Dreams

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.
T.E. Lawrence

"He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds."
Job 33:15 (NLT)

As a child, I had dreams; lots of dreams and a vivid imagination.  Money and material things were in short supply in our household.  That meant my family didn't own a car among other things and we lived somewhat out of the city district of my small city. I had lots of time to myself each day during the school year, walking to and from school.  I remember walking through vast fields in Fall, Winter and Spring through all the seasons of the school year. My imagination came in handy.  I would hold conversations with my imaginary friends and keep myself company on the way to and from school.  It was a long and lonely walk, especially when I started junior high school and my brother was still in the elementary school so we had to take different routes.  Don't get me wrong.  I wasn't living in a fantasy world and "seeing" people that weren't there and believing that they actually existed.  I was simply imagining a different life; a life full of adventure and travel and exciting things.  I had no real idea of what I might do in future. I only knew that whatever happened, life would be better.  At the same time during these tender years, I was going to Sunday School.  I believed very much in God and looked forward to Sunday service as well as services during the week.   It was there that I was introduced to missions and to the continent of Africa. I even envisioned that one day God would send me to Africa  as a missionary.

Then life happened.  And indeed life was better. God gave me many rich experiences and blessed me in many ways. He enabled me to gain a university education, one of the few people in my extended family who has been blessed with a rich university education.  He also enabled me to travel and see many of the things that I always wanted to see.  However, I was very much tied to my family and the extended family and their needs.  Thoughts of Africa became a very distant memory and an almost forgotten one.  A place that I would see on television when it came time for public appeals for funds to assist drought stricken or poverty stricken places.  It seemed Africa was no  longer much on my mind.

It wasn't until much later that my dream of Africa came to life again. I can't explain exactly how it happened. Suffice to say it was a God thing. My latent dream of helping in Africa came back to life and I've never been more thrilled.  However, instead of going as a missionary who lives in Africa and raises funds to spread the gospel, I have a more modest calling.  One in which I've been involved for a few years now.  I've been helping widows and orphans in small villages in Kenya in various ways as God leads and provides. I've been to Kenya several times and have been able to help in a number of ways (food, education, medical, jiko stoves, planting).  Some of the work has been featured on this blog.

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to assist there and to assist directly those people who have needs.  I do work through pastors and lay leaders in the communities where I visit and through friends who are Christian.  My deepest desire is to "see" the aid reach the people who need it and to know that I am really making a difference in one person, or several persons' lives.


My God opened efforts have taught me too the real meaning of the biblical teachings on "giving" and "helping" the widows and the orphans. Scriptures like

"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

1 John 3:17 

and

 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." 

James 1:27

Although I got a late start in life in missions to Kenya, I know that with God there are no limitations and there is no such thing as impossible.  Through God's grace I pray that He grants me many more years and ability to do what I can and perhaps even to inspire others to join me.

I had gone to this village in Kenya to see first hand the jiko stoves I had made for some of the village women. We decided to do a food distribution as these were widows and it was close to Christmas.  There were many more woman than I expected.

We had purchased food for several stops at different villages to meet with widows and orphans but this first stop required much of the food we brought. The male leaders said we should not distribute more than we intended but I could leave this first group of women without food.  At my request, the pastor kept going back to the car to bring more food.  Somehow God made enough for the other stops we had. Kind of like the loaves and fishes story.

Everyone is making their way to where food has been prepared. We were invited also but due to the inclement weather and needing to make several more stops before the day's end, we couldn't join in the feast.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with emotions when I think about where God brought me from and how much he has done for me. I can't even believe it myself sometimes. He has surely been with me all the days of my life.  I can't thank him enough for it.

I have burdens for others and sometimes those get overwhelming too.  It is those times when God lets me know that He is in charge and I need to trust in Him.

What are your dreams?

My blogging friend, Shanda Oakley has started a new meme called "On Your Heart Tuesdays" and this is the very first edition of it.  I do hope you've enjoyed my contribution and that you will join Shanda and others here in this new venture. Happy reading and sharing.

Life is Beautiful

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”

Ashley Smith

 Despite the thorns on this cactus, it's flowers are very beautiful and delicate.
Euphorbia milii var. splendens (Crown of Thorns)

Enjoy a beautiful week!

This is my first submission to PicStory hosted by Tina. Please join in by clicking on the flower widget!

The Borehole is Unveiled

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.

Isaiah 44:3

In my last installment of my Kenyan travel series here, I mentioned that we were on our way to a community borehole. I don't actually know the name of the village where the borehole is located but I had been there years before (and it is several hours by dirt road to the west of Marigat). In my first visit about 5 years ago, the missionary at the mission station took me on a tour of this arid area and told me of his hopes and dreams for building a borehole and a new church as well. I didn't have the funds myself or the contacts for helping but I said I would commit this matter to prayer.

It took another year or more but through God's grace he led me to a Christian humanitarian group that promised to visit Kenya and see what they could do to help. Though it took them another year or so they did make good on their promise to visit Kenya. Once they saw this arid place for themselves, they committed to raising funds for the borehole. Now a borehole has been built but the community still has no water. The area has been terribly plagued by drought and some of the hostilities that have arisen have resulted in huge tensions in the surrounding area and even led to loss of life.

What is needed now are significantly more funds and a pump by which the water can be transported over large distances to the people who need it. I'm told that the humanitarian group hopes to make another visit late this summer or early Fall. I pray that they will make it and that they will indeed be able to raise the funds required. This would surely be a huge blessing to the people. In my most recent trip to Kenya, I just had to see the borehole for myself and recollect just how much has gone into the state of things as they are currently.  There have been other changes since I first visited,  including a new missionary to this village.  Thank God for people who are willing to go and minister in areas like this.

This road goes through a more densely populated part of the village where we were visiting for the day.

It led us to this road which I love as it has an umbrella of trees making it look like a pretty country road.

Despite the significant drought that has affected this area, the children are like children anywhere...

...laughing and playing and alternately confident and bashful with visitors.

Here I pose with some of the leaders in the community as well as the children in the neighbouring area. We are posing with the honoured guest, the reason for our trip, the borehole.  The clouds look like they are about to burst open with raindrops and drench the parched ground. But it wasn't to be.  Before long, the sky was clear once again and the heat remained.

Here is the borehole. It represents lots of prayer, struggle, ups and downs, anguish and dashed hopes. It also represents the hope that is still there for clear and pure water for this community of people.

It was very hot and dry in the area. These mud huts are the traditional abode of the people and I was invited into one. The adults were not home but some local men let me in.

I could not believe how absolutely cool it was inside and what a welcome relief!  The newspapers that hang from the rafters are cut into pretty shapes to decorate the inside.

The laundry flutters in the small breeze.

It was a blessing to visit this village again and now I continue to pray for their water needs. Would you join me in praying that this well could indeed be completed so that the children, the elders and the people in general can have some clean water to drink? 

God bless you.

Please click on the words "Scenic Sunday" above, to see more beautiful scenes from around the world. I'm not sure why but the widget feature doesn't seem to be working properly.

Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

6 small to medium whole beets (use similar size beets so they cook at the same time)
2 small onions
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions

Wash and rinse the beets until all traces of dirt are gone.  Place beets in large heavy pan and cover with water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook until fork tender (about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your beets).  Remove from heat and drain. Let beets cool then peel or slice off the skin after removing the ends of the beets.  Slice the onions too and mix beets and onions together in a bowl.

I love the deep colour of beets. This is the colour of the water after you've boiled the beets. Be careful about spilling the water on anything you don't want stained.

In a cup add the sugar and pour in vinegar until the cup is half full. I've estimated the amount. Next pour in the oil until all the sugar and the liquids measure about 3/4 of a cup. Stir well and sprinkle with cinnamon. Just a few dashes will be enough. Now taste the mixture. You can add more sugar, vinegar and/or oil to taste. Pour liquid mixture over the beets and onions and mix well.

Store in the refrigerator overnight. This will let the beets and onions "pickle" and become flavoured before eating.  It is best to use an old pickle jar to marinate these pickles so you can shake them every now and then to make sure they marinate well. I didn't have an old pickle jar so I'm using a glass container with a seal proof lid.  These won't keep long so eat and enjoy!

This container isn't quite large enough for my beet mixture but it has a seal proof cover and I will be able to shake the vinegar mixture around from time to time to marinate the beets and onions.

This recipe is a variation of my mom's quick pickles.  Sometimes she would whip these up at Christmas but mostly she would make them when she wanted a sweet - sour taste with wild meat. I know most beet pickle recipes call for a boiled brine.  I recommend finding a recipe with a boiled brine if you want to keep your pickles in the refrigerator for a few months. This recipe is good if you hope to eat up your pickles quickly or you don't have any pickles on hand and you are craving for some!

Interesting Formation in the Sky

I thought this was an interesting submission for Skywatch because of the interesting cloud "circle" on the right of the photo (just above the trees).

Please click on the badge above to see more wonderful skies from around the world.

The Rush Toward the Reading Challenge

One of my goals for 2011 is to read 24 books and I track my books on Goodreads along with others who participate in self-defined goals for the reading year.  While this may not seem like a lot of books to read, one can quickly fall behind in the goal unless plans are made and time is set aside to read throughout the week.  I've actually done a fair bit of reading since the Fall but some of them were rather lengthy.  A few of them were about 1000 pages (Pillars of the Earth and Anna Karenina) each and that also impacted on my goal of reading two books per month.

I've decided I must make real progress on the number of books read before the summer is out.  The sooner I do that, the sooner I can also give my books to someone else to enjoy.  That will help me in another goal for 2011; to fully declutter the condo.

This week, I'd like to share some of my recently read books with you. I don't go in for writing extensive reviews of the content of books and highlighting especially interesting or meaningful passages. I prefer to enjoy reading my books and give short summaries or impressions of what I've read. 

French Fried
Written by an American in Paris. It is charmingly written with anecdotes about the author's life in Paris and her forays into learning how to cook as well as learning the art and beauty of the French approach to eating and living. I've always been fascinated by France and French living. I enjoyed the book because of insights into the culture as contrasted with American culture.

Teacher Man
Written by Irish American author Frank McCourt of Angele's Ashes fame. I found this book very interesting because I too have a background in teaching.  I enjoyed Mr. McCourt's recounting of his early teaching days and what he had to say about his fears, hopes and experiences during his teaching career in New York.

Joshua's Bible
Written by  Shelly Leanne this thrift store find turned out to be a very pleasant and interesting read. Set in the mid-1930s, it is a book about a Black American preacher sent to South Africa by his "white" missions group to "civilize and christianize" the Africans. Movingly written it takes us through the joys and sorrows of the young preacher, Reverend Clay, and his experiences with the tribal peoples of South Africa. Over his period of two years he opens his eyes to the truth of the African experience and history and their hopes for emancipation and equality.  Despite what sounds like a heavy book, I found this to be a pleasant read with a nice rhythm to it.

Leaning Into God, When Life is Pushing You Away
I won this book through a giveaway and I will need to write a proper review of it as my "payment" for receiving the book for free.  Written by Reverend Robert Anthony Schuller, this book explores the various ways in which individuals lose or experience interference with their connection to God.  The author explains how emotions such as shame, regret, fear, and disappointment can stand in the way of our intimacy with God.  Reverend Schuller leads the reader through ways to reconnect with God and after each chapter asks incisive questions for us to consider and to help draw out our understanding of what causes our disconnect/connections with God.

Autism's Hidden Blessings: Discovering god's Promises for autistic Children & Their Families
This is another book I received in a giveaway and for which I need to draft a proper review. The book was written by Kelly Langston, a mother of an autistic son. This book was somewhat different than I anticipated. I had thought it would be more of memoir of a mother dealing with an autistic son. Instead it turned out to be a good bible study on turning to God as a source of help in dealing with an autistic child.  The book is also sprinkled with good discussion points, summary points and anecdotes about the Langston family experiences in raising an autistic child.  I was highly interested in reading this book because my family raised an autistic child in the days before there was little available as helps for families and next to nothing known about autism.

I'm currently reading, The Shackled Continent:  African's Past, Present and Future by Robert Guest and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

I purchased this book at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. It's a great read so far in terms of helping my understanding of Africa.

After this week, I will still be 3 books shy of my goal of 14 books for the first 7 months of this year. But  I am feeling well on my way to reaching my goal if I can keep up the momentum.

What about you? Are you reading a lot this year? Do you have any reading goals for yourself or any great books to recommend?

Click here to leave your thoughts about reading biographies.

Peeping Eyes

Hippos wading in Lake Baringo, Kenya.

If you like this scene, you might enjoy these.