August 8, 2008: We arrived last night in Nairobi. Our contacts, Pam and George, good friends from past trips to Kenya, met us at the airport and we made good time to our hotel. It was a blessing to see familiar faces with such big smiles. Thanks to Jim Holmes, my pastor and treasured friend from Helen First Baptist, for all of his help getting us in touch with Pam.
Kathryn and I were looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, I was unable to sleep. I spent much time reading, watching the local television, and simply praying. I found myself opening up to Christ and seeking his guidance. I kept asking myself so many “what if” questions. “Are we doing the right thing?” “What if Mzungu doesn’t want to go with us?” “What if…” The list of questions is long but, the answer Christ kept giving me was “remember what I said to you in the very beginning…this is your son. This is your son!”
I immediately began to notice the Kenyan song birds, felt the coolness in the air, felt the breeze on my face and saw the sun coming up. I was blessed with a peace that truly passes all understanding. God is truly in control and I, out of love for Him, trust Him through obedience…simple obedience. Not easy, but rather simple.
We spent Thursday traveling to Rongo. This is where we will be staying while visiting with Mzungu’s family and friends. Phillip met us at the hotel and it was a great reunion.
We spent the whole day Friday with Phillip, his family, Mzungu’s grandparents and their family. The day was filled with a lot of coffee, tea, food and conversation. Phillip is a soap stone carver (when he has time) and he, Mzungu, George (our driver) and I went for a 6 km walk to the soap stone quarry. This was when Mzungu and I began to bond. He is very shy, so the warm up was very slow. As the day went on, however, he began to draw closer to me. By the end of our return from the quarry, he was riding on my shoulders. Dorcus (Phillip’s wife), Zepheniah & Rucia (Mzungu’s grandparents) and Kathryn spent the day talking and getting to know each other. Kathryn also began to make her own Gusii-Swahili-English dictionary. We have been adding to it several times each day.
Saturday was a lot of fun. I was blessed to teach a class for the local pastors and Kathryn spoke with the ladies of the 5 churches represented. They seemed to really enjoy what she had to say. I taught again in the afternoon with the youth in attendance this time. It was a lot of fun for me personally. All throughout the day I kept noticing Mzungu out of the corner of my eye. We would make eye contact and we would both smile. He continued to draw closer to me until by the end of the day he was holding my hand…a small, but powerful step for me.
On Sunday, August 10, 2008, Kathryn and I spent the morning with the members of Phillip’s church. The praise music was awesome and the testimonies were great. Rucia shared a small bit of her testimony and it was very moving. She shared how she was very down after her daughter had died and just didn’t want to go on…and 6-7 months later God brought her hope through me. This was the time that God had led me to inquire about how to adopt Mzungu. This week she told Kathryn she was happy that Mzungu would have food to eat and be able to go to school. Fear of death is still near to this family. Since 2005 they have lost other children. Zepheniah and Rucia have had 17 children, 3 of which are still living.
After church this morning we loaded the van and headed for Nairobi. Along the way we were fortunate to see a baby baboon, a herd of zebras and impalas and a flock of pink flamingoes. This wasn’t only a first for Kathryn, but also for Mzungu. He never slept on our 7 hour journey. He was wide eyed and fascinated. Kenya is incredible! Monday morning we are scheduled to meet with Kenyan officials then we will go to the U.S. Embassy. Please continue to pray for timing and favor. Asante sana (thank you very much).
