The Pringle Predator

Seth and Connor came up with the brilliant idea, "Let's turn the empty Pringle can into an airplane."  So, here is Seth's and my Sunday afternoon project: THE PRINGLE PREDATOR!

All it took was a Pringle can, a plastic ice cream lid, two Fanta bottle tops, spray paint, and a Lego propeller.  And yes, we have both Pringles and ice cream in Kenya!  Of course, the first thing Seth did was take it outside and throw it (which broke off one of the Fanta wheels). 

Ants Attack, Part 3

The ants are back . . . and they've brought reinforcements!!!

Big Cats at Impala Park

Tammy had a lunch to attend earlier today, so I had the brilliant idea, "I'll take the kids to Impala Park to see the animals."   Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that it's the middle of the dry season and we live on the equator?  It was a little hot, but we had a blast!  Plus, we got to up close and personal with some BIG CATS.  It's amazing that this place is a short walk from our house!

In addition to the Page kids, we brought along two of the KJ's, Jack and Charlie.

King of the Hill anyone?

Checkin' out Lake Victoria 

Our old friend the Leopard stalking Lyla . . .

. . . and Lyla stalking some monkeys . . .

 . . . and everyone else stalking some impala.

A hike down railroad trail

Four buddies

A mama monkey and her baby

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Lyla and her new friend, Cedric.

More pirates in their boat.

So, we had some pretty incredible timing today.  We arrived at the lions' cages right at feeding time.  In one cage they had one male and three females, and in another cage they had two males.  

The two males were brand new to the park and were still very wild.  This video will show you a good depiction of how wild . . . it was hard to believe that I was only a few feet from these guys, separated only by a chain link fence!

The other group of lions were pretty laid back.  Here's a cool video of a mama lion chowing down on some beef ribs (rare). 

Some of park employees asked if I wanted a photo with the cheetahs.  There only instruction was, "They are just big cats.  Don't be scared, just pet her."  This is Alice, and believe it or not she was purring while I was petting her.

And this is Alice's husband, Festus.  It was a little creepy petting him while he was eating, but he didn't seem to mind.

Connor hangin' with her two new friends.  She wanted to ride one like on Swiss Family Robinson!

Meet our Newest Agape Boys

Say hello to our newest Agape boys!  Pray that they'll settle well at Agape after life on the streets!  Over the years, we've had a boy named George Bush, another boy named Hillary Clinton . . . today I'm proud to present our first Fidel Castro (see below)!!!

Albert Onyango, Age 12

Brian Otieno Sunga, Age 12

Collins Omondi, Age 13

Fidel Castro Mwanza, Age 13

John Pesa, Age 13

Kevin Maina, Age 

Samson Shiraku, Age 13

Zadok Oduori, Age 11

We also had two of our runaways come back to Agape this week.  Thanks for the prayers!

Daniel Odongo, Age 13

Geoffrey Oluoch, Age 11

Agape's 50th Reintegrated Girl

About a year ago, Agape identified a need within the Kisumu Children's Remand Home (Juvenile Hall) where the government was unable to effectively research and find the homes of the growing number of girls resident within the home.  The girls within the Home are either runaways or were found abandoned on the street.  A little over a year ago, Agape stepped in and began working directly with these girls at Remand to attempt to find their homes in rural Kenya in order to reintegrate them with their families. The program has been a huge success, and earlier this month Agape reintegrated its 50th girl back home. 

Ruth Machuma, our 50th girl in the program, is from a very poor home located about 3 hours north of Kisumu.  She has had a history of running away, because she prefers life in the city to life in the rural home.  Agape worked closely with Ruth counseling her on her past decisions, and ultimately decided that she was ready to be taken home to her family.  We praise the Lord that on a recent follow-up visit, we found her safely at home!

Ruth with her mother and three younger siblings in front of their home.  Agape will work with the family to help improve their home and to help determine ways to feed and sustain the family long term.

Ruth Machuma, Age 16

Guest Blogger: Fredrick Okoko

So, my friend Fredrick is sitting in for me this afternoon as a guest blogger.  As they say in Kenya, "Please greet him!"

Hi, my name is Fredrick.  I am 14 years old and am in Class 5. I am from Luanda, which is about 1 hour northwest of Kisumu.  My favorite food is kuku (chicken) and rice.  I like to read the Bible and books about Social Studies.  I like to drive things, like a boda (bike).  If I had free time, I would watch a movie about Jesus or Moses (this is my favorite movie).  I want to be an engineer when I grow up.  Goodbye!

Our New School Uniforms

A good friend of Agape in California just donated 200 new uniform shirts for Agape's School.  Thanks Megan!  Check out the new uniforms; what do you think?

My friend, Bramuel, models our new uniform.