RENEE WRITES…
Dear Friends,
After four months of being back in Nairobi, we can call ourselves settled in again. The first month we were repainting the inside of our home and finishing the attic space, so we now have room for guests if anyone is interested. We love having visitors and would enjoy showing you our side of the world.
The extra space has given me a dedicated classroom to teach in, helping the transition of homeschooling two kids come smoothly. Zach is now a five-year-old reader that still has difficulty understanding the concept of time – probably a factor of our relaxed school environment. Amelia has been trying her hand at domesticated duties lately. She has sewn her baby doll a pillow by hand and did a fabulous job. She has also been baking and has proved herself to be quite a good cake, brownie, and cookie maker. And with a little bit of her uncle Marc’s ingenuity in her, she is already discussing business endeavors. Cookies for sale…
Mike is back in the pilot’s seat and has had a much more relaxed and enjoyable time these last few months as opposed to the couple of years prior to this. With the new Media Team scheduled to start later this year, his eyes and ears are open to tons of really neat things around him. God has started to develop this awareness in Mike to see the stories that could encourage others. If you haven’t visited our website lately, you need to see what Mike’s been doing. He’s started a weblog with some of his latest insights and observations as well as adding photos.
I have been keeping the home, teaching the kids, and just generally trying to maintain order. I had a stowaway travel back with me to Africa that we discovered just before Christmas – a deer tick (probably from New Jersey) on my back. I’m now taking medicine to combat Lyme disease because of strange symptoms I have been having, and meds for a bulging disc in my lower back as well (unrelated, I think.) My symptoms have been better on the meds and I’m thankful that these can be treated so easily. I still have misgivings about being here in Nairobi, especially with the security in the city continually deteriorating. But at the same time, we are constantly evaluating God’s desires for us.
At the end of May, a team from our home church in New Jersey is coming to do a short medical mission trip in Kenya. Please pray for them that their trip will go smoothly, but more importantly that they will be open and receptive to learning while they are here. We won’t have much time with them, but we would like to be an encouragement in whatever way we can.
I would love your prayers and advice as I try to support Mike in his flying ministry as well as his media role, teach our children in school, and be the encouraging, loving, peaceful and joyful keeper of the home as I instill Godly values in our children and their friends. Sound overachieving? Maybe it is, especially when not feeling well, but those are my goals and maybe yours too?
Thank you again for all of your love, prayers and support over these last ten years that we have been with AIM. We really couldn’t do this without you. And for those of you who have helped Mike’s media ministry dreams come true, thank you for that, too.
With lots of love,
Renee