Returning Home

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On Sunday we said good bye to those leaving the conference. The group from Uganda left at 3:00 am and other groups left through out the day. The last group left at 9:30 pm. Over 50 were packed in the back of the lorry. Timothy’s 86 year old mother was able to ride in the cab but would not get home until 2:00 am. How many Americans would wait so patiently all day for their rides home? Or how many would attend a conference in the first place knowing you would stand hours in a truck, bouncing over rough roads, sleeping on the church floor with a mat for a bed, and attending meetings all day and into the night? If we can’t drive right up to the building and leave when we want to in our cars we probably wouldn’t go. The sacrifices these people make to come to hear the gospel are hard to imagine. Even when we are watching it first hand it is hard to believe and makes such an impression on us. The Sunday service was special as six pastors were ordained. This will be a tremendous help in the ministry as each will head up a district so that not all the burden falls on Timothy.


The last two days in Kenya were spent as “tourists”. It was really fun to take Pastor Timothy, his wife, Florence, their daughter, Elisabeth, and our driver on a couple of excursions most Kenyans don’t get to experience. On Monday morning we left Kitale and arrived at the Nakuru game park that afternoon. Nakuru isn’t as large as Masai Mara but has some great sights. It is famous for the thousands of pink flamingos that are near the shore of Lake Nakuru. Also there are hundreds of cape buffalo in the park. We were fortunate to see three lions and several rhinos. Most Kenyans don’t get to travel into the park so it was fun to show it to the “locals”. The next morning we drove into Nairobi for some bartering with the local shops for a few souvenirs. Then it was a crazy drive to the suburb of Karen. The traffic was at a standstill many times. Through honking, never yielding, and driving aggressively, our driver finally got us to the home of Karen Blixen. You may have read her book, "Out of Africa", or seen the movie with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. She was married to a Swedish Baron and they came to Africa in the early 1900’s. Though the marriage didn’t last, Karen stayed in Africa until the 1930’s, building up a coffee plantation and farm of 6000 acres. The house has some of the original furniture and is in a beautiful, peaceful setting with many gardens. Florence thought a museum was a place where we would see reptiles and snakes. She liked this version of a museum much better!

Our flight out left at 10:30pm on Tues. night, so after many tearful goodbyes it was time to board the plane. Both flights were on time and we landed in Minneapolis at 12:30 this afternoon. Again we would like to thank each of you for your prayers and support. It was a memorable experience for all six of us and we’re already dreaming of returning again!

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