Kisumu

Last week was filled with lots of traveling, great food, and good fun! We started out the week by attending church in the border town of Malaba, about 2 hours away from here. The Churches of Christ were having their annual national meeting, so we joined them for Sunday service and got to see our good friends, Shawn Tyler & Stephan Shelburn from Uganda. Shawn was the special speaker.
Monday morning we got up early to head down to Kisumu to visit our CRF works going on down there. TEN hours later we arrived in Kisumu, which was only supposed to be 2 ½ hours away! Yeah…we got a little lost, but we got to drive through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Rolling hills of tea, dotted with little white houses for the tea workers. It was incredible. We decided to practice our P.M.A.’s that day… Positive Mental Attitudes instead of our “Where the heck are we?!” attitudes! :)
When we arrived much later than expected, we were still very welcomed by James & Lauryn (last name escapes me) and Jared O. James & Jared are leaders in the local churches in Kisumu and run the Christian Relief Fund programs there as well. They are very cool people! Lauryn, James’ wife made us an awesome meal of Fried Tilapia, Rice, Ugali, Sukuma, Beef, and onion & tomato salad.
Tuesday we spent time meeting with James and Jared about CRF finances and checkin’ out the CRF works, which are both going really well. We also got to “see” the equator! We ended the evening by enjoying delicious Chinese cuisine at “The Oriental Restaurant” (original, huh?!) in Kisumu.
Wednesday morning we got to meet a bunch of kids in the CRF program at a party that the CRF school threw for them. We also got to meet many of the teachers at the school. Northwest Church pays their salaries, so we were introduced to them as their “bosses”…I laughed in my head, wondering what they though about that! After the party we went on a “cruise” on Lake Victoria…the four of us, James & Lauryn, and 3 Africans in an old, small wooden boat with waves 2-3 feet high…I was a little freaked out! But it was all worth it when we saw Hippos swimmin’ around about 200 feet from our boat. For being one of the most dangerous animals in the world, they sure are cute! We also got to see King Fishers, and some other birds. Thursday morning we finished up some “big city” shopping and drove home…2 ½ hours later we arrived in Kitale!
But the traveling was not over for the week. Friday morning Kelly & Carrie spent the day down in Eldoret, about an hour away, learning more about farming goats and how to use a wood burning oven for the children’s home. Greg & I spent the day traveling around Kitale running errands, which included loading 10 large bags of maize into a Subaru Legacy wagon. The Kenyan Red Cross donates to the Children’s Home every year around Christmas. That was both a blessing and an adventure! On Saturday, Greg & I met with the parents at the home about how the budget for December was going, and then we ended up spending the rest of the day with the kids. I got to play volleyball and football (euro syle) with some of the girls, which was REALLY fun! These kids are so sweet. It was good bonding time for us. Then, we ate a really yummy traditional African meal that John, the cook at the Home prepared for us. Chicken in a special sauce, rice, chapatti (like thick wheat tortillas), ugali, potato soup, and onion & tomato salad. Oh, but the good food part isn’t over! Saturday night we went out to eat with some missionary friends at this awesome Chinese/Indian restaurant here in Kitale. We didn’t even know it was here, so we were pretty excited that we could get really good Chinese food in Kitale and not have to drive to Kisumu…even though we now know exactly how to get there! :)