Serving in Eldoret

Hello!

Just a brief note (internet is limited!) from Eldoret, Kenya!  Joe and I are here serving with Empowering Lives International-- an amazing ministry that our home church, Cornerstone, supports.  We have been staying on in a cozy little hut and have done a variety of tasks so far including lots of prayer, taking pictures/making a short video, giving a devotional to the kids that live here and today I gave a haircut and did some PT with Nathanial (the son of Don and Amy Rogers who run ELI).

We'll write more details about what we've learned and have been able to be apart of here when we have more time/more internet =)  But we are safe, in an amazing place and with some wonderful people!  We will most likely be here until the 31st and at that point we'll head back to Nairobi-- so you can expect to hear more from us then if not sooner.

In the mean time.. you can check out www.empoweringlives.org to learn more about this incredible ministry we get to be apart of for a short time!

We are hoping to get a chance to head to the Eldoret Training Camp for a visit to catch a glimpse of some of the famous, super-fast Kenyan distance runners this week.  We'll keep you posted ;)

BEAUTIFUL Eldoret!

Joe in front of our home :)

Babysitting, Car Maintenance, and Flying Lessons

Jambo from Kenya!

As Joe mentioned in our previous post, we are safely here in Nairobi, Kenya and are staying with our dear and wonderful hosts, Ali and Tom Brown (friends from Mount Hermon).

Looking South after clearing Nairobi

Tom works as a pilot for Africa Inland Mission Air (AIM Air) and flies food, medical supplies, people, communications, etc. to various parts of Kenya a couple times per week.  Amazingly, Tom had an extra spot on his plane yesterday and Joe got to join him for a flight in one of AIM's Cessna 210 aircraft to the small village of Daba about an hour and a half east of Nairobi to deliver some cargo and pick up a couple passengers who were returning to the States.  Daba, truly in the middle of nowhere and hardly even noticeable from the air, had a sand/dirt runway adjacent to a few huts where missionaries Roger and Sue Scheenstra have made their home for the past 27 years, raising four kids and serving the local semi-nomadic tribal people with their lives. The flight out from the higher elevation and greener plateau on which Nairobi sits down to the drier, lower elevation desert conditions of Daba was amazing (see pictures), and Joe was extremely blessed to meet some of the Scheenstra family and their friends in Daba, hear very briefly about their work, and simply learn through direct contact more about what Tom and Alison are experiencing here in Nairobi.

Goodbyes at the Daba airstrip before heading back to Nairobi

Carol spent the day hanging out with Ali and also doing some baby-sitting for the 2 boys of some other missionaries (Jeremy and Jenell) who have temporarily staying here in Nairobi.  Jeremy and Jenell are good friends of Tom and Ali from when they were all living in Spokane.  J and J are preparing to head back into Tanzania where they have been serving the past 6 months and I was so glad to be able to offer a helping hand and watch their kiddos as they repacked their things.  (As a side note, they were hoping to leave this morning but were unable due to both being quite sick with sinus infections, fevers...  I know they would be so grateful for more prayers for their health so they can return to the village they have been living in in Tanzania!)

Carol hanging out at Toi Market in Nairobi

Our hope with this journey has been that Joe and I would be able to serve and bless the people we visit with throughout our travels when possible.  God has answered this prayer these past few days in Nairobi in various ways.. my baby-sitting efforts, Joe helping to build a sound proof box for Ali and Tom's generator,  jump starting a car and sorting out what the problem was (a dead battery) as well as getting the new battery and taking/editing photos to give to Tom and Ali.  We are so glad to offer a helping hand in return for the wonderful hospitality we have received!

We also spent some time chatting with some other missionaries living here in Nairobi that also work for AIM in various capacities.  One couple, Mike and Renee Delorenzo, work for AIM's On-Field Media team which uses professional videography and photo journalism encourage people around the world to find ways of helping, and sharing stories of God's faithfulness. This was especially interesting to Joe, as they are about halfway through post-production on a full length film called The Distant Boat which was produced to "challenge current understanding and attitudes about missions in the African church today" and which they are hoping find the support to release in movie theaters in the US. 

Okay! Time to sign off again, but thanks so much for reading along. In short, it has been awesome to meet and be blessed by such amazing people here in Nairobi. With luck, you'll next hear from us in Eldoret.

challenge the current understanding and attitudes about missions in the African church today - See more at: http://distantboat.com/about/#sthash.V0O0Kdhe.dpuf

- Joe & Carol

challenge the current understanding and attitudes about missions in the African church today - See more at: http://distantboat.com/about/#sthash.V0O0Kdhe.dpuf

From Kenya With Love

Sleepy Carol in the Addis Ababa Airport at 5am

In short, yesterday was major travel day. Carol and I took a final stroll through Jerusalem on Saturday after checking out of the Abraham Hostel one last time, and then made our way to Ben Gurion airport by about 9:30pm, thinking that we had plenty of time to kill before our 1am flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Airports, however, have an amazing knack for absorbing whatever time is available, so by the time we finally made it through 1) questioning + passport control, 2) check-in + passport control, 3) oversized back check-in + passport control, and 4) security + passport control, we barely had time to scarf one last shwarma before dashing to the terminal to have our passports checked so that we could board the plane. We made it on easily, fell asleep, and were immediately woken up to find that Ethiopia Airlines serves a meal at 2am on their flight, which was awesome, after which Carol napped, and Joe watched movies and read.

Joe has crossed the equator for the first time!

At 5am in Addis we enjoyed a few random power outages at the terminal while we waited/slept in some surprisingly comfortable lounge chairs that are provided by the airport (see picture of Carol), and then caught our connecting flight to Nairobi at about 10am, enjoying another meal courtesy of Ethiopia Airlines which had some kind of wonderful blended pineapple meringue thing that I need to look up. Anyway, as the plane landed we were pleased to see that most of the Nairobi airport was still standing after seeing some of the photos of the recent fire, but we didn't ever actually get to go inside the airport, since customs, luggage, visas, and pick-up for our flight had all been moved temporarily to large tents standing out on the tarmac.  It wasn't a hassle at all, but it did take us over an hour to get our visas and luggage, and finally walk out a random gate to find...

Nicholas! A driver sent by our wonderful hosts here in Nairobi for a few days, who had been waiting in the hot sun for us with a sign reading "STEVICK". Given the chaos everywhere around us, the fact that I was sleep deprived, and the general disorientation of being in a brand new place, it was a huge blessing just to see someone with our name on a board.

Parts of Nairobi went by in a blur on our way from the airport to Alison and Tom's house, and I still don't have the words to describe any aspect of it, but hopefully with a bit more exposure it will start to take some shape. At any rate, our driver did a fantastic job of introducing us to Kenya, gave us a brief socio-economic introduction to Nairobi, taught us a few key words and phrases in Swahili, told us how to avoid being sent to jail, and told us a little about his family history... all in the 20 minute drive.

Alison was there waiting for us when we arrived, and since then she and Tom have made us feel extremely at home, and have already included us in a movie night with friends, meals, projects, etc. Especially enjoyable today was an awesome lunch right next to the airstrip at the Aero Club of East Africa at Wilson Airport where Tom works.

Finally, a huge gift was being able to meet up this evening with Celia Nyamweru (a friend of Joe's from Wolfson College, Cambridge) for dinner at a nearby Lebanese restaurant, where we were able to catch up a bit and reminisce a bit about life at Wolfson.

Once again, in the few hours since we've arrived there is just too much to tell, but we thought it was about time to let you know that we have safely moved on from Israel to Kenya, and that we continue to be amazed at how diverse and rich with life this world is.

In His Peace,

Joe

Shabbat Shalom!

Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
(Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe!)

Shabbat Dinner- yummmm!

 We just celebrated a wonderful Shabbat dinner here at Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem (truly the coolest hostel ever).  We, along with about 20 other people, cooked and ate a most amazing Shabbat meal including chicken and loads of salads of every sort (see photo!), hallah, pita and tahini.. so delicious!

And with full a full tummy I can reflect on the past few days..

Chef Joe

So many delicious foods...

The beach in Atlit...sooooo niceeeeee!

We had a most wonderful stay with Andrey and Irin in Atlit (as mentioned previously).  I met Andrey doing my PNF physical therapy residency in Vallejo a couple summers ago and was excited to get to reconnect with him and his wonderful wife at their home in Atlit.  We shared some fantastic meals together (I have to say Israel has some of the best food, ever!), laughs and good conversation.

Joe and I headed up to Haifa one day (just 20 minutes north of Atlit) to see the Bah'ai gardens- which are very impressive! (can't remember if Joe mentioned this in a previous post...) Unfortunately we missed the English tour (oops) but got to hear the Hebrew one! hehe.  We also spent a day in Akko/Acre (near Haifa) which is an old city with lots of history.  Most notably, there is a massive old citadel and is one of the Knights of the Templar sites.

Thanks for the hospitality, Andrey and Irin!

Today we went to Yad Vashem (Heros and Martyrs).. the Holocaust museum here in Jerusalem.  It is an amazing place with beautiful architecture,  loads of videos, memorials, recovered paraphanalia, etc.  The place is stunning and very moving and incredibly heart-breaking.  Seeing Yad Veshem has definitely helped me to understand Israel a little better.. and how meaningful it is for Jews to have a country they can again call home.

One of the things that struck me most is a section of the museum called "Righteous Among the Nations." It is an area dedicated to non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from the Nazi extermination camps.  I was so blessed to see stories of heroic men and women who took on the plight of the Jews at this time and selflessly aided them to safety.  It reminds me of these verses...

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:12-13)

I just think it's so amazing to see when people put themselves in harms way for the sake of the oppressed.. it is such an act of humility and love. And, it's the complete opposite spirit of that of power, elitism, etc.  I can't help but feel thankful for Jesus.. the King of Kings.. most powerful being in the whole universe yet took on the form of a man, a servant and even died for the sake of those He loved.  Truly there is no greater love!

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!"

Philippians 2:5-8

Again, what an incredible God we serve!

In other news... tomorrow is Joe and my 4th anniversary!  Four years has gone by soo fast.. and we are so excited to be on this adventure together for our 4th anniversary :) Love you, Joe!!!

Thanks again for following our blog and for keeping us in your prayers! 

Goodbye Abraham Hostel- I will miss you and your fantastic hammocks!

Haifa and Acre (Akko)

The past couple days we have been exploring the twin cities of Haifa and Acre (Akko) on the northern coast of Israel. Our day in Haifa started with a now familiar Eggad bus ride into the city center, where we missed our stop at the top of the Bahá'í World Center (which consists of consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel) and had to jog our way back up many vertical feet along some very steep city streets to the top where our English language tour started at noon. Fortunately, we found enough speed in us to make it in time for the tour. Unfortunately, we entered the gardens at noon at the wrong entrance 100 meters from where we were supposed to meet the guided tour, and didn't realize this until ten minutes after 12pm. By the time we reached the actual tour entrance, we were too late and had to take the Hebrew language tour instead! Seeing the gardens was still a treat though, but we think we missed out on some good Bahá'í history lessons and possibly some promotion of the faith as well.


After locating a highly recommended schwarma restaurant in the city, we caught a bus up the hill to the Israel Institute of Technology, the Technion, where we caught up on some recent research courtesy of the visitor's center, and spent some time relaxing in the student center and ecological gardens. It was pretty interesting to see how much work is being done at this institute, in many different fields of science. Our evening ended with a good meal and beer at the Technion Pub, after which we found out that most buses had stopped running to the city, and all buses had stopped running to Atlit (a very nice taxi driver saved us from spending the night in the bus terminal).

Dinner time. I think we'll catch you up on Acre tomorrow!

- Joe

Greetings from Atlit

At present, we are safely ensconced in the abode of Andrey and Irin in Atlit, Israel. We arrived by bus yesterday afternoon (thank you again Eggad bus lines), and spent a few relaxing hours at the central bus station enjoying some air conditioning and snack foods along with our second-to-last remaining mango from the hike (so good!). This is the point in our trek when we realized that one of the wonderful things about backpacking is arriving back at home to take a shower, put on some clean clothes, plop down on the couch, and watch a movie, and it would be a lie to say that we didn't crave these things a bit. However, there is also something amazing and invigorating about being given the opportunity to put aside the knowledge that creature comforts are just a drive away, and to put one's trust completely in the Lord of Lords as each moment arrives, and with it new and surprising blessings. I don't know why they should continue to be surprising after so many, but I pray that we will learn with time to trust more and expect even greater blessings.

Anyway, after almost missing Atlit entirely on the local bus, we finally were cast off the bus in the right spot by some helpful locals, and found ourselves looking out upon on a spectacular sunset over the Mediterranean (see Carol's awesome photo). At that particular moment a friendly voice with an American accent called out to us. This turned out to be an wonderfully friendly fellow world traveler, Joscelyn, who very kindly invited us up to her and Oren's rooftop deck for cold beers, an even better view of the sunset, and an excellent discussion about faith, travel, and plans for the future.

Needless to say, this was a perfectly refreshing way to start out our time in Atlit, and lightened our hearts as we headed for Andrey's place down the road where we were greeted very warmly and had a wonderful dinner, and a very peaceful sleep after a few nights of sleeping through fireworks, prayers over loudspeakers, drumming and singing, floodlights, and quite a few insects.

Sorry this post went on a bit longer than I anticipated, but when the time (and network connections) permit some journalism, it feels good to document some of the many ways that we've been growing through our experiences. We know that all of you are experiencing blessings and trials of various kinds as well, and that God is working in each one of you to glorify himself and bring you joy, and we want to say thanks for continuing to share your lives with us as well!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Perseids meteor shower tonight!

Post Jesus Trail

Hello again!

Joe and I are back on the web after our 5 day trek/pilgrimage from Nazareth to Caperneum along the "Jesus Trail."  We had a fantastic adventure with more memories and experiences than we could recount in just a few words here.  Below is a picture of where we began- we stayed at the cozy Fauzi Azar Inn in Nazareth and were served a huge and wonderful breakfast before we began our voyage :)

G'bye Fauzi Azar Inn; Ready to hit the trails

Some highlights from the rest of the trek included hiking through Cana (where we avoided the heat of the day at the church of the first miracle; Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana), camping along the hillside between Cana and a town called Lavi on the evening of the end of Ramadan (LOTS of fireworks and prayers over loudspeakers all night long!), staying at the Kibbutz Lavi Hotel (showers, air conditioning and some amazing buffet meals to refuel),

Buffet dinner at the Kibbutz Lavi Hotel- yum!

hiking over the Horns of Hattin to see a fantastic view of the Sea of Galilee, visiting the Druze shrine of Nebi Shu-eib, trekking up Mount Arbol and the greater challenge of descending Mount Arbol (steep!..we were so glad for the metal handholds that were placed in the rock sides to help us along!), seeing the amazing 2000+ year old cliff dwellings left in the sides of the mountains, eating St. Peter's Fish (Talapia) at a restaurant on the Sea of Galilee, and camping out beach side on the Galilee.  Every day the heat was a challenge, as were some some nasty blisters for Carol, but the blessings were abundant and we especially enjoyed the chance to be on our own, get out of the cities a bit, and most of all, enjoy the experience of walking in the lands Jesus walked in. Following the trail markers made the whole adventure a bit like a treasure-hunt, at times being impossible to get lost, and in other places impossible to find the trail, or possibly finding too many trails! We had an exceptionally interesting experience around Golani Junction where we spent several hours covering perhaps 4 km of actual distance along the route due to construction of new overpasses and disagreement between the maps and the markers along the way.

Over looking the Sea of Galilee (aka Kinneret)

 We had many hours on the trail to think, pray and reflect on the stories we've read of Jesus's activities in these places.. feeding the 5,000, the sermon on the mount, calling his disciples, teaching in synagogues, calming the wind and the waves, walking on water, his conversation with Peter and John when he reappears to them after the resurrection.. there were moments walking this "Jesus Trail" that felt so ordinary (like any other pace in the world) and other moments where this place felt so unique and special as we recalled Jesus being here.  I think that is one of the most amazing thing about Jesus-- he is both ordinary and totally extraordinary at the same time.  He was totally, fully human just like we are with aches and challenges, and yet also fully divine with complete holiness and perfection.  We both feel like we got to know the person of Jesus a bit more through this adventure and are incredibly thankful to serve a God that is both set apart, perfect and all-powerful, yet at the same time knows weakness, is personal, compassionate and can sympathize with our struggles as humans.  What a unique and wonderful God!

Made it down Mount Arbol, whew! Joe is not wearing long
sleeves to stay warm, but to try and hide from the sun.

Hebrews 4:15-16 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

As always, thanks for reading along with our travels. We have been very blessed by your comments and encouragement.

Lots of Love,  Carol & Joe

Tilapia on the Sea of Galilee...no Denarius inside, shucks ;)

Good Morning Nazareth

This morning I woke up in Nazareth at the Fauzi Azar guesthouse to the sound of water running in the fountain outside our dorm, and the stillness that you can only get inside these old thick limestone walled buildings. This place used to be a private mansion in the Old City, and you can tell from the arches, mosaics, and windows and balconies overlooking the rest of the city that it must have been even more impressive then than it is now. Before heading to bed last night, we stumbled upon an international prayer service at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation just down a few narrow winding market streets from our guesthouse, which was a, unexpected opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of a very impressive place of worship alive with the prayers of local and visiting faithful folks.

There is much more to tell, especially about the last couple days we spent back in Jerusalem where we caught up with newlyweds Aidan and Juliet Brown on their honeymoon. It was wonderful to see them again so soon after the wedding and share some memorable walks (across the rooftops of Jerusalem, to the Western Wall, through the packed Muslim Quarter market streets in the evening, etc), and hear about their earlier adventures in Europe.

And now it is time for us to try some travel by foot. We have our trail maps and camping supplies ready to go for our attempt to hike "The Jesus Trail" (see map) mini-pilgrimage, and will probably not get a chance to email or phone for a few days, so please don't worry if you don't hear from us. We'll send an update about our experiences as soon as we can.

Lots of love,

Joe & Carol

Shalom From Tel Aviv

Hello from Tel Aviv, Israel!  Joe and I have spent the last few days in Tel Aviv touring around the city, eating lots of tasty Israeli food and enjoying more time with our dear friend, Ulrich.  Tel Aviv has such a different feel from Jerusalem.  Tel Aviv is a very lively city with people out and about all night long.  We are staying at a lovely hostel right on the beach and have enjoyed daily swims in the ocean to cool off :)

Last night we got to join Ulrich at his church he attends here while in Tel Aviv.. it is a Messianic church so essentially a church of Jewish men and women who have come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.  It was such a wonderful experience.. singing praise and worship songs in Hebrew was a blessing! (And it helped that the songs had English translation plus Hebrew words written with English letters so we could try and follow along).  The people were so kind and they happened to be having a potluck last night so we got to eat large platefuls of Israeli food and desserts =)

Next door to our hostel there is a restaurant where we are able to get half off breakfasts all day by staying at this particular hostel.  The breakfasts are amazing.. shakshuka (eggs poached in tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, garlic..), salad, smoothies/juices, breads with jams, hummus, tahini, plus coffee or hot chocolate.  Yum!!

Another highlight was going out for ice cream with Ulrich yesterday.. we found an Italian ice cream shop with homemade cones and some of the best ice cream I've ever had (I had oreo and pistachio..)

As you can tell, we've been using these past few days in Tel Aviv to rest up, refuel and gear up for some more adventuring.

We miss everyone back at home very much but have been treasuring this time together to enjoy God's creation, many blessings and challenges too that we know are growing us and shaping us.  We are learning to take life one day at a time and focus on what God has for us each day and not worry about what will come tomorrow (since often we don't even know where we will stay tomorrow ;)).

Last week in Jerusalem, I was struck by the incredible devotion of the Orthodox Jews.. on our bus ride from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, there was an Orthodox Jewish gentleman sitting in the seat in front of me and the whole 2 hour ride towards the Dead Sea hew as uttering scripture he had memorized in his heart.  Joe reminded me that the Jews see themselves as receptacles and vessels of God's word to continually be ingesting and outpouring His words.  I was inspired by this and reminded of the gift that knowing God's word is and have been using the extra time on buses, etc, to work on some more scripture memorization and meditation as well.

I've also been so thankful for the BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) I was in last year studying the book of Genesis!  So many of the names and locations here we read in Genesis and it's so fun to have a visual for some of these places (such as the Negev desert, Hebron).

Thanks again for following our blog and for your thoughts and prayers!!
with joy,

carol and joe