Neighborhood friends around The Shelter

Ruzga Family Newsletter

November 2014

Oasis for Orphan's Dental Team Visit

We hosted a team of dentists from the Chicagoland area. They arrived with over 30 trunks of supplies and equipment eager to serve all of the children at The Hill and The Valley as well as the staff and local community. They worked from morning to night to see each and every child and staff member. In the five days they took care of 244 people!! Bob was our onsite engineer that kept the generators going when they continued to overheat. The children were a bit anxious about having their teeth checked as many of them peered in the windows watching those ahead of them. A few of the members of the team were sponsors of children at The Valley. It was heartwarming to see the kids quickly attaching to their sponsors and they had a beautiful time of meeting for the first time.

Lawn chairs and sacks of maize.
Welcome to our Kenyan Dental Office!

Cooling an overheated compressor

Say AHHHhhhh

Oooh. Ahhh.. Eeee

Blessed by a visit from our friends!

We were blessed to have our friends and first visitors from The Chapel, Jim and Denise Van Peursem. Jim and Denise have been TEAM Oasis runners and were team captains for the McHenry race this past year. After arriving in Nairobi we were preparing to travel to our home in rural Kenya. However, that morning we received a call that there had been a fire in Kibera and St. Martha's Ministry (founded and run by our ministry partners Caleb and Eunice Otieno) had burned to the ground. Our plans changed and we immediately went to see if there was anything we could do to help or support them. We were able to pray with the women St. Martha's serves and encourage them that God had a plan despite the devastation. We were also able to help by digging through the rubble to salvage anything we could. We are so grateful to God that we were still in Nairobi with our friends and able to come and support Eunice and the women of St. Martha's.

Burnt remains of St. Martha's Ministry after the fire

After leaving Kibera we continued with our plans to head to the country. Jim and Denise had the opportunity to visit The Hill where they were able to meet the children and staff. They even met the five boys who ran their own marathon while Jim and the rest of Team Oasis ran in the Chicago Marathon. What a great moment it was for both to share stories about their training and run.

Jim, Denise, Debbie and "Crocodile" Bob at the Masa Mara

We also spent time at The Valley visiting Pastor Moses and the children there, spent time at The Shelter and around our town before we headed out to a Safari in the Masaai Mara. After three wonderful days on Safari it was time for Jim and Denise to head back home. It was a sad day but we had such a blessed time with these dear friends.

TEAM Oasis U.S. and Kenya jumping for joy over the success of their recent marathon

The Shelter Construction Update

Pole Pole (pronounced Pole A Pole A) is Swahili for "Slowly by Slowly," a saying we learned quickly here in Kenya. And so it is with the construction of The Shelter, pole pole.

The road to the Shelter has been significantly improved to the point that we can now drive our car on it up to the property!! It was a great day when I was able to drive up this road rather than the back roads to get up to the site. The slowly by slowly part of the story is the government and road contractor used up all the budget before they were able to cover the road with murram. Murram is similar to limestone used in the US to put a covering on the road to minimize the impact of heavy rain. They do not use asphalt nor concrete for this type of road. Since there is no murram on the road when it rains the road surface becomes rutted and rocky again. We've been told that the County government will spread the murram .... soon.

Further testing of the city water to the site revealed a number of breaks in the supply pipes. Work on the repairs stopped when the heavy equipment came to work on the new road. Unfortunately, the road equipment further damaged the water line including burying sections of the broken pipes under piles of huge rocks left by the road construction crew. We've been able to get these piles of rocks moved off the water line but now we are waiting for the water department to return to making the repairs again .... They said ... "Soon".

We had an electrical contractor complete the installation of power meter, crossover switch, circuit breaker panel, outlets and lights into the Utility building and Guardhouse. This had to be completed before Kenya Power and Lighting Company would connect us to the power service. We applied for the power service back in early August and .. you guessed it ... (pole pole) we should be connected soon!

The main gate and guard shack for The Shelter

CONSTRUCTION BID PACKAGE HAS BEEN SENT to four Contractors!!! We've asked them to complete the bid package and return it to us by the end of November. A review of the bids along with clarifications and negotiations will follow before we award the contract to one of the contractors. Once we award the contract we will break ground on the main Lodge and Cottage One .... Pole Pole.

Life in Africa - Charles our security guard

As some of you are aware it is necessary to have a guard at our home, especially at night. We have grown to love our guard, Charles, and his 12 year old son Eddie who stay at our compound. Communication can be challenging at times as he speak very little English and I would safely say that we don't speak his tribal language Luo at all. As school break began this last week in Kenya Charles needed to take his son Eddie back to his home village to help his mother work in their shamba (garden) while he was on winter break. Charles rode Eddie on his bike 80 kilometers which took him 8 hours each way. We continue to be amazed and inspired at the strength and determination of the people of Kenya.

Our life in Africa

As we had hoped to update all of you more frequently please forgive us we have been frustrated by our struggle with consistent power and/or Internet. Our town has a very antiquated power and overloaded internet systems that are unable to keep up with the growth of our town. Seems like when we have power the Internet is extremely slow or is down and then when we get a fast internet the power goes out. We are being told by Kenya Power and Light (or as its referred to here Kenya Power and Darkness) that they have plans in the next 12-18 months to complete a power grid upgrade. Likewise fiber optic internet is "just up the road" by 30 miles and should be in our area in the next 12-18 months. We are trusting that God is stretching us and teaching us something in this season. Pole Pole!!!

In Christ's love,

Deb and Bob

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

(And help you learn patience! Ruzga addition.)

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Please Pray

For Bob and Deb to be able to schedule our home visits in a timely manner.
That God will provide discernment, wisdom, and guidance in answering the needs of those who ask.
For our continued health and God's protection over us and our families back home.
That God will guide us in as we are already praying for the children that He has planned for living at The Shelter.

Join the Ruzga Family Support Team

and please consider us for your

End of Year Giving.

Please Donate Today!!

Bob and Deb are missionaries working with Oasis for Orphans. In order for Oasis to focus all their fundraising efforts to the holistic development of the children and the organizations infrastructure Bob and Deb are self-funded missionaries. Through the generous donations of financial friends and family supporters they are able to live and serve with Oasis in Kenya. Would you please consider joining Bob and Deb's financial support team and Donate to the Ruzga Family Ministry today? Thank you!

1) To make a donation online via credit card or bank withdrawal,

click here and select the Ruzga Family.

2) To make a donation by mail,

make your check payable to:

Oasis for Orphans

PO Box 1144

Wheaton, IL 60187-1144

(Indicate: Ruzga Family in the memo)

For more information visit our blog:

bobanddebinafrica.weebly.com

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Oasis for Orphans

PO Box 1144

Wheaton, Illinois 60187-1144

224.277.5678