Jambo everyone!
Happy New Year! I hope you are all ready for a productive and prosperous 2020!
December was a great but super busy month! After arriving in Nairobi from the states, I stayed an extra day to try to take care of some immigration business, which was a big flop because in Kenya, there’s no such thing as taking care of business in any government office, without several trips and attempts (insert rolling eyes look here)! So I traveled on to Kitale and will try again in a few weeks because there’s also no point in trying to take care of business in any government office if there’s a holiday anywhere close to the day of your attempt (reinsert rolling eyes).
I arrived in Kitale on the twelfth and hit the ground running! I was so excited to get back in the swing, but also had a pile of stuff to attend to….and of course, jetlag plays into the whole scenario. But after about a week, I felt as if I had never been gone.
Christmas Day was as amazing as it always is! I love celebrating Christmas at In Step! It is my wish that every one of my family members (especially my grandchildren) will someday be able to experience it! It is so simple, yet so joyful and meaningful! All of our decorations are handmade by the kids! Our tree is a small one, about three feet tall, cut down from our “forest” where we grow trees to someday use for timber or firewood. We have a big church service with lots of singing and testimonies. We invite the families of our staff to join us, meaning that our celebration this year was right around three hundred people!
But the highlight of the celebration is always the food! I know some people think this is ridiculous, but we believe that it is very biblical to celebrate our Lord’s birth with a feast! I know it isn’t one of the feasts of the Jews, and I know that the Bible doesn’t specifically tell us to celebrate the birth of Jesus…. please don’t get hung up on that. I’m just saying that it seems to me that in the Bible, whenever there was a celebration, a feast was involved! Â



This year’s Christmas feast included: sixty-five BBQd chickens, three huge smoked hams (everyone just got a sliver because it was not cost effective for everyone to get a hefty slice), over one hundred pounds of fruit salad (and for those of you who have tasted our tropical fruits, you know that was heaven!), chapatti (which the kitchen staff and the older kids started making at 2:00 am because it’s a huge, time-consuming job to make chapatti for three hundred people), mokimo (mashed potatoes with peas and carrots mixed in), rice, stewed “local” chickens (to serve over the rice), stir-fried cabbage, chocolate-peanut butter cookies, peanut butter fudge, and of course our guest of honor; the goat which we didn’t name! It was a FEAST!
The only real challenge was the rain!  I know I’ve mentioned before that it’s not supposed to rain in December! In all these years, we have never had to worry about it raining while barbequing or while eating! Well, this year was different! It rained during both! The guys moved the BBQs under the bougainvillea covered trellis and continued their work. When it was time to eat, because going outside was not an option as it was absolutely pouring rain, we had people sitting anywhere they could find a spot, even along the walls of the hallways! It wasn’t ideal, but it worked!

After feasting, it was time for our Annual Christmas Dance Party! Crank up the tunes and dance your heart out! In Step kids love to dance! Eventually the excitement started waning, we ate leftovers for dinner, wished everyone a Merry Christmas and turned in for the night. It was a great day!

A few days after Christmas, we were blessed with a team from New York state! What a great bunch of servants! The team included two dentists (their second visit here), a dental hygienist, a pediatric doctor (who became a dental assistant for the week), a dietician (who also became a dental assistant), and “The Dans” (our term of endearment for two guys, both named Dan, who have been here a few times before)!
All the dental people did their thing; they gave check-ups and cleanings to all kids, staff and missionaries! They also did fillings, repaired broken teeth, etc.! After the hygienist cleaned my teeth, she gave me a big zip-lock bag full of dental floss….hint


One of the Dans is a scientist and did some really cool experiments/activities with the older kids! They built a miniature solar panel and measured the power it was producing! They also built battery operated toy cars! The kids loved it and we thank Dan for the many hours he put into it!



The other Dan spent several days putting on a soccer clinic! As many of you know, soccer is THE sport in Africa! Our kids are huge fans and love to play! Dan’s clinic taught them team work, as well as skills on the field! (Sorry! I didn’t get any pics. L) The kids loved every minute of it!
All in all, the entire team connected with and built relationships with our kids. It was a wonderful week for everyone!
Besides the incredible short term team, we also have a couple here, Tracy and Tamara, who come and serve for three to four months every year, usually starting a few weeks before Christmas. They are remarkable in all that they get accomplished! They start before the break of dawn and work hard all day long, every single day! I’m telling you, if anyone needs anything repaired, all we have to do is mention it and the next day, it’s miraculously like new!

This year, they have taken on a much needed and appreciated project; a waste containment structure (a place where our garbage can pile up in between pick-ups, which will keep the neighbor kids from going through our trash and the dogs from stringing dirty diapers all over the place)! So far the slab is done and waiting for walls! What a luxury it will be!
Another thing they have committed to during their trip is to work one-on-one with Rael. You may remember Rael’s story. She is blind, deaf and intellectually challenged. Rael is now 7 and has returned to living on campus. Tracy and Tamara are teaching her new signals. It’s a big commitment, but they spend two to three hours per day, six days per week, with Rael!

We are so grateful for visitors! Each team brings a unique set of skills and gifts with which to bless our children! If you think that you might like to visit sometime, contact Mel at Rehema For Kids! We would love to host you!
The only downfall for this team, the same as our past several teams, was the high number of malaria cases! It gets so discouraging to see so many of our visitors suffer with this! They do all they can; take preventative medicines, Deet up constantly, be indoors before sunset, use mosquito nets, etc., etc. We are in a very high malaria zone (a US doctor who researched our area said we have more than twenty different malaria strains here) and I am getting frustrated with how hard it is to protect our visitors from it! For those of us who live here, it’s just part of the package, but I hate to see short term visitors have to deal with it!
With that being said, malaria is treatable! It’s not fun, but with treatment the patient will be ok. It amazes me how many people are willing to risk getting sick in order to serve God and our kids! I just can’t get over the sacrifice people are willing to make! Thank-you!
So, as you can see, we had a very busy ending to 2019! We are looking forward to what God does in 2020! There are lots of possibilities on the horizon! Only God, our Provider and Counsellor, knows what is before us! Ours is to trust Him and hold on tight!
GIGATT (God is Good All the Time)!
Mama Carla