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Sand, Sand, Sand     15 January, 2025, 01:18 pm We headed out this morning to do our second day of clinics, and stopped about 1/2 hour from the village. Again, the truck could not pass through the sand in the dried up river beds. The drivers, Lifeway team, and local team all tried to find an alternative route for the truck to pass, but the decision was made that it just was not possible. They did, however, find a route that the Land Cruiser could use (most of the travel in this area is done by pikipiki- motorbike). The meds were offloaded from the truck, and an assortment of the most needed ones were put into bins, along with the supplies for the doctors, the triage station, some wound care, and reading glasses. They were loaded onto the Land Cruiser, and the doctors, local leaders, pharmacy person, and others piled inside. It was a full load. The first group left to make the 1/2 trek, and the rest of us waited for the return of the Land Cruiser. When our turn came, I believe we had 11 people inside, and 3 on top and hanging onto the back. Once again, our plans had been changed, and we stopped in an area that had some acacia trees for shade and set up the medical camp there. By the time the second group arrived, the first group had already seen 40 patients. By the end of the day, we had treated 173 people, gave out 7 pairs of reading glasses, and extracted 10 teeth on 6 patients. We then repeated the process of shuffling people, medications and supplies back to the truck. The clinic went very well, and was definitely a success for the local leaders. They made 6 connections of people who will potentially be a bridge between the church planting team and the village. Even though again, this was “not what we planned”, the whole team worked so well together that, as on person said, “it felt like we had planned it this way all along.” A couple of things come to mind for today. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” (NIV) And “coincidentally”, the song was playing as we were driving: “God will make a way where there seems to be no way…” We are thankful for a great team to work with, good health, safety, and the reminder that this is God’s work, and He knows how He wants it done. Thank you for praying for us.

Dancing and a Termite Mound     14 January, 2025, 04:43 pm Today we drove about 2 hours from where we are staying to Etete Village. We got most of the way there, and because of the sand, we could not go all the way to the village. The decision was made to just stop where we were, and set up the clinic there. Before long, we could hear singing, and we saw a large group of people coming toward us. They sang and danced as they got closer, and when they were right in front of us, they started to circle us and draw us in to dance with them, singing the whole time. They lifted us up and carried us, welcoming us to their village. They sang and danced for several more songs while we set up the clinic. What a welcome! On our way into the village, we were noticing the very large termite mounds. They are very strong and hard, and they reach way up high with a funnel-shape at the top. This is important, so bear with me. As there were no buildings where we were, all parts of the clinic were set up outside. It was about 96 degrees, and the wind was quite strong. We have a dentist, Caren, with us this time, and she sterilizes her equipment by putting it in a pressure cooker over a propane burner. With all the wind, she was concerned that the flame would be blown out, so we tried to figure out a way to block some of the wind. One of our drivers, Julius, came up with a plan. There was a very large termite mound in the area where we were. He took a machete and cut into the mound making a “stove” area to hold the pressure cooker. To me, that was one way that God works in His own way. We were not able to go all the way to the village, but He provided a very strong termite mound just where we needed it for the dental work. He truly cares about the little things- even where the termites build their mound. We were able to serve 150 people today. They walked long distances to get to the clinic. We distributed 11 pairs of reading glasses, and one dental patient came who needed 2 teeth pulled and was on the verge of an assessed tooth. The local team identified 10 people who will be facilitators to get into the village to build relationships, start Bible studies, and eventually establish a church. Praise God for a productive day today, and for proving Himself faithful, wise, trustworthy, and loving- even in the little things. *Surprise- we have air conditioning in our rooms *Not really a surprise- the power is out again, so we can’t use it. Lol :) PS: If you’d like to see more pictures, you can follow Eagle Projects International on Facebook.

Dancing and a Termite Mound     14 January, 2025, 04:43 pm Today we drove about 2 hours from where we are staying to Etete Village. We got most of the way there, and because of the sand, we could not go all the way to the village. The decision was made to just stop where we were, and set up the clinic there. Before long, we could hear singing, and we saw a large group of people coming toward us. They sang and danced as they got closer, and when they were right in front of us, they started to circle us and draw us in to dance with them, singing the whole time. They lifted us up and carried us, welcoming us to their village. They sang and danced for several more songs while we set up the clinic. What a welcome! On our way into the village, we were noticing the very large termite mounds. They are very strong and hard, and they reach way up high with a funnel-shape at the top. This is important, so bear with me. As there were no buildings where we were, all parts of the clinic were set up outside. It was about 96 degrees, and the wind was quite strong. We have a dentist, Caren, with us this time, and she sterilizes her equipment by putting it in a pressure cooker over a propane burner. With all the wind, she was concerned that the flame would be blown out, so we tried to figure out a way to block some of the wind. One of our drivers, Julius, came up with a plan. There was a very large termite mound in the area where we were. He took a machete and cut into the mound making a “stove” area to hold the pressure cooker. To me, that was one way that God works in His own way. We were not able to go all the way to the village, but He provided a very strong termite mound just where we needed it for the dental work. He truly cares about the little things- even where the termites build their mound. We were able to serve 150 people today. They walked long distances to get to the clinic. We distributed 11 pairs of reading glasses, and one dental patient came who needed 2 teeth pulled and was on the verge of an assessed tooth. The local team identified 10 people who will be facilitators to get into the village to build relationships, start Bible studies, and eventually establish a church. Praise God for a productive day today, and for proving Himself faithful, wise, trustworthy, and loving- even in the little things. *Surprise- we have air conditioning in our rooms *Not really a surprise- the power is out again, so we can’t use it. Lol :) PS: If you’d like to see more pictures, you can follow Eagle Projects International on Facebook.

We’ve Arrived in Lodwar     13 January, 2025, 08:28 pm The medical team has arrived in Lodwar after 7 1/2 hours on the road today. We are hot and tired, but healthy, happy, and ready to start the clinics with the Turkana people in the morning. What a change from the green, hilly area to the dry flat desert! The guest house where we are staying feels like a little oasis in the desert. The many shade trees make it feel significantly cooler than outside the compound.. Tuesday’s clinic will be a bit of a drive, and we will be in a different location each day.

We’re Over Half-Way There     12 January, 2025, 02:02 pm Today, we spent the day on the truck. We left Nairobi around 7:30 this morning and arrived at the hotel in Kitale about 12 1/2 hours later. It is nice to be stopped and in the room to rest for the night. We didn’t get to attend church today, because we were traveling, but we had plenty of opportunities to be reminded of God and His creativity. What a gift see the beauty in His creation and listen to music that praises Him for who He is! It was really a pretty ride, and the road has been paved so far (except for the place where they were doing construction). We stopped at the lookout to see the Rift Valley. What a beautiful thing to see! Tomorrow we will climb aboard the truck for another day of travel. We’re thankful that everyone is healthy and we haven’t had any breakdowns. Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

Lodwar, Kenya January 2025     11 January, 2025, 03:06 pm We have a small EPI team-three of us-joining with Lifeway Global to do a five day medical camp in Lodwar, Kenya. We arrived safely in Nairobi late Friday night, and all of our luggage arrived as well. We’re very grateful for that. Today, Emily Wilkinson (RI), Karla Hutchinson (MA) and I worked on getting the supplies ready for the trip. We sorted and inventoried the medications that we purchased here. Then, we packed them into totes labeled with numbers and letters. We have a spreadsheet that tells us exactly where each medication belongs, so we are able to find it quickly during the clinic. We then had to do the same process with the reading glasses, sorting them by power. After the glasses and medications were taken care of, we went to work on getting our personal supplies organized and packed. We plan to leave on Sunday morning at 7:30 Kenya time. The first day will be about eight or nine hours riding in a large Safari truck to Kitale. After spending the night there, we will drive another six or seven hours to the town of Lodwar. On Tuesday, we will begin the medical clinics. The local church planters and their team will be joining us at the clinics working as translators, registering people, and spending time connecting with the people of the community that they are serving. The medical camp is one of the first steps in ultimately planting churches in this area. It is a proven way for the church planting team to be able to gain inroads into the villages. We would appreciate your prayers for our safety as we travel and during our time in the villages, and that we could all stay healthy so that we are able to do the work that we are going there to do. Please also pray that the “team on the ground” (the church planting team) will be able to gain the trust of the people and be welcomed into the community.

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