Habari ya asubuhi from Kitale

On Wednesday, Pastor Mike Gurath, Kate Oster, Jordan Horrillo, Tom Naumann, and I said our goodbyes to the Fellowship of the 15 in Nairobi and started west. The scenery wasn't quite like what we expected. Mountains, evergreens, eucalyptus, grasslands, palm trees...and zebra? A little of each of the terrain from our home towns. Tom thought he might be back in Washington, Jordan thought he might be in the mountains near Santa Cruz, and Katie thought she might throw up in Tom's sweatshirt on my lap. I'll leave the actual trip for a blog that fewer mothers will be reading, but all I can say is I may have crossed the equator backwards, at high speeds, over ruts, and in the on-coming lane. When we arrived in Kitale, we were greeted by Anna Sagala and her daughter Mary. Anna is an honorary grandmother of Holy Cross Phoenix, and quickly adopted the members of our group as her own children. I love – this woman. It was truly a joy to see her again, 3 years after her first visit to Phoenix.

Landing in Nairobi was great, arriving at our beautiful destination in Kitale was cool, but when we came over the hill and saw our watoto (children) at Holy Cross Milimani, I knew we were "there." The 169 precious souls at Holy Cross are the children our congregation has been reading about, writing to, and praying for. They've been in our hearts, and now we could finally finally finally see their beautiful faces with our own eyes, hear their voices of praise, and hold their hands (or fall under a dog pile of excited 6 yr olds). I'm so thankful for the chance to see what the Lord is doing in this school (with mud walls, dirt floors, and talented teachers) first-hand, and I'm looking forward to the opportunities to help in the school over the next 2 weeks.

Later that day, we would be humbled with the opportunity to share the Gospel message with over 2000 children in various schools. The same Holy Spirit that gave Peter the boldness and words to speak to so many large groups of people was absolutely the same Holy Spirit that helped us to step up on a stone and shout His saving power as loudly as our voices would carry or share His Word with whomever would listen in the market. In western Kenya, it seems like there is a Christian church on every corner. Despite the corruption and distortion of the Word, many of these children recognize the name of Jesus. For that, we are grateful. We pray that the Word that is spoken in our midst would accomplish the purpose it is intended to serve.

Today, Lord-willing, the creek don't rise, and our driver is reasonably punctual, we will worship with the members of our sister congregation and hear Pastor Gurath speaking to his Kenyan family once again. More reuniting, more tears of joy, more speaking, more work on our Kiswahili, and more adventures and blessings from the Lord.

Thanks for your continued prayers,

Kirsten Gullerud

Team Milimani, Kenya