An Exciting Truck Update

A week ago we flew to Nairobi to see our friends off as they headed back to America and to start looking for a truck. When we left home our fundraiser was not at 100%, but we knew we needed to start looking in person. As we were sitting on the runway to fly to Nairobi an email came in that someone had pushed our fundraiser to 102%! This was exciting and the timing felt like a confirmation of my trust that He would provide the funds needed.

Jeff and I saying goodbye to Jacob and Tanya Eaton

Early Tuesday we started looking at trucks and we either were not impressed or it exceeded our budget…all day long. We did find one truck that would work, but even it would have us going over our budget. While looking at that truck Jeff threw out the idea of getting 2 older trucks because we could get 2 for LESS than one truck. At first I wasn’t sure, but I had been feeling BAD about needing to spend that much money on a vehicle for (mostly) me. This lot had several older trucks in what seemed to be good condition so we looked at some of them. Honestly I was still pretty “meh” about these trucks, but I kind of had it in my head I would be getting a truck with leather seats and newer features like a reverse camera and radio that just automatically connects to your phone for hands free communication and GPS.

Jeff and I were hoping to make a decision on a truck on Wednesday so Tuesday evening we had Karson and Joy fly to Nairobi so Karson could inspect the truck that we decided on. Wednesday morning bright and early we started looking again. The second truck we saw, we all LOVED, but it was way outside of our budget, so we kept looking. Again we spent most of the day being unimpressed and ended up back at the lot with the several used trucks. Pretty quickly hoods were popped up and Karson was saying “no” or “yes”.

Karson looking at a truck that we did not buy

We ended up deciding, with the help of our board, that 2 good trucks would be better for us than 1 “boujie” truck. Our trucks are basically twins 😂, both are 4 wheel drive, both have brand new all terrain tires, both are automatics, and both carry 5 people at a time. Since we bought Toyota Hilux trucks which are wildly popular here parts are easy to get.

After purchasing the trucks we got up early Fiday morning and headed to our friends’ house which was about 4 hours away from Nairobi. Both trucks did great and Karson was able to do a radiator flush on both and neither of them had any rust or other major issues. After spending the night and too little time with our friends we headed for home 7 hours away. With 3 hours left in our journey home Jeff’s alternator died and we left his truck at a gas station. It was late so all the parts places were closed. Sunday Karson was able to replace the alternator and the truck is running great again.

Some unexpected blessings along this long truck journey! First of all having 2 trucks is really going to change things for us. We had no idea getting 2 trucks was even possible for us. Joy and I got to spend the day together on Thursday because Jeff and Karson were doing truck things, working on bank transfers, and lots of paperwork. Joy and I slept in and spent the day together doing whatever we wanted at our own pace, there were not any “boys” telling us we are taking too long or that they were hungry and need eat 😂. Friday morning we were able to leave Nairobi early and drive to our friends’ house. Our friends have been in Kenya for 18 years and the wisdom they share with us is invaluable and being able to share missionary stories in a judgement free zone is such a blessing! We also met 2 other missionary families at their house which was also a blessing! When Jeff’s truck broke down it was only about 3 hours from home and we needed to go back to Kisumu (2 hours away from our home) on Sunday which means we only had 2 extra hours of driving. Our kids and staff have gotten to see God provide for this ministry time and time again in ways bigger and better than we imagined. And probably the biggest blessing of all is that driving a truck has relieved A LOT of stress for me, more stress than I even realized I had while driving my small car. 💜

Our twin trucks!

Sometimes I have a hard time sharing about all the ways God meets our material needs because He is so much more than that! Somehow the terrible theology of “God wants you to live your best life now” and “Poverty and sickness are not your portion” has taken off and so I often hesitate to feed into that with things like “look how God provided 2 trucks for us!”, however that doesn’t change the truth that HE did provide them. I don’t say it enough, but God is providing way more than just money here and we are so GRATEFUL for all of the ways He continues to provide for us through many donors! Thank you for joining us for the highs and lows that God has for us! We are blessed to have y’all on our team.