A photo summary of our trip...

We shared this video in church this morning. Thank you, Southside, for listening to us!! So many of you have welcomed us home, listened to us reminisce, and genuinely been interested in what God has done and is doing in our lives. We love to answer questions...keep them coming!! We love you all.

Hippo Point

Are you ready to see some beautiful photos??  Here's a look at our morning at Hippo Point on Lake Victoria.  We hopped in a boat with a tiny outboard motor, a guide named Titus, and two families looking for a Sunday morning adventure.  The tour began at 6:30am and was supposed to last just over an hour, so we would be back in time for church at Agape.  Unfortunately, not long into the sightseeing, our motor would not restart!  We were stranded for about 45 minutes and decided to worship in the middle of the lake, since we would not make it to church.  It made a beautiful venue to worship our Creator!!  Enjoy...

Boats at Sunrise

View as we departed

Weaver Birds

Weaver Bird nests

Papyrus trees:  If you have seen the movie "The Lorax", now you see where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration for the trufulla trees.  He wrote the book during a trip to Africa.

Fisherman dragging in their colorful nets after a long evening of fishing

HIPPOS!!

These hippos were very close to our boat when we were broken down.  Of course we repeatedly discussed how they were the deadliest animal in all of Africa!

Here's our rescue boat towing us back to shore.  True story:  when the boat pulled up, someone said, "we are rescued"!  Hannah then asks, "rescued from what"?  She had no idea that we were stranded for 45 minutes waiting for help.  Love that girl!!  Wonder where she gets that great, carefree (absent-minded) quality??

We continued our tour on the new working boat.  Hannah and Connor never mind posing for a picture!

A beautiful boat

We are too lazy to look this up, but it's some kind of African bird.  Duh...

After finding the motivation, we discovered this is the Greater Egret.

At this moment, the kids were more than likely having a heated debate over whose turn it was to sit up front.  Looks like the older boys won.

Samuel and Seth's turn up front

Another African bird...please forgive me for all of the technical scientific terms.

The zoologist in JP determined that this is the black-headed heron.

Pied Kingfisher

 JP, Jr. took a rest during the early morning boat ride.

Local fishing community returning to shore after a long night fishing

Thousands of caterpillars covered these trees.

These caterpillars were only out where we could see them, because it was early morning.  Our guide Titus told us that during the day, they hide from birds.  During the night, they "scurry" (according to JP) up the tree to eat the leaves.

Looking through these pictures floods my mind with wonderful memories.

Please pray for our family if you have a chance.  Since the moment we touched down at RDU (literally when the seat belt sign went off at the terminal) our family has been fighting a stomach bug.  We are all pretty wiped out.  Thought we were over it yesterday, but "Kisumu's Revenge" reared it's ugly head again through the night.  Hope to be better by this weekend.  We really want to share our experience with our church family on Sunday.  Thank you!

Petting Cheetahs at Impala Park

There are a couple of outings towards the end of our trip that I did not get to share with you.  This particular afternoon, we took a walk to Impala Park.

View as we walked into the park

As we passed by the warden's office we noticed the plaque stating in all caps, "NO BRIBES".  lol  We've found a park in Kenya with standards and rules that they expect you to obey!

The leopard was only interested in stalking Lyla and Rachel.  She thought they looked tasty.

We intentionally went at feeding time.  JP was scoping out some ribs for our dinner.

These lions were very protective over their meal.  Every now and then a passerby would annoy him and he would roar and charge this flimsy chain link fence.  I was fairly uncomfortable with this situation.  JP made the point that we do not have to outrun the lions.  We just have to outrun the other people around us.  Nice.

The kids called this tree their "ship".  They are the pirates that don't do anything.

Samuel rehydrating

Perrys

Pages

Rachel and JJ

Me and Chester Cheetah

This guys asked us if we wanted a photo with the cheetah.  He said, "just don't show fear".  Really?!

We're not sure this guys even worked for the park.  He probably shared the photo fee with the guy that let us in the gate.

When we got back to the Pages home, Jonathan read a yahoo article about a woman that was attacked by a cheetah that same day.  Maybe this wasn't the smartest thing we've done, but it was cool.

Please vote for Agape!

Hello all!!  We are home safe and sound.  Yesterday we reminisced while unpacking, and it's amazing the lessons God is already teaching us.  I am looking very forward to putting together a rather lengthy blog to describe some of those invaluable lessons to all.

http://givingoflife.com/profile/agape-childrens-ministry/

Right now, if you have time, will you take a minute to click on this link above and vote for this vital ministry?  You do not have to sign up to do so.  Your vote will be counted whether you sign up or not.  It's an organization giving a $10,000 grant to one deserving ministry within the top 5 of each category.  Please check out the website!  Thank you!!

Here are just a few ways that the money will be used.  Each of the missionaries at Agape are well-loved by their home churches and supporters.  Some months giving is lower, but they will each tell you that God has richly provided for their ministry and their families.  Jonathan and I have been given the unique perspective by seeing this ministry first hand.  We understand things about nonprofit and raising support that we never understood before.  Agape is entirely dependent upon the Lord.  In fact, I may be stepping out of line here to explain all of this budget information, but I so badly want people to understand the needs on campus.  God will provide for their needs, and quite honestly, I believe He's give you and me the privilege to be a part of it.

1.  The boys need Kenyan curriculum to teach them to read English.  Tammy and I spent quite a bit of time looking over different reading curriculum from several publishers.  Most of the boys at Agape speak three or more languages.  They were being taught to read English from an American perspective.  I could list several technical reasons why this is very difficult and sets the kids up for failure, but I will put it to you plainly.  Would you want your child to be taught to read English in kindergarten from a Kenyan perspective with different pronunciations of the sound "i" in "kite"?  No!  And that is a very small for instance.  Just this week, a new curriculum is being introduced in the classrooms at Agape.  This will give these boys a huge advantage.  

Once they are reintegrated into their homes, the boys will attend the schools in their villages in the rural area.  Let's don't stop at just feeding and clothing them.  Teaching them to read in a competitive way will help them clothe and feed themselves and their families in the future.

2.  The boys need character curriculum that relates to their everyday realities.  Jonathan and I sat in on an Agape meeting outlining this dynamic devotional program for the boys where the houseparents lead them in a biblical lesson each evening.  Eric and Lisa Kjeldgaard are developing object lessons, memory verses, games and activities to reinforce the biblical character lesson.  That all sounds great, right?!  The problem is the general fund.  There is not enough money to make copies of the character lessons for each of the boys. 

3.  There are many mouths to feed on the Agape campus.  The last figure I remember is that the average cost of one meal is 15 shillings.  That's about 20 cents per meal per person.  The cost of food is not cheap in Kenya, but their funds are used wisely.  They are great stewards of their finances!

4.  Among other costs that I am not aware of, because we were only there for short time, the boys are in constant need of clothes, shoes, uniforms, and medical treatment. There are teachers' salaries to be paid as well as houseparents, a resident nurse, cook staff, office staff, and general overhead/maintenance.  

Okay, that's enough talking about money.  It is great to look at pictures and watch our family minister, but I don't think it's fair for me to show you all of the fun we had without letting you know that there is a huge need at Agape.  You may not be able to contribute to the general fund.  You may not be able to sponsor a bed at Agape for $200 a month (you'll hear more about that soon...bet you can't wait :).  You may not be able to donate at this time, but please take a moment to vote for this vital ministry!  You won't be sorry you did.  We know that blessings come in much richer, fulfilling forms than finances, but I am praying that God blesses Agape's general fund abundantly!!  I will keep you posted if they are awarded the grant.  We know it's in God's hands.

We leave Kenya and these great people in two hours.  Oh how I am going to miss this place.  Please pray for our safety as we travel.  We'll be in the U.S. in about 24 hours.

Pipe cleaners and apples

This past Friday we had activity time with the boys from Agape.  We brought pipe cleaners and decided to make animals with them.  

Boys doing what boys do

Joseph working intently

Charles made new glasses for Kate

Sampson won the competition with his Samaki (fish)

Steven and Jectone with their creations

Daniel with his Cobra

Meshack with his fish

J.J. with his Lion and Jectone smiling in the background

I asked the boys to raise their hand if they had never had an apple, so  I offered them apple slices.  The apple slices were a huge hit.  

Sick little boy

Be in prayer for a boy named Brian.  He is one of the Agape boys who got really sick over the weekend.  He has meningitis, which is very dangerous over here in Kenya.  To make matters worse, his immune system is very weak as he also suffers from H.I.V.  Chris Page admitted him into the hospital Friday evening and stayed all night with him in the hospital, and the other missionaries and house parents at Agape are rotating shifts to stay with him at the hospital day and night.  Jesus tells us to take care of the widows and orphans, and this is one orphan boy who is being taken care of by people who truly love Christ.  Here is Brian back in November when he guest blogged for the Pages.

http://theagapepages.blogspot.com/2011/11/guest-writer-brian-ogolla.html 

Feelin' Groovy

This house is full of projects the past few days!  

Yesterday, Chris and Tammy repaired their friends' tuk tuk before the family's return from the US.

Why pay to have new windows put in, when we have contact paper?!

Chris driving the tuk tuk to the repair shop.

Everyone's shoes

Today, we tie dyed sheets from Agape.  Due to some of the boys traumatic backgrounds, many of them struggle with chronic bed wetting.  We're tie dying the sheets make stains less visible.

 Here, Caleb is starting a fire under one of the sufrias (big metal pots).

Step 1:  Tie rags around the sheets in places to create the pattern.

Hannah and Mama May tying sheets...

The smoke was really suffocating.  Connor was smart enough to come up with a solution.

Lyla and Rachel are working on their smiles.

Step 2:  Place half of the tied sheets into the heated dye.

Step 3:  Ring out the excess liquid and hang to dry.

Jonathan was really bothered by the smoke, but he toughened up throughout the day.

These sheets are dripping until they're flipped to be dipped into another color.

You may remember the Pages blog referring to beef pilau (rice and beef).  We kept referring to this as "sheet pilau".

Protective gear for the smoke, hot water, and dye.  I kept singing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" over and over again in my head.

Caleb, Jonathan, and Jonathan Sr. ringing out the excess liquid

JJ peeking under our clothesline

Sheets and Sufrias

Sutton squeezing the sheets

Dripping Sheets right before this line broke...ooops!!

Random Beautiful flower

Lyla, our little helper

Samuel stirring the sheets...we got lazy and dyed them solid colors.

Hannah is wearing Mrs. Tammy's apron while she and Connor made everyone lunch.

Tammy is working so hard to get new reading programs in place before this school term begins.  

The girls helped her cut out flash cards for a little while.

The gloved crew

Sutton

A praying mantis

The first sheets out of 100 drying in the sun...

We were feeling groovy with all of this tie dye hanging around!

Part of the tie dye crew

The rest of the tie dye crew...thank you to Mama Gladys, Mama May, and Caleb for all of your help!

Besties

My hubby worked hard all day.  We are all pretty drained after this job...

This is one of my favorite designs from the day.

Stained hands

My Redneck <3

Tomorrow we will be rinsing the excess dye off of the sheets, drying them again, and taking them up to Agape.  We have activity period tomorrow afternoon with the boys.  This will probably be our last because school term starts at the beginning of next week and we fly out on Tuesday.

Please continue to pray for all of us.  We are already starting to experience some emotion about leaving.  As you can imagine, we've built pretty strong attachments to these boys, the staff, other missionaries, Kisumu, and of course the Page family!  While we are looking forward to seeing everyone back home, these last few days are going to be difficult and travel home will be exhausting.  Thank you so much for following our journey and praying for us!  We're looking forward to sharing more when we get home.  I'm sure we'll be absorbing experiences from these past few weeks for years to come.  Love to you all!