Much has happened since my last update. Allow me to give you the "run-down":

Mark and I went on a two-day retreat at Tim and Dianne Bannisters, who are missionaries of about 20 years with AIM. They live about an hour southeast of Nairobi on large plot of land. Tim took Mark and I on a "game drive" not to be mistaken as a safari. We saw a variety of African wild game while we cruised onlong in his Land Rover. Among them were giraff, cape buffalo, wildebeast, gazelle and a few others that looked really cool but I can't remember their names. The giraffs actually came up into the yard at night and ate from the trees. The landscape was pretty awesome too.

We got back on Wednesday and discovered they finally chopped the tree down for firewood! It was more than we expected and should take us to about August! God answered our prayers in abundance! (That's Uticus in front of the pile. Very cool name)

John's friend who owns a generator and cuts hair stopped by and showed some of the boys how to use the new clippers! The kids finally got haircuts, which have been long awaited, and Mark and I decided to get them as well. Now I have a pretty cool black-guy Kenyan haircut even though I'm a muzungu. Basically the only difference is that he used the clippers on my bangs and tried to give me almost like a flat-top look in the front.

Thursday I experienced my first meeting with school parents at Mbari ya Ruga Primary School. I went on behalf of Teresea, one of the girls in 8th grade. The meeting was supposed to start at 9:00am so I left AMCC at 9:15 and arrived at about 9:45. After two hours of walking around and letting the children stare at me, most of the parents showed up so the schol board decided to start. They gave me a seat at the front with the school board simply because I'm white and I sat through the 12:00 - 4:30pm meeting which was spoken completely in Kikuyu. That's not entirely true. There were about 3 times totaling maybe 5 minutes that the principal communicated to me what they were talking about.

On Friday night we had the privelege of visiting the Mutwangu household, eating meat and potatoes, and giving back some new saucepans. Mrs. Mutwangu allowed AMCC to borrow a couple about 2 years ago. We used them so much that it wouldn't have been appropriate to give them back all black and beaten. So we used the money that some people donated to give her some new ones.

The fundraiser we've been planning and praying for happened on Sunday. Our friends the Gichane's, who live in Nairobi and have been our Kenyan family since we got here, showed up and brought a bunch of food with them. All but about 3 of the guardians showed (none of them bringing the amount of money they promised but rather other necessities and gifts like soap, toothpaste, t.p., shoe polish, fruit, tea). Thankfully the Board of AMCC all showed up and we had a wonderful time. The kids sang, many people proffessed the works of Christ in their lives, and we ate a lot of food including meat and chapati!

NOTE: Chapati is like a really thick wheat flour tortilla and is one of my favorite things to eat here. This pic was taken in the middle of the night before the fundraiser. They stayed up till about 3:30 preparing the chapati. They had blast!

In monetary value we raised just over 25,000 shillings (appx. $315.00) and maybe another $200 worth of food. Not too bad! The Lord is good and knows exactly what we need. We're hoping this will take us to the end of May. By this time we should be under way on our first income generating project, gathering avocodos! Please pray for this. So far, this is the only project that fits into our budget and has a decent return. They say for every 25,000 shillings invested, one can make a 10,000 shillings profit. We're really hoping this takes off in the first couple of weeks in May. If so, it's going to be a start to a whole new ballgame here.

The most important piece of news is about Jeffery. Do you remember the kid that tried to run away? Mark and I walked to another village to pick him up. We told him that we loved him and that we believed he was a good boy and we talked to him about having good character. Anyway, Jeffery's dad showed up for the fundraiser and was demanding to take Jeffery back with him. Mary's mom wanted to take her as well. When we told Jeffery and Mary this, they began to cry. AMCC has no legal binding on these children, so if their parents want to take them back there's not much we can do. It was really burdensome to my heart that Jeffery's dad wanted to take him. I believe that Jeffery is supposed to be here and I believe strongly that if he goes home, it will be devastating to his future and his relationship with Christ.

During the fundraiser John, Nancy, Mark, Jeffery, Mary and I all stood in a circle in the courtyard away from the others, held hands, and prayed together while the children cried. It was very sad but what else could be done?

Mark and I went back into the "church" room so as not to leave the guests by themselves. The food was served by the children, to the guests first, then the guardians and then to themselves. Before long I saw Jeffery's dad and Mary's mom join us with plates in their hands. I sat my food down and went to inquire from John why they hadn't left yet as they had threatened to. John said the children told their parents: "I'm not leaving even if you try to pull me away with a tractor!" (Evidently this is a saying in their mother tongue) How cool is that! What a testamony to John and Nancy's work at AMCC. This was the kid that was trying to run away about a month ago!

I believe God has a special plan for Jeffery. Twice the enemy has tried to tear him away and twice his plans have failed! We worship a God who fights for us in the spiritual realm. For that is where our battle is, not against flesh and blood! He is so good! Mark and I prayed for Jeffery last night; that the Lord would continue to protect him and make him the man God has planned for him to be. We are believing and trusting God that He has an awesome plan for each of these kids. Guys, please join us and praying for their them; for their futures, for their lives emotionally, spritually, physcologically, and physically. Pray that the Lord brings them up in the knowledge of Him.

I wanna thank you guys for reading this stuff (my blog) by the way. It means a lot to me and shows me that there are others that are bearing this burden along with us. Much love to you all and your families!