Saturday Afternoon - Nairobi

Greetings Friends!

Sorry we haven't been in touch.  We just returned from safari at the Maasai Mara in southern Kenya.  There was no internet access there.

Wednesday evening, we finished the crusade.  Over 400 children were present.  All went well.  As I have come to expect, the students did a wonderful job.  Lauren, Caleb, and Daniel did a wonderful salvation lesson.  Karina told the story of Paul and Silas in prison with Caleb, Whitney and Christine as actors.  Katelyn, Erak,  Lori and some others did puppets.  All helped with worship and Kristin ran sound.  Many children were saved.  All-in-all, we ministered to about 6000 children this week.  We estimate that around 4500-5000 prayed for salvation.  God is good.

Thursday morning found us climbing a ladder up into a huge blue safari truck and leaving our temporary home here at Heart Lodge.  We left Nairobi and headed into the hill country.  After about an hour we began the decline down the escarpment that brought us into the Great Rift Valley.  The view was fantastic.  We headed across the valley and found our way to the town of Narok.  Once we passed this busy little burg, the road became rough. I have never seen or experienced such a rough ride.  What used to be blacktop stretched into an eternity of chuck holes and natural speed bumps.  At times, the driver took us off road as that was a smoother ride.  What had been promised as a four and a half hour trip took over seven hours.  We finally made it to Maasai Mara and our tent camp at Ilkeliani.  That is a word that means "young Maasai warrior."

We went out into the reserve that afternoon and the next morning.  We saw an abundance of wildlife.  Lauren wanted to touch the lions, but we held her back.  Caleb is the official spotter.  Nobody can spot a distant giraffe or elephant like he can.  The accommodations were fabulous and everyone is healthy.  After spending four days of intense ministry to children, this was just what we all needed.

The team loaded into the blue truck early this morning and began the seven hour journey back to Nairobi.  We are now packing/re-packing our bags and getting ready to go to the airport.  As I said, everybody is healthy and excited about going home.

We are sad to leave this place, but are satisfied with the wonderful things God has done in and through us here.  The smiles of Africa's children have been burned into our hearts by the Spirit of God.  We will all be forever thankful to those that invested in this experience.  God only knows how many souls will someday stand at His throne as a result of this effort.  We have tons of pictures and memories to share with you.  God bless you all.

Our plane should arrive in Philly sometime around 3:00pm est.  See you soon.