10. (kumi – koo me) A year of safe travels on the precarious roads in Kenya.

9. (tisa – tee sah) A year of having several visitors come to see us ~ most recently, Patti’s sister and brother-in-law for Christmas. It was wonderful to have them (and they can vouch for the unpredictable roads we travel)! We LOVE showing people our world!

8. (nane – non aye) A year of growing in our roles as dorm parents and missionary kids. Our kids have grown leaps and bounds physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Sometimes it seems as though Kenya is all they’ve ever known. And we feel that we have the best job in the world!

7. (saba – sah bah) A season of sharing life with seven amazing dorm boys who we have had the privilege of loving and discipling in our home. It’s been fun and encouraging to watch them develop and thrive in the boarding school setting and, most importantly, in their walk with Christ.

6. (sita – see tah) A year of learning over and over again the astounding amount of hellos and good-byes missionaries face. It never gets easier.

5. (tano – tah no) A time of cultivating sweet relationships with fellow missionaries and co-workers. We are grateful for a body of unified staff who all have the common purpose of loving and educating missionary kids.

 4. (nne – n nay) A year of adapting and changing curriculum and teaching amazing students who are so appreciative of their education that they tell Travis thank you after every class.

3. (tatu – tah too) A year ending in good health but not without a season of illnesses and broken bones. We are grateful for able bodies (a little older but still able!)!

2. (mbili – m beelee) A year of reaching out to the community around us and sharing the gospel of Christ through words and deeds.

A blessed new year to you all,
Travis, Patti, Kylea, Joshua, Tia, & Levi

It was Outreach Day, a day that comes once each school term, usually at the beginning of the term while the students are fresh from a break. Outreach Day is a day when students volunteer to go out into the community and serve. Whether it be playing with orphans, visiting the sick in the hospital, or delivering firewood to the widows, the focus is on the community around us.

Our sixth grade boys ~ along with all the other sixth graders ~ were put into a group that originally had planned on helping to build a mud house. Plans changed quite abruptly and they ended up planting trees for fellow missionaries who live about 30 minutes away. They left early in the morning and all the students worked hard until lunch time.

One of our guys, well into his potato chips and sandwich, almost ready for the cherished candy bar, heard the buzz of a swarm of bees and jumped from his perch high up in a tree. He narrowly escaped the attack but many other staff and students were not as fortunate. Some stood rock still, having been told that if they didn’t move, they wouldn’t get stung. The bees must not have been informed of that for they voraciously attacked anything moving or still. One staff member who wears glasses had bees stuck between his eyes and glasses, impairing his vision as he was trying to help a student escape the invasion.

Many students pulled out (and lovingly helped others pull out) as many as 25-30 stingers per child ~ from hair, faces, necks, arms, and hands. We praised God that out of the four students who were not stung even once, two of them had severe allergies to bee stings and were providentially protected from a potentially life-threatening situation. As one sixth grade girl so amazingly summed up the day: “Thank you, Lord, that we could suffer a small part of what missionaries around the world suffer daily.”

With the school term getting off to an interesting start, we prayed intensely for God’s protection ~ especially for four (out of eight) of our guys who were new to Rift Valley Academy and boarding school life. Our dorm motto is to provide a safe and loving atmosphere for students to grow in their walk with Christ as they receive a quality education. We start off each term emphasizing how important it is for our guys to communicate with us ~ and that they break the code of silence when it comes to any form of bullying; if we don’t know what’s going on, we cannot protect them. It became apparent one Saturday morning that there was a student in our dorm who had not been adhering to the RVA rules of conduct. One of our guys was brave enough to break the code of silence. Upon investigating, it became evident that a student who we had been mentoring had been forceful with others ~ to the point where administration felt that he needed to be removed from the dorm and was suspended indefinitely. As one can imagine, this drastically changed the dynamics in our dorm. One boy has prayed in our devotions at night: “Thank you that we can live in a safe dorm now.” Amen.

As our heads were still spinning from the events of the first few weeks of the school term, we were stunned to learn that one of our staff members who was on home assignment with his family until December had passed out at home with cerebral bleeding from an aneurysm. As many around the world relentlessly petitioned our Lord to spare his life, our dear friend immediately went into a coma and never recovered ~ on this earth. A dedicated nurse in our Student Health Services, this 51 year old godly man loved everyone and counted it a privilege to serve anyone he could ~ staff and students alike. We have every confidence that he is walking in heaven ~ quite possibly looking for someone to serve! There is comfort in knowing that, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” II Corinthians 5:8. We grieve, and will continue to do so, BUT we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Please pray for his wife and eight children along with the staff and students at RVA who desperately miss the gentleness of this precious man.

No half term would be complete without a great hike to the hot springs with lots of boys (and a few girls) who were ready for an adventure. We set out on a Saturday morning with food, water, and gear in our backpacks. After making a trek through a steep tunnel, walking along the railroad tracks for some time, and then heading down a precipitous cliff, we arrived at the hot springs ~ only to discover that someone had tapped into them and completely disrupted nature by building a concrete covering over them. Not to be discouraged by our less than inspirational find, we decided to head into a deep tunnel/cave at the mouth of the “hot springs.” Several of the kids set their backpacks down as we set off into the cave. Upon returning no more than ten minutes later, they found that their backpacks had disappeared. It seems that during our brief journey through the tunnel, someone had been watching us and seized the opportunity to steal the kids’ bags. There was an immediate spirit of sadness (one boy had a brand new camera in his bag!), retaliation and a “let’s find the people who took our bags” attitude amongst the boys ~ until we paused to pray and thank the Lord that we were safe; that we would not return evil for evil. We are unsure if the thieves had weapons but it quickly became clear that life is so much more important than those “things” that we possess.

On a lighter note, we all just enjoyed a long weekend mid-term break and are refreshed and ready for a new half term. KFC (you got it: Kentucky Fried Chicken) just came to Kenya so we were able to enjoy some “American” grub! After 14 months, it tasted pretty good!

We thank the Lord for the growth that He has brought about in all of our lives through the heavy circumstances of the last six weeks! Please pray for us as a dorm and for the staff and students here at RVA. We cannot thank you all enough for the prayer warriors that you are and for your part in supporting us here in Kenya!

Still Standing,

Travis & Patti
Kylea, Joshua, Tia & Levi

We would like to share a link to some pictures that we took during our summer break and the first part of this term.

Click here for the pictures.

A = Adjustments. Our whole family has adjusted to a new continent, country, house, school, friends, and way of living with relative ease. What a blessing!

B = Baboons. Travis’ wrist rocket is used on a regular basis to scare away the many baboons that roam around our dorm. They are fierce creatures and we are always on guard.

C = Camping. In the words of Joshua, sitting by the campfire on a bluff overlooking Hell’s Gate National Park, without a soul in sight, “Now THIS is camping!”

D = Davis Dudes. It was such a pleasure and privilege to have these great 5th & 6th grade boys come into our lives and home for a year. Three of the nine will be returning for their 6th grade year and we’ll get five new Davis Dudes to love on (remember that “Davis” is the name of our dorm!).

E = Enough. God provided just enough strength for each day. Keeping track of 13 kids’ schedules in addition to our regular “jobs” often resulted in our energy waning. There was always just enough stamina, love, and patience (well…) for our brood! His GRACE is enough!

F = Fruit. Not only have we thoroughly enjoyed the physical fruit of living in Kenya (the mangoes and passion fruit are phenomenal ~ and so inexpensive!), we have delighted in the fruit of the Spirit being demonstrated in the lives of our dorm guys ~ especially that of self-control, which was the emphasis at many of our evening devotions this last school term.

G = Good-byes. We are starting to fully realize the number of painful good-byes Missionary Kids (MKs) are faced with. Staff and students leave the school each term; some return and many are never seen again. We’ve learned that countless people come into our lives for just a season.

  ]]> http://travispatti.com/2011/08/10/365-days/feed/ 0 http://travispatti.com/2011/06/13/be-our-guest/ http://travispatti.com/2011/06/13/be-our-guest/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:15:55 +0000 tpnielsen http://tpnielsen.aimsites.org/?p=1357 A glass wall containing glass doors were all that separated us from our dear friend from Michigan.

The girls were buzzing around Patti, anxiously waiting for Robin to make her appearance. Finally, after standing and waiting patiently for 45 minutes, we spotted a woman wearing a shirt that read “147 million orphans… feed 1.” With her shock of blonde curly hair, we knew it must be her! She had just arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and had gathered her luggage from the carousel. Her visit with the security guard checking her bags was abnormally brief and, before we knew it, we all had our arms wrapped around her in an attempt to hold on to the one thing (person) standing before us who tied us to those we love so dearly in our home country. We were thrilled to have her here with us.

Travis and the boys were outside the airport in the car, circling around for the eighth time as there were virtually NO parking spaces in the entire parking lot ~ which isn’t much to speak of! In due time, they came around, picked us up, and our journey with Robin began.

Because travel late at night is extremely dangerous, we stayed at a guest house in Nairobi for the night. After making the one hour drive to Kijabe the next afternoon, we were so excited to be able to show her our home. There was no time to waste. We packed up our bags and the following day were on a safari to one of our dorm boys’ homes.

A long and dusty road

The Reids live virtually out in the middle of nowhere ~ an hour and a half off a less-traveled road on a two-track that winds and curves and eventually ends at their mission compound. Starting five years ago, they built every bit of it by hand. They work with the Maasai people ~ nomads who wander with their cattle; their wealth. They are in the process of learning the language and keenly feel God’s calling to minister to these people ~ the young girls in particular, who undergo female circumcision and are often married off to older men before they are even twelve years old.

We spent three days with the Reids ~ three amazing days. Life for them is far different than it is for us. They have approximately ten acres of land completely surrounded by a high voltage electric fence. The fence is to protect them ~ not from thieves or troublemakers ~ but from predators like lions, leopards, elephants, zebras, etc. They are constantly on the lookout for Black Mamba, Puff Adder, and Boomslang snakes. A sign posted in their guest house says to please not use the long-drop (outhouse) after 11:00 pm as it is extremely unsafe. Leopards have been known to jump the fence and enter the mission compound.

Taking a break from digging

One day at the Reids was spent visiting the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve. It was just like God to allow us to see two male lions sitting on a mound of dirt ~ pawing at it occasionally. We realized that they were atop a warthog hole ~ with a warthog inside anticipating his imminent demise. Patience enabled us to see the lions dig for their breakfast ~ and eventually partake of it! What an amazingly beautiful day it was to observe God’s incredible creation.

The next morning we drove to one of five churches that the Reids have planted ~ in a particularly dark, oppressive area ~ to hold a children’s Bible program. Upon our arrival, not many kids had shown up. As we started playing games and laughing with them, the children came out of nowhere ~ in droves.

They came out of nowhere

Before we knew it, there must have been over 100 kids (and over 30 adults) who had joined in the fun and then more continued to straggle in. After a time, we all sat and listened to the Bible story that Mr. Reid shared and then as Mrs. Reid taught us all to sing Jesus Loves the Little Children in the Maasai language (don’t ask us to do it now!). Snacks and juice were provided for everyone. It was especially touching to see our dorm boy in his home setting ~ with his family being a light to all around them. Pray for the Reid family as they minister in such a difficult setting ~ all for the sake of the Kingdom!

Robin and Patti were able to visit several orphanages in Nairobi and another one closer to us in Kijabe. The time spent with these children was unforgettable! We shopped in Nairobi, purchased many kilos of meat at the City Center meat market (Set aside any preconceived notions of walking up to the meat counter at your local Meijer grocery store.), bought souvenirs from vendors at the crazy Maasai Market (Picture literally hundreds of people, each with a 10 x 10 ft. patch of concrete on the top level of a mall parking lot with aisles two feet wide, each bombarding you to buy their wares!

The Nairobi meat market

Thus comes in the art of negotiating prices!), and even visited the Kijabe hospital with us as Kylea had a persistently high fever and Student Health Services at RVA referred her to a hospital physician.

The rest of Robin’s time with us passed in a blur! Staff meetings ensued, school resumed, and Robin was immersed in RVA life with us. Just as our dorm guys were growing accustomed to having “Miss Robin” around, it was time for her to leave. It saddened us to see her go. (Our guest room is open for those who would like to come and visit us during our school breaks!)

Within a week and a half of Robin’s departure, our car died and needed to have the radiator and head gasket repaired and rebuilt, Kylea broke her arm falling off her bike, and Patti had pneumonia (they say it comes in threes, hey?!). May was a month that we were glad to see go! We’re so very thankful for God’s protective hand on our car as we traveled virtually hundreds of kilometers during Robin’s visit ~ sometimes out in the middle of “no man’s land”! It was only after we traveled back to Kijabe that it refused to go any further! What a blessing!

Us with Miss Robin

As we finish our last five weeks of school for this school year (it doesn’t seem possible!), we ask for your much needed prayers: for a strong finish, for physical health & safety (for staff & students), for consistency & balance in every area of our lives, and for precious memories that will last a lifetime with our 6th grade guys who will be heading up to junior high.

We cannot even begin to properly express our appreciation to all who pray for and contribute to this amazing ministry! There is joy unspeakable in serving these kids ~ and our Lord ~ in this way! Thank you ~ a million fold!

Did you know:

• that a “hotel” in Kenya is a restaurant?
• that the Swahili word for chicken is “kuku” (a “hotel” slogan is “We go kuku for kuku!”)?
• that crisps are potato chips and french fries are chips?
• that a toilet is called a choo (pronounced cho with a long “o”)?
• that a boot is the trunk of your car?
• that a pharmacy is called a “chemist” in Kenya?

Redeeming the time,

Travis, Patti, Kylea, Joshua, Tia, & Levi Nielsen