The Road Home

Tomorrow we leave Kenya and head for home. Our adventure has lasted seven weeks and we have traveled many different roads.


The road from home to the airport in Northwest Arkansas

The road across thousands of miles of air space to Nairobi (love those frequent flyer miles!)

The road in the dark from Kenyatta Airport to Mayfield House in Nairobi, our first view of Nairobi

The road to Wilson Airport for our flight to Maasai Mara during morning rush hour

The off-road "roads" of our safari adventure; Sammy, our driver, knew the bush like the back of his hand

The main road to Kijabe in Richard's little Corolla wagon, fully loaded with all our luggage -- a real E-ticket ride. Ruth suggested we just close our eyes, if that tells you anything!



The bumpy bumpy dirty dusty road from the main road down to Kijabe itself


More bumpy bumpy dirty dusty roads all over Kijabe, from the house to the hospital to Moffat to RVA





The steep path from lower Kijabe station up up up to RVA, a heart-pumping, air-gasping experience for two old folks who aren't used to 7000 ft elevation

This is looking up from mid-point.




This is looking down from the same spot. But that's only part of the climb!




More than I, Gene traveled the road of mental challenge as he prepared for his class between mid-March and June, and as he refreshed himself before each class once we arrived here in Kijabe. The dining room table became his office, equipped with a laptop and printer. My mental challenge encompassed "how am I going to get all this stuff into these suitcases." Both of us made it.

The financial road appeared daunting at first, but we knew the Lord had called us to Moffat and we knew He would provide for us . . . and He did just that as we received about 75% of our expenses through the kind gifts of many people.

The road we took emotionally wasn't a hard one at all. We were so confident that this was God's plan for us that we never looked back as we prepared for Kenya, as we made the trip, and as we arrived here. There were a few times I was homesick and really missed being able to talk to our kids and grandkids (but the Lord took care of that and we've talked to them twice). Occasionally I felt unsettled, but only because I didn't have any regular defined tasks. My job description had two words: whatever, whenever. Because I like to know what's going to happen next and have things planned ahead of time, this unknown factor was difficult for me now and then, but never to the point of its being a roadblock. So our emotional road has been reasonably smooth.

Our spiritual road has taken us the farthest as we have watched our Heavenly Father care for us, lead us, direct us, grant wisdom to us. We have been blessed by the many people He brought into our lives in these weeks, especially our Kenyan students at Moffat -- not just the 11 in our class, but many of the upper classmen as well. And our kind hosts while here: Richard and Ruth Dix for the first three weeks, and Chuck Baker for the remainder of the time. Their kindness and hospitality made us definitely feel at home away from home.

How has this road changed me? Well, my legs are stronger after hiking up the hill every day, and hopefully, they're a few inches leaner. My lung capacity is a bit better after seven weeks at 7000 feet. My view of the world is much larger. My priorities are being redefined. My needs and wants are definitely under evaluation and refinement. We have so much in America. Kenyans have so little, yet overall they are content, happy, and thankful to have jobs that pay 35 ksh an hour -- that's barely 50 cents in US money.

Only time will reveal the greater ways God has worked in my heart, but I am "confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in [me] will accomplish it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil.1:6).

We're on the road home. Kwaheri until I blog again from Arkansas. It's been an incredible journey along an amazing road. Asante sana to our Heavenly Father. Thank you so much to Him.