Time out for training!

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend a two day Human Resource seminar covering employment law in Kenya.  It was a great opportunity to meet with others with HR responsibilities in various parts of East Africa and I thoroughly enjoyed the course.

At the end of the course we got an official group photograph as a memento and a certificate of attendance.  Here I am getting my award!

Employment law in Kenya is very similar in many ways to that in the UK however I couldn't fail to notice that the first of the general principals of the Employment Act is the prohibition of forced labour. For this reason the signing of employment contracts in Kenya are witnessed by independent witnesses. There are also specific sections in the Act relating to the prohibition of the "worst forms" of child labour and a requirement for the employer to provide housing (or a housing allowance), clean water and sanitation for all workers.

Life on the streets

Apparently 416 people have died so far this year on Nairobi streets.  That's equivalent to 1.57 people per day!  The majority of these have been pedestrians which is one of the reasons why we do get out and do much walking here.

I had first hand experience of the type of bizarre crashes that happen on a regular basis here just before I returned to the UK in the summer.

The photo shows the improvised repairs to our boundary wall that I had to carry out after a 4x4 crashed through the wall surrounding our compound at 5 o'clock one morning!

Please pray that drivers will be more patient and careful on the road and for our protection as we go about our daily lives.

Home assignment and heading home

Our first home assignment is nearing an end. It has been really wonderful to catch up with so many lovely people. Thank you for all making it such an enjoyable time. The whole family have taken part in sharing our MAF adventure in Kenya. The children thoroughly enjoyed speaking at various schools and churches in front of hundreds of people. #naturalspeakers  From London to the Manchester moors, church halls to school assemblies, from late night meals with friends to favourite restaurants we have been privileged to share God's amazing blessings and work.

 

We should have landed back in Kenya last Wednesday but a couple of weeks ago Maz's mum was rushed into hospital and given only hours to live. It has been quite a roller coaster of a time since then. We have learned to see God's miracles firsthand and to look for the smallest of miracles as well as the big ones too. We have learned that our hope has to come from knowing God and trusting that He always has the very best planned for us. 

Mum is making progress and has beaten predictions. Two weeks on she has sat up for 5 mins and even taken short walks out of bed. Small steps I know but progress all the same and we continue to look for more. It says in the bible that the joy of The Lord is our strength. So we continue to look for joy in everything; from a comfortable bed to great nurses to Costa coffees at the hospital. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We are looking forward to going home and sleeping in our own bed (and not one of the 15 others that we have been in. Great as they have been). We will miss  everyone so much but are looking forward to carry on God's work in Kenya. 

Homeward bound

Wow. What an exciting year we have had here in Kenya. Brain scans (yes we do have them!), cracking a head open, a court case, walking with giraffe, hyena, buffalo, hippo, etc, flying in small aircraft, visiting some MAF partners to see their work, started new jobs, started new schools and much much more. God is so faithful. We have lots of stories and adventures to tell of our first year here as we journey back to the UK for our home assignment. 

If you would like to hear our stories and the work of MAF some of our public speaking engagements are:  

12th July.10.30  Kings Sutton Baptist Church

2nd August. 10.30 Witney Cimmunity Church. 

9th August 6.30pm Welcome Evangelical Church. 

We would love to see you and catch up. If we don't see you this time, thank you for all of your support and we look forward to catching up on our next trip home. 

Cake experiment number five: The results

At last a delicious Victoria sponge cake made at high altitude. Thanks to my friend in Nairobi who gave me a different recipe and my friend Deb in the UK who showed me a great website all about high altitude cooking. 

It's all about the liquid to solid ratio, the heating of the oven and the amount of air escaping from the cake!  So there we go. You can all come over for afternoon tea now and we will be sorted. 

You won't believe it: Cake experiment number 4

It was all going so well. 

New recipe, high sided cake tins so the batter couldn't cascade over the edges, the oven only turned off randomly whilst cooking and the grill didn't fall off. 

Beautiful I thought as I put the risen cake on the work surface. Wow. I had cracked it!  I was so pleased. I just needed to cook the other half before taking a picture for evidence. 

Wiping the crumbs off the work surface, my hand caught on the wire rack the cake was cooling in and it fell on the floor!  Disaster!  

So I have my photo evidence of my 'risen, slightly squashed but I'm sure it will taste fine with jam' cake!  

Nairobi floods

I understand the BBC have reported the floods that we have experienced here in Nairobi over the past few days.   Tragically nine people lost there lives in the floods which took place in the most torrential rain I have ever experienced.

Having grown up in South Wales I am very familiar with rain!  The amount of rain, and the sheer deluge of the rain in the past few days however has really astounded me.  After several months of drought the long rains season has now being going on for around a month.  These rains aren't the days of drizzle that I remember from my youth but torrential downpours and thunderstorms nearly every night.  At first I was amazed at how quickly the water disappeared into the parched soil but after several weeks the water has no where left to go, hence the floods.

The floods have brought with them an addition hazard, with a Cholera outbreak hitting the city, especially in the slums.  Maz and the kids received a vaccine today and I will follow suit tomorrow evening. 

                                                                                                                                                           

This is a wonderful country but overcrowded cities such as Nairobi cannot cope with rain like this. Please pray for a temporary let up in the rains, for those whose property has been damaged or loved-ones killed and for an end to the Cholera outbreak.  

Oh that hurts!

Sometimes it is worth having the injections for the treat afterwards!  

Cake number three

I'm on a roll and we are already at experiment number three:  

Factors changed:  Flour. (Now using self raising rather than all purpose) 

Result:  Better than last time although still seeps over the sides. 

So if you look really closely you may be able to see that this cake (number 3) has risen, albeit only a few millimetres more, but I would say this is progress wouldn't you?  It is amazing that it had the success it did really as the oven turned itself off four times whilst cooking and the grill fell down onto it too.  

I was discussing my experiment (for that read 'cake disasters') with a friend who recommended I used a tablespoon of oil. Sounds strange but worth a try for next time. 

I still couldn't serve this to guests but the kids are enjoying all of the experiments. 

Experiment number two of high altitude cooking.

So here's my next attempt of cooking a cake at high altitude. As you can see the results are pretty similar to the first one. Oh dear!  So what did I do differently?  I sieved the flour and cooked it on a shelf lower.  Both of these factors obviously make no difference at all when cooking at high altitude!  It is still as flat as a pancake and the mixture still seeped over the sides rather than rising.  A change of flour I think next time.  (At least this experiment tastes good even if it doesn't look great!). 

High Altitude cooking

So I thought I would let you into some of my disasters in the kitchen. 

Some of you may have heard that cooking at an altitude is rather different. In Nairobi we are at 5500ft above sea level and believe it or not, this affects how your cakes rise in the oven. 

I have heard about special 'high altitude, fool proof cake' recipes but being an avid cook I didn't think they would be necessary. I've cooked a lot of cakes in my time and considered myself a bit of a pro. Big mistake!  

Here is one of my first attempts of cooking a coffee cake in my gas oven at high altitude. 

As you can see, flat as a pancake pretty much!  Rather than rising it seems to run over the sides of the tin and onto the shelf below. Here it does seem to rise, so perhaps the mixture just wants to be free from the tin, rather than stuck inside one. 

So here begins my 'High altitude cake experiment'. 

Feeling like I am now back at school I am going to keep experimenting until I can make delicious cakes again. I am going to keep changing my method and see if I can figure out how to make my cakes rise once more. 

There are some things I already do differently that I must tell you about before the experiment begins. Firstly the butter.  Previously I have used margarine but here I am using real butter - more expensive option but there isn't really an alternative. Secondly, the flour. Most of it is All Purpose ( Plain I think) so this is what I will be using first of all. And then we come to the oven itself. It's gas, which I haven't used before, but I know lots of people like using gas. It's a good oven but does have a tendency to randomly switch itself off during cooking when I am not looking - but this only adds to the challenge -right?  

So let the challenge begin and I will post the next cake pictures after the next experiment. 

Maz

Bug hunting

Bug hunting in Kenya is certainly very interesting. So far this morning we have caught a chameleon, gekko and grasshopper

Home sweet home

It feels like quite a long time since June 2014 when our belongings were packed into boxes and we waved them goodbye.  Since then they have journeyed in a lorry, boat and train before finally arriving with us 9 long months later. To say that we are all excited would be underestimating it!  Our home finally is beginning to feel like a home again with our familiar things around us. It's funny as before they arrived I always felt a bit like a guest and a stranger in the house but now it is beginning to feel like home. 

There are still lots of boxes to unpack, surprises as we remember what is in them and we now have the fun job of finding places to put everything. 

This is the truck used to move our shipping container as we waited at customs. Ken was keen to have a go driving it. It looked like a lot of fun. 

Moving the container into the shade!  Just because they could! 

Taking a peak inside!

Opening it up. We only filled half of it. Then we took all of the boxes out for customs to check it. 

All checked and ready to go. 

So here we are at home. And the unpacking commenced. 

Audrey's dolls house was a present for her birthday and was wrapped up and shipped less than a week after she had received it. She is now a very happy girl. 

The kitchen as everything was emptied onto the work surfaces. 

And ta dah!  My shelf is up with some of my favourite things.  You just can't look at the rest of the house yet as there are boxes everywhere but we will sort it soon. Home sweet home. 

A year ago today

Today is a significant day for us.  It was exactly a year ago (almost to the hour) when I was sat at home with the kids waiting for Ken to come back from work to watch the football.  Exactly a year ago when it was his penultimate day at Langley House Trust before starting our new adventure with MAF - something that we really felt was right for us.  Little did I know how much was going to change in the next few hours and how since then we have felt God's faithfulness in a way we have never experienced before.   It's been a year since Ken had his car crash.

It is good to mark these days and remember how much God has provided for us as a family in ways above and beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine.  (Ephesians 3 v20) God has been so amazingly faithful.  He has always provided for all of our needs (Philippians 4 v 19)

And I have certainly learned through this that God always uses every circumstance for His good and His glory. (Romans 8 v 28) Perhaps some of the things we have been through this year I wouldn't have chosen for us, but through every situation whether it was for good or for bad, God has turned for his good and his glory.  He may not have stopped some things happening, but He has ensured that when we have needed to endure a situation, He has given us the skills we have needed to get through it.   I want to mark this anniversary for us with acknowledgement of how God is faithful.    He can be trusted and he always wants the very best for us.

Here is just the beginning of God's faithfulness.

- I first heard about the crash when a policeman picked up Ken's phone.  I would have found it really difficult if 2 policemen had come to my door to tell me what had happened (which would have been the alternative) so I was very grateful that I spoke to the policeman on the phone first.  He said to me weeks later that as a policeman you are not supposed to pick up the telephone of the person in an accident as you don't know how the person on the receiving end of the phone will take the news that someone they know or love is seriously injured in a crash - but that on this night, he just felt it was right to pick up the phone - God is faithful.

- The policeman also said that 'Your husband is seriously injured but that he will be ok.'  This was enough for me to believe!  He didn't need to say those words to me but God knew I needed to hear those words - God is faithful!

- My very good friend, (also a nurse!) was not working that night and so was able to come with me to the hospital and translate 'Doctor's language' into something that I understood and could reassure me when they were using certain words to tell me what was happening and not others.  What a blessing she was - God is faithful.

- Another very good friend was free that night to come over and sit with the children.  She says that she has never prayed for healing and felt such peace in such a way as that night.  God is faithful.

- My parents were home (and not on holiday) so they could come and stay with the children until morning.  God is faithful.

- Ken doesn't remember a thing - not even now - and has never had a flashback!  wow - God is faithful!

- Someone from our village was first on the scene, not really knowing Ken, but was able to come over and fill in the gaps that the police couldn't.  God is faithful.

- People on the scene thought that Ken was already dead and so left his car alone to focus on the others involved in the crash.  But an off duty policeman was in the tailback of the accident and rushed to Ken's car - felt a pulse in Ken, ripped off the roof of the car and held his head until the ambulance arrived,  God is faithful.

- Another very good friend wasn't phased when I burst into tears on him at the school gates the next morning!  God is faithful!

- Another very good friend (also a nurse working at the same hospital) was free the next morning to accompany me to the hospital and push doors to get the very best care for Ken and explain what all of the machines were for and what they meant.  God is faithful.

- Satan certainly meant that night to 'kill, steal and destroy' John 10 v 10, as we were beginning our adventure with MAF when we knew we were going to have to rely on God a lot more for a lot of our needs - finances, work, home etc.  But through the car accident, our faith has been increased - not decreased - and so showing that God uses every situation for his good and his glory.  God is faithful.

- Another very good friend (whom I should have been sharing supper with that night) was also with another leader from church and was able to pray that night for us.  She later explained that she had never prayed for healing as much as that night and that her faith increased as a result, giving her more faith to keep praying.  God is faithful.

- Another very good friend who lives a long way away had been fasting all day, with two other friends (who don't know Ken), not knowing what they were to be praying for that evening when they met together to pray.  When they found out that news that night, they prayed for every part of Ken's body they could think of.  God is faithful!

- Those first on the scene at the accident, once they knew that Ken was alive, thought he would never walk again because of the position of his body - and yet he didn't even have a single bruise on his body below the waist!  God is faithful.

- Ken received over 60 get well cards and everyone who wrote a verse of scripture in their card (except 3 people) quoted from the same verses from the bible!  Psalm 91 God Is faithful!

The doctors couldn't believe how quick ken was recovering at home. God is faithful.

So, God is faithful.  I could go on - this is just the beginning of our story.

I have so many more testimonies of God's faithfulness, of his miraculous healing - this only covers the night of the crash and there are still more of the same night that I could tell you, but I figured you might have got the picture by now - God is faithful, loyal, trustworthy, staunch, dependable, reliable and dedicated to us.  We have learned so much of His faithfulness this year and I am so very grateful.

If you don't know the whole story of Ken's car crash and would like to comment on what I have said or find out more of God's faithfulness to us this year,  please do email us - 4kenandmaz@gmail.com as the comments section isn't working.

Thanks so much - you're great

This is what sums up the feelings of one of the passengers of a recent MAF flight.  And we want to say that to our supporters too.  Without you, it would not be possible for us to be here, doing the work we are doing - thank you so much.  Your support is enabling many passengers to reach their destinations quicker and so reaching many many more communities with their life saving work - be that medical support, educational programmes, developmental programmes or spiritual ones.

Here's what the passenger said:

We are currently on a one month teaching mission that could not have happened without MAF. Travelling in and out of South Sudan is not possible without MAF. Getting through the chaos of the Juba airport and departing safely through the uncontrolled airspace would have been too risky if not for MAF. Missions in Africa happens because of MAF...no MAF means no missions outside of capital cities by anyone other than long term missionaries. 

This is my third trip to East Africa and my 12'th flight. As a pilot, my requirements to fly are extremely high and demanding. The MAF pilots exceeded every expectation and are the best pilots in the world. I'd fly anywhere, anytime and in any condition with them. 

Ouch

That was an expensive mistake. 

We have to filter our water here through our water filter for it to be safe to drink, wash our teeth with, etc. 

 It takes an age to drip through and last week it hadn't dripped enough to fill the 3 children's glasses to clean their teeth.  So I tipped it slightly and the whole thing came crashing down. 2 of the 3 candles(filters) inside smashed on the floor. 

I replaced them yesterday for £140! Ouch. An expensive mistake. But we do now have drinking water again. Yeah. Although not just yet as we have run out of water and need to tank some more in today before we can fill the water filter up!  

I'm refusing to buy anything

Until our shoppng arrives!

It's been 8 months so far since our things were packed up into boxes and put into a shoppng container to begin their journey to Kenya. The good news is that they are now on board a ship and heading over at last. If all goes to plan we should receive our things by mid February. We'll keep you posted!  

Here are a few things that I am keen to arrive. 

More clothes pegs to hang my washing out with. 

A new colander as I melted this one!  

The kids are keen to see their toys and bikes again, Ken is keen for his tools and Maz is keen for her kitchen equipment so she can get baking again. I hadn't realised what a traditional family we were!  

Back to school

So I can tell schools are back and the Nairobians who left Nairobi for Christmas are back in town as the journey home from school today which can take 5 minutes, if there is no traffic, took 2 hours!

  And after every corner it just got worse and worse. 

And worse 

Still it could be worse. The car in front of me was being towed 

And whilst queuing my friends were in the queue coming the opposite way so we were able to catch up in a rare moment in Nairobi when we both had our windows down. 

Such Fun!

Having family around at Christmas has been just so lovely.  Maz's parents have been out here for the last 3 weeks and we have shared so many good times and amazing memories together.  Ken is diving them back to the airport now and I hadn't quite prepared myself for the flood of tears and how the children would react when they left - Audrey even had her biggest nosebleed ever!  We are feeling sad and very empty here as we will now think about packing up the room they were staying and taking down the homemade Christmas tree and decorations.  And we will look forward to the next visitors to come.  Here are a few of some of our favourite memories.

When our visitors first arrived

A MAF flight to visit LARK a charity mum and dad support in Eldoret 

Milking the cows at Sunrise Acres on holiday

Opening Christmas presents outside on Christmas day.

Watching the elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary

3 Gorgeous monkeys - I mean, children!

 Feeding the giraffes from our hands or mouths!!

Nairobi National Park

Last Family Selfie before our goodbye's.