

 She just looks so grown up here!  Where'd my baby go?