Well, we are officially here in Kijabe! We arrived in country on April 25th. We were met at the airport by Rich Finch (our host dad for RVA) and a great driver named Philip. Jay made quick friends with his new "Uncle Rich." They regularly greet each other with a grin and silly noises. We had been warned about some potential difficulties of getting all of our bags through the airport. Some people are hassled quite a bit by border control agents. Thankfully, they only checked a couple of our bags and we were on our way. We thank God for the quick trek through the airport, as we were all exhausted after spending almost 24 hours straight travelling. We also thank God that Jay slept on both plane rides, even if he didn't sleep through the entire flight, he was still rested enough by the time we got to Kenya to be okay with border control and customs.
RVA has a great system of pairing new, incoming families with a family who has lived at RVA for a while already. The Finches have been invaluable in helping answer all sorts of questions about living here in Kijabe and specifically at RVA! They helped make our transition so much smoother than it might otherwise have been, and they have become very dear friends. We even had a babysitter practically set up right away because the Finches daughter loves babies and is amazing with them!
The morning after we flew in, we were taken to a mall in Nairobi where we could get Kenyan SIM cards and shop for some things that we wouldn't be able to get in the small town of Kijabe. After some shopping, and a quick tour of some of the other things available at these malls, we were officially on our way to our new home at RVA.
The morning after we flew in, we were taken to a mall in Nairobi where we could get Kenyan SIM cards and shop for some things that we wouldn't be able to get in the small town of Kijabe. After some shopping, and a quick tour of some of the other things available at these malls, we were officially on our way to our new home at RVA.
That road going from Nairobi to Kijabe is gorgeous! We pass a spot where we can look down into the Great Rift Valley. Stunning! There were lots of curves on that switch back road as we climbed the remaining 2000ft in elevation. It reminded me (Heather) of driving up to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Nigeria when I was a kid. We could also see clouds rolling down the mountainside, as well as the verdant forest that grows all over the escarpment above the valley.
Nathan has gotten started already with his job in the IT department. He works with three other IT professionals, one missionary and two national Kenyan staff.
He is currently reading documentation and API write-ups about the system(s) that the school uses so that he can help integrate the various databases that he was asked to help with. In the meantime, he has been able to help with some staff computer problems that have come up, in addition to some of the students who have had computer or phone issues.
Nathan is also beginning some Python development which will integrate some disparate systems to make the school staff's lives easier in the coming months. He has also been asked to work with the people running the cafeteria to see if he can help get the cafeteria caught up to a more standard system, because right now students have to have their IDs scanned by a member of staff one by one, and this causes a huge line during every meal. I (Nathan) hope to get them integrated to the overall system in use by the school to make check in for meals easier and faster, and we may be able to automate the system in future so IDs don't have to be scanned manually.
He is currently reading documentation and API write-ups about the system(s) that the school uses so that he can help integrate the various databases that he was asked to help with. In the meantime, he has been able to help with some staff computer problems that have come up, in addition to some of the students who have had computer or phone issues.
Nathan is also beginning some Python development which will integrate some disparate systems to make the school staff's lives easier in the coming months. He has also been asked to work with the people running the cafeteria to see if he can help get the cafeteria caught up to a more standard system, because right now students have to have their IDs scanned by a member of staff one by one, and this causes a huge line during every meal. I (Nathan) hope to get them integrated to the overall system in use by the school to make check in for meals easier and faster, and we may be able to automate the system in future so IDs don't have to be scanned manually.
One huge answer to prayer has been that there are quite a few kids around Jay's age here. Heather has also been able to attend some preschool and younger play groups, and has been invited to help out with a toddler dance class. Jay has made lots of little friends that he gets to play with around campus, and I (Heather) have made several mom friends as well. The stay-at-home mom situation would be quite lonely without these wonderful friends that Jay and I have made.
As you may have seen in global news, Kenya has been experiencing well above average rainfall over the past few weeks. The area around RVA received massive amounts of rain last week, leaving the ground saturated and causing damage to roads and houses.
We received word Monday morning, April 29th, of flash floods and a landslide in the outskirts of Maai Mahiu, just down the hill from RVA’s campus. This flooding has caused massive destruction, many injuries, and the loss of lives. We are all safe here in Kijabe. The RVA campus is stable, and the forest above us also remains intact and stable, but several of our staff at RVA are affected by the damage.
Since then, there was a mudslide on our school campus. It caused some damage to our main route out of campus, but with the help of many students and staff, we were able to get that repaired very quickly. A few families were told to evacuate into another house on campus in the middle of the night. Thankfully, they were able to move back in after a few days and stay there for a few weeks. They had to move back out a couple of days ago after more excess rain caused more questionable conditions near their homes. RVA has also contacted a local team of engineers who are doing some surveys of the local land to make sure it remains safe, and to identify any areas which may be dangerous. So far, they have given RVA campus a complete pass, aside from one small area on the edge of campus.
Please pray that these families who lost loved ones and homes are able to get back to some normalcy in the local communities. We are so thankful that we have great security on campus that was able to move the families on campus that were in danger so quickly so that no one was hurt.
If anyone would like to give financially to the community, this can be done via RVA's benevolence fund. Online donations can be made to this fund at the following link:
https://usgiving.aimint.org/donate/rva-general-program
When making the donation, please check the box to “Leave a note for the finance office” and type “Flood Relief” in the notes section.
Please be in prayer for those who have lost their homes and people they love. We continue to look to our Father for His love and comfort in this grief.
We received word Monday morning, April 29th, of flash floods and a landslide in the outskirts of Maai Mahiu, just down the hill from RVA’s campus. This flooding has caused massive destruction, many injuries, and the loss of lives. We are all safe here in Kijabe. The RVA campus is stable, and the forest above us also remains intact and stable, but several of our staff at RVA are affected by the damage.
Since then, there was a mudslide on our school campus. It caused some damage to our main route out of campus, but with the help of many students and staff, we were able to get that repaired very quickly. A few families were told to evacuate into another house on campus in the middle of the night. Thankfully, they were able to move back in after a few days and stay there for a few weeks. They had to move back out a couple of days ago after more excess rain caused more questionable conditions near their homes. RVA has also contacted a local team of engineers who are doing some surveys of the local land to make sure it remains safe, and to identify any areas which may be dangerous. So far, they have given RVA campus a complete pass, aside from one small area on the edge of campus.
Please pray that these families who lost loved ones and homes are able to get back to some normalcy in the local communities. We are so thankful that we have great security on campus that was able to move the families on campus that were in danger so quickly so that no one was hurt.
If anyone would like to give financially to the community, this can be done via RVA's benevolence fund. Online donations can be made to this fund at the following link:
https://usgiving.aimint.org/donate/rva-general-program
When making the donation, please check the box to “Leave a note for the finance office” and type “Flood Relief” in the notes section.
Please be in prayer for those who have lost their homes and people they love. We continue to look to our Father for His love and comfort in this grief.
We get a lot of exercise here on the RVA campus. There is a difference in elevation from the bottom of campus to the top of campus of about 17 flights of stairs. Thankfully, they put us in a home that is quite close to the main campus buildings, but even walking back and forth to those school buildings gives us a workout because of the hills and the fact that even the bottom of campus is 7000ft above sea level. This makes us lose our breath much quicker than we would at a lower elevation. We live very close to the equator (potential for very hot temperatures), but since we are so high up, temperatures stay quite nice. And since we live on the south side of the equator, we are getting close to our winter. Temperatures right now have been in the 50s and 60s. Beautiful sweater and fireplace weather (and the exercise we get results in less sweat since it is so nice out)!
Something else we have to keep in mind is to keep our windows latched if we aren't directly next to them. Since we live in the middle of a forest, there's a ton of local wildlife all over campus, including some monkeys who will try to enter your house through your windows or unlocked doors if you aren't careful! One actually tried to make it into our house through a window while we were writing this newsletter!
Something else we have to keep in mind is to keep our windows latched if we aren't directly next to them. Since we live in the middle of a forest, there's a ton of local wildlife all over campus, including some monkeys who will try to enter your house through your windows or unlocked doors if you aren't careful! One actually tried to make it into our house through a window while we were writing this newsletter!
Another prayer that was answered in more than one way is a man named Peter, who we have hired to help us maintain our flower beds, and the plants around our house. RVA requires us as staff living here to be in charge of the area immediately around our house, and they also encourage us to hire a local Kenyan to help with this task. Peter is a man well known to the RVA community as he delivers chicken to the staff at our school regularly. We found out he was looking for additional work, and were able to hire him twice a week to care for and maintain our yard, bushes and the plants around our house. We can make sure he is paid a good wage, and can help him to support his 4 children as they go through school as well as him directly. Not only is this culturally expected here at RVA, to hire local Kenyans as house help, but it also gives us an excellent opportunity to learn more about the local Kenyan culture, customs and how we can better integrate ourselves into the culture here. directly from someone who has lived here their entire life.
With Peter's help outside our house, it allows Heather more time to get to know the other moms in the community and takes work off of Nathan's plate which helps him focus on where he is needed most. Peter also has experience with children and is great with them, he loved building toys and furniture for the children he has worked for previously, and the children loved everything he ever made. We were so blessed to be introduced to him.
With Peter's help outside our house, it allows Heather more time to get to know the other moms in the community and takes work off of Nathan's plate which helps him focus on where he is needed most. Peter also has experience with children and is great with them, he loved building toys and furniture for the children he has worked for previously, and the children loved everything he ever made. We were so blessed to be introduced to him.
I (Heather) was up at the Titchie (elementary) playground a couple of weeks ago for the weekly preschool playgroup, and I met a lovely Kenyan woman named Njoki who works for another missionary family in Kijabe. She had been asked to take their two kids up to the playground for the playgroup and watch them. She and I were the first two adults who arrived, so I got to talk to her a bit. She was super sweet! During our time there, she interacted with all of the kids there, including Jay, helping them play safely on the playground equipment. Jay loved her! While I was there, I was commenting to another mom how great Njoki was with the kids and she told me that the family who was employing Njoki was scheduled to leave Kenya the next week and that Njoki would be looking for a new family to hire her. We hadn't found someone to help with indoor work yet, so we quickly reached out to her and arranged an interview. If that lovely experience with her interacting with Jay that morning hadn't been enough assurance, we found out even more amazing things about this woman! She has adopted 18 kids. Counting those kids and their kids, she essentially runs an orphanage in her own house with about 23 people living there in her house at any given time! She told us that she has been praying that she would find the family that God had for her to work for and that she would pray, asking God if we were the family that He had planned for her.
She will start working for us at the beginning of June. She will have Jay call her "Shoshi," which means Grandma in her language. She is excited to see how God can use her to help raise Jay as a little child of God. I am excited about getting to know her as a friend and mentor who can pray with me and help me learn more about life in Kijabe.
She will start working for us at the beginning of June. She will have Jay call her "Shoshi," which means Grandma in her language. She is excited to see how God can use her to help raise Jay as a little child of God. I am excited about getting to know her as a friend and mentor who can pray with me and help me learn more about life in Kijabe.
We are super blessed to live somewhere with great internet access, so we have been able to keep in touch with family and friends back in the U.S. Jay has been able to see his Grandma and Grandpa Rasch through video chat on a regular basis. Whenever he sees them in the phone, he protests, tries to grab the phone and walk around the room with them. This makes it difficult to hold a conversation, but it is precious. He definitely misses his grandparents.
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Prayer Requests:
- prayers for us as we adjust to a new culture (both of the country and of the school).
- prayers for us to get to know more people and get to where we feel like we belong in our new community.
- prayers that God uses us to bless Peter and Njoki and that He uses them to bless us, mutually helping all of us.
- prayers for us as we continually learn together how to be parents... and that we remember each day to rely on God and look to Him as the example of what the perfect Father looks like as we strive to better our parenting each day.
- prayers of thanks for all of the financial support that we have received so far and for all of the congregations and individuals who have invited us to speak with them about our mission opportunity and welcomed us so warmly.
We are truly blessed to be in so many people's prayers during this process. Thank you so much for your continued prayers.
- prayers for us to get to know more people and get to where we feel like we belong in our new community.
- prayers that God uses us to bless Peter and Njoki and that He uses them to bless us, mutually helping all of us.
- prayers for us as we continually learn together how to be parents... and that we remember each day to rely on God and look to Him as the example of what the perfect Father looks like as we strive to better our parenting each day.
- prayers of thanks for all of the financial support that we have received so far and for all of the congregations and individuals who have invited us to speak with them about our mission opportunity and welcomed us so warmly.
We are truly blessed to be in so many people's prayers during this process. Thank you so much for your continued prayers.
HOW TO SUPPORT US
To support the Pittmans’ ministry online, click here. One-time or automated contributions are available, and you can make contributions through Pay-Pal or via a debit or credit card.
OR
Mail a check to:
Global Lutheran Outreach
6709 Ficus Dr.
Miramar, FL 33023
Put "Pittman" on the memo line of the check.
Global Lutheran Outreach is a not-for-profit corporation under section 501 c 3 of the Federal Tax code. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by the IRS.
OR
Mail a check to:
Global Lutheran Outreach
6709 Ficus Dr.
Miramar, FL 33023
Put "Pittman" on the memo line of the check.
Global Lutheran Outreach is a not-for-profit corporation under section 501 c 3 of the Federal Tax code. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by the IRS.
Working through Thrivent, GLO can accept stock, liquidate it and put all of the funds that come from that into our support account. Since you would be donating the stock to a not-for-profit corporation under section 501 c 3 of the Federal Tax code and not cashing out the stock yourself, you don't have to declare that stock as income or pay taxes on that donation at all.
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If you are interested in donating this way, please email [email protected] to get further information on how to do it.
Thrivent Choice Dollars® can help missionaries!
Are you a member of Thrivent Financial who's eligible to direct Choice Dollars®? Choice Dollars charitable grant funds can make a world of difference to our organization as we work together to send missionaries! Your Choice Dollars directed to Global Lutheran Outreach support missionaries who are underfunded or experience a temporary shortfall in funding.
Directing Choice Dollars is easy. Simply go to Thrivent.com/thriventchoice to learn more and find program terms and conditions. Or call 800-847-4836 and say "Thrivent Choice" after the prompt. If you have donated your choice dollars to GLO and would like them to be earmarked for us specifically, please email us ([email protected]) or GLO ([email protected]) with the amount that you have donated and express that you would like to donate them to us. As long as GLO is made aware that you would like those funds to go to us, they will get those funds out of the general GLO pot and sent to our support account. |