The Spiritual Secrets of Hudson Travis

~About 1 month after our neighbor died we were playing in the backyard and Hudson exclaimed,

"I can't wait to see Nora's body!"
Explanation: When I told him she died I said that God was going to give her a new, strong, healthy body.

~On 4th of July we were at a swim party with some of Kyle's colleagues. We walked in the house and Hudson saw a crowd around one of his "grown up" friends, Andrew.

Hudson said, "What's wrong with Andrew?"
Vanessa said, "He hurt his toe."
Hudson said, "Well, I will pray for him."
He proceeded to walk up to Andrew and put his chubby little hand on Andrew's ankle and prayed,

"Dear Jesus, Thank you Lord for Andrew. Thank you Lord for Andrew's toe. Please help him feel better real soon. Amen."

Explanation: Because this was a "doctor party" they had everything to perform a minor surgery on Andrew's toe. He had fallen on a rock and his toenail was about to fall off.

~On the way home one evening after Bible study, I was trying to make some conversation with Hudson.

Vanessa:"Hudson, you know what?"
Hudson: "What mom?"
Vanessa: "Every time we say a prayer God catches it in a big, golden bowl. And saves it forever! Do you want to try?"
Hudson: "No mom, it's really dark outside and He won't be able to see. Can we try it when the sun wakes up?"
Vanessa: "Sure."

Explanation: In the book of Revelation it speaks of God collecting all the prayers, praises and tears of the saints in golden bowls and upon the day of His return they will be poured out as an offering! Sure inspires me to keep praying, even when it feels like no one is listening.

~One afternoon I was trying to finish my Bible study (I had waited until the day of the Bible study to finish the last 3 days of homework.) The kids were crawling all over me and trying really hard to get my undivided attention.

So I finally gave in and took Hudson's hand and started writing on his hand. I wrote, "Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Papa, Jonah, and Anna"
Hudson: "Mommy, why did you color on my hand?"
Vanessa: "Did you know that when you ask Jesus to come into your heart and decide to follow Him he writes your name on His hand? But when He writes it on His hand it will never, ever, ever be erased? So Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Papa, Jonah and Anna have all decided to ask Jesus in their hearts and our names our on His hand."
Hudson: "But mom I want Jesus to live in my heart. How can He live in everybody's heart if I want Him to live in mine?"
Vanessa: "Let's ask your dad when he gets home."

~Last funny story...
Hudson was sick today. He really has an amazing warning sense before he's going to throw up. I never have to clean up the mess. I think it's the one good thing about me being so sick when I'm pregnant. He watched me run to the bathroom every time.

Anyway, today he started to feel better and had some food. He asked for another cheese stick. I told him no, too many cheese sticks might make his tummy upset. He started laughing so hard.
Hudson: "Mommy, tummy's don't get upset. Tummy's can't cry!"

Ahhh...these are the days! I treasure these moments that I get to spend with my sweet boys as they grow and ask good questions. Questions that cause me to grow in my faith and really just make me smile a whole lot.

Finally a post from Vanessa

I know, I know it's been forever since I've posted. There are a few of you faithful bloggers and friends who check in hopes that I haven't given up on the blog world. But to tell you the truth life outside of being on global expeditions just doesn't seem as exciting to write about. But here I go anyway.

Life since our return has been a whirlwind to say the least. We hit the road running the day we got back. I think we're just now coming up for air. There have been some family trials...the main one being my sister being diagnosed with breast cancer. She has two children. She is one of the most courageous women I know. Please remember her in your prayers. Another trial and celebration is that my sweet neighbor, Nora went to be with the Lord. She would have been 104 years old on July 27. I sure miss seeing her out working in her garden and sneaking cookies to Hudson through the fence. What a sweet life she lived. Hudson so wants her to come home. What a lesson to learn at the tender age of 3. He's so honest. When we told him about her death, he fought back the tears and sweetly said, "But I will miss her." We told him that we could see her in heaven someday, and that she was with Jesus. He replied, "I just want her to come home."

We just finished what In His Image calls a "retreat". Since Kyle is the chief and I am his wife we had a lot of responsibility. There was much preparation and work involved for us this year. But I think this year is going to be full of the Lord's blessings. Kyle is such a gifted leader and truly pours out everything in himself with the tasks at hand. He received 3rd place for his research! We had a wonderful ladies brunch that I helped plan. Our featured speaker was a sweet lady that is a missionary with 6 children. She truly blessed us with her transparency and encouragement.

We genuinely miss Kenya. What a sweet time we had serving the Lord. I found myself taking walks just to meet people. But it wasn't the same. People here are busy and on a mission of their own. They don't have the time to stop and talk. For example, my car alarm was going off one day. Some sort of malfunction. I couldn't get it to stop or even get my car started. I had both my boys with me on a hot summer day. I found people staring ugly stares at me. I was totally disrupting and annoying them. No one offered to help. I remember in Kenya when we got a flat tire...there were at least 5 people there assisting us with changing the tire. Sure we were white folk and received lots of attention wherever we went. But how often do we see someone here from another culture in need and turn the other way. It was a lesson for me as well as a reminder of the appreciation and love I have for the people of Kenya.

Well we are in the process of planning our next mission trip overseas for February. So my posts will again be adventurous an exciting. Stay tuned. Until then keep checking and I'll try and keep you up with the Jones'.

Final Kenya Update At Last

OK, I know I'm about a month late in adding this last update that I promised, but I suppose it's better late than never. I thought I might cheat a little and copy in the report I wrote to CMDA. It's a pretty good summary of the trip very condensed. Thanks to all who kept in touch with us through the blog. Love you all.

Praise the Lord! God has been so good to the Jones family. We recently returned from our family mission trip to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, Africa. We are so thankful to God and to all those who supported us on our way. God truly did some amazing things in our hearts and through our hands as we served the people there. We were so impressed with the people of Kenya and felt God’s heart for them to know Him.
During our time there I was able to minister to patients at the 300 bed mission hospital. I was honestly at times overwhelmed with the difficulties of the situations they face. It was hard to see death and sickness every day. Their stories still touch my heart and my soul. I think of a young boy named Kipkorich who was diagnosed with Leukemia and when I met him he had a dangerously low blood level and was bleeding from his nose. He had been sent back from the national hospital because they didn’t have his rare blood type. Praise God that we were able to find him some blood and stop the bleeding. During his stay at our hospital he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior! Praise the Lord for His sovereignty and goodness. It was a joy to share with them the love of Jesus.
Vanessa and the kids had lots of fun as well. Hudson who is 3 was at home right away and made friends wherever he went. There were several other families there with small children so he spent a lot of time outside playing with his new friends. Vanessa and Hudson were able to go to an orphanage to see the work being done and love on the kids for a day. The orphans were so interested in Hudson and his funny looking white skin. Jude our 7 month old also did great even on the long plane rides. The Kenyan women loved to pat his little head. Vanessa also got to go to the hospital to hold the little babies in the nursery and pray over them. She loved it! Overall, we felt like Tenwek was a great environment for our family and we could see ourselves really thriving there.
There are so many other stories and thoughts to share. We covet your prayers as we seek God for further direction for our future. We are praying about what God would have us do after I finish my Family Medicine residency next year June 2009. Tenwek Hospital interestingly was in need of family doctors to help continue their family medicine training program. Maybe God had more in mind for us than just a short-term trip. May God bless you.

Home Soon!

We're coming home soon! We will be flying in from Dallas Fort Worth on American Airlines and are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday April 29th at 6:25 pm. We had a good day today with a nice time for processing some of the things that went on this month with some of the other visiting physicians and one of the missionary couples. It was a great time of sharing some of the highs and lows, dreams and visions. Tonight the German medical students in the guest house have made us some traditional German food and they are ready to start soon. I will post again hopefully soon to give more details and wrap up some of our thoughts about our time here.



9:08 am Tuesday, April 29th
A quick update from Kelly:

I just checked their flight from London to Dallas and it looks like they left 2 hours late. This will put them in Dallas too late to make the connecting flight from Dallas to Tulsa. It is possible they will make up for lost time in the air, but I don't know. Most likely, they will have to catch the next flight out of Dallas. It looks like there is a flight leaving Dallas at 7:00pm and one that leaves at 8:25. I will keep you posted.

6:29 pm Tuesday, April 29th
Kyle, Vanessa, Hudson and Jude are on the 7:00 flight from Dallas to Tulsa. They should arrive at 8:00. We are still waiting to see it mom and dad (Travis and Marlene) make it on that flight - they are currently on standby.

Pray with Me

Well we have had a good week here at Tenwek and our time is coming near to the end. Before we left we had some things that we definitely wanted to fit in. On Wednesday Travis and I went out with the Community Health team to a little village about an hour away. Of course the ride was adventerous with 9 of us piled in a Land Rover on bumpy roads. When we got there we saw a simple building with 4 locked doors. We found out that the man that had the key went into town and wouldn't be back until he was done with his business. Oh well we said, we'll just have the clinic outside. The people must wait until they see the car coming because there was no one there initially. We made use of the time by getting a tour of the village and the local high school. They wanted to hear from the white people that came to their little village so all the high school kids gathered outside so we could speak with them. It was fun to share with them about our lives and our relationship with Christ which was the real reason we had come to Kenya. I shared with them about how to make good choices by repeating something I have probably heard my dad share a thousand times. Before making a decision you must ask yourself how it affects God, others and you. There is so much HIV/AIDS in Africa so it was good to be able to encourage the young kids to stay pure in their relationships. By the time we got back the clinic was full and we had a good time seeing the babies, giving shots and doing check-ups for the pregnant moms. Dad was in charge of praying for the moms before they left. We had a great time.

That same afternoon Vanessa got to go with some of the missionary ladies to a local women's ministry gathering. The Kenyan ladies had a big special event planned for one of the missionary ladies who will be going on furlough soon. Vanessa said it was so special to see how they welcomed them in to the area with singing, hugs and little gifts. Then they each shared how God had impacted their life personally through the study group. Praise God for the strong women's ministry going on. Vanessa said she could see herself really enjoying that kind of work. She also thought that next time we have guests at TBC we should welcome them with loud singing, hugs and gifts.

Hudson had a great time with his new pet Salamander that he and Papa found. We played with it all day and then finally let it go back to it's home. It walked so slow and would just walk up your arm and crawl in your hair. Hudson thought it was so cool and a little tickly.

The work at the hospital continues to be tough but rewarding. I enjoy teaching the interns and learning from them as well every day. They are truly amazing people and the patients are so sweet. I have been working mostly in Pediatrics which has been bitter-sweet. I love taking care of the little ones and seeing them get stronger each day. There are still tough moments when there is nothing more that we can do. Currently there is a boy that we are treating for Acute Leukemia. He really needs chemotherapy, but his blood levels have been so low because of recurrent severe nose bleeds. He has a rare blood type that has been difficult to find. Pray that his condition will stabilize and we will be able to transfer him to another facility tomorrow. His name is "Kip" for short. His picture is above which I took right after we finally were able to stop his latest nose bleed. I told him that I would show the picture to my friends in America and that they would pray for Him. Praise God that he did accept Jesus Christ into his life yesterday.

Well I should go to bed. I will be on call for the last time tomorrow and then I have the weekend off. We plan to teach the children in Sunday School and visit another Kenyan church. May God bless you all.

P.S. Happy Birthday Missy! We love you.

Day Trips!

We had an amazing weekend! We finally were around to explore the beauty of Tenwek. There is an incredible water fall that generates power for the hospital and surrounding areas. We were filled with visions of young and old carrying huge packs on their backs up an down this hill/mountain. It was so picture perfect.

On Sunday we were given the honor of attending a nationals church. The genuine sincerity of their service was heart warming. They had one instrument, a keyboard. We were very late (because the Matatu-taxi) was late. We came in and I hurriedly sat down next to my husband. Kyle whispered to me..."Look, I think you are supposed to be sitting over there." The women and the men sat on separate sides of the sanctuary. I was emabarrased and immediately got up and sat on the other side. Marlene whispered to me, "I thought you may have just been trying to be rebelious." Most of you know that is not me at all. We were then each asked to give a word to the congregation. I spent some time outside with Hudson and Jude. Most of the children followed me. It was fun. Neither of us understood a word the other was saying, but each of us were filled with joy and entertainment as we sat and played together. This was the first day that I saw Hudson growing a little weary of all the attention. He didn't want his photo taken and he seemed a little hesitant to play and sing as normal, because he always has an audience.

We were then invited to have lunch at Alfred's home. Alfred is an intern here at Tenwek that Kyle has been working with. He actually was his doctor for a week as Alfred had malaria. Alfred has a beautiful wife, Florence and two children Abigail 5 and Lucas 2. We were treated like such royalty. It was a humbling experience as their nephew came around to us with a sports coat on with a pitcher of water and a bowl for us to wash our hands. Florence prepared a beef stew with rice and chipates. She never made it to eat with us. The reason why...I found her in her kitchen. Her kitchen consists of a hut with a wood fire in which she has 2 pots to prepare things with. She washes her dishes behind the hut with a water spout. There is a tiny little bed for Lucas to lay in there...I guess she spends quite a bit of time there. They grow crops on their land that helps to support their family. They have a great vision for their community. They are trying to reach the young people so that they can reach their parents. There is an alcohol problem in the area. On our walk to his home we encounter 2 very drunk people. They also plan to give their land to be used for a children's home as their is a growing number of orphans due to AIDS and alcholoism. Behind them lives a 100 year old lady. She was so joyful and beautiful. She reminded me so much of our sweet, 103 year old neighbor Nora. She has physical and mental strength. She was truly honored to have us visit them. She said in all her years she had not had a "Wazungo" (white person) visit her home. Again we are taught something so huge about the culture and how much we have to learn. I pray that I show as much love, hospitatlity and honor to those that step foot in my home. By the way...Florence finally joined us for chai and we had a sweet time of prayer for them and their community.

Great Times at Tenwek

We have had a meaningful and fun week with many highlights. We had 3 Kenyan interns over for dinner on Tuesday night. It was a sweet time of fellowship. They are such a kind and genuine people. They even ate all their American food filled plates. It was a sweet time of fellowship as we shared our hearts and prayed for each other. I encouraged them to continue to be bold and combine their faith with their medicine. They shared their faith building experiences when they were bold and took the time to share the love of Jesus with their patients. Since my time here I have seen that sometimes the doctors are less active at sharing Christ with their patients and tend to rely heavily on the chaplains. By God's grace if anything I pray that they might be renewed in their vision of Christ centered patient care. It certainly makes the long rounds, difficult patient cases, limited resources worth it when we can also be involved in Kingdom work.

Wednesday we hosted the weekly Bible study while the long term missionaries were away. We had a most amazing time of worship. Everyone was on their feet dancing to the Kenyan worship songs. We then opened the Word and I was able to lead the group in a study on God's heart for the nations throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation. We broke up into small groups and prayed for the nations. It was such a sweet time and a taste of heaven.

Today Vanessa, Hudson and Marlene were able to go to an orphanage about 2 hours away on a very bumpy road. Apparently they had quite an adventure with getting stuck in mud 3 times, 1 flat tire in the rain and 4 grown adults in the back seat of a small car. When they got there Hudson was the biggest hit of all. The kids were so enamered with his white skin and fun personality. When they left the kids asked if Hudson could stay with them. Vanessa was a little hesitant to leave him of course. They have some great needs there like fresh water tanks, mattresses, school uniforms or maybe even a cow to provide them with milk. Might be a nice Sunday School project.

Please continue to pray for us and the people here. Thanks.