Scaling Mount Longonot

Note: This post was written Sunday morning, but our internet has been down for almost two days...

 Caleb and John at the Summit

 Lauren taking a break

 The team before beginning the hike. We didn't know what awaited us.

 We surely weren't expecting to climb this... and many similar places.

 The ones who made it to the summit!

This is "the crack" - a recent geological phenomenon that happened near Jikaze after significant rainfall. One night this giant crack just opened up in the earth. It's about 30 feet deep and goes on and on. The geologists think that it's caused by underground rivers. We took a long walk Thursday to see it in preparation for scaling Mount Longonot.

About three months ago, our Kenyan friend, Kelvin, emailed me and said “would you like to scale Mt. Longonot?” and I said “scale a mountain – are you crazy?” Then, he assured me that it was really a nice walk – just an hour up to the top. Yesterday, we scaled Mt. Longonot, and I can assure you it was not a walk! I made it to the halfway point (which required scrabbling up sheer, sandy rock walls on your hands and knees). The halfway point was about 10,000 feet so the air was thin and exertion was way harder than in Mississippi at sea level (or so I told myself!). The rest of the group made it all of the way to the summit (including Lauren who had been vomiting the day before!). Longonot is part of a Kenyan national park and we saw baboons on the drive there and giraffe and zebra at the park. We were amazed by God’s incredible creation.

After coming down the mountain, we drove back to the orphanage where they were finishing up Mississippi Day. The other team from Mississippi arranged the day (like a field day) and did a beautiful job. They even made more than 300 sandwiches to feed the kids an American lunch with chips, cookies, fruit, and juice. Following lunch, we handed out shoes to about 200 orphans. They were so thrilled to receive sturdy school shoes. Thanks to Karen Cooley and the First United Methodist Church in Columbus, MS for arranging a fundraiser to pay for the shoes.

My Kenyan son, John, is spending the weekends with us. He lives at a boarding school, but we’ve been able to make arrangements to have him on the weekend. He is such a joy, and his English has improved so much we’re actually able to communicate. Last night he had his first hot shower which he loved! He shares a room with Caleb when he’s here. Lauren set up my ipod for him before we left the U.S.  and John has been watching spiderman episodes, listening to music, and getting really good at games. He calls me “mum” and has enjoyed being tucked in at night.

Today we’re going to church and then to the orphanage to play with the kids. We have a couple of projects to do that you’ll hear about in future posts.