DECEMBER 2020

In the midst of the chaos, change and uncertainty this Christmas we hope this finds you well. For us, celebrating Christmas in Kenya is very different to what we are used to and although we can’t find a turkey or mince pies we did mange to find a tin of Quality Street! The words from the old Christmas hymn, O Holy Night, seem to sum up this year “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” I think it would be fair to say that lots of us are feeling pretty weary and worn out but the good news of Christmas is that there is a thrill of hope because “For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” So with everything very different this year remember that despite the changes and challenges there is a thrill of hope because at Christmas we remember “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

As the year winds down we are slowly starting to feel more settled in our new home. We have spent the last few weeks at Naomi's Village (NV) and Cornerstone Preparatory Academy (CPA) participating in various staff training events and meetings. We have also had a lot of fun joining in the end of year and Christmas celebrations and introduced the children at NV to Christingles. At the beginning of the month we sat down with Jonah and Caleb and asked them how they are feeling about living in Kenya, its a 2 minute video and if you haven’t seen it then you can watch it by clicking here.

Close the Door

This isn’t some figurative lesson about closing the door on the year that has passed ready to move in to the future. We are constantly being reminded to literally close the door. We have now been burgled by monkeys on three separate occasions! The first two were fairly innocent as monkeys crept in and stole some vegetables- we barley noticed they came in. Last week, however, was a different ball game. A huge alpha male baboon came in to the house. He patrolled the kitchen surveying his surrounding before jumping on the dining room table and taking fruit from the fruit bowl. Thankfully he then turned and ran out! On Rachel’s facebook page there is little video of the boys retelling what happened, you can watch it by clicking here.