Jumping into Fall

Hey everyone

The past few months have been an extremely busy time with ministry. Our other computer has been unusable and Eric has been working crazy hard on accreditation documents and so I haven't been able to write sooner. Eric and the school have finished the majority of the report needed for the team to come and evaluate our school, he just needs to finish writing reports on three classes for the 12th grade year. This past weekend we went out with some friends to celebrate finishing our part in the process. It has been a lot of work and long nights spent on the reports needed for this process but Eric is happy to be finished. The next step will be to invite the team to come in November and do the site visit. Eric also has a large teaching load this semester and is struggling to stay on top of it all. This year seems to be a transition year as we are trying to teach all the science classes without hiring another science teacher but next year it will become a necessity as Eric won't be able to teach them all. It's a year we just have to work hard through to the finish.

We are excited to tell you that for the past 6 weeks we have been in a new phase with Kayla. We thank you for your prayers for her growth as we have really felt them. We feel like we have had our laughter restored to us after a great time of sadness and drought with our family. We feel like she has turned another corner in her journey and we see a lot of growth this past month. We have truly enjoyed our family for such a long period of time for the first time. Its been exciting to watch this transformation in Kayla as we go about having fun and playing with friends. She has begun singing and dancing again for the first time since she was two. The other day she was jumping on our bed saying "I'm happy I'm happy". We can't ever remember her doing that. We pray this time of growth for her will continue . Last month we had several tests run to rule out any other possible problems. We ran blood, thyroid, and food allergy tests which all came back normal. This next week we will finish the final test for heavy metals in her organs. According to autism spectrum disorder research many of these kids store toxins in their bodies and can't process them like normal people. These heavy metals reek havoc on the body and affect many of the brain's normal functions. This will be the last test we run for Kayla and then we will be at a place where we have done everything we can for her.

Emma is doing great. I think she has finally moved out of the toddler stage and into becoming a little girl. Last night we played the game Candyland for the first time as a family. She is smart and catches on quickly to concepts and most of all she has such a sweet spirit about helping Kayla catch on too. The Lord knew just what kind of child we needed in Emma and also what type of sister Kayla needs as well. She just celebrated her 3rd Birthday and had so much fun helping with her Dora party. We found out how to make a pinata and so for a week the girls helped me paste on newspaper to balloons and at the end of the week our pinata looked a little ghetto but it did its purpose at the party. The funny thing was at the party being the girls that they are they didn't want to hit the pinata that looked like Dora. So we had our friend Jonah break the pinata for the girls at the party, however the pinata was built so strong that only by a Jedi star wars move was he able to pierce the pinata and free the candy.

At the end of September we were able with much joy to help one of our Kenyan families move from the slums to their own home. As you can see from the picture Priscilla my friend was very excited to be living in her own place. She thanks God for the supporters of ours who helped to make this move for her family possible. The chicken in the picture came with us in the car as well when we drove from her old home to her new one. It was such a pleasure to help her and her family move into their own house. As a result they will be able to save their money on rent and Patrick the father will be able to return to Bible school and finish his degree. This fall has been busy with ministry stuff for me as well. Last year I was able to be a part of a mentoring program for the young teachers at our school. The last young teacher I mentored has since left Kenya and gotten married. So this month I have taken on a new young lady, Kate. She is a new grad and teaches high school English. We meet twice a month and talk about life and growing in God. Also on Tuesdays we have started a new Bible study and the ladies are meeting at our house. This Friday we will be hosting the 11th graders for a party, we have 17 students now. We are introducing them to the Luau. Most of them have never even heard of this type of party so it will be fun. We are going to be cooking shishkabobs, eating pineapple , and mixing up some fruity drinks in real coconuts. I think we are even going to try and make them do the Limbo too.... hee hee hee.

We want to thank you for your continued prayers for our family and for your gifts that make our ministry possible. I know many of you have been affected by the recession. The Lord continues to stretch and grow us in this area of finances as it is easy to fret and worry about how the Lord is going to provide. He is faithful and I know this area is my weakness. In our Bible study of the Psalms I read repeated promises of God's faithfulness to his children. I think the hardest part for me is waiting on Him and his provision.

May God's blessings be upon you this week

Kara for the Gibsons

Summer in Kenya

This summer seemed busy for us. We usually try to lay low but it wasn't meant to be. We started June off with Kara's parents visiting for two weeks and we enjoyed hanging out and a trip to the beach . The last few weeks of June Eric and the girls built a playhouse in the backyard. They really enjoyed "helping daddy" of course getting in the way and making dad loose his tools was all part of the fun as well. We finally completed it after several weeks and the girls helped us paint it blue. It was quite fun going along after them and cleaning up the gobs of paint they tried to smear on the house. Good fun though!

The second half of our summer it seemed like the Lord had given us many people to help. With the generous gift from a supporter we were able to help one of the Kenyan families we are working with to complete their house. Patrick and Priscilla work in a literacy program helping to translate the Bible into short readable stories for the many illiterate people in Kenya. They had started building a house and came to a standstill after running out of money. They live in one of the slums in a tiny one room house. We found out that they were trying to finish their house so they could move out of their old place and stop paying rent. With the money they would save on rent Patrick was going to go back to school to finish his Bible degree he had started. This is a great and loving family who always shower us with love and we were excited that we were able to help them. We hope to move them by the end of this month. Praise God! This is huge for this family.

The other family we have been working with is our gardener Peter Mwangi. Peter works for us once a week and has been taking care of our yard before we moved into our house. He only makes about $30 a month. We have been praying for some time about how we could help Peter and decided to help him start his own barber shop. It was completely finished and he was open for business for about a week. This past Sunday we received a call that the landlord who supposedly owned the property lied to about 14 businesses and as a result the government came through and bulldozed all the business to make way for enlarging the local market. The government actually owned the land where Peter built his business and now there is nothing left. The government of Kenya doesn't really take care of its people well and doesn't warn "squatters" as they call them, when they are coming to knock down their businesses.

Peter has had a difficult six months. Peter is a member of one of the tribes that were persecuted during the post-election troubles Kenya experienced in January and he hid in his house during a two week period scared for his life. He sent his wife and children to live outside of Nairobi until it became peaceful again. In February several members of his family from up north came to live with him because their houses were burnt down. Peter gave them shelter and fed them for about 3 months. Through several of our donors we were able to give money to Peter to go up country and rebuild the houses for his family . This is really the first time I have been intensely involved with trying to help someone provide for their family through a business venture. Many Kenyans get into a helpless mode where they just keep asking for money and we didn't want to have that relationship with Peter. I was angered when I got the news that his business had been destroyed and really asked the Lord why. Why when someone who had tried so hard to make more money for his family would this happen. We still don't have answers and maybe the Lord has something better for his family. We have prayed about the possibility of Peter finding a job as a gardener/bus driver for our school. Will you pray for God's will for Peter and his family that the Lord will help heal these past 6 months because Peter seems defeated.

The last three weeks of July we spent helping our new High school Principal adjust and showing him the ropes. It will take several months until his presence will help lighten Eric's work load. Les and Karen are a great older couple and we are excited they have come to work with us. We welcomed 8 more teachers the last week of July and lead the orientation for them as well as finding housing and doing shopping. Wow as I write all this down I now realize why we are tired :) As a result we feel like we are entering this school year not completely rested. We are already talking of plans for after our first class graduates (2010) from our high school of taking a sabbatical year. We feel like in order to continue to stay in Kenya after five years of intense work, we will need to recoup. We will have to see what God has in store for us. Thank you for your continued support for our ministry we can't do it without you. I have seen your gifts helping us to make a difference in two family's lives this summer. It has been a privilege to be able to help them.



Prayer requests:

1. Eric-that the Lord would give him strength and patience to make it till Christmas (new principal to train, new teachers to help, accreditation, teaching 5 different classes)

2. Kara-continued patience with Emma as we are dealing with the terrible two's as well with Kayla as we continue looking into her disorder and running more tests to see if we missed anything

3. Emma- that the Lord would bring back my sweet girl and her little emotions would even out

4. Kayla-she would continue to mature as a sweet little girl and the Lord would soften her emotional outbursts

5. Support for our ministry- we sent out a newsletter on paper coming in September letting people know that for the first time our account is in the red. Will you pray with us that we will remember the Lord provides and if he wants us to continue here he will bring us gifts. We continue to need to rely on Him.





Blessings on your weekend

Kara

School is out! Yeah

Hey everyone

Wow where did the time go since our last update. The last month of school is always so hectic. I can't tell you how many graduation and goodbye parties we went to. This end of the year was tough for us as we said goodbye to many good teachers we have grown to love. We finished this year in a whirlwind with Eric trying to get a front office program going for the entire school before the year ended. This program will help with schedules, grades, and general info. This year the kids in the Jr. High and High school dedicated the yearbook to Eric. He was surprised and honored, I still think he's the best teacher they have but I am a little prejudiced. This summer we are just sticking clost to home and trying to recuperate. Eric will work some this summer trying to plan for his new AP Biology class and a new Bible class called Chrisitians in the media. This summer we are welcoming The Ommen family to our school and he will be the principal for the high school. We are hoping this will relieve Eric of the many Administration responsibilities he has had for the last 3 years.

The past two weeks my parents have been here visiting. We had a great time doing daily life with them here. The first week of June we celebrated Kayla's birthday and then we went to the coast for four days. The weather was a little cold but we had fun playing on the beach. My dad was able to snorkel on the reef at the coast and my mom loved connecting with the many missionaries who were vacationing at the coast. The girls loved making sand castles and taking walks on the beach to find treasures.


It is always fun having family here as they can share our life for a little while, offer encouragement and really give us the love we miss from family.

This month we plan on continuing to recuperate and

to get in shape. Eric is planning on hiking Mt. Kenya in early July with the guys on our team. They plan on driving about 5 hours to the base of the mountain and then its about a two day hike up and back. It sounds hard but fun. They will pitch tents on the way up and have a guide to show them the trail. In the middle of July we have our new High school Principal coming and then end of July we will be coordinating the new staff orientation. The girls will still be in preschool so hopefully mom and dad can have some time to hang out together. We hope you are doing well.

Will you pray with us for our monthly support. We have been consistently undersupported since we returned last year due to loss of supporters and the recession. Our fiscal year is coming to a close and we are in the red for the first time. We will be sending out more information in our next paper newsletter but will you pray with us for the Lord's leading in this financial situation.

Blessings

Kara for the Gibsons

March/April Update

Hey everyone

It has been awhile since we last updated I think it has been due to our month of illness with the girls and trying to emotionally recover from all the political mayhem. Things have quieted down mostly, the government has decided on a sharing of power and are now in the midst of a battle to choose a cabinet. This last week was yet again another stalemate regarding who is on the cabinet and if the existing government is actually doing things legally. We have a tribal gang called the Mungiki and they are now causing problems. Just this morning they shut down public transport going into town and several riots were thankfully resolved along our kids bus routes in the early morning. So needless to say we are still living in some unrest. Many thousands of people are still living at camps set up by the red cross. We don’t know how long they will stay there as there hasn’t been mention of any aid coming in to help these people rebuild their homes. Last week we were able to send money with our friend Peter to help rebuild another house upcountry for his family. It has been a long journey for him as he only makes about 40$ a month and has been supporting at least 10 people for food and shelter. Family is a major priority here even when you have nothing. There is value placed on taking care of each other.
A month ago the girls started with a cold and then recovered just in time for school to let out for the month of April and then Kayla came down with a bladder infection. We had three really great months with her and we felt like we could take a breath and then this infection came. It has completely upset her little world. We weren’t aware she had it as she didn’t say anything was bothering her but we noticed a rapid decline in how well she had been doing. We are hoping that after the infection and antibiotics are over that she will return to doing so well. We are meeting a new speech therapist this week as our previous one didn’t jell well with Kayla. She will be traveling to our home and then hopefully will be able to see Kayla at school. We unfortunately found out from insurance that none of OT will be covered as they say therapy for Autism and Kayla’s disorder is currently experimental. Obviously whoever stated this doesn’t live with kids like Kayla. We have seen so much growth this year and are pleased with it however she does continue to dominate many aspects of our family. Eric and I continue to work through the stages of grief as we process how she affects our family dynamics and how she will affect our future.
Emma continues to grow so quickly. She is now successfully living without diapers and as of this weekend sleeps in a big girl bed. We were taking down her crib this weekend, as we sold it to another missionary family, and she just kept watching us saying “ hey guys watcha doin with my stuff , where you taking my bed”. She has slept fine so far so it doesn’t seem to have traumatized her too much. Most of the time she is skipping around singing or dancing and holding her babies in a blanket. The Lord knew we needed a sweet girl like her in our family. It’s rainy season here and so this morning the girls were out front in our driveway running around with rain jackets and boots dancing in the puddles. They are continuing to grow as friends. We are praying the Lord gives Emma a special understanding for Kayla’s needs. She seems to be sensitive so far.
Last month we were able to take the 10th grade bowling and then back to our house for a movie marathon all night long. Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten any water into our tanks the previous several days and so our house was dry of water with 14 teenagers. You know what is funny though these kids just adapt they didn’t complain at all and just poured the buckets of water into the toilet to flush it without a single word. You would have laughed if you saw us pulling small buckets of water from our underground tank, it felt like we lived on a farm. We were just thankful we had enough water in the tank to get buckets to flush the toilets. This month we have a donut making party as we have our annual bizarre at school. The 10th grade will come over and make several hundred donuts to sell at school to make money for their senior trip. Many times this year we have been thanked over and over for our willingness to stay at the school for more than two years. The trend in missions now especially at our school is short term. We want to thank you for helping us to stay here long term. We have most of our new teacher spots filled thankfully as how can you really advertise for people to come teach here in the midst of civil unrest.
We know the recession has hit many hard in the states and we know even more now it is a continued sacrifice for you. Thank you for your continued part in what God has called us to. The recession affects us as well as the dollar continues to drop against the shilling and because of the recent political problems inflation is happening here. We are currently paying about 6$ a gallon for gas. So no complaining those of you who live in California J The Lord continues to provide for us and living here it is always easy to be thankful for what we have as there are so many in need near us every day.
We have family coming in June so that should be a fun time of reconnecting. We will be showing them around town and hopefully going to the coast for a few days. We hope you are all doing well and thriving we would love to hear from you.

Blessings on your week
Kara for the Gibsons

Hey Everyone
We had a busy December. Kayla was on holiday from preschool for almost two months and I didn’t know how she was going to do with the change in routine but we have seen so much growth in her this past month. Thank you for all of your prayers we see them reaching into her little spirit. She has become more peaceful, playing with Emma more, and the biggest change has been in bonding more with Eric. That was one of our major prayers was that she wouldn’t be so attached to mom but that she would go to Eric more often. She has played so well with him this past month and really loved swimming with Dad in the pools at the beach. She is back to school tomorrow with a new teacher and we are hoping the adjustment goes well. She is continuing to get therapy once a week from a great European lady who is an Occupational therapist and will start speech therapy this month. Our big prayer request now is that the insurance will cover both services.

Emma continues to grow quickly using so many words and sentences. She is in the independent stage and loves to do most things on her own. She too will start preschool tomorrow for a few mornings a week. She loves to play with her babies and color. She also loves to follow Kayla around and do whatever she is doing. She continues to be a sweet natured little girl and loves to play with others. Although she is honing the skill on how to push big sister’s buttons. How do they learn that so quickly. In another couple of months we are going to try potty training.

Eric really enjoyed being off school this past month as he had about 4 weeks total off with all of the holidays and then political stuff. He has caught up on sleep and watching movies. He had planned to hike Mt. Kenya with the guys on our team but because of all the political stuff the trip was postponed. He has really enjoyed being able to teach Bible at school and this semester is going to teach New Testament/Basic Theology/Apologetics. He will be preparing to start the new 11th grade and helping continue to get the school ready for accredidation.
With both girls in preschool several days a week I am hoping to start/host a woman’s Bible study on Tuesdays and to also catch up on some fun activities that have been neglected (scrapbooking and time to myself J ) Please pray for me as we institute a home therapy program for Kayla this month which involves 30 min of specific play each day. This will be as much a new habit for me as for Kayla. We have been praying for quite some time to really meet a few couples and make some deep friendships and we have really been able to connect with two couples this month and look forward to deepening our relationships with them so that is an answer to a long prayed prayer. We hope you are well and would love to hear from you. Take 1 minute today and connect with us.

The Gibsons