More excitement...more emotion !!!

Another exciting day! A missionary friend here in Nairobi picked us up and took us to their church service where her husband was preaching today. The order of service was similar to home, in fact some of the songs were ones we know. It was amazing to worship with these wonderful Kenyan people and share communion with them.

This afternoon was a rather emotional and enlightening experience which is difficult to put into words. We were driven into an area of extreme poverty, at least by Canadian standards. The garbage strewn streets were filled with thousands of people milling about. We were told "this is not a slum but a ghetto", so there are areas much worse, but we were certainly impacted by the conditions these people live in--unimaginable without seeing with our own eyes.

Some of you may recall prayer requests several years ago for a new Christian in Nairobi. This man had a severe leg injury. It was feared it would lead to an amputation. As we sat in a small "restaurant" a man came in who is a friend of our host. He joined us at our table and we were amazed to learn he was the man. Although quite lame, he walks and praises God for the miracle of his healing. He repeatedly thanked us for our prayers.

Tomorrow we start at NLH and are looking forward to cuddling babies and tending to their care.
Keep on remembering us in your prayers. Blessings.

Jambo From Kenya

Jambo,

That's a sample of our limited knowledge of Swahili--it means "hello".

We're excited to be posting our first entry from Kenya.

It is impossible to share all we've experienced in the few days we've been here--the sights, the sounds, the smells. The first sight we saw in daylight, when we opened our curtains Wednesday morning, was a glorious, huge tree covered with purple blossoms--a jakaranda. We've been told it blooms for only 2 weeks/year, and there it was especially for us.

We couldn't resist stopping in to New Life Home yesterday although our official start date isn't until Monday. We soon found out why God wanted us there at that time. As we were in the lounge area near the entrance, a lady police officer arrived with a precious 2-week-old baby girl. It brought us to tears. What a thrill to see her being welcomed "home" where she will be greatly loved. We look forward to watching her progress over the next few weeks and learn more of her story. NLH is definitely a place of love. We were welcomed openly.

Our accommodations are very comfortable and the staff are treating us royally. The food has been delicious. Our meal at noon today included goat meat (yes we each had some), chapati, stew, plus something white and something green (we each had some of those too).

Asante (Thank you) for continuing to pray for us.

Thanks for paying a visit to our blog.

Tomorrow is departure day and it hardly seems real. We still have a few last-minute things to take care of and I (Muriel) still have some packing to do but it will all get done.

We have been greatly blessed by so many people who have come on board to be part of making this venture possible. We truly are all members of one body and dependent on the important role each one plays. We thank God for each of you.

Stayed tuned and God bless.

FLIGHT SCHEDULES

FLIGHT SCHEDULE Departure time / Flying Time
Oct.23 from MONCTON to MONTREAL 6:10 PM / 1 hr 28 min
Oct.23 from MONTREAL to LONDON 9:35 PM / 6 hr 30 min
Arrival time in LONDON 9:05 AM (that's 5:05 AM in New Brunswick)
Oct.24 from LONDON to NAIROBI 10:15 AM / 8 hr 35 min
Arrival time in Nairobi 8:50 PM (that's 2:50 PM in NB)

Returning FLIGHT SCHEDULE
Nov.16 from NAIROBI to LONDON 11:20 PM / 8 hr 45 min
Nov.17 from LONDON to MONTREAL 3: 30 PM / 7 hr 15 min
Nov.17 from MONTREAL to MONCTON 8:35 PM / 1 hr 22 min
Arrival time in Moncton 11:00 PM

Facts

Here are some interesting (or boring) facts about Kenya:
*Located in East Africa
*Area-582,650 sq. km (Canada-9,984,670)
*Estimated population-32,021,856 (Canada-32,270,500)
*Currency-Kenyan shillings (10 Kenyan shillings=15 Canadian cents)
*Capital-Nairobi (approx. pop.-2,500,000)
*Life expectancy-46 yr.

Ps. 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it; the world and all who live in it"

Current Time in Nairobi

It might be interesting for you to know what time it is in Kenya...imagine what we might be doing at that time ...and say a prayer for us. Thanks.

Nairobi