Friday, July 31st

Vroman's plus one here....Happy Birthday to my brother, Doug! It is 6:15pm here in Kenya and we just got back from our day at the village. We had many 'Yeah God' moments today...the first was that we saw 111 patients! Our prayer was for double and we were pretty darn close to double! When we first arrived, there were only 6 people there and we felt a bit discouraged....then we sent Brandt, Shane, Levi (a local, english speaking man) and a speaker system out in a pick up truck to rally the locals. They drove through towns, villages, farms, etc. announcing that there was a mecial clinic going on....apparently the Village Elders did not do their job in spreading the word. But, Levi, Brandt and Shane made the difference, even picking one mom and her baby up and giving them a ride to the OAI village to receive care. Another car followed them and driving it was a man about 65 years old and he had brought his mom who is 80, his mom's best friend who is 85 and his auntie who is 89. These three little ladies managed to climb out of the back of his car with their canes and taking about 15 minutes to work their way from the car to the tent to seek medical care. Amazing to witness! One of our fellow team mates from the UK, Helen, prepared another amazing day of fun activities and crafts for the children. Bethany, Charley, and Rachel, also from the UK, and Karleigh played with the kids and helped them make bracelets and all kinds of other fun crafts with paint. From the children's tent you can hear laughing and giggling all day long! Morris, who is a local young man, plays the guitar and leads the children in song and dance....oh my gosh, it is the cutest thing ever!! I have video for anyone who wants to see when we return! When Brandt returned from his promotional tour with Shane, he helped in the pharmacy for a bit. Spencer shifted to the pharmacy today and became quite the pill counter and learned to read doctors' printing in about 15 minutes...pretty impressive, I lasted about 5 minutes and gave up...back to the prayer tent for me. Hunter started on registration today but took his turn in the pharmacy too. Shane was on crowd control when he first got back. About 2:00pm, Brandt, Shane, Hunter and Spencer took on a big project for the village. Just a little ways down from the compound and next to the garden, are these 3 large 150 year old pits. They are lined with rock and were used as places of safety and housing for the Africans....can't think of the name of them right now, but will tell you tomorrow, (if my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bill are reading this, they probably know exactly what I am talking about)....anyway, they are completely over grown with brush, grass, vines, etc. We decided we would help restore them to their original state so that they can preserve their history. They were beyond thrilled and Shane was beyond ecstatic cause he has been waiting to use a machete(sp) since we got here. They spent the next couple of hours working up a serious sweat and completed one of them! To see Daniel's face( he is one of the house parents and the main guy really in the village), oh my gosh it was a great 'yeah God' moment! Brandt and Daniel have had a wonderful time bonding over talks of gardening...Brandt has said he wants to come back in March and bring lots seeds to help the village create a truly sustainable garden...Brandt is dreaming big folks, for those that know him well, he has an orchard planned, multiple types of squash, and even some Giant pumpkins to show the children! We'll see... Anyway, all is well and we are all feeling strong...a sore back on Hunter and a sever stiff neck on Brandt....so pray for them! But mostly, we are in great spirits, rested, eating well...pizza tonight...and ready for another day! Tomorrow we will go in to town and do a bit of shopping before we head to some place that is suppose to be just amazing. We are excited to see this place they keep telling us about. Oh, forgot to mention the power outage that occurred last night just as I stepped in to the shower....ugh, no hot water!...we ate by candle light and then Karleigh, Rachel and Bethany from the UK and myself played some serious games of spoons. The UK has a differnt way of playing sppons that we will teach the youth group when we get home! Thanks everyone for leaving comments, we gather in Brandt's and my room and read them together! By the way, it seems crazy that we had to go to Africa to escape the heat....who would a thunk it! It is only about 75 or so here and cooler in the evening, just lovely really! Sorry to hear about the crazy heat back at home...hope our employees are keeping everything alive for our clients! Again, thank you for checking in on the Vroman's plus one and continue praying for all that God will do through us! Pray about the idea of each of you coming on the next trip to Kenya!! Until tomorrow...