A final blog?

Hello all,
Where did we last leave off? It is hard to remember. Since we last wrote things have been in a little bit of a whirlwind. We planned to go Thursday a few weeks ago on vacation down to the coast for a week because it was going to be our last chance to go away as a family for a long time, plus, we needed it! Anyhow, with proposed rallies and such that week, we all felt it would be safer to leave on Tuesday, so in a whirlwind Sunday evening we changed reservations, flights, etc in a very short time and made everything happen.
The ride in for Sarah Monday morning to Nairobi was hard on the bumpy road, but we made it. Our time at the coast was good. We met some interesting people who we hope to stay in contact with in the future, namely another missionary couple here in Kenya and a family from Alaska.
We did see some sad things. The place we stayed at was at about 1/4 capacity, despite this being the high season, because people are afraid to come into the country. The coast, however, is so quiet and peaceful. Local boys on the beach say that their income is decreasing and costs of living are increasing. They showed us several hotels and resorts that are normally bustling that had no guests. The violence is affecting everyone in the country in some way or another.
We arrived back last Monday afternoon in Nairobi and began the shopping blitz. On the way into town from the airport we passed Uhuru Park where all of the proposed political protests and rallies are to take place. We were planning on this being our last trip into Nairobi before the baby is born. Then that Tuesday amongst all the things that we were doing we heard that Tenwek did not want us to come out on Thursday because of more proposed rallies. It was then determined that the best thing for us to do would be to fly out back towards Tenwek on Wednesday afternoon.
So, that is what we did. We hussled around Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning doing the last of our shopping. We had a 1 o’clock chartered flight with AIM (African Inland Mission) AIR. The plane was a small one-prop that couldn’t hold all of our groceries or supplies. We had to weigh every piece of luggage and box. We packed it so tight, with us aboard. It was only a 40 minute flight from Nairobi to the airstrip about 45 minutes away from Tenwek. The view was unbelievable. We flew over the Kibera slums that were so affected by violence, which was surreal to see. Maggie loved the flight. Plus, it gave a much needed reprieve from the brutal roads. When we arrived at the airstrip 2 cars were waiting for us to take us and our stuff back. After we flew in the pilot turned around and flew back with 2 other people to Tenwek, along with the rest of our stuff. We learned that both flights cleared the weight limit by 7 kilograms (about 15lbs). It was a miracle. We and all of our supplies arrived back safely. (I have lost enough weight since arriving here and if I hadn’t we may have had to leave something behind!)
The funny thing was that as we arrived back on Wednesday, we learned that the proposed rallies for the next day that people were fearful of had been cancelled. That is just how unpredictable things are. Things are still safe and quiet around Tenwek. Thursday I did a lot of administrative work and helped some around the house. Friday was my first full day back at work. The inpatient wards were the quietest they have been since I have been here, but the outpatient clinic is a little busier. We do have some visiting doctors and our new interns here, which is a tremendous blessing to help with the work load.
The weekend was quiet and a chance to relax. That Monday, however, we were greeted with some disturbing news. Some of the hospital employees of a particular tribe received threats the night before and had been moved to hiding. That morning the hospital decided to evacuate all the members of that tribe out of Tenwek, leaving us with 4 out of our 5 new interns and 3 of my 4 FP residents. Fortunately they were all evacuated safely.
That same day some other missionaries were returning to the compound coming through one of the towns where mobs and roadblocks appeared, causing 3 straight hours of navigating these hazards. Fortunately they arrived back to Tenwek safely.
Things were busy at the hospital with less staff, but were quiet and going well. We were consistently seeing arrow and gunshot wounds from outlying areas. Then Thursday violence broke out again as in the area nearby us a member of parliment was gunned down, prompting an outlash of retaliation in the local area with roadblocks and stores being closed. Some hospital staff were stranded in different areas, but fortunately all ended up returning safely.
All of these events made us realize that things were still very uncertain in our area. Although we felt very safe at Tenwek, Sarah and I began discussing whether or not we should stay. That evening there was a compound-wide meeting to discuss what we should do about visitors and the next day the missionaries for the country were going to meet to discuss safety issues and evacuation plans.
That evening Sarah said maybe we should call her parents to stop them incase they were ordering tickets. We wanted to wait until the meetings finished that weekend to decide what to do. When we called her mom (who we normally can get) we could not contact her. We then called her dad at his office, which we usually do not do. He said that their friend who would be traveling with them was ordering the tickets right then. If we had waited 5 more minutes we would have been too late!
Friday morning we asked to meet with one of the couples who would be representing Tenwek in the meetings that afternoon about safety and evacuation issues. When we discussed that we were trying to decide what to do, they told us that they felt we should leave. We agreed with this and began making preparations. I had a meeting with some of the hospital leaders a little while later who supported our decision. Everyone we talked with thought we were doing the right thing and said that they would likely leave as well if they were in our situation.
We broke the news to our househelpers who were very sad, but supportive of our decision. We then began the process of packing. We also began making arrangements for our return to the states. Within hours of letting people know this we received our tickets, had job offers, and Sarah an OB. The Lord was confirming this difficult decision.
Saturday began a long day of packing. Fortunately our house helpers came to help us, along with so many families and friends on the compound coming to help us in so many ways. By that afternoon I had to get out of the house, so some of us decided to join the expedition to the bat caves.
At the side of the Tenwek dam behind the hydroelectric plant there are some small bat caves. A large from the compound gathered to go down and explore. The group was spearheaded by our CEO, John Wright. It was so much fun. The kids who went were so excited and John built it up. He made sure as many of us as possible had headlamps. It was hilarious. The caves were only about 6 feet high and there were not that many bats, but one of the compound dogs flushed some more out.
After about 30 minutes of this he next took us into the hydroelectric plant for a short tour. It was very hot that afternoon, so some people decided to swim in the river. At first I was not going to, but decided why not. The water felt so good and it was lots of fun. I did not strip down like some of the local kids did.
After this excursion it was back to work. One of the things that was decided that afternoon was that we should sell as much of our food as possible to the other missionaries. As you know, only about a week or so earlier we had returned with enough food from Nairobi for about the next 3 months for not only us, but our family and guests as well. God had provided greatly for our colleagues. Some of them had not been to Nairobi since November and this was a great blessing. We moved all of these items to the basement of the house next door and set up a makeshift grocery story. This was a win-win for everyone involved.
Later that evening we had a birthday dinner for one of our friends. It was a great time to relax and reflect. We did some work later on that evening, but were very tired.
Sunday morning I woke up earlier. After church we returned and went back to work packing. Fortunately our friends were providing meals for us so we did not have to cook. We did some major packing that afternoon and began coordinating plans for our trip out. We decided to have a local driver load up our belongings on Monday morning and take them into Nairobi ahead of us. That meant we would have a lot of work to do. That evening we went to a going away that was held in our honor. It was nice to hear how the Lord had worked through us and that our decision to leave had been supported. They prayed over us and said if we were missionaries in Africa, why couldn’t we be missionaries back in the states as well? (Which we agreed with).
After the party we finished packing and weighting the boxes and had them ready for Monday morning. We finished around 1 AM. That morning, however, there was an event that was to take place an hour later- the Super Bowl. The White family had hooked up a satellite and were going to show the game live. I wanted to go, but was so exhausted I could not make it. A large crowd did attend.
A few hours later the sun was up and Donald, the local driver, came to pick up our belongings. Miraculously all the boxes and bags were able to fit into his car. The next to come was the most difficult. I went up to the hospital to meet with the interns, my last FP resident, and the outpatient staff. It was so hard to tell them that we were leaving, but they understood and were supportive. We told everyone that we did not know when or if we would return. However, if God made it as clear to return as He did for us to come out initially, it would be an easy decision.
That afternoon I met with the medical superintendent for a few hours to discuss issues and tie up loose ends. It was a good meeting. We also found out that we had a chartered flight scheduled for 4 o’clock the next afternoon, which would get us to Nairobi in plenty of time for our flight at around 11 PM. There was another station meeting that evening to discuss the results of the weekend meetings, but we did not attend so we could finish packing and rest.
Tuesday morning we woke and finished packing our last things and tying up loose ends. We finished everything at 1 o’clock right before lunch. I’m glad we did because as we sat down to eat, we received a call that our flight was coming early and we had to leave in 30 minutes! We ate quickly and gave out hugs and good byes before we were rushed off to the airstrip. The driver was allowed to borrow our friends’ car to give Sarah a smoother ride.
We were so happy that the last of our bags fit into the small Cessna nicely. The flight was safe, but I felt so sick once again. We got to Nairobi and were created by 2 of our driver friends from Samaritan’s Purse. One carried us and another carried our bags (20 in all). We arrived shortly thereafter at the international airport and we were the first one’s there for our flight. It took over an hour to weight and check our bags, but it was done with no problem and went very smoothly. We then went through immigration without any questions. We had the next couple of hours to eat and walk around before our flight. The airport was so quiet and empty it was almost creepy.
Once we boarded our flight it did not take long before we all fell asleep, and actually slept well. We freshened up in Amsterdam, but fortunately had a short, well timed lay-over. Maggie was much more active this flight, but still slept and was cooperative. When we arrived in Detroit I was dreading customs, but God was still in control. We went through immigration with no trouble. I quickly found an airport employee who got carts and helped to gather all of our bags, which all arrived safely. The customs officers heard our story and allowed us to pass through without checking a thing. The same guy who helped with our bags also helped to direct us to our next flight. What a blessing! We ate lunch and a few hours later we were in Richmond. All of our bags arrived.
Sarah’s mom and my parents were there to greet us. It was a nice reunion and Maggie was very happy. Miraculously we got all our belongings into the vehicles (and we quickly appreciated the smooth roads).
This began our transition to life in the states. I am contemplating job offers and we are praying about what to do next. We’ll likely stay with Sarah’s parents outside of Richmond for about a week, then head down to NC to go to Samaritan’s Purse to discuss things, then head down to Greenwood to settle back in. We know that this is not the end of our mission story and can’t wait to see where the Lord leads us next. How long we will be in Greenwood or in the states is still to be determined. Our minds are still jetlagged and in a whirlwind, but we know God is in control and we have so many family and friends that are willing to help us. We know that God will direct us and bless us during this time of transition. We’ll keep you all posted on where we will go next on this great adventure the Lord is leading us down.
Please continue to pray for us, our fellow missionaries, and for peace in Kenya.