Into the Heart of Kenya: The Great Rift Valley

So I didn't go to church today.

I didn't go to a building where I sang worship and listened to a message for a couple hours.

But I worshiped God today.

As I floated accross Lake Naivasha among stoic hippos and dramatically patterned birds. As I stood in awe among a field of wildebeest, impala, giraffes, and zebras. As I peered into a den of baby pythons. As I stared around at the rolling green hills and proud mountains, rich with acacia trees stretching their arms across the bright blue sky. As I bounced along a dusty, pot-hole-riddled road winding through the ridges, towns, and small rivers of the valley. As I sat on a house porch eating pancakes and surrounded by laughter and friends. As I joined in the student-led worship of a Kenyan boarding high school (RVA), voices from all over the world lifted together in a moment of praise.

I worshiped by enjoying God's creation. I worshiped in my conversations and relationships with people and friends. I worshiped by taking a moment to realize how CRAZY blessed I am and to soak in my life... thinking on the weirdness of things like the fact that I almost didn't go to school at LeTourneau, I almost missed the door that led me to the heart of Kenya and to the love of its landscape and its people.

Tomorrow I take a step even farther into my future as we go to shadow a pediatric neurosurgeon (only one of the top in the world…) in his morning rounds at Kijabe Hospital and then observe surgery.

So I didn't go to church today, but Oh, I went to church today. :)

All I'm saying, is that this place is gonna be pretty hard to leave.

View from Mt. Longonot - photo creds to Ms. Rispin

Comments

Getting ready for take off...

So its the night before I leave on a grand month-long adventure to Kenya. In less than 24 hours I will be in London. Craziness. I keep trying to go through everything in my head: Do I have it all packed? Do I have the too much stuff packed? Did I forget to do something before I leave the country? My malaria meds are in that one bag... The sunscreen is in there too... My passport still hasn't disappeared from my backpack no mater how many times I frantically check for it... Okay, I think I'm good. I'm definitely not worried about the trip itself, actually being in Kenya and all. In fact, I'm pretty dang excited. I think I'm mostly worried about packing the right things, if you couldn't tell already. My clothes and stuff is split between one check bag and one carry-on duffle bag with some wiggle room in each for Wheels equipment. I hope my duffle bag meets the carry-on measurements. I should probably look for that online... The team is meeting tomor...

Ecuador!

The posts may have stopped for a while but the beat of a traveling heart continues! This past December, a t the beginning of winter break, I traveled to Ecuador with my father, my head pastor, and another pastor from my home church: International Full Gospel Fellowship (IFGF) of Austin, TX. My time in Ecuador was very beautiful very fast! Three different cities in three days plus a day on either side of travel time. I never realized how diverse the country of Ecuador is! Imagine beach, jungle, and mountain climates scattered with villages, towns and cities that are filled with over 21 different ethnic groups. The capital, Quito, has a population of around 2 million people. W e enjoyed some wonderful food on our trip, which included fire roasted tilapia wrapped in banana tree leaves, armadillo meat, and roasted palm tree weevil larvae. The purpose of this journey was not, unfortunately, to eat but to conduct training se...

Run Data Run - Joytown (Half)Day 12

A quick and uneventful day today as we spent the afternoon "home" at SACDEP to finish spreadsheets and crunch data into graphs and meaningful information. The team headed to Joytown in the morning like normal for devotionals, which were led by Nicole and I. We focused on 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 and each shared on the idea of Christ's (God's) power being made perfect in our weakness. Nicole expressed how focusing on self iniquities goes nowhere but that serving others brings joy and growth. I shared the Parable of the Cracked Pot which basically expresses the idea that we do not need to be perfect to fulfill God's will and serve others. In fact, God uses our specific weaknesses/cracks for good. We really are all crack pots… :) The rest of the morning we double checked student demographic information with the Bethany Kids therapists then headed back to SACDEP for a home-base day of working on spreadsheets and stuff. Other events from the "uneventful...

Redhead Steps Around the World

Search This Blog