Seth & Hannah

Rockin’ In Kenya!

Confirmation attained. I, Hannah Beth Jankovsky, am not going crazy.
Sunday night I woke up to the gentle rocking of our concrete apartment building.

Concrete buildings don’t rock…or at least their not supposed to.
I woke up Seth and asked if they have earthquakes here…I think he was just answering in his sleep cause he mumbled that he didn’t think so, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Having been in three previous earthquakes myself I was pretty sure of what I was feeling. The next morning Rahab just looked at me like I had two heads when I asked if she had felt the earthquake.
I must say, confidence in my sanity was getting its own shaking.
But I was thoroughly vindicated when Seth called mid-morning and told me that it was confirmed on the news (cause you know everything on the news is true : ). There really was an earthquake.
We are all ok. I’m actually the only one here that even felt it…either that says something about me or something about everyone else.
We’ll just say its everyone else.
I think it was rather bad closer to Tanzania.

Different sort of rockin’ all together at church on Sunday. It was Youth Sunday and they had a speaker and a “Jesus Rap” group.
It was quite the worship service.
I was entertained to see the reactions that were soooo like those in an American church. Watching the Kenyans around me react made me feel right at home.

About half the church (youth included in that half) were LOVING it.
Another 40% were rather lost and seemed unsure how to react to this unusual noise coming from the front.
And of course, there was the last 10% who knew exactly how to respond to such wildness and sat sternly enduring the show.

So African and American churches have some similarities after all: The whole people factor. : )
Seth and I had to stifle our laughter when one of the worship leaders leaned over to us during the service and said (with a rather joyous pride on his face) “we are having church like America today!”
Yes, all those American music videos do have a far reaching influence.
The Kenyan view of America has afforded us much amusement and a bit of sadness as well.

~Roadsign of the Week~
Sign posted as part of the compound rules “No hooting within the compound”. I’m half tempted to have you all guess the meaning of this command but half afraid of what your replies would be. : ) That is the Kenyan way of saying “no honking your horn”. It just makes me laugh though cause, I don’t know, it just seems like it could mean a few other things.

~Food Find~
Grilled Lamb Skewers. Seth and I found a Turkish restaurant that has amazing and delicious meat. Lamb is one of the more major proteins here and we were only more than happy to join in this cultural norm. This particular place marinates their lamb in a black pepper blend and then grills it over the fire.
Have I ever mentioned my deep appreciation for meat? Yum, Yum.

!!!!!!!!Visa News!
Thankyou all so much for praying. Seth had our supervisor come down with him and they went to one of the higher up immigration officials. After they convinced him that I was Seth’s wife and my name change was listed in the back of my passport he stamped all of our passports (no extra charge) and we are good for another three months…and we only need two. Praise the Lord! And thankyou, thankyou for praying!!!!!!!

Hangin’ Out With Dad!
All the windows here have bars on them…Kez and Jared consider them their own personal jungle gym.

Our electrifying little guy.

Yes, this is an avocado next to our i-pod and a 500ml soda bottle.

Happy Birthday to Rahab!
We had a party for Rahab and she was so excited she could hardly eat.

Please Pray

VISA, VISA, VISA! COME AND GET IT!

If only it were that easy.

Since we got here Seth has been diligently working on getting us a
student visa…or really any visa that will fit our situation and time
needs.

Every time he has gone down to immigration they tell him that all of
our paperwork has been lost. We’re not even in the system.

This last week he finally got pounded out a special visa that fit our
needs perfectly and today he went down to finish the final details of
said visa.
He is down there now and just called; they gave him the visa but are
now saying that they can’t do the same for me and the kids.

As of tomorrow we are officially illegal here.
We’ve been trying to get this done since we got here.
We were just going to plan a trip outside the country but were told
not to…that we would be able to get the visas in time.

If we are unable to get the visas we will have to leave the country
asap for 5 days and then come back in on a tourist visa again.

This wouldn’t be such a big deal if we could just cross over to Uganda
or Tanzania but we have to leave the East African Community. Which
means we’ll have to travel farther and last minute prices, as you can
imagine, are far from friendly.

Anyone care to meet us in Egypt for a week or so? We could use some
relaxation with friendly and familiar faces. : )
So please pray. Pray that our visas come through or that God provides
for last minute travel.
Pray that we don’t lose our patience with a culture and system that
views time, deadlines, and accomplishment so differently than we are
used to.

THANKYOU ALL! Knowing you all care means the world to us and makes
situations like this so much easier to bear.
We’ll keep you posted,
Hannah (& Seth, Keziah, and Jared)

Visiting Angel

As you’ve heard me mention before we have an angel that has seen fit to bless us in our home by coming 3-4 times a week.
She does our laundry (by hand) and helps out with kids, house-work, cultural mind bogglers, and protects us from shrewd hawkers who attempt to smart us out of our “huge American fortunes”.
She’s even gone to deal with a few dookah (small roadside snack shacks) owners who dared to cheat “her Wazungus”. : )
We met Rahab, shortly after our arrival here. Rahab has been trying to save up enough to go to college but has had a difficult time finding a job that pays the bills and allows her to save toward school.
Its kind of a vicious cycle – you can’t get a job that pays well without further education but can’t save up to go to college cause you can’t get a job that pays well – and around the cycle we go.
We were delighted to be able to give her a job with a good wage; many thanks to our generous supporters – that’s you.
To get to our house every morning Rahab traveled (by foot and Matatu) an hour and a half.
This last month the rent was being raised on the slum shack that Rahab called home. And by slum I mean open sewers, mud huts, rats, garbage, no security, ect.

After some prayer, consideration, and discussion we moved Rahab into our spare room.
With the lack of rent, the lack of fare money, and the lower food bill Rahab should be able to attend college by the time we leave.

Your support dollars (or should I say schillings) hard at work. : )

Rahab will be able to attend a two year school gaining a degree in teaching, and an edge in society from which she will be able to bless many others.
We, in turn, are blessed to have this dear girl in our home. She’s teaching me all manner of Kenyan fare and we are attempting to introduce her to American food – its not working very well. Though she was much impressed with chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies.
She and I have begun befriending and evangelizing all the other house girls on the compound – one life changed last week 20 to go… Be in prayer for Patricia, she’s just a babe in Christ but visibly a new creation.

Rahab has thanked us over and over again for providing her with a job that allows her to move on in life.
We can only turn her in the direction of those who have sent us here. We cannot thank you enough for allowing us the privilege of being on the front lines of your ministry here. The people we have met, the experiences gained, and the lessons learned are, indeed, priceless.
So, many thanks to you from us and our good friend Rahab.

~Roadsign of the week~
Sign posted around Nairobi “Hospital ceilings are boring. Please drive carefully.” Amen and amen! Now if only all the other drivers on the road would pay attention to these signs.

~Food Find~
Fresh from the tree Avocados! Rahab went upcountry to visit her home village a few weeks ago and brought back fresh avocados from their tree. I have never in my life tasted an avocado this amazing. Creamy, buttery, smooth and oh so very delicious. Kez and I made very short work of these wonderful treats…we offered to share with Seth but he said he was not even tempted.

The manly binky, for all your teething needs.

No sweat, I gottcha covered!

Rahab and her fiance’ Nick

Fat & Happy in Africa

I was complimented in the highest degree the other day…Kenyan high degree that is.
When we stopped in to greet our neighbor, Rosemary said “oh Hannah! You are looking so well, you have put on weight. You are taking care of yourself. That is good!”
I smiled, nodded, and managed to keep a straight face until we reached our apartment before I fell apart laughing.
Thankfully, I am not all that sensitive about my weight but it was still rather shocking to have someone so blatantly, to my face, exclaim on my assumed weight gain. Which would be quite a feat, really, considering the effects of Kenyan food – big sweatshirts just don’t have that slimming effect I guess. : )
As I’ve mentioned before, big is beautiful in Kenya.
When I explained to Rahab (our house-help and friend) why I was laughing she had a hard time comprehending how such a comment could ever be considered offensive.
It was just one more, hilarious, catch-you-off-guard example of how ingrained my own cultural values are, whether I agree with them or not.
Here, weight, is a sign of health and wealth and women will often approvingly comment on the “healthy” look of one another. : )
I told Seth that we must be awfully homely Wazungus (white people). : )

Thankyou all for your kind responses to our request for prayer.
What a comfort to know that you are praying specifically for us and that you want to know what we are facing here.
It makes us feel so much less alone…a struggle when you are new in a foreign land.

Talk about change in perspective, before coming here I was rarely interested in outside news (going on outside of the USA) and now I am often surprised at how much of the world is not covered in American news.
What may be big news here, may not even be a dot on the map of US news…interesting, not sure what to think of that.
Like I said “changing perspectives”.
Reports here have changed and now they are not quite sure what actually happened other than that there was an explosion and it is being investigated by the Anti-terrorism police. They have a few suspects in custody but the two killed in the explosion were innocent.

The amazing thing to me is how casually something like this is treated here – in comparison to America anyway.
Violence and death are just so common that, while it is abhorred by society, it is not really anything new.
A little different from a home where violence and death are always happening some where else.
I guess its just different to be “the somewhere else”.
We know God has us here and that He is ever present with in this place…thank you for standing with us here, in prayer, too.

~Roadsign of the Week~
No joke folks, I really did see this sign posted downtown Nairobi. Unfortunately I didn’t have the camera. “Dead Slow Road Works Ahead”. For all of you who have wondered if those are just mannequins in hard hats out there, well, here you don’t have to wonder. Might as well just get out and walk when you see this sign, cause its going to be awhile before you get anywhere.

~Food Find~
Dairyland Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream. Anyone who has spent any time with Seth and I knows that we are suckers for good ice cream…or maybe I should say we’re just downright junkies. Our quest for good ice cream here has been a serious and long journey. This find was a find indeed and I can not even adequately describe how wondrous this ice cream is. It has the supreme taste of a blueberry muffin but in a creamy, cold, ice cream package. Delicious!

The Saturday morning search for Dad.
I know he’s in there somewhere!

Our Sweet Peas.

Knife sharpening.
All the house girls bring out the kitchen knives to have them shapened by the travaling fundi (workman).

The beautiful skies of Kenya.
Future site of a Kenyan Missions School.

Just to Let You Know

For those of you waking to the news of a bombing in Nairobi and
wondering…we are ok.

It seems that at about 9:00 this morning a suicide bomber headed
for the airport changed his mind and instead blew up in front of the
Ambassador Hotel. Thankfully, Seth was not in town this morning, as he
is often in this part of town.
It happened about 20 minutes from our house in downtown Nairobi -
we’re on the outskirts of Nairobi.
From the info that I have right now, there were 7 people seriously
injured and 30 more with various wounds. The only person killed (at
least that they know of) was the bomber himself.
I don’t know now what it was about but I’m sure you will have a
much better report by the time you read this.
We just wanted to let you all know that we are ok and not going
into town today. : ) Please pray for us, and for all the people in
Ministry here that we will be an example of the peace and hope of
Christ.
Pray for the Kenyan people as this is one more strike of fear in a
time when the city is already on edge because of the recent rash of
gang violence.

More Roadsigns to come later…we’ll see how much time the kids give
me today. : )
Hannah

I’ve Got Dancin’ Room In My Sunday Shoes

Sunday the Children’s Sunday school did a special number for church.
They did a dance.

As you may have guessed, Kenyans seem to be born with rhythm and any good tune is a chance to dance/move/jive with the music.

Coming from a society where dancing has never quite broken free from its ties (in reputation and/or reality) to sensuality it is refreshing to see joyous, heartfelt, innocent dancing for Jesus.
Keziah was delighted to see all the “tids dancin’ Momma!” and joined in with her own little dance by her chair.

Church here is done in a very orderly fashion but also has a very exuberant nature in its order.
Having the chance to witness the Body of Christ in a different culture has given me such a bigger picture of heaven. Oh the joy of worshipping the Lamb in “spirit and in truth” when we get there.

Wonder if we’ll have to learn how to worship all over again?
A lot of my pre-conceived ideas are getting a raking over.

Seth turns professor this week. FTT (where he will be teaching) is a Kenyan missionary training school – by Kenyans for Kenyans, mainly. Seth has been asked to teach a course on “Principles of Finance and Financial Reporting” and “Servant Leadership”. Both subjects (in my unbiased opinion) he is great at. I’d love to sneak in and just blend into the classes for the next two weeks but something tells me I’d have a difficult time not sticking out.

“Would the cute Mzungu in the last row, please stop giggling and take your two (beautiful) children outside to play?” : )

Pray that he is able to communicate what these students need to hear/learn from the Lord.
Pray that the accent barrier (they do speak English here: just with a STRONG Kenyan accent) does not hinder the message that needs to get out. And pray that Seth enjoys and learns from the experience.

~Roadsign of the Week~
Sign across the road from our compound “Car wash, Pub”. As in you and your car can come get sloshed together. : ) The combination of services available here are often rather amusing.
Hair salons here are called “Saloons” This can be rather shocking when the Pastor’s wife announces an appointment at the local saloon.

~Food Find~
Cadbury Mint-Choc Bars. These two-bite-size candy bars have become one of our most favorites. Keziah refers to them as “family snacks” because we usually eat them together. They’re a mere 10 schillings (about 15 cents) and are a cross between a York Peppermint Pattie and a Tootsie Roll. MMMMmmmmmmhmmmmhhhhmmmmm. Yum.

Just hanging out on the counter in the kitchen

our porch Kez’s favorite place to play

This Picture is for all those Bethany Friends This is in Embo Kenya kinda funny huh…

The Izaak Walton??

Birthdays, Bang-ups, and the B-I-B-L-E

Yes, folks I have now attained the wise and mature age of 28. Adults in Kenya do not usually celebrate their birthdays and were quite amused at how exciting I considered the event. But, what can I say…why pass up a chance to celebrate! : )

Seth took me to a local tourist restaurant called Carnivore. The heart of the restaurant is a huge fire pit with long, William Wallace type, swords set on a rack above the flames.
Each sword laden with a different type of meat…

As a girl whose childhood nick name was “Carnivora”, to say that I was delighted would be putting it lightly.

I had a hard time not jumping up and down and clapping my hands.
The waiters brought the swords around at intervals and carved the meat off right on to your plate.

My apologies to all you vegetarians out there; but it was sooooo good.
After stuffing ourselves with lamb, beef, chicken, crocodile, pork, turkey, and ostrich we were treated to a rousing Kenyan Birthday song by the waiters – complete with drums and dance.
Definitely an experience to remember.

Keziah had her own birthday gift for me.
Earlier in the day as I came out of my room I found Keziah, on a couch cushion stage, with magnetix microphone belting out:

“Da B-I-B-L-E! Yes, dats da book fo me! I stan awone on da wer of God! Da
B-I-B-L-E!”

It was hilarious, touching and amazing all at once.
I am truly beginning to understand the verse that says “ I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in truth”. I can only stand in awe as I watch the Father draw the heart of my daughter to Himself.

In this time of change and feelings of insecurity just watching the love of God play out in the life of a child, my child, brings such a reassurance of His love and trustworthiness.
I can only pray that my life as His child will be such a testament to those around me.

Life continues to be an adventure here.

Seth was in an accident the other day…He’s ok, no physical damage done, and other than having to get the car fixed it really was not a huge deal. Keziah, however, on hearing that our car had got “an owie” wanted to know if she could “gib it a tiss”. : ) If only that worked on “hurt” cars too. : )

Pray for us that we continue to operate in the grace that God gives for the moment and have the humor to learn from it as well.

~Roadsign of the week~
“Nairobi, Home of the Hot Dog”. And all this time I thought hot dogs came to be in Chicago! The most humorous thing about this sign is that the hot dogs here taste like vegetarian hot dogs. Not sure what exactly is in there…maybe I don’t want to know but they sure don’t taste very “meaty”.

~Food Find~
Ok, since this letter seems to be all about meat; Ladies and Gentlemen…I Hannah Beth Jankovsky have forever endeared myself to all junk food addicts (namely my husband) by learning the art of home made chicken nuggets.
No, chicken nuggets are far from normal Kenyan fare. But they are the normal fare for a certain Seth of mine. I think if he could have, Seth would have sainted me for this achievement.

My tie-dye boys.

My birthday present from Seth…a canopy bed.

Carnivore!

Being Tigers!

Market Madness

We went to the Market the other day. Not the normal grocery market but the Massai Market.

The Massai people are like the Africans you see in National Geographic. Like what you think of when you think African. Not all of them wear the traditional dress but a good number still do. They carry around spears too. They are a fierce, loyal, and in general very friendly people. Though you really wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.
Every weekend they have open air markets around the city where they sell hand-crafts, souvenir stuff, and every day African stuff.

AMAZING! Beautiful work…I don’t even know how to describe it. They just have really incredible stuff.

And they have really incredible sales tactics. Maybe scary would be a better descriptor. I had Jared strapped on so for the most part they didn’t push me around to much. Though I did get a few offers for my baby…which I turned down very firmly. : )

Everyone had “a very reasonable price for you today” and we had one man tell us that he accepted “vegetarian money also”.
We asked him what on earth he meant by that…he just looked at us like the ignorant Mzungus that we must appear to be and said “green money”!

So, good news to all you “vegetarian money” users. They’ll take your money here. : )

The rainy season has come and with it lots of bugs!!! Yuck!

Yesterday Seth (our resident fierce protector) waged war on the bug army that had invaded our deck, and won the day in a brilliant and massive cloud of DOOM. They were still gone this morning so he must have really done a job of it.

So far we haven’t seen any horrific bugs (like cockroaches) though there is one called the “Nairobi Fly” that, if it bites you or gets smashed on you will burn your skin. Pleasant.
There was a whole battalion of those on the deck, but no more.

Thankyou all so much for your prayers and correspondence. I know I say this all the time but you have no idea how much it means to us.

Life here is so different and difficult in ways we have never experience before and knowing we are surrounded in prayer by “such a great cloud of witnesses” makes all the difference.
You inspire us with confidence and comfort us with your prayers so THANKS! We couldn’t do this without you.

~Roadsign of the Week~
Sign seen on a public restroom downtown, “Rehabilitation of Public Toilet”. Hhhmmm. I wonder how they rehabilitate them. Might be a good skill to learn…I can think of quite a few public toilets in the U.S. that could use some rehabilitation. : )

~Food Find~
Ceres’ Fruit Juices. There is no description for how yummy these boxes of 100% fruit juices are. So far we have tried out apricot, peach, apple/pear, passion fruit, mango, white grape, regular grape, kiwi/strawberry, and cranberry/kiwi. YUM, YUM, YUM! Even Seth had to admit that they really are better than Tang…and that’s a big concession for him.

Bread Fruit different huh…

The Equator

Just some of the local wild life

Aliens in Space… Literally

In letters long ago I told you that Seth and I had affectionately named our new abode “the concrete jungle”. Well apparently no one else had the same brain flash and on the naming of our compound (new construction so it hasn’t had a name all this time) some genius decided on “The Space Apartments”.
As in outer-space.

Just so you don’t get the wrong picture of our host culture this was not an example of Kenyan creativity in the least. In fact when they announced it at the compound meeting there was more than a little outrage.

Seth took the opportunity to wonder aloud at the decision when “we are the only aliens on the property”. He said there were a few chuckles but most everyone just looked at him as though he were green and had antennae sticking out of his head. : )
One man suggested that they paint the constellations on the sides of the buildings…he only barely escaped stoning.

So we can now honestly claim to be aliens in space! Some of you may think this fitting, I know.

Last night I had my official “how to make ugali” lesson. I’ll make some for any and all interested parties when we get back. It is probably one of the blandest foods I have ever eaten…but the stew they eat with it!!!! MMMMMmmmmhmmmmm!

Ugali (ooo-golly) is basically maize flour boiled in water till stiff. Kind of like what happens to corn meal mush that has sat a few hours. They then slice it and eat it with a delicious cabbage based stew. I am a convert.

Anything that goes with that stew is worth eating just to get the stew. Seth, Keziah, and Jared have not seen the light as I have and throw disdainful glances from afar whenever I indulge in the wonder of Ugali and its accompanying dishes.

~Roadsign of the Week~
Sign posted in the grocery store on a very large stop sign, “Stop Dudus!” Given our current potty training situation, there are moments when I would completely agree.
The Swahili word for insect is dudu. So the signs are just bug spray advertisements (raid or doom). But Seth and I cannot help but laugh hysterically when we see them. And every one looks at us as though we are freaks, not a terribly new thing as we stick out like sore thumbs here and are generally stared at whenever we go out in public.

~Food Find~
Other than Ugali. : ) Keziah has discovered “YoGo Ices! These handy little treats are kind of like otter-pops (you know that you can get at Wal-Mart) but are fruit juice and milk.
You can also get the pure fruit juice kind. Keziah LOVES them and is an avid fan of the after nap ice-ee tradition. Kenyans, however, are shocked that I would be giving a child so young something so cold!!! In Kenya they are of the firm belief that eating or drinking cold things will give you a cold…especially young children.
I will never forget the shock and dismay on Rahab’s face when she saw me give Jared his frozen chew toy. : )

Yes folks, he is standing…watch out world.

Kez and Rahab making mandazis.

Now if I could just get to it.
I wonder if they really read the suggestions…and what they do with them.

One small section of the city of Nairobi.

Roadsigns #6

Great Friday.

Yesterday was Good Friday. The entire city of Nairobi shut down, and took the day off. The construction workers who are finishing the building in our compound are here today (Saturday) but on Good Friday not a soul was to be seen working.

Christianity, seems to be so much more a part of the culture here (a bit odd considering that I come from a “Christian country”). I guess, really, you could say all religion is more obvious here. Ramadan apparently is also a national holiday as are the holy days of various other religions. From what I am told, Kenyans love holidays and so have 1-3 national holidays every month.
Its been interesting to observe a society where religion and government/national policy are at times very closely tied, and religion is also a very major, obvious, pillar of that society.

In some ways it is wonderful. I am still happily caught off guard when going into the grocery store on Sunday and shopping to the sounds of praise and worship music.

In other ways it is difficult to accept the harsher sides of culture that are “a part of the religion”. The older Muslim man with his two young wives in tow.

I can’t say that I have drawn any huge conclusions from my observations…still trying to figure out the effects of societal structure here.
But it was interesting/funny/odd/wonderful to have the entire country pause in respect to our Savior’s sacrifice so may years ago.

Pray for us as you celebrate this year. I, especially, am used to family, traditions, big celebration, ect. at Easter time and am feeling the familiar struggle of homesickness as the holiday approaches with out all the familiar trappings.
But at the same time, when all the familiar is stripped away, the real reason we are celebrating takes on a whole new meaning.
Let me wish you all a very Happy Easter! And as you pause to pray over your Easter meal pray that we here, will live out and share the reality and the joy of the Easter season with those around us.
There are many “religions” here clamoring (quite literally) to be heard. Pray that our message will not be a religion but a Person, the Savior, Who longs for all to know His love.

~Roadsign of the Week~
Sign in Nairobi “Children’s Traffic Park”. Yes, believe it or not, there is a park here just for children to hop on their bikes and do what their parents do every day – sit in traffic. Its complete with lanes, round-a-bouts (THE Nairobi way to get anywhere), and stop signs.
I did notice a few missing elements, however. There were no hawkers bartering with the children to sell their wares in the middle of traffic, and the black smoke and exhaust were also not quite as prevalent. : )

~Food Find~
More Indian food… and they think it’s African food

Curry, Chapatti, Samosa, ect…