A curious trail indeed

Whelp. Not what we expected. It is a story worth telling, though we are still making sense of it all. First- we have been to Tanzania and back, crossed the border each time without difficulty. I had a rough night Friday but felt able to travel and thought surely would be recovered by Sunday. Saturday afternoon the team headed off to the village for our preparation meeting- I stayed behind. Around dark I headed up to the group area and discovered they weren’t back- I was a little concerned because I thought I had heard it was dangerous to be on the roads out there after dark. But I didn’t think too much of it- there were several experienced African missionaries with the team so they were in good hands. I read my Bible- I am pushing ahead with a read through the Bible in a year plan which I have found to be a worthy investment of time and energy.

They finally rolled in- minus our Safari bus. The first student I spoke to said, “If I have my way we will be heading back to Nairobi tomorrow.” As the tale unfolded, they had stood on the side of a road for most of the 6 hours they were gone because their vehicles were all stuck in the mud. They never made it to the village! Our driver stayed with his truck over night, not getting back to our hotel until Sunday night (without the truck). There was a lot of uncertainty of what to do. Alternative plans were made the next morning when we woke to the sounds of more rain. They split into groups of three and visited three of the local churches in Longido. I again stayed behind because I wasn’t feeling well.

By Sunday morning we had also determined that we were going to go back to Nairobi as soon as we could- a lot depended on getting our driver and the Safari truck but our leader pretty much said, “One way or another we are leaving Monday.” Thankfully our driver came in Sunday night and planned to get his truck on Monday morning and hopefully have us on the road by noon- it was 3pm but who is watching a clock in Africa except me?

The students seemed to bond well with each other and the various missionaries during this experience which was positive to see. We reminded ourselves that our disappointed with the rains/mud were cause of others’ rejoicing. This area had experienced a draught for several years- SendRelief.org had been doing an extended feeding ministry in this area. The men of the village had to take their herds to the far south for water which left behind the women, children, elderly and infirm. So for them, to have their rivers full was a blessing beyond measure.

For reasons I may never know, I crumpled. Maybe it was the lack of air circulation (no fans, limited power), lack of refrigeration (the coke machine kept the water and Fanta passion fruit soda luke warm at best), and limited food options. What happened is I became dehydrated- I did my best to drink some rehydration salts but it wasn’t enough, nor were a few bites of rice and mashed potatoes. The trip home Monday left me wiped out. Being in more comfortable surroundings was a cause to celebrate. I slept well Monday night. Tuesday we drew labs- CBC, UA, hepatic panel- all for $60 and they came to my place to draw them. They confirmed I was basically dehydrated, so I set to work being more aggressive in drinking in the rehydration salts. It appears to have worked- I am mostly back to myself, able to keep small portions of food down, and drink fluids. I am hoping that by Friday I can rejoin the team.

So, enough about me. The team came back and mostly rested and processed the experience on Tuesday. One of our Gospel workers came and gave an overview of evangelism work among a Muslim context in the afternoon. Yesterday they went to this area and did some street EV and in the afternoon visited a Muslim orphanage. They were able to interact with some of the young people. One of the students shared with me that there was one in the group of 40 that had a Biblical name, and they inquired about why she was there. She said, “My family dropped me off here so I could get an education”. Our students were saddened by the tone the leaders used with the orphans and felt they were being used as “show ponies” to get the white people to donate money. Poverty is evil on so many levels! Education is so foundational to our way of life- I hope we treasure it for all its worth. In a later post I will share some statistics about Africa and youth- it is sobering, and to think that there is no free access to education is frightening. In a city like Nairobi with 75-80% unemployment, how does a young person move forward?

The team has gone today to the Thursday Bible study with our Congolese refugees. It is a short day- I stayed behind to work on nutrition and hopefully being ready for the women’s shelter in Kibera tomorrow.

Again it isn’t the story I thought I would be telling. I know this: God is always in control, He has always been good to me, and someday I may or may not understand what this has been about. One of my colleagues here shared that maybe this sort of “rough” experience just before starting a new career path may make me a better NP and better able to develop and deploy mission trips. Certainly I will be more empathetic with those who feel sick! For now, I am just grateful to be getting better and ready to press on!