I’m one of “those” people.  I hate puzzles.  I don’t have the patience, and puzzle pieces that fit don’t jump out at me.

That being said, I love it when puzzle pieces come together, and it’s God who has orchestrated the design.

We went through all the emotions of being obligated to stay in the US for a few months instead of immediately returning to Kenya.  Anxiety (what do we do now?), restlessness (what about all the loose ends we left in Loki?), and annoyance (no control over the situation – need I say more?).

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 jumped out at me.

5:16 Be joyful always;

5:17 pray continually;

5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

First step was to accept God’s Word as truth when I didn’t feel like it.  Deep breath, release frustration to Jesus, and choose to trust His heart towards me/us.

                Once again, when I released trust to God, He showed up. 

The scene: a Seahawk’s game.  Friends catching up and sharing life.  Laughing, cheering (they won!), talking about the mundane things that make up life.

It turns out that my friend coaches youth basketball for a Christian private school in Duvall.  When I mentioned that Renee and Ian would love to play for the time we’re here, my friend encouraged me to check with the Director (also a friend), but was sure it would be fine.

                Puzzle pieces started fitting together.

We love our life in Loki, but to be coached by actual coaches, (not Mom) seemed impossible unless they went to boarding school.  It seems God loves to work within impossible.  Renee and Ian are playing for Hillside Wildcats for as long as we’re in Duvall.  They know their coaches (ahh, the blessings of having lived in a small community), and Ian knows most of his team-mates.   For two kids who are used to living in the remote desert of Kenya, to be surrounded by encouraging, Christian coaches and friends as they play on a competitive team for the first time is truly a blessing.

               Pieces that could only be put together by God.

It’s easy to be joyful, pray and give thanks when circumstances are going our way; but Jesus has deeper plans than what is in plain view.  His plan involves trusting Him in all circumstances.  Are we delayed so that Renee and Ian can play basketball?  Probably not.  However, God sees the deepest desires of our hearts, and His vision goes farther and deeper than mine.

            Another puzzle piece is in place in the Master Puzzle.  A beautiful one for sure.

They say that when you have a child, you don’t love less because your heart is divided; you love more because your heart grows.

Funny how that works.

Being born and raised in Canada, I’ve always loved the quiet beauty of the land and people.  National pride for those qualities that are … Canadian.  They’re hard to write on paper, but are written in our hearts and how we see/live life.  So when I left Canada to work in the U.S. (totally thinking it would be temporary), I was sure I would never love Americans the way I love my native homeland.  I was wrong.  23 years later, tears roll down my face when I hear the American national anthem, and I pray with all my heart for this nation.  This not only is the homeland of my husband and two children, but in my heart is my home as well.  My heart has swelled to adopt this nation as home.  So much for thinking it was temporary.

Enter Kenya and the Turkana people.  I saw pictures on Facebook of the ladies I teach Monday morning devotions to, and my heart wept.  Two years in Loki, two months being back in the U.S.*, and my heart yearns to be with them again.  I want to see their smiling faces as they greet me, hear more of their stories, and see our prayers being answered.  Sorrow began to descend; then I smiled.  My heart has grown again.

The thing I’m learning is the more I choose to love, choose to let people into my heart; the easier it is to love strangers.  Strangers don’t stay strangers for long.  They become friends.

I love how God works – binding hearts together in the most unlikely places through perfectly orchestrated encounters.  Of all the things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, a growing heart to love the people God puts in my path is top of my list.  Thank you, God.  You knew.

*For those who are out of the loop, we emergently returned to the U.S. for a family emergency (Joel’s mom) and found out my Green Card status does not allow me to live out of the U.S. for more than 6 months a year.  I’ve applied for a re-entry permit which allows me to return to Kenya and be allowed back into the U.S. with my Green Card status intact; and also applied for American citizenship.  All paperwork has been filed, so I’m waiting for approval of the re-entry permit and an appointment for citizenship fingerprinting and photographs.  Lord willing, we hope to return to Kenya within a few months.

We received some sad news this morning.  Our dear friend, John (the man I mentioned in my last blog post) died in his bed in the village early this morning.

Joel and I had visited his home last Monday to take him food to nourish his ailing body.  His home was a single room with mud walls, dirt floor, no electricity, a single bed and table.  John mustered all the strength he had to stand and greet us, Mum and Dad.  He was so happy to see us, thankful for the food.  His brother informed us that the local doctors were arranging government transport to take John to the hospital in Lodwar, that the medicines had made him “go crazy” a few nights ago.  John’s split, swollen lip on his sunken face verified that.

My heart heavy, we prayed for John, safe passage to Lodwar, and a blessing upon the food we had brought.  The transport never came.  None of the taxis would take him.  The food that we furnished to nourish him never crossed his lips.  It was cooked, but no one made sure John ate.  In his confused, weakened state, John wasn’t coherent enough to go eat the last four days of his life.  His throat parched, it hurt him to drink and no one tenderly urged him to.

I asked if John had a relationship with Jesus, and the reply with a sad smile was that he used to.  He had accepted Christ when he was in his 20s, but then he started a taxi business, and the money started coming in.  Alcohol also entered in, and it was about that time that he stopped going to church.  His business failed, and available work in Loki was minimal.  He would pick up manual labor jobs here and there, but most of the time he would join the guys who sit outside our gate talking, playing games, and just passing the day away.

This morning, John’s body was wrapped in white cloth, and the village men dressed in white took him away.  They dug a grave for him, and that was the end of his life here on earth.  No funeral service, no ceremony, no funeral homes.

In my sadness, I know God is good and just.  I don’t know where John is right now, but I hope he’s with Jesus.  I hope that the few months he spent with us and our prayers somehow relit his fire and love for Jesus to carry him through those last days.

Jasimbo is another one of our helpers who now also has TB, but in the beginning stages.  He’s faithfully taking the medicines, not drinking alcohol (which inhibits the medicines from working), trying to eat well and isolate his utensils so no one else becomes infected.  He doesn’t blame John for his illness, but I think he’s learned from John’s lack of attention to his care.  We talked about the importance of keeping God in our lives through the good times and the bad, not leaving him behind when finances and life are going well.  Jasimbo smiled, and said probably the most insightful thing I’ve ever heard him say, “Change always comes.”

Change always comes.  From good to bad, bad to good, through the hills and the valleys of life, the one thing we can always count on is change.  The only thing that has ever remained constant is God.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.  Isaiah 54:10

There are those who don’t believe miracles happen any more.   I’m not one of them.

Maybe that’s because I see them.  I saw a miracle happen just this morning.  Not a parting of the Red Sea, but watching a man’s eyes go from hopeless despair to bright and shining.  A man who had an encounter with the Living God.

John is a Kenyan who helps us with outdoor projects.  Over the past few months, John’s been getting weaker and weaker, thinner and thinner.  He had been tested for malaria which was negative, but his cough was getting worse and his chest was hurting.  We sat down with him and urged him to go for further testing, that something was terribly wrong with his health.

We were right.  John has TB.  He was set up with the local clinic to start receiving daily shots for 6 weeks, then pills for 6 months.  Not a fun road to travel, but at least a road that should lead to restored health.  John continued to work the best he could in his weakened condition.  His medical treatment is covered by a help agency, but he still needs to put food on the table for himself and his family.

John came to work this morning, and as I served him his eggs and toast for breakfast, he shared that the clinic hasn’t been able to get the medicine that he needs.  The one that they think will best fight the TB needs to come from Nairobi and it didn’t come this week.  More than his words, I heard the dejection in his voice.  There’s such an overbearing presence of darkness that lies over Lokichoggio that perpetuates the lie that most have come to believe, “We are the forgotten people.”

I felt John’s aloneness.  His hopelessness.  His desperation to travel to Lodwar … ANYWHERE where they can treat his condition.  Never mind the logistic fact that he would have no roof over his head, no food, and no one to care for him.

So we stopped to pray to God.  To God who knows exactly what is going on in John’s body and exactly how to fix it.  Whether supernaturally, or through medicines, it is God who heals.  We asked Him to heal John completely, restore his energy, restore his appetite, and relieve his pain.  We asked for the medicines to arrive on Monday … no, today.  Even on Saturday, please send them today.  We claimed the truth that nothing is impossible for God.

Miracle time.  3 hours later as John was finishing his work, he said that the lab tech tracked him down to find him and tell him the medicines arrived this morning.  They will continue treatment Monday morning.

Is the miracle that the medicine arrived?  Maybe in part, but I think the greater miracle is the work that happened in John’s heart today.  We look for miracles in the physical realm and glance over the amazing miracles of restored hope in our hearts.

The love of a lab tech who took it upon himself to find John and let him know the medicines are here because the number they had for John wasn’t working (his phone dropped in an outhouse, but that’s another story).

The perfect timing of the medicine arriving a few hours after we prayed restored John’s faith in prayer.  With glistening eyes, John said, “Mama Ian, your prayers, they change things.  God changes things.”

I replied, “God loves you, John.”

John smiled and repeated, “God loves me.  I will have a few years left.”  He continued to tell me about his children that are in school (I think he was telling me his reason for living, but not in flowery words).

I think the biggest miracle that happened this morning was that John saw and felt first-hand the mighty hand of God.  He saw that just trusting in Him changed things.  He didn’t need to travel to another city for his treatment to be done right and be healed.  He’s not forgotten.  Not only will God bring the medicine to Loki, He’ll send a messenger to find him.  John has hope for more tomorrows with his children.

John thinks it was my prayer.  I don’t.  I think the prayer was a catalyst to stoke his faith, the faith of a mustard seed that will move mountains.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains –

 where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

The Maker of heaven and earth.

Ps 121

We’re coming up on our 6th week in Loki.  Wow.  We’re pretty settled at this point, and Joel’s “To do” list is getting considerably shorter.

This was a week of sweet comforts:

1.   Our water issue was rectified – there was a nearly occlusive root in the pipe leading to our water tank which was removed and we now have consistently full tanks!  Praise God for leading the local workers to the problem!

2.  We all enjoyed HOT showers yesterday!  The solar water system that has been occupying most of Joel’s free time for the past few weeks is fully operational.  He’s my hero.  Seriously.  The tank was missing the installation mounting that the website showed as being part of the kit.  The company that we purchased the solar system from (back in Nairobi) stated they never purchase that part of the kit, they just make their own in Kenya to save cost.  Hmmmm.  Information that might have been nice to know before we left Nairobi, where a variety of hardware can be easily purchased.  Joel figured it out though, and the plumbing as well.  Out in the little town of Loki where supplies are limited and suboptimal.  Yep.  My hero.

3.  Air conditioning!  In Joel’s OTHER spare time, he had been setting up the A/C unit (drilling holes through the concrete walls and such).  There’s an A/C specialist who came into town to work on several other projects and had time to do the final install on ours.  Two days later we were sitting in a cooled living room (unfortunately NOT run by solar energy).  Ahhhhh.  Feels so good not to be sweating after 11am.  Once again, my hero.  The A/C is on city power so not always available, but nice when it is.

4.  Our own mini shamba (garden)!  Strawberry starts, and seeds of pumpkin, tomato, dill and cilantro are planted in meshed, wooden boxes in the backyard.  We’re trying to revive the 2 lemon trees that were planted by the previous family that left 2 years ago.  Basil starts will be joining this garden family soon…

 Thrive, not just survive:

When we made the decision to move to Loki, we prayed about the main issue that has kept many families at bay:  the living conditions.  We felt called to not just do the 6 month trial period that had been recommended to us, but to jump in with both feet and make it work.  Our mindset was, “If this is where God wants us to be, there is no trial period.  Just make it work.  God knows us and He will make a way for us to thrive there.  No one in the Bible ever did trial periods!”  With trust in our hearts and steadfast minds, we entered Loki with excitement for the possibilities of what could be.   A place of restoration for Joel after a long day in the scorching heat.  An inviting place for visiting pilots to relax on their overnight stay in Loki.  A home that we can don’t have to struggle to just keep our emotional and physical tanks slightly above empty.  A launching station that we can step out fully charged to meet our community and what God has for us.

When we left Nairobi, our co-workers sent us with a sign that says “Karibu”, which means “Welcome”.  The sign is being hung today.  All are welcome in this home set aside for the work of the Lord.

I am convinced that there is God’s beauty to be found in every place.  Sometimes you need to look a little harder than others, but God sure outdid Himself at this time, in this place. The scripture that comes to mind is Psalm 37.4 Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

When you ask people about Lokichoggio, the report usually includes the words: hot, dusty, and dry.  In my mind, I pictured brown, dirt, a land desolate and ugly.  In my heart, I prayed for God to meet me in this place.  You see, I love beauty.  I love life.  I love flowers, trees, waterfalls; and quite frankly I wondered how my soul could survive the desert.

I also know the heart of my Savor who loves me.  In our quiet time, He spoke to my soul, saying, “Trust me, my darling.  I’ve gone before you. Just follow me; dance with me.”  I took a deep breath, and in anticipation of what He had for me, jumped into the next phase of our Africa journey.

I smile as I write this, because God ALWAYS goes above and beyond our meager expectations.  In this place, I found beauty.

The hills looking out from our front gate.  The guys on the motorcycle are heading into town, about 1/4 mile to go.

The road up to the gate.

A pale green butterfly drinking some nectar.

Jericho is our driveway, and this gorgeous tree greets me every day.

The beautiful desert rose flower from the tree directly in front of my front door.

I never cease to be amazed at God’s Creation.  My heart blossoms in the beauty around me.

Even more beautiful than these are the souls He’s put in my path.   *sigh*  I could try to describe Eunice to you, but you need to see the light in her eyes, and the shine of her face amidst a trial that would break most of us to truly see her soul.  She is faith in Jesus being lived out.  Beautiful.

The daytime gate guard who checks on me to make sure I have water when Joel is out flying, and takes care of refilling the tanks if they’re running low.  He trusts me with his family concerns, we pray for them, and he stops by every few days to keep me updated.  He teaches the gospel to the local men who congregate outside our gate looking for work.  Beautiful soul.

The Salvation Army officer who leads the church service at the Loki Airport on Sunday mornings.  He made a point to be at the airport the first day to greet and welcome us, and warmly welcomed our family at the Sunday service.  This man loves people, loves children, and loves the Lord.  Beautiful servant.

I asked for beauty, and God has blessed me more abundantly than I could have imagined.

                        Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.