I’m heading down to a continental breakfast at a Super 8 in Wentzville, MO. I drove, with my friend Brian, from Johnson City, TN in a U-haul truck for ten hours, and we have another thirteen hours today until we reach my new home, Denver, CO. I am praying that the truck will start today. We had issues with it yesterday and I had have people jump it off three times. Not an ideal situation for a cross country drive, but it’s getting us there.
Back in Nairobi, at the end of things. It both feels like this trip went very fast, but also feels like I have been gone a long time. I need a lot of time to debrief what exactly happened on this trip, and I am looking forward to getting home and reliving it through the many thousands of pictures I took and then sharing those pictures with their corresponding stories. I can’t think very well right now, but the past few days have been very good, aside from a slight fender bender on the way to Nairobi today. We are here in Nairobi until tomorrow evening and then begin the arduous journey home, or for me, the place that will be home one I find a place to live. It is a process that I am both excited about and also not looking forward to. I will attempt to share more when my brain feels less like mush.
I’m heading out to meet up with my team. It feels good to be going back with them, but it was also good being here with the Steurys. I’ll update again when I can.
Plans have been made for me to meet up with my team tomorrow. They will send a driver up to the Kenya / Tanzania border crossing to pick me up. Plans after that are still unsure, but it sounds like we are going to drive through the serengetti park up to Kenya and then continue on through the Mara. I am excited to be back with them after what feels like a very long time.
I am still hanging out with the Steurys in Olderkesi. I finished a round of malaria treatment yesterday and am feeling much better, but still feel like I have a cold. I don’t know that I actually did have malaria, but the doctor here said it sounded like it could have been based on some of my symptoms. The plan right now is for me to meet back with my team of Friday morning and go through the Mara with them. I talked with them yesterday and it sounds like they are having a good time in Tanzania. I am a little sad to be missing out on those experiences with them, but it has been good being here.
I am a bit shocked to be updating this blog right now. I was sure that we would not have Internet until we returned to the states. I am using my friend Vera Steury’s iPad and wifi in Olderkesi. We had an interesting past few days as we began our journey from Ewaso to Tanzania. We had two cars run out of gas, two flat tires and one vehicle had the strut that holds the back tire on just break. And ivhave been feverish and having difficulty breathing for the past two days. I am feeling very dizzy a I write this out. When the strut on the rav4 broke, we ended up being right by a church that meets under a tree, and were able to join them and share in the service. I know that God planned it that way. I don’t believe in coincidence anymore. A mechanic came out and “fixed” the car by securing the strut back on with very thin wire and twine. I prayed the whole hour and a half that we were driving on it, but feel asleep due to feeling terrible. When we stopped, I sat up and saw a sign for Olderkesi, and I thought I was dreaming. I was here 15 years ago on my first trip to Kenya, and the family that lives here is friends with my family. I went over with one of the Maasai that lives here and he took me to their house. Our whole team came and met them and had tea and sat in recliners and couches. It was an amazing little breath of fresh air in the middle of a tumultuous day. And seeing God provide two amazing moments in the middle of it was so refreshing and encouraging. John Steury is helping repair our car, which is another blessing, because the shops aren’t open today to fix the car. I cant wait to see what God has in store for us next.
I am sitting at the Nairobi Java House in Nairobi, Kenya. We are starting the next phase of our trip today, and I am excited for what God has in store for us in the next 11 days. Chances are that this will be the last time we get Internet until we are back stateside. We will be traveling out in to the bush in Kenya and Tanzania to visit with some Maasai pastors and come alongside their ministries. I am excited again for all the photos I will have the opportunity to take. I think that’s about it for now, I am extremely tired and my thoughts are flowing just a little faster than molasses. So until next time, thanks for your prayers!
We are back in Kigali. Our time in the DRC was eye opening. I have so many pictures and stories that I can’t wait to share. I feel a burden in my heart to do what I can to help make people aware of what is going on there. There is so much oppression on the pygmies from everyone, and it breaks my heart. We visited three different centers that have been set up for them to have safe places to live, but there is still so much need. They don’t have access to clean water and don’t have much access to food. They are treated like slaves and animals. The rebel groups in the area will force them to carry water and supplies for them, and if the rebels are displeased with them, they will kill them and eat them. There is so much more need than I can even fathom, but I hope to be able to continue to help them out in the future.
It’s a little bit early to be alive. 5:50 here in the DRC. I have been up since 5. Today we fly out of Goma to Bunia, and then take a car down toward Beni to go and meet with the Pygmies. We will be there until Tuesday morning, and then we will head back to Rwanda and over to Kenya. I am unsure whether we will have Internet where we are going, so it may be a few days before I can update again. I thank you again for all your prayers as we travel and step out in to unfamiliar places. But I step out knowing that I am walking in the plans God has for me, and in confidence because I am covered in prayer. And as Paul would say, grace and peace to you all!
Back at the hotel for the night. We had an amazing day meeting with the women at Jehovah Jireh center for rape victims. My heart broke for them, and I know that I will be back here one day. We got to see several other ministries that one of our guides is involved in. It was encouraging to see the ways he is reaching out and helping his community. I am exhausted right now and I think that is all I have the energy to share right now. I took lots and lots of pictures that I can’t wait to share.
