When the bus from Nairobi arrived in the Kisii District, they boarded another bus to get to Mary's church. Neil texted:
On the way to Mary's from the bus station. The ordeal at the bus station. Every drunk sees $ when there is white skin. Atkinson was 45 minutes late. Hot sun. Actually not bad in the shade. Atkison is paying a bribe to the police for his broken windshield. Welcome to Kenya. While standing in the sun between drunken passers-by, I reminded Francis about patience at the Kisii bus station. Kkk kkk. I really am the mpmitw.😇
"Mpmitw" stands for "most patient man in the world." Neil earned that title in the 1980s while working for an hour with a car salesman who happened to be staying at a campground in Arkansas where I had just locked the keys into our car. Another man who had watched Neil working so lovingly without getting upset with me said, "He must be the most patient man in the world. You better always be good to him because he is a keeper!" How true. Neil really is a keeper and has continued to be kind and loving toward me all these 43+ years of our happy marriage.
Francis attached a picture of Neil taking supper at Mary's after they arrived in the Kisii District yesterday. Unfortunately, the photo was overexposed and fuzzy, so I enhanced it as well as possible. Neil sent a text message about the meal:
The photo is of me eating fresh onions and tomatoes. Notice the lack of ugali. 😂 Mary says she has the coffee ready. In the meantime, I will drink instant coffee. Francis snitches some too. The children put on a song fest tonight.
Mary is the one who sells Neil Kenyan coffee beans to bring home. Neil gets them roasted at Go Set Ready, a coffee shop in Benson, MN, that is run by a Christian couple.
Last Monday night, in prayer at The Church in the Pines Alexandria, someone envisioned children singing and dancing joyfully in Kenya. That vision has already come true!
I asked Neil how he is doing, and he texted:
Me? Pretty good. I injured my shoulder on the bus. It lurched forward as I climbed the steps and slammed my shoulder into the handrail. I took some Tylenol last night and again this morning, and most of the pain is gone. However, if it does not improve, the Quetico trip will be off. Sigh.
Please pray for Neil's shoulder. It is an old injury from years of removing snow for around a dozen neighbors. He needs surgery and hopes to put it off until October so he can guide, serve as outfitter & cook for another canoe trip into the Canadian Quetico provincial park just north of Minnesota's canoe country. God remembered all those years of Neil being a good neighbor and sent two young brothers who are well-equipped for snow removal to live near us. Last summer, one brother bought the house across the alley from us, and the other bought the house right across the street. One has a skid steer, and they both have snowblowers. Neil suggested they use our garden path to the alley as a shortcut to visit each other. So now they occasionally run a snowblower down that path, and if the fellow hired to clear our driveway while Neil is in Kenya is yet to arrive, they also clear our driveway with their skid steer.
Neil and Francis have been delivering some of the Bibles they brought to the people in Mary's church. Neil writes:
The Bibles are a great hit. I gave one English one to one of our kids, and she lit up. Please pass this on to Patti in Iowa. The caretakers just love the Kisii Bibles.
Thank you for your prayers. Some of you have asked if I need anything. Only good sleep and a clear head to get our taxes done. I want to get back to editing Neil's book. May you have a wonderful day today.
Love,
Ruth