"Makito"

Makito, as Abuela would often say... is growing and turning into a smart "just like Papa" young boy. He enjoyed some chocolate spread imported from somewhere in Europe, really nice stuff. Malaki is just over 13 months, walking and talking up a storm; as we often express it in the states! In this time I have had many things on my mind and was reminded of something beautiful today.

We don't live for ourselves. We weren't created for ourselves. And our purpose in life... is absolutely beyond ourselves. Humbling... just a bit!

My wonderful brother Jay is getting married in a few days and I have been really sad that we weren't able to make it to the wedding and also to be with the family. It's one of those things that you are confident will never happen, and somehow... it ends of happening (type of thing). In the midst of my self - pity I was gently reminded by our loving God... we have a purpose in Burundi and sometimes, we have to make sacrifices; and that's O.K. It may not be enjoyable, and it may be really, really hard. But that's, in fact also O.K. I hope my brother can know how much we wanted to be there, and would of done anything to be there, but just weren't able to make it happen. I am confident it will be a memorable time, my whole family in Alaska... there's no question! To our parent's, sister's, brother's, neice's & nephews, well, the whole family... we miss you all so much in this time and have been on our hearts continually.

Besides all this "what's in the heart" stuff, life is good, our children are great, the staff are awesome and God is moving in a special way. Isai is almost done with building a worker's hut for Zefirino to watch all building materials on our land day and night and also beginning the building of the latrine; the fence is nearing completion and the road is beautiful! Audrey and I are going crazy (in a good way) of what flowers we are going to put where to make it a beautiful to the eye mountain top. A friend recently gave LOAD's of flower seeds and we will make good use of it on our land. All our love...!

Medical training time...

Vered, who is a retired Pediatric nurse back home in Israel came to us and did a 2 day training for our staff, and also a session with our children. From first aid, to preventing dieseses and sicknesses, to adolescence and also giving advice on what to have in our medicine box for the children's homes and much more; it was a learning time for both us and our staff... well, and our children too! We had all our staff attend as they function as a family and although one's position can be getting water or security we believe it is vital to give them the opportunity to grow not only for their work with us, but also for their families and in life. We are grateful for the opportunity to have had Vered, as she gave us alot of advice on how to care for our children's health in a good way.

Additionally, we made a good friend that we will never forget. A great heart, good sense of humor, and she likes our cooking...! Trainings are key to helping our staff work in excellence, and their fun too! It was a time for our staff to get away from work, laugh together, be challenged together, and grow together. It is our goal in the future to also hold trainings focused on mental wellness, education and again, health care. All things proceeding to the love and mercy of God and His plan to give them a hope for the future. Jeremiah 29:11, what a beautiful declaration from God. "For I know the thoughts I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a hope for the future." Thank you to all who are supporting our work here in Burundi; together, we can make a difference. Until next time...

A wedding, a visitor, memories dear to the heart...

Our dear, dear friend got married this past weekend and it was so sweet. We offered to take pictures for him to bless him with some beautiful prints from the wedding, and really it was alot of fun! Isai and I were going back and forth one with Malaki, one taking pictures and so on... and for Malaki... once they offered him soda, that was it! As I looked at the bride and groom taking their vows and holding dear the moment that will forever change their lives I was overtaken with an expressible joy. My prayer is that they will love, enjoy, support and stand together as the winds of life blow upon them. Also, pictured above is Pastor Joeseph and Audrey along with Malaki and myself! The most interesting part of the wedding is for sure when the parents of the bride and groom go back and forth talking about how many cows are given for the bride and so on... Got to love it!

We are preparing this week to receive a visitor who is in Burundi for the month doing trainings for medical workers. Veret will be doing a 2 day training with our staff on first aid, health awareness and other similar topics. Back home in Israel, she is a pediatric nurse and it's clear she is passionate about seeing health care improved. We are excited to have her, to get to know her better and also for our staff - that they can be equipped to do the work at hand in an excellent God given way. All our love...

A spanish style house... in Africa?!

Yes! Thanks to our friend Martha from Spain, who is also our neighbor for some time now...! She did interior decorating and alot of other great stuff, and wanted to bless us with materials and a new style in our brick - concrete home :o) It's great when another is just as excited as you to see your house made over... usually people aren't to concerned with your house. It could be the decorator in her, but anyhow it was nice. Above, Isai and Martha are sponging the wall; originally I was doing it too, but could use a bit more experience as I made alot of mistakes.

I remember at one point, to be honest, I couldn't stand this house! I focused on cracks, dirt and so on. We looked for months at different houses that were the same size as our house, but people were asking at least triple the price of rent. It wasn't going to happen. One day I went to one of our staff's houses that was made out of dirt and stick and was immediately humbled. I came home and fell in love with our house and appreciated the comfort we find in rainy nights as we stay warm. Its clean, simple and decorated in a beautiful way, what more can one ask for? Better yet, I spoke with our landlord about a year ago about decreasing our rent price; a few months later he agreed to reduce our rent 25%. It was a God thing, as most of our neighbors and friends are paying more and more for rent as the years pass.

Isai is home for the week re-structuring all things with his workers to prepare to begin building the first house around the 1st of July. We are also moving one of our staff from caring for all the animals to being the responsible over our land and keeping an eye on materials and such. It's vital to have a few good people that you can trust (to an extent) helping you to oversee things and Zefirino is one of those people. As for the animals, our 25+ rabbits will be given to the children's houses and our staff (... and eaten :o), our dogs will transition with us and other responsibilities will be delegated between all our staff. We are in a time of transition and it feels great. All our love...

P.S. Malaki got a phone (a play one), and loves it! Thanks to his Nana...

13 cents. first haircut. adorable.

Malaki got his first haircut yesterday, for just 13 cents! I would have loved to cut it myself, but Isai took the voltage converter (the thing that's helps our electronics work here in Burundi) to work and our clippers are American... The young man with a simple haircutting place did a good job and was excited to cut such smooth hair! As for Malaki, he just sat there patiently as the buzzers ran through his hair. Prior to going, I was thinking how he would respond to the clippers and the possibility of holding him down in the midst of crying... sometimes, just sometimes we get too ahead of ourselves; he did great!

Isai and I had our 4th Anniversary a few days ago and went to a restaurant we have been wanting to go to for years... it was awesome. We ordered brochettes, frites and salad (shish kabob's, french fries and salad made with zucchini)! Our total bill was around $10... simple. mountain. life. The view was amazing with fields of grassy mountain, acacia trees, flowers and peace. May God have His way in our marriage and may he be glorified through it. I can't imagine this journey with out my special other half... he is a special, special man, used mightily by God. All our love...

Life these days...

I know this is one of the only ways for our family and friends to stay connected with us... with that said, I am convinced this blog is way overdue! Today for example, we celebrated together in church with the children the Ascension of Jesus, our Lord. Afterwards, Isai took 4 of the boys to go play basketball and the rest came with me to our house. We played, folded clothes and got food for the rabbits before lunch. A nice time, really. For lunch we had rice, beans and greens with some sweet potatoes that are cooked in a similar style to french fries. In the past days we had our friends "The Anderson's" come stay with us and spent sometime at our land in Bukeye. I learned recently that German's call us Amis for short...

Life these days, split between the children and now building in Bukeye; busy yet rewarding, never ending challenges yet fulfillment found in the midst.

Malaki, walking here and there, taking a few steps on his own! Eating just about anything and everything he can get his hands on... Thinking on chopping all that hair off soon! All our love...