Chapter 14: Outreach Opportunity in Kibera

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to take some 9th grade guys to Kibera for an outreach opportunity. Kibera is home to 1 million people. It is said to be one of the biggest slums in the world. 20% of the people have electricity. Their homes are made out of mud walls with tin for roof tops. Very few toilets and a lot of times a hole in the ground is shared between numerous shacks.
We have a friend who works in Kibera and they were able to help us establish some contacts for this service project. There are many walking routes into Kibera and they told us the area where we would be working, is probably one of the busiest routes in this section of Kibera...well, this section was completely full of trash!! Last time I saw this much trash in one place was at a landfill.
We started out by having the 9th graders over to our house for breakfast in the morning. After breakfast we headed out to Kibera. We had the guys bring shovels, pails, appropriate foot wear, and gloves. Vance was able to get us a 17 ton dump truck to help out with the removal of the trash so afterwards they could dump it at a legal site. We worked for over 3 hours removing trash. We used buckets, wheel barrels and rice sacks to load the trash into and then heaved it up to a few guys in the dump truck to unload. Long story short, we were able to remove all of the trash and we barely fit it all into the 17 ton dump truck. We came across everything you can think of buried in the trash heap. The smells were atrocious.
What an experience! The 9th grade guys did a great job. Grateful for the opportunity to serve! Will never forget it.
Thank you for all of your prayers & support. We would not be able to do this if it wasn't for you. We miss all of you! Love, Tom & Tera

Chapter 13: Table Tennis Club

We started a table tennis club!! It has been running now for a few weeks. On average of about 8 - 12 students show up. We have been running it on Monday afternoons from 3:30 - 4:30 pm. We spend roughly 40 minutes playing table tennis and then 20 minutes in devotions. We currently have two tables going at once. A third table is under construction and hopefully we can get it up and running this week. For devotions we have been spending time in the book of James! It has been going really well so far.
We have also started a Table Tennis Tournament during the school lunch hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Their is a school close by, Mitumba School, it is a local school here and they have very little in terms of food and resources. So, as an outreach, our school has chosen to help them out by supplying them with buckets of food for this upcoming holiday season. We decided to host a ongoing table tennis tournament. We have a men's singles tournament, a woman's singles tournament and a mixed doubles tournament going on. All donations contributed to play in the tournament are going to the Mitumba students. So far we have raised closed to 6,000 ksh ($90 USD). Thanks for all your prayers!!

Chapter 12: Exploring

We were able to get out and about a couple weeks ago. We went on a short retreat for staff development. We went to a place called Lake Naivasha and spent the weekend in professional development as well as a little relaxing. On Saturday we were able to go on a little safari. We went to a place called Crescent Island (some of the animal scenes from the movie Out of Africa were shot here as well as a few other movies). Lake Naivasha (where Crescent Island is) it use to be a crater that has since filled up with water. Unfortunately though because of a long drought here, the water is starting to recede quite a bit. Crescent Island is more like a peninsula now. We talked with the owner for some time, she is an older British lady who has lived there since the 1970's. We were able to walk around for 3 or 4 hours. We saw giraffes, zebras, gazelles, wildebeests, a python, and some hippos!! There was a time or two were we went off and did our own exploring, apart from our guide...we took the road less traveled as Robert Frost would say...and it did make all the difference...we came across a hippo resting on shore. We got about 10-15 feet from him and then he stood up. We were told hippos can run pretty fast, so we snapped a couple pictures and then moved on. As we were moving out though, we must have spooked him and he took off, none the less, we got a picture of our friend. Hope everyone is doing well!! Love you guys!!

Chapter 11: Furniture Shopping

Now that we have found a house and have moved in, we have been looking to purchase some furniture. We were fortunate enough to be able to buy some furniture from some missionaries who were leaving the field. We were able to buy from them a bed and some book shelves. We are still looking to purchase a couch, some chairs, and a dining room table. Last weekend we went shopping down "furniture alley." There is a road here in Nairobi called Ngong Road and located all along it are numerous furniture stores. It is nothing like Rooms To Go. Each and every morning they haul their furniture out from under cover and then every night they haul it back under. It was a challenge going from store to store and discussing prices with the owners. Just being honest...they see a white person and the price doubles some times triples. We took a few people with us, one of them being a Kenyan, to help us in the task. Long story short, we were able to pick out a L-shaped couch and a single chair. They are making it from scratch and hopefully we get to pick it up tomorrow. No more devotions on a cold tile floor!!

Chapter 10: We Found A House!!

We have had a huge answer to prayer!! We have found a house to live in. We (Krol's & Ficek's) are currently living in another missionary's house until they return in the next couple months. So we have been looking for the past couple weeks at places to live. Ideally, it would be nice to live in separate houses but on the same compound. After looking at quite a few places, we started to realize how difficult this perfect scenario might be. Oh, ye of little faith...well, just the other day we came across a compound with two houses for rent starting in September. We were a little concerned with how much the owner was asking for the two houses. We knew how much we could afford / offer and we knew how much the owner was asking...they were two very different prices. We met with the owner the other day and after talking with her we told her the highest we could go. The look on her face wasn't good. She told us she would call us later after she crunched some numbers. To be honest, I thought our chances were slim. But as we were getting into the vehicle and pulling out, she stop us and told us she would take our offer. The Lord is good! Thank you for your prayers!!

Chapter 9: Grocery Shopping in Kenya

Well, we have had a couple different opportunities to go grocery shopping here in Nairobi. We go to a place called Nakumatt, it would be comparable to Wal-Mart in the States. There are quite a few of them around the city. They have grocery items on the lower level and then all kinds of household goods on the second level. We can find a few items from the States here in Kenya. The only difference is the price!! We found spaghetti sauce to be very expensive here. For a can of Ragu or Classico it is about $4.00. I saw Snickers Ice Cream bars here, my favorite, they are close to $9.00 for a box of five. Needless to say, we won't be having too many Snicker Ice Cream bars. We are able to save on the fruits and vegetables though. We can get a weeks worth of fruits and vegetables for around $10. Thank you for your support!! Hope everyone is doing well.

Chapter 8: Arrived to Kenya!!

We arrived to Kenya!! We made it in safely on Monday night.
All of our luggage made it safely as well. Which was a blessing, we have heard stories where missionaries had waited up to 6 weeks for their luggage to arrive. Our first few nights we stayed at the Mayfield AIM (African Interior Ministries) guest house. Lots of other missionaries from all over Kenya stay there. Either to get away for a little while or to meet incoming missionaries.
We were able to go to West Nairobi School then on Tuesday and check it out. The picture is of Tera's classroom. We have spent the past few days working in our classrooms as well as unpacking our stuff at home. It has been a very busy few days!! Adjusting well to the time change. Thanks for all of your prayers, we feel them!!

Chapter 7: Grace Fellowship

We have had a busy final week in getting prepared for our departure. It has been a little crazy at times. Between trying to sell our vehicles, canceling our cell phones, auto insurance, and packing...I don't know how many times we have packed, unpacked, and re-packed our luggage. We have weighed each piece it seems like 10 times. But we have made it!!
Our church has given us a great send off. It started with our Bible Study circling around us last week Sunday morning and praying for us, as well as taking up a love offering for us. We appreciate everything they have done for us and can feel their constant prayers. Tonight, at Saturday night service, our church brought us up front, and one of our pastors shared with the congregation what we will be doing in Kenya. We were blessed again to have our Bible Study surround us one more time and lift us up in prayer.
We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the love and support from all of you: our families, our friends, and our church family.

Chapter 6: Michgan Farewell

On Wednesday July 8th, 2009 we flew up to Michigan to see Family & Friends!! We spent 5 days up there. We were very fortunate to be able to see our new niece (Alyssa Lyn) who was born the day before!! Friday afternoon we went to the golf course with Harold, Will, & Ty and putted around. Friday night we had dinner at Mike & Elizabeth's! Just found out that one of the twins is a boy, anxiously awaiting to hear about the other. On Saturday, Mom & Dave threw us a big farewell picnic at Hughes Park. It was a great opportunity to visit with family and friends who we haven't seen since Christmas. We were able to spend some time with Grandpa & Grandma Krol on Sunday for dinner. We also got in a little fishing with the family in the back yard. Our nephew Will out fished us all! Thanks to all of our family and friends for all of your support. It was difficult saying good bye but we will keep in contact and look forward to your visits!!

Chapter 5: Pre-Field Orientation

Starting on June 22nd until July 3rd, 2009 we were in Southaven, MS for Pre-Field Orientation. Right around 200 other missionaries / teachers were there and will be going to 20 other NICS schools around the world.
It was a very busy two weeks!! We started out on Monday registering and meeting our host family (Ms. Judy & Mike). The remainder of the 2 weeks was filled with classes. We learned an awful lot. Topics that were discussed included the NICS story, Meyers-Briggs assessment, Third Culture Kids, Transition Experience, and more!!
We were able to meet 13 other missionaries / teachers heading to West Nairobi School. We are excited to be working with a great group. We spent a lot of time together at meals talking and also had a team building experience at the bowling alley (careful Vance...the lane is slippery).
We really enjoyed the two weeks, it was overwhelming at times (lots of information) but we definitely feel better prepared for heading off to the field!!

Chapter 4: Selling Our Cars

God's Plan...not Ours.
We have decided to sell both of our cars and we thought it would be best to sell the Chevy S-10 first and then drive the Ford Explorer around until July and then we would put it up for sale. So the other day we put an ad on the computer for the S-10 and sure enough we received a call on it. We were pretty excited on how things were falling into place so well, as planned, right? Well, long story short...the person came and checked out the S-10...they didn't want it, kind of bummed about it. The next morning Tera gets into the Explorer and come to find out something is wrong with it mechanically. We took it in this morning and the mechanic said it needs a transmission overhaul which could cost close to $2,000. We were hoping to sell the Explorer for $3,000...worth it to go through all of this for $1,000? Our mechanic is looking to see if he knows of anyone willing to buy it as is for a little bit of money. Again...God's plan is definitely better...Praise Him...the S-10 did not sell the other day otherwise we would not have a car to drive...Praise Him...the Explorer went through these problems with us before we sold it to someone and then they would have to go through all of this. God is good!!

Chapter 3: Finding Storage

We have another praise!! We have been going through our household things and trying to "clean up" our house for Leah & Emily. We have some extra items that we would like to keep but not get rid of. We were thinking about storage units but did not like the idea of creating an expense. Well, Tera's grandparents contacted us the other day and have opened up their house in Moorehaven for us to put some of our things. We rented out a Uhaul trailer on Tuesday and moved a few things into storage. It has been a blessing and an answer to prayer!!

Chapter 2: Housing Confirmed

We have a house!! We have had some help in searching. A few teachers at West Nairobi have been looking around the area for us. It is a 3 bedroom house with a guest house. There is another family living in it now, they will be leaving in a couple weeks for the States. They will be back in the States for 6 months. It will be a place where we can get started and be able to do a little looking around while we are there for a place of our own.

Chapter 1: Tickets Purchased

We confirmed our airplane tickets the other day. We will be flying out on July 26th, 2009.
We leave out of Miami, FL and head to London, England. We have a four hour layover in London Heathrow and from there fly to Nairobi, Kenya. We arrive in Kenya around 9:00 pm on July 27th, 2009. We got a pretty good price from the travel agent. If you are interested in coming out to visit, let us know, we will pass their name on to you!!

And the adventure begins!!

The Lord has called Tera and I to another part of the world. We have spent the last 4 - 5 years teaching here in Palm Beach County, Florida and now towards the end of July we will be moving to Nairobi, Kenya. We will working with Network of International Christian Schools (NICS) / OASIS. Tera will be teaching 3rd grade and I will be teaching social studies at the middle school and high school level with also the possibility of assisting a P.E. class.
We covet your prayers and support!!