Kat (way 2 go, Kat) lost her first tooth yesterday. And her second tooth today. She got pumped when she found out a “tooth fairy” would visit her room at nite to bring a special gift in exchange for her teeny-tooth. For some reason, known only to Kat, she presumed that this “tooth fairy” is a man. S

 

Brian continues to be sick. This is the 9th day and the doctor here is perplexed what to treat/do. His lab work isn’t showing any one thing in particular. Appreciate your prayers. We are debating whether or not to head down to Nairobi Hospital.

 

Marshmallows came to Kitale. I found them at Trans-Matte, the supermarket. So the kids  have been starting a fire in the backyard at nite to roast them. It took awhile to perfect the craft but having Tait, a Maasai girl from the remote tribal areas, living with us really helped. Starting a fire (usi

Hawk has found her new home. She’s come to rest up in our flame tree in the backyard. It’s been 24 hours and she’s still there. She’s gone from our back porch to a make-shift wire cage (protecting her from dogs at night) to her newest home: the flame tree. She flies from

                          

B & I have been feeling like we needed to find a teacher for the Ark especially for the times when B is in the States and especially as the Bible School transitions into complete Kenyan leadership. Both of us always arrive on the same dude when we consider whom we should ask. Every time. His name is

Love the car. Took her out for my first spin this morning. We all hopped in and I drove through town w/the CD blaring out a song off of the Lion King Soundtrack: “He Lives in Me.” Too much fun going down in Kenya today. Yep, we’re spoiled.

     Lights work. Windows work. It even beeps when I reverse

60 days to the day after our car arrived from Japan in Mombassa ---- we got it! Today! And she’s a sweetie. She’s an older Land Cruiser from Japan whose most difficult job over there was probably driving a few miles from home to the office & then back again. Everything works. Lights work (the kids w

You shake it off. You hold your head up. You smile. And you go on.

    Living in a foreign country humbles you, no doubt. Language - for one. While listening to the Kenyan woman --- clothed in torn, worn cloth, sitting with twenty or more similar women in a mud dwelling this afternoon, knowing that

Brian meets with the Ark Committee for the training school on Mt. Elgon. These are relationships that stretch back several years. Brian is holding a special session of classes geared just for the committee. During the session, Brian decides to ask them their feedback & response concerning the short-

Okay, I said I wouldn’t do it. I said I wouldn’t blog about Britney Spears. But this latest escapade is about more than a celebrity. It reveals, as others close to her have stated, a “lost little girl” crying out “for help.”

                    Sure, I’ve taken my cheap shots at the star here or the

Water: 1, Heather: 0  

I give.

Time for the triage.

Yep - when my oldest daughter starts wearing a skirt, I know that I can hold out no longer on the laundry. Poor thing. She didn’t complain. She is one of those perfect oldest children (yes, I’m jealous) so she would never complain. But I could see

They did it. The kids named the baby ibis. His name is Hawk.

I warned them not to. But they didn’t listen.

             “What if he dies?” I asked. “What then?”

 We’re still not certain he will survive the 2 dogs and 6 cats, although Brian made a wire pen for him that we put down over him and fas

Happy B-day, my dear Brian.

       No, you’re not in college anymore.

                                       But that’s okay.

Because now you don’t have to wear loafers without socks ever again.

 

           All my love ~ me.

      

Water drips into the toilet tank as I type this. I hear it. It’s a reminder. A reminder at how pathetic my complaints generally are.

      We ran out of water yesterday. Yada. Yada. Yada. The city has stopped pumping for nearly 2 months now. More yada. We’ve been running on rain water. It didn’t ra

We found a baby Hadada Ibis hiding in the bushes in our backyard yesterday. Apparently, the mum pushed him from his nest in the tree when a hawk came dangerously too close. Then they made the long trek from the tree to the eastern side of our house - - - not the recommended side since it is where th

A letter from me. In 2003. To you.

 

 

“Brian's teaching trip in Ghana has been going really well, he reports - thus far. Thank you for your prayers and for your support to make this possible! I had mentioned in an earlier letter that Ghana holds a special place in our hearts for discipleship and evan

“Speaker says people who are successful in ministry are probably successful because of something missing in them: they probably

don’t know the love of God.”    

 

A txt message sent

from Brian  

in Portugal last week.

That is a quote taken from an email written to me by one of you this past week.

    

       My response:

        

                               ab·surd (əb-sûrd', -zûrd')

                                adj.

                              1.                    Ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable. Se

It is a fate known only to a few . . . million.

 Okay, hundreds of millions.

     I belong to them.  DNA has dictated my call.

          I am white.           And I am nerdy.      

                                                           Now you know.

I’m too shot to come up with a better title. This will have to do.

One more thing. I forgot. Bry wants you to help her on the weekends when you get back to make a Tusken Raider girls’ outfit. Since she’s going to be 18 this year ---- she gets to join the Star Wars 501st Legion. The thing is - in order to join - you have to have an authentically-looking outfit that

I feel for you, dude. Really, I do. You left this. For Portugal?  

          Whatever.

I’m back to walking outside again for my exercise. Gotta stay hot for the man. But NO more gym. I had switched to the gym a few months ago because it seemed a bit safer. I walk in an area that isn’t all that secure. It’s secluded with pine trees and cornfields all around it. But that’s where THE HIL

We adopted a baby in Africa. In 2003. Her name: Katerisha Mercy Violet.

Her mom had been HIV positive. She had been abandoned. No trace of any family.

For her sake, these were the only conditions under which we were desirous to adopt.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to my one & only dear brother who took me to see The Terminator when I should have been watching Disney . . . and who bought me “The Call of the Wild” when I was all of 11 ~ of which I will never recover.    

                              

She has cancer.

 

The first five years in Africa - we had a car. We called it “The Beast.” It earned its name.

    This time - we don’t have a car. Not yet. This time we didn’t want another “Beast” because either it was going to kill us by relocating our spine into our inner organs with its laughable absorption abil

We’re back.

          

                    Dirty laundry and half unpacked suitcases still sit in the foyer looking at me to relieve them.

                    I did what I could but I guess it wasn’t good enough. So I have come here instead.

                                                      

I’m going to be internet-less from today until the 27th of January. It’s internet detox time. I know it’ll be hard. And sometimes I’ll probably forget who I am while I’m going through it. But I have my family to support me. They are the best.

 

     Actually, we’re just heading out of town and where

They came. 8 of them. Guys.

   A web-designer.

   A pastor.

   A cage-fighter.

   A Pulitzer-winning photographer.

   A computer programmer.

   An artist.

   A mentor.

   A film-maker.  

They left. Ambassadors.

Six wives wait at home for six husbands. Six husbands have gone to Africa leaving six wives at home to fret, pray, rejoice & mostly - miss them.

     Missions is never a one-person show when a family is involved. These six wives have sacrificed for this trip and this ministry as much, perhaps even m

Today was the Adopt a Legacy party day at the swimming pool. 24 kids ranging in age from 2 to 21 splashed around in a swimming pool - most for the first time. The sheer joy was evident on their faces. Most of these kids come from homes & backgrounds where bathing isn’t even a real option. Just a was

Today was party day for the Adopt a Legacy orphans and kiddos. Went to the Club for lunch. Played games/crafts at the house. Went to the museum.

 

     I got peed on.

        I’m cheap. What can I say.

 

I knew that Emmanuel (a 2 yr old) wasn’t potty trained and I was going to buy him some diapers y

The short term team from Dallas has arrived in Kitale.

 

Houston - we have a problem.

How am I supposed to feed 8 grown men????

                                          I didn’t even take Home Ec.

I broke the cardinal rule of hair-coloring tonite.

 

I colored without doing the allergy test first.

 

       I’m pretty sure I might be dying.

Another day. Another broken down car. Another push through town by guys whom I’ll never know but who, because it’s Kenya, push me anyhow.

 

        

  

 

     Legacy School scores the best in our entire region. They are a tough school - for this area. Yet urban areas like Nairobi and Nakuru

Self-confessed hypochondriac. Me.

    So why am I in Africa - land of the tropical germs and HIV?

          

               guess God has a sadistic sense of humor.

 

           No, I’m joking. But He does seem to like to strip us and leave us bare. A bit needy. So that after we have desperately

The 15-year-old girl stood outside the clinic with me today. She had gone in for her HIV test. Like many youth, she is sexually active . . .although a Christian and also although living in a country where HIV claims more lives than one can even imagine.

        I pray for her. And talk to her. And

I so had to begin the New Year

                     already in the confessional.

 

A short-term missions team arrives here from TX on Wednesday and in a last-minute attempt, I jotted off an email to one of the wives begging, pleading . . . hoping ~ that she would make a run to Target for me and pick