African Update # 1 2009

                
             The Journey to Kenya 

Well, our journey to Kenya was the best yet. We felt His blessing, covering and protection in all ouraffairs, from start to finish. Beginning with the delightful trip to the Airport, with some of my favorite people, and ending with climbing in our beds under the mosquito net in Nakuru Kenya. His gentle kindness was felt on the way to the airport to meet Teshuvah and Mercy for lunch. It had literally rained all the way there, that is just up until the last five miles, and then suddenly, it stopped and let all 16 of us get out of our cars and into the restaurant completely dry. We felt again His divine intervention in the very crowded Boston Airport. Amma had been rearranging the contents of her purse before our flight, unaware that her wallet was on her lap when she stood up. Now there were credit cards, considerable cash as well as other “painful to lose” items in that small leather container. There had to be at least 3 to 4 hundred people crowded together in a small area, all rushing to gain entrance into the huge 747 jumbo jet that would be flying us all to Amsterdam. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a smiling lady appeared, asking me if this wallet in her hand was mine, to which I promptly replied no. As the lady began to turn around and walk away, Amma turned around, looked at the wallet and cried “that’s my wallet! She didn’t know it had been missing. The gracious lady had seen the wallet on the floor, remembered us sitting there and took a chance on approaching us, hoping it was ours. I had never seen Amma’s wallet, so I was sending the kind lady away. I wonder what the odds are for one; an honest lady seeing the wallet on the floor, two; remembering we had been sitting there, three; finding us amid the commotion of 400 or more people scrambling onto the plane and for Amma turning around just then and seeing the wallet. Who is like our God? His eyes are not only on the sparrow, they are on us as well.

The trip was full of His handiwork, like having only one and a half hour layover in Amsterdam; all my other trips were seven to eight hours. There was just enough time to stretch our legs, show Joel, the young man traveling with Haviylah and I, around the Airport board our next flight to Nairobi. When we finally landed in Nairobi, it took almost an hour to get through customs and reclaim our luggage. We had told George we would be at the Nairobi Airport around 8:00 pm, so the luggage and custom thing made us in the airport longer than we anticipated. We kept thinking that George was outside watching us through the glass wall separating where we were and George was supposed to be. We were becoming a little anxious to find the Captain (George). We couldn’t call because George had just switched phones and his last call showed up as an unknown caller. Little did we know that George had planned to be there at 7, so he left Nakuru almost 2 hours early, which would have been great except there was an accident on the outskirts of Nairobi that stopped traffic for 3 hours. When we finally got through Customs, Visa control and picked up our late luggage we ran outside to find George’s bright smile, and saying … “So sorry, I just got here, welcome.” Do the math and praise God. It was a joyous reunion, with tears of joy and laughter at God’s perfect timing.

The next morning we had a wonderful Kenyan breakfast, got Joel’s two jabs (Immunization shots), in downtown Nairobi, then headed out to view the incredible Rift Valley on the way to our second home and family in Nakuru. I must say that on the 2 and half hour trip to Nakuru, Joel’s eyes stayed wide open despite how tired we all were, partly because of the unique scenery and partly because of George’s unique driving skills in the crazy African traffic. The first time riding with George is a faith building experience. Between the adrenaline rushes of near death experiences due to passing cars on curves and the beauty of the Zebras under the Acacia trees, the trip went quickly.

Arriving in Nakuru was a spiritual experience for Amma and me. The huge lavender flowered trees lining the roads with the other prolific flowers everywhere were incredibly beautiful. The smells and sounds of Central Africa are unforgettable and we love these people so much. They want so badly to come into the full experience of what, we sometimes take so for granted. Our Unity and fellowship. When we arrived at the house there were two young ladies sitting in the living room talking. One of them I had never met, and the other I recognized right away, but was painful to see the condition she was in. Her name is Vivian and let it suffice to say she had been through a life threatening experience of her own making. She no longer looked like the happy, carefree16 year old girl I had met 7 months ago. She was withdrawn and physically frail. The trouble she had fallen into had ravaged her body and in trying to escape the consequences, had left her drastically changed. The young lady I didn’t recognize was sitting very close to Vivian and talking quietly. After a short greeting they continued their conversation. The two were talking in Swahili, so I couldn’t understand the words, but it was easy to see that Vivian was being consoled. Later that night, we found out the 17 year old girl that was “ministering” to Vivian had just come to the church and had been “drastically changed” by the message the church is currently demonstrating here in Kenya. Later in the evening 3 other16 year old girls came by and helped Amma decorate living room for little Haviylah’s birthday tomorrow. Their interaction with us and Vivian’s consolation spoke volumes about the growth of the church here. I showed them the pictures of the Ingathering and told them that in a couple of years we would begin the Ingathering here and they became very excited.

Well, time to unpack and try to get some sleep.

All our love ….your sent ones.