Pure Christianity

Anchors Down in a Sea of Changes (Guest Posting)

 Our family and I have undertaken to move to Germany and are currently finishing up the 5th phase of the 7-phase plan that takes us from preparing to leave America, over the Atlantic ocean, and on to full integration.  Throughout this long process that began in August, we have experienced a wide variety of change in location, circumstances, and people we've been around. 

We went from our normal routine of life to sleeping on mattresses, all in the same room, and having no furniture and few possessions.  As rough as that was, we kept in mind that we still had it better than most in the world.  Next, we lived for 12 days with a friend and his family.  We lived in a little shed there that had no running water.  There was a lot of dust and friendly spiders, ants, and bugs to share the shed with but we still had an air conditioner, electricity, and cell phones.  Two of our kids contracted chicken pox during that time.

From there, we moved to a hotel room while making last-minute preparations to launch into San Diego, California.  In Cali, we turned in our family van for shipment and moved into another hotel while enjoying the company of some friends in that area.  We next lugged our 24 bags into an airplane and traveled for what amounted to about 18 hours across America, (changing planes once b/c of engine trouble) and then the ocean, until we arrived in Germany.  We next traveled by van for an hour or so and finally checked into a hotel near Heidelberg and are now adjusting to a lifestyle where people are accustomed to much smaller living spaces and higher prices for everything.

If you read through all of that, I want to thank you for sticking with me and getting to the main point of all of this.  The struggles and coordination that went with this move were and have been challenging but we thank God that it went smoothly, overall.  As I talked to my family about all we had been through, it seemed right to me to point out something significant.  We are a family.  Through all the changes and all the places we have lived and been, we've stayed a family.  Family isn't about where you live, what you have, or what you are going through.  It's about serving our God and about being together.  No matter what goes on in our world or our circumstances around us, we always have our God and we have the bond of each other to sustain us.  This is the constant, the anchor, that gives life meaning and makes it worth living.

-The James Matthews Family

Picture of the Week

Here’s Kate sitting behind a giant pile of stuff that a certain family in New York sent to us here in Nakuru, Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 

Trying on shoes at the shoe store, yes we have an actual shoe store. Thanks to CoreLove in Houston, for helping us to get shoes for our kids. (Thanks again to the kids of Pflugerville Methodist church for helping us buy shoes for the orphans.)

 

New shoes!

Happy Anniversary

When Kate and I made the decision to get involved in orphan care, we never imagined that it would be as successful as it has been so far. Success to us is not merely numbers of children, but quality of care and life. The orphan/abandoned children we take care of have good lives. They actually will have a chance to survive this world to adulthood.

This month marks 2 years since we opened our doors for this project. From the beginning we understood this project would be different and require much from us. The sacrifices were well worth it, and when measured up against the children and their wellbeing seem like no sacrifice at all.

I am not sure where we will be in two more years, but I am confident that we will be loved by our Father in Heaven, and we will be loving the “least of these.”

Over the next few days expect some informative postings about the projects, our team, finances, and our personal lives.

Johnny Brooks

NOTE about packages:

I just want everyone to take note that on the left hand side of our blog here, there is a link that says 'care packages.' If you ever want to know what to send, I'm doing my best to keep that list/link updated with what we have and don't have.

ALSO, FYI, right now is a GREAT time for us to receive care packages because the post office lady is being very reasonable concerning the TAXES we are charged on many of the items you send us. Often times she doesn't even open the box, and lets us walk out 'tax free' saving us a lot of time and money.

So I'm encouraging peeps to take advantage of this for our sake. Thanks!

Kate

Here's the link for those of you reading this in a RSS reader:

http://purechristianity.blogs.com/pure_christianity/2009/09/care-package-list.html

picture of the week

Emma Caite, age 2

Clarifying

It seems that some people are not aware of the 'details' of what is what around here.

Some one asked me, "Is Christopher's House a part of A Future and a Hope?"

The answer to that question is YES.

I thought I'd clarify some things in simple form here in this article.

Our community, all the people being directly aided by your donations, is made up of 29 people (20 children and 9 grownups). To break it down so you can see who is where.... we have 12 orphans, 4 Kenyan team children, 4 Kenyan team Parents, 1 Kenyan grandma, 4 Brooks children, Johnny & myself, and 2 Kenyan staff members, plus LOTS of other peeps we help outside whom I could name by name as well but are not included in our numbers here.

One day, it is our desire to all live together on the same land so we can farm it together, and be more involved with our families, etc... but in the mean time, Ali, Virginia, their 2 children, 5 orphans, and Granny all live about 20 minutes away at our home for boys called 'Christopher's House' named in honor of our friend's brother who passed away.

Each of these children mentioned above go to private schools with the exception of our home-schooled bio-kids. Education, even on the primary level, is not free in Kenya. We, through your donations, fund everything for all of the families mentioned above:  Food, doctor visits, clothing, shelter, education, etc... We also manage to feed, aid, and care for many impoverished people in our community (not counting the above families).

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

NAMES and their meanings:

 
Pure Christianity is our idea of how we should live... we've thrown out all the 'extra' bringing our beliefs down to a pure core of what we feel is most important. The rest is all debatable.

 
A Future and a Hope is what we bring to people, whether in the community or our orphans.

 
A Future and a Hope Head Quarters is our personal home where we do most of our 'work' and where our GIRLS, Brooks family, and Ben's family live together.

 
Christopher's House is where our orphaned BOYS live with Kenyan parents Ali and Virginia and their family.

My Brother's Keeper is Ben's ministry (we've joined him) to the community which he does through our funding (well, YOUR funding that we pass on to him).

~Kate

missing culture

Yesterday evening, I was at my computer with Butterfly (age 6) at my side, when a neighbor's house security alarm went off.

Butterfly said, "Mommy! I know what that sound is! I know the word for it in Kiswahili!... It's adulance. Wait, abulace.... no, it's adbulance. BT told me." (BT is an 8 yr old Kenyan who is part of our family).

I said, "Butterfly, do you mean 'ambulance?'"

"No. Abdulance."

"Butterfly, I think, the word you are thinking of is Ambulance and the girls just  don't know how to say it." I replied with a chuckle. "And actually, that's not the sound you are hearing..."

I find it funny that my six year old daughter doesn't even know what an Ambulance is! If there is an emergency in Kenya, most people take a Taxi, Matatu (public van), Tuk-Tuk, or taxi motorcycle, and sometimes even a 'boda-boda' (taxi bike).

Ambulances ARE around in Kenya, but they are far fewer than in the States.

My children are learning so much in Africa; however, they are missing much of their American culture as well. It will be interesting to see how they adapt and change as they grow.

~Kate

Care package list

Many people ask us for a 'wish' list, so here's a few things we'd love to have: (duplicates are ok!)

Office/school stuff:
Ink cartridges 74 and 75 HP 
web cam compatible with Vista
Electric pencil sharpener
Blank DVD's
wireless mouse
label maker
sharpies
dry erase markers
Kitchen & Food stuff:
Velveeta
Rotel
Beef stew mix (lots of it)
Ranch dip packets
bean dip
M&M's
Oreos
flavored sun flower seeds (or even reg. ones)
cake mixes
icing
Canned tuna
Canned Crab
Canned sardines
Canned muscles
Canned clams
Tuna
Pecans
sweet & sour candies
Good n plenties
Wintergreen certs
Pam cooking spray
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
oven mitts
Mr. clean erasers
Large stock pot
Large Skillet
Medicines/personal care:
Children's Motrin
Children’s Tylenol
Children's Cold medicine
Children’s Pepto
flax seed oil
Vitamin A
vitamin E
Chewable Vitamin C tablets
Zinc
Prenatal vitamins
Children's vitamins
Tums
saline solution (for soft contacts)
Deodorant/antiperspirant (strong, good ones)
Fun stuff:
Game cube games
wii games
movies
Leappad books
Fisher Price Power touch books
quantum pad books (leappad)
craft supplies (ie  Acrylic, Oil, or Watercolor paints, craft foam, whatever)
Hodge Podge
Sculpy clay
Current music CD's for teens and or youngin's
frisbees
playground balls
sidewalk chalk
board games (Apples to Apples, charades, Operation, etc…)
Baby Stuff:
baby powder (Burt's Bee's)
Buttermilk body lotion (Burt's Bee's)
Apricot baby oil (Burt's Bee's)
baby soap (Burt's Bee's)
baby shampoo (Burt's Bee's)
Lanolin Oil (for coating wool diaper covers)
Wool wash of some kind (Kookaburra is good)
Baby Anklets (bangles with bells so I can hear her wake up)
Baby items for a girl:
Newborn socks
New born booties or shoes
Newborn Onesies
Newborn dresses or outfits
Newborn night gowns
receiving blankets
Newborn caps
Newborn footed sleepers
Sizes 3 - 6 months of above
Sizes 6 - 9 months
Cloth Diapers
Miscellaneous:
Johnny has a wish list on Amazon: http://amzn.com/w/1W572JCISBZZA
Head lamps
redhead colored bobby pins
Hair clips

I'm sure I could think of all kinds of stuff if I were actually 'shopping' and browsing the aisles at Wal-mart or something! LOL! Like, 'Hey! Look, a whoopee cushion! The kids would love that!' See? So whatever is fine with us. We love the idea of you actually touching, choosing, and sending stuff. Thank you!

Mail to:
PO Box 2974
Nakuru, Kenya 20100
~Kate

Ramblings of a Mad Man

Today’s blog posting comes to you a little bit late. I apologize, but we have been busy restocking the pantry, buying internet credit (which enables me to upload this article,) shopping for meat (including fare for our Sunday gathering which is to be at our house this weekend,) talking to various hawker (guys who sale stuff on the street) friends, having lunch together as a family (the bio family that is,) and all the usual stuff that occurs around here.

Great, now I feel tired. Seriously though, thanks to all our friends who continue to donate their money to what we are doing. We pray for many blessings on your life, and you should know that your gifts, no matter what size, are making an impact here in Kenya.

Tomorrow I will stretch what remains, and I do have remarkable stretching abilities, to take care of Christopher’s House (the boy’s home.) Or at least give them enough to make it till more money comes in.

So there you go. Nothing profound, just me rambling a bit. I hope this has been an offense free blog posting. Yesterday’s quote of the week led to a Facebook friend deleting me. He was even someone I actually knew in person. Went to Bible school together. I’m not surprised. Often enough Bible school graduates can’t stomach opinions other than their own, or the ones dictated by whatever religious system they serve. I know because I was there for many years.

Before that friend denying quote of the week, I had posted some of my struggles. The outpouring of love and encouragement was a big help, thank you guys. I just want to clarify, at the close of this posting, that I was not just speaking about struggling with our family and Ali’s family. I was really thinking of the whole scope of, well everything. We have so many friends who are suffering and need help that it gets a bit overwhelming at times. Beyond Kate, I don’t have much of a venue to vent some of that frustration. So it seeps into the blog and social media world occasionally.

Anyhow, today has been busy, but good. Tomorrow will be busy, but good. Sunday we will get together and eat chili as a community, share whatever anyone has to to share, and just hang out.

Johnny Brooks

Homemade Memory Making

My sister, Lydia, is visiting us this week and it's a joy to have her here.  She and I had changing parental circumstances growing up but one variable did not change; we grew up together and we had each other.

Last night, I dreamed that I was walking through my grandparent's home (our grandparents raised us for awhile and one them, our grandmother, has already passed away) and it was obvious that, in the dream, they were no longer alive and everything was different.  Everything was messy and in disarray.  To my relief, I found one room in the home that was "devolving" like the other rooms but was similar enough to how I remembered it in order for me to feel comfortable remembering how it was living with them.

So anyway, thinking about them, Lydia reminded me of a delicious snack that our grandmother, Nonny, used to make all the time; fried Cheerios.  I'm putting a YouTube video link here for your viewing pleasure.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93j3foTt5s

You melt a pat of butter in a frying pan and leave it on medium heat.  Pour a cup or two of Cheerios into the pan and fry until they begin to darken a little.  Then pour in few tablespoons of powdered sugar and stir that in.  They taste awesome.  My wife suggested I sprinkle in a little cinnamon and I did that also.  A dash of salt and you have a perfect snack.

My kids loved it and I felt like I passed on some of my Nonny's love to the kids.  With my wife's help, we added our own love and "improvements" and made it our own.

Here's the link to the video I found that partly shows the process:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93j3foTt5s

-James Matthews