laundry.

is thoroughly exhausting. but when you're done and your clothes are on the line- it's inexplicably satisfying.

what I did this weekend.

looked at this. and hung out with friends. and ate french fries.

fundraiser: I really, really want to start building

Check this out- a really, really easy way to a) save money and b) help us RAISE money. Please take a minute to sign up for these coupons. Make sure you enter our code, Grace316. Then blog/facebook/email it to your friends. Please?

Dear Supporters of Visible Grace,

We are launching a new and unique fund-raising campaign and we need your help. mobba’s Daily Deal is an online service that offers discounts from local restaurants, theaters and retailers. When they enter a new market they offer to donate to local charities that help get the word out.

When you click http://www.mobba.com/portland/gorefersub.aspx?bref=Grace316 and sign up, mobba’s Daily Deal will donate $2 to Visible Grace.

If you live in Eugene click on http://www.mobba.com/eugene/gorefersub.aspx?bref=Grace316.

It cost nothing and takes about 30 seconds. You don’t have to buy anything and can opt out at any time, but we hope you’ll take advantage of their service, just like you would any of our supporters.

So sign up today and pass this link along to friends, family and co-workers in the Eugene/Springfield or Portland Metro areas. Be sure to include this link or our referral code, Grace316.

If 50 people pass this link along to 10 supporters who pass it along to 5 supporters, we can easily surpass our campaign goal of $2,000.

God bless you and thank you for your support of Visible Grace!

LET'S GO!

we have building permits! we have building permits! I repeat: Visible Grace has been giving permission to build on our land!!!

clearly, I find this disappointing.

props to Susan for her persistence in dealing with the local government.

our goal is to start with one three bedroom home, start a small 'family' of orphaned children, and then build and expand from there.

what this means:

WE NEED MONEY.

our first building will cost about $25,000.

want to help? the best place to give is through our facebook cause:
http://www.causes.com/causes/105908?m=4d513973

this is how we learn how to live

There are at least a kajillion of us packed in this matatu, barreling down Ngong Road toward Karen, reggae music blaring in our ears, the driver fearlessly maneuvering the potholes, when we run out of gas and chug to a stop. I lean my head back against the seat and wait. There’s nothing else to do, anyway. I’ve temporarily escaped, my only task to develop some pictures to take to our caretaker on Wednesday.

Sunday. Rest. This morning Susan and I didn’t go to church. Instead, we showered and dressed and skipped breakfast and called a motorcycle taxi and climbed on the back of the bike and rode up, up, up the hill, to the home of a woman whose husband died last week. Every day since his death, people have gathered at their home to pay their respects and prepare for the burial.

Today we are making lunch for the church, who will come after the morning service to pray for the bereaved. We have our work cut out for us. Food from scratch takes a lot of time and energy. I sit in a circle with a dozen other women and we sort through rice to remove stones. We peel carrots and potatoes, we wash tomatoes and we cut onions. We pick kale from the garden and remove the bugs and the stems. We shell peas and husk corn and sort beans.

This is the closest I will ever come to camping in Kenya. A huge pot sits over an open fire. Our clothes, hair and skin smells of smoke. Cups of tea are passed around. A group of women wash dishes in large, plastic basins. Visitors walk past, offering greetings and culinary advice. This is community at its best.

A few years ago I was given the Kikuyu name Nyakio, which means ‘someone who is hardworking’. I was named at a party at someone’s house, when I sat in the yard with the other women and washed dishes after the meal. Apparently visitors sit in the sitting rooms, and they don’t offer to clear the table when they are finished. My mother would kill me if I behaved like that. Within my group of wonderful servant-hearted friends back in Oregon, I am far from the hardest working. But apparently my gift of adapting quickly to foreign cultures translates to ‘being willing to jump in and join people in what they are doing’.

I’m not sure I would be comfortable doing anything else.

sunset on Lake Victoria

would you be more impressed by the quality of this photo if I told you I took it from the back of a motorcycle?

in which Ashby does not get along with the internet connection in Kenya.

(a thousand points to anyone who recognises which author I'm emulating in my subject title.)

three part update, including GOOD NEWS about building permits, and GREAT news about money : )

'round and 'round we go
this past week I've been traveling.

I left last Monday for Eldoret, where I spent several days with my good friends the Ollimos, who I lived with/spent time with/taught with in Mbita in '03 and '04. it was wonderful to see them and to relax in their extremely welcoming home. (I just spent twenty minutes trying to upload a picture and then blogger told me it was unable to complete my request. use your imagination. they're very pretty.)

on Wednesday I was able to visit Open Arms International, who have built a children's village here in Eldoret. they share a very similar philosophy to ours, and it was wonderful to get to see what they are doing and to interrogate the staff about their building/developing strategy. (we shared a common weariness toward the government here.)

after battling with Kajiado yet again (more on that later), Susan was able to join me in Eldoret on Thursday.

on Saturday we left for Kisumu, a town about 3 hours south of Eldoret, nestled snuggly on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Kenya is looking green these days, and the views from our buses and shuttles are breathtaking. I cannot describe it, and my camera does little to transcribe the layers upons layers of hills and valleys overlooking Mount Elgon and the Great Rift Valley.

here in Kisumu we are visiting one of our mutual friends, who recently moved here from Nairobi. it's been great to chat with her and to show Susan around Luoland.

tomorrow we are headed to Mbita, the village where I taught kindergarten. my little babies are in 5th and 6th grade by now. or is it 6th and 7th? I am looking forward to seeing all my friends and I am looking forward to introducing them to Susan.

and now...

BUILDING PERMITS
Susan has one final trip to Kajiado (after we get back from Mbita), but other than that, we are basically set to start building!
of course, this means:
a) we need money
b) we need people
so we're not really ready yet. the VG bank account isn't quite where it should be- we need about $15,000 to finish our first (three bedroom) home. and we need to make sure we've hired the best possible contractor and staff. but we're close, so, so close.

PLEASE join us in prayer- that things go smoothly as we approach groundbreaking! we are so excited that our dream is so close to fruition.

and PLEASE, if you are able, donate to Visible Grace and help us reach our goal!

which brings me to part three:

fundraising opportunity
if you follow us on Facebook, you've probably already heard, but we have a new and very simple fundraiser going on- and it benefits YOU!

here's the email we've been sending out- please take a minute to read, and pass it on, and sign up. please. we need money!

We are launching a new and unique fund-raising campaign and we need your help. mobba’s Daily Deal is an online service that offers discounts from local restaurants, theaters and retailers. When they enter a new market they offer to donate to local charities that help get the word out.

When you click http://www.mobba.com/portland/gorefer... and sign up, mobba’s Daily Deal will donate $2 to Visible Grace.

If you live in Eugene click on http://www.mobba.com/eugene/gorefersu....

It cost nothing and takes about 30 seconds. You don’t have to buy anything and can opt out at any time, but we hope you’ll take advantage of their service, just like you would any of our supporters.

So sign up today and pass this link along to friends, family and co-workers in the Eugene/Springfield or Portland Metro areas. Be sure to include this link or our referral code, Grace316.

If 50 people pass this link along to 10 supporters who pass it along to 5 supporters, we can easily surpass our campaign goal of $2,000.

God bless you and thank you for your support of Visible Grace!


hope you are all well. thanks for your continual support and prayer.
Ashby