Rainy season in Kenya.
I have a lovely garden. Its all green and lush, full of fire finches, sparrows, basil, and happy bees. I haven't been able to get into my garden for a week now. The mud is unbelievable! As soon as my feet hit that swampy yard, I no longer need anything in that small little space. So imagine what it must be like to actually GO anywhere in a vehicle or bike or motorcycle! Okay, don't imagine. Let me tell you AND show you!
Let me just say when we leave our house or try to come back to it, we never have had a boring trip yet. There is a little cartoon character that is famous for saying, "Adventure is out there!" He must have lived at Olderkesi.
Let me just show you some pictures to illustrate.
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| Even tho there was a bridge over this, the water almost reached it! |
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| This little dent in the earth is usually no problem at all! If the cows can cross, the Land Rover should be able to cross..right? We waited for half an hour. |
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| If it looks like a volcano, has 'smoke' like a volcano, then it IS a volcano, right? NOPE! Just the next rainstorm coming in! |
Here is a good example of a little adventure-taking Brenden back to school for his last term at RVA. You would think once we get onto the tarmac its all easy going-not so. As we got over the Rift Valley escarpment and set out across the valley there was a huge mudslide right across the only road going across. It was so bad that it got UNDER the tarmac and buckled the road. People were everywhere! In the road, on the side, in each other's business and in each other's LANE. We waited a half hour until Jon decided just to get aggressive and go. We made it and as we went through the actual mud mess, people were cheering, then they followed!
After dropping Brenden, we headed home with visitors. I just love when visitors are so gung ho and impressed at crossings like this, while I am quaking in my shoes and asking Jon, "Are you SURE its okay!?" Its always their enthusiasm and Jon's assurances that keep me in the vehicle!
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| One of the main factors that determines our coming in and going out. (besides Jesus of course) The river crossing where the bridge is out. |
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| Our lovely, unusable bridge..I don't wanna talk about it! Last night, Jon got home from a trip to Tenwek at 12:30 AM. A trip that usually takes him 3 1/2 hours took him 15 hours and 15 minutes. He started at 9:15AM. When he was about 30 minutes from home, he got to this bridge and met the ODP tractor pulling the trailer. In the trailer was a woman very sick in labor and several of her relatives. They carried the woman across the bridge to Jon's vehicle and he turned around and headed back to Narok (with fewer relatives). After dropping her off, picking up meds for the clinic, other riders, etc, he started home again. He met Johnstone on the way, with the ODP Land Cruiser bogged in deep mud. Johnstone had managed to flag down a passing motorcycle with NO headlight and had them go on to the project to send the tractor! Meanwhile, Jon's Land Rover would not start, so he couldn't help pull Johnstone out. Jon broke out the bread and milk I had him get in Narok and everyone had a nice filler, then they settled into the vehicles to spend the night. The tractor came around 10:30. After that it took another 2 hours to get home. All the while, there was no signal for the cell phones, only little burps of coverage once in a while. So, it was kind of interesting not knowing if Jon was coming or not! And no problem at all just trusting Jesus for his safety. This is why your prayers are so important, this is how they work in our every day lives. Thank you for praying for our comings and goings. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Ps. 121:8 |
