sunday. august 27 2oo6

God is awesome! i've never felt His presence so strongly before. today in church we sang "great is thy faithfulness", and that statement is so true to me this weekend. He continually answers my prayers without fault. when the weekends come around, i usually get concerned about how i will occupy my time. but as i mentioned yesterday, He has blessed me with caring friends. and there was alot more of that today. it began with church at new city fellowship of nairobi. jeremy's mom decided to take me there because it's a 5-min walk from my place. it is held at braeside school. coincidentally enough, the coach of the softball team invited me to this church the day before. however he didn't show up, but outta nowhere his wife approached me and welcomed me to the church, not knowing that i knew her husband. so both of us were like oh wow what a coincidence. on top of that, andrew's (one of my students) mom had actually invited me to this church a few weeks ago. i didn't remember because i had met many parents that day. but she immediately spotted me when i arrived. the church is quite diverse. they have kenyans, indians, koreans, and caucasians. we sang worship songs in english, swahili, and hindi. it was pretty kool. afterwards i was treated to lunch at a chinese restaurant by jeremy's mom and her two friends. during lunch, we got into the conversation about how hannah and nathaniel had just arrived. i was so excited because i had been dying to see them. so we arranged a time to meet up, so i could eat dinner with them. around 300, i and the wns staff went to ian meredith's (one of my students) place. it was HUGE!!! i had been searching for some good soccer shoes and never had success. then i mentioned to ian that i was looking for some, and he asked what size i wore. apparently he used to wear size 10, and now he wears size 12 =O it's like he jumped from my size to stanley's size in one year. he had a pair of sz 10 nike's that are still in pretty good condition, so he just gave them to me. man i was soooo happy! so now i can practice =] in addition, his mom insisted i take some cake and samosas home. talk about blessing after blessing. around 530, i was taken out to a church where jeremy's parents hold a chinese church. i met up with them there, so they could drive me out to their home, where hannah and nathaniel were staying for the night. we ordered pizza, and i got to surprise them when i walked into the house. i was so excited to see them. it's a weird feeling because at one point i thought i would never get to see them again. and here i am getting to eat dinner and watch a movie with them. God is awesome. oh right i said that already huh? oh yea, we watched white chicks. it was jeremy's mom's choice....hahahaa. his parents didn't get half the jokes because it's geared more towards our "generation". btw the word "generation" is jeremy's favorite word referring to younger people. apparently i fall under that category too because we enjoy the same stuff. after the movie, i got to talk with hannah and jeremy about school and my living situation. it was fun catching up. the two lai's are going back to RVA tomorrow =[ i may not see them till october when it's midterm, like last time. hopefully email and text msging will suffice till then. oh yea right when i was about to leave, the lims decide to pack up the rest of the pizza, 10 oranges, and two boxes of chocolate. hannah never ate her burger, so i got that too. like i said...blessing after blessing. they are truly my kenyan chinese family. they even told me which guest room i'd be staying in whenever i come over for a weekend. btw, they live right next to the US embassy and the UN. it's relatively far from my place, so their driver took me home around 1015. what a day. what a weekend. if any of you ever question the power of prayer, i can testify of its reality and God's faithfulness. thank you God for all the blessings. ::: :::

saturday. august 26 2oo6

here are some videos. i'll organize it better later. you better watch them all because it takes awhile to upload them. maybe i'll make a youtube section in the future. my place my kitchen my living room my bathroom my bedroom oh yea i completely forgot to give an update of what i did today. for starters, i purposely tried sleeping at midnight last night, so i could sleep in today. but somehow, my internal clock woke me up around 730. that's when i decided to make videos of my place. i was scheduled to meet up at the girls' place near yaya centre around 1145. so i had a nice hike out to their place which took about 30min. we were invited to join the wns softball team. the other teams in the league are the US embassy, japanese, and canadian teams. our team turned out to be pretty good. everyone on our team can field and hit, so i felt alittle pressure to perform well. my first two hits were pop flies. my third hit was a single that pretty much got kayla tagged out. then i finally hit a good one that got me a triple. on defense, they put me in left field. the other team had some heavy hitters, so i'm glad i caught two big hits out there. it was fun getting to know some of the parents and people involved with wns. of the teachers, it was me, kayla, and alison that joined. it's always fun meeting new people. afterwards, the girls invited me to go and hang out with them, which i will probably say a million times how greatful i am for them. first we went to yaya centre to get online. that internet cafe is probably the fastest one i've been to since arriving in kenya. i was able to upload youtube videos and talk to my dad through skype. for any of you who want to talk to me, download skype. you'll be able to see me too because i have a webcam built into my laptop. i'll try to go out there every saturday if i have no prior plans. after yaya, we walked back to the girls' place. jen and daylan cooked stir fry for dinner. there was chicken, carrots, broccoli poured over spaghetti. it's by far one of the healthiest meals i've had in awhile. kayla and jen also made oatmeal peanut butter cookies for dessert. *drool* i couldn't stop eating them. they were all crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. after dinner, we (jen, alison, daylan, kayla, and i) played phase 10. i remember some ppL playing it at camp this year, but i never really got the rules. but the game itself wasn't the best part. hanging out with them was the best part for me. they're all so hilarious. i enjoyed their company so much tonight because not only did we laugh alot, but we talked abit afterwards. we're just a bunch of friends sitting around talking about how we're teachers running a school. i wonder if teachers at schools in the states enjoy each other's company as much as we do. i dunno about the girls, but this is probably one of the most cherished saturday nights i will have. THANX FOR HAVING ME OVER!!! i know yall were ready to crash...thanx for staying up. oh yea, megan drove me home afterwards too. talk about having a nice group of friends. i like how we all care about each other's well-being. thank you God for these friends. bless them and continue to watch over them. ::: :::

friday. august 25 2oo6

it has been a great first full week of school. even though my school schedule is abit inconsistent at the moment, i don't mind because all the students are great. everyone has been respectful and pays attention in class. like many of you, they really enjoy listening to me tell stories. oh btw, i have the students call me Mr. T...hahaha. well i would have them call me Mr. Tso, but it sounds alot like choo (which is a term used for toilet around here). I enjoy hearing them call me Mr. T every single time because it reminds me that i'm a teacher. today was a particularly FUN day. every month there is an event called FUN Friday for the 8th and 9th graders. FUN = facilitating unity naturally. since the current 8th and 9th graders will be next year's 9th and 10th, they will basically be the entire high school. so to build relationships and camaraderie, we have FUN Fridays. today we went to brackenhurst. it's about an hour drive out from nairobi. the place is typically used for christian international conferences. it's owned by southern baptists, so it was HUGE!!! why were we there? well they happen to have a ropes course and a rockclimbing wall. the people there run a team-building program for youth. so we arrived in the morning and participated in team-building games. then we stopped to have a nice lunch. to be honest, i was the most happy with getting to eat loads and loads of RICE XD oh and afterwards, i totally indulged in some chocolate ice cream. after lunch, we got to do the really fun stuff. first they started us off on "the swing". you get hoisted up by the other students, and then you pull on a string to release. it was REALLY high! but man was it fun! next the students got to climb a wall. just to make it challenging, they were proposed the idea of climbing it blindfolded. so the rest of their classmates would have to give them direction on where to go. it was funny listening to them yell because ian and josh weren't able to tell who everyone was giving directions to. someone even yelled, "put your foot on the green one!" hahaha right...like color's gonna help them i think i had mentioned this before, but i think many of you would enjoy school alot more if you went to school at WNS. i know it may seem like the students are spoiled, but in actuality they receive a good learning environment, which is the way it is supposed to be imo. if your current school situation sucks, then i'd say make it a positive environment for yourself. change your perspective. go to school to learn something cuz you know it's useful for you...not because you want a good grade. school will be as good as you make it. oh yea, if you know anyone who wants to know how i'm doing, please give them the link to this site. i'm not sure if everyone knows about it. and if you have time, email email email! i love getting email, and i'll definitely make an effort to reply. if not, leave a billion comments on my posts =] i hope all of you are doing well. thank you again for your prayers and support. i believe that things are going as well as they are for me because of your loving prayers for me. God is looking out for me over here, and I rejoice in His sovereignty. ::: :::

sunday. august 20 2oo6

i got alot of exercise today. i visited practically every major location around the west side of nairobi. for starters, jeremy and marc picked me up to attend nairobi chapel (white tents) off of ngong road. then we bought lunch from nakumatt junction and ate it at marc's house. since i wanted to know a different route from junction back to valley arcade (near my place), they showed me a walking trail that avoided the huge up/down slope. from valley arcade, we took a muttatu to yaya centre because i'm looking for some soccer shoes. but i forgot they close on sundays =P so from yaya, we walked to nakumatt prestige. from prestige, we walked to adam's arcade and stopped for some coffee at java house. since they needed to get back, we took another muttatu back to junction. i bought some food and then walked the new route back to my place. i really miss playing basketball competitively. i don't want my instincts to wear off. at least i got to work out my legs abit today. for all of you starting school this upcoming week, i hope it starts off on a good note. if you're dreading the return, then take on a new perspective. school isn't just a place of work and studying. it's a place of people and interaction. ask God to show you your purpose this year. i refuse to believe that it's the same ol' thing every year. ::: :::

saturday. august 19 2oo6

i think God really blessed me today...from the moment i woke up till now. lemme explain so you have a better understanding of what led up to my great appreciation of today. upon leaving, one of the things i was very concerned about was loneliness. there were so many unknowns that i didn't know whether or not i'd be able to get along with anyone. for one thing, i had no idea how old the teachers were. but after spending the first few days in kenya, i had zero feelings of loneliness, particulary because i had a chance to spend time with kayla and bob before arriving in kenya. after living with the new teachers in mayfield and traveling around together in a van for the first week, it started to feel like we were all in the same boat. it was comforting to know that someone else shared the same concerns as you. unfortunately that feeling didn't last. we all began leading separate lives when we split into our respective places of living. five girls got an apartment. a father and son got their own place. a 65-yr old man got his own place. and steven got his own place. i didn't realize how divided we would be until everyone went to different churches on our second sunday here. i am thankful however that i get to see some of them at school. there's even a divide btwn the elementary and ms/hs sides of the campus. so i spent a few nights sitting in my place thinking. and you know when i start doing that, my mind just wanders. i started to feel that loneliness that i feared from before. having no transportation makes a huge difference here. even though i don't mind walking miles, it's dangerous to walk at night. so i felt smaller and smaller each night as i sat in this gigantic place of mine. i prayed for God to help me understand what it is He wants me to learn from this. i find alot of comfort in talking to God when i'm alone. and that helped the loneliness go away. so after experiencing a few ups and downs of emotions, saturday was an overwhelmingly happy day. it was quite full. i woke up around 9am. i turned on a christian radio station and heard "I am a C...I am a CH..." that kinda set the tone for the day. i walked over to bob's to cut my hair because he had a broom. afterwards, we walked to junction which took about 25min. i had a ranchero burger. i keep wanting to not eat burgers, but everything else was expensive =\ after lunch, i walked back to my place. next thing you know, jeremy calls me and says he's on the way to pick me up. he shows up with marc, joel, and the driver at the kobil station. we drive out to the go-carting place which is next to wilson airport, carnivore, and splash. it was about a half an hour drive. alright, i had forgotten how fun go-carting was. it reminded me of the time i went with niki and jonathan. this track was huuuuuge! it was tougher because the track was like a real road. it wasn't smooth. after racing twice, jeremy's parents showed up and took us to eat dinner at steers, which is a fast-food burger joint. two burgers in one day =P just when you'd think the day was over. i get dropped off at the kobil station and almost instantly picked up again to go to angela and sarah's place. they decided to invite all the teachers over for a game night. we played loaded questions. there were so many of us that we only went around once, but it was nice to enjoy everyone's company. i know alot of you readers won't recognize these names, but i'm gonna say it anywayz before i forget. i'm thankful for kayla, heather, caleb, sarah, mark, sara, jen, angela, alison, daylan, noel, and margo. oh also, stephanie and esther took us out to ethiopian food and ice cream last night. so yea, i hung out with almost everyone i know in kenya today. as i'm writing this, i realize that God will never leave me alone. either He will be my comfort or provide others to be there for me. i also received phone calls from niki and jennifer this week. for the first time, i got to chat online with jason. my parents sent me a package. even though it was just my insurance card, it was kinda kool seeing my home address on the envelope. i think the one thing that topped everything for me today was when i went to the internet cafe. i had been trying for days to download my brother's version of Getting Closer. every time i tried, the download time was 2hrs. but today i went in there and attempted again. this time it said 6min. i purposely waited till the end of the day to listen to it. there's something really comforting about hearing a familiar voice. when i hear stanley play the guitar AND sing, it's like i get to hear two familiar voices. i hope you're doing well brother. do nothing short of what God has blessed you with. my love goes out to everyone back at home. thank you for being you and sharing your life with me. ::: :::

wednesday. august 16 2oo6

i wonder if yall can keep up with all my posts. they're so texty. yesterday was the first day of school. it was a half day, so not alot happened. much like today, i had a chance to meet all the kids. i mainly interact with 7-9th graders. they're a great group of kids. i especially like the fact that no two kids have the same background. there may be alot of white kids, but there's no telling where in the US they come from. some of them were even born in kenya. they're an energetic group, but i sense respect and humbleness from them. i hope i'm right =P yesterday i shared with my boys bible class about my shoe collection. they got a kick outta that. their reactions were funny. but it was good because it opened them up to share about things that they enjoyed. my prayer is that God will teach these kids how to be young men of Christ this year. for my geometry class, there are only 4 of them. in a way, that's good because i can look out for them individually. today was the first full day, and for some reason i spent alot of time outside. another thing added to my plate was study hall. since the art teacher won't be arriving till september, the art students come to me for study hall. they were really good about coming in and getting straight to work. i guess no one wants to get stuck with too much hw. three 9th grade girls finished all their stuff and wanted to do something active. since i couldn't let them go down to the soccer field by themselves, i let them hang out outside the classroom. actually, they asked me if it was alright if they could go outside and sumo wrestle. i thought they were just being silly. but when i stepped outside to check on them, they drew a circle in the gravel. and two of them stepped into the ring and began bumping each other. yea so, things have been good so far. many of the teachers share how it was really tough their first year. in a way, it makes me constantly keep my guard up cuz i dunno what's coming my way. i just keep telling myself that God is my strength. it may sound cliche. but when you truly need God, you'll understand what i mean. ::: :::

monday. august 14 2oo6

my health was just as bad today as it was yesterday. but i refuse to be shaken. what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? hahaha nah actually my strength is founded in God's power. many teachers were running around taking care of last minute stuff today because tomorrow is the first day of school. exciting huh? the day started out pretty weird actually. keep in mind that what i'm about to talk about doesn't occur too often around here. on our way to school today, i looked out the window and saw people staring up at a tree. when i looked up at the tree, i saw a dead man hung from a rope. i can't tell if it was suicide or murder, but regardless it was a strange sight to see. it reminds me that we must pray for kenya and its people. life is obviously not always pleasant here for the locals. there is no way out for them. God can be their only source of hope. i hope this incident will trigger a curiosity in life/death and eventually God. i can't imagine what it's like for children to see that. ok enough about that, tomorrow is the first day. in a way, my stomach hurting has taken away the possibility of me being nervous or anxious, so i guess i'm thankful for that. ****** more ****** there were some nice surprises that made the day end well. kara brought over a cake wishing me a good first day of school. i think she gave one to everyone. these are the type of caring people i'm blessed with. it looks soooo delicious, so i'm gonna eat it reaaaaally slowly and savor every bite of it. i'm glad she brought it today because i reached a point where i was afraid to eat anything in my place. at least i know her food is good and safe. another kool thing that happened tonight was an invitation from the owner. jack invited me over to his place to meet his wife, nikki. she just got back from england a few days ago. i'm glad she got here safely, especially with all that was going on in heathrow. it was nice cuz i've never seen the inside of their place before. they're such welcoming people. i thought i was just going over to say hi, but we ended up sitting and talking. if i had known that, i wouldn't have walked over with my pajama clothes =X anywayz, the more i conversed with them, the more i realized how God has blessed me with this place. i'll explain... so right now i live off of muthangari. about 5minutes from here, there's a place where west nairobi school used to be. right now west nairobi school is located on miotoni lane. jack and nikki used to live 5minutes from there. talk about a krazy coincidence. on top of that, jack mentioned that they went through a few candidates before deciding on who to lease the guest house to. since safety is a big deal around here, they didn't wanna lease the place to just anyone. nikki used to be a montessori school teacher. so when they saw that i was working at west nairobi school, they instantly chose me. hearing all that gave me reassurance that God is looking out for me. oh btw, nikki is from the UK, and jack studied in the UK. so they both have kool english accents. our principal is from australia, so he has a kool accent too. ok i know...random thought, but i enjoy listening to them speak. ::: :::

sunday. august 13 2oo6

today was one of the toughest days i've had since coming here. last night, an upset stomach kept me up all night. so i didn't have the energy to walk a mile with bob to church. even when i did wake up later in the day, my stomach kept hurting. it basically feels like a knife is being jabbed into your stomach. not to freak anyone out, but i'm just giving you an idea of what it was like. every time i attempted to get up and walk around, the pain would come back. i tried to take a warm shower in hopes that maybe it'd relax my body or something cuz i was freezing from lying in bed all day. but just my luck, i didn't get any hot water when i needed it. i decided to tough it out and go outside to walk to valley arcade. i figured i must've eaten something really bad last night, so i wanted to buy food from a restaurant cuz i find more assurance in knowing that they cook it right. so i walked out to valley arcade. the sign said that thai star restaurant opens at 530pm. since it was 430, i decided to check email and then read Wild at Heart. yea i know...steven read? hahaha well i was trying to kill time. actually the book's an easy read. i also wanted to do something to make up for not going to church today. finally 530 rolls around, and i noticed that the restaurant didn't open. apparently they don't open on sundays =P so i started walking home. i remember passing another chinese restaurant every day, so i decided to check them out. i ordered some white rice and beef with vegetables. i was really eager to eat this because i hadn't eaten all day. i sit down, pour some fanta, open up Bleach, and start eating. it felt good to eat rice. halfway through the meal, my stomach started hurting again. so i went to the bathroom. next thing you know i'm throwing up. so yea, it hasn't exactly been the best of days. i wish i knew what caused the upset stomach, so i can prevent it from happening. i just wanna work on my geometry and bible class and not have to worry about food. oh also as of right now, i'm teaching geometry, 7th-8th grade boys bible, helping with computer, helping with yearbook, helping with drama, and organizing fun days for 7-9th graders. the only thing left out of all my interests is bball. talk about packing in responsibilities on me. but i'm looking forward to it. i may be the teacher, but i have alot to learn this year. i wanna know how all of you are doing. email me or something. stevenjtso@gmail.com. actually it's kinda weird. i've only been here for a week, and it feels like a month has passed. oh yea, send me any prayer requests. i may not be there, but i can still pray for you =] ** thanx niki for calling =] it was an awesome surprise! ::: :::

friday. august 11 2oo6

it is exactly one week from the day we arrived here in kenya. there were so many unknowns that caused me to place faith in God. here i am today with many of those questions answered, and yet not everything is completely revealed. i think God allows that to happen on purpose, so we are put in a position where we must decide who or what to place our faith in. it's very easy for us as teachers to try to do everything ourselves. we do the planning. we put together the curriculum. we prepare the lessons. we teach the students. but sometimes i have to step back and remind myself that God is the one who called me here, brought me here, and will use me here. i still look forward to the obstacles. i want to be mature and complete, not lacking anything. as far as today's schedule, we started out with a staff orientation. it was freezing in the library, and that's what probably kept me awake =P with all jokes aside, i am kinda glad we had that meeting. it gave me an idea of the school's culture and vision. i'm really glad to be a part of this school. after the morning meeting, we had lunch....chicken and chips. afterwards, the ms/hs staff met together. i think it's kool how there are only five of us, and we represent the entire ms/hs staff. this will be the first year for wns to have a high school, and it's exciting to be contributing to that. alright so after those meetings, i was kinda worn out. sitting still for too long makes me tired. good thing it was time to leave. the school bus dropped us guys off at mark and caleb's place (teacher and son). then we walked to nakumatt prestige to get online for 10minutes. actually, the main reason we went was because we were catching pirates of the caribbean at 5:40pm. it is soooo much better to watch a movie over here, aside from the fact that the movies come out about a month later than the US. for one thing, the ticket is less than $5. i also got a popcorn and a bottle of coke for $2. oh btw, not only is it stadium seating but it's also assigned seating =O there is one interesting thing about the movies in kenya. after the previews, the kenyan flag pops up waving on the big screen. everyone is supposed to stand up while the flag is waving. i guess it's their way of honoring the country. the funniest quote in the movie was,"you can't even read!....hey, it's the Bible. you get credit for just trying." hahahaa good stuff. oh yea here are the pics i never got to upload the other day... ::: :::

chooseday. august o8 2oo6

the past few days have been moving by really fast especially since we've been actively trying to take care of business...like school orientations, meeting new staff, shopping for everything, and moving into our new places. i can hardly say that i'm completely settled in at the moment. however, i will say that the gibsons have done a great job of helping us transition. they give us the most advice with shopping and safety. ok so i'm sure many of you are wondering what i've been up to for the past few days. friday night - slept at mayfield guest house (owned by african inland mission). saturday - ate at java house (adam's arcade) - toured the school - small orientation session - checked out our classrooms - ate dinner at pepper's (served chinese, indian, american food) sunday - mamlaka hill chapel (sound familiar? we met up with the chinese team there) - lunch back at mayfield - rested for abit - moved into our new places - i grabbed a muttatu (van taxi) to meet up for dinner - ate at moffitts' house (two of their girls go to wns) monday - shopped at yaya center (bought cell phone) - shopped at nakumatt prestige - ate at java house (at nakumatt junction) - went back to our places to rest - ate dinner at chinese restaurant called "for you" chooseday - grabbed some chai at java house (adam's arcade). they call it masala tea. - went to a baby elephant orphanage. saw black rhino. - fed giraffes - went to school to prepare a few things. - bbq at school with all the staff ***** extra stuff ***** btw, if you call my cell, it doesn't take up any of my minutes. so it'd be free for me. so i think you know what to do =] alright so about my place...i think i'm abit spoiled. or maybe it has something to do with my former living space. anywayz, i live in a guest house that's attached to the owner's house. the owner happens to be a lawyer, so you know he's got dinero. if you ever visit me, you'd first find muthangari close. i live in the first house on the left. you'd approach the gate and ask the guard to let you in at night. if you came during the day, you'd have to call me so i can come out and unlock the gate for you. after walking through the yard full of dogs, cats, chickens, and roosters, you'd go to the side to find my door. upon entering my place, you'd walk into the tiniest kitchen in the world. shortly after, you'd step into my living room. it's a decent size. for a guy who's living alone, i really don't need all this space. after walking into the living room, you can find my bathroom to your right. most of it is standard. the toilet is the same. the shower is actually a bathtub. you need to turn on the water heater about an hour ahead of time to get hot water. the sink is interesting in that there's a separate faucet for hot and cold water. it became a problem when i wanted warm water cuz you can't exactly mix the two. so it's either too hot or too cold. the entrance of the bedroom is on the opposite end diagonally from the entrance into the living room (from the kitchen). the bedroom is the biggest spoil. it's the same size as the living room, and i have a queen size bed. for those who know what my room used to look like, you can understand how this is a huge change for me. oh right, i forgot to mention the backyard. that thing seems to go on forever. it has more than enough space to set up a full bball court. too bad i don't own the place. i also have a maid who will take care of cleaning and laundry. so yea, i'm blessed with all of this. it's actually quite humbling to have all this...if that makes any sense. mayfield guest house is right next to nairobi baptist church in case any of you from the kenya team remember. the school's land is huge. the setting is so nice that i think alot of you would enjoy school alot more if you went here. oh yea to clarify, i will be teaching one geometry class, a 7th-8th grade boys bible class, possibly a computer class, and help out with yearbook (cuz it uses computers). muttatu's are krazy. they pack a billion ppL into a tiny van. it costs about 10-20 shillings. they're really efficient with driving fast and stuffing as many bodies into a car as they can. i bought the exact same cell phone as jason's cuz it's the only one i recognized. when i got to the counter to pay for it, the lady pulls out a black one. it looks pretty kool, so i got it. ::: :::

friday. august o4 2oo6

i'm in the amsterdam airport with some time to kill, so we found wireless internet for $5 per 24hrs. here's a picture of one of the other new teachers. she's gonna be the athletic director. ::: :::