A New Chapter: Lasts

I learned in training before moving to Kenya that saying good goodbyes makes for good hellos... During my last days in Kenya I was able to spend time with some really special friends.

Visiting my co-worker's rural home. After a big meal and chai they sent me home with gifts--the leso, or sheet wrapped around me, plus beautiful beaded jewelry. My Maasai friends are so generous.

A picture with the whole family

Dusty & Moses lookin' tough

Nampaso and his nephew

The morning I left Narok for the last time (so I thought--my friend had a baby the day before I flew out, so I drove back to Narok, held the baby and then dashed back to Nairobi! More on that in the future post about Davin) I was hurriedly packing last minute things and rushing around. I'd said most of my goodbyes already and was trying to think of everything I needed to do before I left my apartment and Narok for the final time. I've got a million things on my mind... and then... there was a knock at the door...

My friends came to say goodbye! Isaac, Joseph and Moses stopped by to see me off. After I was able to pause my thoughts about what I needed to be doing I was able to sit down for a few minutes with them. In the midst of my packing stress, God helped me to consider what a blessing it was to be loved by my Kenyan friends. People are so important to Kenyans. I have learned a lot about that from them.

Saying goodbye to Sue, my coworker and friend, and handing over my apartment keys for the last time.

As I drove out of Narok that day I said goodbye to things all along the way. I said goodbye to my little apartment and the home I'd made there, to AH and all the people that I'd worked so closely with, to the dusty little town with it's crazy traffic and all the little shops that sold what I needed, the cows on the side of the road, the herd of giraffe that I always looked for on the way to Nairobi, the scary drop-off on the steep escarpment. I thought about all of the happy memories I'd made during my time in Kenya and all of the hard times God had brought me through. I remembered the days when I thought I'd never make it another minute and I thanked God that He'd brought me through it all. I repented for at times wishing away the season that was now coming to a close.

I'm realizing more and more how faithful God is. It's one of those things that I know... in my head. But I'm really starting to realize that it's true. He rescues us. He's there for us. He orchestrates everything and He draws us near in every season. He knows what we can handle. What a privilege to be known by God (He knows when I sit and when I rise. He knows my thoughts from afar. He knows my words before they are on my lips. Ps 139) and to know Him.

The wife of one of my co-workers invited me over for pizza the day before I left. Pizza isn't a common food outside of Nairobi (a lot of my rural friends hadn't even heard of cheese) but Irene had worked with another missionary family and she was a pro at homemade bread, cinnamon rolls and pizza. All of us Americans were very thankful for her skills! This is her son.

There was one couple that I really connected with during my time in Kenya. I took photos for their wedding just after arriving in 2008. From then on our relationship grew and they became my close friends. We laughed together, fasted together, prayed together, and even had disagreements at times, but the Lord used it all to strengthen our friendship. They were neighbors so I would often go to their house in the evenings. This was our last dinner together.

Kenyan men don't often cook...

Look who is in the kitchen!

Richard cooking up a storm

The yummy result: chapati & cabbage

Eva--just days before having the baby we'd been praying for

The men of the house

I left Narok 3 days before my flight out of Kenya. I wanted to have a little room to breathe and not feel like I was running out of the country. I went to the doctor to see if I had any visitors in my system--I didn't want to take anything with me :) And good thing I checked, because the doctor said I had a cousin to an amoeba or something... whatever that means. I also wanted to say goodbye to my Nairobi friends. I'd built many friendships with people during my frequent trips to the city. Most of them were fellow ex-pats I'd bonded with while we all tried to figure out life so far from home.