Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Adventures of Healthcare in Kakamega
Thank you for all your prayers, support, emails and Facebook shares!
Monday was one crazy long day. After getting the kids ready, strapping Eliana to me in the carrier (which was not comfortable on my chest), walking a ways, taking two motorcycle taxies (one for John and Anna and the other for me and Eliana), we got to the Dr's office only to be told he won't be in for 4 to 5 hours! That's Kakamega. We took a taxi home so Anna could take her nap before needing to head out a second time.
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| Disappointed and tired on the way home after being told Dr was not in |
Rainy season can get pretty intense here so by the time we were supposed to head back to the Dr's, motorcycle taxies were not an option. God provided another way from a fellow missionary in the area who was able to take us in their vehicle, wait for us and bring us home.
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| Exhausted family selfies at the Dr's office the second time |
What should have been a quick trip to the Dr's took the entire day; we got home about 8pm. Then, again because of the rains, we arrived home to no electricity with two cranky and hungry babies ready for bed. It was an exhausting day, but a good one because I did not need another procedure.
Before he examined me the Dr scared us that, depending on the state of the infection, he might have to re-open and re-drain the infection! The idea of having yet another trip to the theater was scary.
But, thankfully, after examining me he said we did good to come at the first sign of infection and that we caught it early enough. He said another round of antibiotics (this will make my fifth) and pain meds, to help with the pain of feeding Eliana, should do the trick.
We appreciate all the continued prayers for complete healing and provision for ongoing medical expenses and a vehicle.
Sincerely,
The Lwoyelo Family
To make a donation toward medical expenses or a vehicle Click Here
To join our monthly support team Click Here
Thursday, October 15, 2015
I could have died! Thank you!!
Thank you so very much to everyone who gave financial gifts
and have kept me and our family in prayers during this difficult time. Our gratitude is beyond words. May God richly bless each of you for your
generosity, your love and kindness in giving. Please take a moment to watch a
short video we put together to say thank you.
(See below)
After being cleared to travel by the doctor we arrived
safely home in Kakamega on the 7th.
I cannot begin to describe how good it feels to be home, healthy and all
together as a family again
Your generous gifts have gone a long way in helping with
medical bills. The way it works here in
Kenya is I would not have been allowed to leave the hospital until we paid our
bill. Thank you. Please continue to
stand with us in prayer as we face ongoing follow up medical bills and
expenses.
This whole experience was a wakeup call to us of just how
urgent a vehicle is. This emergency
could have been avoided had we had a vehicle to access better medical care
sooner. I am just thankful that it was
me and not one of our babies.
The reality of life in Kakamega is that the medical care
here is extremely limited especially in the case of any emergency. The closest emergency facility is a two hour
drive away in Kisumu and this is still limited care. Depending on the emergency, a transfer to
Nairobi would be required. Without a
vehicle we rely on public transportation or taxi. With two young children the public option is
not safe and the taxi option is quite expensive. If an emergency occurred at night the chances
of us getting a taxi are almost zero which would leave us frantically calling
other missionaries in the area or praying that morning would come.
I know that God was in control the entire time, but after
being told that I had the beginning of sepsis, flying to Nairobi and being
taken to emergency surgery upon arriving, has all hit home really hard. What if I had not insisted on them checking
my blood? I was having fevers of 104*F and such violent chills that I almost
dropped Ellie once and couldn’t stop shaking. I thought I was having seizures. Yet the doctors never thought to check my
blood and were still telling me it wasn’t abscesses and I just needed another
round of antibiotics. At what point would they have figured out that sepsis had
begun? I could have died. What if this
was Anna or Ellie? Honestly this is all
I can think about. A car is a necessity.
We are so thankful to be serving God as missionaries here in
Kenya and we know that ultimately He is our provider as well as healer. We love living here, ministering to the Kenyan
people and being part of what God is doing in this country to mobilize His
church for missions.
As we continue our ministry and calling to serve here, in
order to be fully effective, we need a car. And of course serving in a country
with a history of instability requires we have the ability to leave if
necessary with very little notice.
Thank you to everyone who makes it possible for us to be
here serving. Please join us in praying
that God would provide the rest of the funds needed to purchase a car. We have raised 40% of what we need so
far. If you would like to give toward
this need the GoFundMe account my sister set up is still active Click Here. Or if you would like to join our monthly support team, please clickhere. Or visit: https://bethanyinternational.givingfire.com/.
Thank you again for all your love, prayers, encouragement
and gifts.
Sincerely,
The Lwoyelo family
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Our visiting mission pastor
It was so fun having Joe McGinnis our mission pastor from
FBC, our home church in Ohio, visit us here in Kenya for three days!! Though it was Joe’s first time to Kenya he is
not a stranger to Africa. He and his
wife, Aimee, have two beautiful children they have adopted from Ethiopia and
have a huge heart for all of Africa. In
fact Joe was leading a short term mission team from the church to Ethiopia and
decided to swing by Kenya to meet us before heading back home to Ohio. Aimee, I know it was a sacrifice to let Joe
be gone for as long as he was. Thank
you!!
On the last day we took Joe to Dominoes Pizza here in
Kenya. Now I must admit it was more for
me than for anyone else. I felt since I
wasn’t able to join in on their adventure to Kakamega I deserved something
special too. And what makes a pregnant lady happier than food? Not much.
On the first day Joe came to where John and I are staying
and John did the honors of cooking a good traditional Kenyan welcoming meal,
chicken stew with ugali and mboga.
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| Cheff John |
It’s
the whole chicken, including head and claws because as the Kenyans say, "How
else will you know that I’m really serving you chicken and not some wildlife
bird?" Ugali which is made from millet
and maize flour cooked into a hard mound similar to plenta. And Mboga which are traditional greens, or
weeds, as I know some missionaries call them =). Joe was very adventurous and the head in the
pot didn’t stop him for going in for seconds.
A nice large cup of piping hot Kenyan Chai Tea followed along with good
conversation and fellowship. Joe’s
comment after the meal was, “Where’s a hammock when you need one?”
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| Notice the size of the cup of tea Joe has =) |
The second day of Joe’s visit was by far the highlight. John and Joe went on an adventure
together. They flew to Kakamega early in
the morning and flew back the same day. The reason this is such a big deal is
that it was John’s first time every flying.
Joe did a great job documenting the entire experience, thank you Joe. I
of course stayed back in Nairobi and prayed that would not be the day I went
into labor. To read more about this adventure Click Here.
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| Adventurous guys...Read More |
Joe’s visit was a big deal for many reasons. It was the first time our home church has been
able to come to see firsthand the ministry we are involved in here in
Kenya. It was such an answer to prayer for
John to be able to take Joe all the way to Kakamega so he could see our home,
our hostel project and see what ministry on ground looks like for us.
A day well spent
Once on the ground in Kisumu John and Joe had to take public transportation the rest of the way. Joe had no idea what he was in for. In one day he flew in a plane, road in a Matatu, a public vehicle that they squish way too many people into for any form of comfort, locally known as a "ngurue" or pig. After that he enjoyed a ride on the back of a pikipiki, motorcycle taxi, and a boda boda, bicycle taxi and lastly a Tuk Tuk, a motorized rickshaw. The first three they took from Kisumu to our house in Kakamega then another Matatu ride and the Tuk Tuk to get back to the airport in Kisumu.
After all the traveling John took Joe for a nice Kenyan lunch at Lawino 2000 downtown Kakamega. They had a traditional delicacy known as "Aliya." It is beef that has been salted and dried in the sun for five days before being made into a stew. Of course this was accompanied by Ugali and traditional greens.
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| Here they are totally squished in the Matatu. No shoulder room guys.
No one else is smiling, haha
On the back of a Pikipiki, motorcycle taxi
On the back of a boda boda, bicycle taxi, heading to our home
A nice surprise upon arriving at our home. The terrible road is being fixed as well as the opposite plot that used to be a dump site and attracted all the "street families".
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| Quite a feast!! |
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| John teaching Joe how to properly eat the meal. No silverware necessary. |
In a Tuktuk, a motorized rickshaw, back to the Kisumu airport
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| About to board their flight back to Nairobi |
John wore Joe out with all the adventure. Apparently once back at the guest house Joe passed out while sitting up texting his wife back home and didn't wake till the following morning. As soon as John got home he too passed out while I was talking to him. =)
John's first flight!
Oh what a day to remember.
The flight was at 6:40am. John
had to leave the house at 3:00am to pick Joe at the guest house and head to the
airport. Needless to say with the excitement
and anticipation, John didn’t sleep that night.
I woke up to see John off, kissed him on the cheek and said,
“Have a good flight dear.” That totally
made John’s day =).
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| 3:00am Taxi pick up. |
I had always hoped to be the one to share that experience
with John. I had naughty plans of
scaring him at take-off and landing so maybe it was God’s mercy that I wasn’t
able to fly with them. =) Joe was much
nicer and documented the entire trip.
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| Grabbing a cup of early morning coffee at Java House before the flight |
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| Getting his boarding pass. "They called me Sir." - John recalls with excitement |
Walking to the plane
Boarding: "Goodbye Nairobi."
Tell your wife how excited you are =)
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| He knows where his exits are =) |
The anticipation!
Take off part one:
Take off part two:
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| Continental breakfast. Because it was his first flight they gave him 5 extra bags of peanuts and an extra yogurt =). Plus he got to keep the magazines in the pocket in front of him. These as well as napkins with "Kenya Airways" printed on them plus the unused barf bag are among John's prized souvenirs. Haha |
In the air over Lake Victoria
Touch down. Never been so relieved to be back on the ground.
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| Proud to display his unused barf bag =) |
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| At the Kisumu airport. John's first flight: a success!! |
Click Here to continue reading about Joe and John's time in Kakamega before heading back to Nairobi that evening.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Safe in Nairobi
Our plan was to get on the road as early as 7am so that we could take it easy making stops every hour or two. However, when making plans in Kenya you just expect them to not work out exactly the way you've planned and yesterday was exactly that. We didn't get on the road till 1pm! Why? For many reasons including the rental car apparently didn't have insurance and the driver had to renew that first which took forever.
We rented a minivan which I'm very thankful for. I didn't realize how much stuff I'd packed until we began putting it in the car! But can you really blame me? Packing for an unspecified amount of time, for a one year old, my pregnant self and post pregnant self, for a birth and a newborn. And since comfort is one of the biggest priorities to me right now, I took everything but the kitchen sink, or maybe that was in there somewhere too.
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| Notice how much stuff! |
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| There are two live chickens in that box right there |
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| Anna did good most of the trip entertaining herself with things like water bottles. |
I am very thankful we didn't wait any longer to make this trip. Any later than 34 weeks pregnant and I might have been having this baby on the way. There were parts that were quite bumpy and uncomfortable. No rest areas to stop at, which means hiding behind a bush or tree on the side of the road.
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| Changing Anna |
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| Daddy is good at getting her to smile for the camera =) |
The house is beautiful! We are so blessed to be able to stay in this beautiful, spacious home as we wait for baby Lwoyelo. Thank you Lord for such amazing provision!
My very dear childhood friend, Lilian, has graciously offered to come with us and stay for the entire time. She will be my "personal assistant" and make sure that I don't have to worry about things like washing laundry by hand, making meals from scratch and keeping a clean house. She is also a midwife in training and attended Anna's birth.
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| Tired Selfie with Lilian |
I'm also waiting for another very dear friend of mine, Emily, to join us in a few weeks to help out as well. Emily and I were college mates and she is very much a sister to me. She is amazing at back rubs and pampering.
So between staying in this luxurious home, having my hubby and two friends to pamper me, I’m in good hands. =)
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