Never the Same

Never the same...that could be the description of our days in Kenya.  However, it is intended here to describe the lives and hearts of Chuck, Liz, and Lynne.  We will never be the same.  What we saw and experienced in Kenya has changed us at a very deep level.  And although we are glad to be home, we will miss the people of Kenya and their precious and deep faith, and their indomitable joy.

Let us catch you up on the events of this past week.  We last left you in Kitale on Monday.  On Tuesday morning, we loaded into a car for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Kisumu over some pretty bad roads.  The guys, Rick and Chuck, both have knee issues, so these crowded rides were a challenge as their knees got much closer to their faces than was comfortable!  But never a word of complaint.  We arrived in Kisumu early enough in the day that we got to go out on a "boat" (with one young man on board simply to bail out the water that you could see leaking in from many parts of said boat) on Lake Victoria and watch the hippos!!!  We were so thankful for this experience and the cool breeze on the lake.

Then that evening, as is SO customary, Pastor Apollos, who arranged the Roman's Project Conference in Kisumu, had another Kenyan brother drive us all out to his home for dinner.  Sounds pretty simple.  NOT.  The brother, Pastor Jonathan, who drove us there had a car similar to a Corolla, and the road to Apollos home was FAR away and on one of the worst roads, really just a foot path for the last couple of miles, NOT designed for a small car.  We eventually made it there, had a wonderful dinner and time of fellowship in the pastors mud house, and then headed back to the hotel after dark.  We almost immediately took a wrong turn and ended up on a "mouse trail" as Jonathan put it, totally lost.  In the dark.  In a very foreign place.  Trust me, we had been praying, but now the prayers ascended to heaven in a more rapid form!  After a very dicey back-up and turn around in the bush, on the word of a very young Kenyan along the trail, we headed back and eventually made it out of the bush and back onto the road!  One more adventure goes into the book!

Then Wednesday arrived with the Roman's Project Pastor's Conference.  It was so great to see these pastors coming from near and far to take in this teaching (done by both Rick and Chuck, while Liz and Lynne handled registration and checking their RP workbooks) and to hear their testimonies of how reading through Romans 20 times and then handwriting it had impacted them with some amazing insights and depth in their Christian experience.  Nearly 80 pastors showed up, with another 70 that had signed up but had not yet finished the project so they seem to have felt that they weren't supposed to go.  On faith, Rick left the MP3 players for them with Apollos to give them when they DID finish so that the work will continue.  How helpful and impactful this must be for those pastors, to receive not only the teaching of that day but 500 hours, 800 sermons covering almost every book of the bible!  This is truly the gift that keeps on giving, eternally!

Thursday morning, we again stuffed ourselves into a vehicle for the 7 hour drive to Nairobi.  It was wonderful to see the Rift Valley as we drove, then about 30 baboons right on the road - got some great pictures, and to make it to Nairobi before our muscles and joints totally rebelled.  Every drive is an education in the lives of Kenyans and a view into how differently 80% of the world lives than we do in the U.S.  Humbling and eye-opening.  As we reached Nairobi, traffic ground to a halt.  Picture a city of 4 million with no traffic lights, just some traffic circles that are quite the challenge.  The wealthiest of Kenyans live here in plush homes, mostly paid for by corruption, SO hard to see, so little of the funds intended for the rest of Kenya just don't make it there.  And then a few blocks from the wealthy homes are some of the largest slums, like Kibera and Kawangware.  How do you steal from the people and then watch them die in the streets?  Next door?  May God bring conviction to those causing harm and healing to this land.

In the midst of this enormous city is an oasis, the Mayfield Guest House, associated with AIM.  What a privilege and thrill to spend hours sitting in the "lobby" and talk to all the teams as they come in off the field and hear their stories of what God is doing.  He is calling many to minister to the needs of Kenya, so encouraging!  Connections were made, God's timing always perfect, nice rooms, western food, and rest for the weary!

On Friday, we headed out from the guest house for a busy day that began with a good-bye to the Uzima children and adults.  What a precious time visiting with the ex-addicts and street women and hear their testimonies, and love on the children who feel SO loved just by being part of Uzima and loved on daily by the staff.  It was also a privilege and JOY to present to Uzima the offering given to Lynne by the members of King Jesus Faith Ministry in Webuye.  We also have good news - they found a new home for the children, a rental much better than where they are currently, but we pray still a temporary place as we are praying for funds to build them a home of their own.  God had STRETCHED our funds we had brought into the country so much that our team was able to leave with them enough money to pay for their first 2 months rent - PRAISE GOD!  It was hard to say goodbye, but so thankful for the time we had with our brothers and sisters there.

That afternoon, we made about a 45 minute foray into a local market similar to our Saturday market to buy goodies for friends back home.  We did not stay long due to recent bombings and terror threats in Nairobi.  What a different world, to have soldiers with machine guns at the entry to most places, checking every person.  Small wonder our brothers and sisters there so often say "if I am still here next year..." - they have a rather deep grasp on the fact that this is not our home, we are just passing through.  After the brief shopping trip, we got to go to the crusade that was in our initial plans for this trip.  They had been meeting in this huge tent every night that week.  We enjoyed some amazing worship and then took in the message.  Back at the guest house that night, as is Rick's VERY VALUABLE custom, we had a great debriefing, lots of discussion about making sure what you do in missions is sensitive to the culture and keeping in context with their lives.  A great learning experience.

Then our final day in Kenya.  In the morning, we took in the Nairobi Game Park, right in the middle of town, except it is well over 1000 acres!  The first hour, all we saw were 3 giraffes, but then we got deep enough into the park and the animals were EVERYWHERE - large herds of hartebeest, impala, gazelles, elands, then a huge herd of water buffalo crossing the road in front of us - got to listen to the sounds and get VERY up close and personal, then some amazing birds, and finished off on the way out of the park by seeing a HUGE rhino!  A once in a lifetime experience for Chuck, Liz, and Lynne.  From there, back to the guest house, Lynne gave the guys haircuts (a worker there stared in amazement the whole time - he'd never seen a mzungu get their hair cut before, had Lynne teach him how so he could to this as a business and blessing for those who come into the guest house.  Heaven help his first customer), then off to the airport.  No upgrades to business class this time, but it really was not bad at all - Emirates Air is the way to fly to Kenya!  The most challenging parts were the 3 to 5 hour layovers in Nairobi, Dubai, and Seattle - so crowded and hot.  But we landed safely Sunday night to warm greetings from family, came home and SLEPT.

I'm sure as we recover our strength and have more time to compose our thoughts, we will do another entry as to specific lessons learned from all three of us.  Just know for now that we deeply appreciated your prayer for us - God carried us through with strength and health.  We so enjoyed getting to know each other on a very deep level - the masks truly came off and we know that we will be friends for life.  And we have been forever changed by the faith of our brothers and sisters in Kenya.  We truly will never be the same, and for that, we thank our Mighty God.