Traffic Jams and Giraffes

We're here! Our first week here has been a great time of learning and of getting excited all over again about the work that we are getting to do. In the chaos, both of us have been hurriedly trying to get into our apartment, Rossetta Stone some Swahili, and recover from our heinous jet lag. Michael has already become a proficient Nairobi driver. It's just the same as driving his Camry in the States, except it's a manual transmission with the driver side on the right, stick on the left, there are no lanes, no rules, no lights, a billion drivers, and a million pedestrians, and occasionally herds of cows in the road. Honestly, the driving here is lunatic, with people and cars darting in and out at each other at ridiculous speeds. But Michael keeps saying that really, it reminds him of Memphis driving. It's still sometimes hard to remember which way to look as we're still getting used to left side of the road driving, but every day becomes a little bit easier. I have driven some, but only with an automatic, and I am still several driving lessons away from being able to drive the manual. I have, however, pored over several Nairobi maps and am beginning to feel like I know my way around town.

The Tiptons have been incredible hosts, and we can tell that not only will we love working with them, but that we'll enjoy getting to hang out with the whole family (Horace, Anne, Horace Jr., and Mary Shea). Anne took me shopping three or four different days this past week for apartment furnishings, which included a mattress, a refrigerator, a stove and a table (check out our virtual tour!). She also encouraged me to drive places so that I would get a feel for the roads and how to get different places. Michael has been shadowing Horace in the field, meeting farmers and even selling one group's passion fruit in town (check out the picture, they're quite tasty).

Just yesterday Michael and I got to go with Horace to Thika, which is the central location to many of the Planting Faith farmers' groups. We met with an Anglican microfinance guru named Peterson and some of his staff, to discuss ways to strengthen and improve the loan program that Planting Faith is operating and which Michael has been asked to facilitate. Later that afternoon we drove out a few more miles to Mang'u to meet with some of the farmers from a group that is beginning to harvest and sell their passion fruit. We got to see some of their crops and learn some about the techniques of how to prune, when to pick, and how to sell the fruit, as well as to learn about some of the issues facing the group from a financial perspective (loan repayment, marketting the passion fruits, etc.) which Michael will be involved with in the days to come.

This weekend Michael and I got to put our driving/navigating skills to practice when we went across the city (a two hour drive in traffic, think Atlanta in rush hour times a million) to see my two good friends, Karis and Abby. It was so good to be with them, to catch up, and to look forward to seeing them much more in the months to come. They're doing really great discipleship ministry with folks from some of the largest slums in the world (more at karabsinkenya.blogspot.com).

We also got to meet Michael's "African brother," David Khisa (see picture), who many of you will remember as Michael's traveling companion, translator, and housemate from his last visit in Kenya. David's father is an Anglican pastor in Bungoma, Kenya, and David recently landed a great job in Nairobi, so we're thrilled to be reunited with Michael's best Kenyan friend from his last visit. When Michael asked about David's parents, he laughed and said they were very excited to get to meet their new daughter-in-law (me!) very soon.

Not only did we get to see Abby, Karis and David, but today we also went to The Giraffe Sanctuary near the Nairobi National Park and got to feed and pet giraffes. The Sanctuary is designed to educate and to protect an endangered giraffe species. It was awesome. One fun fact about giraffes: a full grown adult eats about 75 lbs. of food every day! So they never got tired of taking the food pellets out of our hands or, in Michael's case, out of his mouth (see video).

The agenda for next week: starting Kiswahili language lessons, moving into our apartment, coaching and playing soccer, meeting the Bishop of the Thika Diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya, and meeting and learning more about the different farmers' groups and their specific needs and assets.

Please be praying for us as the pace of life picks up for us in the coming weeks. By our next blog we want to share more about our specific responsibilites, but suffice it to say that though now we are mainly observing, by mid-February we will have significant responsibilites with many different farmers' groups. Pray that we will be good listeners and learners in the coming weeks as we prepare to begin teaching and mentoring in about a month.

We miss you all, and love your posts and emails. Please keep them coming. Jesus Christ is bringing His kingdom in Kenya, and we've already begun to see bits and pieces of it. So stay in touch.

Love,

Rebecca