Kenya: Missions of Hope ~ Stories of God's Goodness ~ Part 1

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

In Vancouver, British Columbia where I live, the weather and temperatures have caught up to the season. Summer came late to our area but went on until well in to October. Our summer came late, I believe it was in June and we had a lot of rain until then. Then we had next to no rain and severe drought conditions by the end of September.  Things certainly do go to extremes these days.

Today though the real news is what has been happening in the Kenya Missions of Hope initiative.  I'm pleased to share some wonderful news of Kenya and the bit of humanitarian and missionary work that my DH and I carry out in that country.  Some of you may remember Eunice who was suffering from a condition of chronic anemia. It wasn't her only health condition. She has other conditions related to goiter and high blood pressure but the anemia is what sent her back and forth to hospitals on numerous occasions.  After being admitted and discharged from several hospitals, she again was transported by medical ambulance to a private hospital in the City of Nakuru, Kenya, located several hours from her home village. (You can locate Nakuru in the map below by looking northwest of Nairobi). She was admitted in February 2019 and she was there all throughout the pandemic. During that time she almost went home to Heaven on more than one occasion but after intensive care at the  High Dependency Unit (HDU),  she was able to bounce back. Truthfully I am amazed at how God kept her and helped her each time because I really thought her time to go home to Heaven had come.

Between 6-8 months in the private hospital it became clear that the expenses would be far too much for what our little humanitarian group could comfortably deal with.  Private hospitals and even government hospitals in Kenya are notoriously expensive and often procedures are done with a fiscal purpose in  mind rather than a health related outcome.  We could not afford the expense of proper treatment at the hospital where she was admitted and truthfully we didn't even know what proper treatment would entail since we were never told how the hospital could treat Eunice.  They wanted to do some kind of surgery but could not say how it would help her if at all.  We simply could not support doing surgery on a weakened person with multiple health conditions without knowing how it was supposed to help her.

The hospital didn't really want to keep Eunice after the first year because of refusal to go forward with surgery. In addition we were not paying all of the hospital costs.  We were however paying for the intensive interventions that were required from time to time. We also paid for a private nurse to attend Eunice, Eunice's medicines, toiletries and special foods prepared by the hospital. After it became clear that the hospital was not really treating Eunice except when her condition took a serious downturn, Jonah and I discussed the need to try and move Eunice back to her home (hospital).  I strongly felt that at least Eunice could be visited by some of her family members or assisted by them in some small ways once pandemic restrictions were relaxed. 

As you know the pandemic went on for quite a long time so nothing was able to be done about the move.  Moving Eunice would not be easy due to the prohibitively expensive ward fees that had accrued at the hospital.  It was only just before Jonah departed Kenya for Canada that he was able to undertake the travel for meetings with high level hospital officials in 2 different cities and  research and arrange with a new hospital for Eunice's  placement and arrange medical transportation for the transfer. All of these preparations were very costly.

At the new hospital, Jonah was assured by the new doctor that after several months of medical treatment and physiotherapy, Eunice would be able to go home.  I was cautiously optimistic given everything that had transpired over the previous 3 years.

Eunice has been admitted to the new hospital for going on at the hospital now for approximately 7 months. She has grown in strength and during that time.  With the help and assistance of one of her sisters, she has been able to go to her own home for overnight stays to see how she does. She has been doing well but is at this point still in hospital. She will have more home visits until she is hopefully discharged.

We are very happy for Eunice.  To God be the glory for keeping her, helping her and giving us the right medical contacts both to get her transferred and to rehabilitate her. She isn't home yet but we are grateful for how far she has come and I truly look on this outcome as a miracle.

Please continue praying for Eunice to be completely healed and able to live life on her own again. If you are able, and want to contribute to the work of helping the villagers in and around Kericho who need medical, food or educational help there is a Pay Pal button on the right of the blog. We also covet your prayers for these dear ones and for us so we can be guided in the humanitarian work. God bless.

Skywatch Friday ~ October Vibes

Site of the new subway station at Broadway & Main

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

We've had record setting temperatures over the fall season but on Friday we are finally expecting some rain.  The other day the meteorologist reported that since July to the present time we have only had 16 mm of rain when the norm would be just over 160 mm of rain. No wonder the tree on my patio died. It had been looking sickly for a few seasons and it has finally succumbed. I'm a bit sad but it's not going to matter much. 

Within the year or so the strata will be uprooting all the patios and is contemplating not having any gardens at all. The weight and growth of them (dirt, plants, roots, water) has the potential to become problematic for the structure of the building. No decisions have been  made yet and there will be a special meeting to discuss all the results and options going forward once a report is ready. I think I would rather confine my gardening to containers on the patio and have a bit more footage to arrange furniture.

In the meantime here are some photos I took of the sky when I was out and about running errands earlier in the week.  I took these photos just as thd light was fading. I thought the ones with the trolley lines set against the sky were quite interesting.  A lot of those lines will be likely be eliminated once the new subway system on the Broadway corridor is running (target is late 2025) but I don't know that for sure.

 

In my reading stack this week I found a wonderful little book called The Birds of East Africa. It is short read of approximately 200 pages and is a sweet little tale set in Nairobi, Kenya. The style is along the lines of Alexander McCall Smith's #1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

I'm now reading the best seller The Distant Hours by Australian writer, Kate Morton. It's an interesting book about family secrets connected to 3 elderly sisters living in an imposing and decaying castle. 

I picked up both of these books at the thrift store on a whim and wasn't expecting much from them but they are both turning out to be satisfying reads.

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I also picked up a set of sheets and pillowcases at the thrift store. I wouldn't have purchased them but they were a good price, minimally used and I like blue and white. This set is by Tommy Hilfiger but strangely they look quite wrinkled even though they are not 100% cotton. I don't iron most things including sheets. By the time they are pulled flat onto the mattress most of the wrinkles will disappear.

Each piece of the 4 piece set was sold individually.  I didn't notice that the two exact same pillowcases had different prices until I got them home.  I'm guessing two different clerks priced them.  I paid about $26 dollars in total for the set. I think the price is okay given what new sheets cost and these appear to be little used.

Have you found any good thrifting deals lately or read any good books?

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by!