Hello! Hello! Yep, time again for a little update on Kenya, the Send Center and the Kilpatricks!
First things first, we are excited to announce that we have decided to move back to the US! We feel after these 7 buildings are complete our part is done. The SEND Center will be fully functional and ready to be used for the purpose of training the local pastors. Tickets are bought and paid for and grandparents have done much rejoicing! We will arrive in Austin,TX August 10. The girls will begin school August 25. Hence the time crunch to get the buildings done and skip town asap! Yep, Austin will be our new home.Sorry Ruston! We are really excited about the possibilities and opportunities in Austin. Taylor will begin looking for a job as soon as we arrive. Please pray that a fabulous position opens up for him.
We will be landing in Austin with our suitcases. Yes, with nearly all our worldly possessions contained within those zippers. It will be a busy and expensive two weeks once we arrive and we strive to furnish and stock our new rental house (still to be found!).
The Bridge has been an amazing support for us as we begin this transition off the mission field. We are so grateful for them! They have asked us to create a housewarming registry at
Bed, Bath and Beyond. So if you are interested in helping us get settled check it out and buy us a pillow or an iron!
We are doing well. Taylor is working hard on finishing up 5 of the 7 building before the STORM team arrives the first week of July. He may even be done with 6...we will just see. They are all coming together nicely and look great! This time of year always brings many travelers through Lodwar. Share has partnered with Texas Tech to begin an agriculture project in Nadapal village. This has brought Kyle and Daniel to Lodwar for a few weeks. They have been fun to have around and get to know. Great guys who love Texas...Taylor is in good company. The two other missionaries here both have 6 week summer intern teams here. The pool is busy!
The girls are good. They are very excited about moving back. But I can already see we have a long road of readjustment back into American culture. My kids currently don't wear shoes or have any white friends. We have changed so much these last two and a half years. I feel that after living overseas, you realize you don't fit perfectly into any culture again. You are somewhat a stranger in your home. You have become a puzzle of a person that has had pieces lost and replaced with pieces from another box. Complete but different. That only reminds me all the more....we are not "Home" yet.
Lucy had malaria a week or so ago, but seems to be responding well to treatment. Oh yeah, and we took a trip to Lake Turkana a few weekends ago with Dave and Amy and had a blast. Drove over an hour through desolate desert (38 was the camel spotting count) on a wild desert "road". Lake Turkana is R-E-M-O-T-E. When someone who lives in Lodwar says that, you know it is off the grid. We baptized all 3 of the girls that Sunday morning. It was so sweet and we will remember it forever. Also on a positive note, minimal sunburns and no crocodile attacks! We saw one about 50 yards off lurking. We still swam. Come on people....live a little! :)
