Sunday November 30th, 1975
Limuru, Kenya
This morning M.G., Alan, Marlene, and I went into the Nairobi Baptist Church for the 11:00am service. We got there just as it began. Afterwards we went to the Intercontinental for lunch. Then we went to the movie for Alan and Marlene had to be at the Nairobi Chapel by 5 o’clock so we did not have time to drive back to Limuru. We saw the movie, “The Strongest Man in the World”. It was a Walt Disney movie. The R.V.A. choir sang again at 8:00pm at the Chapel. Afterwards Alan and Marlene went back on the bus. M.G. and I went to the Hilton for supper and then on to the airport to meet Vestal and Carol Jean Blakely who were coming in from the states. Vestal has been there for surgery.
Alan and his girlfriend at the time got to stay at the Duncan household last night. The reason they barely made it to the 11 o’clock service was no doubt due to Alan spending too much time at the breakfast table. I am sure Marlene could not be blamed for enjoying her share of the feast also.
Looks like they got to church right on time and still got out to beat the Methodist to the restaurant. Yes, even in Kenya the rivalry over who gets the good seats at the eating joint runs fierce.
Alan was not gainfully employed at this time so I am sure Dad not only got the tab at lunch but also footed the bill for the show as well. Mom probably tried to assuage Dad’s feelings with some story about “he’s only young for a little while”.
Alan and Dad are the people in the Duncan clan that are blest with good voices. Mom and I could not carry a tune in a bucket if you tied our hands to it. We, Mom and I, both tried to be very literal about our joyful noise and made it just that.
Alan and the girl hitched a ride back to the rift on the choir bus and Mom and Dad went out for a quick snack and then on to the airport to pick up some fellow missionaries. All in all this was quite a busy day for the Duncan’s.
Sunday November 29th, 1970
Limuru, Kenya
This morning I kept the nursery from 9 till 10. Then M.G. and I went out to one of the churches to tell them about the women’s meeting. We ate lunch at the assembly. This afternoon at 2:00pm M.G. and I went to a meeting at the Mimosa Church. We parked the car on the road and walked through coffee crops, hog pens, yards, etc. to get to the church. Then we sat for almost 2 hours on benches without any backs. It was very hot in the church and the flies were terrible. Tonight I stayed home and cooked supper for Frank Baugh and us.
Today started off like any normal Sunday in a Baptist home. Mom kept the nursery then she and dad went to lunch at the cafeteria. It was not until this afternoon that Dad and Mom earned another set of stripes in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Kenyans. How many of us here in the US would tolerate such conditions in our place of worship. When I read entries like the one above it makes me ashamed to complain at all about my air conditioned comfort filled life. Perhaps today’s post will remind me as well as some of you out there that Christ calls us to cast aside every weight to serve him!
Friday November 28th, 1980
Limuru, Kenya
This morning I was tired from my day’s work yesterday. I got breakfast and got M.G. off to the MSC meeting. Buck and Barbara went into town to meet their relatives. Late in the morning Buck called to say that their plane was late so they would not be here for lunch. M.G. ate at the assembly so I had cornbread and milk and a cup of coffee and piece of pie. The Donaldson’s and the Pennell’s were here for supper. Later Helen Gilmore and Louie Scales came out to watch the video of Alan. We showed the Auburn game. I cooked some turnip greens from out garden. Patsy Dison came by to visit with us today.
Thursday November 27th, 1969
Nairobi, Kenya
This morning I fried the chicken that I was supposed to take to the Moore’s place for our Thanksgiving dinner. We ate outside even though it looked a lot like rain. There were 31 of us present. Frank Baugh from Mbeya was there along with our station. This afternoon at 5:00 we went to the movie “If Its Tuesday This Must Be Belgium”. We sat with the Pearce’s and Cunningham’s. Afterwards we took the boys to Wimpy’s place and bought them each a hamburger and coke. M.G. and I were not hungry. After getting home, we went over to the girl’s place and looked at “Hazel” on T.V. I made one batch of banana bread.
Every year that we were in Kenya we celebrated turkey day sans the turkey. There is not even a local bird that comes close to tasting like this fowl. This must be the reason that I enjoy turkey so much today because it was conspicuous by its absence over there.
The mission family once again gathers together to observe our common heritage. Even though Frank was from Mbeya, Tanzania he was welcome at our table.
To enjoy this movie one must have traveled on a schedule at some time during their life. I know that I have awakened in a strange bed, in a strange country, and the only way I could discern my local was to know the day of the week.
Alan and I were not all that different than other young American boys because even though we had just enjoyed a great meal we were able to find room for a burger and coke. Once Mom and Dad got us tucked into bed they got to enjoy a taste of home on the black and white T.V. at the neighbors.
Sunday November 26th, 1978
Limuru, Kenya
We were very tired this morning after being awake so late. M.G. and I left at 10 o’clock to go to Gikuni to the church service. We took Michael with us to translate into Kikuyu. Tonight Dale Hooper preached at the 6:00 English service. We had lots of visitors-Cotton Wright and his wife from the FMB, the Loos from Mbeya, the Mitchells, the Richardsons from Nairobi, Gayle, and a choir from Rosslyn Academy. After church this morning, we learned from Larry Thomas that Alan’s team won 29 to 14. Tonight on the ham we picked up Charlie and Alan. It was great to hear that Alan made 5 field goals. He missed one and had he made it he would have broken the SEC record for the most field goals in one game. He did break the U.T. record. His field goals were 48, 42, 40, 42, and 36 yards.
Alan, I cannot claim any fame for the outcome of the Kentucky game however, looks like you got your wish! (See November 13th 2007 post)
Mom and Dad had stayed up late to listen to the Kentucky game on Armed Forces Radio the night before. However it appeared that they had not found out the final score. Turns out that my older (albeit not more handsome) brother was the hero of the day. As you can see from the picture this is one of the records he holds at UT even today. We had several visitors on the “hill” tonight for church and I can guarantee that no one left the room without knowing what Alan had done the night before in America. I don’t know if the Vols knew I needed some material for the blog on Monday but I publicly thank them for letting me segue for today’s post. Boys, I give you thanks for spanking the “CATS” on Saturday night.
Saturday November 25th, 1967
Mombasa, Kenya
This morning I baked a cake while M.G. was gone to the Muslim Institute. Then we all went to town. I went to the vegetable market, grocery store, and got a present for Alan to take to the party of one of his friend’s tomorrow night. This afternoon was Sport’s Day at Alan and Ken’s school. Each of them was in some of the events. Their house won the Sport’s award. Tonight we went to the movie, “One Born Every Minute”. After the movie was over Ken said, “I thought it would be a woman in the hospital.”
Mom and Dad did some baking and shopping before attending the festivities at the School. Alan being the sportsman of the family excelled in these contests. This and other sports days no doubt paved the way for future success on the soccer, rugby, basketball, and football venues. Ken on the other hand gravitated to his strengths today as evidenced by his comment about the movie. I am sure throughout the entire flick I kept wondering when they were going to get to the hospital. Perhaps exercising my thought process did prepare me some for my future work in computers. However, just like George C. Scott in this movie, this was not one the finer moments of my life. I will take heart though because Edison failed a few times on his road to success.
Thursday November 24th, 1977
Limuru, Kenya
Today we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the assembly. This morning I made 2 cherry pies to take. Also, I helped with the decoration of the tables. We had about 103 there for the meal. There were about 42 R.V.A. kids. They took four land-rovers and went out there for them. Tonight we called Alan at Mom’s house. It was 12 o’clock there and Alan had not arrived for he had to practice football in the morning. So we called back later, and he was there. We could hear real good the first time but the second time the reception was terrible. Anyway it was good to hear his voice and to talk with Mom and Dad as well.
Mom, as was her want, prepared for the feast of Thanksgiving. Since we lived fairly close to R.V.A. we would bring as many kids as four land-rovers would haul to Brakenhurst to celebrate the holiday. Each of the land-rovers had a driver, and 42 divided by 4 is 10.5, so those cars were loaded down with hungry kids by the time they got to the hill. I would say that Mom’s homemade cherry pies didn’t last long with that lot.
The phone service in Kenya while I was there was not that much to write home about. As a matter of fact if you wanted to communicate writing might have been quicker. However today we got through without much trouble except that Alan had not arrived at Mamaw’s yet. It seems he was preparing to beat Kentucky at the time we called. (By the way Alan your birthday wish is about to come true if we give the cats a whupping tomorrow. See Alan’s comment on November 13th.) We did get to talk to Alan finally and once we settled what time it was in Africa were able to carry on a fairly decent conversation.
Tuesday November 23rd, 1965
Mombasa, Kenya
M.G. and I figured our 1964 U.S. Income tax this morning. We had cake and coffee at home before going to town. We went by and paid some on the boys Lego toy for Christmas. This afternoon the Houser children came up to play with Alan. We took sandwiches and went to see the movie, “The Battle at Apache Pass”. We sat with Virginia and Ellen. It was a pretty good movie and we enjoyed seeing the American flag in it.
They say that the only two constants in life are death and taxes. Well my folks can “Amen” the latter because they were filling out Income tax forms in Kenya.
It seems the boys are in store for a grand Christmas this first year in Kenya. Not only did they get a phenomenal Lego set but they also both got brand new bicycles.
We went to see a movie this evening and from Mom’s comments she enjoyed seeing the American flag more than the movie. This movie featured one of the Duncan’s favorite western characters whose name was Jack Elam. From his info sheet on IMDB he was a prolific actor who costarred in a variety of roles. However we Duncan’s will always place his performance as Jake in “Support Your Local Sheriff” circa 1969 as one of his best.
Tuesday November 22nd, 1966
Mombasa, Kenya
This morning I had my hair cut and shampooed at the beauty shop. Mrs. Turner came over about 11 o’clock to tell us that her houseboy’s child was a suspected polio case. After lunch I cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and put some shelving paper on some of the shelves. Then I tried making some loaf bread. It turned out pretty good-was a little heavy. I think if I bake it at a lower temperature the next time it will be fine. Tonight our family and the Laws went to the circus. It was really better than I thought it would be. We got very amused at an older man who was sitting behind Jean and Maxine. He just laughed at everything the clowns did. After the circus was over, we came by the Laws for cake and ice tea. Our boys and Tim were very rowdy-tried some of the stunts they saw at the circus.
After reading Mom’s diaries for this blog I have noticed an uncomfortable truth. My Mom did not wash her hair every day. Maybe Mom was trying to conserve water or something but if I don’t wash what little hair I have every day we would soon be able to collect enough oil to no longer be dependent on foreign reserves.
While on the mission field you experience many heartbreaking sights that we here in the US don’t see. I believe that God does not put us in a place and expect us to remain passive, he used my folks and me while in Africa and he still uses me today (when I let Him) to alleviate pain and discomfort.
Mom did some experimenting in the kitchen today with some surprising results. The bread was not perfect. Lending much truth to the statement that success is achieved only through trial and error never through trial and success.
With the circus in town the Duncan family showed up in full force. I can imagine the elderly gentleman in my mind’s eye because I myself like clowns so much. As a matter of fact my sweet wife would label some if not most of my actions as clown like. It appears that after they had closed down the three ring show the kids provided the adults with a special appearance of their own making. Knowing Alan and I it is a wonder no blood was shed during this exhibition.
Thursday November 21st, 1974
Limuru, Kenya
This morning M.G. drove the children to school. Robert worked out in the garden a good bit. I worked on a skirt pattern for myself and pre shrunk some material which I am planning to use for the skirt. I didn’t sleep well last night. Today Arthur called to say that a preacher from Kisumu would be here to help in the revival at Kentmere. He and M.G. went to Kentmere about 6 o’clock and didn’t get home until 9 o’clock or after. Bilha and I went to a women’s meeting at Kibubuti. There were about 38 women there. M.G. found our flashlight up in the shamba worker’s place.
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