Hey all!
Well I hope that everyone is doing VERY well. I am sorry that I have not written in quite some time, it’s been kind of insane, in a good way. I have been done school now for quite some time, and I have been enjoying my holiday very much! I just got home two days ago from a trip up country. I traveled with Mary, Christa (Canadians), Walter, Julius (Kenyan – we went to visit their homes and villages). So it was about a 7 hour drive (with stops of course) …haha that was interesting. Especially since before we even got out of the city, i threw up all over me and Christa! - and i NEVER throw up, i think it was my malaria (sp?) medication. i was fine after that.....and the rest of the roadtrip was lots of fun actually, and we made it there without killing anyone! Yay! First we went to Walter’s house, and met his parents and his brother and family. They were awesome!! – Just so nice! And the whole time on our trip everyone was so accommodating. Of course there were interesting experiences. (ie – the washroom – or the hole in the ground, and the bucket bath, but I have to say I became quite pro at both by the end.) The country up there is absolutely beautiful! It’s just wonderful to look at. I included just a couple pictures, but I have so many, I couldn’t get over how gorgeous it is. So we stayed at Walter’s for a few days, just hung out. We took a “little walk” – that was about 6 hours long!! Haha. But it was really good. We got to see a lot of the village and it was really cool. They taught us how to greet people and just a few simple words and greetings in Kisii, and so every time we saw someone we would greet them, and they LOVED it! The only problem was that sometimes people were like, Oh they can speak our language, and then preceded to continue talking in Kisii and we were like, Sorry! - We only know 2 words! Haha. But it was cool to be able to greet people in their own language. Then after a couple days there, it was off to Julius’ place. This was about half an hour away – however it took more like an hour, because just to get out of the village took a while, because we had to greet almost every single person! Lol. Julius’ place was nice. His family was really nice, it was really good to meet them, because we have been praying for them for a while. (His dad is an alcoholic, as is most of his family.) We stayed in the church, there is a guest room in there it was very nice. But oh man! The pastor there is INSANE! We just laughed tons, because he was so loopy. He would randomly start singing songs (but he can’t sing) and he was singing really old like Sunday school songs and doing actions and getting really into it, and we just lost it!!!! – over and over again. I have some pretty awesome videos! So I’ll be showing those when I get home, then you might understand a little more. But yea it was just amusing! Anyways at Julius’ it was a little busier more planned because the pastor had to plan everything! (He liked to be the boss and the center of attention if you know what I mean) But it was still very good. One thing that we did, was we went (without the pastor..haha) to a hospital in the area and just talked and prayed with the patients. It was one of the hardest things that I have done since being here. First of all, what I was in was the farthest thing from a hospital that I knew. It was SO dirty, and just not well equipped at all. It was just very sad to see so many hurting people. But we prayed with almost everyone that we saw and just talked to them. A lot of them (we were told after) have aids but of course they can’t say that, they would never say that that’s what they have. It was just very sad. But I am so happy that we had the opportunity to do that, and just to cheer them up even the little bit that we could by praying for them and talking with them. It was a good experience that I will never forget. We were at Julius’ for two days before we headed back to Walter’s for the remainder of our trip. Oh let me just mention before I go on, that being in these villages was very interesting and sometime werid, just because of the people. Some of these people I’m sure (esp. the children) had never seen a white person. So that was interesting for us. Example (and this happened everywhere that we went) on the way back to Walter’s as we were entering the village, of course everyone is staring but then Walter stops the car to pick up something so we’re just waiting inside the vehicle. Well before we knew it we had attracted quite the crowd of people, mostly children, but actually some adults too, peering into the car, like I’m talking with their faces plastered against the window!!! Oh man. At some points like that it got to be a little annoying, just because they were so in your space, and looking at you like you weren’t human! But we had to get over it because it happened every where we went – literally! But it’s an experience. So we spent the last couple days at Walter’s and it was so nice. We went for walks, played scrable (and beat them SO bad every single time!! Haha and they had excuses every single time…), we had a campfire the last night that we were there and we roasted maze (which I call corn but it’s a little different but it tasted really good!) And we had lots of good talk and laughs and fun times. I actually don’t think I have ever laughed so much or so hard in one week’s time, it was just a blast. I am so thankful that I had the chance to go and see what I did. It was very nice to get out of the city and to see a whole different world really, and the people were very friendly. Overall it is a trip and an experience that I will NEVER forget, nor would I want to. I love getting new perspectives, it’s great. It was just a really excellent time. J And seeing the beauty up there, and just the diversity from one place to the next, just makes me see how incredibly AWESOME God is for creating it all, it’s pretty unreal. My advice – if you come to Africa – (or at least Kenya, because that’s what I know) don’t leave without going up country, you have to see it, don’t just stay in the city!
LOTS OF LOVE
Jade
P.S .- hope that you are all enjoying the snow and cold weather! – Here right now the rain has stopped and it’s beautiful and sunny and hot every single day! It’s lovely. It’s to the point where I can’t even believe that it’s December because it’s so warm and I totally associate December and Christmas with cold weather. J
P.P.S. – I’m moving into an apartment with Christa, so we’re getting that ready and it’s going very well, so when we’re all moved in I will put up some picturesJ Secondly, in one week I leave for Germany to go see my very good friend, Anika. I will be staying with her and her family over Christmas, and I am very excited!!! – but please pray for me as I travel, just that God would work everything outJ - Thanks in advance.
