A day of worship

MIRIAM's JOURNAL

Sunday, January 30th

And getting ready for our medical clinic to open!

Day summary ... breakfast, church, visit, lunch, unpack bags and organize the clinic, visit, dinner, more clinic organizing, shower, journal writing, read and then to sleep!

I slept well last night and felt great today. I had been very warm at night and that has made it more challenging to sleep well. And then, there are a few dogs that like to have barking contests during the night and, another high pitched barking/squealing sound, which we learned are noises from bush babies (do a search - there is such a thing!). Anyways, Sarah and I are both on top bunk beds with mosquito netting, no fans and closed windows (no screens) ... did I mention that it's pretty warm at night?!

Church this morning was amazing. Incredible to see so many children singing and praising God.

The clinic organizing went well. It's tough trying to plan and organize for a lot of unknowns. We don't know how many people we will be seeing. We are taking a guess at the kind of illnesses and diseases we will be seeing and treating. We don't know how sick people will be. But, God has brought us here and He is with us. It's hard to just trust God when we are such planners by nature of the job.

Tomorrow, breakfast will be at 715am (versus 9am today) and then we will start our clinic at 8am.

We have not had that much of an opportunity to interact with the children here at MCF yet. They keep the kids on a very busy schedule (less time for them to find trouble). And, we've been busy too - touring and getting settled. It blows my mind how organized and happy everyone is here - staff and kids. It is truly a big family environment ... a HUGE family!

The German teacher who is here teaching for 6 months, let me borrow her phone this evening to call home. It was SOO good to talk to Matt and hear Caitlin and Mackenzie's voice. They screamed with joy when they heard my voice "MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY" They are doing well with Matt and grandparents ... I miss them like crazy, but I'm trying to focus on enjoying every minute of my time here.

Sunny, peaceful, relaxing ... feelings and emotions are close to indescribable.

SARAH's JOURNAL

This morning at church we were asked if we (as a group) had a song to sing for everyone. After listening to their beautiful voices, harmony and dance, we answered that our team speciality was to practice medicine, NOT singing! We would have been horribly embarrassed at our lack of harmony! LOL!

After lunch, we headed to the clinic to unpack and organize for the week ... one hiccup is that the deworming and malaria medicine has not yet arrived - there are few doses available here, but not nearly enough for what we anticipate needing. At the end of the day, there was no clear answer as to when it is expected to arrive. The mentality is definitely more laid back then in America!

Today, Dr Charles Mulli spent some time with us - when he arrived at the gate (home from Nairobi), a large group of children ran after his car, yelling "Daddy, Daddy!!" Even as he got a coffee and sat down to rest, there was a smile, a high five and candy for each one that acme to say hello. What love he showed to all and the example he sets by his actions.