WELCOME TO MY TRAVEL BLOG

I have always enjoyed traveling, even if it meant sleeping in a tent when I was younger. I prefer hotels and cruise cabins now, but the motivation is the same...an adventure waiting to happen. Sometimes you will find me traveling with my husband and/or family. Sometimes I will travel alone, and sometimes I will travel with friends. I hope you find it entertaining to keep up to date with me as I explore the world around me. Warning...I like to take pictures of food so don't read if you're hungry. More adventures await...see ya soon...Amy.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Kenya: A Day of Rest and Ministry

Today is Sunday. We did not walk this morning so we slept a little later. We had breakfast at 8 with Vance and Cherry. Cherry scrambled eggs on top of her homemade cheese and added some chopped Swiss Chard as she is out of spinach. We are also still eating her delicious strawberries, homemade bread and honey! They have church at their house at 10 for anyone who wants to come. Attending today were people that work for them and live on the premises as well as a couple of men who work for neighbors. We sang for about an hour using Baptist Swahili song books. Everyone gets to pick their favorite songs and we sang acapella. Danny and I are learning to pronounce the words which isn't too difficult as they pronounce their words phonetically. There are a few exceptions but not many. Vance spoke from Phillipians 4:4 on rejoicing. He spoke in Swahili and Danny and I both noticed the gentleness that Vance and Cherry use when sharing the word of God. 



After church I chased butterflies in the yard while Cherry started our lunch. She had pre-prepared chicken and crawfish gumbo. There are Louisiana crawfish that at some point were introduced into their lake. They promised they weren't responsible! I am not a fan of crawfish and ate a roast beef sandwich instead. As we have been doing, we ate breakfast and lunch outside. I like to watch the little Cordon Blue finches eating seed from the hippo head skeleton bowl that sits on the floor. After lunch we all had a rest time before our afternoon appointments. After our rest we picked up Dorcus the housekeeper and left to drive to a neighboring village. As we drove, we watched for our baby giraffe but didn't see it. We saw plenty of other animals though and several other giraffes. 


 
Our first stop was to Sho Sho's home. This is an older lady who has lost one eye and is blind in the other one. 


She lives in a tiny mud and dung house. It has two rooms. One room is where she sleeps, cooks and eats. The other room is where her son sleeps. 


She keeps her personal belongings in a small metal box and wears the key around her neck. Her bed is old and sunken. She has a small fire on the dirt floor under the one window in the building. There is no bathroom and she must use the open field behind her house for that. It was sweltering in her home and she was sitting outside on the ground in the shade when we arrived. Cherry brings her milk for her tea when she visits. Sho Sho was so delighted we were there that she jumped up and down and Cherry jumped with her! We stayed long enough to check on her, pray with her and make sure she was well. After leaving Sho Sho we drove to the home of Maggie. Cherry hosts a ladies bible study there but many of the ladies have had babies recently and were unable to come. Maggie also has a mud and dung house with a dirt floor. It was quite entertaining during bible study when her goat and chickens would come sticking their noses into the door. The chickens walked right on in! 


She has several rooms connected on her house but we met in one room large enough for 2 couches in an L shape, a coffee table (for tea) and a small cabinet. It was very warm but the room faces South which kept us out of the direct sun. During bible study we all shared our testimony of salvation. It was a precious time and I was honored that they included me as one of them and were not shy about sharing. During our bible study the men went to visit Pius, the husband of one of the ladies in the bible study. She didn't have child care and was unable to attend but they visited with her husband anyway. Danny said they were served tea that was boiling hot! No question that it was safe to drink. They boil the water to treat it as it is unclean otherwise. Cherry tells us that some people are lucky enough to have a borehole (well) but many dip water out of ditches. We saw many donkeys carrying water jugs on their backs. After visiting and bible study we went back to PaAmani for supper, packing and bed. Cherry called Supper a "feast of remains" otherwise known to us as leftovers. We ate all of our favorites that she had served all week and surprisingly she had plenty for all of us. We have packed our suitcases and are ready for our next adventure tomorrow. Until then....

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