Last Day

After our visit to the IDP camp and return to Nairobi, the rains started. There are really only two seasons at the equator, rainy and dry. There are two rainy seasons, long and short. These are the long rains. It will rain almost daily from now until late April, if all goes well. A country like Kenya that is so dependent on it's own agriculture, is highly dependent on the rains. Pray that the rains are good; millions of lives hang in the balance. Bad rains mean fewer crops, fewer crops means not enough food, and prices skyrocket.

Yesterday when we got into Nairobi, we went to the Village Market where there is a Maasai Market every Friday. There, hundreds of artisan vendors hawk their wares to tourists and ex-pats. If you have ever been to a market day in Mexico, its similar. Hawkers approach you with lines like "Just here, suh!" and "What country, you?". Susie loves it, she can negotiate for hours and never get tired, I hate it. I'd rather just pay their price and move on but you can't do that. It offends them somehow if you don't argue about the price. I'll never understand that.

We had planned to go to the Safari Park Hotel for their famous dinner show, but traffic was not with us. We spent two and one half hours stuck in traffic just to get to the hotel. By the time we were unloaded and in our rooms, only the Java House was open. So we had our fix for the day and went to bed.

Today we enjoyed a fine breakfast at the Grace House Hotel, and set out to see the sights of Nairobi. Francis Mbuvi took us to a place where we could look into Kibera Slum, the largest in Africa. Its estimated that over one million people live there, with another half million in the Muthare slum across town. In all, almost half the population of Nairobi live in these slums were life and drugs are cheap, and running water and hope are scarce. Francis runs the Made In The Streets ministry that helps a few dozen kids escape the slums each year. It's a drop in the bucket, but it brings the world one step closer to redemption and so it's a work of the Lord.

Downtown and the important buildings of the capital city were our next destination. We saw the parliament building, Uhuru (freedom) park, and the site of the old US embassy which was bombed in 1997. We also managed to find another Maasai market, much to my regret. But first, we needed to find a cho (restroom).

We found one that we had to pay to use a couple of blocks from the market. While we were there, a drunk man approached Rick to ask for money. That's a hard call to make, when you are a compassionate man like Rick. He looked to Maureen for guidance and she said, "Well, he's drunk." That settled it in her mind, but I could still feel Rick struggle. In the end, the beggar lost focus and wandered away and we set out to spend two hours and countless shillings arguing with the hawkers once again. Good call, Rick.

Later, we went to the Sarit center for a late lunch. They have a food court with several choices, all of them sub standard, but edible. We wondered around until it was time to head to the sweltering Nairobi airport and here we sit, stewing in in our own juices, waiting for 11:30 to put Kenya behind us.

In all it was a great trip. My fellow travelers were patient and kind to each other and all those we encountered. They were truly ambassadors of God to some weary people. You may find it foolish to spend thousands of dollars just to fly to a third world country and love on some people you don't know and will never see again, but it's worth it. The Kenyans know at the money comes from God through our church, and they are grateful. But when we come to them, after traveling so far, they see it as an extravagant gift. They are moved to tears and God is glorified.

God puts people just where they need to be, at just the right time. It's impossible to know all the future ramifications of this trip on the lives of our people and the Kenyans, but God knows. We were allowed to see a few glimpses, though. Here is one story of God's provision:

Gina Martin, rape victim counselor, and GCR member, almost didn't make the trip at all. A mysterious delay in her passport had all of us on the edge of our seats until the day before we left, but she made it. She sat with her daughter Taylor in the back of the WBS LandCruiser.

Simon Karanja, WBS followup worker, and father also had challenges leading up to the trip, but we didn't know it until later. His youngest son, who is 13, was attacked and raped by a neighbor three days before joining us in Nairobi for the trip. He said nothing about the attack, but I noticed that he was strangely subdued. He too, sat in the back of the WBS LandCruiser.

During polite conversation he asked Gina what she did in the US. She told him, and the flood gates opened. He told her about the attack and their dealings with the attacker and the criminal justice system in Kenya. She listened patiently as she has done countless times. He didn't know how to be there for his son, but Gina did.

We thought we were only going to see orphanages, but God had bigger plans. He felt the pain of one of his faithful servants, and put him in a van next to one of the few people in the entire world who was trained to help him, without any of us knowing it. Thats how BIG our God is, people. Big enough to see every hurt and provide just what we need.

We have seen Him show off his amazing power in Kenya many times, in highly visible and awesome ways. But sometimes it's those one-on-one encounters with another traveler though this life that shows us just how big He really is. If that's the only thing we learned from this trip, it was worth it.