I got home from my run to find one of my roommates with a flat tire... after trying to help her, and baking brownies for my friend Anita's sweet 16th birthday, I went back to pick up Michelle. We proceeded to go for the first time ever to Hillcrest High School in Nairobi, where Anita goes! God is so sweet and gracious in allowing us to get there safely, find Anita quickly (she was the first student we saw on campus), and I even got to reunite with two of my campers from last summer- I didn't even know they all went to school together! We ate lunch with Anita, got a tour of her school, met all her friends, and even saw some monkeys trying to steal student's lunches in the field. Only in Kenya! The brownies were a hit, and we met tons of new kids & invited them to our BlueSky event this weekend. God is good!
On the way home from lunch we decided to go on a little escapade... to find a candle store. Yes. There is a local Kenyan man makes candles in his home, and since I just moved here, and the power has gone out in our house a few times already, I through it be wise to invest in some candles. We got directions from our roommate Kim who has lived here for 10 years and has been to the candle shop man times. Upon following the directions... well, there are not really street names in Kenya so directions are difficult... we drove for about an hour looking for the "dirt road on your right, go through the gate and the candle shop is inside his house"...
It sounded kinda sketch. But we were willing to go out on a limb (:
Soon Michelle and I stumbled upon a gate with an intercom...I told them we were looking for the candle shop and to our surprise, the gate opened magically! At the end of the bumpy dirt road, there were a herd of beautiful horses on our left, and through the green thick forest there was a cute little house at the end of the road! But this was not the candle store. We instead met a new friend, a lady named Georgina, in her bikini, getting ready to lay out on her whimsical and enchanting Hansel and Gretel-Like porch with candles and lamps galore! Haha however, this was not the candle shop. But, Georgina knew exactly where the the candle shop was! Yay, we were on our way again. Michelle and I went exploring following Georgina's directions: "Make a left after the set of 3 speed bumps, then immediately following take another left, then you will see a sign with a sail boat on it. Turn right onto the dirt road and Mr. Stewart's house will be at the end of the road." Again, a little sketch.
After 30 more minutes of driving, instead of finding the candle shop or Mr. Stewart's house, we found a car mechanic shop, a random person's house with a cute little baby crawling outside in the garden, and finally found... The Nairobi Giraffe Center! We were utterly lost, but pleasantly surprised by a pack of 5 beautiful giraffes!!! (And a sign on the side of the road that said "Giraffe Crossing"... WAY different than in Texas where you see walkway signs or signs for a"Deer Crossing.")
Michelle had never seen a giraffe up close before, so I told her she should get out and try to touch it! haha I pulled over next to the rocky ditch, then the ground plateaus out a little just before the gate where the giraffes are sticking their long necks over- curious as to what we were doing. Right as Michelle walked up to try to get close to the fence, one of the giraffes stuck its head over the fence. In a panic, Michelle took a step backwards and down into the ditch performing a back flip roll! She amazingly landed on her back with her feet behind her head. haha...it was hilarious!! We were laughing and laughing... we couldn't stop because we were then not only thinking about how funny it was that she just fell, but also this whole experience we had just gone through of trying to locate a random candle shop. We finally composed ourselves, fed and petted the giraffes for a minute, then were back on our merry way home! It was quite the day!
Overall, I'm VERY thankful for God's provision: good friends and roommates, Birthdays, Brownies, good directions, hilarious moments, and Michelle Peteet and her gracefulness.
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:2-6
In other news... Tomorrow morning I am going to the International School of Kenya to make an announcement at their weekly assembly for the BlueSky Middle School Event this Sunday afternoon. Please be praying for this opportunity, and that the Middle School and High School events would go smoothly, that students would see Jesus through our team, and these times we get to spend together would further the Kingdom.
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