TRAVEL DAY(S)

We made it! It was a journey, but we have arrived in Point of Grace in Kisumu, Kenya! We left Grace Lutheran on Saturday at 11:30 am and headed to Logan. You should have seen the look on the Ticket Agent’s face when we walked in with 21 checked bags! We left Logan a little late at 6:30 and headed for Amsterdam. Some of us thought we would sleep, but that did not really happen. Rachel got us some really cool pictures of the Northern Lights and the sunrise as headed into Amsterdam at 6:00 their time.

After a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam, where we met up with Pastor David Stecker and his wife Carla, we boarded another plane and headed for Nairobi. We worked hard to stay positive looking forward to yet another 8 hour flight that we have us land at 10:30 pm Nairobi time. After getting through customs with all of our bags, it was a sight for sore eyes when we saw Pastor Meeker greeting us outside of the airport. We checked into a guest house in Nairobi and got to bed at about 1:30 am local time.

We headed out from the guest house bright and early and loaded our tired bodies and all our luggage on a medium sized bus with Wicklife, a helper at POGA and Kevin, our fearless driver. The back 4 rows of the bus were piled high with our 28 bags, and the Steckers’ 8 bags. The bus ride took 8+ hours and gave us a unique opportunity to see the country. Heavy trucks, motorcycles, buses, bicycles, cars, and pedestrians compete for space on the roads, crisscrossing back and forth and passing each other whenever possible. Amidst the barely controlled chaos of the roads, the scenery was beautiful. After we got outside the city of Nairobi we drove through the desert-like landscape and watched it slowly transform into lush greenery which reminded us of the Shenandoah Valley. There were vast fields of crops including rice, corn, tea, and other vegetables. Along the way, we saw unfamiliar, but amazing animals like baboons, camels, and zebras just hanging out on the side of the road! We also realized that the sheep, goats, and cows, graze dangerously close to the road in the country and well as the city!

After what seemed like forever, we turned off the main road and headed for Point of Grace. The road was now gravel, but beyond that, the “potholes were actually craters! The closer we got to campus, the worse the road got. The road, at one point, looked more like a motocross track than a road. We had to actually go off-roading in a bus to get around some of the obstacles! At one point the bus bottomed out and we weren’t sure we would make it. But thank God for Kevin and Wicklife – they had us back on our way quickly.

We finally arrived safely at Point of Grace where Lorna had a delicious, hot dinner waiting for us. The team was tired and grimy from the road trip, but we were safe and grateful for each other and our friends at Point of Grace. Once again, we went to bed late, but with full hearts and the anticipation of seeing the campus and meeting the children.