Another site seen daily here in Kimata. These women are carrying napia grass to feed their cows at home.

Speaking of home, Nancy's back! Upon her return, she brought with her various types of food including maize, avocadoes, potatoes, tarrow root and beans! These were donated by her family. I asked her what the best thing about going home was. She said that fixing her parents kitchen, which was days away from being totally destroyed, gave her great joy. The kitchen, by the way, was made from mud and sticks. Though the new one isn't permanent either, it is a great improvement from what they had been using. Maggs and I were very happy to have her back after two weeks.

About Maggs, SHE"S GONE! All of us here at AMCC were sad to see her go, though no one as much as me. She gave a speach to the kids before she left and they all hugged her to the point of collapse.

However, before she could depart, we welcomed Barbara and Chris who had just flown in from Holland. Barbara is the missions director from Grace World Outreach. Chris is her cousin who leads a college-aged ministry in Arkansas. As soon as they got to AMCC we put 'em straight to work pickin beans! (Not really; John and Nancy are way to hospitable/Kenyan to do that. I was the one who had to initiate the bean-pickin.)

It was a bitter sweet couple of days. I was excited to see a mentor of mine (Barb) but sad to see Maggs go. Of course the kids gave Barbara and Chris and even Maggs and I a warm welcome when we arrived. It was a huge hug-fest! When they wrap their arms around you, they don't let go until you pry em off or you're on the ground.

Mark's parents sent us a package! Thanks guys! The spices were much appreciated! It's amazing how a few spices can change a meal entirely. They also sent some good books for the kids to read and some biblical and educational decks of cards.

In other news, Paulo, the youngest got chicken pocks! Or small pocks, I'm not sure. Anyway we're countin on all the kids getting them in the next couple of weeks. This will be kind of a bummer deal but I guess they all gotta go through it sometime. Please pray that the Lord would bring quick healing and finances for the medical bills.

Finances! We have delivered our first mango order! We got a profit of 10,000Ksh which will help AMCC not to be in such great debt. Because the system is a bit different than avocado harvesting, we'll have to wait a week before we get the check. We didn't make as much as anticipated but we've got about 6 and a half months to figure out how to increase profits.

Bloom church in Denver sent AMCC a couple of letters, which were super encouraging to the kids. In response, the kids will have the oportunity to draw or write something back the Bloom this Sunday. THANKS BLOOM! You guys rock!

This guy is Robert Quiring. Mark and I met him I think the 1st week we were here. He's from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma! Robert has been instrumental in my psychological well-being while in Kenya. To have another Okie around has been tremendously encouraging. He was in Kenya for about a year and has been involved with African Evangelistic Outreach. He's also opened up his place for Mark and I whenever we needed it. This pic was taken a few days before he went back home. I'm gonna miss ya Robert!

That's about all I know at this point. God is so good and faithful! May he lead our hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance!

I have been withheld from publishing a new blog post yet again until today. The reason this time, I won't give right away but you'll find out as you keep reading. This week I've taken pictures of what I've been doing from my standpoint in hopes to allow you to "see what I've been seeing" in a way. They are placed arbitrarily throughout this post because most of it is about one topic.

This boy's name is Dennis. Late Saturday night when most of the kids had gone to bed, Dennis and a couple others were finishing up with their kitchen duties. I was just entering my room when I heard Dennis scream and then yell, "to be burned". We hurried to put his foot in cold water to ease the pain. Evidently as he was scooping boiling water out of a large saucepan when it tipped over and poured on his foot.

After Maggie had nursed him, I took him to the hospital where he was admitted for three days. One of the doctors there became suspicious and was wondering why Dennis was working in the kitchen at all. He notified the Criminal Investigation Department, whereupon John was summoned and drilled with questions for nearly two hours.

At first I was kind of mad at the doctor for notifying the government, but later realized that he was doing what any good citizen would do who suspected child labor. The question arises, "Is there 'child labor' going on at AMCC?" To answer this question, we have to look carefully at what "child labor" means. One thing is for certain, no one is working here for any type of monetary compensation for any person, not even John and Nancy. The children are not involved in any type of money-making activity whatsoever. The "labor" they are involved with consists of: pulling their own water for laundry, bathing, and cooking; participating in general cleaning on Saturdays and keeping their dorms clean throughout the week; separating edible maize and beans about once every other week; and for the older ones, carrying out basic cooking duties about every third day.

This type of "labor" is comparatively lax when considered that the children at AMCC would be doing actual "child labor" or involved in the sex industry if they weren't here. Also, many children who live with their grandparents or single parents have the same chores, if not much more. In other children's homes in Kenya, children are working in fields harvesting after school and over the weekends. This however is not considered "child labor" because most schools have an agriculture program.

Also it would be a very different story if AMCC had the funds to give John and Nancy salaries or had some type of sufficient income. Obviously the most ideal situation is for AMCC to hire a cook, but currently that is impossible because of lack of funding. Hopefully, we'll be able to change that one day.

So John passed with flying colors with the Criminal Investigation Department. For each question asked, he gave very detailed descriptions and explainations. And after each question, he would ask if they needed further clarification. He's also the type of guy who wouldn't flinch in this sort of situation. He's very calm and collected and he always speaks the truth. However, they've given him "2 weeks to think about it". I'm not sure what this means. I think they're suggesting that John hire a cook or they'll shut him down, in which case they would be acting like the criminals for forcing these children to turn to child labor and the sex industry.

Why are they so harsh?, you might ask. I suspect that they think we (the white people) are paying AMCC and that John is withholding the money. There are not many things in this world that frustrate me more than ingnorance. Because from ignorance are concieved racism and prejudicism. But what can you do? Maybe I can have a chat with them, that'd be a hoot! Anyway, please pray about this situation because it is pressing and they don't seem to be messing around. God is good and He has a plan!

So guess who's got malaria!! This was the reason I wasn't able to write this until today. But today I'm thanking God because He has brought healing and I'm feeling great! For about three and half days I was out of commision and looked like this. Simultaneously with contracting malaria, the four and a half month span of eating getheri for most every meal caught up with me as well. Evidently I'm suffering from some "erosion" somewhere in the middle of my digestive track. All I know is that I was waking up at 3:30am with a lot of pain in what felt like my upper stomach. The doctor is telling me that getheri is out now, so I'll have to find other stuff to eat. I'm not entirely dissapointed but it will be a pain trying to always eat what no one else is. Because of this "erosion" in my digestive track and the malaria, this is a lot of what I was looking at last week each time I had to hurl. So while I pukin and loungin all day, Maggie has been a rock-star girlfriend and missionary. She jumped right in to doing everything from taking kids to the hospital, cooking almost every day, and traveling to about every village in our district. It's clear that God brought her at the right time.

I also promised John and Daniel that I would put up a post about Daniel (the shopkeeper next door) and his family. He has very much deserved some recognition. This is Daniel and his family standing in front of their small "duka" (shop). God has used this man and his wife numerous times for the sustainability of AMCC. They are just next door so any time we need salt, sugar, bread, tea, maize, beans, kerosine, phone credit, ...you name it, they have given without question. They've allowed AMCC to go into great debt in it's times of greatest struggle to keep the kids fed. The Lord has really used this man and his wife for countless blessings for AMCC. There's no doubt he deserves a shout out. I just hope he'll be able to see this picture one day.

OH YAH! I almost forgot to mention, WE GOT OUR FIRST MANGO ORDER!!! This is huge! We've been praying that the Lord would provide and He has heard our prayer! He is so faithful! Please please please pray that the Lord will bless John and his brother Bogwa as they put their hand to work in this business. We're hoping that the profits from this will be able to carry AMCC until we can establish a year-long self-sustaining project. God is so awesome!

There's more exciting news about next week, but I feel if I make the blogposts too long people will become board with reading them! So I'll let you know all about it in a week. Thanks for reading, careing and praying. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perserverence!

Nick

Friends! First I'd like to appologize for not updating my blog in about 3 weeks. A few things have happened which have kept me from doing so.

I've had some blogging complications that you will be recieving an e-mail about. The other reason is because for about 4 days Maggs and I went to climb Mt. Kenya! This was truly a blessing because we didn't think we would have a chance to do it.

Not much has changed here lately, except that Maggie and I have had a few days where we are the only two running the entire place. Thanks to the $100 that Grace World Outreach gave a couple weeks ago, Nancy has ceased the opportunity to go home for a break and bless her family with the money. This has been a long time coming. The last time she was able to go home was about 7 months ago. The Pastor is still working hard on the avocadoes and can spend some nights away from AMCC leaving Maggs and I to pick up the slack. Recently AMCC was blessed with avocadoes from some of our neighbors whose original avocado harvesters didn't show up. The children had a good time helping to collect them because the farms were so close.

Here at AMCC, and all of Kenya along with most parts of Africa, children are caned more often than those in the states. They seemed a bit more disciplined that most kids in the U.S. as well. It's very different for me culturally but I've become a little more used to it. I found that the children don't seem to feel oppressed or threatened by caning, however, Maggs and I have been instiuting some other ways of discipline. Here you can see David sitting on top of Jerald with their arms around each other. This was the consequence for their hitting each other. After a while sitting there, I asked them if they were brothers and if they loved each other. They both responded postively to each inquiry.

Njau the Butcher (pronounced "Jow") is a noteworthy person in our small sub-district. This man doesn't speak English but has a servant's heart that speaks louder than words. He owns this small butchery in Mukarara, a village that lies about 3 kilometers away from Kimata. When we have the money, we buy meat from him. He's always been faithful in allowing us to charge our cell-phones and any other electronical device for free. He plays a huge role in supporting AMCC in this way. He's also been super helpful for me to practice Swahili with.

Recently the rains have been scarce, forcing the children to hike to a nearby river to draw water. This is a picture of the kids hiking back up the side of hill with jugs full of water. None of them are fat.

The next picture is of a technique that John and Nancy use to get the children's attention when telling them something very important. You can see Nancy grabbing her ears as she tells the children to do the same. I know it looks a bit militaristic but don't worry, the kids are all laughing at this point.

This is another noteworthy person in Thika Town. Her name is Sho-sho (grandma) Victoria. She has a small shop in Thika where she sells a variety of fruits and veggies for a living. She loves the Lord and has always been an encouragement to Mark and I and helpful in supporting AMCC.

This man is Samual Mwangi. He deals with coffee in the area and has brought by a sample for us to ship to some friends in the U.S. The coffee that is bought in our region is going for about 25 shillings. The same coffee in the U.S. is being bought by 1200 shillings. Of course there should be a price gap from the famer to the consumer, but not a gap of 50 times the selling price. AMCC hopes to be able to buy the coffee from the farmers at a greater price than the Kenyan buyers. We're hoping this will give Kenyan farmers a hand in getting out of the cycle of poverty while helping AMCC pay the bills.

The last picture is of the four staff members walking to a celebration one Sunday afternoon. A lady that is a cousin of John was healed and the church she is a part of decided to celebrate by meeting at her house and eating together. I wish we did more things like this. The people here seem to have a cool spirit of thanksgiving. It was a great time hangin out with people who were so appreciative of the Lord.

The only other news is that we should be getting a mango order sometime next week. Please be praying that we can actually get the order and that all goes well with the new business venture. Nancy should have a few more days off befor her return. Also, pray that the Lord would give Maggs and I wisdom in how to love and discipline the children here while the Pastor and Nancy are out.

Mungu Akubariki!