Kenyan Kupenda

December has been a whirlwind of a month. This is the first opportunity I have had to sit down and share about our Kenya trip. Thank you for your patience in the past few weeks and for your expressed interest in hearing how everything went.

Kenya was amazing. The people are incredible and just thinking of how their white smiles shine through the darkness literally makes my heart beat a little faster. I wish I could say that we are still planning to move our family across the world to Africa to begin a new life there...but that, sadly, isn't going to be the case. At least not now. My prayer for our trip was that God would make his will known and open my eyes. That IF we were to move there, He would fill me with such anticipation, excitement and peace, but that if we weren't supposed to move there, that He would give me he exact opposite. We arrived into the airport late at night, and arrived at our hotel after quick customs and visa lines. Upon arriving to our hotel, we learned there we no rooms available. Boo. So began the 2.5 hour drive through back roads on unsafe and unlit Kenyan roads searching for a hotel. My nerves were shot. I was so uneasy, nervous and kept repeating to Daniel under my breath "My dad would so NOT be okay with this!!!" We finally found a place to stay and settled in for the night. THe next day we started our 8 hour drive to Kendu Bay, where we would be staying in the village for the week. We literally stayed IN A VILLAGE and it was such a break from reality. The people were so welcoming and shouted out "MZUNGU!" everytime they saw our white skin. I kept praying for that "feeling" that "this is where we will be living"...it just wasn't happening. I waited until day 4 before asking Daniel what his thoughts were. I didn't want my feelings, or lack thereof, to influence him IF God was speaking to him. He just looked at me and said "we are not moving here." So I guess he felt it too. Sigh. When we saw the hospital, which would have been our home, I was hit with mixed emotions. The place was huge and their vision for what it would be was incredible. The donations that were received blew my mind and made me so excited for the care the people were going to receive!! God really and truly has big plans for that place!! We met with all the staff of the hospital and had a meeting. The meeting was an opportunity for the staff to express their concerns or challenges. THE moment in which I knew it wasn't His plan for us to be there, was when the askari, the guard that protected the hospital, explained that he just didn't feel safe. He repeated over and over again that several other guards had been killed lately and he just didn't feel safe doing his job. WAIT, what?!?! HE would be the man protecting us...and HE doesn't feel safe?? That was one of our big concerns, was the safety aspect and it was just laid out that there it wasn't safe, especially for "the white people", as they called us. I knew that HE would keep us safe if He wanted us there, but again, I felt nothing other than a "not now" urging.

Towards the end of the week, we went to a 4th grade graduation at one of the small schools in the village. Daniel was the "Chief Guest of Honor" and got to give an encouraging speech to the kids. Most of the children had never seen white people before, so we were truly honored by them. Visiting the school was probably my most favorite part of the trip. Seeing all the children run around, squeal with delight and those big, bright white smiles...there is just nothing quite like it. The graduating class of 15 did a dance for us and sang songs for us...it was quite the traditional Kenyan celebration and I felt honored to be a part of it!

The village we stayed in was a completely self sustainable village. We can learn so much from them! They have a huge tank that collects the rain water and that is the water they use. During the dry season, when it runs out, they walk miles to the closest pond to fill their buckets, but most of the time, the convenience of rain water is right there. They had about 8-9 cows and about 15 chickens/roosters directly inside the circular perimeter that the huts made and that was their main source of food. They would travel into the market once every few weeks to get anything that they didn't have and needed. The had electricty that ran off solar power...again, not costing them any money. Almost everyone had a cellphone, which I found hilarious. But anyway, they would buy phone cards with minutes on them whenever they needed it. In the main house, where we stayed, they had a power strip where about 10 phones, the TV, and one overhead light bulb were all plugged into. It was so crazy to see!

The coolest thing that I took away from everything, is that the people we were around truly loved the Lord. Not the way I feel like many Americans love the Lord, but LIVING it out. The children from the non-Christian academy we visited for the graduation had the choice of memorizing something and presenting it to the audience. All but one out of the 15 chose a Bible verse and presented it beautifully. For the Kenyans we were around, loving God and living for Him made them who they are...people who depend on and are lucky to know a God like Him. It was such a blessing to witness and such a humbling experience. Do they know Him better than I? Is that why they are such a happy, peaceful, and caring people?

I'll wrap this up, since it is already way longer than I'm sure most want to read. While we don't feel that God is moving us to live there, we definitely feel the need and desire to continue to support the hospital and the school we visited. Our work isn't done in Kenya, nor do I think it ever will be. This trip reaffirmed our love for the Kenyan people and deepened our desire to make a difference there. God has opened some new doors for us and we don't feel like this trip was a waste. He showed us both that He is real and has real things in store for us as long as we keep listening to His prompting.

And a few random pictures...

bed in the hospital