We awoke this morning with the confirmation that last night’s
clouds were in fact carrying rain with them.
Last night some strong winds blew in heavy looking clouds that were a
direct answer to prayer. The sprinkle of
rain early this morning and the continued mist has allowed the dust to settle a
bit and it looks as if the long rains are about to settle as well. As I type these words I hear Toto’s song
Africa playing in my head. The rains
indeed are a blessing and an answer to no few prayers here in Kenya. May they settle in for some time to replenish
and refresh this parched land.
Saturday:
Teresa had this last weekend off, her only two days free
from hospital work during this entire month.
As such we decided we would venture out for a bit of fun around Kenya. We departed Saturday morning for one of the
nearby parks, Hell’s Gate. If you think
the name sounds a bit daunting, know that within the park there are several
areas equally named including the Devil’s Kitchen and even the Devil’s
Toilet. In my mind was Jesus’ words that
He would build His church and the gates of hell would not conquer it. Armed with this scripture we continued onward. Apart from the evil monikers the park
actually contains a broad sample of Kenya’s animals and picturesque
landscapes.
We saw some of the classic animals including zebras,
gazelle, impalas, buffalo, kudus, baboons and even a lone giraffe. After driving through the park for a short
while we continued the journey on foot through the deep gorge carved out long
ago. As we began our hike we were
visited by some friendly black-faced vervets that put on a good show for our
coconut flavored crackers we were snacking on. They charmed more than a few of them out of
our lunch stash. As we continued the
walk through the gorge we came through an area where we were told by our guide
that two movies were filmed: Tomb Raider and the Lion King. I am not sure how I missed it or maybe I was just
dreaming but wasn’t the Lion King an animated film?
Never the matter, we carried on through the gorge and came
out near some power stations where our good friend Richard has been
working. He gave us a tour through one
of Kenya’s cutting edge, green power generators. According to what we were told these
facilities of “free energy” could supply over ¼ of Kenya’s electricity needs. The power company has a number of sites where
they brilliantly drilled 3,000 meters deep to harness the power of heat and
steam coming from within the earth’s crust.
This steam powers turbines that then convert the energy to electricity sent
out to the far reaches of the nation.
The particular facility we were in generated 105 megawatts just by
harnessing the earth’s geothermal forces.
The whole business was particularly exciting and we were honored to have
a tour of one of the many green power facilities in Kenya.
Carrying on from there we came to Hells Gate’s newest
feature, a hot spring spa. Whatever you
have in your mind about what this may look like, immediately erase it. I assumed this would be a small hole off a
dusty road where there was a bit of hot water.
Imagine our surprise when we saw a round circular cement pool at least
fifty feet in diameter filled with sky blue comfort. Hot water boiling forth from the earth was
collected in a cooling pool which was then pumped into this gigantic circular bowl
that was heaven on earth. Unfortunately we had no towels with us but we will
not make that mistake again. Apparently this
is the only hot spring of this caliber in all of Africa. It truly looked as if we had left Kenya and
gone to a fancy resort in Dubai.
After the spa we made a quick ride over to Lake Naivasha for
a boat ride. While there we came uncomfortably
close to some full sized hippos, tipping the scales at 3 tons our guide
opportunely mentioned. We also saw birds
seemingly numbering in the thousands with every variety you could imagine. As we headed across the lake we even saw the
area where they filmed a portion of Out of Africa with transplanted wildebeests
and all. We finally rolled back in to
Kijabe just as darkness was falling and, despite our best efforts, we were
unable to stay awake past ten o’clock.
After all we had much to prepare for as our Sunday promised to be of
even greater excitement.
Sunday:
Yesterday we had the supreme privilege to be back in the
Maasai church, AIC Kitet. After meeting
up with our friend Paul, with whom we learned shared numerous mutual friends
here in Kenya, we made the journey to Suswa, just under an hour away. When we arrived the children had already
gathered and were practicing their songs outside the metal-roofed, stone
sanctuary. As the morning of worship
began people trickled in from rather long distances away as they journeyed to
meet with a group of fellow believers not only for mutual edification but also
to praise the One that gave them life for another week.
Shortly after our arrival some Maasai ladies whisked Teresa
away outside the sanctuary and dressed her in traditional shukas and loads of
beaded jewelry. Our Maasai friends also
gave her a new name, Nashipae, which means “joy”. The morning service had no shortage of that
very thing as the meeting seemed to take a page right out of the New Testament
church manual. Although the service had
a general order of things the entire morning was peppered with numerous
testimonies, words of praise and even a couple of folks who just wanted to sing
a song that was on their heart. As I
witnessed the passionate faith of everyone in the service I noted that because each
person was a participant there was no room for spectators. The service they took part in was not built
around a sermon but rather the living demonstration of God’s work throughout
their previous week.
I did have a chance to share a few words but what can you
share when so many have said it far better already? I shared from the Sermon on the Mount and
spoke of the hope we have of great reward in the life to come. Despite the difficulties of this life, we
know that God’s kingdom seems to stand in direct opposition to that of this
world. Those who are poor, mourn, and are
persecuted, and yet in the midst of it all turn their gaze towards God, it is
these who Jesus said are blessed. That
brings an entirely new light to the differences of American Christianity versus
that which Jesus communicated. We even
enjoyed a special time of prayer at the end of the service for some in need,
following the Biblical command of coming together and laying hands on those
requesting prayer. It was a powerful
time and although I could not see it, I could almost sense their faith reaching
out and taking that which they needed from God’s outstretched hands.
After a tremendous time together we journeyed to the house
of Pastor Richard for a meal and some additional fellowship. Our new friend and driver Paul came along
and could not stop commenting on the kindness and warmth of Richard
and his family. We ate a wonderful meal
prepared by Richard’s wife, Evelyn and shared numerous memories, some old and
some new. It was such an honor to sit in
the house of a longtime friend; if we only knew what had been in store ten
years ago when we met on a dusty journey to Nakuru we might not have believed
it.
We made our way back to Kijabe through the winding roads and
bid farewell to our friend Paul for now.
I will catch up with him later this week as we go to Naivasha and then
on to Eburru to find Pastor Steve, one of the most warm, loving and brilliant
men I have ever had the privilege of meeting.
We rolled back into our place of residence only minutes after another
dear friend had arrived. Connie Donlon,
who I had the honor of working in the Kibera Slums with, had come for a
visit. What a blessed time of
reconnecting with those who God is using mightily here in the beautiful country
of Kenya!
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