Guest post from Hannah:
... Kenyan time, that is (which can be loosely interpreted. :-) )
Today (Sunday) was our first official day in Nyahururu. We arrived Saturday afternoon after a day of driving through the beautiful Kenyan countryside (including some rough roads and slightly terrifying Kenyan drivers). After a refreshingly cool night at our guesthouse (winter in Kenya!), we split up and headed to three different churches in surrounding villages. Sidenote- “winter” in Kenya consists of some cool weather at night, but generally warm weather during the day. It’s amusing to see the Kenyans bundled up in jackets and toboggans when we’re dressed in skirts and short-sleeved shirts!
Julie, Silas, and Rahab had been invited to preach, so the team divided up into groups of two and three to worship with each congregation. In this rural area of Kenya, we are finding that it is quite unusual for the locals to see what they call “mzungus”- strangers! They seem quite excited to meet us and exchange greetings, so we’re constantly working on our Swahili phrases. We’re amusing to watch (to say the least!). We may stick out, but the people here have been nothing but kind and appreciative to us as we have visited their homes and communities.
After returning from church services this morning, our team gathered for lunch at our guesthouse. The excitement in the air was evident as we exchanged conversations about what we had encountered in the local churches and villages. I (Hannah) had traveled with Silas to a church about five minutes away from our guesthouse. Upon arriving, the first faces I saw were the smiling faces of about forty children singing outside the church building. What a joy! I was pleased to hear them singing both in Swahili and English ... in fact, one of the songs they were working on was one that I had used in my own children’s choir in the US! We watched their “Sunday School” for a few minutes before heading into the main building for worship. Worshiping in Kenya is quite the experience! I was immediately drawn into the reverent nature of their worship--to try and describe it adequately would be impossible. The Kenyans are passionate about worshiping God, and that shows in their vibrant worship services.
This afternoon the whole team headed out to the Good Shepherd Home, the orphanage where we will be working throughout the week. Their campus is quite impressive. They have multiple gardens and greenhouses that are overflowing with vegetables to help feed the children and also be sold to the surrounding community. They have cattle, goats, and rabbits, as well as a biogas system that helps provide cooking fuel for their kitchen. We toured the girl’s and boys dorms as well, while the children eagerly showed us their bed (the only area that they can claim as “their own”). It is obvious that the children work hard to collectively help keep the orphanage running ... they tend the gardens, wash their clothing, and work at many other tasks that I’m sure we haven’t discovered yet. In both of the orphanages that we have visited this week, our team has commented many times on the work ethic of the children. It is both heartbreaking and inspiring to see how the children work together to care for each other and their home.
Trying to describe our time here in Kenya is difficult. There are so many memories, so many images that cannot be described or written down. The pure joy seen on the faces of the children, the beautiful scenery of Nyahururu, and the roller coaster of emotions that many of us are feeling are only a few of the things that can’t adequately be put down on paper (... or a Word document). :) We covet your prayers, and ask that you speicifically pray for the children living at the Good Shepherd Home. Please also pray for us as we continue our ministry this week by going into the local schools, providing classes for the women in the community, and continuing to work at Good Shepherd with the children.
P.S.- The wildlife here is incredible! Just driving from place to place, we have seen countless zebras, two giraffes, a few hippos, and several gazelles and monkeys. I’m always caught off guard when we’re driving down the highway and we see zebras grazing off the side of the road ... on the other hand, nobody seems to blinks an eye when we pass a field of horses.
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