My Kenyan Journey: Into the Bush.

As some of you might be aware, there has been some unrest here over the past week. Kenya's military has taken action against the Somali militant group, al-Shabaab, within Somalia's borders. Al-Shabaab is responsible for a number of kidnappings of foreigners within Kenya's borders. They have threatened to retaliate for the actions of Kenya's military and last weekend the US Embassy issued a warning of an imminent terrorist attack in Nairobi. The main targets are believed to be nightclubs and malls that are frequented by foreigners. On Monday, there were two separate grenade attacks, which killed one person and injured close to thirty more.

So how have these developments affected my life? Well, on Tuesday, I stayed home from going to Eastleigh after receiving strong encouragement from people who are more experienced than I to do so. Wednesday I wasn't planning on going to Eastleigh anyway, so that worked out in a way. Instead, I went with my neighbors, Quincy and Joanne, to a remote Masai village in the Rift Valley (see pictures below). Quincy was going to do some beekeeping education with some of the locals. This trip offered my first glimpse of life outside of Nairobi, and what a different life it is indeed. After passing through the outskirts of Nairobi, we began to descend down into the valley and entered an area that I would describe as semi desert. It reminded me a lot of parts of Nevada and Arizona, with its scrub trees and bushes. The road that we traveled on wasn't exactly a road. I've been on farm lanes and ATV trails that were better. The car we were in, a Toyota Corolla station wagon, wasn't exactly built for the terrain, but somehow it got us there and back. There were only a few times when we had to get out of the car to lighten the load, so it wouldn't bottom out on the large rocks that were very prevalent in some spots. The trip took us about three hours total.

After arriving we were greeted with cups of piping hot tea and bread. I'm not really sure why they drink such a hot beverage when it is 90 degrees out, but never the less I accepted their hospitality and proceeded to burn my tongue on the tea. After more locals showed up, Quincy and a Masai man named Joel donned beekeeping suits and began to check the hives. As they worked, Quincy explained what they were doing and why. After several hours of being educated on the ins and outs of beekeeping, we were served a delicious lunch of rice and stew. We eagerly ate the meal and then loaded up the car and began our trek back to Nairobi. On the way back we took a slightly different route, which was a little better, but certainly wasn't going to be mistaken for Interstate 80. I was really hoping to see some interesting wildlife such as giraffes or lions, but came up unsuccessful. We did however see a couple of dik-diks, which are miniature antelope about the size of a small dog. We also saw a handful of normal sized antelope. We returned home without incident and after a very long, dusty, and bumpy ride taking a nice, warm shower and laying on my soft bed felt so good.

On Thursday and Friday I returned to the center. It was good to be back after being gone a couple of days and work with the students and basketball players again. There was no softball today due to a league bye for all teams. Next week we'll be back and better than ever just like Mike and Mike.

I was challenged this week as I was reading through Matthew 25 and read the parable of the talents. It challenged me to really think about which servant I am. Am I using the talents that God has given me and multiplying them or am I keeping them to myself?

Finally I would like to wish a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of the cutest kids in the whole world, my niece and nephew Kaci and Roman. Kaci turns two tomorrow and Roman turns three.