2007 September » Jarretts Ministry

Sun 23 Sep 2007

And now, the rest of the story from V8 #4

Posted by paulejr under Uncategorized
Comments Off

When I returned to sign the death certificate, I found out some surprising information about Katherine, our mother who died. I met Alice Langat, the director of the Kitoben Vision Children’s Home at the nurses’ station. In contrast to our earlier meeting at church this morning, she had a sad expression on her face. Katherine, the 37-year-old mother of three, was more than a casual friend of hers.
As I have told before, Alice has 45 children at the home; many have been abandoned at Tenwek Hospital when the relatives never collected them after dismissal. These were orphans that the relatives simply could not care for themselves. One group of children consisted of six siblings who were â€œbleeders’, a hereditary bleeding disorder somewhat milder than hemophilia. Alice has had the six children for at least four years at Kitoben.
Today, Alice met me after church with Mercy, the oldest of the children, who is in 9th grade. Mercy thanked me for our help in sending her to school and for supporting the home. After I saw them, they went to the Maternity ward to see Katherine, who was a Christian. They prayed with her as she had a headache and a little chest pain. Her symptoms worsened rapidly after Alice’s visit, and she died suddenly as I described earlier. Katherine was an aunt to the six children at Kitoben; Alice says that there is doubt whether the husband, who is away, will support the three children left behind by Katherine’s death.
Please pray for the three children and for their father to care for them. In this culture, the children belong to the father’s family, but that’s no guarantee he will care for them. Pray for Alice as well; she has no more room for childrenâ€”especially an infant. But I know her heart will break over the children if they are abandoned.

Tags:

Sun 23 Sep 2007

Volume 8, Number 4 An unexpected conclusion

Posted by paulejr under Uncategorized
Comments Off

Dear Friends and Family:
Thanks so much for your prayers. My time here at Tenwek continues to be very productive. And I’m thankful that my bags arrived on Tuesday evening without damage or loss. Already I’ve passed along four donated 35mm cameras to Pastor Kilel to give to some older orphans. I’m hopeful the cameras will assist them in earning a living.
A major event in the Jarrett family was pending when I left for Kenya. Pat and Lisa awaited the birth of their 10th child. William Justice Jarrett arrived safely this past Friday, two days before Marty’s birthday on September 23rd. Thank you, Lord. I’m also thankful that Marty continues to gain strength.
Missionaries Chuck and Amy Bemm and I had a meeting with the directors of three of the four children’s homes as well as Pastor David Kilel and Elijah and Rachel Bett who are the directors and â€œparentsâ€ of 117 children at Mosop School and Laura Children’s Home. This meeting was highly instructive for all of us. Not only did we have the opportunity to discuss some of the challenges that all the homes have in common, but also we heard different reports of praise of how God is working.
One praise highlight was from Mosop School which now has only grades 1 through 8. [It became necessary to close their secondary school.] They recently formed a student outreach department. Some students in Standard 6-8 and a few 5th graders began to visit children in a nearby village where there was no church. The village is notorious for its many alcoholics. The children started two Sunday school classes with the village children and many children believed in Jesus. Soon they had enough children and some adults who were attending; they formed a church, and a pastor was called to lead them. Last week they had sixteen new adult converts who returned for membershipâ€”some others did fall away after initially showing interest. Most think of Child Evangelism as being programs directed by adults for children; this situation was the reverse.
Jesus was once asked by the teachers of the law, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” These words of Jesus are from Matthew 21:16 where he quoted Psalm 8:2.
I asked Elijah about his experience over the years with the children he and his wife have raised and educated. He says well over 50% have a good Christian testimony and walk with the Lord after leaving school. Others are more moral than beforeâ€”even some who were behavior problems while at school. A few never changed.
He is thankful that the children have never gone hungry and have never had to sleep outside on the ground. They have always had sleeping quarters provided as the numbers grew. Some of his stories hearken back to those told by George Mueller over 100 years ago in London. One time Mosop was completely out of food. Elijah was asked what they were going to do; he instructed them to continue to pray. Later in the day he observed a lorry [truck] parked outside his gate. The driver was unloading sacks onto the ground. He asked the man what he was doing. â€œWhy, these are the bags of rice you ordered.â€ Elijah said that he hadn’t ordered rice. The man replied, â€œWell someone has ordered it and paid for it, so here it is.â€
Not all of the news was good from Mosop. You may remember the story of Peter, the tongue-tied boy, from our last term. He was not only orphaned at age 13 but also couldn’t speak properly because his tongue was bound down to the floor of his mouth; a simple operation hadn’t been performed at birth. He had been surviving by eating out of the garbage and occasional odd jobs. We arranged for the simple corrective surgery and placed him at Mosop School. Although his situation was much improved, his nightmares and behavior disturbed other students. These problems never abated sufficiently.
Even though he was number one in his class, when he and another boy drove a hole in a water tank with a nail, it became clear he couldn’t remain. He was returned to the custody of an aunt, but he ran off and roamed the streets of Sotik. This little town has an alert police force that quickly spotted the boy wandering around looking for his dead mother in places where she used to visit. He seemed not to have accepted her death. They recognized his mind wasn’t quite right. It has been recommended that he be sent to a school for the mentally disturbed that is more than just a warehouse for mentally defective people. We’ve asked the aunt to investigate the cost and the program. Please pray that we’ll find the best solution for this troubled youth and funds for a private school if this is God’s will.
David Kilel has found a similar 12-year-old child; the parents are alive but haven’t done anything for the child who has a very strong desire to go to school. He wants me to meet him before I leave. Last year one of our patient attendants at Tenwek brought us a deaf child in such a situation who hadn’t attended school. We found an inexpensive mission school for the deaf in nearby Litein, and the child is thriving there. There are many needs that tear at our hearts. We try to meet the ones God puts in our path but must rely on him to provide the means.
One correction on my report from Bosto last week needs to be made. The approval for the additional 5-acres is still pending. A very important member of Bosto’s board of directors was largely responsible for this contact with the council; he has resigned over some personal issues with others in the church having nothing to do with the home. We have greatly benefited from his leadership and wisdom in the past. The Apostle Paul had some difficulty with disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche, who were church members in Philippi. One of Satan’s favorite tricks in opposing God’s people is causing division among brothers [or sisters]. Please pray for Stephen and the resolution of the disagreement.
All of the missionaries and orphanages deal with children at the door wanting help. A mother brings her children to introduce them because she’s HIV+, and fears she doesn’t have long to live. Grandmothers bring a child for a worker at a children’s home to take. People bring vegetables one week and the next week bring their children to leave at the home since they are now supporters of the home. The needs are so great and the resources are few. It reminds me of the loaves and fishes. So we continue to use what little we have and let God do the multiplication.

I’ve commented before on the ubiquitous presence of cell phones in Kenya. People still do not have electrical or telephone service in their rural homes, but technology has â€œskipped overâ€ this lack of infrastructure so that many relatively poor people carry cell phones. In Kenya it is a prepaid service rather than a monthly rate, which makes it somewhat affordable albeit a luxury. Church services and conversations in clinic are sometimes interrupted for an insistent and incessant ringing in a purse or pocket. None seem to use the silent, vibrating feature.
During my Saturday afternoon lunch between the third and fourth bites of cornbread and before the main entrÃ©e had even been passed, I was summoned to the delivery room for an emergency. A mother had delivered her third child without difficulty but continued to bleed rather heavily afterwards. The nurse estimated the patient had lost a pint and a half of blood; would I please come right away?
I donned sterile gloves and made my examination as best I could while leaning over the rather messy delivery table. I concluded no lacerations were present and the uterus was very well contracted; despite this, the patient continued to have intermittent gushes of bright blood. I believed she must have had a low-lying placenta, and the implantation site was bleeding because the lower portion of the uterus wasn’t able to contract enough to stop the hemorrhage. My strategy was continuous massage of this area and preparation in case the bleeding didn’t stop.
I had asked the delivery nurse to get a special instrument to aid my assessment and sent another nurse to get some medication from the pharmacy which could help in this situation. [The man with the key was gone, so she didn't return right away.] That left me alone since these were the only two nurses on duty in the maternity department. I had asked for the lab to draw blood for cross-match in case transfusions became necessary, so a technician visited briefly.
My intense thinking and actions were interrupted by the patient’s cell phone. She whipped it out from who knows where and began talking to someone while I’m trying my best to keep her from bleeding to death. â€œOh, I guess I’m doing okay although I’m very thirsty. Daktari is just trying to stop me from bleeding to death. How are you?â€ At least that’s how I interpreted their Kipsigis conversation. Since all my helpers were out running errands, I guess I could have asked the patient to summon more help on her phone if I needed anything else. Or call the guest house to ask someone to keep my food warm.
I’ve had the opportunity to do several surgeries this week but none as difficult as the one last week for cervical cancer. These major surgeries with the other consultant surgeons should help to boost their confidence. I hope they will continue the larger volume of surgery even if they need to call on a surgeon from the Surgery service if the case becomes too difficult. I’ve certainly done that many times in the past 9 years. In fact, I’ve asked one of the surgeons, Mike Ganey, to help with a case tomorrow.
I’ve dealt with all of the boxes that I plan on unpacking before leaving next week. I think the apartment is set up at least functionally if not permanentlyâ€”depending on female tastes. I hope to have some of our females return with me in January.
This week I will concentrate on the hospital and orphan work before packing my bags. Please pray that I will be able to address all unresolved issues before leaving. One major issue is financial support for the Kitoben Vision Children’s Home. The available support received here in Kenya will run out in six weeks. We’re praying that donors who have supported the home in the past will step forward once again. Another issue is school fees. On the horizon, I can see that we will have ten children ready for secondary school in January. Eight are from Kitoben Vision, and one each from Bosto and Umoja. We feel these children have priority over others in the community whom we may encounter. It now requires about $400 to send each student to school for a year, and half is due at the beginning of the year. We still have a small amount of third term fees unpaid. Please pray that God will provide this support as well. Our total number of children supported in secondary school this year was approximately 65â€”not including the salary of a blind teacher for our blind students at Mosop.
We’ve had dry weather for the past four days after very heavy rain most every day after my arrival. Roads became nearly impassable in many areas of Kenya including the road between here and Nairobi. Although that road is now open, please pray the road will be open next Sunday for my return to the airport. I fly out of Nairobi at 11pm on September 30th, 4 pm in Indianapolis. I am scheduled to arrive Monday evening, Oct. 1st. I may not send another update until after that time.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to our orphan support program may do so through Outreach Christian Fellowship. Mail checks to and payable to: Outreach Christian Fellowship, PO Box 7637, Tyler TX, 75711.
Donors are to mark on a separate piece of paper that the donations are for the account of Paul Jarrett as well as any specific project designationâ€”e.g. school fees or pastor’s benevolence fund. [Keep in mind that OCF, a 501c3 corporation, takes 5% for administrative costs; they issue a receipt suitable for tax purposes.]
I had intended to close this letter but it was time for Sunday dinner at a house near the bottom of the compound. As I stood outside the guesthouse waiting for the other guests to assemble for the walk, I heard a phone ringing upstairs, which is a feat in itself with my hearing impairment, but I had left my windows open for the breeze on this warm day. I ran back up and caught the phone. The nurse was saying, â€œWe have an emergency; one of the c\s mother’s condition has changed.â€ I remembered this is the Kenyan’s way of saying â€œwe have a code blue.â€ I knew not to try to get more information but hurried up to the maternity ward.
Sure enough, the nurses and clinical officer were performing CPR on a mother who had delivered by cesarean section on Friday. I joined in the effort with the usual supportive methods but found that her pupils were fixed and dilated. She had been fine on rounds earlier in the day; she would have gone home tomorrow. She had become suddenly restless and agitated; a nurse checked and found her blood sugar was normal. She was talking and then she collapsed. In all probability, she had a pulmonary embolusâ€”a life-threatening event in any part of the world. Suddenly three children no longer had their mother.
Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon about the precarious nature of our hold on this life. Like an insect held over the abyss by a slender thread, our lives can be snuffed out in an instant. Only God’s mercy prevents this from happening; justice declares that we deserve this judgment because of our sins. How long He restrains us from eternal doom varies for each individual, but we each have a responsibility to accept God’s offer of salvation provided by the death of our substitute, Jesus, God’s only son.
That’s why we’re here in Kenya. That’s why we feel such urgency in returning. The time is short; soon it will be too late. This afternoon is too late for this mother. I don’t know her spiritual status but it is sealed in whatever state it was this morning when she ate her last meal. Don’t postpone your decision. Don’t fail to tell others. Your forwarding address for eternity hangs in the balance.
Serving Jesus with you,
Paul Jarrett in Kenya

Tags:

Sun 16 Sep 2007

Volume 8, Number 3, Trip to Bosto

Posted by paulejr under Uncategorized
Comments Off

September 16, 2007

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers. I’m resting today after a very busy week here at Tenwek. I’m hoping to see my two bags tomorrow. They rested in Nairobi for a week and were to have been sent to Bomet via Securicor, a security service, perhaps analogous to Brinks or Pinkerton’s. Now we have to arrange a trip to pick them up in the nearby town of Bomet when Securicor’s office is open. I’ll be VERY interested to see the luggage’s condition after all this time. The TSA agent in Indianapolis allowed me to put a lock on the trunk to foil the thieves in the transit system with whom we’ve had unpleasant dealings in the past.
Although more work remains, I’ve made good progress with preparing our new apartment during the first two weekends and a few evenings. I’ve found some things Marty wants me to bring home to Indiana. There simply doesn’t seem to be room for all our Kenyan possessions in the new apartment, but we’ll eventually pare them down. I’ve finally opened all of the boxes, but I’ve deferred unpacking some that I think can wait for Marty’s help.
The work at the hospital was very familiar to me; although I hadn’t operated for 15 months, I found surgery surprisingly easy. One goal is to help Caleb Maina become confident in doing hysterectomies; without a specialist from the US here, the number of these surgeries had fallen off considerably. The Kenyan OB doctors receive rather limited training in specialized gynecologic surgeries, yet the need and demand for them remain quite high. I expect we may do quite a few cases to relieve the â€œbacklogâ€.
I did a â€œsimpleâ€ hysterectomy on Tuesday with Caleb; that one went very well and boosted our confidence. I also assisted the intern with a cesarean section. She is nearing the end of her OB rotation and is quite confident and competent, it would seem. The work is always heavy here and will be done by someone; my goal will always be to see that those who do the work are equipped as well as possible. I found that no lectures have been given in obstetrics for quite a whileâ€”another casualty during the absence of missionary specialists. I gave a lecture on Wednesday and will give two more before I leave.
I examined a woman with cervical cancerâ€”still the number one cancer for women in the third world. A vaccine is now available to young women in the developed world which must be given early in the teen years to give the most protection. Although it is new and expensive, it holds great promise for lifelong protection against a terrible disease. In contrast to many of our Kenyan patients, this woman had been found to have the cancer earlierâ€”rather incidentally in the course of fixing a minor problem. A biopsy was done proving the presence of the dread disease, already at Stage 2 [spreading locally off of the cervix]; however, surgery can still be done to extend the patient’s length and quality of life.
Thursday morning, Caleb and I tried a more â€œradicalâ€ hysterectomy to cut more widely around the uterus in hopes of excising all the cancer. I’ve only assisted on this kind of surgery in the States; it’s normally performed by a gynecology\oncologist. But those highly-trained individuals aren’t present in Kenya. It’s a difficult operation with high potential for complications in the post-operative period as well as during surgery.
We determined early in the operation that the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes on the wall of the pelvis underneath the big blood vessels to the right leg. We struggled with excessive blood loss in tracing out the ureters, the drain tubes leading from the kidneys to the urinary bladder; it’s necessary to prevent injuring them during the wider excision. The uterus also bled quite a bit as we struggled to find the major blood vessels passing over the ureters. Three hours and a pint of blood into the surgery we decided it would be better to do a more conservative operation; we were able to completely eliminate the local disease which caused her symptoms of pain and bleeding.
Radiation therapy of the lymph nodes would give our patient a chance at long term survival. This is only available in Nairobi at the Kenyatta National Hospital. The treatment costs less than $50; however, the major expense is staying in Nairobi for the five or six weeks while undergoing daily outpatient treatment. Timing of the visit is important, as the Radiotherapy Department closes for annual leave the entire month of December.
We finished in five hours; I was pretty beat, but we still had two more hysterectomies scheduled. The next patient was shaking uncontrollably in the preparation room and running a fever; we determined that she had malaria. Although it’s low season for this disease right now, our hospital workers still see some cases. Since the timing of her surgery was elective, we postponed it until next week at the earliest. We asked the staff to prepare the next patient for surgery after we ate lunch.
I realized I didn’t have much more energy after lunch but went back up to the hospital. I was surprised to find the operating room empty and asked the OR staff about it. â€œWe’ve looked everywhere and can’t find her,â€ they said. â€œWe don’t think she even stayed the night.â€ So, suddenly, my OR schedule was finished. I went home and took a very long nap. It makes me wonder if I’ll have the ability to do as much work as I have in the past. Age has been creeping up on me; hopefully it hasn’t begun to sprint.
Saturday morning, Dr. Mike Ganey and I made a seven-hour visit to the remote AGC Bosto Children’s Home. Because it’s been raining heavily everyday, the roads were sloppy and wet; we spent nearly three hours of the time driving. Becca Quinby, the wife of visiting physician Peter, and their seven-month-old daughter, Abby, accompanied us. Although hailing from Springfield, Mass., Becca spent seven years as a missionary to Mexico before getting married; she wasn’t at all intimidated by the backcountry adventure.
Mike is a general surgeon from the same area; he and his wife, Julie, who serves in Tenwek’s nursery while working on her Kenya nursing certificate, have been visiting the children’s home monthly since June. Having recently completed his residency, Mike is serving at Tenwek for two years through World Gospel Mission before the next stage of their lives begins.
I was surprised to see a section of the road to Bosto greatly improved. A new tea factory is being built on the same mountain necessitating the upgrade. It would be wonderful if they put in a bridge across the river at the bottom of the mountain, which would cut the trip to about a third of the distance and time.
As we drove down the hill, the children were waiting and clapping at the gate. They couldn’t see us coming, but the director says they could hear the car at a distance. There are now twenty-one girls; the nineteen boys brought in earlier this year tend to be a little younger on average, which is probably good at this time. The girls have really grown since I saw them last Mayâ€”amazing what some hormones and nearly two years of good nutrition have done. Some are quite tall, which shouldn’t be surprising for the 16-year-olds. One could start Form 1[9th grade] in January and another the following year. In 2010 there should be five additional girls old enough to start, and we hope to be able to sponsor their secondary education. Although they are good students, they are behind their age mates in school because of the disruption in their lives from losing their parents.
Secondary school education is not provided by the government and costs about 25,000\= (Kenya Shillings) [about $385 using 65\= per $1.00] per student per yearâ€”depending on the school, it may be 3,000\= more or less. Exchange rates fluctuate depending mostly on the ever-declining value of the US dollar.
These older girls have been at the home since it opened in January, 2006 [See prayer letter: Volume 7, Number 5 www.jarrettsministry.org]. My first visit to the proposed site was in May, 2004 [V5#13]. Of course, the girls remember us and they have been praying regularly in the evenings for Marty when they meet to pray together. I am impressed with how fervently many Kenyans pray.
A wonderful addition to the home is a set of house parents, Isaac and Emmy Mutai. They have been married nearly one-year and had a baby boy, Kipkirui, at the end of August. I met Isaac, but Emmy is on Maternity leave until November. She is the children’s teacher at the local elementary school during the day and their tutor at night. Isaac was first a secondary school teacher and then a pastor in the Mara area before they were married and posted at the home by the Africa Gospel Church. I believe they will be a great blessing to the children.
Isaac states that the older girls have given a testimony of faith in Jesus; they are mentors to the older children as well as witnesses at the local school they attend. He is very encouraged that their behavior matches their confession of faith. This is certainly a fulfillment of our dream in building the home.
The 21 girls are in the first dorm room to be completed and the 19 boys are in the opposite side which has recently been finished. The family bedroom in the middle section between the dorms and a little sitting room with four chairs and coffee table fill the remainder of this original building.
Mike brought bed nets for the very excited boys; the girls already had their nets. Mosquitoes come around when it’s dry, but they’ve had no cases of malaria. The high elevation keeps the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito away.
Because water must be drawn from the river at the bottom of the mountain, rain is collected from the gutters catching the runoff from the roof. There are now two water tanks beside the building, a 2,000 gallon tank in front and a new, 4,000 gallon black plastic KenTank on the valley side. The second tank was installed earlier in the week and is already more than half full after the heavy rains.
They’ve constructed very nice outdoor toilets and showers for the boys which are nearly finished. These are not mechanized toilets; they dig a large, deep pit and put a concrete cap over it with openings for each stall; then they build a stone building around it and add iron sheet roofing. This is probably more information than you need about outhouse construction, but inquiring minds often want to know. To complete the toilets, they lack 15,000\= [about $230] for the doors and plaster.
The administrative office area in the front portico of the dorm now has the walls and cement floor completed [it formerly only had a roof] but also needs about 15,000\= to complete it and the small book storage room next to it. Office furniture will be another 5,000\= [about $77]. Here they will keep the official records of the children and the home.
The dining hall looked to be in good shape as did the store room for food which was full of maize donated by the local churchesâ€”It’s now harvest time. The donated rice bags mentioned earlier this year are being brought in as needed from a central storage site. Both semi-permanent wooden buildings need interior siding of thin boards to keep out the wind and rain.
They have some rats as well which need to be discouraged a bit more with tighter fitting construction; it isn’t safe to put rat poison around food and little children. A cat that patrols the store room was unavailable for comment or inspection. Upgrading the storage room would be 10,000\= [$154].
The dining hall needs 5,000\= for the insulating board. This room is where the children spend huddled together for warmth most of the evening after dark [at 6:30 p.m.] using kerosene lanterns for light for their studies and teaching. The kitchen on the other half of the dining hall provides some heat from the cooking fire.
A new boys’ dorm built with the aid of a $6,000 grant from World Orphans lacks about 150,000 \= [$2,300] for interior completion including flooring. This is consistent with our construction expenses at other homes. Ideally, both dormitory buildings need outside plaster but are fine for now. The new building is not being used at present. They could add two more water tanks for the roof-shed of this building. A 6,000 gallon capacity tank would cost 35,000\= [$538] One of our homes, Umoja, has a permanent concrete tank that holds 20,000 gallons, I believe. The larger the better is a good rule of thumb. Their donkey strapped with several 5 gallon containers gets tired of making three trips a day to the river. [And he won't go unless accompanied by someone to encourage him.]
Our herd of Torgenburg dairy goats now consists of four nanny goats and three kids as well as the billygoat. David Kilel says he thinks that they may have been cheated with older goats but Mike Ganey’s father, a dairy vet from upstate NY visited and determined they were healthy. He recommended a correction of a dietary deficiency and treated them for parasites which should help their production.
Our goat project hasn’t advanced without some missteps. The baby goat that we saw last year and another goat died after eating from a poisonous tree that has since been cut down. The special grass planted for the goats never took off because the animals got through the barb wire fence and ate it before it could get big enough to survive. The home needs 5,000\= in fencing to keep the animals out. They will plant banana trees inside the fenced area as well. They also need to plant gum trees for firewood on their 5 acres. We wanted to introduce the goats to our other homes, but that time has not yet come. We want to learn the nuances of goat herding before exporting the concept.
They have 19 chickens which were donated by local people, but a chicken coop for 4,500\= [about $70] would make the hens more productive since it would have laying boxes inside and they would be better protected. In contrast, the large laying coops we built for 80 chickens at two other homes cost 56,000\= [about $750]. We’re thinking that smaller is better here since we’re not building for commercial enterprise.
A solar panel to power the lights at night in the dining room and dorm would run about 60,000\= [about $925]. They have a small petrol [gasoline] generator they can run when they have petrol, but they usually run their kerosene lanterns. Transporting all commodities up the mountain is expensive, so the renewable energy source is probably a good investment.
Isaac was told that the County Council voted to award the additional 5 acres that were conditionally promised for the home if it were successful. This would be the site where they dream of starting their own elementary, secondary, and polytechnic schools. Apparently the government is subsidizing the latter to increase their availability. Here students would learn such crafts as tailoring and carpentry. This type of school would be open to the community as well as the orphans. Cost estimates for these projects aren’t available at this time but would be pricy. A secondary school requires five rooms. An elementary school needs eight. Staffing is another major expense unless the government assists.
The soil on the top of the mountain is rocky and thin. It isn’t suitable for raising crops. The managing committee dreams of buying two tillable acres for 500,000\= [about $7,700]. These would probably be purchased near the base of the hill where our soil has probably gone. I also think they’re really referring to hectares which are larger than our US acres, but I can’t make the exact conversion since I couldn’t find my Palm Pilot before coming to Kenya â€“ I really, really miss using it at the hospital.
With the arrival of the new governing couple at 5,000\= per month, the directors have increased the home’s total salary request to 10,000\= [$154]. We have been splitting a pledge of $300 a month among the four homes which hasn’t been quite enough to meet the total need. Please pray that God will raise up others to support the additional regular expense for salaries.
Our goal is to come alongside the local churches who are supporting this and our other homesâ€”particularly with expensive building projects that are difficult for them to complete. Please pray that God will enable us to meet all of the needs of the home for the projects in His timing and in His way.
Anyone who wishes to contribute may do so through Outreach Christian Fellowship. Mail checks to and payable to: Outreach Christian Fellowship, PO Box 7637, Tyler TX, 75711. Donors are to mark on a separate piece of paper that the donations are for the account of Paul Jarrett as well as any specific project designationâ€”e.g. Bosto dining hall completion.] Keep in mind that OCF, a 501c3 corporation, takes 5% for administrative costs; they issue a receipt suitable for tax purposes.] For example, it takes a donation of $105 to send $100 to Kenya for a project. A donor can claim a gift of $105 as a legitimate charitable donation.
After a lunch of rice, beans, and chai, the children sang songs for us, recited two Bible verses as a group, and each told us his name. I understood only a small percentage with the disadvantages of my hearing impairment, the rain on the tin roof, and their accents. Becca sang a song with themâ€”Praise Ye the Lord, Hallelujah, which they enjoyed with the alternate sitting and standing. Mike and I gave brief speeches, and I gave a gospel message. Baby Abby was continually passed among the older girls who were quite careful; all wanted to touch the white skinned baby.
We all took digital pictures which the children loved seeing in the viewfinder. Many had never seen their own picture before coming to the home. There were always little girls holding my hands and stroking my hairy arms [unique here] as I had experienced before. While I did my inspection tour, Mike played soccer with the children on the only relatively flat part of the acreage at the top of the property. However, the ball often rolled 200 meters down the hill before stopping in the bushes. All in all, we had a pretty fun day despite the rain which started, as it usually does in our area, around lunchtime.
Thank you so much for your prayers for my time here in Kenya and for protection for our family at home. Marty seems to be doing well; on several occasions, she’s been assisting one of our daughters, Becki, with her 4th grade class at Heritage Christian School. I haven’t heard of any major problems with the house. And I’m still waiting for news of grandchild # 17 from daughter-in-love Lisa [only her 10th child].
Serving Jesus with you,
Paul Jarrett

Tags:

Fri 7 Sep 2007

Jarrett’s Prayer Letter Volume 8, Number 2, Arrival at Tenwek

Posted by paulejr under Uncategorized
Comments Off

Dear Friends and Family:
I’ve arrived safely at Tenwek; thanks for your prayers. It’s been wonderful renewing friendships and receiving greetings from so many people here who have been praying faithfully for our family.
God’s presence on this journey was evident from the beginning. I checked in at Indianapolis with my extra bag which had been allowed by British Airways from Chicago to Nairobi. It’s up to the American Airlines agent’s discretion whether to waive the fee for the bag or to charge $80 for the trip to Chicago. The agent didn’t even bat an eye at the third bag and made no mention of charging for it. Thank you, Lord.
I sat next to a businessman from Kansas City who had recently had a serious heart attack; this had led him to seek God in a way that he had never done before. I was blessed to encourage him and pray with him before we landed in Chicago.
The flight to London was smooth; I slept over 5 hours on the flight; I’ve decided it’s best to sit in the center section on an aisle seat for these long flights. The person inside you has the option to get out either direction and may not need to wake you up in order to stretch. I was able to select
my seat on each flight from home before leaving.
I purposely had only one carry-on bag for the trip instead of the alotted two having been warned about security at Heathrow Airport in London. Sure enough, they made people check-in their second bag [purse, computer, infant, or whatever] into the cargo hold. I stayed awake for the 8-hour flight to Nairobi.
I had no difficulty in obtaining a tourist visa even as a former “resident” of Kenya. On arrival at baggage claim, I noticed a large signboard circulating on the baggage carrousel. It had names of passengers whom the computers had determined had lost their luggage. My name was on the top of the list. I waited until all the luggage had been offloaded and found only one bag of orphan clothing had made it. I had to fill out the forms with the very busy and distracted baggage claim agent. Still en route are another bag of orphan clothes and my locked trunk with my clothing, fetal monitor paper, computer bag [minus the computer in my carry-on], and my other personal items such as shampoo and mouthwash which couldn’t be carried onboard. I had carried two changes of clothing in my carry-on bag.
Waiting outside customs was my friend Raymond Njuguna, the Samaritan’s Purse driver. It made me feel like I was “home” to see him. He is upbeat about conditions in Kenya for the upcoming elections. He feels like the roads in Nairobi are improved and crime has diminished. He dropped me at the WGM guesthouse and pointed out the recent paving of Kindaruma Road. I’ve noticed raw sewage running down this formerly unpaved road before, so it was a definite improvement.
After a good eight-hour sleep, other missionaries, Robyn Moore and Joy Phillips, picked me up for the trip to Tenwek. Although it was after 9 AM on a Friday morning, every road was jammed with traffic. It took over 45 minutes to get to the side of town where we could exchange money, buy groceries, and enter the highway to Tenwek.
The road to Tenwek across the Rift Valley has deteriorated significantly but repairs have begun.
Places where the road was nearly washed out over a 15-30 foot gulley were being permanently repaired while traffic was diverted along a dusty “deviation.” Heavy construction equipment was in use for regrading the hills alongside the road in preparation for the final repairs. They didn’t seem to be stopping at just filling in chuckholes. This will be a total repair when it’s finished.
It still took four hours to drive to Tenwek. We dogged large busses and lorries [trucks] on the narrow, rutted, dirt roads which fortunately were dry. If it rained, I could easily see some areas becoming a quagmire. As it was, we only had to contend with blinding dust. I was very thankful for the air conditioner in Robyn’s Land Cruiser.
I was also thankful to see that the road from Narok to Bomet was still in good shape for the last 75 minutes of the journey. It gives hope that someday the whole trip will be much safer and quicker.
I arrived at Tenwek around 2 PM. My first priority on a Friday afternoon was to get my computer configured for access to the network. I’m staying at the guesthouse which has a wireless network access. Quite an improvement over the old dial-up connection, but still pretty slow. Then I began the virtually endless process of greeting friends here. Every friend must receive a handshake and more than a few words. All have mentioned their prayers for our family.
I met with Pastor Kilel for about 30 minutes to receive his updates on our orphan children. All of the high school children that we support have graduated successfully. Many are wanting to further their education for nursing school or seminary, but there simply aren’t enough funds available to take them to the next level. Please continue to pray for God to provide funds and direction.
Although I hope to visit each orphanage, I have heard good reports on each one. I’ll try to give more specific updates on them while I’m here.
I have obtained the key to the apartment where our belongings are collected. I hope to do some major organization there [as well as finding some clothes that will allow me to function until my bags come].
At first I as discouraged to hear that Caleb Maina, our new Kenyan OBGYN specialist who has recently completed his residency, was assigned somewhere far away from Tenwek by the Ministry of Health. But a few hours later, I heard that the decision had been overruled that very afternoon, so he will be coming after all. I hope to see him soon. I plan on starting work at the hospital on Monday morning.
This weekend is a “field meeting” of the WGM Kenya field missionaries here at Tenwek. It’s been a blessing to see many of the “extended” family of missionaries as well as the Tenwek medical staff. I’ve already heard good reports of the ministry of the “Baby Home” in Nakuru and the sending out of national missionaries into Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. God’s Word is going forward so that all may hear the “Good News”. It’s a privilege to work with those who have given their lives to this task.
Thank you so much for your prayers. Please pray for the prompt locating and delivery of my two bags and for the wise and efficient use of my brief time here. It’s a great blessing to be back here.
Yours in Christ’s service,
Paul, the only Jarrett in Kenya for the time being

Tags:

Jarretts Ministry

Archive for September, 2007

And now, the rest of the story from V8 #4

Volume 8, Number 4 An unexpected conclusion

Volume 8, Number 3, Trip to Bosto

Jarrett’s Prayer Letter Volume 8, Number 2, Arrival at Tenwek

Navigate

Search:

Categories

Monthly

Meta