I’m at a loss for how to start this journal entry. We just spent a most wonderful and humbling evening hosting a local Kenyan family for dinner. Francis and Jane both work for the children’s centre and they have five children of their own. Anna had the amazing idea to cook and serve dinner to the employees of the children’s centre and their families while we are here so we could fellowship with them one-on-one outside of work and get to know their families. Since there are many employees, we decided to go in order of who has worked at the centre the longest and get to as many of them as possible on this trip. Tonight was our first dinner party and it was amazing. We were able to eat together, talk about life, learn about their family, and pray together. It was absolutely beautiful!

It has been a whirlwind week. We visited many new places and have been incredibly busy (which is why I’m just now finding time to update my blog!). Here are a few of the highlights… the Baby Centre – they currently have 4 babies (ages 4 months – 2 years) who were abandoned at birth. They are constantly getting new babies and adopting them out. We heard several success stories of international adoptions and read letters from adoptive parents. They speak primarily English to the babies so they will learn the language and find it easier to transition to their adoptive homes. We spent a couple of hours playing with them – it got much easier as time went on and they got used to us and started talking more. Part of the group was able to tour a local hospital (Lauren went with that group) and hear about their needs.

Pat Dixson (who runs the elderly feeding program) also sponsors ten small struggling elementary schools where she fundraises to pay the salaries of teachers. It’s really amazing… without her, these kids wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn. Friday morning the group visited one of her schools to see what kind of needs there were (Lauren wasn’t feeling well so we stayed home). From their descriptions, it was absolutely amazing to see kids having school in a church… writing on a pew (as a desk) while sitting on an overturned pew. I’m struck again on this trip how much education is valued here – so much more than at home. Kids are desperate to go to school and while public education is provided through 8th grade, the fees charged for uniforms and books are often unaffordable for many families. On this trip, I’ve been surprised to learn that in a third world country, the kids are far ahead of our kids at home. I saw a class of 6 year olds that were doing double digit subtraction including “fill in the blank” type problems like ___ - 9 = 8. I couldn’t believe that these tiny kids were doing that level of math, especially kids who would be labeled as “disadvantaged” in the US.

We’ve spent much of our time at the children’s centre – that’s where the girls always want to go! Being here for an extended period of time is allowing everyone to form closer relationships with the kids. We’re also getting to spend a lot of time with the 41 boarders who live there full time. Some of you will remember the 2 girls who captured my heart when we were here 2 years ago, Anne and Catherine. They live in area villages and came to the centre for meals. When I came in January, there was a teacher strike so schools were out of session and the kids were at home. I was able to see Catherine one time at the centre (and found it very surprising and humbling that she didn’t remember me AT ALL when I’d thought she was sadly missing me all this time!). On a different day (still on the January trip) we were walking through a local village when I spotted Anne. She ran up and hugged me (my confidence restored!) and we spent about 30 minutes together. When I had to leave, she started to cry. I explained that I’d be coming back in July with Lauren and staying for a longer time. Well, this week, Anne showed up at the centre to see me (she goes to school a good distance away at a school that has a feeding program so while the centre still provides her school fees, she doesn’t come there at all for meals anymore). We spent a couple of hours together just sitting and talking. At one point, she cried a little and said, “when you told me you were coming back, I didn’t believe you. Now I feel bad.” It was really sweet. We drove her back to the village and gave her my bag of snacks out of my back pack. (not sure what she’ll think of fiber one bars and fruit snacks!), I’m sure we’ll get to see her more while we are here.

I also had a breakthrough with John Kahera, the godchild that Lauren and I write to at the centre. We’ve been writing to him for six months or so but this was our first time to meet him. I had been envisioning this joyful meeting and instantly bonding and spending lots of time together. Instead, John was incredibly bashful and didn’t want anything to do with either of us! Let me give you a little background on John… when he was 3 years old, he was found wandering the streets in Nairobi. He didn’t know his parents’ names or where he lived. It’s unclear if he was lost or if he had been dumped off. They ran his photo and story on the local television stations, but no one ever came forward to claim him. Anyway, he ended up in a government-run institution (not a pretty place, from what I hear). He was there for a good while when a friend/sponsor of the children’s centre from Florida visited the institution and was drawn to him. She was able to get him moved to the centre over a year ago. John is now 6 years old, loves soccer, and does very well in school, but like I said is very shy and has no family whatsoever. He is also adorable. Whenever he sees us, he hides, runs off, or just completely ignores our overtures. Today when we arrived, they were posing for a group photo and I was making faces at him (still being ignored). When the photo was over, I just went over to him and grabbed him in a big hug while he just stood there tolerating me. I talked to him for a few minutes while he covered his eyes with his hands. All of a sudden, he said, “let’s go watch tv,” grabbed my hand and walked me to the boys room where they were all gathered in front of a small television set. I sat down, he crawled up in my lap, and we enjoyed some great time together. After that, we jumped rope, played basketball (with a soccer ball) and just “hung out” together. It was great!

We’ve had great opportunities for evening fellowship with great people this week. I’ve already mentioned tonight’s dinner, but there have been other great meals shared around a fire. Last night, a father and son team from Florida came to dinner at our house with AB Puckett and Will Porter (both with Global Connections) to kind of “debrief” everything that they’re seeing this week while they’re here (it’s their first trip) and to enjoy each other’s company. Earlier in the week a huge group of us (about 15 Mzungu – white people) ate at Patrick and Anastasia’s house (Patrick’s the centre director and his wife Ana is a great friend of mine). It was fantastic. The people here are very oriented around fellowship, community, and breaking bread together. Patrick told us that we were making history in his family – they had never had such a large group for dinner! Tonight, Francis also said that this was an historical event for his family – to be invited to fellowship with us outside of work and to share a meal together is a very important event here.

Tomorrow, Lauren and I were going to go to a Kikuyu (the dominant tribe in Kenya) church service with Anastasia but she had to postpone it until we get back from Egypt since she is expecting guests tomorrow and has to miss church to cook for them. We’ve decided to surprise her and show up in the morning to help her with the cooking and enjoy her company. I’m looking forward to that! Our own kind of church service!

There have been so many lessons for me on this trip – patience and flexibility still continue to be major lessons as well as seeking to understand others (even those who are different from me!). Also “loosening up” and just having fun enjoying life is another lesson I’m learning. I’m also thinking more and more about the wasteful lifestyles that we lead. I’ve never been a “green” person, but this experience is turning me into one. Here, they have a hard time disposing of trash so as much is recycled as is possible. We have a compost can that ends up in the garden, a basket for everything burnable (used to start fires) and a trash can for anything that can’t be reused, composted, or burned. I can’t get over how little trash we’re producing while we are here, even though we’re doing a lot of cooking. It’s challenged me to think of how I can do better about this at home. I’ve also been struck (as I was in 2007) at how far a small amount of money goes here for people subsisting on $1-$2 per day. Today, we bought bananas from a street vendor and paid 5 shillings apiece for them (about 6 cents).

I’ve written a lot and hope I haven’t rambled on. I’ll try to do better about posting more often. We’re living in a complete bubble with no television, internet, or news of any kind. I’m finding more and more that I enjoy it and that it’s a chore to go somewhere to check email and post to my blog! Lauren and I leave late Thursday night to spend 5 days in Egypt. I’ll bring my computer but don’t know what kind of internet access I’ll have. I’ll try to find time to post more pictures before then (and definitely after we see the great pyramids at Giza!).

Hope everyone is doing well at home. Thanks so much for the prayers and warm thoughts. We are definitely feeling those daily as we walk through this amazing experience! Mungu yu mwema! (God is so good!).

P.S. I wrote this last night at the house and am just now connecting to the internet. I spent a WONDERFUL morning with Anastasia at her house learning how to cook mandazi (Kenyan donuts) over a charcoal fire. Yum!