Just for Fun

Just for fun. Just because we live in Africa. Just because these are now our beloved pets. Can you guess which one of us loved Camilla the Camelion the most?

New Life in Kenya

Sadly, one of the most frequent hospital admissions we have here at our hospital is from people who try to end their life by taking poison. Last week we had a young man named Richard that had decided his problems were too many and tried to end his life by this method. Fortunately, he was brought in soon enough by his family members that we were able to save his life. He was unconscious for about 2 days before he woke up. On the third day I saw him and asked him what had been going on in his life that made him want to end his life. He stayed pretty generic and just said family issues. I told him that I may not be able to solve all of his problems, but I could tell him about someone who could help him. He said he knew that he was not a christian and that if he would have died he would not have gone to heaven. He listened very closely as I proceeded to tell him the good news of the gospel. In the end he told me that he was ready to give his life to the Lord and start a new life. His brother, who is a christian and an elder in the local church where he lives, was there and was smiling really big. He and his christian mother had been praying for him for a long time. I had the Kenyan nurse that was translating for me pray with him in his language to ask Jesus into his heart. It was really special and exciting for me to see. I also asked one of our chaplains to come and visit with him and confirm that this was truly a sincere decision. He told me later that he thought the man was really ready to accept the Lord and that he knew the local pastor in his village so we will be able to follow-up with him to see how he is doing. Today in our family devotions we read the story about the 4 seeds and I was reminded that Satan loves to come in and snatch up the seed that was sown. So pray with me for Richard as he is a new young believer in Christ. I told him that he should now go and tell others about how God saved him from death and truly gave him new life.

The Golden Birthday!

The Golden Birthday!

Hudson turned 5 on March 5 and I learned that this is called the “golden birthday”.

We had a fun weekend planned in Nairobi. We stayed with Uncle Marv and Aunt Jan. Hudson requested a lemon birthday cake and of course Jan was able to make his wish come true with a tasty lemon sponge birthday cake complete with sprinkles.

We also met up with some new friends the Simons who work in Nairobi with DOOR (Deaf Opportunity Outreach Ministries). Jeremy’s grandma goes to our church back home and helped get us connected. We also realized Whitney went to NSU where Vanessa went to college and even knew Kyle’s sister and husband! They have 2 absolutely adorable and fun boys that are ages 5 and 3. We went to a water park that cost a whopping $4.00 to get in. It was the best playdate I’ve had in ages! We were able to visit as adults and the kids played so well in the kiddie pool complete with slides!

We also had a neighborhood party! The kids have been waiting for it for it seems like forever. I guess Hudson mentioned it about a month before his birthday. My friend came over and we made an enormous batch of popcorn and 1 cake to feed about 25 kids. We had relay races that made everyone smile. We also learned personally why there is the phrase “Dance like you have ants in your pants”! Apparently after it rains here the ants surface and they all decided to migrate to our backyard. Before we knew it everyone was jumping around like little monkeys trying to get the ants out of their pants!

We had special packages from Kelly and Marlene with birthday goodies for Hudson and party supplies. Thanks! It was a splendid week of celebration!

FYI - for those interested in sending letters or packages to us in Kenya, there is a note on both our facebook pages with detailed instructions on how to send packages, but this in our address~

Our address:

Dr. Kyle Jones

Kapsowar Hospital

PO BOX 68

Kapsowar 30705

Kenya, East Africa

Glimpses of God’s Goodness

Valentine’s Day

Kyle and I were able to go on a date for Valentine’s Day. There are 3 single girls serving here for a couple of months and they offered to babysit. I had pure confidence in their abilities to care for all 3 of my boys. We were so excited! We got on a matatu or what we call a taxi and headed out of town. Matatus are an adventure in themselves. Their max capacity is 14 and the average number of passengers is 30. There are people on the roof tops and hanging out the back. It is quite a sight. They make frequent, random stops. As I was sitting peacefully, enjoying not having responsibility for anyone... the driver made a stop and came back with a squawking chicken flapping it’s wings and placed it directly under my feet. I provided much entertainment as I screamed and jumped from my seat while the Kenyans laughed at such a sight. It stayed there the entire 2 hour drive. We went to Iten, which is a high altitude training center for gifted runners. We live nearby where many famous Kenyan Olympic runners train. We had a lovely meal of rice and beans. Then we went to the Keiro Valley resort to see the absolutely breathtaking view and have 2 cokes and Crepes Suzette. We made it home safely to our 3 beautiful children with a renewed love for one another. Thanks Amber, Kristen and Ariella!

David and his sling shot

Since we arrived there has been a one-eyed cat that seems to hang around our house. The other day I realized she was a mommy. I saw her 2 little kittens and felt sorry for her. I decided to give her the carcass of the chicken I had cooked the previous night. Within 1 minute (literally) there was a hawk swooping down to fight for lunch. One-eyed Willamina stayed firm and kept eating. My friend Mary came to see what was going on and before I knew it she said, “Get the children inside!” A huge bird called out and swooped down as the cat and hawk fled away. A few days later, Ben, a.k.a. David, killed this Montagious Harrier with one stone and his sling shot. Yep that’s right, David lives in my neighborhood. Apparently these birds kill small hens, cats and even poke people’s eyes out. What a sight! My boys were very impressed!

Sacrificial Giving

Lastly, before we left Oklahoma we gave many of our baby things to Matt and Lindsey King who are entering the journey of foster care. I asked Hudson if he would want to give his bike away. He began to cry, big alligator tears. He said, “I just love my bike. It is so fun and it’s the coolest bike I’ve ever seen”. My mommy heart wanted to protect him from any further sacrifice. He was already sacrificing so much by leaving all of his family and friends and many of his toys. I told him he didn’t have to. We could let Grammy keep it safe for him until we got back. He then proceeded to say thru his tears, “No, if a kid doesn’t have any bike I would like them to have mine.” We gave it to the Kings happily. So last week Shadrach, the station manager, said I have something for you. We went to a storage shed and to our great surprise it was a “BMX Cool Bike”! A young girl, Cara, who lived here before us made a similar sacrifice for Hudson. She knew he was coming and left him her bike! What a lesson in obedience. And what a lesson in the beauty of a child’s heart. I am constantly reminded of God’s goodness and care for the details of our life.

Keep praying for our work here in Kenya!

Hospital Update

So a month has gone by now and I thought I might share how things have been going for me at the hospital. I want to share a few stories so you can get a glimpse of what it has been like and how you can best pray.
I have been working mostly in the Pediatric ward as well as Maternity. I also see a lot of outpatients in the afternoons. The mornings are not so bad here because the nurses aren’t normally ready for me to come for rounds until about 9:00am. So I get to start my day with devotions among the fellow missionaries here. We have been reading through the Psalms and praying together. I really appreciate the community of believers that are here, both the short-term and long-term people. Then I get to have breakfast with my family and have our family devotions. We read some in Hudson’s Children’s Bible and also through the Gospel of Matthew. I love to hear my kids pray. Next, I round with the nurses and nursing students on my inpatients. I have enjoyed praying with each one of them and sharing my testimony/the gospel with them. I am trying to learn Swahili and am in the process of working through a translation of the Evangelism Explosion track that my dad gave me before I left, just for that “divine appointment.” Thanks dad for that and for your example.
One patient you can pray for is Kiprotich. He is a 6 year old boy from a rural tribe that lives down in the valley called the Polcat. They are very traditional and resistant to change including the gospel. They have also been violent in the recent past with the other tribal groups in this area. But this boy was transferred to our hospital because of severe malaria and a very low blood count of 3, normal is around 12. We transfused him but he continued to have fevers. His belly then began getting bigger and he stopped passing urine well. As of today he was doing slightly better and we started treatment for intestinal parasites. Pray with me that he would survive his illness and that the parents would feel and know the love of Jesus from us. I would love to see more of an open door into reaching these people for Christ.
I have also been covering Maternity ward this week while our Obstetrician is away at a conference. It has been a good opportunity for me to get more comfortable with doing C-sections here and other procedures like tubal ligations and D&Cs (sorry for the medical jargon, I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.) This past Friday was probably the hardest day for me yet. I would like you to pray for two mothers who both came in with premature labor. The first lady, Gladys, came in at 28 weeks (full-term is 40 weeks) in labor, fully dilated. She soon delivered her baby and I noticed her belly was not as small as it should have been. Of course, you guessed it, she had twins. They both delivered head first, which is fortunate, and they weighed around 1kg or 2 pounds each. We spent a long time resuscitating them and they both began to breathe on their own, but very labored. Here at our hospital we don’t have a ventilator so babies have to be able to breathe on their own. Unfortunately, both babies went on to die later that night. They were just too small to survive. This is one of those instances where it is hard for me to see babies die that I know could have been saved in the States and it is even harder to see mom’s get so excited when they are surprised to give birth to twins only to lose them before they turn 1 day old. So please pray for Gladys as she seeks comfort from the Lord and trusts in His sovereignty.
Also, pray for June who is 19 and came in with preterm labor at 27 weeks. Her baby was turned in such a way that the hand actually delivered first. In this case I had to take her for a C-section and the baby survived for only a short time. Once again she was too premature for her lungs to breathe. The surgery went well and June is recovering, but it was hard to see her crying for the loss of her baby. I could see the Lord’s goodness to her and the peace He gave her as we prayed for her.
There is a lot of joy in the work I am doing at the hospital as well and I have to remind myself that God has not called me here to never have to go through hardship or struggle in my own life or sharing it with my patients. It is a privilege to be able to walk with them through their difficult times and point them to Christ, who is our ultimate comforter and healer. Thanks for your prayers. We love and miss you all.

You Know You're in Africa When...

We have been in Kenya for about 3 weeks now and we have made a few observations that we would like to share with you.

You know you’re in Africa when:

~It rains on your clean laundry hanging out to dry and you call it a second rinse

~Chickens that live next door are your “weed and feed”

~The sheep are your very own lawn mowers as well as pets tied to a post in your front yard

~You’re not sure if you’re getting a tan because you live on the equator or your bath water looks like this before you actually bathe

~This is Aquafina at it’s best: Purified water=4 hours of direct sunlight

~You get an urgent call from the OR that a woman is in on the table in need of your blood type so you rush in only to find that there is only 1 man who has a key and he is at home. So he comes 30 minutes later only to take you to a secret refrigerator that has a secret stash of blood that no one knew about.

~You wake up to this every morning:

~Everyone stops to say “Habari” or “Hello” and shake your hand

~The rooster that lives next door begins crowing at 3am, then 3:30, 4:00…

~You are greeted by these faces every time you get home:

~You don’t need a floral shop all you have to do is go to your backyard and find this:

~Electricity during the day is “optional”

~This is 10 minutes away from your home:

~When you order a couch and ask for light green this is what you get:

~You have to travel 2 hours to get your computer modem serviced (sorry it’s been a while since we've posted)

~Things are quite comical around here at times, but it keeps life interesting.

We are enjoying our adventure here.

Love and praying for you all!

This Is It!

On the plane as I looked at all my boys sleeping I thought, "This is it"! Not because the Michael Jackson movie was available for viewing, but because this is what the Lord has been preparing for us our entire lives! And even though there were tears and heavy hearts as we departed Tulsa, I knew without a shadow of a doubt we were in the direct will of God! I also believe that if each one of my boys knew what an adventure these next 2 years would hold they would have chosen it for themselves as well!

We had a sweet time in Nairobi with Uncle Marv and Aunt Jan. They are such servants! Highlights include: Jan's gourmet cooking; spending almost an entire day in the immigration office going from window to window not knowing what in the world was going on; going to a Chinese restaurant where we sat outside where there were tons of toys, a playground, a jupiter jump (complete with an employee whose sole purpose was to take off and put on the kids shoes every time their little hearts desire was to get on and off) and petting a real life cheetah!

We flew into Eldoret (2 hours away) and were greeted by our friend, Christina, who is the OB/GYN post resident in Kapsowar! She drove up in the hospital ambulance! She escorted us to town to buy an internet modem and then onto a grocery store to shop for food for a month (talk about meal planning)! She then took us on a tour of the hospital and introduced us to many of the people that work at the hospital as well as the sweet kids that live around here.

So I seriously have the backyard of my dreams! The view is incredible-no picture could do it justice! I also have the neighborhood I always wanted for my boys. I was unpacking and looked out back and saw a crowd of new friends for the kids to play with. Complete with amazing smiles and much laughter! Hudson even taught the kids the game of "tag". And Jude began telling each of them "And my name is Jude" as he shook their hand.

We had a lovely dinner at the Rhodes home. It is a welcoming environment with warm people. We have spent the day unpacking our 16 bags. Lauren is now on her way to the operating room to witness a c-section and the boys are waking up from their naps. Hudson and Jude will be waiting for all of their new friends to come home from school so they can play in the freedom of their new yard where everyone wants to play!

Praises:
~Our luggage arrived safely
~Sweet friendships with grown ups as well as children
~A beautiful 3 bedroom home
~Peace that we are in God's perfect place for us
~Good quality time for Kyle and I
~Lauren arrived safely and is a huge help
~We found our camera charger

Prayer requests:
~Good sleep for all: Hudson has been waking up with "growing pains" and Isaac is up quite often thru the night (looks like he is getting 3 teeth)
~My dad is getting surgery today on his eyes. May he read this blog tonight and be comforted by the Lord's provision and His healing hand! Love you dad!
~God would open our hearts and eyes to each ministry He wants us to be a part of

We love you all and thank you for your friendship and constant support!

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