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"This home is a wonderful shelter!"If you've ever wondered what life in a Christian orphanage in Africa could be like...
We started off the year 2005 by moving to a wonderful new location not far from our old home. We had always had a problem with our old landlord but had never looked for another place as I felt this was where God wanted us as it was built and designed for us. The landlord bled us for every shilling he could get and I was really tired of it. One day I came home and some young man had come by the house and left me a note saying his parents had a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, master suite, 2.5 acres of land, and two servants quarters for rent as of the end of December. I went to look at the place and fell in love. It's an older house but very well built and the yard is incredibly beautiful with swings, teeter-totter, and monkey bars for the babies. After you enter the gate the driveway is about 1/4 block long and covered on both sides with bougainvillea. Right in front of the porch is a huge tree that dominates the front yard and provides lots of shade.
Our new house is an old English colonial house built around 1950. We have 2 1/2 acres of land that is totally surrounded by a bougainvillea wall of about 15 ft. There is a large shamba area, a place for chickens, avocado and mango trees, and swings for the children. It is also gated and well lit for security purposes. There is a button at the gate for one to ring when they arrive. It's a recording instead of a bell and says "Hello! Is anybody home?" There are also 2 servants quarters and our gardener, Edward, lives in one of them. He also acts as our guard. He put a sign on the gate that say "Kwa mbwa kali hapa" which means bad dogs on site. we have no dogs but at night the neighbours dogs come into our yard and most people think we have dogs. Many Kenyans are afraid of dogs. The home is a wonderful shelter for the children. They have warm clean beds, a big yard to play in, and security from the outside elements. The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, kitchen, sitting room, and laundry room. The bedrooms are rather large so Alex, Merci, and Joseph share a room. Matthew and Joel share a room. Bancy (live in helper for almost a year) has her room, and then I have a bedroom with a bath. It' not quite as large as our previous location but has so much more character.
We also have a fireplace that really works so we were lining the nappies up in front of the fireplace. The house is not as big as our first house but has such a wonderful peaceful ambience and is more like a real home. When I looked at the place for the first time I just knew that we could not afford it but I asked the owners if they would prayerfully consider renting it to us for the same amount of money as we were paying at the old location. I prayed really hard about this and God was so good to answer those prayers for a few days later we were told that we could have the house at the same price. Our landlords, Fred and Emily Mbiru, are wonderful Christian people and I consider them to be my Kenyan parents.
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http://www.arms-of-love-africa.com
Copyright 
2004 Arms of Love.
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
"Kenya is a
huge exporter of roses and I call my babies African roses. When I get them they are just
little buds that need food, water, TLC, and before I know it they open up into full
beautiful flowers."
