tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25470030969312811092024-03-06T01:05:10.621+03:00Hank's BlogUpdates from the Wycliffe ministry of Hank and Krista Scott.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-60192810247034095152016-03-05T01:23:00.000+03:002016-03-05T01:32:28.508+03:00March 2016 Check IT Out!Have you ever wondered how Christians become missionaries? Are they just born into a missionary family, or does God do some miraculous work in a person’s life to push them into missions work? Or maybe they have to go to a Christian university and earn a doctorate in theology? Certainly any of those things can lead a Christian down the path into a missions career, and I believe that God does something miraculous in the life of everyone who trusts Christ as Savior, to forgive us and cleanse us of sin and grant us eternal life!<br />
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In our ministry, Krista and I were not born into missionary families, nor did we attend a Christian college and earn traditional Bible degrees. When we began looking into mission agencies in 1996 we looked for months and talked with dozens of mission organizations before we found the place that the Lord was leading us to. Research tools like the Internet were still in their infancy at that time (20 years ago now!) and so we relied on other more traditional forms of communication then, like the telephone and written letters. How the modern world has changed since then!<br />
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This week I am helping with a conference for Information Technology (IT) professionals called “Check IT Out”. This is one way that people who work with technology can find out about
the need for their<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check IT Out participants intently listen to a presentation.</td></tr>
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skills in missions, and investigate whether the Lord may be calling them to serve as missionaries. Since IT professionals turn to the Internet <u>first</u> to search for IT-related missionary jobs, we have a website called <a href="http://checkitout.org/">CheckITOut.org</a> which will show up in web searches. <br />
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Participants in this two day conference see the various ways that technology is used in missions. They also get to hear from real missionaries serving on the field through a live video conference, and their spouses find out more details about missionary life, education options on the field for children, and other topics<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPD9O3Y_qXfJSOpxSSpEEtSW6zM4bVcd8OD6EGoQyFAhPqSku1BeK9nMkuBooM0j88FFOV_LR17Yv7IR1tJdkr3kaa7Wc8CpkJgUBdSFEF0cspsE1vHThg2XrwoiwA3rSkZIDxbhCOv2M/s1600/P1000853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPD9O3Y_qXfJSOpxSSpEEtSW6zM4bVcd8OD6EGoQyFAhPqSku1BeK9nMkuBooM0j88FFOV_LR17Yv7IR1tJdkr3kaa7Wc8CpkJgUBdSFEF0cspsE1vHThg2XrwoiwA3rSkZIDxbhCOv2M/s320/P1000853.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaco and his wife share in a live Google Hangout from Manila, Philippines.</td></tr>
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that are related to their families. There are ample opportunities for them to meet one-on-one in person with staff and managers like me, who are working in their particular area of interest, so they can ask more detailed questions.<br />
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If we hear that someone’s skills are not needed in our organization, we let them know about other mission agencies which may need their skills. Our primary desire is to see the Lord lead people to where <i>HE</i> wants them, not to direct every<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPXi_hqG_7Jk7aIU91dTf9__JrBLseSbkAlDemj5ceHK1v08uEljIv9OIhwkKMDsiPDVeHhMLqurcXwHZUe5qzssIjw9tKOYlKCGrHmg0GfNYKtz4tB9oey1Y4dKc-0FFnqNQrjBGsXPO/s1600/20151023_142751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPXi_hqG_7Jk7aIU91dTf9__JrBLseSbkAlDemj5ceHK1v08uEljIv9OIhwkKMDsiPDVeHhMLqurcXwHZUe5qzssIjw9tKOYlKCGrHmg0GfNYKtz4tB9oey1Y4dKc-0FFnqNQrjBGsXPO/s320/20151023_142751.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leading a tour of our IT department for the group.</td></tr>
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person into our own organization! Sometimes people finish the conference knowing that God is <u>not</u> calling them
into missions work after all, and that is fine too. They have a
better awareness of the needs and they can be praying specifically and
giving financially to others who are going into missionary service.<br />
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We have three Check IT Out conferences throughout the year. Attendance at these conferences has been as low as 10 people and as high as 60! During the summer we have a different, family friendly format for the Check IT Out conference which is spread over a week. The conference takes place each morning and in the afternoons the families are free to do fun things on their own. This has attracted more IT professionals with families.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vp0SyIE_Ek3YVEZAbXnXtYpoA3jhCFUHhChAo1yu3jRNiC9V44A5llh5-y_GquL4dDArsFXGYQ2U3cogaNkhQLf-KStFk2tKgsWBv8bUsCxE1PizK_g5cPO_vFEDIYe3e2GqFvmjeoJn/s1600/FB_IMG_1438344290964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vp0SyIE_Ek3YVEZAbXnXtYpoA3jhCFUHhChAo1yu3jRNiC9V44A5llh5-y_GquL4dDArsFXGYQ2U3cogaNkhQLf-KStFk2tKgsWBv8bUsCxE1PizK_g5cPO_vFEDIYe3e2GqFvmjeoJn/s320/FB_IMG_1438344290964.jpg" width="300" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrbhqR-Stsb2AS0pTHbfZJOa1C5Q9KAc3k3xzeQPpRnIWmVTU4QnxTsb0N1z8CSa7qGNpsG7QCHe2r9DKqbg0Y_ia_zTSMX5V3JyeH-bt_9XQERfn5B28lQ6lZi2rewxYBjnf8hgHiK8A/s1600/P1000797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrbhqR-Stsb2AS0pTHbfZJOa1C5Q9KAc3k3xzeQPpRnIWmVTU4QnxTsb0N1z8CSa7qGNpsG7QCHe2r9DKqbg0Y_ia_zTSMX5V3JyeH-bt_9XQERfn5B28lQ6lZi2rewxYBjnf8hgHiK8A/s320/P1000797.JPG" width="300" /></a>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Interns attending last summer's Check IT Out take a helicopter ride during their free time.</span></div>
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The other two day conferences can be difficult for a family to attend, when children would have to be away from school and their parents would be involved all day in a conference. During the summer Check IT Out an IT worker can take a week of vacation from their normal job and then attend the <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A family experiences the Off-road driving training course at JAARS</td></tr>
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conference with his or her family. They have time every day to do fun
things while they are on “vacation” and then Mom and Dad attend the
conference in the mornings while their children are entertained with
other fun activities.<br />
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This option to find out more details about IT and missions is making it easier for IT pros to take the first steps into the missions world. Many of them leave the conference with a clear plan of their next steps, and in some cases that is to officially apply to Wycliffe to start the membership process.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family picnic with the IT staff during summer Check IT Out.</td></tr>
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I am not a marketing or sales person, nor do I consider myself a professional recruiter. But for this conference I am happy to share about my life experiences with others who have a similar background in technology and are also thinking about using their skills to serve the Lord. We are thankful to God for every person He brings to serve alongside us, and it is exciting to see Him working in the lives of fellow Believers whom He calls into full time Christian service!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-9079462055733611092014-04-16T22:53:00.003+03:002014-04-16T22:53:59.208+03:00Approaching the end, one more day to go...<u>Wednesday, 16 Apr:</u><br />
<u></u>Today our training topics ranged from preparing to support Windows 8, to Comparisons of Office Productivity Suites (namely MS Office, LibreOffice, and Google Docs), to a course on Power Systems, mostly focused on maintaining battery backup systems which is very important in Africa.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo shows the full class. I'm out of the picture on the right corner, along with three other guys.</td></tr>
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I was really blessed that my coworker from Waxhaw, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/106883001298958585450" target="_blank">+Rod Davis</a> taught a number of the courses, including this one on Power Systems, which I originally was supposed to teach! I asked Rod about a week before we came if he could teach this one instead of me, since he taught it at the French IT Connect series which was held a couple of months ago in Francophone Africa.<br />
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Tonight we celebrated the end of our training with a party that the guys put together with games and a special dinner, and completion certificates. We actually have one more day to wrap up the training, but a few of the participants have to leave tomorrow before the end so we celebrated tonight while everyone was still here. Maybe I will post a couple of photos tomorrow, as many were taken tonight by the guys with professional cameras.<br />
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Krista is looking forward to my return home. Just in case I don't get a chance to post another update tomorrow, we will be flying out of Kenya on Thursday evening (Nairobi is currently 7 hours ahead of US Eastern time, so that would be around 3 PM Eastern time) and we will arrive back in Charlotte on Friday evening, about 24 hours of flight time plus a few layovers of a few hours each. Thank you for continuing to uphold this training conference in prayer!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-14610670897509041472014-04-15T18:40:00.003+03:002014-04-15T18:40:42.604+03:00Into Our Second Week of IT Training<b id="docs-internal-guid-5f2994bf-6602-8e10-d89f-3b8d41e7d361" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-5f2994bf-6602-8e10-d89f-3b8d41e7d361" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tuesday, 15 Apr:</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-5f2994bf-6602-8e10-d89f-3b8d41e7d361" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday we began the second week of our IT Connect training course, held in Kenya. Thank you for praying for our IT courses and the participants! The training is going well, covering a lot of topics useful to the IT guys who support field offices which make Bible translation possible. The 28 participants in the course are strengthening relationships with each other as they get to know one another better and build friendships. This is an important factor in African culture. The participants attending the course come from a number of countries in central, south, and eastern Africa, representing SIL and Wycliffe partner organizations.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDwqQ3M3ES1ywvwNgIuXYYPIC1GOK0ieRKGPhA1kHq1AU_JQXn7D-Vj2xxCGFVhc_9AIyREQ0CAwvBOJeXf3upKAt2k_g_KJvhMqoPskjjuZApDUsqCrjdonR08BNOsfxCPPpjzseXvsG/s1600/IMG_20140415_122059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDwqQ3M3ES1ywvwNgIuXYYPIC1GOK0ieRKGPhA1kHq1AU_JQXn7D-Vj2xxCGFVhc_9AIyREQ0CAwvBOJeXf3upKAt2k_g_KJvhMqoPskjjuZApDUsqCrjdonR08BNOsfxCPPpjzseXvsG/s1600/IMG_20140415_122059.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starting this week we discussed an important topic which often gets overlooked: planning for disasters. In Africa things like lightning, fire, extreme temperatures and unstable power conditions are common threats to IT services. Also civil unrest is quite common in some countries where translation and language development is taking place. When all expatriate staff have to evacuate from a country, leaving only the national translators there to continue the work, what happens to the support for computer systems, power, and Internet connectivity?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5D0GctMvGjGrg-20e1DGDK0FJH-tz1Ws9I-j9Z5IZZ2Qo5tnpBS8zVz9MG42z0FeMbahfKGYjt5lbGc0aGBWxt32WSRLW5rHS4aRe4I9-o6zmzkOnxm62YpNekuOTfe_DEcCddX3xtwlP/s1600/IMG_20140415_122052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5D0GctMvGjGrg-20e1DGDK0FJH-tz1Ws9I-j9Z5IZZ2Qo5tnpBS8zVz9MG42z0FeMbahfKGYjt5lbGc0aGBWxt32WSRLW5rHS4aRe4I9-o6zmzkOnxm62YpNekuOTfe_DEcCddX3xtwlP/s1600/IMG_20140415_122052.jpg" height="249" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These things don’t just run on their own without ongoing maintenance and tuning from the IT staff. So it is very important to make sure that planning is done ahead of time to be prepared for such situations. This is part of why we are conducting this training, and as you can see from the photos a good number of the participants are nationals, working in their own countries. These guys won’t be the ones evacuating, but will still be there to provide IT services to the translators, making the work more sustainable even in times of unrest.</span></div>
</b><b id="docs-internal-guid-5f2994bf-6602-8e10-d89f-3b8d41e7d361" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the weekend I completed the development of a course on Cloud Computing which I taught this afternoon. While the use of the “cloud” - Internet services where data can be stored and accessed - might not be practical in Africa today in many situations, we know that it will become more possible as better Internet access becomes available. So my goal is to educate the IT guys about what is happening, so that when the people they support come to them asking for a cloud solution, they will know how to provide good advice and avoid some of the common pitfalls.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Internet access at the center where our training is taking place is not much better than last week, and is still unstable, but since I have been using a prepaid cellular data service through my Smartphone, I have been able to get to what I need online and it is working quite well. Krista and I have even been able to connect with each other using video to say hello, which makes it feel like I am closer to home. Today I even was able to participate in a video conference with my coworkers in the USA for a project status meeting, and the technology worked perfectly!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" />I am very thankful to have a solution to the problem that was plaguing me last week. Most people will think, “No problem, who needs the Internet?” But when it is critical for me to work, it is actually more important than having a bathroom! (The accomodations are very nice here and we have indoor plumbing by the way.) Thanks again for your continued interest and prayers for this conference!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below, I uploaded a picture of a cell phone SIM card which I had to cut with scissors to fit into my newer model phone. The newer phones come with "mini" SIM cards, which are smaller than the normal SIM cards which have been used for years. Fortunately it is possible to trim them down on all four sides to make them fit into a mini SIM card phone. That's something I had not done before, and of course if you cut the card wrong you can wreck the card, so it was sort of like doing surgery, being very careful and precise! The card <u>does</u> work fine!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeQCfjKAOAoSyVHz6226y53cK4oA4hv_2m1dPHGeF7ltjgf7-1kIzSrfngxuz_NXcj1s3Kk3YBRPZ8aPWf6LDrq8JAS6awaUXj3Upc4E9imWKNd3NOYNt5zDpdVsXc22ZsSRhFdJ-sGYT/s1600/IMG_20140411_104917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeQCfjKAOAoSyVHz6226y53cK4oA4hv_2m1dPHGeF7ltjgf7-1kIzSrfngxuz_NXcj1s3Kk3YBRPZ8aPWf6LDrq8JAS6awaUXj3Upc4E9imWKNd3NOYNt5zDpdVsXc22ZsSRhFdJ-sGYT/s1600/IMG_20140411_104917.jpg" height="427" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The original SIM card which was in the phone is the small white one near the bottom, and the new card which I purchased in Africa is the darker color one above it. The small scraps which I cut off are between the SIM cards and the Sharpie pen.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-17088886497935989612014-04-11T22:54:00.000+03:002014-04-11T23:04:45.860+03:00Wrapping up the week<u>Friday, 11 Apr:</u><br />
Our training courses today covered some helpful topics for IT managers such as security risks for mobile phone users and risk assessment for field offices (a comprehensive focus covering security of data, equipment, network vulnerabilities, environmental risks, etc.)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5r-yX_LN_c3hyphenhyphenIbKZTlwRKi0dtBPbKmxzlJLECCqxQjDGifsX3ikbnQZF4Iy3cWEiCSpx-LiJqmZJY585wMrdz2nWs7bHMzUOvmokEFUIcN5Lh5b1W_J3ygfrRZgmHoaW3qH4eV_RnxG/s1600/Group-IT-connect-2014-kenya-IMG_3225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5r-yX_LN_c3hyphenhyphenIbKZTlwRKi0dtBPbKmxzlJLECCqxQjDGifsX3ikbnQZF4Iy3cWEiCSpx-LiJqmZJY585wMrdz2nWs7bHMzUOvmokEFUIcN5Lh5b1W_J3ygfrRZgmHoaW3qH4eV_RnxG/s1600/Group-IT-connect-2014-kenya-IMG_3225.JPG" height="262" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 2014 IT Connect Kenya Conference participants (Bill Mayes, conference leader pictured in front).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I also received a new SIM card for my phone today, which I asked the conference center office staff to purchase for me. This will allow me to have a different mode of Internet access over the cellular network even if the normal Internet services at the center continue to act up. There is some important work that I need to get done this weekend which requires Internet access, so I should be in good shape now. The cost for this data access was less than the cost for cellular data in the USA. I'm using it right now to post this update and it is SO much better - things actually work like they should!<br />
<br />
There are supposed to be about 100 teenage youth at the conference center starting this weekend for a few days, so I am expecting things to get pretty noisy and busy here! Also I'm looking forward to getting some rest this weekend (I have earplugs!) I won't be going to any of the shopping or sight seeing events tomorrow, as I need to rest up. I have been in the training courses all day and then working until at least midnight every day, only getting between 4-6 hours of sleep daily. So I need to get some rest so that I don't get sick from being worn out.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your prayers! I may not post any updates this weekend, unless I see things of interest with the 100 youth here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-56675255054503886292014-04-11T01:09:00.000+03:002014-04-11T01:51:27.904+03:00Up again, Down again<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<u>Thursday, 11 Apr</u>:<br />
On day three of our IT Connect training course our Internet access has started to improve, but it still has times when it is very slow and unusable. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg0eK1XE12zG_9FWQ0qysJzILlNufO7XMtrNs_0IZxU_R5pbHihyphenhyphen21QQeQ6fVX1rclJ2tcPsYqH3KJDDR2euBbg9Wg73eNDkK_Lpn-yhk3ErCO8Wp2lanU6n0hY8Iyu8olU9qzR9s8Joo/s1600/2014-04-10+12.32.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg0eK1XE12zG_9FWQ0qysJzILlNufO7XMtrNs_0IZxU_R5pbHihyphenhyphen21QQeQ6fVX1rclJ2tcPsYqH3KJDDR2euBbg9Wg73eNDkK_Lpn-yhk3ErCO8Wp2lanU6n0hY8Iyu8olU9qzR9s8Joo/s1600/2014-04-10+12.32.47.jpg" height="279" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Course participants line up to receive new equipment.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The training today didn't require a lot of Internet access, unlike the Google training I was doing the last two days, so the courses went very well.<br />
<br />
We are starting to make weekend plans, as many of the IT guys who came here from other countries will do some sightseeing in Nairobi on Saturday, and church on Sunday. For some of them coming from remote places, the opportunity to shop at a real store (similar to Walmart in the USA) is a big deal. Others want to see the Giraffe park or other wildlife things, like Krista and I have done on past trips. The group of 27 guys is bonding well, and we have a number of staff here for the first time, so it is their first introduction to the IT Connect training courses, and to meet their IT coworkers from other countries.</div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
This afternoon I was able to have a Skype call with Krista and it was crystal clear with no delay! But later tonight I tried to call her again to talk longer and it was choppy, dropping words here and there. The Internet access seemed slower again, so we decided to hang up and try it very early tomorrow morning (my time) which will be near midnight for Krista. Hopefully nobody else here will be using the Internet then and we will have better access.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MhvpRKR__B-i63AxdQG1me5B5MPD9OR4_eBjSFwfVJP0Gpnv_TCUV0Imlrmvj2t0BA9EVjsgnsD7eBFdTyerdnOoUcOd5evI5CDd948upyTdlw0FWDUvTZtHyU2ERwmikbvoNerJMLb6/s1600/High+Speed+Internet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MhvpRKR__B-i63AxdQG1me5B5MPD9OR4_eBjSFwfVJP0Gpnv_TCUV0Imlrmvj2t0BA9EVjsgnsD7eBFdTyerdnOoUcOd5evI5CDd948upyTdlw0FWDUvTZtHyU2ERwmikbvoNerJMLb6/s1600/High+Speed+Internet.JPG" height="55" width="320" /></a>Here's a screen shot from the results of a speed test I ran when things seemed slow tonight. Those numbers should be about 1.50 download and upload speed for here. Obviously right now the Internet is fast enough that I could even upload a couple of photos!</div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
Lots of news has been shared yesterday and today about the Heartbleed computer bug which has the potential to give hackers access to everyone's passwords. My coworkers back in the USA have been busy patching our systems there to close this potential hole, and communications are being prepared to share with our global missionary staff with guidance on what steps they should take to ensure their data security. It is times like this that we in the technology field earn our keep.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
That's about all I have to say today! Thanks as always for your continued interest and prayer support.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-6554920361766065112014-04-09T22:43:00.001+03:002014-04-11T01:54:17.642+03:00Still waiting on the web!<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><u>Wednesday, 9 Apr</u>:</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Our saga of weak Internet access continued today. I finished up the Google Apps course, but we had to skip the interactive labs again because the class didn't have good enough Internet access. They will be able to do some of this testing on their own later, but I was looking forward to the class interaction, as we always learn more and learn better when we can do things together in a group. Even without the lab exercises, I think the education on Google Apps was really helpful for the IT guys, so they will be better prepared to provide help for the many hundreds of people they support across Central and Eastern Africa.</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEeB-1F7ukUr6KVHCCD9hdBxH2pvd4aMWZBvH7ZRi9eGoKlqkRd5ohArus0hgXQ8QWwInYmI4wG0l5XUsT9ijDmPq3lONslDNaB4G01utWMcEBagMT6kFXWKXre_Hnx2B8ac7Q1fS5DYj/s1600/2014-04-09+18.14.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEeB-1F7ukUr6KVHCCD9hdBxH2pvd4aMWZBvH7ZRi9eGoKlqkRd5ohArus0hgXQ8QWwInYmI4wG0l5XUsT9ijDmPq3lONslDNaB4G01utWMcEBagMT6kFXWKXre_Hnx2B8ac7Q1fS5DYj/s1600/2014-04-09+18.14.00.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(IT Discovery team Google Hangout conference call)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This afternoon the Internet bandwidth improved for a while and I was actually able to make a Skype call to Krista and talk for a few minutes, which was nice. At dinner time our IT Discovery leadership team had a conference call with the other leaders who were in Chad, Africa and Canada. The call was over the Internet, so we asked all the IT guys not to use the Internet for two hours so we could have our call without it being dropped. That worked OK, but at 8:10 PM when other people started to use the web again, our call dropped.</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I have been in other places with poor Internet access so this is nothing new to me, and I usually come prepared to work offline just in case, with all of my email synced offline, and this time around all of my Google Documents synced offline too. But we held this course at this location because historically their Internet access has been pretty good, and that is very important for the training we are doing! I would appreciate continued prayer for a solid improvement in the Internet connection here, as we have another week of training to get through!</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/19.99px Helvetica, Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Otherwise the weather here is beautiful, sunny skies and warm temperatures, and other things like reliable power and the food are great! Thanks for upholding this training conference in prayer!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-61260787267328556682014-04-08T22:19:00.000+03:002014-04-11T02:06:06.067+03:00Really bad Internet access today...Well I spoke too soon yesterday about having decent
Internet. After lunch the Internet got really sluggish to the point of
nothing working on my laptop or other people's either. The wireless
connection at this location was fine, but the connection from the
network to the Internet was not working well at all. We were really
concerned about it because I was to teach a Google Apps course today and
I had planned on a lot of interactive labs which all required Internet
access!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
The Network Manager here called their ISP (the
company who provides their Internet connection) and asked them to
upgrade it because we had a lot of IT people here and we needed more
bandwidth. But we think the problem is bigger than just a lack of
bandwidth. This morning a couple of us got up at sunrise before all the
other IT people had arisen and ran some speed tests and it was still
terrible.<br />
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCj9T-FVobGWyf623Obs83h3PM-D5qim_pXOF0mxjadtfptLdJKpsoz_EVHckB-Bij8Q1ANUKbga5wssTXYaIACUGbwrgQ-6sX_N3upDSGk0Q3zkH4ViJhHYZNU4-0YpbTYTfXedPv0OgQ/s1600/IMG_0656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCj9T-FVobGWyf623Obs83h3PM-D5qim_pXOF0mxjadtfptLdJKpsoz_EVHckB-Bij8Q1ANUKbga5wssTXYaIACUGbwrgQ-6sX_N3upDSGk0Q3zkH4ViJhHYZNU4-0YpbTYTfXedPv0OgQ/s1600/IMG_0656.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hank, Teaching on Google Apps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
I taught the first half of my course today but
we had to leave out most of the online labs because the Internet was so
bad. When I say bad, I mean like nobody could even get to google.com to
do a search and even minimal email was not working as it should.
Interestingly, the email on our smart phones was working, and that uses
the same Internet connection as laptops, not a cellular connection
here. But I think the cell phone email uses less data and so it seemed
to work better. In fact even now I am having to type this into my phone
because my laptop couldn't get a good enough connection to post this
text.<br />
<br />
We are praying that the ISP vendor fixes the problem tomorrow.
The connection is much worse than what most of our field offices have! Please join us in praying that this gets better, as much of the training over this two week timeframe requires Internet access. Thanks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-53344716096342049382014-04-07T11:19:00.001+03:002014-04-11T02:10:57.636+03:00Hank's Journal: April 2014 Kenya TripI decided to keep a brief journal on this trip and share it through these blog posts. Thanks for praying for me and the other IT Connect participants! I will make an effort to update my journal daily and new entries will appear at the top of the blog. When I get a chance to throw in a photo or two I will do that. Here are my journal notes from yesterday and today:<br />
<br />
<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Sunday, 6 Apr:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">2nd day of flying... On trips like this you sort of go into time warp. You lose track of what time it really is after going across many time zones and your body gets confused about when to sleep and when to be awake. Looking forward to getting to a bed to sleep! Only had a couple of hours of sleep on the plane in 30 minute segments, because I am a light sleeper. On Saturday while flying, I finished up most of the content for the course I will teach. Just a few final touches to make when I get Internet access, so it is good to have that out of the way!</span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Monday, 7 Apr:</span></u><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZ4ggja-I6sVDw_shyphenhyphen8fiDBDEZOo1S9vGsv2wrDxe2n1Hwp1KwIE_5AfgcBoKIspVMxhRrvVdwLdoJQZ_viVT-4rUYmZ-8fbeD_dtdK3TfD9Qpk9An11ix6raOhqRV7yg61bUelfiOFgM/s1600/2014-04-08+07.59.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZ4ggja-I6sVDw_shyphenhyphen8fiDBDEZOo1S9vGsv2wrDxe2n1Hwp1KwIE_5AfgcBoKIspVMxhRrvVdwLdoJQZ_viVT-4rUYmZ-8fbeD_dtdK3TfD9Qpk9An11ix6raOhqRV7yg61bUelfiOFgM/s1600/2014-04-08+07.59.18.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast at the conference center.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Arrived at the conference center around midnight last night. Got to bed around 1 am. Didn't have any internet access so could not let Krista know I got here safely. =( At breakfast now, it is great to see my African friends from all over again and see them greet each other too, as many have not seen each other for a year. Only part of the participants are here now, the rest will arrive today or tonight. We expect 28 people for this course, including 4 of us who are specifically trainers.</span><br />
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Later: I got Internet access so I was able to tell Krista I arrived safely. Very thankful for the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102708307632999019941" target="_blank">+WhatsApp</a> program which she and I use for international texting on our phones! She knows not to worry when she doesn't hear from me, because often if I arrive late at night there is no Internet until the next day. All if the African SIM cards I bought last year for my phones had expired so I couldn't even call her on the phone. It is getting more difficult to buy SIM cards here due to government restrictions because of scams, hacking, and illegal / terrorist activity.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;"><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113632312725573576101" target="_blank">+Kyle Edwards</a> from Wycliffe USA just installed new wireless equipment here at the BTL CICC center, two weeks ago, so we seem to have good WiFi coverage now for the first time in the 5 years I have been coming here. That combined with the new firewall I helped set up when I was here last February means our internet access is now reasonable and usable! In Africa, reasonable Internet is sort of a variable thing. It means that most of the time I can get an email message and sometimes I can browse the web.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.9999942779541px;">Even while I was posting this message, Google kept telling me it couldn't save it every now and then as I was typing. But that is typical for here, as the Internet service providers tend to be overloaded and generally not very stable, regardless of what type of Internet access you have, fiber, WiMax, T-1, 3G cellular, or some other type. Satellite Internet is usually pretty stable, but it is slow and extremely expensive, so we like to use faster and more economical options when available, but they tend to be sort of bumpy.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0Ruiru, Kenya-1.1488889 36.9569444-1.2123909 36.8762634 -1.0853869 37.037625399999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-62705516595274535692013-05-28T11:36:00.001+03:002014-04-07T11:21:15.435+03:00Tuesday, May 28, 2013- Wrapping Up Our 2013 Trip<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last week we finished the IT Connect training conference on Friday and the participants headed back to their respective countries: Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Sudan, and a few IT guys locally from Kenya. Krista and I had a chance to do some shopping and sight seeing again over the weekend, and we attended a large church in Nairobi.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This week I have been in the office in Nairobi helping with some research on improving the wireless network for the office and the guest accommodations. This service is especially important for guests who arrive here from other countries and need to connect with their coworkers or family back "home". The normal tool they use for this is Skype, but without an Internet connection this is impossible. I have experienced that many times myself on prior trips! So we are working on improving the wireless coverage so all guests will have Internet access to communicate with others for important work or family connections as they pass through this regional center.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Krista and I are also meeting today with the head of HR for SIL Africa Area to talk about our thoughts and questions as we consider moving here. If you have seen Krista's Facebook posts or other notes, you will know that we are feeling now like this is <i><u>not</u> </i>the time to come here to live. We are still seeking the Lord's guidance in this important decision and we appreciate your prayers!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">While there is certainly a need in East Africa for qualified IT people with my skill set, we also have identified some important issues and concerns which we don't see an immediate resolution to, which would prevent us from moving here. Getting Krista's perspective on these things has been really helpful and I appreciate and respect her opinion. Over the years, she and I have always been together in unity as we look to the Lord for His direction, and we are now sensing that He may be saying, "Not Yet" as far as coming here or elsewhere overseas.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On one hand that is discouraging, because we have both been looking forward to the possibility to serve the Lord closer to the "front lines", but we also know that God's timing is perfect. We recognize that my role in serving the fields from a central office in the USA, basically as the Director of Technology R&D for SIL's global operations has a strategic significance. I would need to leave that role to serve in Africa. Therefore remaining in the USA has a positive side that I would continue in my current role, helping oversee the development of solutions that impact Bible translation and language development around the world.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We will continue to seek the Lord's will in this matter and try to stay sensitive to His leading! I may be able to have an increased focus on involvement in Africa Area IT work even from the USA, and that is something that I need to investigate further, in discussions with our leaders.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We fly out this evening on an overnight flight to Amsterdam, then have a few hour lay-over there, and tomorrow make the remaining flight back to the USA - about 25 hours in all from the time we take off on our first flight until we land in Charlotte. We have had a good trip here but we are now looking forward to getting home!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks again for praying for us during this important trip! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-45131351291521344882013-05-23T23:21:00.000+03:002013-05-23T23:21:24.380+03:00Birthday - Tuesday May 21<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86F_wfSJB_8_hyphenhyphenF9uoyZsWrTB1wVaxM-RJgr2D50Cdne1-6tXdNXXVzYV2750-hKxp13hOEkCARHuAMC7n8Cs4P1eKHGGMN-AFcbJmpVJV4qnaMRy5ftBIL72uHEnOY4j9l1wXIw8k0nu/s1600/2013-05-21_10-09-38_967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86F_wfSJB_8_hyphenhyphenF9uoyZsWrTB1wVaxM-RJgr2D50Cdne1-6tXdNXXVzYV2750-hKxp13hOEkCARHuAMC7n8Cs4P1eKHGGMN-AFcbJmpVJV4qnaMRy5ftBIL72uHEnOY4j9l1wXIw8k0nu/s320/2013-05-21_10-09-38_967.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today is Tuesday, May 21st. Happy 49th Birthday to me! Next year is the big 50. Absolutely incredible! I am now in that “mature” age bracket, huh? HA! I still feel like 29 inside. A tad slower on the outside though... :)<br /><br />Well, this was a good morning. My hair dryer worked well and there were no lizards in our room. I was so afraid that I would blow a circuit again with my dryer and then <i>“I would blow a circuit myself”</i>. Thank you Lord! And thank you for a good night’s rest too. With no lizards.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This morning I again sit in the classroom with the IT team although I am not listening to them but to my music through headphones. Too much of that IT lingo lulls me to sleep. Just in case, I slip out to the veranda to purchase a coke, the highest in caffeine that they have available. Coke in the morning is yuk to me but a necessity as I do not drink coffee. Hey, I made myself an ice-tea yesterday. They don’t have ice here, so at tea time, I poured a hot tea and let it cool. I found a small fridge in the bottom of a water-cooler, poured cool water in the hot tea and placed it in the fridge for a bit. By lunchtime, it was cool enough to drink. Still no ice, but it was so good to my taste buds.<br /><br />Let me catch you up on the weekend. It was very busy and very tiring.<br /><br /><u><b>SATURDAY, May 18:</b></u><br />We visited the Maasai Market. Now for those of you who know me, most know that I do not care for shopping, even for groceries. I don’t care for the crowds and those who are inconsiderate of others and leave their cart (buggie) in the middle of the isle. I would rather purchase everything via the computer. BUT, when it comes to novelty items, then I like to shop. I don’t necessarily always purchase but I do like to look. In describing this shopping trip, I am not sure where to begin. It was INCREDIBLE including various emotions.<br /><br />First, it took us nearly an hour to arrive there after leaving the BTL Conference Center. There were 11 of us in total, including our driver, Robert (not our usual sounding “Robert”; more like “Rowbert”). The Maasai are a tribe who make their own items to sell and the market is located downtown Nairobi. As you enter the gate, a guard waves a security wand over your body. Immediately, you are overwhelmed with the closeness of the people and the brokers that come and invade your personal space. Not to sound mean, but they remind me of mosquitoes and I attracted three of them quickly because I was a “white-lady”. Brokers do not work for a particular person but for themselves to obtain money, of course. They want you to buy everything and to buy immediately. You find yourself constantly saying to them “no thank you, no thank you” and inside you are thinking “GO AWAY, GO AWAY, NOW!”. Eventually, they go away for a minute or two and give you a break but they do return to your side. I was looking for a few particular items for my children so it was difficult to concentrate but I managed.<br /><br />None of the items are labeled with a price. You have to ask the owner or artist what they want for it and then dicker out an agreed upon amount. Usually, they write it down first and then you counter it with another amount much, much lower. I feel that I did fairly good for myself. I found a picture of an elephant painted on banana fiber and the artist wanted 180,000 shillings for it, which would have been about $2,250. I actually think he meant 18,000 shillings which would have been about $225, at least I want to believe that is what he meant. After the dickering process, I made the purchase for 2,000 shillings which was about $25.00 AND he included another smaller one during one portion of the dickering process so I got two pictures. Now, when I arrive home, I will frame and display them near my Africa shelf. I would tell you my other good deals, but then my family would know what I purchased for them. <br /><br />After a while you get really perturbed with the brokers who constantly follow you and are in your face. They constantly tell you story after story which you know is not true. At one point, I got so irritated that I stopped.... looked up to the peskiest of them all and said: “do you know what the phrase, ‘you’re full of bologna means’?” His response: “no mama, I do not”. He backed off a bit after that. Overall, I enjoyed the event and plan to return this Saturday to finish my shopping. This time I will really now how to handle ‘em :)<br /><br />After the market experience we visited a store similar to Wal-Mart but it was called Nakumatt and it was actually stocked better than our US Wal-Mart stores. I bought two size D batteries for 90 shillings which was $1.13 US. I thought that was a pretty good price. Remember the old store called Woolworth’s? They had one of those and it was really nice too.<br /><br />So after the trip to the Maasai Market and Nakumatt and then the dusty bumpy road trip back to the center, I was really tired but after a week of not getting out, it was well worth it :)<br /><u><b><br />SUNDAY, May 19:</b></u><br />We attended worship service at a local church. We were told </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FULmVYY8VNjF9Cwf-WLr94JfIRHh5_b9NvZWesdkCQgmc73Z42n54E61J79gCnYbu8SyObgoNczVL6axrd0UR0q3bNOV5agCYlpOibdcv2aJTtVgTWwXN_KApKSgReu7gs01cFlCgxhH/s1600/2013-05-19_10-13-38_498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FULmVYY8VNjF9Cwf-WLr94JfIRHh5_b9NvZWesdkCQgmc73Z42n54E61J79gCnYbu8SyObgoNczVL6axrd0UR0q3bNOV5agCYlpOibdcv2aJTtVgTWwXN_KApKSgReu7gs01cFlCgxhH/s320/2013-05-19_10-13-38_498.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">that our walk there was about 10 minutes. I put on the new maxi-dress that I had purchased and the new sandals. Twenty minutes into the “walk” down this road that sort of tilted to one side......I was getting pretty weary and nearly turned back. But, being the only woman in the group of men, I was determined not to give up. (I would now like to give them the 2-inch blister that I acquired on my foot from trying to keep up with them!) Anyway, after 45 minutes, we came upon the 3-story brick church building. When we entered the gate, I knew immediately that I was the only white-woman. AND after climbing the 3 flights of stairs, I was the only white-woman sweating bullets :( Being on the 3rd floor brought a small breeze to the overly stuffy room. All of the Kenyan ladies were dressed to the hilt. They were all so attractive.<br /><br />Amazingly, they had their babies dressed in fall and winter clothing. One little one, probably 8 months, was dressed in a wool hat, sweater and boots. Here in May and June, they are entering their winter months and most are chilly and usually wear a heavy jacket. To me......this is perfect weather! No jacket in my closet!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsZbTIKRSxDcSFzfPsGAGmXVU6tRRI7onRgCPlPEKm1G_D9iaG4tPMQWM-kyajJA74z-CXh2QJId66g7cCqAk6FB7Cx0eCChdMx-XsbSV0gese4DtCaxZLkUKzERVhj89nPUZ-tT6OPQj/s1600/2013-05-19_11-35-17_195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsZbTIKRSxDcSFzfPsGAGmXVU6tRRI7onRgCPlPEKm1G_D9iaG4tPMQWM-kyajJA74z-CXh2QJId66g7cCqAk6FB7Cx0eCChdMx-XsbSV0gese4DtCaxZLkUKzERVhj89nPUZ-tT6OPQj/s640/2013-05-19_11-35-17_195.jpg" width="640" /></a>The service began with music of course including electric piano and drums. Songs were sung in Swahili and then some in English. The music was great and we could praise the Lord however we wanted. We didn’t have to stand motionless but could worship as we felt led. From shortly before 11:00 and until noon, we sang, listened to announcements, listened to young children recite scripture by heart, sing solo’s and quote poetry. It was so spirit filled. Unfortunately for me, I was terribly hot, which I am most of the time for those of you who know me. Thank goodness for a little battery-operated fan and loud music. I sat that little fan behind the paper bulletin in my lap and I don’t think anyone saw it :) <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7RlaPXp_bfKt8H3RwFpo6m7Hd2_pwYAQn-TTpfWQAvHzITGHu7RnVlNLjpS1MaBnKfXFQpjHWbg8ZPkytttVG-aBGhMxPrnnfzKnbmPhmDyD7kCoa9ja9vn1KYShPPoLhtuPO98Jmofn/s1600/2013-05-19_12-36-03_736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7RlaPXp_bfKt8H3RwFpo6m7Hd2_pwYAQn-TTpfWQAvHzITGHu7RnVlNLjpS1MaBnKfXFQpjHWbg8ZPkytttVG-aBGhMxPrnnfzKnbmPhmDyD7kCoa9ja9vn1KYShPPoLhtuPO98Jmofn/s200/2013-05-19_12-36-03_736.jpg" width="112" /></a>Because we had scheduled a group to leave the center at 1:00 for an outing, our leader suggested that we leave the service early. That time happened to come just as the pastor began his sermon. I felt awkward leaving then but it was nothing we could control. So, we began our “walk” back to the center.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOodZPY_yM5b8BKf465lGfyguODDsg-gcU2mPvy9ZVSCoS24C8qmy2tKRrAf0_8h-WxhyphenhyphendLFWi8LBs3m3W0WGa80G3FZbawY5ubxetA6uGhyi1edat0nHJjgcROs9jmib9FTSWLd_SIip/s1600/IMG_6487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOodZPY_yM5b8BKf465lGfyguODDsg-gcU2mPvy9ZVSCoS24C8qmy2tKRrAf0_8h-WxhyphenhyphendLFWi8LBs3m3W0WGa80G3FZbawY5ubxetA6uGhyi1edat0nHJjgcROs9jmib9FTSWLd_SIip/s320/IMG_6487.JPG" width="320" /></a>At 1:30 we left for the Giraffe Center in a van with 10 of us in total. The trip was over an hour’s drive. Again! But the giraffe were so beautiful and so unique. Did you know that the heart of a giraffe weighs 25 pounds? And that they only sleep for an hour at a time. Also, the most vulnerable time for them to be attacked by lion is when they bend down to get a drink of water. The center we visited had 15 of their own giraffe that they bred and raised. Each had a name and a personality all their own. “Daisy” was the first that I approached and fed. She didn’t like to be pet at all and was real good at head-butting. I mostly fed “Helen” who seemed to be starved (I think that she just liked the food) and would let me pet her. So absolutely incredible that God created each one so different. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh! And I got a giraffe-kiss. All you had to do was hold a pellet (a long one, of course) between your lips and bend towards the giraffe. They knew exactly what to do! <br /><br />After we finished visiting the Giraffe Center, we headed for a bead factory but because I am tired of typing and Hank needs to edit this, I will tell you of this factory later.<br /><br />So, today ends my “birth” day. Thanks mom, for having me 49 years ago. And dad too! :)</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10565813127607438931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-16580526940409947902013-05-20T23:52:00.001+03:002013-05-21T20:46:36.153+03:00Friday May 17<b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSvxVFYYzDCmdcnrIsHAX_HWYU0LJfx3xoBYrKJxJEJSCwNwc4nkyEEQiEpSk8Xv7EtInfTHlEBj7C6cIsqdnlp-KDhK0GHwRFBLO8kJkEULQZnvzZbOrSqbhklTDCQVpa3PTHXHhiBiO/s1600/IMG_6400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSvxVFYYzDCmdcnrIsHAX_HWYU0LJfx3xoBYrKJxJEJSCwNwc4nkyEEQiEpSk8Xv7EtInfTHlEBj7C6cIsqdnlp-KDhK0GHwRFBLO8kJkEULQZnvzZbOrSqbhklTDCQVpa3PTHXHhiBiO/s320/IMG_6400.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Today is Friday and I am sitting in the dining</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">room at the BTL Ruiru conference center. It is near the classroom where Hank is teaching and a great place to just hang out and do some work. I saw my friend, Pennina sitting at a table and decided to join her. First I went back to my room and got a bag of Peanut</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: large;">M&M's</span></span></span><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. I decided to share them with her guessing that she may have never had them before. I was right. Just one and she LOVED them. This brought out another soon-to-be friend. Her name is Beth. She too had never had </span></span></b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">M&M's</span></span><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> and soon discovered that she loved them too. </span></span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLCmfovOkmOEmcSP_sBufqbyuFeQTPpDcLTcdlaq40ItcBJElSBjZXOw3AT1OYFIKXuoU79-BPkFBFO-PMTc1vLYcfuCl23iKW0m1zCBuAlwSEpRw9wuOAHdEvV8AOYYmIEkyFvLeZd0y/s1600/IMG_6399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLCmfovOkmOEmcSP_sBufqbyuFeQTPpDcLTcdlaq40ItcBJElSBjZXOw3AT1OYFIKXuoU79-BPkFBFO-PMTc1vLYcfuCl23iKW0m1zCBuAlwSEpRw9wuOAHdEvV8AOYYmIEkyFvLeZd0y/s200/IMG_6399.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We sat for over an hour and shared the differences of our lives, mostly cooking and the foods that we ate. I have learned to enjoy vegetables here. They have such a different taste. And the fruits here......are WONDERFUL. Fresh watermelon, pineapple, papaya and bananas</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">every morning. Oh, and the passion fruit juice I can never get enough of. It is so good.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both Pennina and Beth are young and have small children. I feel so much older today as I am nearly 20 years their senior but still we can relate. I share with them about my children and then about our dog. They had never heard of an indoor house dog. And especially one that slept on a human bed or rang a service bell to go outside to potty :)</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37" style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b5-991c-d5b9-6d95a1219c37" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The three of us talked most of the morning. It was a good day today. Tomorrow we are to go shopping at the Maasai Market and I look forward to getting out.</span></b></b></span></div>
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</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-16754494953132186292013-05-20T23:48:00.000+03:002013-05-22T10:42:03.646+03:00Thursday May 16<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlckY3uTuZwnID3TC_EoFOIPdSOjNQqljvDRzLBwbLllBa9x5yoDBl7x6EHfQ4vLGKYHOSAoGOxwkvGU-buqg8Au7-q0oH9TQqQD5nhu_HrYzOgJavTtcAB2u9j9XA-aZn4JwCtpxPNrQ/s1600/IMG_6366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlckY3uTuZwnID3TC_EoFOIPdSOjNQqljvDRzLBwbLllBa9x5yoDBl7x6EHfQ4vLGKYHOSAoGOxwkvGU-buqg8Au7-q0oH9TQqQD5nhu_HrYzOgJavTtcAB2u9j9XA-aZn4JwCtpxPNrQ/s320/IMG_6366.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b1-28cd-e27a-2a14da873156" style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This morning came with a difficult start. Last evening ended in frustration and tears as I experienced mixed emotions of being here. Although I am enjoying the people, the climate and the reason for being here, I miss the luxuries of home. I miss my children </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">(right) and the dog</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">below</span></span></span></span><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b1-28cd-e27a-2a14da873156" style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">). And some of you are probably wondering why I miss them because they are in college anyway (not the dog though). But there is a difference in having your children away to college vs. being in another country. And as for </span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b1-28cd-e27a-2a14da873156" style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2ebA31s1RrTmomiOzBB7aQl7So52F0GVuXsDjvuq_B9RztqXYSAaa5NnvUc_IfSNiNVPe-qigxDBtpiQ8k29jwgyLpJjFCFn6L64_XOoFXl_78n-u3JiYpiG3ewwF-qHr9VqdF-rfypj/s1600/2012-09-18+18.19.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2ebA31s1RrTmomiOzBB7aQl7So52F0GVuXsDjvuq_B9RztqXYSAaa5NnvUc_IfSNiNVPe-qigxDBtpiQ8k29jwgyLpJjFCFn6L64_XOoFXl_78n-u3JiYpiG3ewwF-qHr9VqdF-rfypj/s320/2012-09-18+18.19.23.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b1-28cd-e27a-2a14da873156" style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">those of you who don’t understand my missing the dog......having a pet in your presence is not something that can be replaced. As far back as I can remember as a young child, there has always, always been a dog or cat around me. My first remembrance of a pet was “Dusty”, my dad’s dusty-colored dog. He was a good dog. So thinking of having to give up “Missie”, our dog, when and if we move here, is truthfully heartbreaking for me and something I dread.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3b1-28cd-e27a-2a14da873156" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know that God will take care of this issue but just thinking about it brings instant tears to my eyes. When and if we move, I will not get another pet. It is just too hard. The other factor that is hard here, is when you are feeling ill and you can’t be in your own bed. I'm just not feeling well today. Probably something I ate. OK, I am done complaining now.</span></b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-85114018889528181442013-05-20T23:44:00.000+03:002013-05-22T10:47:22.294+03:00Wednesday May 15<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3ae-c334-6fb2-ae11093eea3d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tonight, Wednesday, I sit in a small meeting room with Hank and a number of other IT guys. They are having a conference meeting via Skype with 3 others: one from Waxhaw, NC and one from Australia. They also tried to connect with a lady in Canada but she was busy with another meeting at that time. Technology is great! They are all sharing about their current projects and giving updates.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3ae-c334-6fb2-ae11093eea3d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I, of course, am bored :) I am the only woman in the room, so I get up and check on the food and take the covers off the bowls to be prepared for serving. Now I understand why they asked me to attend. :)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpe5CK0U8c4zLQTuN_lQJIfyOGniqQ3QIQLdMN0E_DOQmmMyuj5oXo5j9pCmRAqix4Lswj1fw82Sa7vJr4qdmNg8Ul1Z2vuM-HlxqkEVAqiBIEGcQJ8tJ9xfPdg7Jp7qrBrqc32RxYtBFN/s1600/IMG_6402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpe5CK0U8c4zLQTuN_lQJIfyOGniqQ3QIQLdMN0E_DOQmmMyuj5oXo5j9pCmRAqix4Lswj1fw82Sa7vJr4qdmNg8Ul1Z2vuM-HlxqkEVAqiBIEGcQJ8tJ9xfPdg7Jp7qrBrqc32RxYtBFN/s200/IMG_6402.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ba29dee-c3ae-c334-6fb2-ae11093eea3d"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Today I made a friend. Her name is Pennina Mueni </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">and she is one of the servers here in the banquet room. She is beautiful and young and she is the wife of a doctor. I asked her what her husband did and she said: “He is a doctor. For humans. A doctor for humans”. I find her to be funny as she probably does me as we compare our lives. She also has a little boy, Andrew, who is one year old.</span></span></b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547003096931281109.post-22427824915949944892013-05-20T23:31:00.001+03:002013-05-22T11:01:58.515+03:00Tuesday May 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPszSVYanmcoJywFub3ThR0jB1YS0l6g0tSVCJUn17PmfWKH18_1AU1j1D3nuWBgkbAP3KTENCdnC217YedNUPXE-gXnKwDVDCSzJ4qvQgdiL2fn61kfueGefhKtuUs3W3XmlbWySY7Dv/s1600/IMG_6441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPszSVYanmcoJywFub3ThR0jB1YS0l6g0tSVCJUn17PmfWKH18_1AU1j1D3nuWBgkbAP3KTENCdnC217YedNUPXE-gXnKwDVDCSzJ4qvQgdiL2fn61kfueGefhKtuUs3W3XmlbWySY7Dv/s320/IMG_6441.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today I am sitting on a bench in a grassy square<b><i> </i></b>yard lined with yellow-green bushes and trees, shading half of the yard. I am guessing that the temperature is 74 degrees, maybe 76 Fahrenheit. It is perfect weather. Birds call behind me and a crow is cawing insistently to my right. There is a building being built on the center so the noises of hammering and banging on tin are vivid to my hearing. A few people are walking in the distance providing muffled voices. My goodness, that crow is so persistent! Basically though, I am alone and it is something I have needed for the last two days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am in Kenya, Africa. It is so hard to believe. We are in Ruiru which is a small town and we are staying at a quiet retreat center owned by BTL (Bible Translation and Literacy). We are here for two weeks because Hank is taking part in a training seminar for IT people called IT Connect. I am here to visit Kenya as we ponder the possibility of our moving here. We have been considering this possible move for over one year now and I am in hopes that God will write it on a wall this week or next. That would be too easy though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAT7bZt4llPBsP4jPe6PEJw2JtDbbMBP0NYvdQhyJpaKoLvKimEbofcZ-KBSh66rKvKIvNeYbCiNO5nJZ_xee8itSfipwt_Cq_w46pswRYJGggqxmrZ7GN1vKmu4LoYuDBxwF4rJ1YpfRi/s1600/2013-05-13_03-27-45_159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAT7bZt4llPBsP4jPe6PEJw2JtDbbMBP0NYvdQhyJpaKoLvKimEbofcZ-KBSh66rKvKIvNeYbCiNO5nJZ_xee8itSfipwt_Cq_w46pswRYJGggqxmrZ7GN1vKmu4LoYuDBxwF4rJ1YpfRi/s320/2013-05-13_03-27-45_159.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our flight to Atlanta, GA <b><i></i></b>was very short, being no more than an hour total. Our flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was one I will not soon forget. I do not know my airplanes but this one had 3 rows. The rows on each side of the plane consisted of 2 seats each. The row in the middle consisted of 4 seats of which Hank and I had the exact middle two. As soon as I sat down, I began praying that God would help me through this flight. I needed to control my thinking about it being so claustrophobic-ally tight in there. My knees touched the seat in front of me and my shoulders rubbed those beside me. For a few moments this would not be a problem but contemplating the next 8 hours like this made me dread this flight. My love of flying was quickly disappearing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hank was being so patient with me and helped me with everything I needed and I was feeling very needy. :-) Looking back now, I’m sure there were rather comical moments for anyone watching me try to function in that wee bit of space on the plane.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hank’s highlight of the flight was when I shocked myself with my TENS unit. I wear this little machine that connects to my back muscles and provides shock stimulation so that I am better able to move around and receive a bit of relief from the back pain that I have been dealing with recently. Because those airplane restrooms are so inhumanly little (I think Twiggy designed them), I somehow disconnected one of the leads from the patch which left the connector open to anything it touched and I did not know this until a bit later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(As I sit here and write, various things catch my attention and I will record them in parentheses). (Now a rooster calls out and combined with the crow and various other birds, it is beginning to sound like quite a musical selection of nature. And now there goes 2 little boys.....8 years old perhaps, making noises that even a mother could not translate. They have water wings on their arms so I know that they are headed towards the centers’ pool. I do love watching children. These 2 little guys are in a world of their own.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, I returned to my seat and returned the little box to the normal power range and feeling nothing......I proceeded to up the power thinking that I just couldn't yet feel it. Wiggling around I thought that would help but instead, I got a terribly hot jolt to the upper portion of my torso which made my entire body jump drastically and my brain do a little jig. Somehow I managed to turn it off. Not sure what had just happened, I reluctantly turned it back on and increased the power again but still nothing happened. So searching one end of the lead to the other end, I found that it had disconnected and had been touching the metal portion of my chair which is why my entire body had been shocked. I'm surprised that Hank and the other passenger beside me did not feel this too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Without thinking, I proceeded to attach the lead to the patch on my back and forgetting that I had increased the power, I gave myself another hair-raising, hair-perming body jolt when the two connected. Receiving the double strength of that power sent me another surge that this time brought tears to my eyes and a bewildered sensation to my brain. As Hank gave me a questioning look and I'm sure the passenger behind me wondering why I was jumping like a rabbit in my seat, I quickly took the entire machine off and just decided to deal with the pain. At that moment in time, it just wasn't as bad as the shock I had just received. A hard lesson learned!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXo7lTOCpiqnjgmLZOYVYtpIzS0cpEuFnbiskka9pijFJPU36y4HKUumDt10Ny0zmnks9Aab3QTlE4n67AdDJMkbErYHrEZ3LxAlD7I_5OoEWc2ra2blsG7GfrpVhR8GcVJBE7Rai7b7bh/s1600/2013-05-13_20-43-19_393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXo7lTOCpiqnjgmLZOYVYtpIzS0cpEuFnbiskka9pijFJPU36y4HKUumDt10Ny0zmnks9Aab3QTlE4n67AdDJMkbErYHrEZ3LxAlD7I_5OoEWc2ra2blsG7GfrpVhR8GcVJBE7Rai7b7bh/s640/2013-05-13_20-43-19_393.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving at the BTL conference center, after about 30 hours of travel...</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0