Day One –
Today was a long day. It started with a drive to Minneapolis from Hankinson. Mom dropped Bob and me off at the airport for
our flights. Almost right away we had
problems. Bob’s name wasn’t the same on
his ticket as it was on his passport, which caused a long time delay to fix. My ticket was purchased as a gift using flyer
miles and a credit card for the tax.
When checking in, I was asked to present the credit card used, which
doesn’t belong to me. Through some
finagling, we got it all worked out, and made our flight.
The first flight went from
Minneapolis to Amsterdam. I sat next to
an older couple from North Dakota who were heading on a Mediterranean
cruise. The flight was pretty long, but
it wasn’t too bad. Every time I started
to drift off to sleep though, a flight attendant would offer me food or their
pager would go “ding”. So I didn’t get
much sleep. In Amsterdam, we walked
around a bit and saw their airport. It
looked pretty “airporty”. We did get
coffee, and watch the sun rise over the tarmac.
Not really that great of a sight - a lot of cement!
The flight from Amsterdam to
Nairobi seemed quicker, because I was able to get some sleep on it, but again
was woken up often by a flight attendant or two. That’s ok though. We flew through some thunderstorms north of
Kenya, in Southern Sudan. I also got a
peek out of a window (I had an aisle seat) to see the sandy coast of Egypt on
the Mediterranean. Kind of a neat thing
to see the sand up against the bright blue water. I hope to have a window seat on the way home,
and take a picture. Perhaps also of the
Nile River.
It was neat to think of all the
history we flew over today: Britain, Rome, Paris, Egypt, etc. As an ancient history lover, it was neat to
think about. I didn’t get to see as much
as I would have liked.
Next to me on the way to Nairobi
was a Texan who kept drawing diagrams and telling his poor seat mate about
Jesus and how he checked up on what his pastor said. I think he was a Baptist, because he wasn’t
big into mentioning the sacraments. The
man was a little bit too zealous for me, but I do have to hand it to him in
this regard. He knew his Bible inside
and out. I also think it is good for a
guy to make sure what his pastor says is the truth, and if it’s not, to tell
them about it. So kudos for that, but
perhaps calm down a bit so you don’t drive people nuts. (8 hours non-stop talking!)
On the other side of me were two
girls who were going to do a Medical Mercy trip in Kenya. They managed to sleep almost the entire 8
hour flight. It was funny too, because
the flight attendant kept asking me if they wanted food, like they were my two
wives or something, and they were asleep.
I did wake them once – it was pizza.
Everyone needs to be woken for pizza.
We arrived at Nairobi and got our
visas squared away no problem. We were
picked up at the airport by General Secretary of the ELCK John Halake. He drove us through Nairobi in the dark –
very easy to get lost. Some places we
drove through were very littered and dirty.
Crazy drivers here, weaving in and out.
Roads appearing out of nowhere and ending suddenly. I do know where we are though! – the address
is printed on the desk next to me here.
Salveberg Retreat Center, P.O. Box 21080, 00505, Nairobi, Kenya. The security guard out front was very
cautious to let us in, as John Halake says, “They have to be careful, because
the brothers are sneaky.” High crime
rates here. But, we have a nice little
room with an individual bathroom for each of us. Large mosquito nets hang from the ceiling to
keep us malaria free.
I am excited to see Nairobi in the
sunlight tomorrow. I have noticed some
palm trees, and some other beautiful trees in a glance, but can’t see them well
in the pitch black. We head to Wamba
tomorrow. Started planning some other
things as well. Hope I feel ok, I took
my second malaria pill a few minutes ago, along with a Cliff Bar and a Granola
Protein bar.
Day Two –
Slept well last night, only woke up for a few minutes around 3 – I think that was the malaria medication talking. Woke up this morning when one of the other people staying at the guest house slammed their door. Took a shower with my mouth clenched shut – not supposed to let the local water get in. The light in the bathroom was burned out, and the light above the sink turned on and off randomly on its own. Packed my clothes and headed downstairs with Bob.
Breakfast was in a group dining
hall. Everyone else there was
Kenyan. The breakfast was some golden
brown sausages (potato?) and bread. The
others took the bread and stacked it like pancakes and cut it then with a
fork. I ate mine with peanut
butter. There was hot milk with sugar to
drink. I didn’t have that; I wasn’t sure
if I could drink the milk or not.
John picked us up, and we went to
the headquarters of the ELCK – Luther Plaza.
On the drive there, people were walking everywhere. Nairobi consists of big beautiful trees
covered in flowers of all different colors.
All the roads were tiny two laned roads, and I didn’t see one stop sign
in the whole town, and yet the traffic still moved. People would pull out into moving traffic to
get through. Intersections consisted of
waiting until someone made their own hole to pass through. All the homes and apartments have tall walls
with barbed wire. Off to the side of the
road are ditches for water drainage and then paths where people have worn away
the vegetation.
When we arrived at Luther Plaza, we
went out to buy a few things, and stopped for Kenyan Coffee. It was good.
Glad to drink it, since I hadn’t had anything at breakfast. We stopped then at a convenience store. Just like every other store/business, there
were two security guards standing at the entrance who checked us with wands for
weapons. (During our walk, I noticed a
security guard with a baseball batter’s hat with a star on it.) I am having trouble remembering that when a
bill is 7,000, it is Kenyan shillings and not American dollars.
We walked back to the Luther Plaza
and moved our luggage to the rental car for our trip to Wamba today. We drove through the most beautiful hill
country with trees and fruit farms and coffee trees etc. Everywhere there are flowers. (A Pastor from Wamba – now the Secretary of
ELCK joined us, Pastor Benjamin). Alongside
of the roads everywhere were Kenyans out walking to their homes or place of
work. We drove north out of Nairobi
towards Nanyuki and then past the base of Mount Kenya. Clouds were covering the mountain. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant
outside a Nakumat. (Nakumu Mattress
Company originally, it is now the Kenyan equivalent to a Walmart). We also went inside and bought soccer balls,
balloons, food, pens, etc. for the children here at Wamba. We drove further, finally down out of the
hills into the rift valley. Beautiful
flat plains with huge mountains rising up along the edges.
Pastor Benjamin knew a guy who knew
a guy, so we got a free drive through a nature reserve. Elephants 30 feet from the car. Giraffes even closer. Gazelles, zebras, and more. Amazing.
We then drove through another little town, Isiolo, where there was a
larger Muslim presence. They make me a
little uncomfortable with some of the violence that they have been perpetrating
here lately. The Church reports churches
are being burned, Christians taken advantage of and threatened, and more.
We then drove 50 km down a dirt
road (see the video) that was washboard the whole way. We bounced and clunked our way to Wamba in
the dark. Should see it tomorrow. The people have a unique outfit that they
wear. We also will see a rescue center and
more tomorrow.
I wanted to make a quick note about
the Kenyan people as well. In comparison
to us in the United States, they have nothing.
Not much money, not much land or anything. And yet, they are almost always smiling. They are happy to be alive, and seem excited
to see what each day will bring. I have
enjoyed seeing their smiles and their excitement about meeting me.
It is also interesting to see how
it is to be “different”. I have had
countless people come up and try to sell me things, or talk to me, or other things
because I am not the status quo around here.
I even had a guy try to sell me 5 pineapples – all because I look like a
rich American. Just an interesting
thing.
Ok, it’s late. More tomorrow if I can remember.
Day Three – a.m.
It was pretty late last night, so
I’ll try and finish this morning quickly.
We are in a beautiful little spot in Wamba that is the “Earth
observation” something. Beautiful
mountains off in the distance.
Yesterday we spent a lot of time in
the car driving, more today I think. It
is interesting because 99 % of the roads are two laners with people walking on
both sides. Cars speed along trying to
pass people and whizzing by with only inches of spare room. People walking also seem to be missed by
inches. Travelling is much slower here,
because roads are rough and difficult.
There was a place of road construction (about 30 feet worth of road torn
up with a few people working) and it caused a traffic jam 5 cars wide going our
direction alone on a two lane road. The
Matatus are part of the problem, often stuffed so full it seems a miracle. It’s almost like those clown cars that 30
people climb out of.
We had a wonderful meal last night,
beef stew, mashed potatoes, and some sort of cooked Kale – I can’t remember how
to pronounce it. We also had Tusker’s
beer, not too bad of a lager actually!
Huge bottles.
Today we head up to Marsabit. More later.
Day 3 – p.m.
Today was a lot of driving on
really bumpy roads. I mean really
bumpy. Take the worst road you can
imagine, and multiply it by ten, then by ten again, and that is what we drove
on up to Marsabit.
Before we left, I took some
pictures at the place we stayed in Wamba.
It was beautiful. Clouds forming
and blowing over mountains. Apparently
in the middle of the night, elephants went right by our compound. We didn’t get to see them though.
We stopped this morning at the
future site for the Wamba Project 24 rescue center. It has two buildings completed, a dormitory
and an office. Still to be built are a
fence (to keep elephants out), and a dining facility of some kind. Construction is from stones trucked in from a
long ways away. They are stacked like
cinder blocks and then mud is covering them.
The mud is then painted. Not much
to the buildings considering how many kids they have planned (already) to stay
at this center.
We then went to a Lutheran School
that was several miles further down the bumpy road. I got my picture taken with some Samburu
Warriors, which was pretty cool. Out of
all the people I have seen in Kenya, the Samburu are the most beautiful and
unique. The women wear huge beaded
necklaces over their shoulders with a robe.
The men have their hair dyed ochre and ochre pain on their chests. They wear a beaded sunvisor type thing and
all carry a stick. Beautiful people
wearing clothes that accentuate that beauty.
I guess they need it, because it hasn’t rained in several months, and
won’t for several more. It is dry.
We drove to the school down a road
that crossed several dry rivers. The
pastor (who serves 7 parishes – all mission starts he began) said he used to
walk between them for services, until he bought a motor bike, which he then
rode. He had a cute daughter, reminded
me of Ella.
There was a market for the Samburu,
cows, camels, goats, etc. being sold along with some more modern things. People walk for days to get to it, then walk home
for days.
The Lutheran School was small, tiny
rooms for 368 students. I think they
must have to sit on each other’s laps, packed in like sardines. The teachers here are all currently on strike
across Kenya, so there were no classes.
After this we went to
Marsabit. We passed down the road, where
in the dry desert, there were countless dust devils. We also saw a rhino cross the road, a bunch
of monkeys, ostriches, and more. Kind of
neat to see them wild. The paved road
ended and we drove a long way on the
worst road imaginable. See above. Road went through a desert of white
sand. Nothing was alive. It was hot and dry. Then suddenly, these two mountains stuck out
of the dessert, which were as fertile as the southern part of Kenya. Bananas, etc growing on them. This is Marsabit. In Marsabit, there is a large Muslim
population, along with Christians. Most
Marsabitians are from Ethiopia, and moved down many years ago. They have a small town with dirt roads, and
interesting houses.
John’s parents live there, as well
as his in-laws. We stopped at both
houses. Short ceilings, with curtains on
the walls. The in-laws gave us African
tea, (milk brewed tea) and some staple Kenyan food – bread with peanut
butter. They were extremely nice, and we
felt very welcome there. A wonderful
Christian family, living in a difficult place being slowly invaded by
Islam.
We saw the Future ND district
project 24 site there as well. A
Lutheran church with a parsonage, with lots of room to build on to the
parsonage a rescue center. Should be
interesting. Tried to take some video of
it. It will be the “Life Together”
rescue center, as 4 tribes live in that town, which used to kill each
other. So Life Together will be them
getting along, also with us working together with them and MN North.
Then we turned around and drove
back down the mountain toward where we came (not much of Kenya north of
Marsabit). We drove through the dark,
luckily no animals. I know in the US we
are always watching out for deer, because they may damage the car. In Kenya, they watch out for elephants,
because they might damage the car – and you with the car! Personally, I’d rather hit a deer.
We stopped for the night in Isiolo,
Kenya. It is a town that sure seemed
more Muslim than anything else. The
hotel was “Sharia Law” certified. No booze
allowed by sharia law. Special toilets
for those obeying sharia law’s ban on toilet paper (I didn’t believe it at
first either). John said, “Don’t open
the doors, no matter what” but to be honest, there was a balcony with a glass
door. I don’t think I would have had
much luck keeping a Muslim out if they wanted to get me. But luckily, they didn’t want me, they wanted
some shop keeper across the street, or at least that’s where the shooting
happened. I didn’t hear it, but both Bob
and John woke up around 1 to a gun shot.
Luckily, our car had a flat tire in
the morning… but that is tomorrow’s story.
Day 4 –
Woke up this morning to a flat tire
on the car. That’s probably good, the
car wasn’t stolen! Have not really felt
safe in Isiolo, mostly due to the Muslim presence. While the car tire was being repaired across
the street at the gas station (which they did a fabulous job, didn’t even take
the tire off to fix two nail holes!) 4 people came up offering to sell me a
knife. It is rather disconcerting when a
person you don’t know comes up and holds a knife to you saying, “Jambo, buy a
knife.” The two pastors riding with us
down from Marsabit (I can’t remember their names, but very friendly as most of
the Christians here have been) told me there was a lot of crime in Isiolo. Most from Muslims. I even saw a woman wearing the face veil with
only her eyes visible.
Almost forgot, I was woken up at
4:00, 4:30, 4:45 and 5:00 by 4 different mosque calls to prayer. I could not be a Muslim and wake up that
early. I will stay Christian and sleep
in on occasion so I’m late for church.
On TV shows, the singers for this wake-up call always have a beautiful
voice. The one at the closest mosque to
our hotel did not have that voice. As
Randy from American Idol would say, “It’s a little pitchy, man.”
Tire fixed, we continued our
trip. We drove by Mount Kenya, and got a
photo op before clouds moved in. We
drove through Nanyuki again, and then turned toward Kisumu. Today would mostly be driving again.
I had joked with my wife before I
came that I may be eaten by hyenas.
Having been here and only seen one, I should have joked that we would
get in a car wreck. The roads are
narrow, full of bikes and walkers, and the goal is to get where you want to go
as fast as possible in a car. There are
typically two lanes, but unlike the US where one lane goes one way and the
other the opposite, both lanes in Kenya can go either direction. Passing also is done at any time, even on
curves, and consists of barely missing a pedestrian and swerving back into your
own lane before getting in a head-on collision.
I will happily drive in Chicago upon my return home. That is safe driving in Chicago.
We stopped for lunch at Thompson Falls,
a touristy spot. They had a nice
restaurant, aimed at tourists. They also
had people offering to put a lizard on your shoulder for a picture for 100
Kenyan Shillings. Or dressed up as Kikuyu
warriors singing Hakuna Matata from the Lion King. The falls were beautiful. I enjoyed seeing them, and had a good lunch
with John and Bob.
Continued on our drive – a total of
430 km or so, a six plus hour drive. We
drove by Kericho, and a huge tea plantation.
They grow Eucalyptus trees and tea plants. They cut down the trees to do something to
cure the tea. Miles and miles of tea as
far as the eye could see.
Then it rained the last hour and a
half or so, and was dark. With the rough
night of sleep the day before, and the long drive, we were tired. We arrived at Kisumu, and checked in to the
most modern looking hotel so far, and yet also the most mosquito heavy
one. Skyped with Elizabeth – which was
very nice. Made my day.
Still haven’t eaten Ugali that
everyone said I should watch out for.
Day 5 –
Today has been my favorite day so
far. We have interacted with countless numbers of orphans, and have seen
several almost-completed rescue centers.
John headed back to Nairobi this
morning to consecrate a bishop tomorrow.
He left us in the care of a Pastor Henry – the secretary of the local
diocese. Henry took us first a few miles
north of Kisumu to a church that is joining the ELCK officially later this
month. It is a brand new church building
on a hill overlooking the main road. It
is sticks hammered into the ground vertically, with other sticks nailed
horizontally on either side of these.
Then into this lattice, mud is put to make the walls. It was very humble, but these people were so
inspiring. They sang songs, they brought
us sodas (glass bottles in Kenya) and were just very excited. The woman there – Gladys – had a Luther’s
Small Catechism in Swahili. These were
very wonderful people who were just very excited to see American Lutherans
there. Please see the video of the
children.
Then we turned around, went south
through Kisumu again to Dirubi – one of the ND/MN rescue centers. We picked up the local pastor (serving 15
congregations) and he showed us another church with a large open field where
the Rescue Center will be built. The
second we pulled up, children came from every direction, and once again were
smiling and happy to see us. The church
is humble, but has a beautiful view of mountains and valleys next to the river. A great site for a rescue center.
We then went to Mawira Rescue Center. It is almost completed and able to house
several hundred children. The plan is to
build a church on top of the hill in that area.
Beautiful building – poured cement apparently. Women were outside cooking Ugali, but we
didn’t eat any. Toured the center. Have it on video.
Then we headed to Bomet to the last
ND/MN rescue center. Arch Bishop Obare
met us for lunch and was very kind. He
has a big personality, and seems to be the type of person that is always in
charge, whether you know it or not. He
also seems to be the type of person who can ask you to do something without you
even knowing it! A wonderful fellow in a
wonderful position!
He took us to the Bomet site. There are no ELCK churches within 60 km, and
the hope is that this site will be the beginning of a Lutheran presence in this
area. Lots of cute kids and townsfolk
met us to tell us how excited they are to go forward with this site. The kids were fun. They wanted to touch my hair and see my arm
skin – it wasn’t dark black like theirs.
They thought that was a hoot! The
site will be a good one, and we even have in our possession a preliminary architectural
sketch of the building. Similar to
Miwari.
We then headed back to Kisumu,
arriving for the first time, at our destination in time for me to catch up on
this journal instead of going to bed as I should.
Huskers are playing UCLA in a few
hours in California for football. That
would start at 3 in the morning, I don’t think I’ll listen. Spending the night at The Vic again in
Kisumu.
Good night!
Day 6 –
Today was another busy day. On Friday evening when we arrived in Kisumu,
Pastor David Chuchu informed me that I was preaching on Sunday – today. I quick looked up an old sermon off my laptop
and got sort of ready. Then, on this
morning we woke up, got packed, and were picked up for this church
service. On the way there, David
mentioned, “Yes, this church is dedicating their brand new building, so it is a
special day.” Oh. I guess my sermon doesn’t quite have that in
mind, I can change a few things. Then we
arrived, took some pictures and watched as the congregation worked on setting
up tents outside the new building. About
half an hour before the service, David mentioned, “Oh by the way, see that man
over there, he is Mary Okeyo’s husband (she died last year) and she started the
process for this new building to be built.”
Oh, ok, I guess my sermon doesn’t quite fit this occasion with mourning
and joy as well.
So, basically the sermon I had
ready was wrong for the setting, so I was thinking on how to adjust it. The problem is that I preached while a Kenyan
translated it into Swahili. So my normal
train of thought, combined with editing things on the fly and a few second
delay after every sentence made the sermon pretty much not one of my best
ones. But that’s ok. Worse things have happened.
After the service, I mentioned to
Bob that pretty much I would never allow to be teased about my service lengths
again. We started church a little after
11, and finished a little after 3. Yes,
really. And as mentioned above, due to
circumstances my sermon was rather short!
They had several choirs who sang Kenyan style with some swaying and
clapping that actually fit in quite well in the Kenyan service. It was a little hard to follow along though
because I don’t speak Swahili. However, you could notice the very same parts of
the liturgy that we have back in the USA.
When we got to the service of the
sacrament, they pointed to me and had me come up to help distribute
communion. I wasn’t vested (wasn’t sure
how to take an alb and stole around with me the whole time I was on this trip!)
so felt a little awkward, but very honored.
After that the church had the Kenyan
equivalent to pot luck. A huge pile, I
mean huge pile of Ugali was brought out, a hundred chaptis, rice, chicken, meat
(not sure if it was goat or beef or what) set out on the table. The new deaconess who replaced Mary Okeyo
served us first, and she was extremely generous with her helpings. Very full today!
Took many pictures with the kids
who sang. Especially one group who not
only sang but presented a memory work presentation about malaria and how to
prevent it. David told us later how this
was a children’s club started in Kisumu.
The kids come and they learn Luther’s Small Catechism – the entire thing
memorized no problem – and he throws in some malaria information to make it
more appealing (to sponsors and to non-Lutherans). In this way, he has 6 separate clubs of about
40 children who have the catechism memorized.
Also met three young children whose
father was a pastor who was hit by a car while driving his motor bike this
spring. The one boy told our Driver from
yesterday, Samwell, “I haven’t gotten to be in one picture.” So I took one
specifically with him. He is one of 4
children (one a newborn) of the pastor who died; the mom is the sole provider
for them now.
Also met Mary Okeyo’s family –
husband and a daughter and a son. There
are more kids, but they were not there.
The only reason these two were there is because of the teacher strike in
Kenya.
Bob also met the orphan that he had
sponsored through the orphan sponsor program done with the rescue centers. Evelyn – 19 years old, a very polite and shy
young woman. I am sure she was shy
because yesterday David Chuchu called up and said, “your sponsor will be here
tomorrow, be there at such and such place at such and such time.” Sweet girl though, with a nice smile. Neat for Bob to meet her and see how he has
helped. (The whole trip really has been
that way, as he helped start the ball rolling for these rescue centers.) Bob gave her a Bible.
Then we drove here to
Kilgoris. We are staying in the
Salvedore Sisters Spiritual Center.
There are also two Norwegian girls with their Kenyan guide. (Girls, I think they are older than me). They are very outgoing, and fundamentalist
Christian. They are working to care for
widows here. The one girl had told us
her whole life story before supper was over.
Kind of neat to meet other people here for similar work. Very friendly, but I am tired and are getting
up at 5 to go to the Masai Mara tomorrow.
I need to get some sleep so that I can see some of the animals. The Norwegian’s guide (also Evelyn) said,
“The animals are very friendly, you will love it.” I know that I will, and am very excited to
see them tomorrow.
More pictures to come then, also
more writing tomorrow. It sounds like
Mara tomorrow, and then a drive back to Nairobi on Tuesday. Then back home. I am glad for that, I am ready to be done
traveling, as fun as this trip has been.
I miss Elizabeth and the girls.
Showed a video of Ella to a bunch of Kenyan kids today. They smiled like crazy.
Oh by the way, one kid asked me
today, pointing to my skin (the kids have all wanted to touch my hair and my
skin because it is different from theirs). “Who made you like that?” “God,” I said. Fun to be on the other side of the coin, and
to be noticed for being different.
Everyone thinks I am the coolest guy on earth because I am white. One kid tried to ride with us away from the
church as well. David had to tell him he
couldn’t come. Others wanted me to
stay. Very touching. Sweet children. They are the reason for the trip, the rescue
centers, and our mercy mission. Christ
should be preached and taught to them, and it will happen!
Day 7 -
Masai Mara today. Beautiful. Amazing. Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, Water Buffalo, Wildebeest, Zebra. Wow.
The drive here was fun, we got stuck in the mud on the road leading to the Oloololo gate. There were several Masai people sitting on the side of the road, looking to make a quick buck off people who get stuck. There was a ring leader who got 5 or 6 people to push us out of the mud. He quickly hopped in the car and got 4 thousand shillings to share with the rest. Of course he stuck 3 in his pocket, and gave the other 1 thousand to the others to divide amongst themselves. David asked him if he knew any of the local pastors. "Con-men" he said ironically. He then tried convincing us to pick him up on our way home to show us a non-muddy road. He mentioned it just happened to go by his wife and other women who were selling trinkets. He hopped out and we made it safely to the Mara.
Animals visible before we even got in the gate. Everywhere. What an amazing part of creation.
Spent the day driving through the park, and taking pictures. Gave the guard a tip at the back gate, and he walked with us to the Tanzania border where an enormous crocodile was, three feet wide at its belly - at least! Saw the place where the Wildebeest cross the Mara River in person - have seen it on TV many times. Pretty awesome.
Not sure how to describe this day except for "Awesome".
Drove back to Kilgoris for the night. Left the park in time to drive on the road that was now dried mud, before the rain storm hit that made it a mess again. Tomorrow is the last day in Kenya. A little sad. I have enjoyed this place, and the trip. I know I will probably be back again though, so it will only be a temporary good bye.
Day 8 -
Drove back to Kilgoris today. Stopped by Rongo, and Othoro Rescue Centers. There were not many kids there. The reason? Teacher's strike. The Evangelist at Rongo told us that the kids were sent to live in other places so that the striking teachers wouldn't think the rescue center was a school and burn it down. Sounds reasonable to me. However we did see the buildings, as well as the rainwater collection system provided by the North Dakota district for their drinking water.
The school needs books. For $1500 we can provide all the books the school needs. Bob and I think we may end up doing that. Evangelist says that will allow these kids to get in a better high school, which will help them to college, which is key in a nation like Kenya.
Stopped at a Soapstone carving store. A tiny little building. I got a great deal on a crucifix, an elephant, and a giraffe carving. They threw in another elephant for free. Beautiful work. Spent 2400 shillings - a whopping $28. Would have cost several hundred in the US. By our purchase, I am sure that the bills for an entire month were paid for this family. They were glad for it. I was glad for it. Neat place.
Drove back to Kisumu. We will fly out this afternoon to Nairobi, then on to Amsterdam then home. Found out it was good we are flying back to Nairobi. Not only do we save a 6 hour drive on rough roads. But the striking teachers have closed off some of the highways, so that saves us a that hassle as well. Long day ahead!
Summary -
Amazing trip. Met many wonderful people, and saw many wonderful things. Looking forward to accomplishing the goals of our district to supporting the three rescue centers. When we landed in Minneapolis, my mom asked, "So how about that embassy thing?" We hadn't heard of it, but looking back, we probably flew right over it when it happened. Scary world. Glad to be back in the United States, but eager to help these people in Kenya as well. They have so little, but also so much to offer.
Project 24 is a great program because it doesn't just blindly throw money at the problems there. It offers the funds to put Kenyans to work building rescue centers. It offers places to live for orphans of AIDS and Malaria casualties. It teaches them using schools and churches. It forces the children also to learn life skills, to feed themselves and ingenuity to keep the centers open. (Some centers teach computer skills, some have cattle to care for to provide milk etc.) The project is very worthwhile, because most importantly it gets pastors in these children's lives to teach them the Gospel. No matter what food, or shelter or other things you could give them, none is more important than that.
Hopefully we built relationships. Hopefully we accomplished our goals. Hopefully we can continue to help as needed. I'll have to let it sink in a little more before I can reflect more than this.
