Back in the Swing of Things

Look what showed up yesterday!

We also got a water filter and a working showerhead/water heater. Never underestimate how a shower and clean clothes will effect your mood. Of course, retrieving the suitcase was a story. The driver called us at 8:30 pm, and we had some difficulty in translation. It was really dark. No moon, no stars, let alone streetlights dark, so we took our flashlights and booked it up the hill a kilometer or so to get the bag. Fortunately, he took pity on us and drove us back to our house with the suitcase.

That morning, two men came to pick up the 50 lb suitcases full of medical supplies to bring them to the ICU. This is what that looked like:

They just slung them above their shoulder and hiked up the hill to the hospital. Kijabe is situated on the side of the mountain, so everything is either up or down. Our house is on the down-side of the hospital and the business district, on the edge of the forest. Our little pink house with a view of the Rift Valley:

And the view of the main road on my walk home today for lunch from the hospital:

Yesterday I was mainly in Salome, the women’s ward, with Pastor Abraham. It took me a few visits to get in my chaplaincy groove, but I found that many more of the women spoke English than I remembered from a year and a half ago. One woman was healing from a brutal attack by her husband that very nearly killed her. Today, I went to Wairegi, the men’s ward, with Pastor Gitau. We met with a man with a horrible face and neck tumor. It was difficult to see and looked incredibly painful. Pastor Gitau told me that some of the relatives believe that a curse has been put on the family since this man’s mother died of the same kind of tumor, and every time the tumor is removed, he requires a blood transfusion. Then I visited the maternity ward before the other chaplains needed to prepare to lead worship for the visiting family members.

Pastor Benjamin playing the piano:

The group of visitors waiting to get in to see the patients. Visiting hours are restricted from 12:30-2 during the day in addition to morning and evening hours.

Pastor Kithae preaching on Revelation:

Today’s unexpected challenge was that the gas ran out for our stove in the middle of cooking some eggs for breakfast. Fortunately, the stove has one electric burner, so I was able to finish up the eggs. And now we have another gas tank for the stove!

Of course, we have to light the stove with a match, so I’m praying I don’t burn off my eyebrows before we leave here!