C-Arm X-ray Unit is Repaired; Chaplain Students in June 2010

June 27, 2010

We'll start with a teaser question:

Why would they sell bars of soap here in Kenya with the name "PANGA," which means "knife"?

[answer below]

Note: Related photos can be viewed on our photo link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/slburgert/

C-Arm Repaired and Back-up Unit on Its Way

We thank all of you for your prayers and support regarding the malfunctioning C-Arm (portable fluoroscopic machine used for real-time x-ray images) here at Tenwek Hospital. We are delighted to report that the machine is again functioning well after replacement of two motherboard circuits and the hard-drive. Within 20 minutes of repair completion on June 19th, the C-arm was promptly used by the orthopedic surgery team to care for a young girl, who had fallen out of a tree and had broken her wrists, elbow and femur (upper leg bone). We give praise to God for His perfect timing! We were also grateful to have the C-arm available for us on the endoscopy team to perform an ERCP on June 25th for a 53 year-old lady with bile duct obstruction. Thanks for all those who helped with advice, contacts, shipment of repaired and replacement parts, installation, financial support, and prayers.

We are also delighted to report that several generous donors have responded to the need here at Tenwek Hospital and have already provided funds for the purchase and shipment of a second back-up C-arm unit to use here. This is truly an answer to prayer for us to be able to consistently provide quality care to the patients here at Tenwek. Praise be to God for His wonderful provision!

Tenwek Chaplaincy School Students Thank FUMC-Loveland

We may not fully realize how the Lord has prepared us to serve until years later. Alene has said that she never would have imaged serving as a teacher in a chaplaincy school in Kenya 5 years ago! The Lord has prepared her and continues to equip her for her role as a teacher and encourager for the nine chaplaincy students. She devotes at least one half of each day to chaplaincy school related activities: teaching, devotions, meals with the students, fellowship times, etc.

We were both blessed to be able to drive to visit the villages and homes for 6 of the students over 3 days earlier in June. The shared time proved to be a blessing for the students and their families as well as for us. For most of the villages it was the first time that they remembered having a "Mzungu" visitor (white person). The students have indicated that they think of us as their "parents" and we are proud of the commitment of "our children."

Our home church, First United Methodist Church in Loveland, Colorado, has had a program to help provide study materials for needy participants in Bible studies offered at FUMC. In that spirit and through support provided by FUMC-Loveland, each of the nine chaplaincy students received a Life Application Study Bible. This wa a precious gift to these students, most of whom struggle just to pay their tuition, and several have been using borrowed Bibles. They were MOST APPRECIATIVE and we are certain that they will put this resource to excellent use in sharing Scripture messages with others. They say "Asante sana!" ("Thank you very much!") to FUMC-Loveland. (Please see their grateful faces in the photos on the blog link.)

Odds & Ends

There is a photo showing Steve, The Great White Hunter, with a wild animal captured right here on the Tenwek Hospital grounds.......a chameleon!

Most national Kenyans are very excited about the World Cup for soccer. (Of course, it is called "football" here.) Steve joined in the spirit and enjoyed watching each of the USA games on our neighbor's television and cheering for the USA. Kenya had no team in the final 32 teams playing in South Africa, but every African team became "their" team. Needless to say, they were delighted that Ghana was able to defeat USA....Steve will now join in cheers for Ghana, Africa's sole remaining team in the World Cup.

The answer re: "PANGA" soap: Here in Kenya soap can be sold in very long sticks equivalent to about 6 soap "bars." These long sticks are cut into regular-sized bars with a "panga" (knife)!

Thanks for your interest, prayers, and support that make our service to the Kenyans possible. We know that each of you has special ways to be of service to others wherever you are.

Alene's ministry takes shape; C-Arm malfunction; True faith in your spouse!

June 1, 2010

(Please also note the photos on the weblink)

Alene's Ministry Takes Shape!

Wow! After spending several months exploring potential opportunities for service and ministry here at Tenwek, Alene's ministry has very rapidly taken shape in May. She is now serving as one of the instructors for the Tenwek Chaplaincy School. This certainly fits in with her background of prior service as a prison chaplain in Colorado, but she admits that when she offered to teach 4 hours on "Criminology" she did not realize that she had actually volunteered to teach 4 hours on the subject EACH WEEK for 12 weeks! [She's excited about her new role, but is busy enough right now that she's letting me do this blog entry! - Steve] This past week was exciting for the chaplaincy students, Alene, and some pastors at Tenwek who are interested in prison ministry: Kelvin and Ben from Philemon Prison Ministries in Nairobi [http://philemonafrica.org] came and spent three full days teaching the chaplain students and coordinating a visit to the nearby Bomet Men's Prison. This very practical experience helped to encourage these students, who are preparing to minister to others as chaplains, whether at prisons, hospitals, school campuses, military bases, or wherever the Lord opens an opportunity.

Alene also spends time encouraging the nine chaplain students throughout the week and we have had the students over for chats and social time on three occasions. Today is a holiday in Kenya (celebrating when Kenya became a republic) and the students will come over to our home for a movie-showing using a borrowed projector. These students have become part of our "family" here and we look forward to visiting some of their homes in coming weeks.

Alene's message (with Pastor Wesley acting as an interpreter) to the Bomet prisoners and officers on "Stress and Stress Management" on May 14th was well-received. She is also helping to facilitate our Tenwek campus church's monthly visits to the Bomet Prison.

In addition, each Wednesday afternoon Alene has been leading a Bible study in the village of Mugango on the book of Colossians. We give thanks for answered prayers as the Lord directs Alene's ministry.

C-Arm Update

We shared an urgent request on May 23rd for prayers and assistance for repairs for our 20-year-old C-arm unit here at Tenwek Hospital. (A C-arm is a large, mobile device that allows "real-time" motion pictures of x-ray images, which is critical for orthopedic surgery and other procedures, including the bile and pancreas duct exams that I perform: ERCP's.) We here at Tenwek have been amazed by the prompt and very helpful response of so many and we know that prayers are being answered. A replacement hard-drive (formatted to match the 1991 specs) and a new power supply were quickly identified and were sent within a couple of days with a visitor coming to Tenwek and were delivered this past weekend. We give great thanks, but unfortunately installation of these parts did not eliminate the error message previously noted. The concern now is that the CPU that controls the hard-drive may be blown. Dr. Dan Galat, Orthopedic Surgeon, is returning to the USA this week and will take along the hard-drive and two circuit-motherboard CPU's that communicate with the hard-drive. This will permit further "diagnostic" efforts and "treatment" plans.

Please join us as we continue to pray that the current C-arm can be repaired promptly, for wisdom in providing care without C-arm services, (especially for the many orthopedic patients) and for provision of a second, back-up C-arm, which is clearly needed.

True Faith in Your Spouse!

I've always had faith in Alene, but I think it is an amazing sign of faith that Alene let me cut her hair recently! I admit that she closely supervised each cut, but I was most thankful for the late-night "hair-cutting clinic" led by Emily and others during our SPLICE training in Colorado in September!

Top Ten List on Becoming Kenyan, Easter, Retreat, Prison Visit, Endoscopy Work

Top ten ways we can tell that we are becoming Kenyan….

#10 - When watching an American movie on a DVD, we now think it looks weird for the driver and steering wheel to be on the left side of the car… (but when driving here, we still accidentally hit the windshield wipers when we are trying to use the turn signals!)

#9 - Steve and I shake hands when we greet each other in public, instead of a hug or a peck on the cheek. (When it rains, we have a legitimate excuse to share the umbrella and stand close enough to touch.)

#8 - We are starting to point at things with our chins. (Standard technique here, since it is considered extremely impolite to point at things with your finger.)

#7 - We are pleasantly surprised when a public restroom has TP in the stall or soap for washing hands. Actually, we should say that we are also pleasantly surprised if the stall has a stool (instead of just a hole), and a door (with a latch), if the toilet flushes (or if the bucket next to you has been provided for that purpose), and if the sink has a faucet that works. (Carrying our own TP and hand sanitizer has become standard protocol.)

#6 - I (Alene) have noticed that every backpack or shoulder bag I pull out now has a supply of mosquito-wipe packets.

#5 - We have stopped wearing white and/or light-colored clothes – except for Steve’s hospital coat. (The red clay dirt and the water stains have taken their toll.)

#4 - We have learned to use a closed fist to indicate the number 5, and to signal someone to “come” with our palms down.

#3 - We have learned that if we arrive 10 minutes after the scheduled start of a gathering means we will probably still be the first ones there.

#2 - We no longer feel the need to stop and take pictures of zebras, giraffes, and gazelle along the road to Nairobi. (But we did stop for a photo when we saw a funnel cloud over the Rift Valley! – see the blog photos)

#1 - Greeting others in Swahili now seems perfectly natural. (Until the other person continues in Swahili at full speed, assuming that we can keep up!)

Oops - #11 - We recognize that we have developed a little “toughness.” We have come to expect that almost every Kenyan who stops to say more than just the usual greetings will end up asking us for money (in a round-about way) or suggestively hinting at the difficulties of their lives. This is especially likely if they invite you to their home for chai or a meal. We have been struggling with the difficult balance of remaining open, interested, and caring, without taking on the responsibility to solve every crisis that crosses our path. Just as we are coming to grips with this reality and developing some protective and re-directive techniques, I (Alene) was invited to the home of a Kenyan woman who works at Tenwek Hospital, and I hiked to her place mentally prepared to “fend off” her anticipated requests to help with school fees for her 4 children. As I sat on a bench in this widow’s simple shack with a dirt floor and rain leaking through her roof on to my lap, watching her oldest daughter (13 years old?) fix us a pot of chai (tea) and a simple plate of bread, I listened with shame for my hard heart as she told me that she is so grateful to the Lord because He has provided miraculously for all her needs. Then this generous woman of faith blessed me with a large sack of potatoes and a huge scoop of beans from her small garden, and accompanied me back home through the pouring rain. Dear Lord help us, maybe we are not really as Kenyan as we would like to think…

Notes from Alene on Easter weekend teaching in Kalyet AGC (Africa Gospel Church) near Mugango -

First, please let me say that I am so grateful for those of you who partnered with me in prayer for those days – I felt a deep peace even though I had no idea from one moment to the next what (or how) I would be teaching. I did a lot of prayer, preparation and study ahead of time, and then felt free to wait on the Lord’s direction as each day unfolded in its own Kenyan way.

The three days of teaching plus Easter Sunday’s sermon at the Kalyet Africa Gospel Church (AGC) were a true blessing and huge, cultural learning experience. The schedule of sessions was extremely loose, and attendance fluctuated (understandably, for our walk-in attendees) with how heavy the rains were that day - from 30 to 300. My greatest challenge was to stay aware of the “spiritual atmosphere” and be able to shift gears if their concentration was wandering or past engagement completely. I would skip a verbal presentation and go to a little visual demonstration, or start asking them questions to try and re-engage. Working with a translator definitely gives one time to think between points, and time to gauge whether the listeners have understood your point, or if you should try again from another direction. But it can also break the flow of the message, and cuts your presentation time in half! (I told someone it was like watching a crowd who was watching a tennis match, as their eyes bounced between me and the translator.) It was a humbling, cross-cultural immersion, but I am trusting that the Holy Spirit was at work. (As it says in Isaiah 55:11, the Word will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent, and will not go out and return empty.) I was very touched by their attentiveness and respect, and especially by their hunger for more teaching about the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which – according to area pastors - has not been presented in depth to the churches here for several years. With the help of a diesel generator, several viewings of The Jesus Film were offered between teaching sessions, in Swahili and English. This was a big hit, especially with the younger crowd.

Two special highlights of the weekend: On Good Friday, we invited attendees to come forward to the wooden cross and tie on a strip of red cloth to represent any burden which they wanted to offer to Jesus, and many then stayed at the altar for a time of personal prayer. Another beautiful piece came on Easter Sunday when they celebrated Holy Communion, which has not happened at that church for several years. It was clearly a holy moment for all of us, especially after the previous days of teaching on the Last Supper. Steve and I were also blessed by the wonderful hospitality of the church members as they donated, prepared, and served a chai break (tea and bread) and a large midday meal each of the session days as well as after the 3-hour service on Easter. The Kalyet AGC church council has invited me back to teach weekly Bible studies there starting in mid-May – we will do a trial of 10 weeks (through July) and then re-evaluate.

Again, I give thanks to the Lord for His faithful help and direction in all this, and I again thank my much-needed and graciously-heard prayer partners. (See some photos in the blog link.)

Notes on our retreat at Malindi

This wonderful retreat for all the Kenyan WGM missionaries (not just Tenwek) was full of excellent teaching, rich times of fellowship, and refreshing worship sessions. Several pairs of pastors had come from the U.S. to teach and counsel adults as well as the youth. Most afternoons we had to ourselves for relaxing or prolonged lunches with the pastors or missionary colleagues. The Turtle Bay Beach Club in Malindi (about 50 miles north of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean) is a beautiful Kenyan resort with lots of quiet spaces for reflection or in-depth conversations. The tropical setting was therapeutic, and we appreciated the opportunities to refresh ourselves and spend time with other missionary families, as well as see another beautiful part of Kenya. We enjoyed the VERY warm ocean water, and Steve took advantage of a group outing to snorkel in a nearby marine reserve. There were some incredible tide pools off the beach at low tide, and we marveled at 14” ruffled clam shells and families of eels who would come halfway out of the water to retrieve small bits of sausage which we squirreled away from our breakfast. We found many gorgeous shells we would have liked to bring back with us, but since most of them still had inhabitants, we left them on the beach. We did end up with enough small bits and pieces to remind us of our getaway, and they are collected in a dish on our kitchen windowsill.

We had no real rain until our last full day there, but even that was a little magical as it dripped off the grass roofs like a curtain of diamonds. (See blog photos.) In the evenings you could be entertained by the “crab wars” out on the sand under the floodlights, or watch the white African bats swoop down for insects above. One of our favorite diversions was the incredible flock of Golden Palm Weaver birds which nested around one of the resort ponds, next to one of the dining areas (I won’t use the word dining ROOMS, because they were all open-air) – again, we invite you to view the blog photos. These incredible birds, which are bright yellow with orange heads, would peel off thin strips of a palm branch and then weave them into an upside-down nest (the males, actually) and then they flutter and dangle at the entrance (upside-down again!) to attract a female to their ready-to-move-in special. We also watched as one of the local monkeys tried unsuccessfully to steal some eggs (or baby birds) from the nests, but instinct leads the birds to build their homes at the far ends of flimsy branches, deterring such predators. Our Creator is amazing!

We enjoyed our time immensely, but were ready to return to “home” at Tenwek, as it has become our very comfortable and familiar base of operations. We now have a better understanding of the importance of such breaks for all of us missionaries to get away together from the various stations, and especially to soak in some pastoral care before returning to our various areas of service and ministry. We also understand better why everyone was looking forward to it so much! Alene has volunteered to be on the organizing committee for next year’s return.

One more blessing from our retreat…We were thankful upon our return to Nairobi that we navigated around the city in our car by ourselves for a couple of days of supply-buying, and then safely made our “maiden voyage” alone home to Tenwek. Hallelujah, the Lord watches over our coming and going, both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:8

Bomet Prison visit on Good Friday

Alene worked as a prison chaplain in the USA and had recently renewed a long-neglected contact with the local (Bomet) prison near Tenwek with the pastor from our Tenwek/Bethesda church. Unfortunately, she was committed to teaching at the Mugango AGC Church on Good Friday and could not join the 20 of us from Tenwek who visited the Bomet prison on that day. With 98 inmates and many prison officers participating, we shared the Gospel message, answered questions, sang songs together and played volleyball. (Yes, the inmates won!) They appreciated the interaction and the gift of Twizzlers ("red licorice") and further visits are anticipated. The openness and opportunity to share the Gospel is dramatically different from what we would encounter in the prisons in the USA. (See blog photos.)

Steve's Endoscopy Work

It is great to share that we are now able to offer ERCP procedures here at Tenwek Hospital. This is a specialized endoscopy procedure that permits x-ray views and therapeutics for the pancreas and bile ducts. We have now performed 4 ERCP procedures and 3 of the patients required sphincterotomies (electrical cutting-open of the bile duct exit into the upper small bowel) and 2 patients with cancer blocking the bile duct had plastic stents placed. We give thanks to God that we can now care for many patients with bile duct or pancreas difficulties that would have previously required a surgical incision through the abdominal wall.

We give thanks for Barb & Jason in Colorado, who helped arrange for Libby, Amanda, and Peter to deliver endoscopy supplies (including new ERCP supplies!) for our use here at Tenwek.

I (Steve) have needed to learn patience in teaching young physicians techniques in performing endoscopic procedures, but Drs. Mike & Arega are learning very quickly. Having other African (not just Kenyan) physicians trained to provide endoscopic care and research is another goal of our service here. (See blog photos.)

As expected, we continue to see a high number of esophageal cancer patients. (There were 375 new esophageal cancer patients cared for in the Tenwek Endoscopy Unit in 2009.) We placed 10 esophageal stents in 9 patients last week. (Yes, one patient's tumor was so long that 2 stents were needed.) I have again been reminded about how many of the patients we see are young. I ask for your specific prayers for these four young men/boys we saw just in this past week:

Dennis, 30 years old, with esophageal cancer.

Jairo, 33 years old, with esophageal cancer.

Maxtone, 34 years old, with stomach cancer.

and Kipnegtich, 16 years old, with cancer in the pharynx (throat).

We also ask for prayers for our endoscopy team and hospital cancer chaplain to know how best to minister to these individuals and their families. May the Lord also guide our efforts to learn how to diagnose earlier or prevent these cancers.

Joshua's Great News & Our Transitions in February

February 28, 2010

GREAT NEWS FOR JOSHUA!

We are delighted to report that prayers have been answered for 1 ½ year old Joshua. The tumor was removed from his wrist on January 28th and we have just learned this week that the tissue report is completely benign! [For you medical folks, it is described as "infantile fibromatosis."] We have heard that he is doing well. We found him to be a very delightful child and we know that the Lord has GREAT things in mind for Joshua. We give thanks and praise to the Lord for His healing touch. Please join us in prayer for healing for many others here at Tenwek Hospital.

TRANSITIONS:

...Language Study...Medical Conference...Vehicle ownership...Clinical/Ministry Work

....Language Study - We did complete our 3 months of intense Swahili language study on February 5th. We are so thankful for the opportunity we had to focus on this before "jumping into" clinical and ministry responsibilities. We are thankful for a great teacher and for the Tenwek Hospital physicians, who covered the clinical care duties before Steve started to work there. Our language learning does continue as we speak Swahili daily with coworkers and neighbors and Steve strives to use the language in patient care. Daniel, our language tutor, has graciously encouraged each of us to email him a few paragraphs in Swahili once a week summarizing our activities and we have done so to "keep in shape." This is a continuation of the daily journaling that we did for our Swahili class. Daniel will send us corrections and answers to our language questions.

...Medical Conference - It really was much more than a medical conference that we enjoyed at Brackenhurst, a Christian conference center about 1 hour northwest of Nairobi, near Limuru for any of you who have a map. We enjoyed 2 weeks of “deep breathing” in our transition from our Swahili studies into our ministry work. The grounds were beautiful, with lawns, gardens, walking trails, nice rooms, delicious food, little places tucked here and there for sitting and talking, or reading, or emailing or whatever. We had a lovely, newly-renovated private room with our own bathroom & shower – some had to share dorm-type rooms and use restrooms down the hall. So we truly had a little personal holiday. Each day began with hearty breakfasts at 7am, followed by worship and good spiritual teaching sessions – then the program launched into the medical sessions or spouse program sessions. There were some sessions which of interest to all, and everyone was welcome to attend any session. For example, Alene attended some sessions on Spirituality and Medicine, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Conflict Management, and Steve had a very timely opportunity to refresh himself on tropical medicine issues and general medical care between classes in his area of specialization. There were about 300 attendees, some with their spouses – mostly doctors and surgeons, but also other health professionals, mostly from African mission fields. We were inspired and humbled by so many who have served for many years in areas which are difficult (environmentally) and some which are under fire (literally). It was awesome to talk and share with so many over meals and between sessions. It also was a fabulous time for networking and receiving encouragement from some real veterans, some of whom are African, and some from the US, South America, Europe, or Asia.

Another large part of our interactions here has been sharing with many of the teaching staff, most of whom have some from the U.S. to be with us and bring us up to date. Many of the presenters are also currently from mission hospitals, or have been on the field in the past. They also have great experiences, wisdom, and histories to share.

Mid-mornings we enjoyed tea/coffee breaks out on the lawn between the meeting rooms, usually accompanied by one of the delicious homemade breads or doughnuts which the kitchen here bakes each day. Another round of sessions was followed by lunch – anything from sloppy joes to chicken curry, with soups and salads accompanying every meal. Classes ended around 4pm, and we did walk on some of the trails at that hour. Dinner at 6, was followed by worship and “field reports” which were eye-witness reports about God’s miracles happening in some part of the world – a great way to end each day!

Between the 2 weeks of sessions we were hosted on an outing to Lake Naivasha, (about another hour northwest from here) where we boated through an area of hippos, pelicans, and fish eagles to a peninsula where we enjoyed a walking safari among giraffes, zebras, and cape buffaloes, as well as birds and monkeys. There are no predators in this park, which provided a unique experience to walk so closely to the animals, as opposed to the land rover/vehicle safaris necessary in other parts of Kenya.

The Brackenhurst Conference was most timely in helping us be better prepared for our transition into medical and ministry work. (Please see the photo link for photos from Brackenhurst, the walking safari, and a nearby tea plantation)

...Vehicle Ownership - We did spend the day before the Brackenhurst Conference going in to Nairobi to look about a vehicle purchase. We were thankful to have been connected with Kamal, who is a local car expert and specializes in helping missionaries get good vehicles for their areas of service. Long story short, we were providentially led to a 2001 Toyota Prado (a type of Land Cruiser), which should serve us very well. We have been dealing with the necessary Kenyan paperwork, money transfers, mission field approvals, and repairs, etc. (Technically, this is a mission-owned, but individually-maintained vehicle.) We are returning to Nairobi on Friday, March 5th, to pick up the vehicle after completion of some repairs and installation of new tires (here they are "tyres") and a new car top roof rack. The car will seat seven and should be a huge help to our ability to serve the mission team here – thanks to all of you who have been praying for us about this! Please continue to pray that we will learn how to drive on the left side of the road and according to the somewhat loose Kenyan rules of the road.

...Clinical/Ministry Work - Steve was pleased this week to assume a new role at Tenwek Hospital as the Director of Endoscopy services. They have not previously had a fulltime Gastroenterologist here and have made him feel most welcome and appreciated. He got right back into doing upper and lower GI tract endoscopy procedures even though he'd only done three scope exams since June 30th! The five nurses and techs on the Endoscopy Unit team were pleased to have a chance to learn more about Steve's role and to share their own vision for the Endoscopy Unit at a team meeting and devotion on Friday morning. They have already started organizing and doing a needed inventory of the endoscopy equipment and accessories....They think that they have found an electrical cord, which was lost for three years and will now again permit them to do procedures requiring electrocautery. Steve will have several administrative duties, teaching duties and also will be on the general medicine on-call schedule. Thanks for your prayers in this major transition. (Please see the photo link for a picture of the endoscopy team, Steve's first esophageal cancer stent patient in 2010 - unfortunately the first of many, and a round worm in the colon - welcome to colonoscopies in Kenya!)

Alene has begun her investigation of the specific role for her ministry service. She has met with several individuals last week and has other appointments in this coming week. We cherish your prayers for guidance in her transition as well.

Just One Random Observation:

When we asked Kenyans around here most of them did not know the Swahili word for "stress." (We learned from our language tutor that the word is "msongo.") We're not saying that they do not have stress, but it says something that they don't dwell on it enough to have a word that easily comes to mind.....Perhaps we can learn something from that! May your stresses be minimal and may your transitions be smooth in all of the ways that you can be of ministry and service to others.

Reflections on a Solar Eclipse and Prayers for Joshua

Reflections on a Solar Eclipse

Over one year ago when we first announced our intentions to serve in Kenya, my former partner, Dr. Jerry Chase, promptly advised us that there would be an annular solar eclipse in our area on January 15, 2010. We are glad that he gave us that “heads up” to fully appreciate it. On Jerry’s advice we had ordered 30 cardboard “Solar eclipse shades” a year ago and thankfully we were able to find them amongst the supplies we had shipped here. It was great to use and share the special shades with others on the day of the eclipse. Some of the Missionary Kids also used unexposed x-ray film to view the eclipse. I am not the “Eclipsologist” that Jerry is, but basically a solar eclipse is seen when the moon is exactly between a spot on the earth and the sun. During an annular solar eclipse the moon does not completely block out all of the light from the sun even though the moon is fully between the earth and the sun.

We were especially grateful that it was a SUNNY morning on January 15^th, because that day was in the middle of 3 weeks straight with at least some significant rain every day and otherwise very cloudy skies. (There was rain the night before and also during the afternoon after the eclipse.) We never saw the moon at sunrise, because the sunrise was hidden behind hills, but slowly in mid-morning we experienced some eerie changes as the moon passed between the sun and us. The bright sunlight and warmth changed to a vague sense of dusk, “but the shadows were in the wrong places.” With the annular eclipse there still was a complete ring of light (like a donut) shining around the moon. We actually noticed a significant drop in temperature more than the change in sunlight. Crickets and birds changed their sounds. During the eclipse we could follow with our special shades as the shadow of the moon slowly proceeded across the sun from a crescent shape to a donut to a crescent shape again and then the full light of the sun returned. It was amazing to see the shadows through pinholes or the holes in Alene’s crocheted shawl cast similar changing shadows. Many of the folks around the hospital were completely unaware that the eclipse was occurring, but were delighted to have a chance to look through the special solar eclipse shades to see it for themselves. Rather promptly, heat returned as the full sunlight returned.

We couldn’t help reflecting on Jesus’ light to this world as we experienced the eclipse. Jesus came into the world and was “the true light that gives light to every man.” (John 1:9) As followers of Jesus Christ we are reminded: “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men.” (Matthew 5:14-16) Even a little light can show the way. Even when the moon appeared to cover 90% of the sun’s surface there still was ample light to see our way, but it wasn’t totally clear to people why the lighting was a bit different. We (with our special shades) were very excited to share the experience and explanation for what was happening. We are thankful for those in our lives who have shared with us and enabled us to see the Good News of Christ’s coming more clearly. May we continually share our enthusiasm and tools, such as wisdom from the Bible, to help others clearly see what a gift there is in Jesus and what life His light can bring for all of us. We recognized that if there were no sunlight at all, this earth would be very cold and there would be no life whatsoever. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gives true life. With the annular eclipse we saw that even major obstacles may come into our lives and seem to get between God and us, but God’s power is not diminished and He will overcome any obstacle. May each of us see Jesus’ light and let our light shine brightly for others.

When is the next solar eclipse here in Kenya? We better ask Jerry, but as I checked the NASA website it appears that the next “Hybrid Solar Eclipse” will be here on November 3, 2013. (We’ll need to ask Jerry what a hybrid solar eclipse is!)

We have a few photos on the web link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/slburgert

The Tenwek group photo and the solar eclipse sequence is kindly courtesy of Jeff Stanfield.

Random Observations …. as Questions:

*How many shops did it take for us to buy an axe in Bomet, Kenya?

The 1^st shop - to buy the axe head, a 2^nd shop - to buy wood for the axe handle, a 3^rd shop – for a carpenter to assemble the axe, and finally a 4^th shop – to sharpen the axe!

*Does time really move faster south of the equator?

We are not sure, but this past month has certainly zipped by quickly as we conclude our final month of Swahili language training. We appreciate your prayers as we transition into our ministry services in February.

Prayers for Joshua.

We are continually amazed at how the Lord works! While Alene and I were in Swahili class one day in November our language teacher’s sister, Jane, stopped by for a brief visit. She had been in a distant village and had taken a cellphone photo of a tumor on a toddler’s wrist. I looked at it and advised an orthopedic surgery evaluation, and then sent the photo by email to Dr. Dan Galat , an orthopedic surgeon, who agreed to see the patient at Tenwek Hospital. It took the family some weeks to gather up funds for the lengthy bus trip, but Mama and 1 ½ year old Joshua arrived on Wednesday, January 27^th, and the sizeable tumor was removed on Thursday. Our language teacher (Daniel), Alene, Dr. Galat, and I were all able to pray with Joshua and his mother before the surgery and on the following day. Joshua was a happy and delightful child before and after his operation. (Check our photo link.) He and his mother returned to their village the day after the surgery.

Please share in our continued prayers for complete healing for Joshua and a good report on the tissue findings.

Family and Celebrations

January 9, 2010

Family - “Familia”

What does “family” mean to you? Certainly we first think of our blood relations and our relations by marriage. We were blessed to renew many of those family relationships with our travels and visits across the USA this summer. These are relationships that transcend time and distance. We have also come to appreciate a broader perspective of family to include dear friends and those from our church or workplaces. Such shared connections, including through our faith, have drawn us together.

Our definition of family has been stretched and expanded much further with our time here in Kenya. The missionary families here at Tenwek have invited us into their homes and have welcomed us into the community as “Aunt Alene” and “Uncle Steve” for their children. We truly feel a part of the Tenwek family in service and worship and especially during the retreat and planning time together at Turi. One of our “family activities” there involved a relay competition with Steve’s face getting smeared with Vaseline and enough cotton balls to make Santa Claus jealous! (See the photo link on our blog!)

We have also been welcomed into the homes of local Kenyan families, sharing chai (tea), meals, conversation, and fellowship. Pastor Wesley & Charity’s children call us and treat us as “grandpa” and “grandma.” (Considering that we have never had any children of our own this is a quick leap!) Our language tutor has included us in meals, play, worship and celebration with his wife and three children. We have been humbled to share meals and family time with these two Kenyan families after worship together on Christmas Day and also on New Year’s Eve. It was comforting to share this closeness of family here in Kenya even if our own blood relatives and American friends were many miles away. We have felt physical hugs from family here in Kenya and “virtual” hugs from across the miles. Our families and friends in the USA have done a wonderful job of maintaining our connections with email messages, letters, phone calls and Skype (internet) video chats.

We certainly have delighted in the expansion of our definition of family. Our most special sense of family is that which we share as a family of faith through our shared belief in Jesus Christ. We look forward to the ways in which we see our spiritual family relationships continue to grow in this coming year.

Meanwhile, our work as students continues. Our language studies are going very well and we anticipate having a strong foundation in Swahili after our final 4 weeks. It will help us as we continue to connect with our Kenyan “familia.”

More Random Observations:

*It was difficult to remember the word for dog in Swahili: “mbwa” – I think, because it had too many consonants in a row. Our Kenyan Field Director, Jim Vanderhoof, helped us to remember “mbwa” as we think of some “big dog bosses,” who Manage By Walking Around…MBWA!

*Some Swahili sentences can either be a statement or a question depending upon your intonation. We were also advised of one sentence whose meaning changes by whether or not you have a smile on your face: “I am totally satisfied with this job.” Or “I’m fed up with this job.” Such subtleties in language will keep us humble and on our toes.

*Learning Swahili has involved learning about culture as well as language per se. We from USA have been indoctrinated since childhood to always say “Please” and “Thank you.” We now must relearn that saying “please” in Swahili (“tafadhali”) often connotes that you are begging. Also, saying “thank you” usually is not expected here in Kenya.

*Before coming to Kenya we were asked what food we would miss the most and we consistently mentioned that we would miss lettuce salads. We have been delighted to find a safe, local source for leaf lettuce.

*It is nice when a sink in Kenya has both hot and cold water, but it seems that we can only be about 50% certain that the hot will be on the left as it is in USA.

*Our special Christmas gift to each other this year was a field guide for birds of East Africa. We have enjoyed a colorful array of birds literally outside our front door.

*Paper mail letters from USA have been getting to us in about 8 to 14 days with 98 cents postage, but packages sent a few weeks ago have yet to arrive. (Some of the delay could be due to the Christmas holidays.) …Thanks so so much for letters from many of you!

Amended Observations:

*We have experienced daily, heavy rains during the past ten days, which have made things very muddy and have damaged some major roadways at least temporarily. The water falling over the dam near our apartment is now roaring loudly.

*Avocadoes are now in season and a large one now costs only 7.5 cents! (It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to eat them!)

Comments re: photos

We do have several new photos available for viewing via our weblink:

http://picasaweb.google.com/slburgert

Photos include some from Thanksgiving at Tenwek, local rural homes, family sharing, Turi retreat - Steve’s cotton ball beard!, a Kenyan wedding, UNO in Swahli, Larzarus Funeral Home (rather an oxymoron - see John 11:38-44) and “Polish shoes” (in honor of Alene’s Polish heritage).

Parting words

Steve’s work permit was ready and the paperwork was completed while we were in Nairobi, but Alene’s is temporarily delayed. This is not anticipated to cause us any problems. We appreciate your interest and prayers as we conclude our language study in February and step into our next phase of medical and ministry service.

Dancing in Swahili & Random Observations- 12/5/2009

December 5, 2009

Dancing in Swahili

In October we had a great 2-week preparation for language-learning called PILAT at the Mission Training International facility in Palmer Lake, Colorado. While there Alene wrote a beautiful analogy between learning a language and learning to dance. The goal in learning a language is to flow and “dance” with it and enjoy your connection with other partners and enjoy the nuances of language and culture that enter into your own spirit as you truly appreciate the “music” of the language. Nevertheless, the first phase is to learn the “steps of the dance.” We are learning those steps now and still are looking at our feet and counting the beat, but we can observe a better flow with each passing week and we look forward to ever smoother “dancing in Swahili” each week. (Another analogy is that our language-learning at times is like a very slow computer. Much information has been placed on our mental “hard-drives,” but the download is often rather slow.)

Learning Swahili truly is our full-time job now. We have completed one month and our intense language studies continue until February. Steve will then commence his hospital duties and Alene will be available for her mission work at that time as well. We are truly blessed to have Daniel as our teacher here at Tenwek. (We and everyone else at Tenwek just call him “mwalimu,” which means teacher.) Every weekday straight from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. the two of us have private Swahili language tutoring. In the afternoon and evening we have 2 to 3 hours of homework and study. Time for devotion and prayer is included with each class session and our instruction extends far beyond language per se to nuances of Kenyan culture and history. (As one example, yesterday we started with the Swahili word for “love” and discussed how Kenyan husbands and wives view and express their love for one another.) Daniel uses many techniques to help us in our language-learning. Besides listening, speaking, and writing in class we often sing in Swahili, get up and move around the classroom and walk around on the roads and speak with others, such as shopkeepers. It is a blessing that each of us are learning together and can practice together. We are frequently reminded of the directive from PILAT in Colorado: “To learn a language you have to make a million mistakes, so get started now!”

We are also blessed to have Pastor Wesley help us each week with Swahili language drills and to have a neighbor and house-helper, Carol, who is very patient and speaks Swahili very well. It will be great to have these ongoing resources to build upon the language foundation being constructed during these first 3 months.

You might ask: “What is it like to learn Swahili?” Even the word “mwalimu” for “teacher” and the word “mwanaume” for “man” seemed intimidating at first and there still are some “new” letter combinations for our mouths to pronounce, but thankfully Swahili uses our same Roman alphabet (without Q and X) and no letters are “silent” and each letter is pronounced the same way each time. (We have great sympathy for those learning English as a second language.) However, the Swahili language does present its own challenges. You probably are aware that some languages have different “classes” of nouns, like masculine, feminine, and neuter. Well, in Swahili there are 8 noun classes!!! With each noun class there are different rules for handling the singular and plural forms and for handling adjectives and connections with other nouns and how to refer to them as “he/she/they/it/these/those/that.” Some of the noun classes are predictable: “M/Wa Class” refers to living things that can move on their own (people and animals, but not plants); “Pa” class is for places; “Ku” class is for verbs used as nouns (like “speaking”); and most foreign words like “apartmenti” (for “apartment”) are in the “N class.” However, for many words we just have to learn and remember the proper designation. So, we have many words (probably 20+ news ones each day) and many grammatical rules “swimming around” in our heads and at times we need to be encouraged to forge ahead in communicating and not grind to a stop in trying to remember each rule. Daniel has used a great tool to have us write 10 – 12 sentences each day to summarize what all we did the day before. We read these and he makes the necessary corrections. It does give us courage that we can express ourselves.

It has taken us some effort to become accustomed to telling time in the Swahili manner. The day starts at 6:00 a.m., so the “first hour of the morning” is 7:00 a.m. and the “seventh hour in the afternoon” is 1:00 p.m. The time at 7:00 p.m. is stated as “the first hour of the evening.” Daniel told us that it is not extremely uncommon even for Kenyans to misunderstand whether the times were given in Swahili or in English and to arrive either 6 hours early or 6 hours late!

The word for “push” (yes, as can be used by obstetricians) is “sukuma” and the word for “week” is “wiki.” We are told that this explains the name of the ubiquitous, kale-like, leafy vegetable that we eat here called “sukuma wiki” – it pushes us through the week!

We cannot say that we are dreaming “in” Swahili yet, but we certainly are dreaming “about” speaking Swahili each night. Reading some Swahili aloud before going to sleep has helped for some phrases to “stick” better. We can already see huge progress in our language-learning after one month and we know that more and more each day we will be dancing and dreaming in Swahili!

Random observations- December 5, 2009:

*Here in Kenya, the shrill cry of a distraught mother cow makes us think of an elephant’s call!

*A Kenyan will typically use his chin to point and raise his eyebrows to answer “yes.”

*Kenyan tea (chai) is not tea with milk and sugar added, but rather it is tea boiled together with whole milk and sugar.

*Handshaking is very important and a hard, loud, handshake slap is shared by men who are dear friends.

*As we listen to people speaking Swahili, they often intersperse many English words, expressions and numbers.

*Cell phones are used here to transfer money from one person’s cell phone account to another’s.

*A loaf of bread costs about 50 cents and a beautiful avocado costs 15 to 30 cents.

*When buying things here in Kenya, it typically is the responsibility of the buyer to have exact change or expect to purchase more to make up the difference. (In fact, Swahili does not have a word for it, they just use the English word: “change.”)

*The trees producing the “purple snow” are called jacaranda trees.

*For our apartment, firewood is considered a “utility” cost, because we have no other means to heat our home.

*Our nightly sounds of “pop bottle wind-chimes” are actually produced by bullfrogs.

*We did, in fact, find the final (3^rd) note that our niece, Clara, hid in an ActionPacker!

*ActionPackers covered by Alene with nice pieces of cloth make beautiful benches and can still be used for storage.

*Missionary homes here at Tenwek are very well decorated with Christmas trees (artificial) and electric lights.

We give thanks for the blessings we have received including those of your friendship and prayers. May each of you be blessed as you prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. May you enjoy special times with family and friends during this Christmas season.