Thomas' trip reflections

It has been an incredible journey to Kenya. It started out a little rough with all of our flight troubles, realizing that our time here in this incredible country would be shortened but as soon as we arrived in Nairobi we felt like we had come home. We were welcomed by a group from our partner church PCEA Sigona and immediately went into the activities of this trip. Going into our first worship service in Kenya we were all very tired as most had not slept since thursday and it was now sunday. It was certainly a different experience for us and especially me as I have grown so accustomed to the traditional DCPC services where standing up to sing and dance is nearly frowned upon and to go over an hour is just plain cruel. I really enjoyed the service though, I met new people and experienced a new type of worship where I felt as close to God if not closer than I ever have at DCPC. With all of this swirling around us we then went to visit the homes of children who attend the pre-school at PCEA Sigona. Though I had experienced poverty before the first house I went to really hit me hard and I could not believe the conditions this family lived in. On top of this I was shocked when she offered us tea and snacks at her grandmother's house. All of the houses we visited welcomed us with shouts of "karibu" and "jambo" and welcomed us into their houses without knowing us at all. This welcoming atmosphere has continued throughout our time here and will continue as part of the partnership that our two churches share. After several days in the Kikuyu/Nairobi area we had experienced many things that left us in need of a recharge. Kibera was rough for the whole group as we experienced poverty on a level we could not imagine, and as we spent time with the pre-schoolers in Nairobi. After these days we headed to the beautiful Masai Mara game preserve, a six hour drive away from Kikuyu. While there we experienced the beauty of this land and God's work. It was incredible to see all of the animals and to look out on miles upon miles of open savannah. We recharged in this beautiful place while being treated like royalty at the wonderful lodge we stayed at. We made a new friend there named Wilson and he told us many things about his tribe, the masai. After a great trip to the "mara" we headed back to spend our final few days with our partners at Sigona. After our return on Friday we went to dinner at Joseph and Isabella's house and had a great time playing games and enjoying fellowship with one another. It was certainly one of the highlights of the trip and it was certainly one of my favorite parts. We played games that many of us had not played since we were younger and it was a great night that I certainly will never forget. Tired we went back to rehab and had a good nights sleep in preparation for our day with the youth of PCEA Sigona. Saturday with the youth was another great day of fellowship and fun as we enjoyed playing more games and great food. We all made many new friends and talked to kids our age with such different lives. I learned a new game in rugby as Cameron and I played with new friends and slowly picked up this interesting game. After this we went home to prepare and lead the sunday service the next day. We had homestays saturday night and all of us were welcomed as family and had a memorable night with our friends. Today, was a day of fellowship and worship as we spent the morning at services leading one and participating in the other. While our singing left quite a bit to be desired in the second service we felt that we had done well and had praised God. Though usually our church day is done after the service we still had social sunday where there were presentations galore. We had several awkward dances, one of which was mine and Im sure Cameron will have on youtube soon and many where we all joined the womens guild in traditional Kikuyu songs and dances. It was a great afternoon and a memorable one. Gifts were exchanged along with emails as we swapped information with our new friends so that we may continue to talk even though we are far away. This trip has been an experience that we will all remember for the rest of our lives and we all look forward to sharing these experiences with everyone when we arrive in a few days time. Thats it for me and I look forward to seeing everyone in a few days.