Heading Home

As I write this we’re heading back from Samburu National Park where we spent 18 hours relaxing and enjoying God’s amazing creation.  We serve a God of unbelievable creativity.  We saw dozens of different species of animals with highlights including watching four lions stalk zebra and almost witnessing the birth of a giraffe. It’s about an 8-hour drive back to Nairobi where we’ll catch an airplane home late tonight. On our long layover in Istanbul we’ll try to post many pictures on this blog representative of our past 10-days. Unfortunately our slow internet has not allowed us to do so up to this point.

Besides seeing animals in Samburu and eating great food, three of our team-mates (Allie, Grace, and Tricia) were baptized in the pool next to a river with big crocodiles.  We also studied God’s word with monkeys lurking nearby. We specifically looked at James 1:27 and Acts 1:8.  We’ve been serving orphans in Kenya but that service doesn’t need to end when we get back home.  We are commanded to be ambassadors for Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. The last 10 days we’ve focused on the uttermost parts of the earth, but now we’re headed back to West Michigan, our Jerusalem, to continue being bold for Christ.  Incidentally, while we served orphans in Kenya, the word “orphan” in the Bible is synonymous with the phrase “father-less.”  There are certainly father-less children along with widows we can serve back at home. 

Thanks again for your support and prayers.  You haven't been the only ones praying for us.  While our driver was filling up our bus with diesel a pastor jumped on-board and prayed for our team.  Kenyan believers are big into praying a blessing upon you.  I've personally needed that blessing lately as I've been struggling deeply with the loss of my mother-in-law and my inability to be there for my wife.  

We appreciate you following our journey.  Several of us sponsored Kids Alive children while here.  $39 a month can accomplish so much in the life of a child at-risk.  You can do the same at www.kidsalive.org.  Be careful though – Ruth Henningham sponsored Anomat in 2002, met him in 2007, and began serving with Kids Alive as a missionary in 2008.  She never expected she’d spend her “retirement” as a missionary after being a school teacher but God can use us all in marvelous ways if we’ll let Him.

-Rich