3 Days till Take Off

Blessings Received and Blessings to Give

Kenyans are not shy about offering words of blessing and I have been the recipient of abundant blessings in the name of Christ these past weeks. Two nights ago, lit by the amber glow of a campfire, utterly exhausted and just thinking about bed, my thoughts were interrupted by a suggestion from a wise and humble mzee (elder), “I don't know how many of you know this, but Jim is leaving Kenya in just a week's time. He has been such a blessing to us and I suggest we take this time to bless him before heading home.” One by one they went around the fire offering words of encouragement and speaking blessings over my life. How humbling. How Christlike. I came to serve them and they are blessing me. They 'washed my feet' with their words.

This wasn't the only blessing I received either. Last Sunday, I visited my friend John's house in Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum in all of Kenya, possibly the largest slum in all of East Africa, over 1,000,000 people living in temporary, corrugated metal homes. John and his family had me over for dinner. This wasn't the first time either, actually the third. Their humble home did not mean humble portions of food. I ate till I could eat not a bite more and Rose, John's wife sent me with 5 extra chapatis! John offers this same royal treatment to anyone visiting Kenya, to show them 'the slums' as he calls it. He will not only share with you an experience in 'the slums' but he will also share with you his God given vision for 'the slums,' to extend the arm of the churches in Kibera through a resource center he runs. In the words of Paul, He welcomed me as if he was welcoming Christ himself.

One of the blessings prayed over me were the words God gave to Abraham, “I will bless you and make you a blessing to others.” I pray this will be so through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mt. Kenya

I have posted a detailed photo album on Facebook. You can find it by going to my profile and clicking albums. If you are not my Facebook friend it is high time we became friends. Mt. Kenya is an experience I look back on with bewilderment as to how in the world am I so blessed. By the few pictures I am posting on the blog you can get a taste of the beauty that I was a part of for 5 days. We, our group composed of 2 Kenyans, 2 South Africans, 3 Americans, and 2 Canadians (I am Canadian in this count to make it more impressive) were blessed with 5 days of perfect weather. That meant sun during the days making views of the summit possible while approaching from below and an indescribable expanse of stars at night. I suffered from some acute mountain sickness at about 14,000 ft. that settled after being administered Diamox. Mountain climbing is the perfect environment to get to know people well and we were a group made up of different amazing people who were all a joy to get to know.

Tanari Newsletter

Here is the most recent Tanari Newsletter. To see the page full size simply click on it and then you will be able to read it. The newsletter gives you information about what we have been up to the first few months of this year. I have had a part, in various ways, in all the events that are written about. I was also responsible for the layout, production and a few articles. My friend and co-worker Grace edited it. Hope fully it is informative. I promise one more post before I come home in a few weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I believe whole-heartedly that without them, these 6 months would have been in vain.