A day in the park

This past Sunday, we spent an afternoon with the Carline family at a park in the middle of a coffee estate in Kiambu, just twenty minutes outside of the city. It was a fun afternoon of paddling, and exploring the caves. The highlight was on our way out of a deep cave when the wire for the lights broke and we had the adventure of finding our way out in the pitch darkness (unforgettable fun!).

Tristan "the brave" went horseback riding with Kelvin Carline through the park. You can see coffee fields in the distance.

AMANI means PEACE

Last Friday, we joined Emma's kindergarten class on a field trip to Amani Ya Juu (our favorite secret garden), a sewing ministry with refugee women. Together we sang with the women and the children divided up into small groups where the ladies taught them how to sew, tie-dye, and weave the Amani symbol.
One of the Amani women stamps wax symbols on fabric before it is dyed.

Dark days

We are not not seeing much sunlight in recent days as the rainy season is in full swing. Umbrellas are the accessory of choice. The days are dark as well for our neighbours in Somalia, 250,000 have fled the capital in this last week as helicopter gunships have bombarded the city in the throws of battle. Kenya's borders are closed, and now 150,000 Somalis are camping at the border with no where to turn. In Eastleigh, a trickle of new Somalis refugees are coming in illegally, but they are a small hidden minority as Kenyan authorities are vigilant in their patrols. Please pray with us and our students for peace in Somalia and for an end to such dark times.

The Sears

Yesterday we said good-bye to the Sears family as they headed out to Athi River where they will be visiting with Tim & Diane Bannister before returning to Canada.

This picture was taken at 5am last Saturday at our apartment (just before we departed for the bus station) Jane Ann was sporting one of the Kenyan dresses that she had brought back to Canada with her 25 years ago. The Somali women in Garissa got a real charge over the idea that some one would have clothing of such a vintage (most Somalis do not have outfits they store for long periods of time -- you just wear your clothing out and replace it).

Lizards at Lunch

You can't go very far in Kenya without seeing a lizard and their are many types to choose from. Camileons, like this little fellow, are among the favorite of children at Tristan and Emma's school -- they make great pets as long as the child is ready to catch live crickets and bugs for its meal. Our kids played with several of these curly tailed visitors during our outdoor lunch on Sunday. We are told that they turn brown when they are fearful or agitated, but green when they are content -- this little guy looks pretty happy to me!

She brings out the green in his eyes!

Last Sunday afternoon, we visited a tea farm with Michael and Beradine Steeves in Tigoni about 30 minutes outside of Nairobi. This is where Tristan met his little green friend. As you can see they got quite attached.

We picked the Sears family up from the bus station today in Eastleigh. They had a wonderful experience in Garissa. Perhaps one of the highlights was when Alan met the principal of the school where he had taught only to discover that he was one of Alan's students 25 years ago!

Tomorrow we will be saying good-bye to Ron Ward as he returns to Canada. He and Joan will be back in Toronto for six months. With the Carlines also returning for a summer of deputation, we will be making monthly trips into Northeastern province to help with projects in Garissa and Dadaab. I wonder what other little green friends Tristan and Emma will discover along the way?

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Blessings Aaron & Erica

The Sears Family

Sorry no pictures today. The telecom service has been pretty patchy this month and it is difficult to make a local phone call, let alone sustain an internet connection.

We had the pleasure of picking up the Sears family yesterday at the airport as they landed from Rwanda with their daughter Rebecka who has been serving over this past year in the area of peace and reconciliation. No doubt, some of you maritimers will the know the Sears family from Fredericton and Brunswick Street Baptist Church.

We dropped them off at the bus station in Eastleigh before dawn this morning, so that they could travel to Garissa. Alan and Jane had served at the Garissa Middle School for a year in the early 1980s. We look forward to hearing about their experience of Garissa (how different does it look some 25 years later?) when they return on Monday. We are praying for safe travels and for their reconnection with old students still living in the community.

April 2007 -- Update Letter

Dear friends and partners in mission,

Along the garbage strewn streets of Eastleigh, small fires burn on every corner adding to the soot and grime of life in the largest home to displaced Somalis in Kenya (outside of the UN refugee camps). With the arrival of spring rains, the crater filled roads become treacherous and the side streets mud traps. They are filled with the congestion of matatus, buses and people, who weave through the chaos jumping from stone to stone on improvised bridges. Many Kenyans call this neglected corner of Nairobi “Little Mogadishu”, after the war torn capital of Somalia. It is in the centre of this slum that we travel each morning to the Eastleigh community centre, where we join the Carlines in teaching English to Somali refugees and building relationships within the Somali community.

Throughout these first three months, we have enjoyed a gracious welcome from our Somali students. Beyond our time in the classroom, we have begun to enter into their lives as some have opened their homes and introduced us to their families. Many of our students are also encouraging us in learning the Somali language. This has been a slow and challenging process, but we are not alone! Three of our students are now serving as our regular language helpers. We meet throughout the week to practice our Somali pronunciation and to build simple phrases. On one occasion, they walked us through our apartment with a tablet of pink post-it notes and helped us label our living room and kitchen in Somali (It has really added to the décor). We are so thankful for their patient help.

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways through resettling, illness, insecurity, and especially in establishing relationships. Late one Sunday evening, we received a phone call from a frantic Somali family who were missing their daughter (one of our students). Eastleigh is one of the most dangerous areas within Nairobi, especially at night -- not even the locals go out after dark. It is especially dire for a Somali to be out, as the police patrol this part of the city at night looking for Somalis, most of whom are in Kenya illegally. The police typically demand identification from the Somalis, and not having any, they are arrested and held at a local jail until friends or family members produce a bribe. Most families keep strict curfews so that everyone will be home by sunset. When we received the call, the girl’s mother and elder brother had already failed to locate her at any of the local jails. Where could she be? Fearing the worst, we prayed that the Lord would protect this young woman and show us how to help. We knew it unwise for us to travel back into Eastleigh and search for her, but we had many other eyes and ears ready to help. In East Africa, most people do not have land line telephones, but cheap mobile phones are everywhere. We began text messaging our students to be on the look out for this missing girl. Soon our students and their network of friends were on the hunt for her. Within an hour, she was found. We are so thankful for the privilege of being able to serve even in such simple ways and for the bonds we are forming with our students.

In April, we will return for a third time to North Eastern Province as we become orientated to the ongoing community development work of Canadian Baptist Ministries. Although NEP continues to be an area of great poverty and struggle, good things are happening. After a three month ban on the sale and consumption of livestock because of Rift Valley Fever, the Kenyan ministry of health has finally lifted the restrictions. This is a major answer to prayer for the Somali people who almost completely depend on their herds. Also, a recent medical treatment of the camel herd has been very successful in protecting the Somali camel cooperative against the spread of disease by the tsetse fly - another answer to prayer.



Please continue to remember us in prayer, specifically: for our work visas (e-permit and dependant passes) which are in process but need to be completed by June 20th; for our search for a home (we are looking for a place near Tristan & Emma’s school, on a secure compound, and within our budget); for us as we seek to replace our existing vehicle for one suitable for the conditions of NEP; for Tristan and Emma as they complete their first term of study at Rosslyn Academy; for us as we continue to learn the Somali language, and for God’s Spirit to be working for peace and reconciliation within the Somali community.

Thank you so much for your commitment to be a part of this ministry.
In Christ’s Love,

Aaron, Erica, Tristan and Emma


To become one of our Partners in Mission, contact Eileen Moore-Crispin at:

Canadian Baptist Ministries
7185 Millcreek Drive
Mississauga, Ontario
L5N 5R4

Email: eilenm@cbmin.org
Or visit the CBM website at http://www.cbmin.org/

Back from Dadaab

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. We have just got back from a week in Dadaab where we spent Tristan and Emma's Easter vacation. This was a chance for us to travel with the Carline family and get orientated before they leave for Canada for the summer.
People are on the move with the changing of the season. While Soamli's walk, they will put small children on the backs on camels or in this case on the back of this donkey.

If you look very closely at Emma's hand, you will see a baby rat that she and Kenan found on our compound. It was a miserable little fellow (so young that his eyes were still shut). They made a house for him in the sand, and gave him a bath in hopes that they would be allowed to keep him. -- Only in Africa. . . .

20 kms south of Dadaab lies a small village whose bore hole collapsed after the fall flooding. The people have been without water for over three months. The Kenyan government arrived a month ago and dug a new hole, 150 ft deep, but found no water and left. Five children have died, including the daughter of a father who came to us in Dadaab. He has spent the last week trying to find someone to help. The Red Cross will be delivering a water container in a few weeks but in the mean time they have nothing. We helped him in getting water on the bus that day and dropped some more off on our way to Garissa.

Past Garissa, there are only sand paths to Dadaab. The kids had fun riding in the back of the Wards landrover on the three hour drive out. We saw many dikdiks, geranuks, camels, a giraffe, and a warthog on our journey. This was also Erica's first time driving a standard.

She did fantastic!!

Among the many visitors, Bashiira, an old friend of the Carlines, dropped in one afternoon. She brought Somali dresses for Erica, Kelly, Kara and Katie.

Kelly Carline found this black scorpion crawling into her luggage. The kids soon went on the hunt with our kitchen utensils and found three more white scorpions (although they are much smaller, their sting is far worse). Our fearless little warriors had a very fun adventure -- no children were harmed in this desert safari.

!

The funeral of Bishop Ngala

On Wednesday, April 4th, we had the honour of attending the funeral service for the Bishop of the African Brotherhood Church, Bishop Nathan Ngala. It was an incredible gathering of over 4000 people at the Mitaboni ABC grounds. The day began with a procession from the Machacos head quarters to Mitaboni at 8:30 am. Choirs were already assembled and waiting as people arrived including church officials, national and local politicians, and even Kenya's president Kibaki. Canadian Baptists were well represented and we had the honor of being seated with the denominations canons next to the bishop's family, the bishop elect and the president.

The service was almost completely in KiSwahili with music from a representation of ABC choirs. CBM general secretary, Rev. Dr. Gary Nelson, shared the sermon that celebrated the bishops sixty years of servant leadership among the ABC and his visionary contribution to the global understanding of intregal mission (of which the ABC has become a world model). Many speeches were made from both religious and political guests celebrating the bishops long and full life (110 years of age, the bishop was born in 1897), and the impact of his leadership. The service concluded with a burial ceremony in the heart of the Mitaboni compound at 3pm. Thousands of children lined the road way as the bishops casket was taken to the burial site to the singing of Kiswahili hymns.

The funeral procession to the burial plot on the African Brotherhood Church's Mitaboni grounds was led by Bishop elect Timothy Ndambuki and the Canons of the ABC. The procession also included: CBM general secretary, Gary Nelson; CBM director of partnerships & Initiatives, Terry Smith; Carie Theological Seminary, Brian Stelck ; ACC&S leader, Julius Karanga (sp?); and the president of the Kenya Christian Council of Churches.

A lull in the battle.

What do you do when your home becomes a battle field? Since the beginning of February 2007, 58,000 people have fled the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The present conflict is the fourteenth attempt to restore central rule in Somalia since the 1991 ousting of Mohammad Siad Baird. The last two weeks have been some of the worst fighting yet with "Ethiopian and Somali troops pitted against Islamist insurgents and clan militia". The UN reported that a brief lull in the battle on Monday gave Mogadishu residents an opportunity to bury their dead and venture back onto the streets for the first time in five days. With this break in the fighting, another 47,000 Somalis have made a dash to leave the city and escape the violence -- making a total of 96,000 Somali refugees already in 2007. The Standard interviewed a clan militia fighter who said "Last night was the first night I have slept since the war started. People see this as a chance to collect their belongings and get out."

It is in such a time as this that faith is the only thing that we have. Faith that God sees. Faith that God is just and compassionate. Faith that in God's grace that He will bring life and hope even out of such suffering and death. As Christians, we journey through this passion week toward the cross of Good Friday with the assurance that Easter Sunday is coming. We pray that our Somali neighbours will discover this same assurance as they journey on their desperate road.

PRAY WITH US,...
Pray for both political and spiritual peace & reconciliation:

As we pray for peace, we are watching for what may come from reconciliation talks planned for April 16 among Somali elders, politicians, and former warlords. Meanwhile, countries such as Uganda (which has some 1,200 Ugandan soldiers caught in the crossfire) are pleading with countries such as Eritrea to stop backing the Islamists (Eritrea denies arming the Islamists but it is certain that there are outside interests supporting the conflict).

Baby Teeth

Our little Emma has lost her first baby tooth. She is very excited to go to school on Monday morning and show her friends and teacher. Emma's teacher puts the names of each child who has lost a tooth on the wall of "tooth honour". Emma has been waiting almost two months to get her name on the wall!

This week as we prepare for Easter, we are doing special family worship times focused on the Passion. Today, Tristan put together a Palm Sunday order of service and Emma took care of the music. On Easter morning, we will be taking part in a Sunrise Service at the International Christian Fellowship at Rosslyn Academy.

On Wednesday, we will attend the funeral of the Bishop of the African Brotherhood Church in Mitaboni. It is an honour to be part of the celebration of the life of such a servant of the Lord. Bishop Ngala has led the ABC for over 60 years. Under his spiritual leadership, the ABC has grown to be a strong missional influence throughout East Africa.

Answered Prayer...

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my mom. She is back home and is recovering well.

Thanks also for praying for us as we search for a house... we are still searching so please keep praying!

Blessings,

Aaron and Erica