Christmas in Kenya

We were able to go back to Kenya for the first time since we left in 2003. Our oldest daughter, Rinnie and family (Erik, Lauren, Meredith and Coriena) live there. Erik is involved in the tech. world, of which I understand little, but you can go to http://www.ushahidi.com/ and find out more about what he does. Rinnie homeschools her kids and generally keeps her family together. They are loving being back in Kenya. Erik also grew up in East Africa. He's parents were with Wycliffe in Sudan.

So we left London Christmas Day with Anna, our youngest, who had come from the US Christmas Eve. When she left Kenya in 2003 she was on her way to Covenant College. We all expected to see a lot of changes and wondered if we would fit back in again or feel really strange being there.

Meg, #4, came up from Tanzania to join us for a week. It had been over a year since we'd seen her so were thankful she could take the time to come up.

It was wonderful being there. We felt very much at home and, although there were lots of new buildings and shops, it still felt very much the same. We visited some old haunts, saw our dearest friends, Danieli and Lenah Katumu, went camping at Lake Naivasha, ate Ethiopian food and bajia. But mostly, we enjoyed Erik and Rinnie's hospitality, drinking tea, talking, crying, praying. God is teaching our family a lot these days so it was good to be together and be able to talk through some things together. We only wish Wil and Amy (and Eliana), Sarah and Kirk (Joanna and Sam) could have been there too. Skype certainly helped to bring them into the room with us.

There's a mosque near Rinnie's so the "call to prayer" is quite easily heard in her back garden. Their daughter, Meredith, has a real fascination for Islam and concern for those caught in that religion. She sees the women all covered walking down the street. So several times she would say, if she heard the "call" or saw a woman, "Mommy, I want to pray...Dear Jesus, help that woman to be able to hear about Jesus." It was a real testimony to me to remember Jesus loves to hear us speak his name and pray for those around us, no matter what.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to be there. Being loved on by Rinnie's girls was so fun. We were there for Meredith losing her first tooth and Coriena learning to ride her bike without training wheels, very special occasions when you are six and four. Anna and I made gingerbread houses with the girls, another highlight. It was also warm and sunny!

So a big thank you to Rinnie and family for having us and to the Lord Jesus for loving our family enough to bring each one of us to Himself.