June 3, 2007

Meet Earl
Meet the newest addition to our family…Earl. As you may recall from previous blog entries, we had been hoping to get a pet parrot for our family. African Grey Parrots are known for being excellent pets because of their intelligence and capacity for learning language. They are fairly common birds here, and when you can find one, very inexpensive. In the States, they can cost thousands of dollars, but here they can be as cheap as $4 to $5. We had been searching for one for several months and making no progress. We were thrilled when some other missionaries offered their parrot to us while they go on furlough to the States, and said that we can keep it beyond that if we want. They provided us with a nice cage, bird toys, and the parrot. The best part was that it was all free. He is the coolest bird. He is just learning to speak and likes to say his own name the most. He can say: “Come here”, “good boy”, “good night” and some other things that we don’t understand. He mimics other birds that he hears outside, too. We are very thankful to have obtained a parrot and are enjoying having him in the home. We had also hoped to take one to America whenever we return, but I am told that due to bird flu, that international transport of birds is no longer viable. I haven’t confirmed this yet, but I suspect that it is probably true.


Collin’s Growing Vocabulary
We were having dinner the other night when Collin suddenly announced, quite excitedly, that he knew three cuss words. Pamela said, “oh really…which ones?” Collin replied that he knew the f-word, the d-word, and the b-word. Pamela asked him what the f-word was and he said that he had forgotten, though he was probably trying to recall “fart”, which is supposed to be an unspoken word in our house. Then we asked him what is the d-word. He was kind of grinning sheepishly and said that it was “ditch”. When we busted out laughing, he suddenly remembered that it was supposed to start with a “b” and blurted out the rhyming word to ditch. When we asked him how he knew that word, he said that he had learned it from one of our neighbors in Niceville. He was quite proud that he knew a bad word, and we were grateful that he only knew one as opposed to the three that he professed to know. I hope that you don’t misread this to think that I am proud of my child’s bad language. It is just funny to see Collin, the innocent child, being proud of his “accomplishment”. We are having to explain that this is wrong because he does not even realize it.

Jarvis
We try to minimize the number of people that we help that come and knock on our gate. If you get a reputation for helping everyone who comes, then they will be there everyday. It is a tough balance, because we are here to help, but you cannot possibly help everyone who asks, and many people are lying just to get money. Anyway…earlier this week, a young man named Jarvis came to the gate and Pamela briefly spoke to him and said that I should come talk to him. I was taking a bath and said that she should have him come back the next day. This is also a good tactic to see if someone is really in need or just going house to house begging. She responded that she really felt that I should go talk to him then.

When I met Jarvis, I could tell that he was different from most of the solicitors that I encounter. He was very humble and also seemed to be quite broken and on the verge of tears. Men are just not allowed to cry in this culture and will not allow themselves to be seen if they do. Jarvis began telling me his story and I soon found out that he is HIV positive. He had just recently begun taking ARVs (anti-AIDS drugs) and was very sick from the side effects. It seems that the side effects are similar to some cancer chemotherapy drugs. He was weak and nauseous. He had come to ask me to pray for him because he was fearful of telling his mother that he had AIDS. He had gone home in December to tell her, but he chickened out and said that he had TB. He did actually have TB, but it was a result of the AIDS. He explained that his mother was a Christian and that she would be so disappointed in him that he did not want to tell her. He is also the only son, and his mother is a widow. Therefore, it is his responsibility to take care of his mother as she grows older. He knew that he needed to tell her and that he also needed to be in her care as he gets through the first months of taking ARVs. He also wanted to know if he could wash my car of do other work in our compound to get some money for bus fare home, which is in Rwanda. He was obviously very weak and even having trouble standing and walking. I talked with him for about half an hour and realized that I needed to help him with bus fare and to spend some time praying with him.

He had a very strong testimony and explained that he knew that he had sinned and that his disease was a consequence of that sin. He said that he knew that God was capable of healing AIDS and that he was praying for that to happen, but that he also knew that God might chose not to heal him. He told me that he had only been intimate with one girl ever, but she was HIV positive and knew that she was. It seems that she had acquired AIDS from being raped, and in vengeance was infecting as many men as she could. When I asked two of my African friends about this story, they said that it is very common for people to deliberately infect others out of spite. He said that he knew God had not forsaken him and was still there for him. He also said that God had shown him that he needed to forgive the girl who had infected him and that he had done so. She had actually died recently from the disease. His biggest fear was having to confess to his mom what had happened. I spent time praying with him for courage, for healing, and for God to continue to lead him and keep him. It was both a sad and uplifting time. I was sad for this young man having to live with this horrible disease. I was uplifted to hear such a solid testimony and how he still knew the faithfulness of God during difficult circumstances. Please join with us in praying for Jarvis. He has returned to Rwanda but promises to stay in touch via email.

When I asked him why he came to our gate, he said that everyone in the village knows that we are Christians and that we will help people. This was encouraging to hear, but also somewhat frightening because you never know who will show up with a story of need. We need wisdom and discernment as we make decisions about whom to help and how.

Kenya Bound
I will be departing for a 5-day trip to Kenya on Wednesday of this week, the day before my 44th birthday, which means that I will celebrate my birthday away from our family. I will be traveling with three other Kenyan men, including the campus pastor and two students. The main purpose of the trip is for me to speak at a church conference that is the home church of one of the students. We are going to also try to visit a game park but the rains have been very heavy lately and it may not be possible. Pamela is a bit nervous since this will be her first time at home without me since we arrived nine months ago. I am excited about seeing Kenya and visiting the villages and rural areas as we travel. Please pray for safety for all of us as I travel and we are apart.

Blessings to you all,
Kevin