The Fitzwaters in Kenya

Comin' home

2009-02-24T21:10:00.001+03:00

This will be our last full post from Kenya. We have loved our time here and are saddened to leave. We have made many great friends and been involved in so many wonderful ministries. Thank you to everyone who have supported financially and through prayers. Here is just a sampling of the ways your gifts have been used:
1. Feeding, clothing and providing basic needs to orphans and widows
2. Purchasing land for a widowed Rwandan refugee with 6 children
3. Purchasing Bibles for a ladies Bible study that disciples over 3,000 women in the community
4. Purchasing Bibles for a local church
5. Providing medication for widows and the needy
6. Providing school fees and supplies for orphans
7. Supplying fertilizer & seed for planting
8. Much More!
We had several goodbye parties this past week. It made our leaving very special and even more difficult. The surgery department held a party during chai time for John where several people spoke about his influence in the department. John also spoke at Community Health to encourage them in their good work. The ladies Bible study had a special time of prayer and chai for us. They presented John with a Maasai sword (he was WAY excited) and AnneMarie with a Maasai dress. They gave me 2 handmade necklaces and a scarf. We were so touched by every “goodbye” party that we had. Saturday, we had over 20 Kipsigis come to our house to say good bye. We will miss this community and the relationships so much. We are anticipating our return here whenever John finishes residency.
We would like to encourage any doctors or dentists who are interested in missions of any length to contact us or World Medical Missions (see link in the side bar). We have had a wonderful experience and have seen a great need for doctors not only at Tenwek, but at other hospitals in Kenya and the rest of the underserved world.
Here are some of our highlights of the last 9+ months:
1. Reconnecting with the friends we made at Tenwek in 2005
2. Safaris! Including the wildebeest migration, lion kills and baby animals
3. Seeing the peace of the Holy Spirit present in the lives of patients with terminal cancer who know Christ
4. AnneMarie changing from a baby to a talkative toddler
5. Listening to people pray in their language
6. Our families coming to Kenya to experience our life and to better understand what we do
7. Learning to speak (John) and sing (Krista & AnneMarie) in Kipsigis and Kiswahili
Things we can’t wait to do in the good ole’ USA:
1. Drink Dr Pepper
2. Drive on the right side of the road….the non-bumpy, non-dusty road
3. Air conditioning
4. Have a dishwasher & dryer
5. Drink water out of the faucet (without boiling and filtering)
Things we will not miss about Kenya:
1. Bumpy, dusty, rutted, diverted, non-existent roads
2. Beef/mystery meat stew (consist mainly of bones and gristle)
3. Poor internet…grrrrr
4. The dry season
Although I am not looking to flying for 18 hours pregnant and with a toddler, we can’t wait to get home to our families and friends. Thank you for your support, prayers and encouragement. We hope that next time we return to Kenya, some of you may come to serve with us or just to visit!

P.S. I just realized as I was posting this that we hadn’t announced that we are having another girl!

3+1

2008-12-31T19:53:00.003+03:00

Well, we sent out an e-mail a few weeks ago, but realized, we should blog about this. We are expecting baby Fitzwater #2 in June! We have been fortunate to have an OB who does ultrasounds in the comfort of my own home! Everything is looking good!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:40:00.004+03:00

I just finished reading Knowing God (J.I. Packer) this Fall. The following passage, from the chapter entitled "God Incarnate," was a stern reminder to me about celebrating Christmas. Just as Christ emptied himself for our salvation, we are to imitate Christ, and humbly serve those around us (Philippians 2:4-11). It's a poignant message year-round, but particularly so at this time of remembering Christ's birth. I hope this passage will be an encouragement to you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

John

_____

We see now what it meant for the Son of God to empty himself and become poor. It meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony -- spiritual even more than physical -- that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely human beings, that they through his poverty might become rich. The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity -- hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory -- because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians -- I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians -- go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians-alas, they are many-whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor -- spending and being spent -- to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others -- and not just their own friends -- in whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit.

"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

December Happenings

2008-12-24T06:11:00.000+03:00

Well, I have been told by many people that we are really bad bloggers. I admit that is true! Even being in Kenya, life is just life and though it is different from anything at home, it is still just our typical life. So, I have been asked to tell what my day and John’s day is like. Plus, I’ll catch you up on what we have been up to!

Krista’s Day: Our househelper arrives at about 9 each day. She is primarily responsible for laundry (hanging it on the line to dry), cooking & cleaning. So, what do I do all day?!? Since several missionaries are on furlough right now, I have taken over parts of their ministries in their absence. We have assisted with four orphanages that are supported through Tenwek missionaries and their supporters. I am in charge of their school fees and toiletry needs. We also visit these orphanages and have assisted with their food needs.

Another ministry I have been involved in is a ladies Bible Study that disciples Kipsigis women. Not only do I attend their weekly meetings, but I also attend the council meetings and some seminars for the group. I am in charge of the finances as well, which has most recently been buying and distributing 136 kilos (300 lbs) of maize seed!

On a daily basis, I typically get 3-7 people coming to my door. Usually one is selling some sort of produce and the rest are seeking assistance. They are typically orphans or needy people needing anything from clothes, food, and money. It is exhausting at times to hear the needs of so many and only be able to help a little. It is also hard not to become cynical when some just see you as a meal ticket. Others are people who come wanting to put something in Duka la Baraka (the store at the Tenwek Guest House) or to see if anything has sold.

Of course, let’s not forget our two-year-old who is constantly running out the door and wanting to play! And is quite demanding of my attention!

John is currently doing research MWF and doing endoscopy on T/TH. He takes call one weekend per month and usually about 5 other days per month. We are going to have a hard time adjusting back to residency life! He will have to fill you in on more of his life!

Recently my parents, my older brother and his daughter, my younger brother and his wife and my great aunt and her daughter came to visit us! We had a wonderful time. It was their first time (except my parents who were on their 3rd) time to Africa! It is so fun to see Africa through “new eyes”! We are so accustomed to the nonexistent roads with donkeys and cows crossing and masses of people walking everywhere, that we have forgotten how unusual that is! We took them on safari, to an orphanage, to watch surgeries and to a market. We kept them very busy and we were all tired when they left! How fun it was! We are excited to see John’s parents reactions as the come next week!

We also stay busy hosting new families and visitors for lunch and dinner. I held three art classes this month for the missionary kids. Next month, we have a work team coming for 3 weeks to do a lot of painting at the orphanages and doing outreach in nearby communities. We are excited for them to be here.

It is the morning of Christmas Eve as I type and we plan to spend most of the day distributing new clothes to Bosto orphanage, which is the furthest from Tenwek. After that, we will attend a Christmas Eve service and go caroling at the hospital. Christmas Day we will attend a service in the morning and then have lunch with a missionary family. We are excited to join them so we won’t be alone! Dec. 26th is a Kenyan Holiday called “Boxing Day”.

We celebrated AnneMarie’s second birthday on Tuesday. It was funny to think that this will be her only “summer” birthday! Last year she wore a sweater dress and this year she was in a tank! She finally grasps what a birthday is and sang herself to sleep both last night and at nap time singing “Happy Birthday” to herself!

So this is a brief glance of what is going on with us! Now, you have to let us know what is going on with YOU!!

A wild success!

2008-10-18T13:04:00.001+03:00

Well, I somehow made it under a month between blogs! We have opened the store and it has already been so successful. I have had great joy in being able to hand money to the ladies and orphans providing the goods. We had a “Grand Opening” celebration and sold over half the goods and within the first week, sold another quarter of them! So, I am trying to encourage them to keep bringing me their items! Word has also spread about the store’s success and almost daily, I have ladies bringing me items to sell. I am also training some ladies to make mosaic crosses (using their bean pots. They can’t really understand why we are breaking them and why people would want to buy broken bean pots, but I am promising them, that they will sell!!!) and hand embroidered dishtowels. Phase 2 of the store is teaching money management. Right now, we are funding most of the supplies. Once a sell is made, I keep the cost of the material and return to them the difference. I will be teaching them to save some for supplies and save some for the future. It is so hard to try and teach this as these people are in such need and can only think about the present, not the future.

John has been playing his guitar in the praise band at church and AnneMarie has now made it through 5 services. Yup, 5 in 5 months. Our statistics aren’t so good, but at least she is getting better! This last service was 2.5 hours long and she made it through so we have high hopes for this Sunday! We sure do miss childcare!

We have been fortunate enough to have been loaned a Land Cruiser by some missionaries who are on furlough. John is loving it and now wants to trade in my Pilot for one! He does a great job driving in Nairobi. No driving in any city is comparable as there are no stop signs or stop lights so you just weasel your way through the mass of cars. My blood pressure must go through the roof every time we are there. It is just best if I close my eyes and go to my happy place! I have also enjoyed driving the Land Cruiser, but not to the extent that John has! He has just informed me that I haven’t bragged enough on the Land Cruiser, but I feel I must move on.

We are planning a vacation to Malindi (near Mombasa) on the coast of Kenya next week. We can’t wait to relax on the beach! We are missing the fall season (OK, I am missing the fall season), but we know that our work here is contributing and is helping others. We are so blessed that God has put us in this place. We are thrilled at being tools for Him.

Here are a couple of things to lift up to the Lord:
That the store would continue to do well
John’s research will progress
The spiritual impact on the endoscopy patients
Our overall safety in traveling

Store Opening & More

2008-09-21T17:55:00.000+03:00

John has updated the Medical Blog. It can be found on the sidebar on the right. We will be posting new pictures as soon as the internet will allow us to upload them...we'll keep you posted!

We have been keeping busy on this side of the world. I am opening the store this week and have named it “Duka la Baraka” (Store of Blessings). I currently have several individuals, 2 orphanages and a sewing training center for destitute women contributing to the store. Hopefully, we can continue to grow this ministry. It is amazing to see the need in this area. Although most have some sort of food now, many are jobless and still need basic things like school fees, money for health care, etc.

We have recently gotten very involved with the orphan ministry at Tenwek since the full time missionaries taking care of this have gone on furlough. We were able to visit Bosto orphanage last weekend. It was in a gorgeous setting at about 7,500 ft and overlooked a rainforest. It was amazing, although very cold. 42 orphans stay at this particular orphanage and the dormitories are missing lots of windows. We took them 54 kilos of beans and assessed their needs. We will also be assessing the needs of the other orphanages to see which are most critical and how we can help.

I have recently been appointed Holiday/Event Coordinator for Tenwek and am loving it! I planned a Mom’s Day Out trip to a nearby “big” town that was about 1.5 hours away to do some grocery shopping. Now, for those of you who can run to Kroger or Wal-Mart everyday, that isn’t exciting, but since we don’t shop except every 6-8 weeks it was so FUN! It was even better (and less stressful) doing it without kids! After we shopped, we ate lunch and came home! Crazy, I know, but well worth it to break of the monotony! My most exciting purchase was a watermelon for $1.25 (they cost about $8 in Nairobi so we have yet to buy one)!

My parents visited for 2 weeks and we had a great time. AnneMarie loved having her grandparents to play with! At the last minute, we decided to go on safari and are so glad we did! The wildebeest migration was going on (when they cross from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya). Although we never saw them cross the river, we saw thousands upon thousands of them. We saw much more game on this safari than we have seen on our previous ones in Kenya/Tanzania! We even saw an elusive leopard eating a kill and two of her buddies watching her at the base of the tree. It never gets old seeing these animals in their natural setting. I love it and wish I could go every month!

Some of the best news here, is that we have finally perfected the art of making homemade pizza! After trying several dough and sauce recipes, this weekend, we finally figured out the best recipe for us! So, if you have a pizza craving, come on over!

In Nairobi again...

2008-08-18T21:38:00.003+03:00

We can hardly believe over a month has passed since our last blog. We are back in Nairobi for a quick trip. It turns out, our work permit hasn’t been approved by the Kenyan government so we had to make a quick trip to Nairobi to renew our visas before they expired. We have heard horror stories about people getting their visas renewed, but thankfully, we were in and out of the immigration office in under 30 minutes. Praise God! I had already planned to come to Nairobi to pick up my parents, but John ended up tagging along, too! They arrive in 6 hours and we are so excited!

Krista Fitzwater MD. Has a nice ring, eh? Since being here, I have watched John perform several endoscopies and a colonoscopy. I have also watched 2 c-sections and a revision of the left hemicolectomy. I have no idea what the last thing was, but it was pretty neat. I have also decided that I never want to have a c-section because they are not gentle and they just plop your uterus up onto your tummy. Anyway, since I now have some baby sitters (aka grandparents), I hope to watch a few more procedures to continue my MD training! HA! I do enjoy watching the procedures and learning about them, but I would NEVER want to be the one cutting!

In the last month, 2 couples we were close to have left. It has definitely left a big void in our lives. We are so thankful that God provided this trip for my parents now as we have spent the last 2 weeks mourning our loss! Their departure has given me more time to be crafty though. I recently drove to a nearby town where I saw a lady selling pots. I bought 2 of them and some handmade brooms and began arranging them in the pots. The nationals thought this was hilarious because the pots were for cooking porridge and beans and of course the brooms are for sweeping and I turned them into home décor! One of the pots broke so I made a mosaic out of it. All this craftiness has helped to pass the time.

AnneMarie is growing and talking so much. She has been grouping words for awhile, can consistantly count to eight andcan sing some of her ABC’s and Jesus Loves Me. She is still small, and finally fits into her 12-18 month clothes.

Ministry Updates:

The shelves are up in the store and we hope to open it within the next two weeks. I hope to visit a nearby sewing centre to recruit the most needy ladies to sew for the store.
I held a cookie decorating contest where 17 of the Missionary kids came to participate. We also decorated over 100 cookies and took them to the pediatric ward to share with the kids. The children were so excited to receive cookies even though some of them thought they were too sweet! I have also been asked to consider holding art classes for the MKs.
Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to provide vegetables to a local orphanage who had not had any in 2 months.

P.S. I wrote this entry in Nairobi, but we have been back at Tenwek for several days.

In Nairobi again...

2008-08-18T21:37:00.000+03:00

We can hardly believe over a month has passed since our last blog. We are back in Nairobi for a quick trip. It turns out, our work permit hasn’t been approved by the Kenyan government so we had to make a quick trip to Nairobi to renew our visas before they expired. We have heard horror stories about people getting their visas renewed, but thankfully, we were in and out of the immigration office in under 30 minutes. Praise God! I had already planned to come to Nairobi to pick up my parents, but John ended up tagging along, too! They arrive in 6 hours and we are so excited!

Krista Fitzwater MD. Has a nice ring, eh? Since being here, I have watched John perform several endoscopies and a colonoscopy. I have also watched 2 c-sections and a revision of the left hemicolectomy. I have no idea what the last thing was, but it was pretty neat. I have also decided that I never want to have a c-section because they are not gentle and they just plop your uterus up onto your tummy. Anyway, since I now have some baby sitters (aka grandparents), I hope to watch a few more procedures to continue my MD training! HA! I do enjoy watching the procedures and learning about them, but I would NEVER want to be the one cutting!

In the last month, 2 couples we were close to have left. It has definitely left a big void in our lives. We are so thankful that God provided this trip for my parents now as we have spent the last 2 weeks mourning our loss! Their departure has given me more time to be crafty though. I recently drove to a nearby town where I saw a lady selling pots. I bought 2 of them and some handmade brooms and began arranging them in the pots. The nationals thought this was hilarious because the pots were for cooking porridge and beans and of course the brooms are for sweeping and I turned them into home décor! One of the pots broke so I made a mosaic out of it. All this craftiness has helped to pass the time.

AnneMarie is growing and talking so much. She has been grouping words for awhile is learning to count and can sing some of her ABC’s and Jesus Loves Me. Unfortunately, we think she has come down with croup. Just in time for my parents arrival! She is still small, but finally fits into her 12-18 month clothes.

Ministry Updates:
The shelves are up in the store and we hope to open it within the next two weeks. I hope to visit a nearby sewing centre to recruit the most needy ladies to sew for the store.
I held a cookie decorating contest where 17 of the Missionary kids came to participate. We also decorated over 100 cookies and took them to the pediatric ward to share with the kids. The children were so excited to receive cookies even though some of them thought they were too sweet! I have also been asked to consider holding art classes for the MKs.
Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to provide vegetables to a local orphanage who had not had any in 2 months.

P.S. I wrote this entry in Nairobi, but we have been back at Tenwek for several days.

Hello from Nairobi!

2008-07-05T15:53:00.002+03:00

It seems we have been so busy lately and time is going by so fast! Check out the “Our Favorite Links” in the sidebar as we have created links for “Kenya Pictures” and “John’s Medical Blog”. I had my first driving experience in Kenya last week.

I drove a visitor to the local market and then to celebrate my successful driving, we went to the nearest town with a grocery store (and I use the term "grocery" quite loosely) and celebrated with ice cream! It was a bit different driving on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Plus, as we have mentioned before, the roads are terrible.

This week we made a supply trip to Nairobi. John attended some meetings here on Tuesday with one of Tenwek's surgeons so we have had a nice time shopping and enjoying the conveniences of the big city! On the way to Nairobi, we were delayed a bit because the Maasai were protesting the low wheat prices. After waiting about an hour (they had the road completely blocked) we found a local guy to show us around the road block.

Another amazement was the great number of fields that were ruined due to lack of rain. We witnessed "total crop failure" where they were knocking down their corn and hoping to salvage something for their cows. This is another blow to the rural economy. More and more people are coming everyday in search of food. Our local church (Bethesda AGC) has been providing corn and beans to the most needy in our area.

Among the more enjoyable happenings was a new friendship. While we were building Cicilia's house, we met Joshua who was visiting from a town about 40 km away. He is going to school to learn to be a cook and was an apprentice at the Tenwek Hospital Restaurant for a few weeks. He is really wanting to learn to cook "American" food so we had him over so he could look through our cookbooks. It is so hard to explain the food we eat without good pictures, especially to someone who has never seen any of it before! The following Saturday, we had him come to our home and we taught him to make hamburgers, baked beans and chocolate chip cookies! It doesn't get anymore American than that!

Ministry Update

Ministry to the missionaries - Here children and their parents are always together. Although this is great time for family, there is little "alone" time for parents nothing like "youth group" at home. We would like to start regular parents night out and even a youth night at our house.

Ministry to the community – Krista's store project, fostering relationships to share Christ and to disciple and encourage believersThe store project is coming together. I have 4 ladies now plus several Maasai ladies from a nearby village who will be contributing. This week we will be seeking approval for the store from the hospital administration and then start installing shelving. We are also seeking friendships (like Joshua's) outside of the hospital.

Ministry to Orphanages – in the near future we plan to establish a relationship with one of the orphanages that is close by to help address their needs.

Ministry at the Hospital – John's work is on a brand new page. Look for the link on our blog!Krista is also involved at the hospital on a team to update the Tenwek website. She is working with World Medical Mission to update their orientation manual for visiting physicians and dentists.

House raising & more...

2008-06-12T21:00:00.001+03:00

We have had some fun new experiences. The last 2 Saturdays we have gone to helped build a house for Cicilia. Cicila was our house helper when we were here in 2005. She is a Rwandan refuge to Kenya. She had her family fled during their civil war. Last year, Cicilia’s husband passed away leaving her with no home and 6 children. Our church and another ministry have purchased Cicilia 1/10th of an acre of land and are now building her home. The first Saturday, we dug holes for the posts surrounding the house. This week the men nailed small branches on the inside and the outside of the posts. Them women (me included) then made a mud mixture to put in between the branches and posts. We got very dirty, but it was fun. We plan to return this Saturday to complete her home. Cicilia amazes me because although she is a foreigner in this land, she has made great efforts to adapt. She speaks Rwandese, French, English, Kiswahili and Kipsigis. She learned the last 3 languages out of necessity when fleeing to Kenya.

My project of setting up a store with handmade goods to provide income for marginalized women is getting off the ground slowly. I have found a place for the store and have spoken to a few people who are interested in working. Please pray that this would happen quickly. Not only are people beginning to go hungry, we have heard there is a locus plague heading our way that threatens the crops.

We have finally settled into our way of life here. We do a lot of entertaining for visiting guests and for the missionaries. My cooking skills are improving greatly as everything is made from scratch. For example, one of our favorite meals at home is Taco Soup. This recipe requires beans which we do not have in a can. Therefore, 2 days before I want to eat the Taco Soup, I have to soak the beans, then cook them the next and then they are finally ready to put into the soup.

Another “fun” thing is our beef. We get it fresh from the butcher. After we get it, it has to “bleed out” for 4-5 days. Then it has to be ground. So I am learning to keep a supply of ground beef or “minced meat” as they call it on hand, because the process is too long to decide you want a hamburger on a whim!

Settling in...

2008-06-02T15:07:00.000+03:00

We are finally settled into our home. John and I laugh because the two times we have been here, our living accommodations have been much larger than in the States. We are now living in a 5 bedroom home with a large screened porch and a walk-out basement. AnneMarie is glad to have her own room and to have her toys back! Last week was a whirlwind as John was at the hospital and I was home with AnneMarie who was sick (she is fine now). Now that we have unpacked, we are better able to see what the Lord has for us to do here, and it's exciting.

We have already been approached to help with existing ministries and also to start a few new ones. We plan on helping with several orphanages while the missionary in charge is on Home Ministry Assignment. Tenwek currently is involved with 6 orphanages that house over 300 children. We will pay monthly visits to the orphanages and will distribute funds to them. If you are interested in contributing to the orphanages, please e-mail me for more information.

Because of the violence in Kenya earlier this year, food prices have doubled and many in our area are beginning to go without food. Their crops will not come in until August/September, so they will be several months without food. Because of this, I have been asked to start a ministry for single women who do not have land or have a way to provide for their families. We are in the early stages (very early!) of developing a craft center where marginalized women can sell their goods to visitors. My role would be to organize, train, create ideas and see this ministry to fruition quickly so that these women can provide for their families during this and future hard times.

John's interest in esophageal cancer also has a spiritual aspect as well. Tenwek has a large chaplaincy program that trains ministers both for the hospital setting and as pastors in the community. They do not, as yet, have a chaplain specifically for cancer patients. Dr.
Russ White, his supervisor and head of esophageal cancer research, is highly interested in creating such a position, and John is hoping to help get this started.

AnneMarie is adjusting very well. She has 3 Kenyan friends about her age that she played with today. Many children are quite fascinated by her pale skin! When we walk, we are followed by children who just want to touch her. They have a hard time saying her name and end up calling her "Henry" or "Mary"! Thankfully, she is handling it well!
She seems to enjoy all of the attention.

Thank you for all of the e-mails and prayers. We have plenty of room for anyone who would like to come visit!

Oops...the e-mail didn't send!

2008-05-25T18:50:00.000+03:00

I believe I our first e-mail about our experiences of shopping in Nairobi didn’t go out. Check out our blog to read about this eventful experience:
http://thefitzwaters.blogspot.com/

We finally made it to Tenwek!

2008-05-25T18:44:00.001+03:00

After a 4 hour ride by car on Friday, we arrived just in time for lunch. We were greeted warmly by many of our friends. After lunch, John ran up to the hospital and I went to get our internet set up. We are staying in a two room apartment and plan to move into our house next Sat. We opened one of our bags so we could have some clothes, but are not planning to unload any groceries or luggage until we get to the house.

We attended church this morning. I was feeling under the weather so I left about an hour into the service John was lucky enough to stay with AnneMarie in the service. Yup, a 2.5 hour service and a 1.5 year old don’t go so well! She loved the music though and every time we would stop singing, she would sign and say “More”!! This afternoon was had a nice rain and John and AnneMarie went for a walk.

It is so good to be back at Tenwek. As soon as we arrived, an overwhelming peace encompassed our hearts.

We made it!

2008-05-22T20:35:00.000+03:00

After two LONG flights, we have finally arrived. Anne Marie did great on that flight. She slept for about 3 hours. 2 in her seat and one on me. Unfortunately, the movies didn't work that flight which was a shame because I was awake, but John slept. After we transferred in London, we had about an hour layover. This next flight wasn't full and the movie system was great. I ended up watching the second National Treasure over about a 4 hour period. Thankfully, you could pause it! AnneMarie and I slept about 4 hours. The other 4 took A LOT of entertaining, but she did great! We arrived at the Hampton House, showered, and went to sleep. AnneMarie woke up MAD at 3 am and screamed! We finally brought her into our bed where she sang and clapped, gave us kisses and got our noses. About 5 am she crashed. She just woke up (it's noon). Every time I would check on her during the night, she was in some awkward position between us!
The last two days I have been shopping. It is quite an experience to buy 8 weeks worth of food and to think that not one single meal will be eaten out! I had better diversify my menus quickly or we will be eating a lot of the same things. Shopping in Kenya is an experience. Yesterday, we went to the butcher. I thought buying meat at Sam’s was buying in bulk. Yesterday, I placed an order for 30 chicken breasts, 8 whole chickens and the list goes on an on. I have also learned that produce in Kenya is cheap, everything else is not. A 1.5 pound block of cheese costs $50. A jar of Hellman’s mayonnaise costs $10 and a jar of skippy peanut butter costs $8. When I bought my beans and noodles, I was told to freeze them immediately to kill the bugs that I could visibly see scampering through them! We went to a large store comparable to Wal-Mart yesterday and to a different one today. Although they are the same store, they carry different merchandise. However, neither of them are carrying cream of mushroom/chicken soup right but they are carrying that AXE spray for men and JLo Glo…really what are the priorities?!? How do you make casseroles without those??? John has been able to skip out on most of the shopping and has been entertaining AnneMarie. This has not been the easiest of jobs since she is also jet lagged which equals cranky in baby terms.
Tomorrow we are heading to Tenwek after we go to the butcher to pick up our meat and the grocer to get our fresh produce. We did arrive with all of our bags (AMAZING!). Our stroller did not come however, but did show up somewhat tattered today. We are looking forward to getting settled. We will move into temporary housing until the first of June when we will move into our house. We are excited to get to Tenwek!

So little time...

2008-05-08T04:00:00.001+03:00

In 11 days we leave for our ten month adventure. We are busily packing our bags and parts of our house. We are looking forward to spending a few days in Dallas with our friends and family before departing May 19th. We have a collected about 2/3rds of our funds needed for the trip. Thank you to everyone who have been so generous and supportive.

Kenya, here we come!

2008-04-01T04:29:00.001+03:00

In fewer than fifty days, we will board a plane for Nairobi, Kenya. It is astonishing how quickly the time has passed as we prepare for this trip. Since we last wrote, much has changed in the nation of Kenya. A presidential election shortly after Christmas brought unrest but thankfully this month has ended in a peaceful resolution. All of these changes have even heightened the needs of our brothers and sisters in Kenya. The missionaries at Tenwek Hospital have been actively reaching out to help the displaced and hurting in the Rift Valley. We would encourage any individuals, particularly physicians, who are interested in serving at Tenwek to contact us. There is currently a great need for OB/GYN, Pediatric and Family Practice physicians as several of the full-time missionaries are scheduled for furlough.

In the last few months, many have written us offering assistance through either prayer or financial support. For this we are very grateful. We have received $3,300 in scholarships and we have pending applications for a few other grants. At this time we still require $9,000 for our trip.

If you would like to support our work in Kenya, our church has set up a missions account for tax-deductible gifts. They have requested that any contributions be sent directly to us (5931 Duke Street Lubbock, TX 79416). Please make any checks out to Southcrest Baptist Church (with "John & Krista Fitzwater" in the memo line). Donations may also be made through World Medical Mission (Samaritan's Purse).

We echo Paul in Philippians in saying that we thank our God every time we remember your prayers and partnership in the Gospel. We will continue to keep you up to date with our blog (thefitzwaters.blogspot.com) as our May 19th departure date approaches. Until then, we hope that the enclosed DVD will give you a glimpse of where we'll be working.

Christmas Letter

2007-12-12T05:28:00.000+03:00

Merry Christmas!

We have had a great year learning how to be parents! As always, time seems to fly as AnneMarie is almost one year old. She has been the focus of our last year…and we love it! She is walking and jabbering constantly.

John is enjoying his time off from residency and is currently pursuing his Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins.

Krista is busy staying home with AnneMarie and working one day a week at a pottery painting studio. This year, she and a friend started a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in Lubbock, which has kept her very busy.

Many of you know that we will be returning to Kenya in May to serve at Tenwek Hospital. John's primary medical focus will be research in esophageal cancer, the most frequently seen cancer at Tenwek. He hopes to operate some as well. We are so excited to return to Kenya and reunite with our friends there. Following ten months of service, we will return to Lubbock in March of 2009 and John will resume his residency in July after his graduation.

Many of you have supported us while serving on past missions and we are very thankful. Several have asked how they can help or contribute to this mission. The most important aspect of mission work is prayer. "…and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Matthew 21:22). We ask you to keep us in your prayers this upcoming year. To help keep you up to date, we will be keeping a blog with details about our trip (http://thefitzwaters.blogspot.com/).

As missionaries for World Medical Mission (Samaritan's Purse), we have been issued a project account (#3509). Though John has received the MAP International Fellowship, covering his airfare, we will be raising support before departing to cover our cost of living in Kenya. Additionally, we are sure there will be numerous projects in need of funding during our ten months at Tenwek. If you would like to support our work in Kenya you can send support directly to us or send a tax-deductible gift to:

World Medical Mission
Attn.: Robin Jenkins
PO Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607

Please mark the check "John Fitzwater: Project #3509".

Thank you for your prayers and support. In 2005, we traveled to Kenya as a step of obedience. As we leave in May, we still feel firmly led to seek God's plan for our long-term involvement with medical missions.

Serving Soon in Kenya,

John, Krista & AnneMarie

"All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord;
they will bring glory to your name" Psalm 86:9.