Steeves' Summary # 25: Christmas in Kijabe                         December 2005



Christmas at Kijabe has come and gone, and we'd like to thank each of you who sent cards and emails.  It is great to know that so many people are thinking of us from so far away.

A highlight of the season was delivering food baskets from the children of RVA to the local community on the day before Christmas. There were fifty parcels to deliver and 172 volunteers from RVA taking them into community.  Local community leaders chose families who most needed food and encouragement.  Accompanied by our guide, our group delivered to four widows and a widower. The most memorable visits were an elderly women who was taking care of four AIDS orphans in her home as well as a widower lived in a very modest home at the end of a steep and winding pathway.   At each house, we sang a few Christmas songs, prayed with them, and wished them well as we gave them the bag of food staples. 

On Christmas Eve we joined with many missionaries and Kenyans for caroling at the Kijabe Hospital.   Our group went to the maternity ward where we sang carols by candlelight.  Dr. Dahlman gave a short message on the birth of baby Jesus, which was very appropriate for the new mothers.  We all met in the hospital chapel afterwards for more singing and a devotion.

Our Christmas morning was a simple time as a family, however we were invited to a traditional turkey dinner with a couple other missionary families.  It was a nice time of getting to know some people, and the kids had others their age to visit.

We had been looking forward to Boxing Day for some time.  We went up the hill to Maingi, the family home of John and Sarah, the brother and sister who work around our house.  We were at their mother's house, however other family members lived in the same compound and people were coming and going all day.  We took along a variety of meat, and the men stood around the charcoal grill cooking it.  It seems that grilling is a man's job wherever you are!  Some of the women were in the kitchen cooking vegetables over an open fire.  Bernadine and some of the others were in a bedroom rolling and cooking chapatis (flat bread) over a small charcoal stove.  Nyama Choma (roast meat) was a special treat, as was the fruit juice and sugar cookies that we brought.  I had my laptop along and set it up in the living room after the meal to show them photos of the day.  They brought in an extra bench for the children, and the entire extended family of about twenty-five crowded into the living room.  They laughed and chatted in Kikuyu as the photos of their family members showed.  There was a little incongruity about showing digital photos on a computer in a house without electricity! 

 We have been told that the shipment of 1200 home-made blankets has arrived in Nairobi, and we are in the process of clearing them through customs.

December has been a much needed break for us as a family.  We were able to spend a week at the coast and take several day trips.  We are as ready as we can be to welcome the girls next week.  One extra girl, Hannah, will be joining our crew this term.

"In him was life, and that life was the light of men."  John 1:4

Blessings during the new year,

Michael, Bernadine, Julianne and Evan

You can see our previous newsletters on our website at www.kijabe.org/mission2005
Michael and Bernadine Steeves
P.O. Box 80
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
phone: 011-254-20-32046-101
cell phone: 011-254-735-317094
steeves@kijabe.org 
www.kijabe.org
Africa Inland Mission
1641 Victoria Park Ave.
Scarborough, ON
M1R 1P8
(877) 407-6077 (Toll Free)
www.aimcanada.org