Wow what a day! Everyone is doing great here in Kenya and loving every minute! Gosh I don’t want to even think about coming home on Sunday! (No offense parents! ) I am such a mess right now because I just had the opportunity tonight to meet the beautiful 9 year old girl, Grace, who I sponsor here in Kenya. But I will tell about that later.
We started the day by waking up at 5:30 am this morning to go on our safari! It was such an early morning for everyone! But we went to the Nairobi National Park for our safari which is so beautiful! Even though I went on the same safari last year, it is always amazing to see God’s beautiful creation! We saw giraffes, zebras, warthogs, a lion in a tree, a hippopotamus, a white rhino, wildebeests, and buffalo! It was amazing and everyone took so many awesome pictures! I myself probably took around 300…but that doesn’t even compare to my 600 last year! At the end we were able to go to a gorgeous overlook to take pictures! Beautiful as always! It was great for us to just relax and have fun after many long days of ministering.
After the safari, we went on to visit a mixed high school (both girls and boys) that was pretty close in the area. The majority of the students who attended that school were slum kids from Kibera, but it was so amazing as always to see their love for God radiate from their faces and also their singing. Mrs. Vivian spoke there and she did awesome as always- letting God speak through her as she ministered to about 150 students. We had a great time talking to those students afterward and also leading many of them to Christ for the first time in my life.
I had a great day and had so much fun- but I was totally anxious ALL day because I had set up with World Vision to meet and eat dinner with my sponsored child, Grace Wangari, who is 9 years old. I started sponsoring her in December and was so excited that she lived near Nairobi. I had written to her 2 times prior to this and had also received a picture and letter from her. She was supposed to show up at 6pm to the Grace House. But of course TIA (this is Africa) and they didn’t show up until 6:45…I was freaking out! But finally their van pulled up…and out walked the most BEAUTFIUL Kenyan girl I have ever seen in my whole life- she had the cutest dress on. We began to walk towards each other and she just could not stop smiling. I was in shock that this was actually happening. She was so smart and polite as she began to meet everyone. We walked next door to the Yaya Center to eat dinner. Her mother also came with her and could not express how happy and thankful she was for me. Grace and I could not stop smiling as we took tons of pictures together! Also everyone videoed almost every moment we had together and I am so thankful. She sang songs, said hi to my family, and recited Bible verses. I gave her a book bag of all kinds of stuff- school supplies, toiletries, and clothes. She was so joyful and thankful for everything. Saying goodbye was probably one of the hardest things I have done in my life. She would not stop holding my hand and we could not stop saying goodbye and ‘Nakupenda!’ (I love you). I will never EVER forget this moment and as I began to walk inside I began to cry….tears of happiness but also of sadness just knowing that she lives so far away. I am determined to meet her many times again and she was so happy. We both decided that we would be sisters….as I have one older brother and she has 2 older brothers- both of us never receiving a sister. I miss her so much already and just can’t believe I was able to experience that. I cannot stop thinking about her and picturing her smiling face, and I know for a fact that she is thinking the same about me at this moment also.
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