It is Tuesday morning. We are in a layover in Amsterdam Netherlands. Our flight was delayed for about three hours of Nairobi but that one affect our connection here. Seven hour layover has just been about four. Want of adequate power and lack of good Internet connections have kept me from posting over the last few days.
Friday the group took a trip over to a nearby village to visit some of Silas's relatives. I decided to not try to keep up with everyone else. I got to talk to Silas for a short time while I helped him we just garden. I got in a couple of naps and worked on my Sunday school lesson. The report came back that I missed a really good time. It included a walk to some high rocky terrain overlooking the valley that we had seen on our visit to Pastor Josiah's. Everyone enjoy the height and the chance to climb the rocks. I heard that grandma was a little concerned about some of the rock climbing that Caleb was into. The rains came while they were visiting and made the roads very slippery so that the truck had to be pushed a long distance up a trail from the before it got on the main road.
Saturday which was like our Sunday while we were in Kenya I taught Sunday school from Genesis 25
and Ryan preached the sermon. From there we walked over to Mary's for lunch. That was when the rains began. It alternated between teeming rain and just plain hard rain for a couple of hours. Finally it broke and I was anxious to get back to Silas's. There had been a plan in place to visit another home, the home of a man named Joseph. His house was up the dirt road from Mary's past Silas's. I thought that the rainy weather had probably canceled that walk. But as I got up to leave Mary informed me that Silas was on his way to pick us up. I thought maybe it was in the truck. But it was not. He showed up pretty soon with his boots on and we began our ascent of the muddy rivulet ridden dirt track. It was the kind of terrain that the further you walked the taller you got as the layer of mud on the soles of your shoes thickened with each step. I'm really looking forward to this visit but we met a man there named Jacob who had some very interesting insights into Kenya and some very interesting stories. Back on the muddy road our shoes continued to grow but the grassy path between the maize and wheat helped immensely to get rid of all that red clay.
and Ryan preached the sermon. From there we walked over to Mary's for lunch. That was when the rains began. It alternated between teeming rain and just plain hard rain for a couple of hours. Finally it broke and I was anxious to get back to Silas's. There had been a plan in place to visit another home, the home of a man named Joseph. His house was up the dirt road from Mary's past Silas's. I thought that the rainy weather had probably canceled that walk. But as I got up to leave Mary informed me that Silas was on his way to pick us up. I thought maybe it was in the truck. But it was not. He showed up pretty soon with his boots on and we began our ascent of the muddy rivulet ridden dirt track. It was the kind of terrain that the further you walked the taller you got as the layer of mud on the soles of your shoes thickened with each step. I'm really looking forward to this visit but we met a man there named Jacob who had some very interesting insights into Kenya and some very interesting stories. Back on the muddy road our shoes continued to grow but the grassy path between the maize and wheat helped immensely to get rid of all that red clay.
Saturday night it was confirmed that Ryan and I were invited to visit the church of one of the students in the Bible college. Actually we will all invited to attend but since the Bible college students were coming that afternoon Ann and Andrea were needed at home to bake some American specialties for the crowd that was coming. They were doing some more cornbread and also attempting to bake a carrot cake in the charcoal oven. I gave a lesson on the three trees that is the tree in the garden of Eden the tree on which Jesus died and the Tree of life in the book of Revelation. Ryan preached from Jesus high priestly prayer in John 17. We had made the trip to the church on the motorbike driven by Ezra. He had also taken Ryan to a local Christian high school for a service on Sunday before our regular service. The ride on the motorbike was much more smooth than the usual one we had taken in the white pickup truck. Of course they served us some food after the service and while we waited for it to arrive the sky darkened and the clouds thickened. With one eye on the sky I hesitated to accept the offer for a few cups of Kenyan tea. After one cup we decided it was time to go. We pulled into the yard just as the large drops started to fall around us. Soon the Bible college students started to arrive. There was no volleyball to be played in this downpour. We had a very emotional parting ceremony with the college students. They dressed Ann and Andrea in traditional African garb and also put robes on Ryan and myself. I am not big into robes but I figure it's practiced for the white robes that will have in heaven. Too many kind words were spoken to even begin to record. One after another people shared words of thanks for our coming to Kenya. Tears were shed by both the Kenyans and the Americans. It was very late before the last people left.
Monday was to be our last day in Kenya. We were not due to fly out until 7 o'clock in the evening but I was very concerned that we would get there before the plane took off. In Montana we laugh about ranch time being slower than the rest of the time in Montana. In Africa and Mexico we are even more amused at the lack of things happening on time. Silas asked me what time I thought that the van should arrive to take us to the airport. After suggesting noon I was a little concerned that I might have set the time too early. Not to worry it was 2:45 when we left his farm in a van that contained all of us and 10 more people. When transport is moving in a certain direction there are many people who need to get there. We had seen rain but nothing like the rain that we saw on the way to the airport. Soon van was leaking back front and on both sides. The road and the ditches on both sides were like a river of red clay. You could not see 50 yards ahead of you. I had two concerns one that we would get drenched getting our luggage into the airport and two that we would get ourselves soaked getting from the airport out to the airplane. Neither fear came to fruition. It stopped raining by the time we got to the airport. It rained a little bit while we are there but almost stopped before we had to board. The short flight to Nairobi was without incident except for Caleb who had a. stomach issue as we approached landing. We trekked across the wet tarmac and into the building where we collected our luggage. We found the international terminal without too much trouble. But the crowds there were strung out in long lines. We had a couple of hours so there was no immediate concern. As the lines continue to move more slowly some concerns began to arise. At the check in counter I was questioned about some yellow form but I did not respond. When Ryan and Andrea stepped up they were sent back outside the area to get these forms and fill them out. We have now learned that our flight was going to be an hour late and that gave us some sense of relief. I went up to check out the gate situation while we were waiting for Ryan and Andrea. We stood a long line at the gate only to find at the gate had been changed. Now the estimated time of departure was two hours late. When we got inside the gate where the seating was we learned that there have been a gasoline pipe disruption and that we would be taking off three hours late. The troops were getting restless so KLM decided to feed us. The sandwiches were good course Ann couldn't eat the bread. I petition one of the uniformed men to find us a place to sit down. In a few minutes a new section was opened for all the people standing to at least find a comfortable place to sit while they ate and drank. It was somewhere along in that time that I realized I had some Shillings in my pocket that I could turn into chocolate. I went out to security made my purchase and on the way back the alarm went off when I went through the screening. I guess the machine didn't like the foil wrap Swiss chocolate packages. Security examine them and decided that they were harmless so we'll have a little snack during the final minutes of our wait boarding to begin. It was then I realized that Ann and I were not seated together. She was in business I was in the front of economy and Ryan and the kids were in the last row of economy. I tried to talk them into letting me go up into business and and was certainly willing to come back into economy but I wanted her to enjoy the pleasure of the better seating. She claimed she didn't sleep very much but when we has to how she enjoyed the first meal she said she didn't even know there was a first meal. So she must've gotten some sleep. Again Ryan got the prize for the least sleep Caleb and Gracie did well. I did very well but he was awake most of the night. He is on the floor over in the corner trying to get some shut eye. I hope this dictation into my phone is helping. I find the answers in the airport make it very hard to get any sleep.
Well I think I have done enough for one day so I will bring this to a close and is just thank you fur your prayers expressed for us in your emails and your texts. Art
No comments:
Post a Comment