February Update

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Jane recently returned from Kenya and below is an update and pictures from her trip. 

"IAA February"

Pastor's Conference: 175 pastors from different denominations gathered together at IAA to worship, pray, and learn from God's word. The Wimberley First Baptist team did a great job teaching and encouraging all of the pastors. Jane had a chance to speak about unity in the body. She told everyone it was such a blessing to see them coming together, and she encouraged them to continue to communicate and work together in their community to help others.

From left to right: Mary Katie Riddle, Beverley and Tom Gillespie, Larry Adams, and Wiatt Warren

Kelvin

Kelvin: He received a full scholarship for a boarding high school! They will pay for all of his schooling and expenses for the next four years. We are so proud of him! 

Nelson: Jane recently received a letter from Nelson and he corrected her on his age in it. He said his sister had proof he was only 18, not 20 like we had thought. We were shocked with this news! We were making him into a man before he actually was. In Kenya, orphan's ages are often estimated by their bone structure and body development, and Nelson was tall for his age.

Kitchen: The kitchen is progressing beautifully. We are looking forward to when the construction is complete so we can provide a place for our children to eat and fellowship together.

Christmas at IAA: 

We would like to thank Island Church in Galveston for blessing our children with a very special Christmas this year. Below is a message from Donna about the Christmas celebration.

Donna: "We had the Christmas party last night. Trish told them about the church that sent gifts. The party was held in two parts because there were so many gifts. First the babies and toddlers went into the toddler room with Pocy and Jane. They put on their new clothes, and toy cars shot all over the room. Carina put on her new outfit, including high heels, jewelry, and a tiara, and tried to jump rope... it was really funny! Sharon went around and looked at all of the gifts while the other children were busy playing. She "picked up" what she liked and put those things in her bag. Wendy saw it happen, and got everything back to the owners.

While the toddlers were put to bed, the big kids had their party in the living room. They were much more subdued and treated their gifts like big secrets. They looked in the big bags and smiled the whole time, but didn't take anything out. It was like they were fearful someone else would like what they had received and want it also. Maybe they had experienced the "Sharon Syndrom" before and were protecting themselves.

Please tell the Island Church that everyone had a wonderful time! I don't know who had the best time: those who received, or those of us that were witnesses. All I know is that the givers outdid themselves and everything was fun, beautiful, fit and MUCH APPRECIATED!"

IAA'S NEW KITCHEN / DINING HALL PROJECT 2011

This slideshow will show the beginning to present building process as well as pictures of the students their supervisors and local workers who have dedicated their time to make this project a reality.

The shell of our Kitchen/Dining Hall will be completed around the end of this month.  We are so excited to have this facility that will allow our children, visitors and staff to gather together for meals.  We have been separated at meals since IAA began due to lack of space.  This facility will also be a blessing for: community gatherings; cooking for larger groups of visitors; and as a gathering place for the children to do homework, crafts, Bible Studies and more.

Thanks to:

·      The engineering students and faculty at Syracuse University who dedicated several years of time and planning of this project.  Group Picture in slideshow: Chuck Brooks (professional mentor), Lesen Haracz, Isaac Allen, Scott Ranthes and Erin Zeqja. Janet Brooks was present, but taking the photo.  Others from Syracuse University: Shannon Magari, Advisor to the EWB Syracuse University Student Chapter; and all the other volunteer engineers and architects in the Syracuse area who helped to keep the project on target.

·      Gordon Clark who spent volunteer time to oversee this project for IAA. 

·      James Taubitz, who is a Kenya missionary with EMI (Engineer Ministries International), who is overseeing the project construction. 

·      John, our Kenyan contractor, who has done his work professionally and efficiently. 

·     Christine and Samuel, IAA’s staff in Kenya, who has put in extra hours of work to make sure the project is progressing. 

·   All of you who have contributed to the financial provisions for this project.

APRIL'S THOUGHTS AFTER HER RETURN FROM WORKING AT IAA

April with Jacob and Hope
Just over a year ago, I took a giant leap of faith and boarded a plane to Kenya.  I was broken as I said goodbye to my loved ones, but I was trusting God fully with my life for the first time ever.  I had no doubt that I was going exactly where He wanted me to be.  The days were sometimes unbearably long yet my time in Kenya went by entirely too fast.  I can’t believe it’s been a year; I can’t believe I’ve been back home for two months already.
Once I got to Kenya, I waited for the culture shock that I was guaranteed to have.  Believe it or not, it never came.  Sure, there were things about the culture that were irritating sometimes but nothing was ever significant enough to make me want to go home.  When it was all over, I came home and I waited for the reverse culture shock.  This time, it came, but not in a way I would have expected.  I came home and suddenly nothing seemed clear.  I didn’t know who I was, where I was going, or what my life was supposed to be about.  When I was in Kenya, people always asked me what I missed about home.  My answer was always that I missed my freedom, or rather, my independence.  I was completely dependent on someone else for practically everything while I was there.  Coming home, suddenly I had more freedom than I knew what to do with.  Much to my surprise, that tripped me up more than once.  Being able to do what I wanted when I wanted to do it felt like a brand new feeling and was quite overwhelming.

April reading a book with Lydia

My life here at home is very different than my life was in Kenya.  Here, I don’t have children waiting for me.  I sleep half the day away because I don’t know what to do with myself otherwise.  There are no children for me to dress or feed, none to play with or teach new words to, no diapers to change, no little legs running to me or arms reaching for me to hold them the minute I walk downstairs in the morning.  Instead, I wake up and walk upstairs to an empty house.  I take a shower every day-at any time of day I choose.  I can stay in the shower for as long as I want and the water doesn’t suddenly turn ice cold or scalding hot, nor does it stop running when I would stand in the shower freezing and jpraying that the water would start running again so I could get the soap out of my hair.   I don’t have to worry about the lights going off and leaving me to shower in the dark.  I can get out of the shower knowing that if I want to dry my hair, I can.  I don’t have to rush to make sure I dry it while the power is actually on.  I can get in my car at any time I want and drive anywhere I want to.  The roads here are remarkable.  I hear people talk about the ONE giant pothole on I-20 near our exit and think about how nice it would be if there was only one giant pothole instead of hundreds from IAA to the kids’ school.  We take so much for granted here in the US and I immediately fell right back into that same mindset the minute my feet hit American soil.  All these things that we take for granted are great and it’s been nice to have them back, but I also miss Kenya and the simplicity of life there.  It was okay that I didn’t shower every day because no one else did either.  It was okay that I didn’t dry my hair because no one cared what I looked like.  It was okay that there were a million potholes in the road-we were thankful we had something to drive and that it was actually running that day.  There, nothing is reliable but it’s okay because God is reliable.  He shows up on time, even if it’s not in OUR time.  There, it’s okay that nothing is reliable because there, it’s not about things.  It’s about people and relationships.  In Kenya, I loved and was loved in a way that is rarely experienced in America, at least in my experience, because we too often let things and judgments and stuff that doesn’t matter get in the way of loving people for who they are.

As I said, I came home and lost myself.  I felt like I had left Kenya and lost God somewhere along the way back home.  All I knew was uncertainty.  God wasn’t giving me clear answers, or any answers for that matter.  I had no idea where to even begin, no idea how to find my way in a place that was so familiar and yet so foreign at the same time.  While wrestling with myself about all the uncertainty, I went to church and the pastor said this-

“The bad news is that there will ALWAYS be uncertainty BUT the good news is that your life-it’s going to be okay."

April and Jacob

If nothing else, I find comfort in those words.  God didn’t take me on this journey and teach me firsthand about His faithfulness only to abandon me at the “end”.  No, this is just the beginning.  He is here beside me and He always will be.  He may not be making every decision as clear as He did my decision to GO, but He will use every decision I make for the good.  He is sovereign and He is holding me in His hands.  I may be uncertain, but God is not and I will commit my whole self to Him so that my life will reflect His will.  
April Lingle