And we're home.

 We've now been home over 48 hours. I'm looking forward to hearing how the others have found it, but being back at work it almost feels like I was never in Kenya. And yet I've had a few opportunities to talk about our trip, and there's no doubt its had a big impact on me. I really miss Kenya. It was so beautiful, and an opportunity to fully rely on God because we had to. 

 Hopefully we should be able to share some more photos and videos on here now we're home, but in the meantime here's another one from Reverend Nick's house - we were so spoiled on our last evening there, so kind of them.

 


 So what were my highlights? In a way I'm stealing stories of other people, as this trip was never really about me. It was such a joy to hand over knitted goods and sports kit donated by friends and family in the UK. It was a joy to see our young people serve amazingly, make friends, eat things they never would at home and be impacted and changed by their time in Africa. It was a joy to hear others talk about how this trip was a dream come true. And so many of us fell in love with Kenya, including me. I pray that I will get to go back, hopefully for longer. 

But I've coined a new term - there were also hardlights - things that stuck out because they were so hard. The slum of 100s of thousands of people who don't know how they are going to earn any money and therefore where their next meal is coming from, and the children who can't go to school because of amounts of money that would be tiny to us in the UK. The children in the orphanage who are there for such heartbreaking reasons. And the babies in Kimilili who were given a 50/50 chance, but I'm glad to say are actually doing better this week. 

And I'm so grateful for the many many people who looked after us while we were there. For our drivers, our cooks, for the Nairobi Chapel staff and volunteers, especially Reverend Nick and his family and Pastor Roda, for the ICFEM staff and volunteers especially Naomi and Ruth and Rachel. And even for Josh L and Jane in our own team - having locals on the team was so valuable and at various points just made us feel a bit more safe and secure. And Jane's bargaining at market stalls saved most of us money :-)

I'm sure some of us will continue to reflect on here from time to time over the next couple of weeks, but thank you to everyone who's read and commented on the blog. Your thoughts and prayers were much appreciated. 

 

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