After returning from Nairobi I had a difficult time talking to people about the mission.  Everybody kept coming up to me smiling asking “how was your trip.”  I know that they meant well, but I just couldn’t come up with an answer in the 30 seconds of passing time that would express what I was feeling.

Your June newsletter could have been taken from my memory bank of the way the mission has been playing out in my head. I can not go through even an hour of the day without thanking God for all of my “comforts” here and the total difference of what I saw and experienced from life here and life there.  I continually pray for the over 60 countries in turmoil and the people hurting.   I was beginning to think that maybe all that has been rolling around in my head has been exaggerated somehow because of this being my “first” out of the country mission trip and my inexperience’s.   Your letter was so on target with my memory; I thank you for the confirmation even though I’m not so sure that’s a good thing!  You have stirred my heart mixing my emotions.
 
I want to share a very small part of the mission that you probably have not even thought of, however the scene crosses my mind daily……………Just before leaving Nairobi for Nakuru we stopped to exchange money.  We were all standing outside the bank taking turns going inside. We were all introduced to a prominent business man, blanket business I believe.  He said multiple times that we should not stay in Nakuru, that it was too dangerous, and we should stay at the Park.   You just stood there with your hands in your pockets and a smile on your face.  I was panicking inside and the words “listen to him, listen to him” kept going through my head…  The day we left Nakuru just before going over the last hill in the Wildlife Refuge we stopped and watched the fires erupting in the city.  It was at that spot that a teammate thought we were leaving the very people we were there to help and it was at that spot that the scene in front of the bank played through my mind. Your obedience in listening to the Lord and not let a “person” sway your thinking really left an impact on me and is a daily blessing to me now. I think of all the employees  of the hotel that were ministered to by the team ,and all the people we met there in the Nakuru Hotel, I know that we stayed exactly where God had wanted us to stay.  Even with the black smoke hovering over the city I thanked God that He led such a Godly man to light a fire in my heart. 

Gail