Post from last couple days in Kenya
On Thursday morning we left to go on our safari. We left at around 7am and we got to the Masai Mara Game Preserve at around 2:00pm. On the way we drove through miles of tea leaf fields and we stopped and took this picture.
These are the tents we slept in that night.
We had some lunch at around 2:30pm and then headed out on an evening drive in the game preserve. We saw tons of cool animals and a beautiful sunset. In the morning we left at around 6:15am for a sunrise game drive. Here are some of the animals from both the evening and morning drives.
After that we went to a Masai Village and had a tour and bought some souvenirs. Here are some pictures of that.
Then we drove for about six hours over a horrible road that was mostly dirt all the way back to Nairobi where we went to dinner at a place called Carnivore which serves up a ton of meat.
Home Safe
We all arrived home safely yesterday afternoon to LAX. I know that I was feeling a bit strange at 8:00pm last night when it was 4am in England and 6am in Kenya. But after a good night sleep I am feeling much better. I know some people start school today from the team and the rest will in the next couple days so prayer for energy as we re-enter western society will be much appreciated.
Sunday Morning in London
It’s 7:40am here in London and everyone is supposed to meet me in the lobby in 20 minutes to start the last leg of our journey home.
We went out on the town last night and had some fun. We took a train from near our hotel to Paddington Station and then got on the Tube and popped up at Picadilly Circus. We actually ate at a delicious Italian restaurant right next to the theater where Les Miserables plays. We couldn’t have the traditional pub meal because too many people are too young to go in and they really keep track at 8pm on Saturday night. Everybody was really happy with it, especially Lauren, because we had this big dessert called The Godfather.
Then we hit the tube again to Westminster area where you have the Parliament building, Big Ben, the river Thames, the Eye ferris wheel (closed), and Westminster Abby. After that we walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace and poked around there for a bit. Since it was about 11:30pm at that point we went back to the hotel which took until almost 1am. Now 1am here in London is 3am in Kenya and we woke up at 4am the day before so we have been awake for almost 24 hours straight. It was a really fun night and I’m sure everyone will sleep well on the plane.
Just to update the proper flight info should be Virgin Atlantic Flight 7 arriving in LAX Terminal 2 at 2:50pm. Thanks for your prayers! Don’t stop now.
In London
we are in london and doing well. we are about to head into town. the novotel hotel in heathrow is really nice. i think i said the wrong terminal on the last email. i believe it is terminal 2, not 3. see you tomorrow.
In Nairobi Airport
We are in the Nairobi Airport waiting for our plane to leave. We board in about 30 minutes. The safari was wonderful. I am on a cyber cafe computer so I can’t post any pictures. I just wanted you to know that we have made it to the airport and we are doing well. Please keep praying for our travels home.
Parents and Others Picking Up – We land at LAX at 2:50pm at Terminal 3 on Virgin Atlantic Flight 7.
Last Night in Kisumu
This is probably the last post I will be able to do until maybe even London. 
We are definitely sad to leave and have enjoyed our time here immensely.
This is a group shot from our dinner last night at the Chamah’s house.
Tonight for our last hurrah we went down to Kiboko Bay to have milkshakes and watch the sunset by Lake Victoria. Kiboko means hippo, but we did not see any hippos. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see our wild animals. Jennifer was able to go with us, but is still feeling kind of bad. Here are some pics.
Please pray for safe travels home!!
Wednesday in Kenya
It’s so weird to be typing at 10am and know that it is Midnight at home. You are all probably asleep or going to sleep as I write this and many of us are busy with our day. In response to Natalie’s comment from yesterday and to help others know our process, it has been a very good process for us to go through. Many were frustrated, then encouraged, and we actually have discussed the whole concept of just being faithful to whatever God has put in front of us. The interesting part is that sometimes we teach Lesson 1 out of about 6 lessons and sometimes we teach the middle and sometimes we teach the last section. When we did the last segment we were able to see awesome fruit and be able to experience the reaping stage. When we do Lesson 1 we teach it faithfully and trust God that He and other people will continue the work as we sow the seeds. I think pretty much all the team has come to a point of truly trusting that God works in many different ways and through many different people and we are to be faithful, humble servants.
I am so unbelievably proud of these high school students. I wish so bad that all of you parents, church staff, and friends could see them in action. All of them. It’s amazing and it makes my heart swell up with pride as a youth pastor at the way they have stepped up when it comes to actions, but also the way they have stepped up in their faithful attitudes toward Christ and service.
This morning we have three people out doing Care and Compassion – Kate, Amanda, and Elim. Then this afternoon, it will be Kate, Chas, and Rachel doing some more Care and Compassion visits. We also have several students over at Pastor Martin and Edith’s house to help finish painting their playground. I have no idea of the spelling, but we call them MamaJosky and BabaJosky. Here in Kenya you call people after their firstborn son’s name with mother or father at the beginning. The rest of us are cleaning the house and preparing to leave tomorrow. We will all do a bit of shopping today before we head out on our safari tomorrow morning at 7am.
Please continue to keep us in our prayers. Jennifer is still feeling sick and is also going through the process of trying to understand why she had to be sick for three days of ministry here in Kenya. She is disappointed but really desires to see what God’s purposes were in this and what He is trying to teach her.
Teaching Tuesday
We had a great day teaching Choose to Wait today. And to address the elephant in the room, pretty much everyone is feeling better. Our team leader, Joe, was experiencing the same symptoms today so it was definitely something going around. Please keep praying for us though. We hope to do some Care and Compassion visits tomorrow and we need to be healthy to be with those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Lauren, Jennifer, and Pamela stayed back today but they were able to do some Care and Compassion visits in the afternoon when they were feeling better. This is where you go pray and read Scripture and take food and medicines to someone suffering from HIV/AIDS.
The rest of us all went out for a full day of teaching. It was a really great day with all of us feeling pretty well. Jordan, Kate, and Joe were a little under the weather but still able to be fully involved. We went and taught the first lesson of Choose to Wait in two primary schools which means 11-15 year olds – maybe some older or younger. The first lesson is all about being made in God’s image. Here are some pictures. Our students are blossoming into incredible teachers. I think they might be working our High School Staff out of jobs pretty soon. We just might do this teaching series at Calvary for our students at home.
This is myself (Eric) and Daniel in our Prodigal Son skit that we have done about 10 times. I really like it and it has been good to teach the kids about Jesus and God’s redeeming love through the skit. This is me loving my little prodigal. Daniel has definitely been the star of this show.
This is us at play with some of the kids at the first school. It was a blast playing soccer and other fun stuff.
We have pretty much passed out all of the bears. They have been a great addition to our ministry. This little kid really likes the bear.
Tomorrow will be our last day here in Kisumu. We are all sad to leave this place but we also love our families at home and we can’t wait to share our experiences with you. I’m sure that Thursday and Friday will be difficult days to blog so please don’t plan on any posts after tomorrow.
Not So Sick Tuesday
Its Tuesday here in Kenya and we are about to embark on our last day of choose to wait teaching. The team is feeling much better, mostly due to your prayers. Lauren and Pamela will be staying back today so that they can take part in the Care and Compassion ministry. The team thanks you for all your prayer support and asks that you continue to praying for our health, safety, and team spirit.
Sick Monday
Today was an interesting day here in Kenya. We had a few people that were sick this morning. Amanda, Kari, and Jennifer were sick and Kate stayed back with them. Lauren and I (Eric) were sick and had thrown up in the night, but we tried to go today anyways. That was a somewhat poor decision. We had to drive almost an hour out to the village of Ombeyi where we did a VBS type activity with kids from the orphan school there. I didn’t get many good pictures because I was feeling sick, but I was laying down on the bag of bears next to Lauren and all the kids jumped on us and we played tickle games and had lots of fun. It made us forget the sick stomachs. Lauren threw up a couple times during the day and it was a bummer that she had to stay in the van pretty much the whole day. Here is a picture of the kids with us. I taught them the names of the members of U2. Good stuff!!
After that we had lunch in the village. Lauren and I didn’t eat anything. Then we had a brief tour of Solomon’s rice fields. He runs the school in Ombeyi. Then we headed over to another school nearby to do some Choose to Wait teaching. It was really good. We all had a chance to do some good teaching, skits, and games. It was a great outdoor setting. Here is Ericka doing a great job teaching.
It’s hard to describe how beautiful the sky is here in Kenya. This picture gives a glimpse but you will all have to come here to experience the true beauty of the land, the sky, and especially, the people.
The sick girls are starting to feel better. Amanda is back in action. Jennifer has the color back in her face but is a bit achy still. Kari still feels pretty down and Lauren is sleeping. It doesn’t seem like anything serious with anyone. It’s just being in another country and eating strange things and not getting enough sleep. We are regulating that a bit more now and forcing more water down their throats. But please pray for the health of our team. Tomorrow is our last day of teaching Choose to Wait. It will be another long day and we need lots of energy.
