After we left the Guest House on Sunday, we traveled four hours to what will be our home town for the next few months. The ride over was...cool/interesting/differant/a learning experience. We got into a van that would be considered old and rundown by American/our standards, but compared to many of these motatu's it was very nice. When we got to downtown Nairobi, we were transferred to another motatu with for our trip to Chipolet. These vans are about the size of a normal minivan, but they have been refitted to hold 18 people (at least they have that many seats. more on that later). As is common with Kenyan culture, we didn't leave for about fifteen minutes as the driver, and doorman got the van ready and filled the van up with people.
The ride itself was very fast. We passed many vans, cars and trucks, but I can only remember one van passing us. The roads weren't as bad as I had expected, but some parts were dirt and gravel.
When we got to Chipolet, George showed us around. The elevation is high enough that the sun isn't super hot. Just about right. Everyone we talked to was glad to see us, and were very friendly. We got to talk to some of the store owners near our apartment, and say hello to some of the kids of the neighborhood. I was surprised when a lot of them spoke English. That will make learning Swahili harder, but communication with some of them easier. We got to see our apartment, see the church, and meet George's family too. On our walk out to the church, George told us that many people were killed in Chipolet about a year ago, and that the dirt road we were walking down was filled with many casualties. That was humbling to hear.
We spent the night there and left for Kisumu in the morning for a week long conference with the Kenya Mennonite Church leaders on inner healing after the violence that broke out after the elections last December. The ride over was in another motatu, but this time we counted 24 people at one point. I was very impressed with how efficient Kenyans can be *smile*.
At the gathering in Kisumu, we got to worship alongside our Kenyan brothers and sisters, eat with them, and build relationships with many people who will be trying to help their churches and communities recover from the conflict. The conversations with people here have been out of this world. One man I talked to was telling me about the best ways to show Gods love to his people. He also told me his story of God being faithful to him and his family, and also the things God has been doing through him.
Right now we are in Nairobi, resting up, and preparing for the East African Mennonite Retreat.
God has been good to us over the past week as we get settled into Kenyan culture. He keeps showing more of himself to us through these experiences.
Taylor
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi from some members of the GO! Kenya Team who lived in Songhor, near Kisumu, with Bishop Clyde for 2 months. It's great hearing about the Kenyan life again. Don't get too big headed for being treated like celebs all the time:) If you have the chance, please give Bishop Clyde and Gordon a big 'Habari ako?' for us. We'll be praying for you guys. ~Joan and Steph (you can visit our Kenya blog at kenyagoteam.blogspot.com)
Taylor -
Great blog, and I love reading about your experiences and ministry. I won't go on about being such a proud uncle and all that mushy stuff -- your friends might see it and pick on you. So I'll skip it. :-)
Know that I and my who family are praying for you as well as Brook, Colin, and Stephan.
-- Uncle Jeff
Taylor (and rest of team),
Glad to have found your blog. I love keeping up with all the teams. I smile at some of your experiences because it seems no matter what 3rd world country one is in there are similarities --expecially in mode and manner of travel. Know that we are prayaing for you all as you continue to make adjustments, build relationships and find your place.
Post a Comment