Uriri - Part 1

I know that I keep saying, ‘It was another great day’, but it really was.   

For me, the day’s high point was right after breakfast when Arrington, our long-time Kenyan Driver told me he wanted me to baptize him and his wife when I return to Kenya in October.  I was so happy!  He drove for us on my very first trip to Kenya and on many trips since then.  He has slowly become one of us, helping with the kids and translating at every orphanage and feeding station that we have.  Stephen has been talking to him a lot about his faith, and Arrington told him that he has come to love his mzungu friends so much that he didn’t want to miss heaven and not be able to see us again.  That’s just the kind of friend that Jesus calls us to be, people.

We drove to Uriri after that, and arrived in time for chai.  We all gathered in Kennedy Chandi’s house and had bread, tea, and chapatti.  Then, it was time for church.  It was a typical Kenyan service, lots of singing, preaching and very long.  I did my part by preaching a good 35 minutes.  It was short for Kenyans but long for Americans, so just right for our group.

We quickly set up clinic after church and got into a rhythm.   By the time we stopped at 4:30 we had seen 94 of the 120 kids at Uriri orphanage.  Tomorrow we will finish them off and see the feeding station kids.  We uncovered very few problems, some fillings, extractions, and one ganglion cyst that Ben literally smashed with a bible before draining.  I’ve heard of people being healed by the power of scripture, but not like that!

After we finished for the day, Kennedy brought out his new Maasai friends, some of whom are guarding his house.  They did a traditional Maasai dance with singing and their trademark vertical jumping.  It was an unexpected surprise.

We drove home to the Dados in the rain, stopping at the Nakumatt to pick up a cake that we ordered for Taylor Hudgins birthday.  At dinner, we all gave her cards and the hotel staff came out singing a Kenayn birthday song, followed by the American version.  It was very well done.  We had another of those flower candle cake toppers like we had for Barbie Wooten on the last trip, which completed the celebration.

See, I told you it was a great day!