Wrapping it up and on to the next adventure!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm really not sure how to put the last three months into an email. I guess that's a good thing though, it sure would have been a boring 3 months if I would have been able to sum it up in one short email. I have made friends that will last a lifetime, my heart has been changed, I have laughed plenty, cried, been frustrated, relieved, overjoyed, I have loved and been loved, I have grown, I've seen new incredible things, experienced new things, been able to be a part of beautiful acts of kindness and I got to go the hospital. At the end of an adventure what more can you really ask for? It was....I can't think of a single word to truly capture it so we'll just use with incredible. I can't believe that I got to partake in such a grand adventure!!! I don't know if it has ever happened to you or not but I feel so unworthy to have been a part of all of that has happened to me over the past few months. There have been people who wrote to me or talked with me who have said that what I've done was this great thing but I really wasn't some selfless thing. I was given a rare opportunity to be a part of something great and I just said "OK". As I look back on my life there have been tons of opportunities to do such things but I always decided that there was something more important like a dirt bike or some vacation. Neither of those have ever came close to what I got from this trip. Take that crazy leap and jump at the next opportunity that you get to do something great. The few things that you have to give up will be so incredibly worth it. I guess I should probably tell you about my last week in Kenya and my travels.

Well wrapping things up at the house went fairly well. They even got all of the interior plaster done so the interior walls looked beautiful! It was so good to stand inside of the house with a roof and finished walls. I really am pleased with it and learned a lot from it. I hope to be able to apply that knowledge someday. I am glad that we now have George and Noah better trained with it. Before I left we had set up a project that consisted of 5 structures built out of the blocks that both of them will be a part of building. So there is one of the mission objectives completed....at least advanced. The ISSB blocks have been used and Noahs business has been improved and moved out into the publics eye where he has been able to use it to gain more business. Noah and George have also become friends. I really feel so blessed to have both of them as friends and had such a great time with the two of them. I really hope to be able to spend more time with them over the years to come.

Speaking of work and business development how about that vocational welding school and shop. In that area of Kenya people use the phrase "Jua Kali" as a slang phrase for poor craftsmanship. I wish that I would have known that before we started a vocational school in Jua Kali. As fate would have it the welding shop was very much needed there in Jua Kali. There is no other welding shop in the area so they have the corner on the market and people are using it! When I left there were chairs, a door and a window ready for sale out in front of the shop. They also already have a steady flow of business that is getting bigger. We were able to train orphans to become metal fabricators and have a shot at an occupation. In a place where the unemployment rate is around 50% this really is a valuable thing and I think that it will continue to expand and create more jobs.

Thanks to a donation from a new friend we were able to get the supplies to add another water tank and more gutters to harvest the water out at the Naibor orphanage. I have a hard time doing all of the work when there is a young person nearby who can learn how to do it as well so now there are a couple of boys at the orphanage who can install gutters as well. Now they just need rain!!!

When I left for Kenya I had this list of things that Jerry and I wanted me to get done while I was there but life happens. On the way from the airport right after arriving Jerry told me that the new orphanage and the youth camp were both unable to start. It's funny how our plans can get changed so quickly and things still work out so well. The overall purpose of the trip was to serve in any way needed so here are some of the bonus areas of serving that I got to be a part of. There was a lot of illness going around that kept some of the teachers from their posts for some time so I got to help out in the nursery school and kindergarten. I have walked into burning buildings, scraped up human brain, worked with violent teenagers and have a tendency to enjoy extreme sports but there is nothing that could have prepared me for that. Those teachers really are incredible. Those tiny little cute kids are so misleading. They are actually one of the most powerful single forces on the face of the earth. They can create enough power in one hour to power a city for at least a month!!! They are quick and sly, they can get into trouble in the blink of an eye and they leak! In one day we had 5 out of 6 wet themselves and then they played in it. Did you know that if a puddle of urine forms on a merry go round it's like a pee sprinkler? I do! That was the hardest work that I did the whole time that I was there.

We were also blessed by a number of visitors that needed to be taken from place to place from time to time so I got to be the tour guide/taxi driver. This was an interesting time for me. I really enjoyed the people that I got to spend time with and am so happy to have them as friends in my life. They really have brought a lot of great things into my life but it was a part of my time that I struggled with. I'm hesitant in sharing this with you because I feel like a whiner but I also want to be transparent with you in my struggles so here it is. I felt like I didn't have a "real" purpose. I had to put my stuff on the back burner to serve others. That should be something that I rejoice in to an extent but it was really hard for me. It turned out to be a great time of growth for me. I still feel silly for it but I'm glad that it happened. That took up about month of my time there so it really cut into some of the projects that I wanted to do but it also provided others with some great experiences and enabled them to serve.

Teaching bible studies was another great unforeseen experience for me. As a young follower of Jesus I am still weak in my biblical knowledge and this provided the perfect opportunity for me to grow in my knowledge and teaching skills. It really was a lot of fun and I have no doubt that I got more out of it than the kids that I was teaching.

My last week was bittersweet. On Thursday I went to the Naibor orphanage for the last time to say good bye to the kids and spend a little bit of time with them. It was hard to leave them. They were all there so we had enough people to play another game of baseball. My team got slaughtered! We then just spent time having fun with each other playing games and putting on fake tattoos, thanks Mom. They then started giving presents. They had been making me some stuff for some time and presented me with a necklace, ring, bracelet, belt and a hand carved black rhino. The boys had all done the rhino. Each one of them had a part in it and it really is great. It was very hard to leave and I had to fight back tears as I left these fantastic people who taught me so much and were so welcoming and loving to me. That place was by far my favorite place in Kenya. I miss it greatly.

Laura Nell, Kenia and I got some great time together before I left. I didn't get to spend much time with Kenia but am looking forward to hearing about what she's going to be doing with her time there. You all know Laura Nell from many previous letters about her. I will really miss my time with her. That lady had at least one bible verse for everything that life could throw at a person! "Laura Nell, we're out of potatoes." I'd say and then she'd pipe up with some verse that would pertain to someone being out of potatoes. It was incredible! Everybody there called her Mimi because L's and R's are hard for them to say. Mimi I'm so glad that we got to spend such great time together, thank you for all of your wisdom. Thank you for keeping me focused so often.

On my last day in Nanyuki I went on a hike to some caves with the youth and while we were in one of them I fell and bent my thumb back. I heard and felt a snap but could move it so I figured it was all right. As soon as I stood up I got sick to my stomach and dizzy so I had to sit down. It hurt!!! I've broke fingers before that didn't hurt that bad. So I made a sling so that it would be easy to keep it elevated and then put some of the ice cold water from a nearby creek on it. Kipchirchir and I waited by the creek while the others hiked up the trail a bit to a place in the sun to have lunch. While we sat there talking we could hear elephants trumpeting not to far off and monkeys playing in the trees. It was pretty awesome all things considered. It was a 4 mile hike back that went pretty well. I ended up getting it x-rayed after paying for the x-ray tech's cab ride to the hospital. No breaks and it wasn't dislocated so I just needed to keep it immobilized for awhile. I got it all wrapped up and went on my way. That bandage made it hard to do the things that I want to do so it only lasted about a day and half.

So after an overnight layover in London, lots of driving, one day in Redding and some cliff diving I am sitting in my Dad and Step-mothers house in Cornville Az. at 5am listening to Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds moving on the next grand adventure....the rest of my life!!! It should be incredible!!! Thank you for coming along with me and being so supportive. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully sitting down with you and sharing life. I'm off to pick up saddles for this mornings horse back ride and then off to work on a house with my Dad. I hope that this finds with a smile and in good health.

Love and Peace
Caleb (Njoroge)