I guess I’m long over-due for an update, so I’ll take you all back to the beginning of 2008. This may be a bit long so you may want to get a cup of coffee or a snack. Well, here goes:Nairobi, Kenya:
Meghan and I flew into Nairobi on December 29, two days after the Kenyan elections. Our hopes of spending every day in Java House, shopping at the Massai market and Nakumat, catching a movie, and getting hair cuts and pedicures were quickly washed away by the release of the election results. Although we were able to eventually do many of these things, our time in Nairobi was very different than we had expected. Our first stop in Nairobi was Ya-Ya Center, one of the many malls. More than half of the shops were already closed and the other half were closing because many people were fearing coming into work. These people were fearing rioters. Even many of the matatu and taxi drivers stopped running since rioters were stoning and burning vehicles. Our first few days were pretty uneventful since we couldn’t do very much. We spent most of our time at the guesthouse where we were staying hanging out with some of the other guests who were unable to travel out of the city. New Year’s Eve was extremely uneventful. Meghan and I just spent the night in our room and at midnight we toasted our bottles of Coke. We found out on January 1 that our plans to travel into Uganda by road the next day were cancelled since it was extremely unsafe. We then needed to make alternate arrangements, both housing and travel. Luckily, Meghan knew an older couple working with AIMCare who were able to take us in and the Central regional office took care of our travel arrangements into Uganda. We left Methodist Guesthouse on January 2 and went to stay with the Stiansens. The funny thing about this move was that at Methodist we were in a much safer part of the city (closer to the outskirts actually) and where the Stiansens live is right next to the largest slum, Kibera. Although we were so close to Kibera, we were in a very safe gated neighborhood. The day that Dick picked us up from Methodist, we did a supply run at Naukumat (equivalent of a Walmart). Everyone in the store was stocking up on the essentials since they weren’t sure when they were going to be able to get back out of their homes. It was like in the States when we go to the grocery store right before a big snow storm. As I stood in line looking at the people around me, it saddened me because these were people who were just trying to go about their daily lives and weren’t at all interested in rioting. Now, here they were, their lives interrupted by political unrest. It was just really sad. After we got to the Stiansens, we were informed to stay indoors until otherwise informed. We were on house arrest for a couple of days, but when we were finally given the ok to leave, we were able to venture into the city. We actually went to the nicest mall in the richest part of Nairobi called Village Market. This mall was unlike any I’ve ever seen. It was an outdoor/indoor mall with a beautiful courtyard area. One side of the mall held all of the shops, the middle was the food court, and the other side had…get this…a movie theater, bowling alley, mini golf course, and water park! Yes, all in this mall!!! It was crazy! I know what you’re thinking…this is in Africa?!?!? Yea, it was crazy. After doing a little shopping (since everything was SO expensive), we saw a movie. It was so nice to get out! We stayed with the Stiansens for about a week enjoying as much of Nairobi has we possible could under the circumstances before we flew out to Uganda. (Just so that everyone knows, there was never a time when Meghan or I felt threatened by what was going on in Nairobi. We felt safe both at Methodist Guesthouse and with the Stiansens. We were in constant communication with the short-term coordinator at the Central Region office in Kampala and the short-term coordinator for Kenya. We were even informed of the contingency plan if we needed to enact it. I want to thank you for all of your prayers during our time in Nairobi. We greatly appreciated them!)
Kampala, Uganda:
On January 8, Meghan and I flew to Entebbe then traveled onto Kampala for the Central Region Conference. The Central Region is comprised of Uganda, South Sudan, Chad, CAR (Central African Republic), DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Rwanda. The conference brought in AIM missionaries from all the countries listed above including some of the bigwigs from the UK International Office. Conference was such an encouraging and refreshing time for all of us. I was able to reconnect with everyone I went through the LAMP course with and learn about what they were doing on their mission fields. I was able to catch up with the Bylers and Matthew and finally meet the Scotlands (also serving in Ikotos with Meghan). I also got to meet several other people and find out where they were serving and what they were doing. Every day each unit within the central region would present the missionaries serving the various locations within that unit. After the unit presentations, our conference speaker would give his talk. The talks were taken from John 13, 15, and 17 (loving one another, the Fruit of the Vine, and prayer). The talks centered on the life of a missionary and what our goals should be as a missionary. We should love not only those we are serving but those who are serving along side us. We should constantly be growing in our walks with the Lord, producing fruit as we grow; we should be dependent on the Vine (Jesus). Finally, we should pray for ourselves, for those working with us, and for all believers. The speaker pointed out an interesting fact about prayer. No where does Jesus say to pray for the unbelievers. Now, this does not mean that we are just to forget the unbelievers. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations…” So, just because Jesus doesn’t say that we need to pray for the unbeliever doesn’t mean that we should not tell them about Jesus. Jesus does specify that we should pray for all believers and for this reason: “that all of them may be one, Father just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believer that you have sent me…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17: 21, 23). These lessons will be very encouraging for me when go back to Sudan and continue in my ministry. The afternoons were spent hanging out and continuing our fellowship with one another. Conference ended with a time of worship and prayer; an extra boost of encouragement before we all parted ways.
Calum
Three-legged Race
Machakos, Kenya:
Last Saturday (19th) we hiked Mt. Iveti, a mountain overlooking Machakos. I’m not sure how far we walked but we hiked for a good four hours and there were some pretty strenuous parts of the hike. There were stretches along the hike that made me feel like I was hiking somewhere in Virginia. At the top of the mountain is this little town called Kusyomuomo where we stopped and had a Coke. The hike was great and I got some really beautiful pictures of the area. We also had the chance (just yesterday actually) to take the kids one of the area schools and let them go swimming. The pool was freezing but it was great to go swimming. Friday (25th) was a day off for everyone. Half of the group went to Nairobi for the day, but Meghan and I went with six others to a ranch where we could do a mini “safari”. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived at this quaint little ranch. We stayed in bandas that were situated in a horseshoe around this beautiful little courtyard. The bandas were a replica of a mud hut only built with wood and much larger. As soon as we arrived, we dropped our stuff and went out for a game drive. We saw many antelope and wildebeest. We also saw a giraffe and actually walked out within a few hundred yards of it. When we got back to the ranch we had a delicious dinner (the food at ABO isn’t the greatest!). Meghan had been sick with what we thought was malaria earlier in the week and half way through the week found out that she also had a bacterial infection in her stomach. She hadn’t really eaten anything that week so she was super-excited for the food. Well, I think she over-did it because she got really sick that night. Friday morning we got up shortly after 6 and went on another game drive (Meghan stayed in bed). It was really foggy so we weren’t really able to see much initially. We did see lots of antelope and wildebeest again. We also saw several ostriches, zebra, warthog (including baby warthogs!), and lots of giraffe. We searched for cheetah since they do live in the reserve but we never did find one. Towards the end of our drive we got stuck in the mud…which I believe is part of the safari experience. After 15 minutes of the guys and Amanda digging in the mud we spotted a vehicle. Luckily, this man was able to help us out of the mud. After that little adventure, we had delicious breakfast. Half of the group took a walk and the rest of us (us girls) lounged around reading and sleeping in the courtyard. It was such a peaceful day! After lunch, Meghan and I went on a short walk and saw a whole herd of wildebeest and zebra. We left the reserve later that after and, as we were leaving the park, we saw a whole herd of giraffes (including babies!). The boys had past the herd on their walk earlier and counted 18. It was amazing! I was so grateful for such a peaceful day off! Meghan and I have another week and a half of ABO before we finally get back to Sudan, but I will update you on the second half.
Our Tour Guide
The Hike
Thank you for patiently reading through my blog. I hope to be better disciplined in writing my blogs in the future. One last thing: please keep Meghan in your prayers. She’s been battling this bacterial infection for over a week now, which has prohibited her from being able to work with the kids fully. Thank you again for continuing to keep me in your prayers. I appreciate it! Well, until next time…
Mt. Iveti
