Besides the obvious holiday, we celebrated our first year with the babies on December 23. It would be hard to name highlights: it was harder than I thought it would be, and more fun than I imagined it could be. Any babies at my age would be a challenge: twins at my age exposed all the selfishness that I continue to harbor in my heart. The most amazing part of it all is this: They were not part of our family, and now we can’t imagine life without them.

After a wonderful Christmas, we celebrated a peaceful election. No one was expecting this, and we are grateful for so many who were praying. Many Kenyans have called this a peaceful coup. We prefer to call it democracy. It is a thrill to see how excited Kenyans are about a change, and it is becoming evident to them that if this group doesn’t do what they promised, they can be thrown out also.

The results of the first three months of the school lunch program have been nothing short of miraculous. The usual drop out rate hovers at about 30-35%. At the first two schools we provided lunches for (Kamuyu and Nyakinyua), not one student dropped out. Not one. At the third school, Namuncha, one student dropped out, and that was because his father died of AIDS and his mother needed him at home. We were hoping for good results, but this is far greater than we dreamed of.

We have been able to add two more schools to the three we already provide lunches for as of the first of the year: Karima and Rare. Karima has almost 600 students and Rare has 100. We haven’t seen Rare yet. This past Thursday when we delivered food for the next school term, we had almost 40,000 pounds or 20 TONS of grain and maize in the truck, and it got stuck in the non-road. We were there for several hours until it dried up enough for me to pull it out with my Land Cruiser.

As we were digging and getting rocks to try to provide traction, I marveled that I wasn’t upset. Something always goes wrong when I deliver the maize and beans. It used to drive me nuts; now I understand that things just happen in Africa. As I was hauling rocks, one Kenyan man came by to help (which in itself was amazing; we were in the middle of nowhere) and he had a small radio in his pocket. As we were chatting, all of a sudden `This Kiss’ by Faith Hill began playing on his radio. I couldn’t help but laugh, and marvel at a God who would play a country and western song for me in the middle of Kenya.

Several parents heard we were coming and showed up to say thank you to you all. One father told me that this was the first time in his child’s life that she ate two meals in the same day. Another father thanked you all because you had given his children a chance. Another said he had hope again.

Another mother told me to thank the people who saved her from the `choice.’ I asked her what the choice was. She said the choice is when you decide if you feed your children or send them to school. Because of this program, she didn’t have to make the choice.

Our children’s school in the states gave us some money to buy beds for a local orphanage, and we are going to be able to buy almost 100 beds. I told the pastor, and he just sat and cried. They use cheap foam mattresses, and most of them are over 5 years old and in great disrepair.

To be able to be the one to give food to hungry children or purchase beds for orphans is a dream come true; a dream I didn’t even know I had until I got here. Thank you for helping us be here, and for blessing the children.

For almost two thousand children, you have saved them from the choice

Your pal

Steve Peifer