Day 15 October 1, 2011 Nabeki

Greetings

I wish everyone a happy October first.  On the first day of the tenth month Noah saw land where only water was before.  He realized that the waters were receding and that there was going to be a new beginning.  I too mark the first day of the tenth month (I use a different calendar) as my new beginning.  It was four years ago today that I made a commitment to our Lord to be a different person.  I went from being the pilot of my own way to allowing God to fly the course.  Granted it has not been easy to be in control for that many years and to suddenly allow your life to be controlled by faith alone.  Since that day four years ago I have watched my life ripped apart at the seams.  I watched as my health took a turn for the worse and I still feel the effects especially today.  I watched as my family was torn apart as if a piece of paper.  I looked on as my earthly riches (not that I had a lot) disappeared to virtually nothing.  Four years later I sit here with tears in my eyes and wonder what in God’s name am I doing here?  This is not what I expected and sometimes I want to throw him out of the seat and take my life back.  God has given us free will and I can choose to get out of the car at any time.  Or can I?  Along this journey I have seen too much to ignore the fact that God is in control of the Universe and I might not like the course he takes but in the end we will both have gotten to where we wanted to go.  I am so humbled to be his hands and feet on the ground here in East Africa.  I accept my position in life and if this is what he wants of me then so be it.  Also if anyone is counting today is my 100th post to this blog. 

Today was one of those days here in Kenya (TIK).  It started with a flat tire and it pretty much ended with a couple of flat tires.  We were to leave Busia this morning around eight thirty but Ben had a flat and we were delayed for a bit to go back to Kakamega so Hezron and I could travel to Kitale/Mt. Elgon.  We arrived back in Kakamega at ten thirty and by about eleven we were on our way to Kitale to meet up with Pastor Moses and his wife Jane.  We arrived in Kitale around one thirty and spent an hour or so with Moses and his wife before we were to head across town to meet up with Pastor Joseph to head up the mountain and look at the orchard site.  The road to Webuye from Kakamega is a really fine road however the road from Webuye to Kitale well let us say you try to miss one pothole you hit another.  I find it interesting that you can be arrested and pay huge fines here in Kenya for not keeping your car in good condition but the government has no responsibility to take care of the roads that cause much of the damage to the same cars.  I guess it’s all about revenue.  

Janean this is for you!!

Matete Kenya along the road to Webuye

After we left Pastor Moses and Jane we headed across town and picked up Pastor Joseph and started to travel up the mountain.  Once we left the tarmac at Endebess the climb started and Joseph told us that we could not take the road that we used on my last visit because it was not in good shape and that the road we were going to take was in better shape.  We turned off a really bad road and onto a worse road to continue our journey up to the site.  We are in a four door sedan and we are not on a road but a path that the people and cows use to come up and down the mountain.  We are literally going to eight or nine thousand feet up a mountain in a Nissan four door sedan.  What are we thinking?  We must have stopped at least a half a dozen times or more to get out and survey the situation for a proper route.  At one location we actually had to dig out stones to clear the way.  We went through pastures, gulleys, corn fields, forests, and all different kinds of terrain.  We went down into a pretty deep valley and we were going through some bush and we had a puncture.  Well let me tell you what it feels like to be where we were with a bad spare for the replacement tire and we were still on our way up the mountain not down.  I really did not feel that comfortable.  The rain was over the mountain and we were unsure when it was going to hit us and I really did not want to be where I was once the rain starts.  We continued to travel out of the patch of forest into the fields of maize zigzagging up the mountain until we could go no farther.  We got out of the car since there was no way our car or pretty much any vehicle except a motor bike could pass.  Joseph pointed up and said we have to go up to that tree.  That tree was at least another four or five hundred feet straight up.  I could feel my heart pounding as it was trying to supply oxygen throughout my body since we must already be somewhere around eight thousand feet up.  There was no way I was going to be able to walk up to that tree.  For those of you that have a hard time believing there is a God then why was there a motor bike just happening to be at that spot to take me the rest of the way?  We are in the middle of a corn field in the middle of nowhere and this kid just so happens to be sitting there waiting for a Mzungu with a breathing problem to show up.  We also used him later to travel back down the mountain with the bad tire to be repaired and to be ready to travel back with it if we had a problem on the way down.  The kid was a gift from heaven and I hope that the money that I gave him made his day. 

Once we were at the orchard site I had decided that this site is the most picturesque of all the orchards we are going to plant.  The view from up here is magnificent and the pictures do not show the real beauty from this vantage point.  On this plot we will be planting about eight hundred seedlings for a mixture of ministries.  Not only do we want to help with the clinic but there is the overall ministry to help address the IDP’s and squatters in the vicinity.  My understanding is that the violence with the help of the Kenyan military and the death of the rebel leader things have calmed down a bit.  I learned the difference between an IDP and a squatter today.  An IDP is an Internally Displaced Person(s) whom were moved from their homes by the government after the post election violence in 2008 to tents on the mountain and elsewhere.  My understanding is that the camp near our orchard site has about three hundred or so people that still need to be relocated.  Some have been given land, some have since left, and some are still there.  There are only two camps left on the mountain.  A Squatter on the other hand is a person that has their roots on the mountain from Colonial times.  The mountain is very fertile and the British Colonists denuded large swaths on the side of the mountain and put up huge plantations.  After Independence in the mid sixties the government seized the land, kept some and redistributed some to those they wanted to have it.  The violence stemmed from the fact that one tribe was the ruling tribe and the others were not.  Majority rules and the majority got the land.  Well those that worked the land for the Colonists had no where to go after the Colonists were sent packing.  So they just stayed and the government has been trying to make them leave for quite some time.  We are now almost fifty years since Independence and the original workers are pretty much dead or very old and it is the generations that have followed that are still there working the ground.  I am lead to believe that within the next couple of years under the new Constitution the government and the people of the mountain will have worked out their differences.  People are being relocated and some are getting land so they can stay.  However all these people that live on this north side of the mountain near the Uganda border still have to travel about twenty kilometers to any resemblance of a medical facility.  So my prayer is that we can really help this ministry by planting an orchard to help fund a clinic in this small village named Nabeki. 

Orchard site on Mt. Elgon

Has a great view towards Uganda

Another view of the orchard site

Some children in the village of Nabeki Kenya

After a quick bite to eat we started back down the mountain and it was getting late.  The rain was just sitting there looking to hit us at any time.  We really did not want this to happen and we thank God that we made it to the main road before we encountered any moisture.  Luckily we were on the main road once we started to move sideways because of no traction.  We were able to stay out of the ditch but if we were to go in there were plenty of people to get us out.  On one occasion we went into a pretty cool swerve and the people on the side of the road scattered out of the way as quickly as possible.  All we could do was laugh it off.  We met the young man with our spare tire and we thanked him with his time and effort for us today.  I wonder if he realizes how his contribution to our effort was so important to us.  It was now dark and getting late but we still had a bit before we could get back into Kitale to change our spare since it would not be sufficient to get us back to Kakamega.  We went to a gas station that had a tire repair and there was only one person with a boat load of customers.  We changed the spare with the repaired tire and while Hezron was checking the other tires we had another tire that was loosing air.  We had a two hour trip back to Kakamega and it would not be a good idea to go back without a spare or use the spare he has.  It was decided to repair the tire before we left and it was already late.  The poor guy had so many customers and we waited our turn to have our flat fixed.  After an hour or so we were off to Kakamega.  As I said earlier the road from Kitale to Webuye is not so good.  Well let me tell you when it is night time it is really dark and the road is worse.  You cannot see the potholes until you are about to hit one.  Try to miss it and you hit another.  If I had to guestimate how many potholes and bumps my kidneys were punched today it would be well into the hundreds.  We finally arrived back in Kakamega around eleven thirty and I started to write this blog. 

As I said earlier in my blog it is my choice to get in and out of a car.  As I left Hezron I told him that tomorrow I am not getting in a car.  We will do something Monday.  It is now Sunday and I am going to rest and enjoy the day.  I have tried to post this blog but I cannot get to the internet with my modem either in 3G or 2G.  I will post it as soon as I can.  I was not able to post my last post to facebook either but was able to send it out to my other lists.  This is Kenya (TIK).    

Take care and be blessed.               

Dave