Victory Highway Team: Tues. March 21 (Jean's Turn)

It has been another busy day! Time is going much too fast -- there is still much to do, and so many people we want to get to know.

The men in Tanzania are pleased that the building is going well. They are thankful that the rain comes at night so they can still work during the day, although the area needs rain so badly. It is the planting season there as well as here in Kenya, so the seed will need sufficient moisture soon.

We ladies here in Kenya spent the day with the Plateau ladies. They are so proud of the rental unit that will soon be ready for tenents! Amy, Carol, Dot and I painted in the morning while the Kenya ladies planted flowers in front of the units. They did a beautiful job of landscaping, complete with borders. They will water them diligently to keep them alive.

We shared a lunch of bread and soda together, and tried to communicate with them through simple words and motions. Most of the women have limited English, but try hard to express their thoughts. And we tried hard to understand and respond.

After lunch, we returned to our painting with at least half of the 17 ladies there today squeezing into the rooms to watch. They were fascinated by the paint rollers we were using, and of course, wanted to try their hand at it. They really became pretty adept at painting in a fairly short period of time.

As we finished and started to clean up, the oil-based paint needed turpentine to remove it from fingers and hands -- even a few spots on faces. I really felt like Jesus washing feet as I held each work-worn hand to rub off the paint with a turpentine-soaked cloth. As I looked at those hands, I could only imagine the work they had done, the children they had held, or the alcohol they had brewed before they came to know Jesus. They are now so proud of their accomplishments and feel they are models for others to follow. They again have hope that life will be better, and are encouraging those who are still brewing to give it up. We will return on Thursday to hang the curtains that we will sew tomorrow. We're looking forward to the "ribbon cutting" and celebration then, too.

Amy treated us to ice cream cones on the way home! And I didn't even think they had ice cream here in Kenya!

When we arrived home, Wayne said that he didn't even miss us! He was busy all day showing Benard how to do a variety of things. His highlight of the day was seeing the look on John's face as he tried the jembe (a short-handled large hoe-like tool) after Wayne had sharpened it. For the last two weeks, John had been putting his whole weight behind each swing to break up the dry, hard ground with a very dull blade. As he took the next swing, it was lucky that his foot was not in the way as he went through the ground almost like a hot knife through butter! Wayne wished that he could have captured that look with his camera. Needless to say, others were anxious to have their jembes sharpened. Thus another teaching opportunity as Wayne showed John how to sharpen other jembes.

That is what ELI is all about -- working beside the Kenyans, or those in Tanzania, or the Congo, or the Sudan -- teaching others to do for themselves. We are already seeing some of the women here at Ilula who sat at sewing machines last week showing others how to use them this week. That is empowerment at its best!

Time to call it a night. Tomorrow's beautiful sunrise will be here once more. I'll enjoy the starry sky as I walk back to my hut in a few minutes. It's so good to reflect on today's blessings and on God's creation and gifts to us. I'm remembering the song we were taught the other night -- "Everything is better when Jesus is on the throne!"

Good night, and God bless. Jean, for the rest of the team.