Kenya Home

I arrived in Nairobi safely last Wednesday night! It is very, very good to be back and to see the people that I missed for six months! My friend Caroline, (she’s a young Kenyan woman) came over the house yesterday to help me clean. It was very good to spend time with her! We were doing laundry together, and it just made me so happy and content (she used to do some work at the previous compound where I lived). I was also able to see some of the guys who live on the compound where I was last time. I was thankful to see them and to be able to catch up with them a little bit. They are also Kenyan, and so they made sure to ask me how all my family is doing back home, even though they have never met them! And I stopped by my Swahili teacher’s house and saw his wife and many of his children. He wasn’t there, but it was still very good to see them. A few of the girls looked a little confused when I walked into the compound, and then they all smiled and ran to me when they realized who I was…such a warm welcome! I should see Juma (my Swahili teacher) tomorrow, and I am looking forward to that. Kenyans are so warm and welcoming. I forgot that a little bit while I was in the States, so it is such a nice thing to come back to.

The house Betsy and I are renting is very nice, especially for hosting people. It is a good size with extra rooms and bathrooms. We also have a big area to grow a garden, and we have many fruit trees! Our day guard took us around the shamba (where the vegetables and fruit grow) and named all of the fruit trees. I don’t even remember a few of them because I have never heard of those kinds of fruit before. But I am excited to try them when they are ripe!

The house is very, very, very dirty. We have been cleaning and painting for days, and I’m sure it will last for weeks. But we’ve had help with the painting, so that has been nice. It will be nice when the whole house is clean, and I won’t gag when I see things that I don’t even recognize.
It’s great to see Betsy too! We get along well, and are able to talk openly and freely about things. We didn’t know each other extremely well when we were both here last year, so it will be wonderful to get to know her more! She loves the Lord so much, and that is the biggest thing that I have seen in her so far!

Thank you all for your prayers!