Update February 28th 2009

Hello to everyone! We have been doing very well. There has been a malaria and typhoid out break here in the town of Narok where we live, but we have not been effected. Sarah and her family have been hit hard with the malaria she and both the kids had malaria, but her husband wasn’t effected.

Dollie and I go on a prayer project with our home church from Knoxville, TN on March 13th- March the 23 to Israel. It isn’t a site seeing tour we are going to pray in certain areas over some issues the Lord has made clear to our pastor. We are flying Ethiopian air lines and we have Shebamiles:) We think that is cute the Queen of Sheba came form Ethiopia.

When we get back, we will move to our new home here in Narok. The knew house is smaller, but we feel this is where we are to go. Pray for us to have a smooth transition.

Tabula is here and is being hosted by a Massi family we know and she seems very happy. She can talk and interact better with them than with us. She will be here in Narok about 6 weeks going back and forth to Nairobi for her implant. She looks very good and will look better when she has teeth on the left side of her mouth.

Some of you have seen on my Facebook that I helped save a cow the other day. So I will tell the story. Around September I had a problem with my chickens and went to the district vet office that is about 100 yards from my house. I have been before and have never been impressed with who or what I saw, this day was different. I meet a very funny, large Massi man that was the vet and came to my house and found the problem with my chickens and saved the whole lot. So since then I only call on him. He was on holiday leave and I had a problem with my chickens and I called him and he came and helped me. He is a very nice man! So the other day Valentine needed her rabies shot update so I went to see Jerry. I had mentioned that she had a itching problem and he said she has parasites that is causing this I will give her a injection. We had tried everything and done everything about this problem and he had the answer when I wasn’t even asking.

So the other day James and I were in town and on the side of the road was a dying cow. It’s head was just hanging toward the ground and it was foaming at the mouth and looked like it couldn’t move it was so weak. Africans aren’t know for there kindness and concern for animals and there was a few hundred people going by doing nothing. I thought on my way home that I would go and check at the district vets office and see if Jerry was there to ask him if he could help. He wasn’t there so I called him and he was in town so I went and picked him up and we went to look at the cow. He got out in no hurry and looked at the cow and walked around it and came to my car window and said this cow isn’t going to die. I said what- its about to drop dead now. No he said it has leaches in its nose and mouth and that is why it is bleeding from its nose and mouth and is anemic that is why it is so weak, but it want die. He said I will give it an injection and it will be better in a few days. So we got in the car went back to the district office and came back to where the cow was.

When we drove up where it had been- we said were did it go? There is a river down a bank where it was standing and Jerry went Oh know! its going to take the whole town to get this cow out of the mud! I looked and it looked like it was in thick mud almost covering his head. James got a rope out of the car and was able to get a hook around its horn and pull it towards the bank so they could drag it out. It wasn’t in all mud it was water with slime over the top that looked like mud. James got the horns Jerry the tail and they pulled this rather large cow out of the water. By the time I got down there to take pictures on my phone they had it out but it looked worse and Jerry said it was drowning because it couldn’t keep its head above water it was so weak. They drugg it as far from the water as they could and Jerry gave it the injection and in 2 hours it was up. Of course the owner was not around and would have never sought treatment. I guess when he came through with his heard and collected that one he wondered how it had gotten better. It was because the white women cared and went to get the carrying vet.

Jerry is wanting to raise money and start a animal welfare type organization to help sick animals and rescue them from abusive owners. The donkeys around here need a lot of help. They are the hardest working animals in all of Kenya and this most miss treated.

My african friends that I told this to said they would have just gone on by and never thought anything, but were very glad that I cared enough to help. It was a big seen in town the white women and the little black dog helping the sick cow. We gathered a very large crowd in just a few minutes:)

We are getting excited about the up coming outreach with KMO coming up in May. We are going to a new site called Sakutick that is around the Narok area. We have found 3 children from there to take to Operation Smile for cleft pallets to be repaired. They are to go in April to have this done. There are a lot of orphans that are living with family’s from parents that have had HIV/AIDs and have died. It is a very beautiful place very green and a lot of grass and they grow potatoes up there. We are to do a walk with Jesus also with about 30 people or more that work in churches and christian organizations. Dollie and I are very excited and the group we are working with are beside themselves about us coming. It is the first time they have had a group to come and do a clinic and dental care with bible teaching.

Keep us in your prayers as we try to do what we see the Father doing!

Dollie and Penny