Oh Christmas Tree!

Ezra, Isaiah and Tristan

by our first Kenyan Christmas Tree.

Last night our friends, the Enns family, slept over for St. Nicholas Day. They will be returning to Canada for Christmas, and it was a great chance to celebrate and early Christmas with them. They live at Rosslyn Academy, where Wes is a high school English teacher. It was fun to watch Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" by the light of our little cypress Christmas tree.

Our Advent devotional for December 6th, was about the generous and kind fourth century bishop Nicholas and his impact upon children and the poor. The devotional suggested an activity practiced by many Christian cultures around the world: As we went to bed, everyone in the apartment left a shoe (or rubber boot in the case of Tristan and Emma) outside of their door, but rather than waiting for someone else to fill the shoes, everyone in the house crept around at night and dropped little surprises into other peoples shoes. It was a lot of fun!

Of course the real message was about practicing the gift of generosity. How free are we at blessing others? That same evening, Erica and the kids made cookies and squares for a bake sale Emma's first grade class was holding as a fundraiser for "The Nest", an orphanage in Limuru, Kenya. That next day, all of the children brought gifts for the sale raising over $300 for the orphans. In fact, all of the classes at the school will be doing fundraising for the orphanage. Little acts of generosity add up.

In Prayer

Tonight we will say good-bye to Bob Swan and the Vancouver team that has been working in Garissa. Remember them as they return to Canada this weekend.

Please pray for our Kenyan colleague Yattani as he prepares to move into the CBM Dadaab compound in the new year.

Also remember our colleagues Paul and Kelly Carline, as Kelly's parents visit for the month of December and Kelly is ill with the mumps (The mumps have been a very common sickness in Nairobi this year, many people at our children's school have been sick despite vaccinations).

Finally, please pray for every one's safety here during the upcoming national elections. It seems that there are street rallies and protests going on daily now. On Friday, Erica and I were diverted out of Eastleigh into Mathare Valley for over an hour because of political demonstrations.