Life and ministry in Kenya have been hard, we definitely jumped right into the extreme with our first country: no water, electricity, no normal food, and huge climate change. The sun cooks you during the day, but at night it's so cold and humid it's hard to sleep some nights. There's poop everywhere and we sleep about 20 feet from a hundred goats. We walk quite a few miles every day in rough terrain full of hills and rocks and you have to constantly be watching the ground and in front of your face for the acaesha trees and their thorns on the ground; they'll go right through your shoes and they're literally everywhere. They are also your only source of shade so it's a necessary evil. These are the beautiful African trees that all the livestock and giraffes and elephants feed on. You eat as much as possible for lunch because you're really hungry by the time dinner rolls around at 8 or sometimes 9. And then it's off to bed right after dinner so that you might get some sleep before the goats and donkeys go crazy around 3 in the morning. Sounds great right? But the land has a beautiful all its own and we have been so incredibly blessed since we have been here in Kenya; God has been so evident in our team and the ministry we've been apart of. We have literally seen people healed and many people come to Christ for the first or rededicated their lives. The people here are strong, you have to be to live here, but they are also some of the most generous and joyful people I have ever met. Their livelihood are goats and making beads and people have been so generous to give us bracelets and chai which comes at great cost to them, but they do it with the biggest smiles. One home we specifically visited many times, the first time the man and his wife accepted Christ and the man gave up a bag of drugs. We were very excited but his mother would not accept Christ and each time we talked with her she would listen but said that she just couldn't be saved yet. The last day of ministry we visited them one last time and she still said no. We were all very discouraged,, but the Lord was persistent and worked on her heart while we were there. She changed her answer to maybe and then finally before we left she accepted Christ as her savior. We were overjoyed for this because it was only the Lord who changed this womans heart which has been hardened during our time here and now this entire family are new believers in Christ. We have seen many that are shy when we first meet them but are smiling and laughing by the time we leave and insist on making us chai. God has blessed our time here in Kenya and He has been planting these seeds for years that we were able to see fruit from. The church here, while small, is very strong and bold walking many miles to reach out to their neighbors and relatives, and they are so full of the love of Christ, they always greet us with beaming faces and joy. Truly the people here have blessed us as much as the Lord may have blessed them through us. As I'm typing this on our 30+ hour bus ride to Uganda we are excited, but also very sad because we will miss our Kenyan family greatly.
