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Desert Fish

Recently a ten ton truck filled with tilapia and ice sank into some mud on the Chalbi Desert. It sat almost six days in the mud until another truck filled with ice took the good fish that were left to Nairobi. There were approximately 1,500 fish in the truck. We ate six of them as a reward for our efforts in trying to help get it unstuck.


We hauled rocks over to put under the tires of the truck.


The truck was really stuck--this is actually an improvement after two or three days of work.


A four wheel drive Mercedes truck came to try to help pull them out.


It got stuck too.


The station Landrover pulled up the Mercedes so that rocks could be piled under its tires and then pulled out.

Hooray for the Landrover!!

Family Photos

Out on the desert


Acacia loves big brother Uriah

Silas just plain sweet


Miriam cheezin'

Ezra the card shark

Ja-el in the wind

New Arrival(s)

On Monday, September 9, 2010 at around 6 p.m. Ezra Thomas Andersen made his arrival. We are thankful for a safe delivery and happy health of both Mama and Baby.

Proud Papa and Mama, just an hour after delivery.


Day old Ezra doing what he does best--sleeping.

Mama with Sara Bell, a midwife who was visiting and had the honor of attending the delivery of Ezra. THANK YOU SARA!!!


OTHER ARRIVALS
We also had two other arrivals at the beginning of September. Becca and Emma came out to help with homeschooling and to volunteer at the local school in Kalacha.

Trailer Woes

Being on the road for us is always an adventure. Now with the car running smoothly, the trailer we were given had a few issues.

Three U bolts snapped and bent turning our trailer into a mess of scrap metal. Note the bend in the axle. Both shocks were bent and the tire on the right was ruined. The whole trailer took flight and attempted to take us with it. Perhaps flying to Kalacha would have been a better idea.

After unloading everything and hauling it to Loglogo, friends hauled the trailer bed in their truck.

At a friend's house, Eddie begins the big job of creating a new axle with a new suspension system. You can see the trailer bed behind him on the left.

Trailing arms, shocks and springs were a gift from another missionary in Kenya.
Eddie puts his welding skills to use.
Trying to make it "just right."
Underside of the completed job and a whole new suspension is installed in less than a day.
The improved trailer completed.

Two Most Requested Recipes

We've been asked for these two recipes again and again, so I thought I would post them for those who are interested.

We all love this chocolate cake. The apricot jam and frosting makes an ordinary cake special. I always serve this to guests as I can keep the ingredients on the shelf.

Sacher Torte Chocolate Cake--from Bette Hagman, Gluten free Gourmet

This is the gluten free recipe, but I think it would be easy enough to substitute a boxed mix or wheat flour recipe for the chocolate cake part. I would recommend a very moist chocolate cake recipe.

3 c. Gluten Free Flour (2 c. rice flour, 2/3 c. tappioca flour (cassava) , 1/3 c. corn starch)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. margarine or butter (can substitute vegetable oil)
1 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
12 T. cocoa powder
1 c. cola drink
1 c. water
1 tsp vinegar

1 1/2 c. apricot jam--about the amount in a 16 oz jar of jam

1 recipe Mocha Cream Frosting (follows)

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly, except for jam. The batter will be quite thin. Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan. Drop jam by spoonfuls over the batter, letting it sink in. Bake for about 40 minutes at 350.

(cake recipe can be cut in half and baked in an 8 inch square.)

Mocha Cream Frosting
1 c. margarine or butter
6 T. cocoa powder
2 tsp. instant coffee powder
1 tsp almond flavor
2 c. confectioner sugar

Blend all ingredients except for sugar. Then add sugar 1/2 c. at a time, beating after each addition. Beat until light and fluffy. Makes approx. 2 c.


Our "famous" recipe for sausage. We use a lot of goat and sheep meat here in Kalacha and have begun to make some wonderful sausage with it. So far the sausage has been the bulk style, we have not bothered with casings, but we hope to try using natural casings with our next butchering. (recipe is from Stocking Up III Cookbook)

Italian Sausage--this is excellent in spagetti sauce, on pizza, in lasagna and as links for breakfast.

1 pound goat or sheep--2 parts lean, on part fat, cut into pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 small cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 hot chilli powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt

Mix meat with spices, refrigerate for a few hours, then run through grinder. Refrigerating makes the meat grind more easily. We put it into bags and freeze it by the pound. It can be kept frozen for up to 3 months according to the cookbook.

What is it? Where is it?

Yes, that is a camel. Why is it in the car? A hyena attacked it in the night, taking out a bit of meat from its rear leg. But don't think that camel is headed for the slaughter. He broke a plexiglass window in the car on his way to medical help and was running around with the other camels within the day. God made tough animals for this harsh environment.

Famine Relief

Many people in our community have enough money to buy only the bare necessities. Through donations we have helped fill in the gap a little by offering a work for food program. We provide work for individuals and when they have completed their assigned tasks they receive food according to how many days they have worked. Young and old, men and women, those inside and outside the church have participated. We have assisted approximately 200 families through the program. We thank God that we are able to bless our community in this way.


The food items: maize meal, beans, milk, sugar, and vegetable oil

Men assembling madada, a type of palm leaf, fence made by women.

Job almost completed, all done by work for food participants.

Ladies collecting food. Elders from the church decide who is in need.

Silas versus the chick

Having chickens and goats has been a new adventure for our children. Silas found out the innocent looking chicks were not altogether quite so helpless as he first thought.







(No animals were harmed in this filming.)

The Rains Came Down

We are happy to report that rains have come. Our vast salt flat has become like a very large shallow lake. Grass and desert plants have shot up around its shores. The people are celebrating as they are now starting to bring their animals home which have been hundreds of miles away searching endlessly for pasture. Famine is starting to alleviate a bit but we are still doing some minor food for work famine relief.

Also we have been able to successfully grow Amaranth as a dietary supplement. The locals have started to develop a taste for it. Not to mention our own enjoyment of it as we have no locally available vegetables. It has been our first successful home grown vegetable. Numerous other attempts have failed due to our salty water and lack of bees. But we praise God as we continue to look for ways to help these people both spiritually and physically.

Desert Rose...aaahh...rain

Guyo, proud of a wet Kalacha

Dogs playing in the water

Uriah and Ja-el explore their wet desert

The Family

The children are doing very well. Uriah, Ja-el, and Acacia have each recently shown themselves to be accomplished swimmers with an endless desire to test their skills against their friends, the Hampton kids.

Also with the inclusion of chickens to our family food plan our kids have discovered how much work and fun birds can be. We cannot get chicken locally so we have started raising them. Ja-el has discovered efficient ways of feeding the creatures and really loves doing it. Miriam loves the creatures and will not put them down. Silas just tries his hardest to keep up with the others and is always trying to figure out how everything works.

Rachel is doing a fine job of homeschooling our older three and caring for the logistics of a very busy home. Eddie has been running like crazy running a station, overseeing mechanics, and trying to equip our elders for the days ahead among other responsibilities.

Eddie & Rachel--dust loving missionaries in Northern Kenya

Uriah with Dragon the pigeon

Ja-el who loves the wind in her hair

Acacia, our girlie girl

Miriam with Nemo the chicken

Silas our grease monkey

Hurri Hills Outreach

Eddie looking out at the Hurri Hills. This is an area north of us with very little western influence and almost no witness. The people live in complete darkness.

Our church elders came to us and said, "We want to reach the people living up in the Hurri Hills. Will you take a group of us up there to sing songs and give testimonies?" YES!!!

It was an exciting three days of songs, chai and testimonies. Many seeds were planted, and more work needs to be done. We are praying for an evangelist or a missionary to go live in the hills to reach these people.
Robe Abudho with a steaming hot pan of camel's milk chai
Robe Jillo waiting for chai
Charmyn and ladiesSinging Bible verses using traditional Gabra tunes