It’s time that I post another blog. Honestly, as I sit to write, nothing potent comes to mind to write about, so I suppose I will simply give an update of my adventures in East Africa since my last blog and our new ministry at True Vine in Tororo. It has truly been a whirlwind of the past two or three weeks, and I’m just now having time to sit and gather myself again. Well, here goes…
After safari, we spent two days in Nairobi, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We just hung out, ate good food, and shopped for souvenirs at the City Market before taking an overnight bus to Mombasa, where we spent two more days. While there, we went to the beach and relaxed a good deal- what a blessing! After that time however, our real adventure began. We had planned to catch a night bus from Mombasa to Nairobi then catch a bus through Kisumu, where we would pick up our things from Paul, and on through the border at Busia to complete the short hour of travel remaining to True Vine from there. Well, all of that was foiled when our bus broke down on the way to Nairobi at 3:45 a.m. So, we spent the rest of the night (the next five hours) on the side of the road, waiting for another bus to come and pick us up. Of course, that made us late to Nairobi, so we missed our bus. We were able to get on another bus and leave early in the afternoon, and we settled in for the ride to Kisumu. When we arrived, it was raining, so we loaded our things onto the bus and said goodbye to Paul, Erin, and Jared (who had been traveling with us) and checked to make sure that the bus would drive us through the border and drop us off in Tororo as had been promised in Nairobi. Shockingly (yes, that is facetious), we were lied to, and the bus would only drop us off in Busia, leaving us without a way to get to Tororo at about midnight. After many phone calls and worrying for about an hour or so, Reese was finally able to get through to Pastor Wilber here at True Vine. True to his character and excitement to be hosting us, Pastor Wilber grabbed two of his staff, his mini-van, and hired a matatu (a small, 14-passanger van used as a taxi) to come and pick us up at the border. The staff here at True Vine is so wonderful, and true to their nature, they had crossed the border and were waiting to greet us and help carry our things across the border when we got off of the bus. They stayed with us as we moved through the border and helped us load our things into the matatu before we hopped in and drove to True Vine. We arrived at about 1 a.m. at the guest house here on the base, 30 hours after beginning our travel in Mombasa at 7 p.m. Only 10 hours longer than expected, but that made the trip seem like an eternity. Travel in East Africa= always an adventure!
Our first day at True Vine, they gave us the day to rest after our travels, but every day after that, we have been on the move. True Vine is a very large organization, and they have many aspects to their ministry, so there is always something to be done. In the mornings, we split into groups to go and share in and teach morning devotion in the different departments (the main office, the education center with the teachers, the hospital, and the orphan center). During the day, we do a variety of things. Some days we help out in the clinic here at the base or go on medical outreaches to vaccinate infants. Other days, we go to place called Smile Africa, where street kids come to spend the day to keep them off of the streets and to receive meals. While we’re there, we just hang out with the kids, help them take baths, and feed them. It’s one of my favorite things that we do. It’s also helped me learn a good deal more Kiswahili. Two of the older boys (around 12 or 13), Juma Saidi and Syrus, who speak English pretty well, will sit down with me, a pen and paper to try to teach me more of the language. Plus, it’s a good workout: the kids love for me to pick them up and flip them over my shoulder, which gets tiring after only about 20 kids, and they all get right back in line to be flipped again. We also do a good deal of teaching either at the mid-week fellowships, in Sunday small groups, preaching during the services, or talking on the Christian radio program broadcast from Rock Mambo, the local radio station. And finally, we do help out on the base a good bit. We help in the computer and orphan centers, helping type or teach computer skills, playing volleyball or basketball and fellowshipping with the staff here, and I’ve heard rumors of the opportunity to plant trees here on the base in the near future. So as you can see, we do a wide variety of ministry here at True Vine- pretty much whatever they ask, and I am enjoying the time very much. It’s a blessing for me to finally be in a place which, from my perspective, truly seeks after giving their best according to the truth in the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and allows me to pour out from myself. I had a day last week were we went to Smile Africa in the morning, and I played volleyball with some of the pastors and orphan center staff here. It was a wonderful day, and for one of the first times, I was able to have the thought, “THIS is why I came to Africa- to share the love of Christ by playing with kids and fellowshipping with brothers to encourage them in their work.” It’s a little frustrating that that’s the first time I’ve really truly felt that way and that we leave in less than two weeks, but I suppose I should count it a blessing that God finally allowed me to feel and experience that at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad that I came. I have learned more than I could ever fully relate, and I know that I’ve had an impact on many people’s lives, but God’s plans for this trip were not exactly what I would have chosen if I had made all of the plans. Yet I know His plans were best.
One last thought: As I said before (and as many of you are aware), I leave Africa in less than two weeks (and get home in less than three). It’s been very interesting to move to a new place and start a new ministry for only three weeks. On a trip where we were supposed to be in one location for six months and have moved three times, there have been many changes, and as I’m sure you are all aware, this has been a very eventful and trying time for myself and our whole team. As such, and being so close to the end of the trip, part of my brain has moved to “process, box, and store away” the truckloads of information I’ve gained and experiences I’ve had over the last seven plus months. It has made being here in Tororo and being focused on new ministry a little difficult. I feel rather “in limbo”, if you will. I want to be wholly invested in the ministry here, and striving to do so is becoming easier with each passing minute, but there’s still a part of my brain chugging through the files of the whole Novas trip that I just can’t shut off at this point. I’m not so sure that’s such a bad thing, though. I really can still be focused here during our ministry times, but I think it’s also beneficial for me to begin thinking through everything that has happened- it’s going to be a very long process. I’m really not sure why I’m sharing this with you, but it’s been on my mind this past weekend, so there you go. A glimpse into my thoughts… scary, I know!
