No Pot, No Chai

Good day all! Our time in Kenya is now over half-way done. It is hard to imagine that so much time has gone by. God has taught me such a variety of things that I don’t even know how to begin to describe. On Mondays we always work on the compound here in Kiserian and though it is impossible to call one of the days a “favorite” it is probably the day that is most enjoyable and refreshing because of the workers that we get to do construction with because we are able to talk to them in our down time. Today one of the workers actually asked me when I would be coming back to Kenya because he said that he would miss me very much, which made my day to hear. Unfortunately, going to Kenya takes a bit more than pocket change, so I told him I did not know when I would be able to come back, or if I would be able to at all.

The other highlight of lately was involved with the house visits we have been doing in Kibera on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One lady we visited on Tuesday who had been going to church, but stopped going when she left Kibera for a short time invited us into her house openly and allowed us to encourage her. She was very open to the invitation to start going to the church once again, so much so that she asked us to speak with her neighbor, who was involved in a religion that looked like it combined Catholicism and some sort of local religion. That following Sunday we were about ready to leave church and we noticed that the first lady we visited was just about to leave church as well, unfortunately, her neighbor was not in church with her, but we praise God that she was able to come to church once again.

We actually have a couple visitors from the U.S. this week. One of which is Opal from MTW who has been coming to Kenya for many years and has also visited many intern groups. She could not believe how well things have gone for us as a team, but we can only point to God for that. He alone is the reason that things have gone so well and we pray that he will continue to keep his hand of guidance on us. I do have one prayer request though. I have been fighting a cough for about a week now and since I am susceptible to bronchitis I am thinking that it might end up settling in my lungs. Please pray that will not happen so that I may have physical energy during my time here. Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the duration of this trip. Some people may be wondering if I am homesick at all. That has become a weird dichotomy for me. Every day I spend here I come to love the people and the culture more and more. However, at the same time, I long for going home to see family, friends and most of all Hannah more and more every day as well. It is a strange mixture of emotions for me. Thank you to all those who have sent words of encouragement, even though I don’t respond, I appreciate it very much.