Updates from Kenya

Yesterday was Frank Toew's memorial service (the pilot). Mom and Dad both wrote how beautiful it was. There was a video of his life as a father, brother, son, husband, and missionary. Caleb and Levi (my nephews, 8 and 6) were given the option to attend. Caleb attended and cried. This broke my mothers heart. In just a few days he will attend a similar service for his own father. Levi is not doing well. He doesn't want to be in the house. He stays at his friends house and even spends the night. We all choose our own way to grieve, even at age 6. Seth and Chloe say, "Daddy died" but don't know what that means.

Ryan's body is being flown from South Africa to Kenya this week. He is in a sealed casket because his body is full of infection. It is not allowed to be re-opened. His Memorial Service will be this Saturday and the families are making a video. Dawn said that service itself will be recorded so that her kids will know how well their Daddy was loved.

They are still waiting on Chloe's paperwork. For those of you that don't know, my niece Chloe is Kenyan and was fully adopted on June 19. Dawn and Ryan have been raising her since March 2007. Chloe is not allowed to travel until all of her paperwork is complete. Once they have her VISA and Passport they can travel to the States.

Tiffany (Franks wife and Dawn's best friend) is from Florida and so is Ryan. The families (grandparents, Dawn & Tiffany, and the 8 children) will all fly to the States together in about 2 weeks. Then the Williams and the Toew's will go to FL for 2 more Memorial services. Eventually, Dawn and the kids will fly to Michigan for a Memorial service here. They will be in the States about 6-8 weeks and then will return to Nairobi. Dawn and Ryan were planning their regularly scheduled furlough for March 2010 and Dawn says that they will still do so.

And here are a few sentences from Dawn:

"I’m tired. Last week was consumed with supporting Tiffany as she grieved for Frank, visiting Ryan in the hospital and being his advocate, and trying to keep my kids needs met. This week is grieving, accepting help from both my parents and Ryan’s parents who are all here, and being loved by my missionary family. I would say I am in denial. I know it’s true, but I can’t believe it deep down inside. I’m not looking for him, but have been too surrounded by people to feel lonely yet. In South Africa, I was able to spend as much time as I needed with the body that Ryan left behind. I truly was able to say good-bye and grieve then.

Ryan and I talked a lot about what we each would do if we lost each other. And we both wanted to remain on the field because we both felt called to missions. AIM is very supportive and willing to work with me on that."

Thanks for all of your support.