The fruits of the Spirit

I just bought this piece off of Etsy. I did a little bit of homework and had it custom made by both Jamie at PostCardsFromGod and also by Crystal at SquareWear. Jamie did the artwork for the individual fruits for me and Crystal made me the scrabble tile bracelet using the artwork I bought from Jamie. I really really love this piece. I'll be using as a memory verse piece to help me remember to be displaying the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." On the back, the scrabble tiles spell out "Galatians".

Kimeu is at home

Its a pretty simple story actually. Patrick's mom called the woman who hired Kimeu and chewed him out for hiring a school-aged child. (Go Mom!) So the woman fired Kimeu and told him to go home. So he did. He is now staying with Grandma Beth (whom he was staying with before we sent him to boarding school.) Mom asked him what he was thinking when he ran away. He said that he wanted to earn enough money to start his own kiosk. I can only imagine that he didn't feel like he had any other options. So for now, we'll let him get settled in at home for awhile before we move on to the next step.

Sometimes God closes the door.

So it had genuinely been my hope to adopt Kimeu. But God has definitively closed the door on this hope. 6 days ago I had emailed the Child Welfare Society of Kenya in order to inquire on adoption laws. Today I received a response.

" The child you would want to adopt has already attained the age of 16 years. According to the US laws on inter-country adoption, it is not possible to adopt a child who is aged 16 and above."

Of course, this breaks my heart. But I know that God's plans for Kimeu are so much better than mine. We will continue to pursue having him evaluated for any learning disabilities. Perhaps get him enrolled in a technical school. We will still do everything we can to give him an opportunity to get an education that will enable him to provide for himself and his future family.

Please continue to pray with us!

Kimeu update

So Patrick hasn't talked to his mother in a couple of days, but the latest we know is that they've gotten the phone number of the woman who hired him but haven't been able to talk to Kimeu himself yet. So please continue to keep Kimeu's safe return home in your prayers.

There is another exciting development though! This morning I received a reply from one of the several emails I sent out requesting information on assessment for dyslexia. The email came from dyslexiakenya.org. She told me where to take Kimeu, when to take him there and how much it would cost. She even included information on Parent/Teacher workshops! What a blessing. So after Kimeu gets home, that will be our next step. So keep on praying!!

Kimeu cont...

I've really been seeing God working the past 24 hours. A friend of mine emailed to say that they were praying James 1:5 and Phil 4:6-7 for me. Well, I believe both of those prayers have been answered. God has provided direction and peace for us as we seek the best way to help Kimeu. Shortly after I received that email, things just started happening. I was talking to my mom about the situation and she suggested that Kimeu might have dyslexia. Obviously we can't tell from here. I've been suspecting a learning disability (aka, a different learning style!) might be in play here anyway. I asked Patrick about it and he said that he didn't believe there were any resources in Kenya for people with dyslexia, etc. Now I have to say this is the FIRST time Patrick has ever been wrong ;), but thank goodness he was! Googling "dyslexia Kenya" returned several results and I was able to get a few emails out making inquiries about where to have Kimeu evaluated. But the blessings didn't stop there. Here are some ways that God has given us some direction:

• The call from my mom mentioning dyslexia.
  
• A missionary friend in Kenya commented that she knows about resources there for children with special needs AND she knows something about the adoption process out there.
• A friend from my church in New York emailed me to say that she works for the Learning Disabilities Association and she just happens to be going to Kenya this summer.

Don't forget the ways God has given me peace in this whole thing!

• A friend here in Orange County knows all sorts of stuff about raising money for the adoption process. This gives me peace of mind that if we end up there, lack of money won't be a closed door.
• My Aunt emailed me to share a story about how she's found peace in a difficult situation and reminded me that I'm not the only one who cares about Kimeu. God loves him too.
• In the midst of my prayer time last night, God interrupted me mid-sentence to give me Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." This gives me peace that God loves Kimeu and has good plans in store for him.
• Knowing how many people are out there praying for Kimeu gives me great hope that this thing will turn out all right.

Thank you everyone so much for your prayers in this matter and your offers of help and knowledge, etc. I have one more prayer request to share with you concerning Kimeu. This one is more of immediate urgency than the other. The prayer request is that he goes home. Patrick's mother doesn't actually know where he is right now. She knows the direction he's in, but doesn't know where to go to find him. Please pray that either God would lead Kimeu to go home or that Patrick's mother will somehow be able to find him and bring him home so that we can help him.

Kimeu

I have an urgent prayer request. You may have heard Patrick or I talk about Patrick's cousins, Sammy and Kimeu. If you haven't, I'll give you a brief history. Sammy and Kimeu's mother died several years ago. They're father abandoned them and they were living with their grandmother after that. A short while ago, their father came back to care for them only to die shortly thereafter. So Sammy and Kimeu are now orphans. With the financial help of my parents and Patrick's family, we've put them in a private boarding school there in Kenya. Sammy is doing well. Kimeu on the other hand is not. He's been doing poorly in school and started running away. Patrick's mother has continually taken him back to the school. We found out today that he ran away from school for the 5th time. Only this time he only went home long enough to change clothes before running away from there also. Patrick's mother got word that he was seen about 30-40 miles away and that he is working tending cows for some woman. They're still trying to figure that out. Since I first met Kimeu almost 6 years ago now, this boy has been close to my heart. He has such a sweet soul. You can see it just looking in his eyes. My heart hurts for him because I want the best for him, as if he were my own son. My heart's desire is to help this boy succeed in life. To see him thriving! Whether that's by adopting him and bringing him here or getting him the help he needs in Kenya as far as being evaluated for learning disabilities. He is 16 now though, so we are rapidly running out of time if we're going to adopt him. Please take a moment to pray for God to guide us in this matter and to give us success in helping Kimeu. I feel sick to my stomach thinking about this right now and I'm crying over this boy. In my mind, not helping him is not an option, so we need lots of prayer support on this!

Praying James 1:5 on this one! "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Culture differences

The textbook for my Interpersonal Communication class just used the differences between American and Kenyan cultures to demonstrate how different cultures are in terms of individualism. I found this interesting why? Because I'm an American married to a Kenyan! See the quoted section below. Fun stuff.

"Individualism: One and Many

One of the most prominent dimensions of a culture is the dimension of individualism versus collectivism. Individualistic cultures, such as those in North America, value individual achievement and personal accomplishment. Collectivistic cultures, including many Asian cultures, value group and team achievement. One researcher summed up the American goal system this way:

Chief among the virtues claimed is self-realization. Each person is viewed as having a unique set of talents and potentials. The translation of these potentials into actuality is considered the highest purpose to which one can de- vote one’s life.

Conversely, in a collectivistic culture, people strive to attain goals for all members of the family, group, or community. In Kenyan tribes, for example,

Nobody is an isolated individual. Rather, his [or her] uniqueness is a secondary fact. In this new system group activities are dominant, responsibility is shared, and accountability is collective. Because of the emphasis on collectivity, harmony and cooperation among the group tends to be emphasized more than individual function and responsibility.

Individualistic cultures tend to be more loosely knit socially; individuals feel responsible for taking care of themselves and their immediate families. In collectivistic cultures, individuals expect more support from others; they also experience more loyalty to and from the community. Because collectivistic cultures place more value on “we” than “I,” teamwork approaches usually succeed better in their workplaces. U.S. businesses have tried to adopt some of Japan’s successful team strategies for achieving high productivity."

(Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others, 6th Edition. p. 95).