Jambo everyone!
I hope you are all doing well as you wind down your summer activities and, for those of you with school-aged children, start a new school year! In Kenya, our kids have been enjoying a three-week break and are now heading into their final term of the 2024 school year!
While home, the older kids enjoyed some planned activities like soccer tournaments, basketball camp, cooking, etc. But one of their favorite outings is always community service! During this break, our high school freshmen helped an elderly widow, while our junior high students served at another local children’s home.
The children’s home where our junior high kids served is not as well provided for as we are at In Step. They are doing their best to help their kids but they are understaffed and underfunded. They very much appreciated the help from our kids, and the ISF kids got an eye-opener of how fortunate they really are!
The widow was so appreciative and spoke a beautiful blessing over our kids, asking God to prosper them and give them a good future!
The college kids are also on break and are being hosted by 3 aunties and an uncle, with one student in each home. I suspect that they are also getting an eye-opener, as this is the first time in their lives that they will remember living in a typical Kenyan home. Yes, they have grown up eating Kenyan food, but living in a small (two or three room) house with no running water, outside toilets and bathrooms (the room where you take a bucket bath) is all new to them.
I’m very happy for them to experience this, as it will most likely be normal conditions for them when they finish school and get out on their own… at least for a while. The facilities and living quarters at Daystar University are quite modern, much like they have grown up with, so learning how to live “Kenyan style” will help transition them out of what they are used to and into the “real world.”
I mentioned in my last update that the remodeling of the boys dorm was on the horizon. I am happy to report that it is well underway! ALL OF THE BOYS are now living upstairs, which is very congested, especially while the high school boys are home, but will be worth the inconvenience when the construction is finished.
The entire interior of the ground floor of the dorm has been demolished and the new layout has been mapped out! Refurbished floors, new walls, windows, toilets, sinks, shower stalls, etc. are in the process of being installed! Next will be furniture; including study tables and chairs, as well as individual lockers to keep clothing and other personal items!
Huge thanks and appreciation goes out to South Hills Church in Kennewick Washington! They have partnered with us in lots of ways for many years and have now generously funded this much needed project!
I mentioned in my last update that the remodeling of the boys dorm was on the horizon. I am happy to report that it is well underway! ALL OF THE BOYS are now living upstairs, which is very congested, especially while the high school boys are home, but will be worth the inconvenience when the construction is finished.
The entire interior of the ground floor of the dorm has been demolished and the new layout has been mapped out! Refurbished floors, new walls, windows, toilets, sinks, shower stalls, etc. are in the process of being installed! Next will be furniture; including study tables and chairs, as well as individual lockers to keep clothing and other personal items!
Huge thanks and appreciation goes out to South Hills Church in Kennewick Washington! They have partnered with us in lots of ways for many years and have now generously funded this much needed project!
I just got back to Kenya after a month in the US. In fact, as I write this letter I am in a hotel in Nairobi, excited to head back to In Step tomorrow!
This trip home was kind of different than most, so I didn’t get to see many of you. I’m so sorry about that! I really missed that aspect of my normal visits!
I did, however, have the opportunity to be part of the Safari to Kenya event, held in Bow, Washington! What a blessing it was to connect with some of you on that side of the state! We had perfect weather and good attendance, which made it that much more special! You guys rock!
I also enjoyed wonderful family time, including a camping trip to the Oregon coast! I was trying to think of the last time I had been there and I believe it was about thirty-five years ago! Everything still looked and felt the same; what a beautiful piece of God’s wonderful creation!
I’m so blessed to have two amazing lives on opposite sides of the earth! Now, if only a time machine could be invented so I could jump back and forth on a whim! LOL!
As always, I appreciate each and every one of you for all you do for the kids of In Step! I am forever in awe of what God has done and continues to do through the love and generosity of his people!
God Is Good All The Time (GIGATT),
Mama Carla