And that folks, was just Monday

Greetings and salutations from Nairobi,

We have touched down in Nairobi, and have finished our second day here in this thoroughly fascinateing and amazing place. Suffice to say, the people are awesome, the place is amazing and every minute is a new experience.

We flew into Nairobi on Sunday around midday. After the 14.5 hour flight ("crikey!", i hear you say? my legs will tell you the story of what it feels like to packed into a shoe-box), a few hours wait at Dubai and then a short 5 hour flight to Nairobi, we touched down to 16 degree celcius and a rather mild day by Sydney standards. Countless in-flight movies managed to ease some of the the hunger pains, given our first real 'dinner' was 2.5 hours late due to stinkin' turbulence. Food on the whole was great - there just wasn't enough of it!
Enough about food. The Kenyans are currently experiencing their "winter", so we are fortunate because it's not too cold and actually very bearable - i didn't need a jumper until into the evening. Lots of cloud though, and the sun pokes it's head thru every now and again - the cameo's from the Sun serve as a pleasant reminder that we're only two hours south of the equator.

Maish and some folk from Lifespring Chapel met us at the airport, which was very groovy. We piled all 8 pieces of checked luggage, numourous items of hand luggage and our own bodies into the cars provided for the short trip to the Lifespring Chapel office. No more than 15-20 minutes by car from the airport, Lifespring had put on a fellowship lunch. A crew from America had already landed a few days earlier and we were told that we would be joining them in some practical ministry during the week. The team, from Christ Church in the Valley (CCV for short), San Deimas, California, were being officially welcomed and each group (Lifespring, CCV and us) had a chance to introduce our members.
The lunch and fellowship was an awesome time to get to know a nunber of people and was the perfect start to a time of relationship and connection building. I was so thankful that we had a chance to sit down, eat (surprise surprise), and chat though I think all of us were feeling the effects of travel.

We spent some time with our host families in the evening, and I was invited by my host family (Sammy & Deb) to a play in the city. Myself, Sam & Deb, Monica, Maish and 'the Pirate' (aka Jarred - he got his name from the Veggie Tales song by the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. I'm sure you can guess what Jarred is famous for!) sat through what has to be the funniest play (one might say, technically speaking, a 'farce') I have ever seen. It revolved around a guy who had two wives going at once, with a child to each wife. He starts to seriously freak out when his son of his first wife meets the daugter to his other wife over the internet. As the kids are actually close to falling in love, it is something to behold watching this guy and his friends cover up, lie, decieve, avoid and generally spoof their way thru the play as the wifes and kids meet each other but don't know who's who until the final scene, when all is revealed. :)

After the play (around 10:00pm Kenya time, which would be 5am Monday Sydney time) Monica and I were more than a little tired - we were both feeling a bit ill! Having been awake for some hideous amount of time, we were both very glad to be able to eat something before crashing completely into our respective beds.

Monday was an early start, though some confusion with transport inevitably led to Monica joining us around midday. We spent the day at a school, in the classrooms teaching Christian Religious Education, in the playground with the kids doing a whole manner of activities, and doing practical ministry - e.g. clearing grass and weeds from the school property, digging a trench to allow water to flow off the school grounds. I had the blessed task of assisting the trench diggers, and managed to get myself very filthy and particularly ferral, as my shoes, jeans, arms and shirt will testify to. I have no idea what was in the black, foul-smelling water but I was praying that whatever it was didn't get into me.
It was an amazing day working alongside the Lifespring & CCV folk. The CCV crew had come to do particular ministry work with the school, and the practical work we did and will do will go along way, as the school simply cannot afford to pay for it to be done. And believe me, it needs to be done.

We had the opportunity to play with the kids, and their smiling faces will never ever leave me for as long as I live. The simple act of shaking hands or giving a high five is enough to light them up, and when you contrast kids in Australia to kids here, you see the difference.

The people, places, foods, smells, sights, and sounds are so different, it's hard to take it all in at once. The roads are covered with people walking - forget pedestrian crossings and sidewalks ladies and gentlemen, in Kenya you just walk. The house I am staying in is no bigger than the town-house my brother and I bought, yet it's considered "extravagant" by the majority of Kenyans. Cars are a luxury, particularly ones that aren't beat up and run-down. Food is simple, and is really quite delicious. Considering that a typical Western diet is usually high in sugar & fat, and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why Kenyans don't look like Americans, and it's not because they might be lower-down on the socio-economic scale.

As the evening moves closer, it is almost time to settle in and find out on foot where Monica, Dan and Clint are staying, as we are all close-by though I don't know exactly where. We are all staying in an estate surrounded by high barbed-wire fences and a security guard at the main gate. The estate has a few thousand people, with more to come from what Sammy has told me. It's a strange concept for me, but it makes practical sense in many ways.

The current list of injuries stands at two for me. I cut myself with a plastic knife on the plane (sliced thru the side of my finger before I had even taken a bite, but didn't draw blood), and now a massive blister on the same hand which has left a flap of skin the size of my other hand dangling precariously under a bandage (thanks to Danielle for patching me up).

Time to log-off, my lift is leaving and i've spent 55 minutes here already. Yours prayer are very much appreciated, so thankyou one and all for lifting us up.

Work hard, rest well and serve Him only.
-Spud.