Rado and Safari

The Encounter, or Rado in Dholuo as we are now calling it, went very well on 12th and 13th June. The aim of the Encounter is to facilitate the work of the Holy Spirit in consolidating people in their faith and taking them forward in areas such as forgiveness, breaking curses, deliverance, and knowing the love of their Heavenly Father. Eight church members completed the two-day seminar, and all of them were very responsive to the teaching and to the times of ministry. This was the best of the three Encounters we have done so far in Kenya and it confirmed Dorine and Kennedy in their roles as leaders who are anointed to use tools such as this to take our church forward.

The next day we headed off by taxi to Kendu Bay and then by matatu (mini-bus) to Kisumu. There are Chinese restaurants even in the heart of Africa and that’s where we had lunch and then to the airport for a short flight to Nairobi, where we arrived in good time to meet David and Yvonne arriving from Amsterdam. They had a good journey apart from being tired. A new experience for them coming to sub-Saharan Africa, and also for us welcoming our family to Kenya!

After an overnight at Sam’s guest house we were picked up by our driver, Matthew for our safari to the Masai Mara. Plenty to see on the way – the bustle of Nairobi, the amazing view from the escarpment over the huge Rift Valley, Maasai tribesmen in their traditional brightly-coloured blankets herding their cattle, goats and sheep, and plenty of wildlife even before reaching the National Reserve. Our driver proved to be something of a mechanic as well as he kept the vehicle going despite problems with the fuel pump.

Even a small corner of the Masai Mara is outstanding in its wildlife – thousands of gazelles, impala, topi, zebra, wildebeest and buffalo. Seeing lions, giraffes and ostriches in their native habitat is great, but for me the highlights were a herd of elephants making their way through the savannah, and a pair of cheetahs that we saw close up. Wonderful!

Another long journey on Sunday over rough tracks and some decent roads brought us to Oyugis and then the very bumpy road to Kosele. David and Yvonne have met so many new people they must be confused, and been welcomed to the whole school at Assembly. They’ve also had the chance to visit the little boy Dan whom they sponsor and his family at their home. They will have a good time here as long as they can stick the heat!