I know that many of you have been devastated by my inability to ditch this shallow missionary life and be pursuing my true calling of being a male model. After the interaction with Tyra Banks, it just seemed God ordained that I would be utilizing my true abilities and the phones would not stop ringing.

Shockingly, the calls never came. And so I trudged back to Africa with defeat in every step of the way.

But God had a bigger plan.

RVA does outreach to the community once a term. You might , as Nancy did, give manicures to women in prison, or pick up trash, or help a widow rebuild her home. I was assigned to drive a group of students to paint a mural at a nearby health clinic. Because my artistic abilities are so acute I can make my children cry if they get me as a Pictionary partner, I spent most of my time playing with nearby children.

Then the opportunity came. One of the students asked me to come because she was trying to paint an ear on one of her figures and she needed to look at a real ear.

For the first time in my life, I MODELED. And you would not BELIEVE how beautiful that ear turned out.

I think I have a future in male modeling. I am RIGHT NEXT to the phone.

It was hard to leave our adult children in America, but God has granted us real peace in returning. Our car has had a flat and the battery has died, so we haven ‘t been able to get out much as we try to replace the problem parts. We are in a smaller house on campus, which is nice and we have interesting neighbors in our backyard.

We have had to register with the government in order to continue our computer program. When we first started, we talked to the government and they advised us NOT to register. Now we have to, which means jumping through lots of interesting hoops and paying taxes on the salaries of our computer teachers. This meant that we had to apply and they rejected the name Kenya Kids Can. If you are a big fan of big government, perhaps the name they gave us might give you pause:

Organization for Children in Computer Technology

What has been remarkable is how God has protected us from my stupidity and arrogance. When we first came, I was all about being Big Whitey to the rescue. After years of stumbling, we realized that having strong Kenyans in principal positions made all the difference. Somehow, He led Margaret for the school lunch program and Lucy for the computer centers; all the work continued while we were gone. Current thought in development is to have nationals do the bulk of the work, and somehow we stumbled onto the right people who are trustworthy and have a true vision for excellence and honoring the Lord.

With our computer centers, we have felt like the word we have from Him is to maintain and improve what we have. We really don’t have the monies to build any more centers; we are not receiving enough each month to cover our payroll, which is about $2800 a month. Our goal is to get better with what we have, and wait until we see that it is possible to grow again.

We were prepared to cut back on the school lunch program, and somehow the monies came in. We thought that we would be late, and then there was a teachers strike and I was told, “DO NOT COME. IT WILL BE VERY MUCH DANGEROUS.” As the strike ended, we were able to begin getting the food to the schools.

The costs have increased; this term it cost us $2.05 to feed a child for a month. That is a small amount, but when you multiply that amount by 20,000 students for a three month term, it is a tremendous amount of money. We are trusting Him to help us and guide us and provide. We spent a year in the states feeling very healthy, but we have all been sick since we have been back. When you have been here 12 years, you understand that it is all part of what you get when you are here, but we are hoping for better health soon.

A Kenyan friend saw me and told me, “You have eaten very well in America.”

It was hard to argue.

Your pal, Steve