Day 9: Hillbilly Safari and Lake Naivasha

We began our day at Lake Naivasha. Lake Naivasha is a well known birding spot in Kenya- and the world. Kenya is the home of 1,100 bird species. Any true birder knows Lake Naivasha. I hadn't heard of it before, guess I'm not a true birder, but now I'll consider myself a little more than an amateur. I saw up to 30 new bird species in a single day. I had seen about 30 while in Naivasha and my last one in Nairobi; the red cheeked cordeon bleu.

Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu

We took a boat into the park area and while we were on the water, we saw the ears and snout of a hippo. We got a little curious so we drove the boat to the spot where we spotted the hippo. It jumped out of the water and hid. It was enormous! We didn't have time to snap a photo:(

After we docked the boat, the guys went net fishing and the girls went bird watching. We saw a few fish eagles and got a nice sound recording. They have such a rich sound. Instead of telling all 63 sighting stories, let's list them:

sacred ibis, maribou stork, lapwing plover, pelican, cormorant, Egyptian goose, split tailed drango, tropical boubu, intermediate egret, common squacco heron, love bird, spectacled weaver, bagalafecht weaver, cucou, ring necked dove, ostrich, lilac chested roller, red cheeked cordon bleu, red headed coot, moor hen, red headed oxpecker, pied king fisher, hoopoo, helmeted guinea fowl, chat robin, cinnamon chested bee eater, hadada ibis, African crested eagle, sunbird, fire finch, hammercop, paradise fly catcher, superb starling, cattle egret, fiscal shrike, swallow, white fronted bee eater, grenideer, coucal, crimson sunbird, mouse bird, common bubol yellow butt...

Lilac Chested Roller

There are more birds that I can't name, there were simply too many to take in.

As we left Lake Naivasha, we went to an outdoor restaurant called Cornelly's. It's a favorite among the westerners. There was a camp ground on the property which had some very unique huts made of recycled materials. For lunch, we had beef and spinach/feta samosas. Then we had crayfish salad which was supposed to have tomatoes and avocado with lettuce and a sauce, but they were out of avocado and tomatoes.... sooo it was a salad with crayfish and a sauce... a little on the light side. Granola bars were my supplement that afternoon. Otherwise, everything tasted great.

After lunch, we had our own little safari. On the side of the road, we saw zebra, giraffe, antelope, warthog, baboons, vervet monkey, wildebeest, gazelle, and impala.

While we were driving by a field of cows, one of my teammates, who will go unnamed, bet the others that we could not smack a cow's butt. So, as this teammate got out of the vehicle, a few of us, myself included, decided to take the challenge. We walked slowly in the thorny, grassy field and the cows got the clue and started to walk away. They may not look smart, but they can smell mischief. The bigger ones got away faster, and most of of gave up, the teammate who initiated the challenge snuck up behind a little cow and smacked it. 

We were all so proud. The problem after that was that from behind the trees, there was a man standing there. Oops.. guess we didn't see the cattle herder. 

Later we went into a wildlife preserve, well, we didn't go through the main entry, we drove the Land Rover down a side road that said “No Trespassing” ;) That's why this was a hillbilly safari.

Our first sighting was an ostrich, jackal, and buffalo. The same teammate who will remain unnamed decided to get out of the vehicle, once again and try to get as close to the ostrich as possible. Well, the ostrich was sitting on eggs. It began to ruffle its feathers and reached a standing position. 

 

Boy are ostrich tall! At least 7 feet.

 

We drove into the field the buffalo were eating and one of them stared us down. Good thing we were in the Land Rover, because it would have charged at any one of us. Remember the story of Monica? Yeah, they are not friendly creatures.

 

In the same area we saw eeland which are the largest antelope. We also saw dik-dik, the smallest antelope.

We drove down the road a bit more and we stopped at another preserve. This was a drive-through safari that wasn't open. Our local white Kenyan did some relational negotiating and got us in... but we got to walk! On the walk, we were in the midst of 10 giraffe! They are incredible creatures. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park.. 

This concluded our Hillibilly Safari. Amazing. I will never look at another safari the same way... this one was way too much fun!

We stopped at a basket weaver on the side of the road home and I bartered him down to about ½ of what he was asking. It was fun. I missed bartering from my earlier days in China.

That evening, we all gathered for the last dinner together and had a debriefing about our experiences.

Remembering back to day 1 when we arrived, I felt comfortable and at 'home'. Over the 8 days time spent with my teammates and the Hovingh's, I realized that they had become an extension of my family.

Day 8: Church in Gatamuiyu and Lunch at Mama Leah's

 

 On Sunday, we were told we were going to be making the 3 mile hike back up the mountain to Gatamuiyu... except dressed in our Sunday best. We all considered this factor and decided to drive half the way and walk the rest. It was bearable in dresses and tennis shoes. As we walked, congregation members and the Hovingh's staff met us for the walk up. After about 40 minutes, we approached a tin building with turquoise colored doors. This was a different church than the one we visited on Thursday.

This church seemed more conservative; members were dressed in their best and the service was very organized. We had a time of singing and then many different groups did some specials for us, the honored guests. We had a ladies group come up and sing with all their soul to the beat of a drum. Some mothers had their babies on their hip singing along. A group of men came and sang a few songs as well as a group of children. It was like a showcase of the ages and genders demonstrating their talents yet very unlike a talent show, it was clear their songs were all very focused on worshiping and honoring the Lord. After some time, the church had a time of prayer. Lisa whispered to us during that time and explained that this was a gospel church that believed in praying in tongues. Having grown up in the Assembly of God church, this was a familiar aspect of the service. Later, we got up to sing some familiar songs, some we knew and others they could sing in Swahili. 

The pastor gave a brief version of the announcements due to our time schedule. We were lunch guests at a near by church members house and we had a soccer game to attend in the afternoon. So, the pastor mentioned several times that were only had 2 hours to be with them when church would continue on for at least 2 hours after we left. They made great adjustments to their order of service to accommodate us. Matt and John, two from our team shared a message for the morning. Then the assistant pastor spoke as it was translated for us.

 

We left at our appointed time and walked to our lunch destination. Mama Leah was the woman's house we were going to. Her name is Monica and she is Rehab's (the cook in Naivasha) sister. So it was nice to get to know one of the family. Monica and Charles welcomed us in. They had a beautiful garden on the hill. The hillside was quite steep and seemed to be challenging for Monica to harvest and plant. However, she personified Proverbs 31, she worked hard for her task and rose early before the family to prepare for the day. 

Charles, her husband, didn't want her to keep a garden because it is very hard and dangerous work. One day, Monica was coming back from gathering some vegetables and on the road she met a buffalo. Buffalo are very dangerous animals and if you don't run, you had better! She ran so fast while holding her basket of vegetation. She hadn't thought to throw basket in order to run faster, she kept it safe and sound. When she got home, she realized that she had rubbed some skin off of her hands and wrists from the basket's force. It was cute to see how  

Charles and Monica interacted as a married couple while telling this story. You could see their love as well as their feisty-ness.

We had arrow root, sweet potato, beans and chicken for lunch. We also chapati, a favorite among Kenyan's. If you ask the kids what they want for Christmas, they all say chapati! I would too! It's like a salty fried pancake. Very good with stew or meat.

As we said our thanks and goodbyes, we headed back down to Naivasha. When we got there, we were pretty much exhausted so the ladies stayed behind and let the guys go off the play in the soccer game.
We had our afternoon Chai and played a few games. Dinner that night went late as we recapped the day's events and prepared for our 'Hillbilly Safari' the next day.

Day 7: House of Hope and Trusses

Today we spent the morning at House of Hope. We taught the kids the Zacchaeus song and they all knew it, so it was nice to build more common ground with the kids. We had spent a lot of time at House of Hope compared to the other places we visited. This seems to be the Hovingh's baby; between that and Back to Africa with the ladies in Gil Gil. Joel and Susan, the couple who started House of Hope, have such a strong vision and calling for the orphanage. There are 27 kids in the orphanage, but they do not think of themselves at orphans because they have 1 mom, 2 aunties, a grandmother and a father. They have a home. The village kids who had families were often found hanging around by the fence with wanting eyes. We could tell they wanted to come in; they could sense the love in that place. Not only was there love, but the spirit of Christ was evident.

The day we were there, a group of girls from Rift Valley Academy (RVA) had come from Kijabe to spend time with everyone. They are a missionary kids' school. There are a lot of Americans and other nationalities who attend. The Hovingh's children attend and they seem to enjoy it. The group brought jump ropes and bubbles with them and the kids went nuts. They loved it. I had two little boys just fighting over who could catch the most bubbles and then who could blow the most. I had to keep a tight control on the wand so we didn't lose it in the dirt.

 

Something, not shocking, not surprising, but refreshing was revealed to me; the kids were pushing around toy cars and trucks, much like we have in the states, but they had 1 or no wheels on them. They were still pushing them around with all their might in the dirt! They were playing with broken toys and it made me want to purchase some new ones, but inside I also thought, that refreshing revelation, they can make use of anything in any circumstance. Like the the women in Gil Gil and the congregation in Gatamaiyu, they wore the biggest smiles and had the greatest gratitude. Yes, things can be improved and fixed when broken, but the joy in the circumstance was staring me in the face.

Later that afternoon, we had tables with coloring books set up. Some of our team painted the little girl's toes. One of the girls was wearing blue jeans and after her toes were painted bright red, she went into her room and changed into what was probably a Sunday skirt and some sandals that showed off her freshly painted pedicure. She stole my heart. She had the smile of an angel. 

 

After our time was up at House of Hope, we went back to have lunch. Then we got into our working clothes to finished the trusses from the previous day's work. Now, John, Matt and Jason had been working on a template system to make the cutting and assembly smoother. It seemed that we were remeasuring and cutting custom pieces for each truss. That was taking about 45 minutes. I think I mentioned this in my previous post, but I realize now that I got the days confused. They all just blend into one after a while so, forgive my repetition. Saturday, day 7 was the day of the 15 min 27 second truss building.

At dinner that night, we had received a booked call Live Dead Journal which is a 30 day devotional challenge. It talks about tithing your time to God. So, that is roughly 2 ½ hours a day. The authors give a guideline of how that time is broken down and what to fill it with. I will tell you one thing, it is a true challenge. Honestly, I haven't gotten up to 2 ½ hours. I think split up, I've gotten 1 hour and 45 minutes 1 or 2 nights a week. This book is filled with daily readings and prayer for an unreached people group with a story about or from a missionary. One of the stories was about David Livingstone whose body had been worn down after 23 bouts of Malaria and one of his arms was useless due to a lion attack years ago. He spoke at a conference not long before he died, and he spoke about extravagant time with the Lord. That is the purpose of the Live Dead challenge, to spend extravagant time with the Lord; ultimately, growing in intimacy with Him.

In Livingstone's speech, he talked about Matthew 28 and the word of a Gentleman. He referred to the Lord as a gentleman who promised to be with us always. A short time later when he passed away, he was found kneeling next to his bed with Matthew 28 open and in the margin was written “The Word of a Gentleman.”

Matthew 28:

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Day 5: Zacchaeus and Trusses

Today the whole team went to Malewa Primary School to meet 300 elementary and middle school kids. The night before, we had a quick planning meeting about a bible story we could teach the kids. We all agreed that the story of Zacchaeus in Luke would be appropriate for the students. We decided that Carrie would read the passage from Luke and I would make the application for the kids. Then we all taught them the song we all know from childhood and taught some basic motions for the song. After several times through, the kids had it. After we finished the song, we took the kids outside to play soccer and we taught them Duck, Duck, Goose! Then they taught us some name games where we had to remember names in a few minutes time; that turned out to be interesting as some of their names were Swahili and others were English.

Teaching the kids was a familiar experience for me since I had been a preschool teacher before I went to China in '08. I had subconsciously “sworn-off” kids because I had been burned out. I noticed for a few years after China, I had lost my touch and desire to be around kids. But that has since faded. I felt really natural with the kids and I felt like I was in my element. That was an encouraging step for me to take. Maybe my swearing off of kids was pride, I'm not sure, but our being there with the kids at Malewa Primary reminded me that Jesus allowed the children to come to him. I have felt like the disciples when they were too prideful and busy with larger, more important matters, so they thought.

We left Malewa to have lunch and begin our afternoon duties. We took Simon, a pastor of a few churches with on the way back. He and Matt had to ride on the carriage on the roof of the Land Rover. How scary, but after some time, I wanted to try it, but I was always dressed inappropriately for that rugged of a trip.

Simon's wife is a teacher at Malewa and she mainly deals with the spiritual side of their education. Associated with the school is a church where the head leader is called a prophet. This prophet is idolized to put in bluntly. Before we arrived, there had been some controversy about our coming and the head of the school had tried to cancel the event. Apparently, the prophet of the church didnt feel that missionaries coming to teach the kids about the bible was a good idea. So you can see why I used the word “idolized” in describing the situation. Once again, seeing and hearing firsthand helps us know how to pray for schools like Malewa and churches.

We enjoyed a relaxing lunch and then headed up to the work site to build the trusses for the community center. We used raw cut damp spongy cypress “2x4” wood. I learned a lot about building trusses. I can officially add that to my resume:)

After several customized cuts for each individual truss, we figured out how to make templates and cut all similar pieces. One truss was taking us up to 30 to 40 minutes. When got the system flowing we hit a record time of 15 minutes and 27 seconds. We had a few hours to finish 11 trusses. We accomplished that goal. Since we finished, were earned our day of fun, but you will have to wait for that story:)

Each night we had dinner guests and the evening guests were a couple who run an environmental camp in Naivasha for the local kids and a guy who had been teaching English in Sudan. I have enjoyed getting to know other people in Africa who are giving their lives to spread the gospel. It has been so inspiring and it takes the edge away from actually stepping out to live in another country. I remember what it felt like after returning from China. The abrupt uproot of my life wasn't evident until I came back and tried to re-establish myself. Over the years, I let fear set in of not having the comforts of life. Comfort is like stagnant water, it stinks.

Day 4: The Joy of Their Salvation

The fourth day of being in Kenya was probably one of my favorites and full of impact. There is an organization called Back to Africa. http://backtoafrica.myshopify.com/ 

This organization sells paper beads made into necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Mothers and wives spend countless hours rolling magazine paper into beads. What they earn from their work supports their families. We were able to visit and share with these women in a city named Gil Gil. We drove up and saw 10-12 women sitting on the ground with their beads in hand tirelessly stringing and securing the fasteners. We sat and chatted with the women as they shared some of their stories with us. Many of these women have been victims of abuse or abandonment. They are doing all they can to support their families. All of the women were mothers and we called them 'Mama- (first born)' as the custom is. One of our teammates, Pat, had prepared a devotional on Proverbs 31:10. She shared the background of the the virtuous woman and then simply read the Word of God. It was translated by one of the women who spoke English well, and the family resemblance of the body of Christ was evident across culture and language. As Pat read the proverb, we realized that we were surrounded by virtuous women. Proverbs 31:17-20: 

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

These few verses portray what these women were doing in their daily lives. We had the chance to give them some toys and coloring books for their children and also soap and toothbrushes for the family. They were so grateful for the things we take for granted. We overheard one of the ladies telling another that she was going to share the items with her  neighbor because she knew that the family was struggling. When we heard this, it reminded us of the Widow's Offering from Mark 12:43:

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.

We are so used to taking what extra we have for ourselves. If I have an extra $20 dollars at the end of the month, chances are I'm going to save it or spend it on myself. Very few times do we think in our culture to help our neighbor who is in need.

After the devotional was finished, the women sang a song in Swahili. We couldn't understand it, but it was beautiful. Before we knew it, they had us dancing and singing with them. We sang some familiar songs in English and Swahili. The expression of joy was one of the most beautiful things I've experienced in my life. Their joy is pure and true and I say that because they don't have all the luxuries and comforts that we have or most of the world has; they only have Jesus which is all they will ever need.
(I have pictures and video of this morning and I will post them when I receive them from my team)

The afternoon came quickly and we spent it hiking up a mountain for an hour. It was roughly 3 miles and we were headed to a place called Gatamaiyu to hang doors on the outhouses at a church. We were running an hour behind schedule, but TIA (this is Africa). Much to our surprise, members of the church were there waiting for us to begin. They held a special service with a customized message to mention our coming. The village was very humble and shy on the comforts of life, but the beauty of the natural surroundings and being so high in the mountains trumped anything that was lacking. There were a few natural gardens and a water basin filled with natural spring water from the Rift Valley. As the doors were hung, we had plenty of time to chat with the locals and hear about life in the village. I would say they were the most joyful bunch of people I'd met. The ladies in Gil Gil had joyful expressions during their worship, but the people in this humble village just overflowed with joy. They absolutely loved their way of life. It spoke a lot about how we live and the distractions that take us away from the bigger matters in life. The sun started to go down and we had to get back because there are no city lights up there and the hike was rocky and gravity was against us. As we rushed back, the people from the church and others from the community walked a long way with us. Their smiles will remain in my memory forever. Our urgency to get down while the daylight was still on our side pushed us home just in time. In the mean time, we were able to catch the most beautiful sunsets.  

At the end of this day, I walked away a different person. Joy, love and faith were some of the common virtues I experienced. Seeing the people in Gatamaiyu increased my faith that God is all sovereign and any fear I've ever had about life, money, jobs, family and what not, is totally and completely irrelevant. If God shows such great faithfulness to a people living in the humblest conditions, what do I have to be concerned with? Well, His work that is. The great commission has become greater in my view during these two short weeks.

Day 3: Socialite's Dream

I titled this post 'Socialite's Dream' because anyone who loves meeting and mingling with new people several times a day would have enjoyed this day. I thought this day was quite essential because it was the first time it hit me that I was actually in Africa.

The hallways at Helping Hands

An overhead shot of the school

We began our second day in Naivasha with a visit to a school called Helping Hands. This school cares for and educates children with special needs as well as those with out. We met two boys, Charles and Isaac, who use their skills to make ceramic pieces that are made into jewelry as pendants and charms. You will hear more about jewelry in day 4's post. I want to talk a bit about Charles: about 10 years ago during elections and campaigns for Kenya's upcoming leader, Charles remembered seeing men with machetes, riots and chaos at a young age. Shortly after, he lost his mother; his father had also been gone. 

My ability to recall the details accurately is failing, so I've kept this vague. Charles puts all his strength and energy into making great pieces of ceramics for jewelry. Isaac is new at this trade as he is learning and perfecting his skills. He is learning from Charles' skills and work ethic. Isaac was the quieter of the two boys, but he has aspirations to get into a good university when he's done with school. Both boys have such sweet spirits. Being able to see them in their daily life helps me to pray for them more effectively.

Pat (L), Carrie and Amy (R) outside Helping Hands

After leaving Helping Hands, we needed to go to the local grocery store. While living in America and teaching ESL, I have become very accustomed to diversity. I think we were the only four Americans in the store. I experienced being a minority in China, but there were one hundred plus Americans in Xinzheng. In Naivasha, it was real life, not an enclosed bubble of a familiar society. The store was packed with people and the lines were so long that the typical American customer would have gotten antsy. 

Not the grocery store, but in Navaisha Town

Within the same morning, we went to the ladies bible study at a woman's house named Dea. The ladies at this bible study are all missionaries of some sort in the general area. This week, bible study was a surprise birthday party for Dea. She married a Swiss man and he passed away within the last 10 years. Dea is from Tanzania. She is full of life at 68 and doesn't look a day over 50.

After lunch we visited House of Hope for the second time. While we were driving we saw baboons, monkeys, zebra, donkey, lizards, goats, birds, buffalo, camels, gazelle impala , sheep and cows. We asked the ladies to give a list of jobs we could do to lighten their heavy load so they put us to work washing dishes outside. We used boiled water from the wood burning stove.

After that was finished, we spent around two hours sorting through maze while we talked casually and exchanged stories.

We had many dinner guests that night, some of which we met at the bible study for Dea's birthday. Two of the women we met were part of the same family. Most of the family members are missionaries in Africa and have been for 4 generations running. Many of the locals know them well. The 3^rd generation of the kids are married and they are bringing up the next. It was so encouraging to see all the families who have chosen to make Africa their home.

After a full day, I felt ready to go to bed. 

Nature Favorites of the day:

Outside Helping Hands

Near Dea's House