Written by David Gruber It is early Sunday morning (6:30 am) and I awoke to sounds of a rooster crowing outside of Kathi’s House, where we slept. As the sun rose, I went outside to enjoy some quiet time, thinking I would surely be the only one up, having gone to bed at about 2am, and most of the children having stayed up to 1am looking at pictures and video from the dedication of Kathi’s House in November. Happily, I was mistaken, as I quickly found children coming out of the other home at Beat the Drum – each doing chores or playing as they came out. What a blessed sight, as the younger children were enjoying playing with each other, and the older ones each tending to their short assignments. All were cheerful and greeted me warmly as I hugged and wished them good morning. I had a delightful time talking pictures and videotaping, and allowing them to take a turn at each. It was a beautiful scene accompanied by a glorious sunrise orchestrated by God. How happy I am to not have slept in this morning! For those of you who have supported Kathi’s House, I wish for you a portion of the joy I had this morning as I observed firsthand the miracle being worked by God in this place through the love, care and patience of Pastor John, Mary, and the others serving Him and these children. It would take hours to recap the many interesting events of yesterday, so I will just give a few highlights. We were blessed to visit Catherine Oyugi in St Mary’s Hospital in the early morning, and found her to be doing better than previously reported. We praise God for that. Connie was able to spend some time with her doctor, and got a good report about her prognosis – how great to have a nurse along, while she is still very ill they are trying to save her life. Upon leaving the hospital, we headed to Beat the Drum to spend 2 days. We arrived to find 13 happy children, which included John and Mary’s 4 natural children, their now 7 adopted children, and 2 of the children of John’s brother. After playing a bit, we headed to Lake Nukuru, experiencing a flat tire on the way. Once we arrived, we very much enjoyed driving through this beautiful national park with the top raised on the Partners for Care van (just purchased at a very good price from some US missionaries who were friends to Sammy and were leaving Kenya). There were many happy children standing with there heads out the roof to see the many animals. We saw zebra, monkeys, baboons, wildebeast, water buffalo, flamingos, gazelle, rhinocerous, and a giraffe (among others which don’t come to mind). We enjoyed a brief picnic, photo taking and a drive to an overlook known as “Out of Africa” picnic site. What an incredible view! How joyful it was to have my picture taken there with Courtney, and then with all of the children. I hope to repeat this experience with the rest of my family Now it’s time to prepare for our worship service at Pastor John’s church. We pray for you a blessed day – and wish I could bottle some of the blessing and joy of this place to bring home to you. If I could figure that out, I am confident we could sell it at such a price that Beat the Drum would never have worries about funding! Please pray how God may want to use you to support this joyful place. Blessed to be in Kenya – and taking advantage of the best grief counseling I can imagine, David
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