Day One...We Made It!

So sorry I didn't get to blog yesterday...our flight from Amsterdam was delayed an hour so we didn't land in Nairobi until after 9pm.  Just so you know what I did on the flights, I watched about 6-8 movies.  After we retrieved our bags and got stuck in airport traffic, it was around 1am before we arrived at the home we are staying at for a couple of days.  Upon arrival at the house, we were served with a full Kenyan meal and hot tea.  I have become a fan of the tea as we are served it in every home/church that we visit and you must finish it all to show you appreciated it.  I am still struggling from jet lag as my body thinks it is on east coast time.  I woke up kinda late this morning and lucky me missed the hot shower because by the time I got up, the power was shut off to preserve due to the drought.  So I took a cold shower (coldest water ever), got dressed and we headed out for the day.  Our first stop was in Nairobi and the city very crowded.  People here walk A LOT so you don't see the obesity like you do in the States.  And riding in the car was very scary at first because everything is done opposite of us (steering wheel and driving lane is on the right) and there are basically no rules of the road so you just zoom around everywhere...we are lucky that our driver is a police officer so he is very good at driving on these roads.  Most are not paved either and there is a lot of construction so I feel like I need to be in a big truck with mud tires because there are holes in the road everywhere!  We then went to a very popular market (mall) in Nairobi to buy the Internet card and I saw more tourist just like me...a lot of people from India here.  After that we went to the church for a praise and worship service and it was very good!  The singing sounded just like angels in Heaven, I couldn't understand the words as it was sung in their local language but I just closed my eyes and took it all in.  You could feel the presence of the Lord all around us as we humbly brought ourselves before Him, together as one even though some of us don't speak the same language, we are still all brothers and sisters in Christ.  One thing that has really stuck out to me in my short time here, is how loving, friendly and kind everyone is to you.  It's like you are family even though you just met.  And the respect level they have for each other, including husbands and wives is like nothing I have ever witnessed in the US.  After the church service we had another "bite" (full Kenyan meal) with the freshiest chicken I have ever tasted and it included mango juice (it was really good Maxwell but thick like you said it would be).  Then we came home to work on our lessons for tomorrow and the blog!

Tomorrow, Richard and Penny are teaching a marriage class at the church and I will be teaching the youth.  Please pray for me as I am very nervous, the most people I have ever taught were about 60 women in the jail
and they are expecting over 200 tomorrow!! And I have to talk slow, it's hard for them to understand my English because my accent is so thick.  But I am learning some Swahili and so far haven't had any trouble communicating.  I will have an interpreter with me at all times but I have to speak for about 45 minutes...which is a long time for me!  I am trusting and believing that God will show up and speak through me, I know He will He does it everytime! 

It's 10:50pm here so I am heading to bed (we are 7 hours ahead of you).  Thank you for all your support and prayers, we def feel them over here!! 

Goodnight / Usiku Mwema

Leslie