Kenya was my first African home, back in 2006, and she's never left my heart. I'm in love with Kenya still! I hadn't been able to travel back there since 2010, so I was estatic to find out I was able to go to the International Christian Educator's Conference this year! I spent a few balmy days on the coast, enduring the 100+ degree heat, but cool and breezy ocean nights in Mombasa! I was thrilled to visit my family there and some of the kids from the orphanage too (sorry, no pics of the kids!)
We hugged and shared stories, reminisced and cried. It was joyful and it was emotional. I remembered the rugged dirt paths leading up to the church, the smells from Kiembieni village, the chicken coop, the hut where Paul and I played bottlecap checkers while waiting for the downpours to stop. And the many, many smiles from the mamas grilling viazis on the roadside, and the kids playing in the street!
That year was the year I learned how to "be" and not just "do." I learned how to be present for people and to listen well to people. I learned how to sit still and listen to the rain, and hear what God was telling my heart.
I also learned how to climb a coconut tree and make passion fruit juice from scratch. (Neither one I have mastered yet though!)
I learned to be a teacher, a mom to 18 girls, a cook, and a nurse.
I learned about Muhammed and Islam. I learned that Muslims can outpray and outgive most Christians anyday.
I learned that Jesus shows up in the most random of places...like dirt piles and empty soccer fields, and underneath bridges where prostitutes live.
I learned what it was like to live with someone with HIV-AIDS, and to have them die in your arms.
I learned how to be needy that year, and to let others care for me.
That was the year I learned that Jesus rested too, and it was ok to retreat sometimes. I learned to walk slow that year, and watch as life happened on the roadside.
I learned to open my senses, which in turn, opened my eyes to what God was doing, and where He was already present, so I could join Him there.
I learned that Muslims wanted peace too, just like Christians, and they knew more about Jesus than I realized.
I learned that poverty exists everywhere, even in my own heart.
I learned that no matter where we're from, or how we were raised, we all have the same core needs, and our laughter and tears are the same.
I look back on that volunteer year in Kenya as the year I chose to be obedient and accept God's calling for my life. And I never want to turn back. It was good to remember and revisit the lessons I had learned during my time in Kenya. I need to revisit them more often!
I spent so many mornings running in this sand, and letting the wind carry my worries away!
My Kenyan sister, Eddah, is expecting a baby soon!
My other sister, Catherine, just had a baby recently! He was precious. I got to visit them in Nairobi before the conference.
I missed Kenyan food! Delicious Nyama Choma, Sukuma Wiki, and Ugali!
From Nairobi, I met up with the other teachers and we journeyed up to the Great Rift Valley to Rift Valley Academy, nestled on the ridgeline. The school has such a rich history, and has served so many missionary families for over a century! My former headmaster, Mr. Maxwell, graduated from RVA.
No trip to Kenya would be complete without a "selfie" with the Maasai tribal dancers, right? :)
