A day of R&R (not to mention fun and amazement at God’s creation!)
Debra here. We can’t consider the blog complete without reporting in on the wonderful day of R&R that Pastor John planned for us. With orders to leave Nyamira no later than 6 am, we grabbed a cup of instant coffee and a little bag of “breakfast” (boiled egg, pineapple chunks and bread) and loaded up into the vans for our travel to Lake Nukuru National Park. Along the way, PJ surprised us with a stop at the official Equator spot. At the equator, we posed for the picture below, got a “biology break,” and did some quick roadside shopping. You haven’t shopped until you’ve seen Kim Leavenworth negotiate for a good jewelry deal from the window of a moving van!! Not only was this very neat, it represented the miracle of having a day where we could just do things that we wanted to without any demands, politics or heart wrenching decisions!
Onwards to Lake Nukuru – what an amazing Creator we serve! This dramatic beautiful place is so full of variety! Birds, animals, scenery — we were all blown away by God’s creativity, engineering, and sense of humor in His creation! You will see what we mean in the pictures below. After the park, we stopped for a wonderful lunch at the Lake Nakuru Lodge. Hot towels scented with eucalyptus greeted us to wipe off the dust, a wonderful assortment of safe food and drink, a spectacular view of the park from the Lodge’s deck — from this refreshment, we knew that we would all survive after all.
Critics might ask where such “vacation play” fits into a mission trip. After our last mission trip to Kenya, we all kind of downplayed the safari we enjoyed, thinking people would think less of us for having a play day in the midst of our work in the slums and orphanages. God tapped me on the shoulder this time to make sure that I share this experience boldly with you. After working so hard and seeing so much physical deformity and pain, I congratulate Pastor John for the wisdom in planning a day of pure fun and enjoyment. God wants us to remember that the world is not all bad. He does not want depressed, bitter and worn out servants. He wants us to see His beauty along with the ugliness. He wants us to have and keep hope in our hearts that in the end, Heaven will be ours for eternity and He has created samples of it here on earth. That’s what Saturday was for us – a little heaven after a lot of hell.
Christ Church Mission Team at Latitude Zero!
View of Lake Nakuru
Zebras grazing at Lake Nakuru
It's so exciting to all of a sudden see these guys pop out of the bush!
These are called Lesser Flamingos - smaller and pink than the larger white flamingos
These are called "Faux Flamingos" - Pete, Sarah, Megan and Don!
At high noon, the lions are lazily resting under a small scrub tree
Our wonderful mission photographer - Bill Shugarts!
