Lukes Mission Blog

The focus of our mission is not on baptizing but we had the opportunity to teach Robert Osiemo Mose and Elder Luke was privileged to baptize him on February 14 and then confirm him a member of the Church on Sunday. It was a wonderful experience and sure to be a highlight of our mission.

Robert works on the janitorial staff at the Church offices at Upperhill. He is married but his wife and children have been staying “up country” helping his mother with her small farm. He is planning to go get them in March and then they will start learning the gospel too. He is looking forward to be able baptize them.  

 

 

 

We were able to complete two trainings, the first one for the Kenya National Council in Nairobi. We had a great workshop with them. They are all in the picture above.
The next one was in the Chyulu District. We trained three men there to serve on the Chyulu District Council. We spent two days with them. We are all in this picture.

LDS Charities donated an Ultra Sound Machine to a medical clinic in Kibera Slums. The Kibera slums are the largest slums in all of Africa. We have heard that close to a million people live there. We drove as far as a police station and left our trucks there, then walked down the narrow alleys to the clinic. The clinic is a small building with a waiting room, a small pharmacy, and an examining room, where the ultra sound machine would be set up. The inside had been painted and nicely fixed up. The train tracks run through the slums and while we were there a train engine came through. The people who were using the tracks as a walk way just got out of the way. Someone grabbed the children who were playing on the tracks just as the train came by. When the Ultra sound machine arrived we walked back out to as far as they could bring in the truck and took pictures of the men carrying the machine in. It was very heavy and they had to carry it across the train tracks and down a narrow alley to the clinic. The machine will allow the expecting mothers to have examinations that they normally couldn’t afford. They hope this will save many baby’s and mother’s lives. They said they were going to start by charging 300 shillings for three ultra-sounds. That’s about $4.50 USD. The clinic is located next to a butcher shop and there were various other shops such as beauty shops, fast food stand, (French fries), fruit and vegetable stands, along the alley. We noticed you could buy just about anything you could think of from the stands, even barbequed goat head.

We had heard that the slums were a terrible place but actually felt better about them after visiting. Even though we saw open sewer and litter, we also saw a community of people trying their best to make a living. The stands were full of all kinds of food, clothes and other items, and the prices low, so that hopefully people living there could afford to buy them. The crime rate is very high there, so we were always with a native as we walked to and from the clinic.

 

We went with LDS Charities Couple, Elder and Sister Pocock, to a handover of a water system to two communities in Chuylu Hills. LDS Charities had drilled wells and purchased storage tanks, pumps, generators, pipe and other necessary supplies for the system. The communities had to dig the lines for the pipes. Men and women worked together digging kilometers of ditches for the pipe lines. We first stopped at the district office and met the man in charge, the district officer. He met with us and told us about the communities and how much they appreciated the water. Especially the schools it would benefit. Then we went to the first handover which was held in a school yard. All the students from the elementary school and secondary school came out to listen to the speeches. There were many speakers, but the district officer kept reminding them to just say a few words and when someone talked to long he would pass them a note telling them to stop. (might make a good bishop). After the speeches, we went to the water distribution point and had a ribbon cutting ceremony. Elder Pocock had the most fun here, as they turned on the water he filled up a container with water and threw the water on the crowd. They screamed, ran ,and laughed.

 

At the second ceremony, girls from a nearby boarding school sang for us and ladies from the community danced for us. They also presented Sister Pocock and me kangas. A kanga is a large piece of cloth that women use for everything from carrying babies on their backs or as apron to keep their dresses clean. We were told that the new water system wasn’t working because a road grader (the first one in about 10 years) had been over the roads and broke the water line. Just after the ribbon cutting ceremony ended they got the water working. Elder Pocock was not prepared with a container to throw water so he filled up his hat and again threw water all over the crowd. He ran after the people in the crowd throwing water on them. Elder Luke thought it was a little unfair that the people didn’t have any thing to throw water back with so he quickly devised a container and tried to help the crowd even the score. Though they were a little shy about throwing water on the crazy old “wazungu”.  They all laughed and had a great time. I wanted to get my picture taken with the ladies who gave us the kangas. While poising with them the ladies behind me kept running their fingers through my hair. I guess they just had to feel the strange stuff. We had fun taking everyone’s picture and showing them how they looked. There were three elderly men watching me, so Elder Luke told me to go take their picture. I did but when I tried to show them the picture they didn’t look. I don’t think they could see very well. At least I tried.

 

A lady named Susan from the US sent us an email and wanted to know if someone could take some school kits and chalk boards to a Maasi village in Ambseli National park. She had visited there and wanted to help. She had met with the leader of the village Chief Joseph and told him she would try to get his the school some supplies. We volunteered to take them. LDS Charities supplied the school kits and we arranged to have the chalkboards made, which Susan paid for. Two other couples, Dickmans and Demars, also went with us. We arrived at Ambeselli National park on a Friday, June 13th. We called the Chief and made arrangements to visit his village at 2:00. (Yes, he had a cell phone) After checking in at the Serena (A nice resort in the park), we arranged for a guide to take us to the village. He was also Maasai but from another village. The Chief was very gracious and explained a little about the Maasai people and customs. They preformed dances and songs for us and invited us to dance with them. Then they took us to the school. Chief Joseph explained how part of the children come in the morning and then they do a split and the other children come in the afternoon. He said that children from other villages come for school there, as well.  After meeting the teacher, we gave them the chalkboards and school kits.They were very happy to receive them. The chief opened up the school kits. He showed everyone what was inside and told them how they could use them. Then he demonstrated how to use the chalkboards. The children sang us a song and we asked if we could teach them a song. We tried “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” – they already knew it. The chief then showed us inside the village and told us a little about it. We also went inside one of the mud and dung huts.  Then they asked if we would like to see where the women work. Of course we said yes. This was the part where they wanted us to buy their crafts. As we were leaving I gave the chief a bag of sweets to give to the children. I didn’t know if it was appropriate for me to do give them to the children as I wasn’t sure if it was something they were allowed to eat.(Their diet is meat and a blood and milk mixed drink)  But I noticed some of the men enjoying a few sweets, so I guess they’re okay. I hope the children got some.

 

The next day before we left the park we drove around to see some of the animals. We had close a encounter with the elephants. They are huge there. We also saw lions, a cheetah and lots of zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, hippos, etc, etc…  We also had a great first time view of Mount Kilimanjaro before the clouds covered it.. It was even bigger than the elephants.

We accompanied Elder and Sister Lewis to an orphanage that their family donates to each month. This month they took out rice, beans and cooking oil. The orphanage had moved to a new and better building, so this was the first time the Lewis’ had been there. We picked up one of their PEF students for our guide and away we went. When we arrived the children greeted us with songs and smiles. The teachers proudly showed us around their new facility. It has two floors, with girl’s dorms on the first floor and boy’s dorms on the second floor. The first floor also had a kitchen where the meals are prepared and each floor had toilet rooms, and classrooms and an outside area for bathing and washing clothes. The conditions were humble but the children seemed happy and the teachers dedicated. It was fun to listen to their song and then to help Sister Lewis pass out sweets (lollipops) to each child.

 

On our way home we saw several banana salesman and decided to buy a few bunches (bananas not salesmen).  They were very ripe and the road was rough, so every time we bounced over a bump a banana would fall from the bunch. By the time I got home I had a lap full of individual bananas.

Our trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo was an experience I don’t think we will soon forget. We flew to the city of Kinshasha. Just getting out of the airport when we landed was a challenge. A man named Antone, who helps the members with flights, met us there and helped us or we never would have made it. They speak French in DR Congo. We noticed on our ride from the airport that the streets were filled with people and litter and litter and litter. First Brother Kumangila took us to his new home. He said it was in a new subdivision. We met his wife, some of his extended family and an American couple who were living in the Congo to learn French and work. Then we stopped at the mission home. They told us about the bullet holes in the building from the last war. The building just happened to be in-between the headquarters of the two opposing armies and so has battle scars from two wars. Next we headed to the motel. We had to stay in one by ourselves. It was after lunch and we were hungry so we went down to the restaurant. We didn’t speak French and they didn’t speak English, so we had a difficult time communicating. The only thing they had for lunch was a meal for $25.00. We found out that things are very expensive there. I tried to ask them if they had the same menu for dinner and they said yes. When we went down to dinner they had a regular menu with several items on it. (They were all still very expensive.) There were very few people there. The next day we did our training at a meeting house. It went well even though we had to have a translator. We stayed at the same motel again that night and when we went down to dinner that night the whole restaurant was filled with people. We had dinner and when we walked around the pool we noticed they were busy decorating for Valentines. They had red table clothes, confetti, lighted hearts, and red Christmas lights all over. And a band was setting up directly below our window. At about 9 that night we looked out and noticed that there weren’t any people at their party. We felt bad for them after all the work they had gone through. And then we went to bed. A little while later we heard the band start to play and when we looked out the window there were lots of people dancing. The music had the same melody and beat played over and over and they sang/shouted/yelled along with the music.  This is a video sample of the music.  Enjoy! (We did all night long) The band played until 5:00a.m., which was the time we had to be up to get ready to head to the airport. Needless to say we didn’t get any sleep that night. With the help of Antone we made it through the airport. It seemed to me that everyone was yelling and arguing and the whole place was in chaos. The guards just grabbed people they didn’t think should be in the airport and threw them out.
We flew on Hewa Bora air lines (Swahili for Good Air) to Lubunbashi. It was a little nicer than Kinshasa. The motel had raised it prices so high (They like American money 2003 or newer only) that we were a little short on cash for all of us to stay there so we volunteered to ask the missionary couple (the Parks) in Lubunbashi if we could stay with them a couple of nights. They were happy to have us and we had a great time with them. We spent Saturday training. The electricity was out at the first meeting house we went to so we went to another. The electricity lasted for about an hour, and then it went out there, too. The next day we went to church with the Parks and attended two sacrament meetings and a baptismal service for three men and a young boy. The photo is of the Parks, the people who where baptized and the bishop. We were impressed with how beautiful and with gusto the congregation sang hymns. It is the first time I have sung “How Great Thou Art” in staccato. At the baptismal service it sounded like there were at a lot of people there singing, but when I turned around to look I was shocked to see there were only a few. There must have been angels singing with them. The church is growing rapidly in Congo. The two missionary couples have baptisms weekly. People just come in off of the street and want to be taught the gospel. We flew home Monday morning and arrived in Kenya about 4:00 p.m. We were grateful to be back. Kenya is fantastic compared to what we saw in the Congo.

We found a KFC in the Congo. (Katanga Fried Chicken)

Today we got to go on our first, self guided “safari”. We went to Nariobi National park. It is only 6-10 km’s from downtown Nairobi. You can seriously see the skyscrapers from the middle of the park. It was larger than we thought it would be. We spent the entire day, 7AM to 5PM in the park, driving on roads (and trails). It was great.

Here is the list of the animals I can remember and recognize. We saw 5 lions, one male and 4 females eating on a carcass. They were far enough away that we had to use binoculars to see them better. We saw crocodiles, turtles, baboons, zebra (tons), warthogs, giraffes (lots), wildebeast, hartebeast, impala, gazelle, cape buffalo, eland, bushbuck,
roan antelope, orzx, steenbok, waterbuck, guinea hens, eagles and lots of other birds. We saw most of these many times. It was very african.

I can’t believe we saw all of these in one area about 15 miles square. Anyway. We have to go with the couples and eat out. We are going to a Brazilian grill.

Mom posted on the blog about Sat. On Sun. she was sick, so I went by myself with the Bishop’s (another missionary couple) to a small branch in the mountains about 80 KM from Nairobi. It was a different experience. The main road was under construction and looks like it will be for the next ten years. At times we were on paved, but rough road, paved and almost new road, dirt and rutted road, washboard, 4 inches high, potholes that couldn’t be missed at least a foot deep, and so on. It was rough, and we drove those roads at about 80-100 KM’s on the good roads he went 120-140 KM passing big truck after big truck. After we left the main road we went on mountain roads for another 20 KM some of these were so bad we were climbing up rocks and through gullies (see picture). Our last KM was straight up a trail (called a road) with washes on each side. I’ve never been on anything worse anywhere we have traveled on 4 wheel roads in our mtns. We parked and walked down some steps to a small but nice chapel on the side of the mountain. It took us over 3 hours to get there.

The chapel was full and many of the children didn’t have shoes, but were dressed nicely. Two small girls came in with 1 month old twins wrapped on their back. They made it on time, but the mother came in about 10 minutes later. When the babies fussed the little girls took one baby at a time to the mother and she nursed them. There is no modesty here either. The sunday school teacher was an 18 year old young man. In priesthood, the teacher taught in both swallihli and english, but I had a hard time telling the difference. Especially when he asked me to answer a question. It was quite the experience.

Everyone was again so friendly and shook hands. They are very poor here and live on usually one meal a day, and only have meat to eat on rare occasions. Most of them walk at least an hour to church and some longer. There is no electricity there and the church has just drilled a well and furnished water for them. The toilets are an outhouse without seats, only a hole to stand over. (I really think that is why mom didn’t go with)

On the way we did see wildeabeasts, giraffes, and gazelles. They usually see lots of baboons, but didn’t see any this trip, but I have seen wild animals now.

The email is getting too long again, so I will stop. Just a note to let you know we are eating well, ate out 5 out of 6 nights last week, and lunch every day. Hope this week slows down on the eating. Mom has bought four necklaces already, and just getting started. She also got some nativity scenes too. Hopefully I can attach some pictures for you, but may have to send a second email with pictures. Love you all

Today for our preparation day, we explored Nairobi. Elder and Sister Dickman guided us to some of their favorite shops. We bought a couple of nativity sets and a few trinkets at the first one. Then they took us to a few of the more expensive ones and we looked around, but didn’t buy. There is so many beautiful things that we can’t decide what we want. After that they took us out to visit the giraffes. One really liked me and gave me a big sloppy kiss. Twice. Dad had two of them eating right out of his hands. Then we took a quick tour of the Kazuri bead factory and store. I bought my first African necklace. Kazuri beads are handmade ceramic beads that are world famous. After that we went to a nice out door restaurant for lunch. There were birds all over the place and guess what, Adam? I have joined your club. One got me. It was only pigeon size not seagull size though. We also stocked up on food, because more rallies are planned for next week and we may be confined to our flats again. Then tonight at dinner I started feeling queasy. Thank goodness I made it in our flat’s door before all …. let loose. So where else can you kiss a giraffe, have a bird poop on you and be yucky sick all in one day. Life is great and this is Africa! (Sister Dickman says the giraffe kiss did not make me sick because they have an antiseptic mouth, so it was probably my lunch or bird poop flu)